Build it and they will come, fear it enough and they’ll burn it down.

It was moments after taking this picture that I realised she wasn’t going to start again. I already knew that the starter was playing up and initially had left the engine running then decided that in the heat with no air flow this would soon cause other problems. I turned her off. I took some photos, I stretched my lungs, I put my jacket, helmet, gloves and rucksack back on then, click, rat-a-tat-a-tat-a went the solenoid as the gear failed to engage the starter ring in productive conversation.

Continue reading “Day 21 Stranded in the desert” →

Once again slow out of the blocks this morning, Her Majesties Revenues and Customs sent me a menacing reminder that my VAT return was due and I panicked and tried to submit one a month early. They and I should really chill out.

Linda was my Uber host on the way in, I’d like to give her a tip, courtesy of Jim Morrison, “keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheeeeal”, it was my fault, I found a mobile phone on the rear seat as I got in and that was a big distraction.

I arrived at the diner too late to catch Joe but not to late to engage with Ben in conversation about the NRA, the Muslims and the threat that the Democrats present to the United States, I just had a coffee. Vernon arrived and we talked a lot about WW2 naval battles.

Continue reading “Day 6 The Mail Lady only knocks once” →

Drama fans look away now, this was a quiet day.

A slow start at the new hotel, nestled between the freeway and the railroad tracks, which is cool because the infrequent trains do that lonesome wailing horn thing, music to my ears even as it echos off the Tuxedo warehouse next door. The pool is covered and looks like a buried trampoline, presumable because it gets a lot hotter than this and people appreciate a seasonal change even if only from English summer hot to scorching inferno.

I was a little tardy heading in to Joe’s because I needed to send a begging email to Roland at http://sparepartsco.us/# explaining my gearbox woes and requesting parts help. “What shall we do about the begging letters?” asked the lottery winner’s wife, “keep sending them” he replied.

Continue reading “Day 5 Shopping with Joe and Casey” →

I promised insight into Italian motorcycle mechanics, I didn’t pledge any drama.

30 odd years ago the gear shift return spring broke on the gearbox leaving the lever flopping about like the proverbial and a chunk of spring steel floating around the gearbox. It happened again today. This time instead of resting, quietly, away from the spinning gears the detached section engaged in noisy conversation with one or more of them.

I stopped on the outskirts of East Petersburg to assess the situation and was presented with the first consequence. To get the bike onto the center stand it needs to be rolled backwards about a foot, it declined. This is a problem because without the center stand I have to support the bike and luggage or lay it down. It appeared that the errant metal was wedged in such a way as to act like a ratchet pawl on one of the final drive gears, connected directly to the back wheel. I could roll forwards but not back.

Continue reading “Day 2 Not so Good Saturday” →