This year.......started out same time,6.15 Thursday morning. All was well until we got just outside Oxford. My son, Adam, thought he had another rear blow out but no his wheel had come off! Luckily it just dropped onto the rear hub. On inspection it was found that the hub nut was loose, the hub was red hot and so the alloy wheel nuts had come off. Now on further investigation it was found that the nice new shiny stainless steel hub nut he had fitted, loctited and torqued correctly, was too shallow. Although it had reached the correct torque it had not fully gripped the hub. The locking ring was still on but the M7 grub screw was gone. We limped to a local garage where the guys there ground a washer down to fit under the hub nut, to give extra depth, cut down one of my hub extractor bolts and put extra thread on it to make a screw to fit the locking washer. Loctited and torqued up we made the ferry with seconds to go.
Friday......off to the parts fair and new hub, cone, locking ring and hub nut were purchased. Then off to Halfords and a torque wrench and loctite bought. These were fitted at the hotel and all was well.....or so we thought. Later that evening a strong smell of petrol was evident around Stuarts TV, sure enough the fuel tank was leaking from the seam!
Saturday......off to the parts fair. Second hand tank purchased and fitted.
A good look round the show then we set of to meet up with some mates. A mile down the road and my electronic coil packed up! Stuart had a spare but back at the hotel. So off he went to return later and we were back on the road.
Sunday........off to the parts fair. Purchased a new coil and fitted. Off we went to watch the ride out. Great so we tagged on the end. About a 100 yards up the road and Adams throttle cable snapped! Replaced the cable then off again.
At the end of the day we though we would fuel up ready for the return ride Monday. We all have AF Rayspeed alloy wheels and tubless tyres fitted. Stuart checked his, ok. Adam check his, ok. My back one, ok. Put the air line on my front one and the tyre went flat! It seems that for some reason my front valve stem is only about a quarter of an inch long, so long enough to let air out but not long enough to seal to put air in. A big thanks to the guy in the Iveco camper who stopped and pumped my tyre up with his £5 Aldi 12v pump.
Monday........9.15 and pissing down. Soaked by the time we got to the ferry. Docked at Southampton and Stuarts bike will not start. So pushed off the ferry and in the pouring rain we change the plug and coil.
Off we go. 70 miles later we stop for food and fuel. By this time my scooter seems be performing a bit erratically! I have to twist the throttle numerous times in quick succession to get it to accelerate. Still we fuel up and have some food and off we go. A mile up the road on the dual carriageway and Adams clutch cable snaps. The cable is replaced on the grass verge. On we go. Still pissing down.
Now my scooter has a Rayspeed clubman exhaust on and has always been loud but it just seemed to be getting louder. I though it was just me being tired and pissed off but no, we got to Balsall Common and my engine revved its tits off! It seems I had lost both exhaust studs and nuts.....game over.
I called my mate and told him to come and pick me up. Adam and Stuart carried on and got home about 7.30. I had to wait slowly freezing to death until a passing dog walker took pity on me and invited me in for a cup of tea. Thanks Richard and Sally.
Now we have recovered we can laugh about it. All problems sorted and can't wait for next year!
Carry on scootering, Andy.
