At about 11pm, ‘Chunky’ reminded me that I’d forgotten to get my bike in. I set up my ramp as usual and commenced the now familiar manoeuvres around the lawn. On my second trip across the front path, my bikes front tyre slid away from me and she went down onto the path. I managed to get her up, with some considerable effort on my part. There was even the odd ‘Four Letter Word’ thrown in for good measure. Fortunately, other than a dented pride and a scuff on the left engine case all seemed well.
I continued (a little out of breath) with my little front garden dancing, but very soon my bike was stuck in a mud filled rut. It proved impossible to get the front wheel out of the rut and up onto the bottom of the ramp. I just couldn’t transfer enough momentum to the bike through the handle bars. The solution seemed to be to push from the rack on the back. With careful balancing of the bike I managed to get the front wheel safely onto the ramp. Continuing with the careful balancing I was able keep to bike going straight up the ramp. Then it was time for another burst of energy to get the back wheel on. With a hefty push from the back my bike made a sharp left turn, over balanced and fell sideways into my neighbours Hydrangea bush.
After summoning help from Chunky, we eventually managed to get her upright and safely in. The excursion into the bush doesn’t appear to have caused any major damage, but I did lose the left mirror and there are a couple of scratches on the left side panel.
Tuesday morning I called my local Honda dealer and nearly fell over at the cost of a replacement mirror. The genuine Honda part is £46 plus vat!!!! In the end I found a mail order company in Swansea who could supply me with a copy for £17.99. Take a wild guess at which one I bought?
The up shot of this is that this weekend Chunky and I will be lying the afore mentioned driveway. Trouble is that I’ve had to work today (Saturday) and Chunky has started the digging without me. This has its pros & cons. By working I have avoided most of the digging, but I feel bad that I can’t be there to help. At least the overtime will pay for the skip and materials.
Regards
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So how has it gone!! Smart new drive or a work in progress?
ReplyDeleteSt. Jude -
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure smart new drive is quite the term I would chose, but it's 110% better than than the mud we had before. What we've alway wanted was swish block paing, but what we have is a concrete hard standing. Begger can't be chosers and it was infinately cheaper than blocks.