August the 8th Belgium. Had a nice tour went to Hooge crater Museum then into Ypres. Lunched on Eels in green sauce. Then to the Tobacco Warehouse (for the wife) Was a bit early for the ferry home so decided to have a ride into Blankenburg. Seems a popular place slow moving traffic all the way. Bike gets very hot. Decide to pull over have a vape and let the bike cool down As I stand there I notice smoke wafting up around the top yoke. Thought it had sprung an oil leak. Then I smelt the smoke it was burning plastic. I looked in the vents in the fairing and the fan was on fire. First thing was to detach luggage and get the tool kit out.Took the side fairing off from the top. By this time the burning plastic had dropped onto the belly pan and that was burning. I started beating the flames with my gloves but it made no difference. Suddenly there was a mighty whoosh and a cloud of white smoke. A Belgian motorist with a fire extinguisher saved the day. So now I get to find how good international rescue is. I also have to ring P&O. With it being a day trip I get to keep the same cabin so my clothes and bits are still in the cabin and its 4pm last check in is 5:30 and no chance of booking in late Just before 5:30 recovery turns up. The guy is great he advised me the best thing to do was take the bike to the terminal and not there depot. Recovery had booked me into a Hotel. So the bike was dropped at the terminal and I watched the boat sailing away. The recovery guy dropped me at the Hotel in Zeebrugge. My phone charger was on the boat along with my continental adapters. My saviour yet again was my NOCO Go power pack it not only recharged the phone it charged the vape as well. It had been a very hot day in more than one way so I decided to try to relax with a couple of beers. The young lady serving them was a very lovely young lady had I been 30 years younger I would have spent the evening chatting her up but I’m not so I didn’t Went back to my room showered and then got on the phone to P&O to book the next nights ferry. They tell me that they wont take vehicle that cant get on the Ferry under it’s own power. They said they will take the booking but said pay at the terminal and negotiate with them in the morning. After a fitful nights sleep I go down for breakfast. The Hotel owner very apologetically tells me the insurance company say I have to pay and claim it back. Decide to go down to the terminal early to see if I can get on the Ferry. Straightforward the chap tells me no problem not the first with a bust bike and I wont be the last So I push it on and push it off the other side and The AA take me home from the terminal. So now I have collected the bits the repairs start
Lucky escape. I'd be checking the size of the fuse in the cooling fan circuit as part of the repairs. I bet you were out of breath after pushing your bike up the ramp onto the boat in Zeebrugge. I've ridden up that a few times.
The crew helped me push it on. Pushing it off was knackering. Chinese radiator was a big contributing factor. They don't have as many tubes as OEM I noticed it got hotter a lot quicker after fitting it and it stayed hotter longer. Shouldn't be a problem if you just use the bike for sunday blasts or on track
A bad day at the office. What actually caused the fire? Was the fan the oem one or was that Chinese as well as the rad?
