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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:05:50 GMT 1
I think there were about 14 of us in a commer van when it broke down on the M2, on the way to a bike show at ally pally, we coasted it down a big hill with people hanging out the back, on the roof and hanging over the front. The police stopped our antics but all they did was laugh, after asking where we were going said, well you’re not now and don’t move. When they went we carried on and found an unlock access get onto a backroad so was better to recover. It pays to have a lot of pushing power. Still went, on the train.
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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:11:45 GMT 1
Commer vans are good for setting the ignition timing as the engine was accessed through a cover inside the van , twisting the distributor while driving
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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:28:26 GMT 1
Steve, never realised they did use antifreeze. If there’s one single important thing on a bike, it’s grip. But having said that, if the grip is bad but consistent and not a spillage, I think you learn more than never having bad grip.
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Post by steve h on May 21, 2020 22:28:43 GMT 1
They were noisy b*****ds....Commers
Plastic rats were a much more ermm exciting form of transport.. especially when the front suspension collapses. Thankfully it wasn't flat out on the motorway like it had been a day previously.
Flat out? a placcy rat?... Don't laugh, the bloody thing used to go "off" the speedo. The look on motorists faces was hilarious. (More a look of horror than adulation...)
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Post by steve h on May 21, 2020 22:30:27 GMT 1
Steve, never realised they did use antifreeze. If there’s one single important thing on a bike, it’s grip. But having said that, if the grip is bad but consistent and not a spillage, I think you learn more than never having bad grip. We never gave 2 hoots about grip. Was only a problem when you didn't have any... |
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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:32:13 GMT 1
They were noisy b*****ds.... Plastic rats were a much more ermm exciting form of transport.. especially when the front suspension collapses. Thankfully it wasn't flat out on the motorway like it had been a day previously. Flat out? a placcy rat?... Don't laugh, the bloody thing used to go "off" the speedo. The look on motorists faces was hilarious. (More a look of horror than adulation...) If your talking about the same thing, loads got rolled , in one a passenger was asleep and didn’t wake up |
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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:34:19 GMT 1
They were noisy b*****ds.... Plastic rats were a much more ermm exciting form of transport.. especially when the front suspension collapses. Thankfully it wasn't flat out on the motorway like it had been a day previously. Flat out? a placcy rat?... Don't laugh, the bloody thing used to go "off" the speedo. The look on motorists faces was hilarious. (More a look of horror than adulation...) If your talking about the same thing, loads got rolled , in one a passenger was asleep and didn’t wake up One mate rolled his then cut what was left of the top to make a cabriolet. They were quick enough to embarrass a few bikes, esp downhill |
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Post by steve h on May 21, 2020 22:36:32 GMT 1
They were noisy b*****ds.... Plastic rats were a much more ermm exciting form of transport.. especially when the front suspension collapses. Thankfully it wasn't flat out on the motorway like it had been a day previously. Flat out? a placcy rat?... Don't laugh, the bloody thing used to go "off" the speedo. The look on motorists faces was hilarious. (More a look of horror than adulation...) If your talking about the same thing, loads got rolled , in one a passenger was asleep and didn’t wake up Yeah same thing. I could never sleep in one...too terrified. Had one in a shed for years given to us as an mot failure when the owner upgraded to a kitten............................ Got smashed up in an attempt to make a trailer...sadly. |
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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:39:06 GMT 1
Or they were turned into trikes. Thought had left all that behind but an enthusiast at work injured his foot and I drove him the 40 miles home in one.
