on friday, i finished school. Wahoo!
Unfortunately i had the problem with the key and not running properly. this was a combination of spark plug needing a clean and lack of petrol
so, riding to work on friday failed.
on saturday morning i cleaned the plug and put petrol in and then wasted most of the afternoon as i was looked out. Went for a ride out with my sister on 'her' 1960s Panther, came home and went to work. Got to work and finished a bit later than usual at 10.25. I put the bikes lights on and was riding home along a main road with no lighting out in the country and suddenly thought ... 'my light looks dim'. indeed, it had gone out, but my back was still working so i continued for about a mile and pulled into a housing estate where i took the lens off and inspected the connections and the bulbs and i couldnt see anything blindingly obvious. relising that riding with no front light wasnt sensible i rode about 1/4 of a mile to my sister's house but her car wasnt there so i assumed she wasnt in. instead of coming along the main road like i normally do i decided to go along recidential roads at 25mph and when i saw a car coming towards me i indicated so at least they knew something was there.
As i was riding along this road i noticed 2 men stood on the street corner...somehow i just knew who they were. A tall figure stepped out into the middle of the road and signaled for me to stop. I pulled up, lifted my visor,
'do you know why i've stopped you?'
'ah well, yes...'
hmm, first time being pulled over. i decided to admit that i knew it had happened and that there was nothing i could do and that i had to use the bike to get home. i remained friendly and calm as i was indeed in the wrong. the Police officer thankfully decided not to charge me or anything as it is an offence but said i couldnt ride home and that i would have to push it the remaining 3 miles at 10.30 at night.
'oh great!'
I rang home as i knew i was running late and my mum would be worried but just as i stated to explain what was happening my battery died. Thankfully, there was a phone box just down the road so i pushed the bike down there and called home. Another blessing was that our trailer was in the street rather than were we usually store it ( a good 10 miles from our house ) . so they said they'd come and collect me.
meanwhile, i'm stuck in this rather dodgy area of town. i was well aware i could push the bike 100metres up the road in the other direction (the police had walked off by this point) and ride home a different route but i relised there was no point and it was just stupid.
the house i was outside kept looking out through their blinds at me and then suddenly the door was locked and the blinds closed - oh cheers!
after about 10 minutes my sister appeared with my mother in her focus but no trailer. of course, i am the only one (apart from my dad in germany) who knows how to hitch the trailer and do all of that. so we left my mother and my bike there and i went back with my sister to get the trailer. we did ring my other sister ( i have 4 sister btw ) to come out with her car (this isnt the sister who's house i'd passed earlier) to stay with my mum.
anyway, got home, and the focus driving sister had to drive the octavia as that is the only car with a tow bar...well, not only has she never driven the octavia before, but she has also never towed - talk about going in at the deep end.
we got to the bike, and loaded it up and drove home...at which point i just dumped it in the garage at midnight...almost 2 hours to cover 5 miles!!
had a look at the bike on sunday morning and it appears that a supply voltage is getting to the lights and the main headlamp bulb is ok. i changed the side lamp bulb though and it worked, until i revved the engine. given that the the bulbs are powered by the flywheel magneto that would suggest that the supply voltage is exceeding the bulbs limit. any ideas?
before i could finish sorting that out i was called away to help move a sofa and i then had to go shopping for some stuff for the prom. by the time we got back i didnt have a chance to put the bike together so had to get another lift to work.
unsure of what the problem is and knowing i couldnt get it fixed for tonight i relised i wasnt going to be riding my bike to the north-east section meeting. so came home, got ready and persuaded the whole family they wanted to go out for a pub meal.
got back from there about 9 and have only really just got round to posting this. i hope it isnt too long, but i'm pretty exhausted after it all. given that since friday morning i've only had 12 hours sleep and all of this excitment!
I need a new rubber round thing like this - know where i can get one?
An oil rig that has been built in hartlepool left yesterday morning...it was huge. lovely stuff
just a nice photo i'd share with you
skodas from tonight
this white rapid is for sale
someone say road presence?
woah, that was a long post...hope it was a mildly interesting read.
