MoT time
 

Well the bike passed the MoT, thanks to a very helpful tester and some exhaust paste! However, the front header needs replacing as it's cracked at the union under the bike and the header studs are almost rotted through.

Found a used header in good condition on ebay and also just bought new studs, nuts, top and bottom gaskets.
The bike is going back to the place where the test was done as the chap there knows these bikes well and has experience at replacing the rotting and rusted in studs.

Just spent nearly 80 quid on parts, labour is going to be about £100. I guess if the parts last another 100,000 miles it's money well spent!

Re: MoT time
 

Don't know if it's the same on the curvies, but the pointy and Gen 3 headers are secured at the cylinder head with long allen bolts. On my K6 pointy which only had 7,500 miles on it when I got it in 2015 and had obviously barely seen rain, I could only remove one bolt, the other was frozen absolutely solid. I've got some long-shank allen keys but didn't dare to try too hard to loosen it in case it snapped.

One of the first things I did when I got the Gen 3 was to remove the bolts and copperslip them. I do it once a year to keep them free, just in case ...