OK, I just finished reading this thread.
NICE!
It was pretty emotional to me because I really like Lester's, and hated that airbox/breather thing, not a big fan of the Raasks, and hated to see a bike like this with no kick, AND had serious doubts about getting the stock CV carbs to work with pods.
So you could say I was very pleased/impressed with how your build ended up going... So far.
It's funny, I thought your motor was incredibly clean until I went to the BOTM thread and saw Terry's and Mark's!
I really love your approach, though - I'm impressed at how much you were able to do with the motor in place, just going bit by bit, making a list and going through the items. When I first saw the masked off triple tree painted with rattle-can paint I was a bit turned off, but when I saw your Phase I, II, III approach I got it. VERY NICE!!!
And don't sweat the money spent on the bodywork, wheels, and carbs. It's stuff like that that sets certain bikes apart - and it's not really a ton of money. What you paid for those CR's is less than I spent (in total) on many trips to and from the shop trying to get the charging and carburetion problems sorted out on my 2000 SV650 a few years ago. It's also less money than a nice sofa, and nobody thinks there's something wrong with you if you go buying one of those.
Hell, it's less than I've spent on one particularly egregious speeding ticket.
Congrats on some work very well done. Looking forward to seeing the continuing evolution of this very fine bike.