With this rare bout of UK sunshine happening right now, most of us have been out riding instead of blogging - which can only be a good thing - but this means a shortage of news in the Shed for those of you that take the time to follow us every week (thanks, by the way, we really do appreciate it). However, there is news in our own backyard as I've finally got around to taking a few new snaps of the Paul Smart that has recently found it's way to us - all the way from Belgium. The bike isn't a custom job, in fact it's not too far from standard, (although only 2,247 were ever made) but it did come with a full termi 2 into 1, Race ECU and open clutch with anodised pressure plates and milled Oberon cover - and of course the Ohlins and Brembos are OEM - but I've now added a hybrid tail tidy with parts form various places (Highway Hawk & Palatov), and a Diopa seat reupholstered by Lee the Seat at Viking Vinyl. Mini indies are on the way (it has a pair of number plate illuminating LEDs at the rear - for now), and I need to do a few internal mods, like the failure-prone Regulator Rectifier, Clutch slave with larger internals, and I'll have to keep an eye on the valve seats, as it's an early version of this rare bike. The best upgrade was probably the tyres, as the OEM Pirelli Phantoms had a very flat profile offering no help on turn-in, and the retro-treaded rubber provided about as much grip and feedback as a tube of Copydex with Asperger's. Pirelli Diablo IIs add more Italiana as well as improved handling, grip and feedback. Anyway, watch this space as more mods and upgrades are added, and instead of iPhone pics that have been stretched beyond their limits with a pirate copy of Photoshop3, I'll get our resident pro, Damian McFadden, to take some decent snaps. You can also read more about the whole Sport Classic 1000 range of Ducatis here.