yen_powell

I'll let you know, I have something coming from Poland. 3D printed handguard extenders.

I think I had a loan to buy a bike from them once.

Just had an email from across the pond apologising and offering to Fedex a replacement bolt today. I can't argue with the speed of response seeing as I only emailed on Saturday afternoon.

I think I will, thank you for the link. I normally press the bolts together and the threads fit together, locking into each other.

I thought I would fit my Altrider bash plate today. I had everything set up. Attempted to give myself a hernia moving the bike ramp more to the centre of the garage to give more room around the front of the bike and then on attempt number 5 managed to get the XT onto it with a shorter run up than usual. Had the music on, a cup of tea, really good paper instructions and I'd watched the installation video which is most excellent. I was all set. Firstly. off came the plastic excuse for a bash plate, then the two alloy brackets that it mounts to, all going well, tea only halfway down, bagged the bits and labelled them. Then the next task was to remove the two allen bolts holding the side stand bracket on. I started hopefully with a ratchet and and allen bit socket. Hmmmm, that seems a bit tight. Switched to a 3/8 breaker bar. More hmmmmming, the breaker bar was starting to curve a little and a small vein was showing on my forehead I reckon. The I got out that impact driver, the really cheap one I got in my teens, at a market probably. Much kerbangingin time to the music but nothing is moving. Time for the next stage, Roxette by Dr Feelgood came on just as I plugged in my B&Q electric paint stripper and gave one of the bolts a going over for about 30 seconds, back in with the impact driver and club hammer, nothing. Then a full minute of heat gun and tried again, it started to move thank god. A minute on the other one and that started to move. At one point I though the bike would rotate the opposite way if I put any more force into my hammer. Removed the two bolts and bagged them when they were cool. Side stand now only supported by the electrical connection, so I found something for it lay on and switched sides to the exhaust hanger bolts that needed to come out. Tea now drunk, Nightboat to Cairo by Madness is playing, love that song. A 10mm bolt about 4 inches long and a smaller 8mm bolt came out with no arguments. Time to start fitting the first bash plate bracket bolts in their place. I found the two replacement bolts which are slightly longer to allow for the thickness of the brackets. The larger one goes in and I start to turn it, but it doesn't feel right. I always put bolts in by hand so as not to wreck a thread and it wouldn't even start. I took it back out and compared it to the Yamaha original. I'm no thread expert and I have middle aged eyes these days but the pitch looked closer together on the original bolt. Bad picture below, the grubby one is obviously the original bolt. I found a nut that would run down the Altrider bolt, it wouldn't go near the Yamaha one. Anyway, out came the plastic bags and I refitted everything. I've emailed the manufacturer for advice. Worst case scenario, I buy my own bolt, but I could have wrecked the thread on the bike if I'd gone in gung ho with a ratchet.

Braintree

Up the road from me is a place called Furneaux Pelham. Never known how that is pronounced. Do you say the X (Furnex) or say it like a French person would which I am only assuming is Furno.

I gathered from the locals attempting to communicate that the ferry had been out of action for a long time and I was lucky it was actually up and running. I'd never been to Bungay before so as I say, I just tore a page out of an old AA map and headed cross country. My mate, for reasons known only to himself, had just uprooted himself and moved there because he could buy a bigger house, He had no job to go to, his wife was still working in Barking so they ended up staying at her parents in Dagenham and visiting their house only at weekends???? When he told me where he had moved to I thought he was making the name up or mispronouncing it! Thought I would drop in on my way home.

It was a bit of a shock to me, I was expecting just a country lane not a body of water to get across.

I think he had a couple of striped bikes at one point. I met him one lunchtime in Greenwich and he'd turned up on a push bike, he loves 2 wheels. He's also a member of the XRV 2 stroke club, we both had one whilst owning an XRV, only he was riding in France when he had his.

Aha, found the pics on my back up drive.

Possibly! It was on a camp site with very warm weather despite it being nearly winter and in the evening there was a fog so dense I got lost walking back to my tent. I rode to Bungay afterwards using a torn out page of an AA road atlas which seemed to show a direct route but was a bit misleading. Ended up on a very small ferry for a pound (Reedham?).

I've ridden that in a 'going slow between the cones' competition somewhere on the Norfolk Broads. I was trying to do it on my glitchy Varadero which did not like slow riding until I added a power commando and I asked to try again on Chris's bike. The winner rode a bloody Varadero!!!!!!!! I have video of it somewhere, the bloke just stopped all the time and stayed still without putting his feet down, it was amazing to watch. Sadly he died on the same bike later on I heard.

Is that Whealies old bike?

I think I may have already told you about the time they put a health testing machine in our town hall for a few weeks. I put my money in and stood on the scales. The instructions were in tiny writing and I bent down to see that it said to press this large red button which I did not knowing that this measured my height as it was pressed. The piece of paper it printed out said I was 12 stone but only 4 feet 8 inches tall and I was morbidly obese. I did it a few weeks later properly this time, a vast improvement and without even dieting or going to a gym.

Flares on the kickstart era!

They look like a trip hazard to me!

Laugharne?

We had a rough cockney sort working with us, called Big Al. Big Al was missing a belly button from a machete wound, got that during his bouncer days in south London apparently. He took a liking to Bobby and loved to hear his stories. One day Bobby was talking about various musicians and suddenly said, "You know George Melly once tried to pick me up on a tube train." Big Al considered this for a second before replying, "What 'appened Bobby boy, d'you fall over pissed?" "Oh no." say Bobby, "I was a much better looking chap in my youth".

I'd forgotten about Greeb and Grebo.

I also got called a headbanger.

When I were a lad in a leather jacket, the word for us was Grobs. This was applied to bike jacketed people who liked certain music, nothing to do with motorbikes, although a lot of them had one. The word is used on the small writing on the back of the Iron Maiden album from the 80s (Number of the Beast I think).