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Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

Reply from: Aitch
Date: 02 May 2008, 17:44
Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

Drinks all round barkeep and keep 'em coming, this goes on for a bit, come
to think of it better rustle up some food too...

So this is departure day. Netscum from across the pond would soon be
in Italy. Mrs Ford would be catching a flight to Florence in the
afternoon, as we weren't sure that her back would hold up to a two day
blast to that fair Italian city. And..., Mr Bike is still up on the
lift without an exhaust system expecting to get a 'service' of some
description, the primary cover is still on the garage floor, and
there is the small matter of an annual inspection to pass. Oh, and I
have to pack.

At around 07:30 I was cycling the 7 miles to my local HD store.
Fortunately it wasn't raining. I picked up a number of tower gaskets
for theprimary cover and four exhaust gaskets. Then I rode home and
had some breakfast. Then I took Mrs Ford off to the Tube to catch
various trains to the airport.

There is a 'small world' story to mention here. We booked Mary's
ticket to Florence with Air Meridiana sometime in mid-May. Some weeks
later we met up with a friend of hers who lives about a mile away from
us. Turns out that she was going to Florence on the same day, Friday
the 13th July. It just so happens that Mary's friend lived and
studied art in Florence, just the perfect friend to have when visiting
Florence. Not only this but she was travelling on the very same
flight!!!!!! Wow, how weird is that?

Anyways back to the job in hand, I still had a bike to fix.

Once home it was down to the basement garage for me. I checked the
tension in the primary chain scraped the old gasket off the primary
cover and inner primary, fitted the primary cover and filled up with
oil. Next job, replace the brake pads front and rear, then install
the rear wheel with it's brandy new tyre fitted. Then came the
exhaust which had been a pig of a thing to do late the night before.
Eventually after much struggling I managed to get the damn thing
installed but I didn't bother with the heat 'shields'. I'd fit them
if I had any time to spare (yeah right), it's not as if they serve a
very useful purpose after all. The mufflers still weren't sitting
square but now I could at least fit my Boss Bags leather bags with
just a tiny amount of clearance... phew. Lube the cables, adjust as
necessary. Fill up with engine oil, transmission oil. Change the
plugs. Clean the air filter. Make sure all lights are working. By now
it's afternoon and there is no way I'm going to catch the boat at 15:10
from Dover. Still at least I've finished all the maintenance on Mr Bike.

Back upstairs to the apartment. Get an appointment at the workshop
that will carry out the MOT (annual inspection). They say that so
long as I get there before 16:30 they'll be able to fit me in. I get
packed in double quick time, get all the paperwork together: Licence,
vehicle documents, travel insurance, vehicle breakdown cover and then
go load up Mr Bike.

I make it to the workshop in time, Dalston Motorcycles a small family
run business. They don't mind about the luggage being fitted and they
don't hang about in getting the inspection completed. I guess it
helps coming in late in the day on a Friday. I then phone up the ferry
company and have to tell a bit of a porkie, I claimed that I had got a
flat tyre and could they find a space for me on a later sailing. Not
a problem. I was told to get down to Dover and I could get on the
next available boat. They are normally pretty good about things like this.

I rode from Dalston down to the Blackwall Tunnel, under the River
Thames and out of London on the A2. This was a good route to take as
the speed limit is 50mph! Good because it meant I wasn't going too
fast, just in case the exhaust decided it was going to fall off. The
A2 turned into the M2 a six lane road before turning back into the A2
again. I periodically pulled over to check the state of the pipes and
would tighten the nuts on the exhaust studs if needed. Gradually I
was getting comfortable with the idea that I had done all the
wrenching to the required standard and I was able to relax a little
and enjoy the ride. At one stop I made I checked my cell phone. There was
one text from Mary, she was in Florence but I hadn't told her the name of
the hotel we were booked in to. Ooops, I sent the necessary information and
it all worked out Ok. We'd decided on texting each other as voice calls
cost an arm and a leg when overseas.

It really is a wonderful feeling riding down the A2 to Dover knowing
that I'm going to be catching a boat over to the Continent. Even more
so when I know that my wonderful wife is waiting for me.
Approaching Dover the A2 turns gently down a fairly steep hill,
overlooked by Dover Castle, and there before me was the English
Channel. I'd made it. Unfortunately I'd just missed a boat and the
next one wasn't for another couple of hours (20:55). The wait gave me
a chance to chat to a boy and girl racer on their respective
Kawasaki's and a Dutch guy. The crossing lasts just over an hour and a
half. I manage to tuck into pie, chips and peas for dinner, the posh
restaurant had already closed unfortunately. Then I curled up in a big
chair and tried to get some rest.

Due to the fact that the Europeans are an hour ahead of us Brits it
was 23:20 when the boat docked. I didn't have any accommodation booked,
but I had taken a look at etaphotel . com before I left and saw that they had
a hotel in Saint Omer about 30 miles from Calais. It only took a few
minutes to clear the usual formalities of customs, I think that I cleared
French passport control in the UK. The ride to St. Omer took about 40
minutes which allowed me the luxury of a wrong turn leaving the docks, Doh!
The map I had covered the whole country and was useless as far as street
level was concerned, so I just rode around and got lucky. I found the hotel
without having to run some kind of search and rescue pattern all over town.
I locked up Mr Bike, carted pretty much everything into the hotel and got
myself a room.

