Drive It Day

www.london-motorcycle-museum.org 

Sunday April 21^st 2013

Back at the Museum for another Monday on the LE after another busy weekend. It started on Friday with the MoT for the LE. I had checked it over last Sunday, changing the oil, a rare occasion, for some Valvoline Racing SAE 0-60 which I have found really good for old engines. I also fitted a new battery. It was a cheapy that cooked itself from the word go with an initial charge of 6amp. I stopped the charging and then put it on a low level top up charge. It fizzed away far too much so I left it to settle over night. At a thought I checked the voltage and it only produced 8.3volts. It would never charge properly and was cooking itself. It was faulty! It still worked but the lights and horn were shadows of their former selves. I contacted M&P where I had bought the battery this morning and they said there was no warranty on it! They said “there was no warranty on any electrical goods now” I pointed out the error! The representative I spoke to would not give me a replacement battery. This has to go further. So after fitting the duff battery I headed off to Jack Lilys for the MoT. I arrive far too early and I take some time to talk to passing customers and hand out fliers.

 I have been there so many times promoting the museum they all know me and I feel part of their family. Some even want to know what I have been up to. I leave more fliers at the tea bar and head home missing the few spots of rain that fell as the LE boiled its way back to Hayes. Saturday was a shopping day and final checks of the car for Sundays’ Drive It Day. Up early with camera and fliers in hand we go to the starting point at Denby’s Vineyard near Dorking and meet up with old friends in the car park there. Its 10am and rows of Citroen are assembling, representatives from the Citroen Car Club, Traction Owners and 2CV. Gita does a little shopping and I leave fliers at the reception.

 They are happy to put them on display. We are off at 10:45 heading out on the A25 through Reigate and Godstone to Chartwell where we assemble again in rows at the National Trust car park. It was very busy, the nice weather seems to have brought everyone out and I would have preferred to have been on my bike to enjoy this Sunday sunshine. I have remembered our National Trust cards and we have avoided a long queue to get in. Today it is so busy we are given an entry time to view the house so we have enough time to have lunch in the cafeteria. Richard did offer to share his picnic with us as he had brought enough for a coach load. If the cafeteria had been full we would have been back! After lunch we walked around the grounds and back for our time slot for entry to the house. The house had been the home of Winston Churchill and viewing the collection of recent history I can remember some of it from my childhood. Churchill was an avid painter and after viewing some of his 500 paintings in the studio we were in need of a “nice cup of tea” at the cafeteria. I left some fliers with one of the staff who would have to check with someone first but thought it would be OK to display them. 

We headed home in a short convoy with Richard who has a 2CV around the M25 as the quickest route home. In all it had been a very pleasant day with friends and like minded people.