OK, so the two are in no way related, but that’s sort of how it goes, Once it’s down to the little bits, one works on what comes to hand or needs doing next.

The Gear Linkage
Once the engine was reunited with the frame there was the small matter of hooking up the gear linkage. It didn’t fit. Not only did it not fit, but it showed no signs of ever intending to fit. Just about everything was in the way. Firstly the gearbox selector shaft was about an inch inboard of the frame member between it and the pedal and the Aprilia  lever was straight. That one was solved by turning the original lever through 90 degrees (so that it pointed downover) sawing the end off and drilling a hole to take the ball end. Then I had to grind away about half the actuator plate for the side stand switch, to get a straight(ish)  run from pedal to lever. That looked OK and, as luck would have it, the original linkage was the right length. Once that was in place it was obvious that the up and down movement of it when changing gear hit everything remaining.  In the end the only answer was to remove the side stand switch and its mounting bracket  and to slightly crank the linkage.

Rear Light

By this time it was pretty much down to cleaning things up and sticking it all back together. The original rear light and bracket are admirably visible, but about as huge and ugly as only a 1980s designer could produce, so an alternative had to be found. A little LED light from China cost about a fiver and a convenient lump of ally was fashioned into a bracket to hold it and the number plate. The contrast between the two is quite dramatic.