I was just minding my own business.....

[Bixxer Bob]

riding over to my daughter's on Saturday.  I was crossing the fens - a few miles from anywhere - when I saw a cloud of dust thrown up in the distance.  When I got closer it turned out to be a road traffic accident involving, as far as I could see, two bikes, one parked, one in bits in the road.  There were two riders wandering about in the road, one with a bit of a limp.  I stopped, parked up and asked if everyone was ok.  The limper said yes, and the other guy went off ranting up the road in the direction I'd just come from. I went after him and eventually found a car on its side in the ditch obscured by long grass.  I grabbed the irate rider, suggested that getting involved with the car driver would make no sense and asked him to go back and look after his mate while I phoned the emergency services.  I then checked the car occupants who were by now climbing clear.  No-one looked badly hurt.

Then the limper collapsed.  Another passer-by - an off duty paramedic - stopped and got stuck in to helping him.  An ambulance turned up and closed the road completely then, after about 20 mins, the police turned up.  By then me and another guy had settled into a routine directing traffic off down a side road.  The lone constable did her best to make sense of the situation, the medics took the casualty and the road was re-opened.  The driver?  Last I saw of him he was getting a world of grief from his two passengers - his wife and his mother-in-law.

It turns out the bikes were both stationary in the centre of the road, indicators showing they were about to turn right.  They were being very careful because the lead bike ( and the subject of the accident) was being ridden by a chap in his fifties just returning to bikes.  He'd only owned the bike for 30 mins and ridden 5 miles toward home.  Just as he moved off, a car driven at speed overtook and struck his front wheel, bending the forks sideways, causing the bike to spin 360deg and throwing the rider into the road.  The car veered off the road to the right and landed in the ditch.  The driver admitted blame at the scene.

But that's not all.  On my way home from my daughter's I stopped for fuel.  On remounting, I turned on the ign, pressed the starter button and all the lights went out.  They came back on when the button was released but dimly.  B****r I thought.  The every-thirty-thousand-mile-reg/rec-stator failure strikes again.  Bloody Hondas are no better that Trumph in this area.  That's the second time in 60-odd thousand miles the 'Bird's done that to me!   An hour waiting for the breakdown truck and two hours in the cab with Glasgow Jimmy, an ex Army Provost Sgt who REALLY misses the old days.  And boy did he go on about it.  I did feel a bit sorry for him though.

Spent Sunday watching racing on telly, just to be safe!

[PeteH]

Guy was lucky..imagine the carnage if he`d turned a few seconds ealier...been very close to the same situation turning into my drive on a couple of occasions...very scarey

[Bixxer Bob]

When I was training as a CBT instructor, they wanted us to emphasise the life-saver when turning right into a side road as the most important.  I always found it the hardest to do as you have to look  well over your shoulder to see properly and that is difficult if you are pulling away and turning at the same time.  Just goes to show though.....

[John Stenhouse]

It's the old Arab curse: May you live in interesting times!


How much are the Regs for the Bird?

[Bixxer Bob]

I get all my "bird spares from Jaws in Thetford.  Well known specialist in the Bird world. How many dealers do you know would post £150 of spares special delivery before he'd even received the cheque? John is a top bloke.  I was stranded 150 miles from home and needed the parts in a hurry.

Look here: http://www.jaws-motorcycles.co.uk/birdextra.htm#alt2

[Sin_Tiger]

It's the old Arab curse: May you live in interesting times.

Actually its an old Chinese curse.

The old Arab curse is "achgf dicthg guramasala" 

Blimey John, they must put the word out when you go for a ride 

[John Stenhouse]

OOPPS! sorry folks I get my wucking furds muddled often

[blacktiger]

I have to say that those Reg/Rectifiers look exactly the same now as they did when I started riding in the 70s. Does one company have a patent on them or something because it doesn't matter what bike you buy, there it is, the same bloody pile of crap. It's about time they got it right, FFS! 

[metalguru]

MOSPHETS are the way to go nowadays.....Late Yamaha R1s are a particularly good vintage with decent connectors and don't get hot. Very worthwhile mod to rid the old shunt type RRs.

[Bixxer Bob]

While picking up the battery from Jaws,I was asking John about his replacement alternators. Surprisingly, his are slightly smaller, not bigger, than standard. Logic is they dissipate heat better so last longer. Fitted the battery and have 12.8v engine off and 14.3v engine on regardless of load so all is well (touch wood)....