Ally Pally Show Part 1

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7^th to 8^th September 2013.

As advertised it was supposed to take place in April but was cancelled and having promised to support the LE Owners Club then I could not refuse now. Paul and Ron had helped a great deal to make the Southern Classic Bike show in May and I had collected all the stand props from Chris at the previous club night. We were able to set up the stand from 10am on Friday. My plan was to get there as early as I could with the Valiant, come home by public transport then go back in the car with the props to meet up with Paula and Ron at 5pm to set up the stand. Unfortunately the weather got in the way and I postponed riding the Valiant to the show until Saturday morning. That meant I had a really early start to ensure I got to the show in plenty of time before it opened at 10am.

It was wet in the morning and I missed the rain that arrived as I arrived at the show. It had only taken 40 minutes following a lorry at a modest 35 to 40mph around the North Circular. Ron and Paul arrived about 9am. A mug of tea and we were ready for the day. The doors opened at 10 and a few people came in and our day of PRing for the club and the museum began. It was slow and many people complained about value for money. I said to a number of people it was better at the Museum. By 11:30 the first of the stunt displays in the arena next to us had finished and the music from the disco also near us was so loud we couldn’t hear what people were saying. I was losing my voice and when asked they did move the speakers away from us and turned the sound down enough for us to have a sensible conversation with any one passing. Many of the questions were about the LE cutaway engine and gearbox borrowed for the weekend from the Museum. We had the BSA Bantam owners club next to us and just across the way was the Two Stroke owners club. It was a bit disappointing as these were the only bike clubs at the show. Others had promised to come but not turned up.

There were some interesting bikes at the show, a little desmo Ducati that had been well restored and a 125 water cooled DKW racer that was scarily fast and with only 4inch brakes! I guess it was because you wanted to carry as much corner as you could so you didn’t need much braking.

As I wandered around the stalls there was a modern version of the Monkey Bike on the Honda stand. I was looking for a bike that I could put into a small van so something less than 1.8m long and 0.9 high and about 100kg could fit the bill. It was yellow and 125cc so it could pull two up easily. The only problem with it was the rear seat was so small I’m not sure anyone could fit on it. I marked this one down for a test ride.

Lunch came and went with a short break away from the stand followed by another stunt display that once again left the acrid fragrance of rubber. I wonder if the manufacturers could do something about that? How about jojoba as preferred by man and dog? Or am I getting my TV ads mixed up. The day speeded up and the final stunt of the day with lots of noise and burnt rubber sending everyone away coughing. I did manage to get a pair if Kevlar jeans for summer riding at a sensible price and now I have a pair the weather has changed forever and I will have to leave the country for sunnier climes to use them. Another day at the office tomorrow and I will need at least two hours to get to the show and things are  slower on public transport on Sunday mornings.

Hot Monday

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More DIY

After the post holiday blues, what next? I managed to get the gearbox changed on the car and after buying a few parts finished the assembly last Saturday. Another day crawling around under the car. Sunday, the first one of the month is Wey Valley bike club day so I was off out to enjoy the sunshine and get brushed up on my riding techniques. It has been a few years since I passed my advanced motorcycle test and I had the feeling I was losing my edge after driving the car so far during the trip to Spain. I had an enjoyable couple of hours and was told to stop riding as though I was driving a car and get back on my bike!

So I did and headed for a visit to the Museum to sort out the things I would need for the forthcoming show at Ally Pally. Only a quick stop but I did spot a few well preserved 1300 Kawasaki’s parked out the front. I spoke to the guys when I got inside to discover they were from Leicester and had come to London for the Classic Japanese Motorcycle day at the Ace Cafe. They had come along to the Museum to see what it was like. They had read so much about it they had to see for themselves.

I went to find Bill but he had disappeared somewhere but what I did see was the Triumph Trophy parked up on the rear access ramp. It had been taken out of the Museum to go to a Salon Privee at Syon Park in the coming week. I arranged with Phillipa to collect the Hendon LE engine and gearbox cutaway and fliers for the show the next day. The rest of Sunday I spent cleaning the car and the Buell and the Valiant.

If you read this later in the week it’ll be raining and the sunshine of Monday at the Museum will be a distant memory. The last Monday I did of the week following a Bank Holiday and children started back at school not one person visited the Museum. This year and this Monday almost as soon as we were open people started arriving. Mid morning we had a contingent from Sweden five mature lads, who were doing the rounds of the museums and, were on their way to Brooklands in a camper.

They much enjoyed their visit and even tried the ginger beer. One of the last visitors to arrive were from Spain Juan Miguel and his wife who did an excellent job of interpreting bike jargon. He was a retired policeman and had several bikes of his own. His interest in the bikes was amazing and they spent all afternoon talking and photographing anything and everything. Juan Miguel even signed his name on “the Board of Fame” They were here for the Olympics last year and have promised to come back next year when they visit the UK again. The afternoon was gone and time to get the cutaway into the back of my car. It took three of us to lift it and a sack truck to move it around. It was surprisingly heavy more due to the thickness of the board it was mounted on.

