Japan Meets BritainVince, Regarding the constant breakage of the chain guard a solution would be to rubber mount it. The strenghtening of the guard itself will not in all probability change the resonance coming through the guard. Having just looked at a swing arm and chain guard I can see that it can be done. Reminds me of work I had to do to stop coil mounts from fracturing. All the best Jerry
Hi Jerry -- good to hear from you!
I do have the rear mount rubber mounted, but of course it fractured at the front inside mount, as well as that curved piece that goes behind the shock. Plus, I think the one I have (a repro) sits too high, due to its design, and it is too snug where it goes behind the right side engine cover. John is also convinced that the chrome plating contributes to it, as he believes that the plating makes the metal more brittle. So I think next winter we are going to build a better mousetrap from the ground up -- though not a chrome-plated one!
Had to do a bit of jetting adjustment on Friday -- the plugs were coming out too dark, so I brought bike back to John for a bit of tweaking. Moved the needle to its lowest position, and went from 250 mains to 240 mains. Tested it and it seemed much smoother.
Yesterday I led 16 other riders on an 85-mile ride, and when I got home I had logged a total of about 200 miles for the whole day. Pulled the plugs to check -- perfect and matched left/right. I think we got it this time!  And to think that a little SuperHawk led them all.
Did a rather 'spirited' 130 mile ride this morning (amazing how far you have to ride on Easter Sunday to get a coffee and donut!), and finally hit a true 'ton'. Don't know if the bike can offer much more than that, but I was pretty happy to hit that mark with the new speedo indicating as such.
The bike rides so smooth and is so effortless throughout the entire spectrum. I discovered that the fuel range is about 102 miles to reserve, which is pretty close to what I'd gotten before all the engine work was done, so that's encouraging.
Just came back from a nice 110 mile ride - today was so beautiful outside that I decided to take the day off. Ah the joys of being in business for yourself!
Scott and I did a compression test at his house just to see how the bike is, and both sides gave readings of 155. Not bad? Unfortunately, I also discovered that I have an oil leak behind the right engine side cover somewhere. The right side of the rear fender is spattered with oil (not chain lube!), and the chain is very clean and wet. As well, when the bike is parked after a run, oil is dripping out of those two cutouts on the underside of the right engine cover. So I'm thinking it's either the countershaft sprocket seal, or it could be the seal that NOVA made up for the hole where the kicker shaft came out of the engine. Are there any other seals on that side that might be the culprit? I'm not up on all the seals that are behind that cover, so hopefully it's not a situation that will require splitting the cases to fix it - that wouldn't be good. I did double-check with John to make sure he had the valve cover gasket with the two holes towards the front of the engine, as I've had that happen before, so hopefully I can eliminate that as a possible cause. Hopefully it's just a bad countershaft sprocket seal. 
No more than I can see I'd guess "chain oil". ....................lm
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