Today, the 1st of May is celebrated in many Scandinavian countries as a Spring Festival. It honours a long-dead saint and is associated with singing, dancing and drinking. In Finland, the land of my wife’s birth, it is also a day when university students celebrate their graduation by wearing the traditional cap.
The day is also a Socialist holiday and is still celebrated as such, despite the death of Communism. Interestingly, in Finland, a country with a strong Socialist heritage, the day is also declared to be national flag-raising day and has been so since 1978.
Of course the term “Mayday” is also recognised as the international call sign for distress, coming, as it does, from the French “m ‘aidez” which means “help me” and it is in this context that I am writing today.
This week I intend to make a serious start on the restoration of the Shadowfax Kawasaki. I have already teed up a mate who will undertake the rebuild of the engine for me, but the frame and ancillaries are going to be my concern. Despite being covered, the frame and associated bits have not fared well, being rather rusty and corroded in places. So I’ll be looking for advice and direction in terms of where to source the services that I need.
My first concern will be to completely strip the chassis (taking lots of photos so that I can reassemble correctly) and have it checked for integrity. So, my first question is, do I get the frame sand blasted or chemical dipped?
Answers on a postcard, please.