Hi Rich,
I made an error on the fuel there; BP/Texaco/Mobil = good (no ethanol except for the far South West (Devon and Cornwall). Other makes, Supermarkets and all 95RON typically have 5% ethanol. It's not just SC's that have that problem; Monsters, Triumph, BMW, Aprilia and many other plastic tank bikes can suffer too.
I know what you mean about prices, they do vary an awful lot now. I noticed Manchester Ducati have a 1000s up for £11.5k, I think they were 8k new! If you can find one as a dealer trade in (mine was) you might pay a bit less than on an eBay auction. If you haven't already, check out howmanyleft.co.uk for UK numbers, its quite addictive.
It's nice when people come up to ask about the bike. I parked outside my local post office and a chap came up who used to own a Mk1 Guzzi LeMans. Amazing how many bike nuts there are walking around in civvies! You'd not spot them otherwise.
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