0
0
Slow Going in My world
Let’s start with the excuses! Ed leaves me to myself usually, expecting me to be on the ball and get my column in by the due date, what a laugh!
A teenager who gets something done without being nagged repeatedly is like an old British bike that starts without being kicked repeatedly, few and far between. Dave has tuned and tickled me up, and has got the knack to a tee, giving me just enough notice to get it done, but not so much that it sits at the bottom of the to do list and never makes its way to the top. Sorry for the lack of boy biker last month, I hope I was sorely missed!
The last two months have been rather bland in my riding world, busy-ness in work, life and play meant the bike has been a tool, used to and from work and largely forgotten about for the rest of the time. It has run fine and dandy, like its usual economical self. My speedo plays up so it’s hard to get an accurate measurement, but with the carb tuned to politely sip, I would estimate that it matches the 100+ mpg’s of a modern 125cc. At out of town speeds it is a little thirstier but still amazes me when I give the tank a shake test and see loads sloshing about after a good three-hour ride.
The low down revs cleared a hell of a lot after washing two years of grime out of the air filter. It pulls away much more readily and just sounds a lot more like it should! The poor thing must’ve been gasping like a nonce in Mothercare. Such a simple operation, so easily ignored.
I treated the ally mag wheels to a half-arsed clean with a stiff brush, just enough to see some silver, and gave the tank a once over with a cloth and soap. It’s amazing how far a little TLC goes, the following Monday I proudly mounted up, I hadn’t felt proud of this bike all year. Giving the bike a chance to catch the light properly really improved the overall look, it still looked tatty, just a good tatty, like the girl who looks a bit of rough, but is still massively attractive! No… just me then…?
Aside from doing up a few loose bolts that was about it, I haven’t had the enthusiastic energy to chase after machines well out of my league, nor the confidence in my own reactions to go play in the traffic with bikes I can handle (generally 350cc or smaller!).
These dreary months taught me that it’s not all ups and downs. It ain’t always heads down arse up, the cops don’t always get nasty and the bike doesn’t always go wrong! At first I was pissed at the biking gods for not providing any interesting inspiration, not one ‘flies in my teeth’ or ‘hair raising’ ride. No 3am drag races or 7am commuter scooter chases. No knee down all the way corners and no ten-metre wheelies struggling to keep it together.
Then suddenly it struck me like a 2 stroke hitting its power band. ZING! Why spend every month tearing around waiting for something to happen! Not only is that dangerous and stupid but it’s unrealistic. Life is like a racetrack, fast bits, slow bits, tricky bits and every now and then, boring bits where nothing happens!
So sorry to all you out there who have grown to expect something exciting from this boy biker each month, but sometimes the magic happens and sometimes it doesn’t! Until next month, you stay safe, and I’ll get reckless in search of a story! Na, seriously, I hope you all get around as boringly as I do!