During the week the car went in for its MOT and this is where the DIY comes in, we had not found a suitable piece of furniture to put things on in the kitchen. A suggesting by the eldest was that I should make one. That is exactly what I did in two days. It still needs to be varnished but it is in place to try it for size and now covered in plants!

Post Holiday Blues

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It’s Saturday afternoon of the August Bank Holiday and the rain has yet to stop falling. My plans for the day are shot as it needed not to be raining. This is typical weather for a Bank Holiday. So after my 10 seconds of fame and the fun of racing around Motorland Aragon both of which are on Facebook as I was not able to download the video up to the blog. I had a problem with the Datatool fob that had a broken moulding for the key ring. Datatool wanted £55 for a new fob. I just wanted the plastic casing so I did a repair using a paper clip and a bit of double sided tape to a cheap fob.

 Friday of last week I managed to get a haircut and as I was getting to the bike a lady asked me about the Museum. I gave her a flier, talked a little about the Museum and she went on her way happy. It is strange sometimes who you meet and who is interested on bikes.  In between then and now I have to find the time to change the gearbox on the car, get two new tyres and fit them but what I have managed to do is sort out the Valiant. I have taken off the barrels and rubbed off the high spots on the piston where it had picked up, given the bores a hone out to get the rings to grip a little better and lessen the plume of smoke left behind by the right cylinder. Next on that agenda was to replace the gearbox oil seal that became a full gearbox strip and replacement of bearings as well. Not a difficult job as it all splits quite easily until the blind bearing refuses to come out even with immense heat so I resorted to drilling one small hole and managed to drift it out with a punch. The said hole was filled with araldite and when hard everything was put back together until final assembly to the engine casing. It just would not go up together properly. It turned out that the kick start spring was the culprit. I know what to do but it just would not slip into place. Finally after sleeping on it, it did go and on day four it was running again and not smoking so far. This little job should have been done in one day. Some things are not meant to be. The first week back from holiday that was all I did. I managed a trip to the Museum on the Sunday to touch base as it were and start the plan of action for the LE club stand at Alexandra Palace and borrow some bits from the Museum as representation is not likely. I plan to be there with some fliers though. On Monday I was at another Indian wedding this time with the Muslim faith. It was very different from anything I had experienced before. The tyres I had ordered for the car arrived on Tuesday and I washed and polished the Valiant  I spent most of Wednesday putting things right on the car that had broken, come loose or just unglued from the 35C heat of Spain. I checked the timing and the strobe didn’t work very well in the bright sunshine. I still don’t know how far the ignition is off but it is. Thursday was ROG’s run day that started wet and ended dry with being very wet and sticky in between. 

 

Only 256 miles for this day. A light weight ride. Yesterday was out to our daughters’ birthday and back late. So while waiting for the rain to stop and I can wash the car before heading off to Barnsley tomorrow I have written up two ROG’s runs and this!

10 Seconds of Fame!

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Motorland Aragon

I have just returned from an epic journey in my little car covering some 3200 miles in 16 days. This little trip was to go to the 2CV World Meeting at Motorland Aragon at Alcaniz in Spain. After the meeting we went to see some friends in Segovia and returned home taking time to visit Monets Garden at Giverny on the way. The poor little car had a few problems on the way with some overheating, not surprising as the temperatures were in the high 30s and wearing out 2 front tyres in the process as the tracking was a little off and now a very noisey gearbox that will need replacing soon. But what an adventure! On the way though France we were stopped by the police for an interview with the BBC and I have my 10 seconds of fame 2mins 40 seconds in if you want to see it follow this link. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23619783  On the way I saw a very interesting trike towing a caravan. The mirrors were so far away from the handlebars to be a danger to pedestrians!

By the time we had got to Alcaniz we had covered over 1000 miles in 3 days. The highlight of the trip was, undoubtedly, many circuits of the race track in the car with impossible lean angles and tyres squealing and a lovely commentary from Gita as we approached corners flat out.  Did I wear out the tyres just by doing that?

People do odd things with 2CVs and another trike is born. We were again stopped by the police to check documents this time. They said there were people stealing cars and coming to the rally. I think they just wanted to see a right hand drive Mehari!

Leaving Alcaniz we headed for Segovia  where it seems Harleys abound. We stayed just out of Segovia at Los Angeles San Raphael. They haven’t got Hollywood Boulevard yet but I’m sure they will build it soon.

By the time we left Segovia 2000 miles had been clocked and there was another 1000 to go to get home. This last bit was over 4 days with the gearbox getting noisier  all the time and  I wore earplugs to try to keep out the noise. Northern  France was much cooler and it did rain a bit, but the day was fine for seeing Monets Garden before staying at a Logis on our last night before the final  leg home.