The Motorcycle Diary
Well – I’ve been away from my desk for a few days – and quite a lot has happened during that time – Music, Bikes and Obsession.
1st – the bike saga continues. – I went to see the chop, but instead of a healthy BaBaBaBaBa, I was treated to a very long session of ,
Plumph – Plumph – Plumph – Plumph – She would not start!. – But I’m getting ahead of myself.
First, I rang Keith, a very good biker friend of mine, so that we could check out the bike together – (I need his advise on this sort of matter, due to my being a complete dim-wit when it comes to buying bikes.) – The guy had it in front of his garage and it looked sweet – Low, long forks….. I sat on it and it felt good, after a little chatter and discussing the pros and cons of the bike we (of course) wanted to hear it run…. And this is where the trouble starts. The seller tried kick starting it, until he was pouring with sweat – I had a go, then Keith had a go. Every now and then the engine would make promising sort of coughs, that merely enticed you into pumping the leg muscles into starting the 550 cc block a few more times…..No good.
Next stage would be to attempt a bump start. Being the smallest and lightest – (and of course the potential buyer.) I was the one in the saddle, while the other two proceeded to push me down the road at almost great speed, grinding to a halt every now and then as I dropped it into second gear. Still no joy, so we decided to push it back to the garage and put a bit of extra Ooomph into the battery. As the other two were hot and knackered from pushing, I was elected to push the bike back. – it was now that I discovered 3 things about the chop – 1- it is very long - This is in italics, because it is about to become very relevant to the story now 2 – (it is very low) 3 –( It is very heavy) These are in brackets, because they will become very relevant to the story soon. – Turnng the bike round in the road was no easy task, even using the full width of the road, it still required a 3 point turn to maneuver it, by which time, some traffic had built up, so instead of remaining in the way, and pushing it along on the road, I continued the maneuver onto the pavement and pushed it toward home there, intending to bump it off the kerb opposite the house. – Intending being the operative word, as it is at this point that the other very’s come into force – LOW & HEAVY. Low, being that the pipes dragged on the kerb once the front wheel was off the kerb, pitching me in a sideways motion – Heavy, being that the gravity / weight ratio of the bike was more than the applied weigth / strength ratio that I was able to exert – Result = Bike falls sideways, and Jayster does a sort of inelegant sideways dive on top of the bike – (Fortunately, the pipes weren’t hot!) – and quietly called out help, at which point Keith came and helped me and the bike back into a vertical inclination!
No damage to the bike, thank goodness, apart from a very minor dribble of petrol out of the cap – I suffered a little bruising to my ego and a twisted knee..
After a charge, the bike did fire - up nicely, although by this time I had decided that big Jap bikes may not be for me after all!
On the upside – After cleaning up the plugs on the CB200 I got that to run – Although I am now driving to work with my bicycle in the back, then cycling in the last half mile to avoid the evening traffic – It seems to work!
My Current Obsession
I managed to get hold of a Casablanca – (Non linear Video Editing piece of kit) – Fantastic it is, and at last I can now get on with editing our wedding video, plus all the built up footage of our 2 boys – THAT’S my new obsession – I’ll keep you posted. –
If you are into video, and need a video editor, then this is certainly the machine to look at – I used to work with them a few years ago, and they are so easy to operate, but the results look stunning. – Don’t believe me? – Check the Macro systems website, or Video Management Services in Ringwood, if you are in the UK.
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Keith reasoned that HAD there been any damage to the bike it would have been entirely the owners fault. – I asked him how he came to this conclusion and he explained it thus - He is friends with quite a few of your friends right? - - Well Yes, bu…….therefore he either knows you, or at least knows of you, and that brings the rule of Jayster into play! - If you have something that can either fall over, break, catch fire, explode, or just stop working properly – do not give it to Jayster to look after, unless of course you expect it to either fall over, break, catch fire, explode or just stop working - He does have a valid point!
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