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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:41:26 GMT 1
Probably the funniest was a learner who was taking lessons in one. Well, it was funny following in another car until he stalled it on a hill and nearly rolled back into my Opel manta
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Post by steve h on May 21, 2020 22:44:04 GMT 1
Or they were turned into trikes. Thought had left all that behind but an enthusiast at work injured his foot and I drove him the 40 miles home in one. "An enthusiast"......................you would have to unstable to be an "enthusiast" for a pencil sharpener!! |
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Post by hoist1 on May 21, 2020 22:58:32 GMT 1
Or they were turned into trikes. Thought had left all that behind but an enthusiast at work injured his foot and I drove him the 40 miles home in one. "An enthusiast"......................you would have to unstable to be an "enthusiast" for a pencil sharpener!! Well he was a bit strange. I car shared on the way in and I lived closest to him. I didn’t mind really and being older and a bit more sensible knew I would get it back in one piece. Someone had one of the bugs and paid a fortune for insurance. |
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Post by hoist1 on May 22, 2020 12:22:34 GMT 1
Horses and me. Was born in and grew up in a house opposite a horse paddock as frontage for a massive house that had a house sized greenhouse attached to it , the plot was perhaps 5 acres . The spinster school teacher that lived there was very easy going, it’s possible my dad thought so too as he would tend to the many horses that she kept. She would give me homework in English and maths and felt she did a better job than the ones at school. She had a friend who had land bordering a zoo and would take us to see the animals. We could take out any horse as long as we cleaned any tack and put it away, quite often though would just bridle them up without a saddle. Would have been dangerous to ride in the paddock amongst the others so would take them a short distance to ride in a massive park where I would later ride bikes, my older sister would meet a lad there and wander off leaving me free to ride his bsa 250 whatever it was. Was without permission but I bet it was the unspoken price of my silence. Anyway at 11 or whatever would ride anything up to a cart horse called nemo so became used to being around horses. Fast forward to when I met my first wife when she was 16, she had 2 ponies, one was a cantankerous new forest pony that in later years would highside my daughter and a nephew resulting in broken collarbones. We moved into a farm cottage when she was 18 and built a stables in the garden, was ok with that, I mean, they were her world. Thought she was ok with me having a bike, but no. Over the years we had 2 children and the ponies were joined by a proper horse. Then a goat. We already had a dog, when she got it she asked and I said no, it appeared anyway and it was ok. That turned into a second, a third and so on. Up to six or seven I think. Think there were at least as many cats, also various caged rodents and the odd wild bird. A pigeon was a story in itself. I still was ok with things and as she still didn’t drive would take her to horse shows having to hire horse boxes galore. Then there was the twice a week dog training lessons, would drop her off, go home get the bike out, ride it a while then go pick her up. Winters could be bad so bikes, well one at a time, would be tucked up for months on end not costing anything. Horses on the other hand plus the other animals had vets bills and had to be fed constantly. Was still ok about it, my riding went off and I sold my bike and was resigned to being without one. This was November or so, by January was getting withdrawal and spotted a 4LO in the paper at £500. Was broke for some reason but a good mate fronted the money and I was back in business, bike was great but wasn’t appreciated by the wife and in September came home from work to find everything gone . Must have been like a military operation and well planned, there was someone else but 6 months later she wanted to return, frying pan and fires come to mind. Didn’t think was fair on the children esp if she went again, and the trust was gone. Never ran her down to my son and daughter but things filtered back about me like not clearing up dog crap! Never held it against her but things could have been so much different, still don’t mind horses but they don’t belong on the road. So that foxy chick on a horse any of you are thinking of running after, run for your life, in the other direction.
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Post by hoist1 on May 22, 2020 20:38:10 GMT 1
Was watching a motorcycle news superbike round at Brands Hatch in the 70s, a bunch of us were watching from a corner at the back of the long circuit. One had nipped off on his RD250C it think it was. When he returned he arrived a bit quick and lost the front on the grass and knocked over the nearest bike which was something like a gold wing, which then ended up with half a dozen over. No real harm done, didn’t really have faired bikes then, embarrassing for him though in front of quite a crowd. One of the crowd was a bloke who used to attend the GPs and big British meetings dressed like an Arab sheikh, can’t for the life of me remember his name but think he could have been a bike journalist
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Post by hoist1 on May 24, 2020 6:04:38 GMT 1
Good start to the day watching woodpeckers clear the garden of noisy starlings.
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