I managed to get hold of a replacement battery for the bike today, phew. Was going to order from MDS (my usual go-to place for UPS batteries) but found the local Halfords had it £5 cheaper and available to walk in and collect rather than waiting a day or two (or paying another £5 for next-day). So that's now sitting on charge. Turns out they no longer sell these batteries un-activated with a bottle of sulphuric acid because the acid's now classified as a poison. So it turns out the label on the box says the battery was activated last month, which could be up to 8 weeks ago, so I'm giving it a good charge first, and installing it tomorrow.

I had the steering head bearings replaced today (which involves taking the whole front of the bike apart apparently so I'm glad I didn't try to do that myself), and while I haven't tried the steering with the front wheel off the ground I did give it a ride around and… I think it's better? I think it's more subconscious, but I think I can detect myself riding a bit more confidently, which would be because the handlebars are no longer trying to pull to the centre when they are *nearly* centred, which is what the problem with the bearings would have been causing.

So, battery swap tomorrow morning, MOT test tomorrow afternoon, trip to Wales soon after that…?