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CHAPTER FIVE - 26
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Although I
have not shown it, but the top cross bar shown in the rear view
is cable tied to the seat supports. Once this is attached, the
rack is not going anywhere. The one problem that I did not
foresee is that the bottom crossbar, although it is not near the
mudguard, rubbed off the paint; this happened because with all
the weight that the rack was carrying and the bumps on the road,
it pulled the seat down and knocked the mudguard now and again.
I will rectify the problem by raising the bottom crossbar, easy. |
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I did however
see another potential problem, and that was with the weight on
either side the rack, it would rub against the rear shocks. To
prevent this happening I welded a bolt on the frame in line with
the shock absorber top bolt and found a rubber block, drilled a
small hole in it and then pushed the block onto the bolt. Any
movement in the rack would now be pushed against the bolt and
not paintwork. |
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Once
the bike was loaded it wasn’t too bad, a little unorthodox, but who
cares, it works.
I
only stopped once on the way there, to give the now lifeless bum a rest,
and I happened to come across a convenient roadside burger van. I
promptly said to the vendor “a cup of tea and one of your best bacon
rolls please my good man”. I said this in my best gentleman’s voice,
just to confuse him of course. He looked at me and must have seen that I
was taking the p--- out of someone and he tipped his head and said
“coming right up me-lord” in a deep Berkshire accent. I was a bit
taken-a-back to see the cup of tea; I think it may have been about six
drips off the gallon, or about 3 bladder full's, and the bacon roll!
Well,
you have never seen a bacon roll such as this one, it was huge, and it
took me all of 5 minutes to eat it, it was horrible? 8 rashers of bacon
in the roll some of which were cooked crispy and some tenderly cooked.
Of course it was covered in hot melting butter with sauce over the
bacon, and when you bit into it the sauce was pushed out the sides, can
you just imagine that being forced in me. I desperately tried to say, “I
can’t eat that” for about a millisecond and I then succumbed to the
overwhelming smell of the roll, (apologies to all those who do not touch
pork products), but it was fantastic.
I
really stopped to feel the temperature of the engine, front and rear
hubs just to see if they were binding at all. I also checked for
possible loose bits, as a first run can judder bits loose. I was
particularly aware that the bike felt like it was driving on ice some of
the way; it was a strange sensation, just like it was trying to get away
from you. I really noticed it when driving over road repairs and that
sort of thing.
I made
it to Banbury in 3 hours, not bad for a slow drive, and once I stopped
outside F2 Motorcycles a large sigh of relief came over me, at the same
time as asking for the nearest toilet, I think I was close to bursting
with all that tea. |
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