Mixed bag weather wise but Saturday was a scorcher and for those of us getting rather thin on top it was a choice of either wear a hat or burn your scalp (the Sunday morning shower felt like someone loaded the nozzle with needles -
).I rode down on Thurs after starting work early to allow an afternoon ride and so avoid the rush hour M25 traffic and get the tent up before dark. It was Sluggy's first rally with his new motor and tank/seat arrangement and I'm happy to report that he's running like a champ and the tractor saddle is very comfortable. I do believe there may be a future with this new fangled electric starting malarky. I didn't even loose any nuts or bolts in the 70 mile run so perhaps balancer shafts also have a future.
Ah - I did loose the rubber tip off the RH footrest as the new motor mount subframe seems to have removed the central hinge from the frame too so I have found that dragging the foot pegs around corners is now possible.
My usual micro tent that I use for bike camping was flattened a few weeks previously on a rather wet-n-windy C90 run to Barmouth, happily it's replacement has proven water tight and easy to erect as all the poles are erected externally and the material part simply clips underneath.
We had 3 repairs required to the bikes on site; an SV650 with blown reg/rec which also took out the battery; Jeff deserves a round of applause for driving all the way to Brighton for replacement parts on Friday. The second was some electrical woes for the Robin/Matchless on Saturday, it would start on the electric starter but then the main fuse would blow immediately. There were multiple cables that had melted but applications of tape seemed to do the job along with a dozen fuses for testing and spares. The main cause was the loom being trapped between the tank and frame. Lastly Les arrived on foot after leaving his bike in Wisborough Green (he had also pushed it several hundred yards to find a safe parking spot outside the village shop). The problem turned out to be a loose rocker bar which caused a pushrod to jump off it's seat - something to watch out for if you have a Yanma clone as that bar is only held by a single large bolt and this is not the first I've heard off coming loose. Still no harm done and we soon had his bike running once more.
I dipped out of the ride on Sat as my back was playing up a bit but at least the time wasn't wasted and mechanical repairs took it's place after a few painkillers.
Learning points from this year:
1) Kubota twins are the new 'in vogue' motor.
2) Placing an inflatable sofa too close to the fire is not the best idea.
3) SV650's deserve their reputation for eating reg/rec's
4) Never buy a Dneiper unless you have capabilities to reline the brake drums annually; (and I do mean drums and not shoes).
5) A watched kettle never boils (time increases exponentially with the number of eye's looking)
6) A Batman 'Onesie' is not suitable campsite bedwear. (Not mine you understand)
7) Female + Chocolate = friend for life
The pub has much improved facilities for camping and very welcome they were too, there are washing up facilities too but I didn't find them 'till Sunday - good job I was eating in the Pub/cafe up 'till then.
My thanks to Jeff for manning the BBQ and donning the chef's hat - above and beyond the call of duty that one, Stu for the organisation and T shirts and everyone else for making it a grand occasion once more.
