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Advanced Exhaustion
Jun. 10th, 2008 09:39 amSo, yesterday after my nights I took the 'zed into Burwin. In what could have been a foolhardy decision instead of riding home after my nights, I rode to London. Islington, actually. It didn't *entirely* go smoothly. In fact, smoothly is about the one thing it didn't go.
The ride in was lovely, apart from one Taxi driver attempting to drive through me (as they are wont to do in London)... I was quite enjoying it. The congestion charge's transformed riding in London. It's still busy, but it's really not nearly so unpleasant. My hayfever wasn't even too bad...
...and then I got to the junction of Holland Road with Holland Park Lane; the engine did it's rev-so-low-as-to-nearly-stall (as 2 strokes are occasionally wont to do) and I tweaked the throttle. But what was odd, to me, was that I tweaked it and the engine revs came up for less time than I was holding it. Odd, I thought, and tweaked it again. This time there was no change in revs. More 2-stroke-smoke, but no more revs.
Thinking quickly, I paddled out the way of the traffic and looked. The throttle cable had snapped at the point where it enters the twist-grip. Cursing, and being tired, I thought... Call the AA? RAC? But the traffic was bad enough it'd probably take them an hour to meet me and another hour and half to get loaded up and from there to Burwin's.
Then a (supposedly) cunning thought crossed my mind. It's an MZ, I thought. The throttle cable and the choke cable might well be the same... or at least, close enough to bodge. Off came the choke cable, and the end of it? The same. The other end, what would be the twist grip end was bigger, but I reckoned it would do. What I neglected to check (and should have, obviously) is the length. After some cursing I got it fitted - took about 25 minutes - and lo, the bike ran at an idle of around 7000 rpm.
Not, exactly ideal. Then I thought, well, I don't really want to call the RAC or AA out (after a little more cursing, about myself this time), and I thought - I know - I need to get a Travelcard anyhow; I'll get the tube to Burwin, get the cable, come back and get the bike. About 2 hours later I got back to the bike, soaked in sweat and incredibly tired.
I put the bike together properly in about another 20 minutes, swapped the choke cable back over and headed off. Having pulled up outside Burwin I gave them the work-list and headed off. Stopping by Infinity Motorcycles on the way home (this was some-time after I'd been awake 24 hours) and getting a new Helmet. Finally I made it home; Kathryn and I then nipped out to get some odds and sods, before I collapsed on the sofa. I'd been surprisingly bright all day, but suddenly the amassed forces of the previous 28 or so hours knocked on the door and when I opened it lept me. I have to say that even after sleeping fairly soundly (apart from waking up at 2:30am because of hayfever, spending about 30-40 minutes awake trying to persuade my body that breathing would be handy) I feel like death warmed up today. I've got a dentist's appointment, and I need to go to the bank. That's about all I'm going to get done.
I am, however, distressed to hear that my bike failed it's MOT - the front wheelbearing is shot, the fork-seal has apparently failed badly enough that they can't let it pass, and the brake master cylinder (which I knew needed replacing) needs replacing. The engine issue, which is what I took it down there for, well, it's under investigation. As my currently *only* form of transport I need it back, working, asap, really.
The ride in was lovely, apart from one Taxi driver attempting to drive through me (as they are wont to do in London)... I was quite enjoying it. The congestion charge's transformed riding in London. It's still busy, but it's really not nearly so unpleasant. My hayfever wasn't even too bad...
...and then I got to the junction of Holland Road with Holland Park Lane; the engine did it's rev-so-low-as-to-nearly-stall (as 2 strokes are occasionally wont to do) and I tweaked the throttle. But what was odd, to me, was that I tweaked it and the engine revs came up for less time than I was holding it. Odd, I thought, and tweaked it again. This time there was no change in revs. More 2-stroke-smoke, but no more revs.
Thinking quickly, I paddled out the way of the traffic and looked. The throttle cable had snapped at the point where it enters the twist-grip. Cursing, and being tired, I thought... Call the AA? RAC? But the traffic was bad enough it'd probably take them an hour to meet me and another hour and half to get loaded up and from there to Burwin's.
Then a (supposedly) cunning thought crossed my mind. It's an MZ, I thought. The throttle cable and the choke cable might well be the same... or at least, close enough to bodge. Off came the choke cable, and the end of it? The same. The other end, what would be the twist grip end was bigger, but I reckoned it would do. What I neglected to check (and should have, obviously) is the length. After some cursing I got it fitted - took about 25 minutes - and lo, the bike ran at an idle of around 7000 rpm.
Not, exactly ideal. Then I thought, well, I don't really want to call the RAC or AA out (after a little more cursing, about myself this time), and I thought - I know - I need to get a Travelcard anyhow; I'll get the tube to Burwin, get the cable, come back and get the bike. About 2 hours later I got back to the bike, soaked in sweat and incredibly tired.
I put the bike together properly in about another 20 minutes, swapped the choke cable back over and headed off. Having pulled up outside Burwin I gave them the work-list and headed off. Stopping by Infinity Motorcycles on the way home (this was some-time after I'd been awake 24 hours) and getting a new Helmet. Finally I made it home; Kathryn and I then nipped out to get some odds and sods, before I collapsed on the sofa. I'd been surprisingly bright all day, but suddenly the amassed forces of the previous 28 or so hours knocked on the door and when I opened it lept me. I have to say that even after sleeping fairly soundly (apart from waking up at 2:30am because of hayfever, spending about 30-40 minutes awake trying to persuade my body that breathing would be handy) I feel like death warmed up today. I've got a dentist's appointment, and I need to go to the bank. That's about all I'm going to get done.
I am, however, distressed to hear that my bike failed it's MOT - the front wheelbearing is shot, the fork-seal has apparently failed badly enough that they can't let it pass, and the brake master cylinder (which I knew needed replacing) needs replacing. The engine issue, which is what I took it down there for, well, it's under investigation. As my currently *only* form of transport I need it back, working, asap, really.
