Giving The Gift Of Motorcycling

I will do! We will have to meet up for that ride now lockdown has ended and I’ve got the S4R on the road again. It was a world of drama with the wrap job which started with them forgetting to tell me they were shutting up shop a day early after lockdown was announced (so the bike was stuck in custody for 2 months), then they royally fkd the job up in various ways meaning it had to be redone from scratch and when they finally sent the bike back this time last week, when I switched it on for the first time on Monday morning it p1ssed petrol all over me and the boy, the battery/booster pack and the exhaust while we were trying to jump start it, plus we also had the end cans off at the time and fuel was pouring over the open ends of the downpipes while the engine was firing.

They’re very lucky not to be facing health and safety or corporate manslaughter charges tbh. Tw*ts. Thankfully, I had not paid in full and I also managed to fix the various issues they’d caused (though the eagle eyed will notice that the tank stickers are about an inch too low), so I’m happy enough now but I wasn’t a jolly bunny at all earlier in the week

 

It’s pretty crude tbh but what next? 10 stage traction control and anti-wheelie? Tbh though, the anti-wheelie device is me as I’ve told him if I find out he’s being a hooligan, the bike, him and all his gear are going in the lake just outside the village.

That’s bound to work I reckon, even though IIRC, a similar warning from my dad when I was his age had absolutely no effect on me whatsoever

 

Thanks. It was, and we are very close which is no surprise really as we share our birthday (I’m 50 on the same day) and he’s spent almost every weekend since he was a toddler either in workshops, at race tracks (how many 18 year olds do you know who reminisce about 2 strokes?) or watching me throw spanners around in a temper. He even shared his bedroom with one of my bikes for several years, but please don’t tell social services.

 

It doesn’t take with all of them.

My other one (20) has been exposed to the same influences but while he’s into MotoGP he’s not at all interested in riding. It’s not a question of “bottle” either as he’s much more into boxing, which I also used to do and may carry on with again now gyms are allowed to reopen, though a lot more obsessively than me. He was a lightweight before lockdown but since lockdown closed his uni he’s been lifting a lot more and is looking more like a light middleweight these days. He's also very into UFC and in fact is back at his mum’s place at the moment as there’s a big fight on tonight and she has a better internet connection than I do

 

I’m here at the moment and it might be under different ownership but the guy has the same Rain Man-like rigid adherence to “we don’t offer scrambled egg on the set menu, sir” rules and a bit of an attitude problem into the bargain tbh.

I also had customer service issues last time I was at the Ace tbh when I asked to change my order 30 secs after I placed it and before the girl told the “chef”, but she still refused to allow it. Plus the food there is appalling, especially given the prices and they also put on far too many four wheeled events for my liking (if I wanted to drink my tea while looking at 75 slammed Golf GTIs I could go down to the retail park in Stevenage on a Friday night, thanks....)

I think I’ll take my two wheeled custom to the Bikeshed next time.