Unfortunately i had the problem with the key and not running properly. this was a combination of spark plug needing a clean and lack of petrol
so, riding to work on friday failed.
on saturday morning i cleaned the plug and put petrol in and then wasted most of the afternoon as i was looked out. Went for a ride out with my sister on 'her' 1960s Panther, came home and went to work. Got to work and finished a bit later than usual at 10.25. I put the bikes lights on and was riding home along a main road with no lighting out in the country and suddenly thought ... 'my light looks dim'. indeed, it had gone out, but my back was still working so i continued for about a mile and pulled into a housing estate where i took the lens off and inspected the connections and the bulbs and i couldnt see anything blindingly obvious. relising that riding with no front light wasnt sensible i rode about 1/4 of a mile to my sister's house but her car wasnt there so i assumed she wasnt in. instead of coming along the main road like i normally do i decided to go along recidential roads at 25mph and when i saw a car coming towards me i indicated so at least they knew something was there.
As i was riding along this road i noticed 2 men stood on the street corner...somehow i just knew who they were. A tall figure stepped out into the middle of the road and signaled for me to stop. I pulled up, lifted my visor,
'do you know why i've stopped you?'
'ah well, yes...'
hmm, first time being pulled over. i decided to admit that i knew it had happened and that there was nothing i could do and that i had to use the bike to get home. i remained friendly and calm as i was indeed in the wrong. the Police officer thankfully decided not to charge me or anything as it is an offence but said i couldnt ride home and that i would have to push it the remaining 3 miles at 10.30 at night.
'oh great!'
I rang home as i knew i was running late and my mum would be worried but just as i stated to explain what was happening my battery died. Thankfully, there was a phone box just down the road so i pushed the bike down there and called home. Another blessing was that our trailer was in the street rather than were we usually store it ( a good 10 miles from our house ) . so they said they'd come and collect me.
meanwhile, i'm stuck in this rather dodgy area of town. i was well aware i could push the bike 100metres up the road in the other direction (the police had walked off by this point) and ride home a different route but i relised there was no point and it was just stupid.
the house i was outside kept looking out through their blinds at me and then suddenly the door was locked and the blinds closed - oh cheers!
after about 10 minutes my sister appeared with my mother in her focus but no trailer. of course, i am the only one (apart from my dad in germany) who knows how to hitch the trailer and do all of that. so we left my mother and my bike there and i went back with my sister to get the trailer. we did ring my other sister ( i have 4 sister btw ) to come out with her car (this isnt the sister who's house i'd passed earlier) to stay with my mum.
anyway, got home, and the focus driving sister had to drive the octavia as that is the only car with a tow bar...well, not only has she never driven the octavia before, but she has also never towed - talk about going in at the deep end.
we got to the bike, and loaded it up and drove home...at which point i just dumped it in the garage at midnight...almost 2 hours to cover 5 miles!!
had a look at the bike on sunday morning and it appears that a supply voltage is getting to the lights and the main headlamp bulb is ok. i changed the side lamp bulb though and it worked, until i revved the engine. given that the the bulbs are powered by the flywheel magneto that would suggest that the supply voltage is exceeding the bulbs limit. any ideas?
before i could finish sorting that out i was called away to help move a sofa and i then had to go shopping for some stuff for the prom. by the time we got back i didnt have a chance to put the bike together so had to get another lift to work.
unsure of what the problem is and knowing i couldnt get it fixed for tonight i relised i wasnt going to be riding my bike to the north-east section meeting. so came home, got ready and persuaded the whole family they wanted to go out for a pub meal.
got back from there about 9 and have only really just got round to posting this. i hope it isnt too long, but i'm pretty exhausted after it all. given that since friday morning i've only had 12 hours sleep and all of this excitment!
I need a new rubber round thing like this - know where i can get one?
An oil rig that has been built in hartlepool left yesterday morning...it was huge. lovely stuff
just a nice photo i'd share with you
skodas from tonight
this white rapid is for sale
someone say road presence?
woah, that was a long post...hope it was a mildly interesting read.