More drinks please, Schmoes buying <sf>.

More soon

Cheers
--
Aitch PH©#19 BS#209
'00 FXDWG
* web.ukonline.co.uk/howie.ford











































Reply from: Agua Noggin
Date: 02 May 2008, 18:38
Re: Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

On Fri, 2 May 2008 16:44:34 +0100, "Aitch"
<rmaitch.vbg@ukonline.co.uk> in Message ID
<680r70F2qegheU1@mid.individual . net > wrote:

>Drinks all round barkeep and keep 'em coming, this goes on for a bit, come
>to think of it better rustle up some food too...
>
>So this is departure day.

<snip>

> I found the hotel
>without having to run some kind of search and rescue pattern all over town.
>I locked up Mr Bike, carted pretty much everything into the hotel and got
>myself a room.

Glad you 'n Mrs. Aitch were able to find your respective hotels.
:^)

>More drinks please, Schmoes buying <sf>.
>
>More soon

I sure hope so. Thanks for the take-along!
--
Agua Noggin
BS #11
'99 FLSTC "the Pencil Glide" aka "the #2 Lead Sled"
'04 FLHTC "Bilbo Bagger", 'There & Back Again, A Harley's Tale....'
r.m.h. FAQs are at: < * rmhfaq . com >


Reply from: Schmoe
Date: 02 May 2008, 20:40
Re: Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

"Aitch" <rmaitch.vbg@ukonline.co.uk> wrote in message
news:680r70F2qegheU1@mid.individual . net ...
> Drinks all round barkeep and keep 'em coming, this goes on for a bit, come
> to think of it better rustle up some food too...
>
> So this is departure day. Netscum from across the pond would soon be
> in Italy. Mrs Ford would be catching a flight to Florence in the
> afternoon, as we weren't sure that her back would hold up to a two day
> blast to that fair Italian city. And..., Mr Bike is still up on the
> lift without an exhaust system expecting to get a 'service' of some
> description, the primary cover is still on the garage floor, and
> there is the small matter of an annual inspection to pass. Oh, and I
> have to pack.
>
> At around 07:30 I was cycling the 7 miles to my local HD store.
> Fortunately it wasn't raining. I picked up a number of tower gaskets
> for theprimary cover and four exhaust gaskets. Then I rode home and
> had some breakfast. Then I took Mrs Ford off to the Tube to catch
> various trains to the airport.
>
> There is a 'small world' story to mention here. We booked Mary's
> ticket to Florence with Air Meridiana sometime in mid-May. Some weeks
> later we met up with a friend of hers who lives about a mile away from
> us. Turns out that she was going to Florence on the same day, Friday
> the 13th July. It just so happens that Mary's friend lived and
> studied art in Florence, just the perfect friend to have when visiting
> Florence. Not only this but she was travelling on the very same
> flight!!!!!! Wow, how weird is that?
>
> Anyways back to the job in hand, I still had a bike to fix.
>
> Once home it was down to the basement garage for me. I checked the
> tension in the primary chain scraped the old gasket off the primary
> cover and inner primary, fitted the primary cover and filled up with
> oil. Next job, replace the brake pads front and rear, then install
> the rear wheel with it's brandy new tyre fitted. Then came the
> exhaust which had been a pig of a thing to do late the night before.
> Eventually after much struggling I managed to get the damn thing
> installed but I didn't bother with the heat 'shields'. I'd fit them
> if I had any time to spare (yeah right), it's not as if they serve a
> very useful purpose after all. The mufflers still weren't sitting
> square but now I could at least fit my Boss Bags leather bags with
> just a tiny amount of clearance... phew. Lube the cables, adjust as
> necessary. Fill up with engine oil, transmission oil. Change the
> plugs. Clean the air filter. Make sure all lights are working. By now
> it's afternoon and there is no way I'm going to catch the boat at 15:10
> from Dover. Still at least I've finished all the maintenance on Mr Bike.
>
> Back upstairs to the apartment. Get an appointment at the workshop
> that will carry out the MOT (annual inspection). They say that so
> long as I get there before 16:30 they'll be able to fit me in. I get
> packed in double quick time, get all the paperwork together: Licence,
> vehicle documents, travel insurance, vehicle breakdown cover and then
> go load up Mr Bike.
>
> I make it to the workshop in time, Dalston Motorcycles a small family
> run business. They don't mind about the luggage being fitted and they
> don't hang about in getting the inspection completed. I guess it
> helps coming in late in the day on a Friday. I then phone up the ferry
> company and have to tell a bit of a porkie, I claimed that I had got a
> flat tyre and could they find a space for me on a later sailing. Not
> a problem. I was told to get down to Dover and I could get on the
> next available boat. They are normally pretty good about things like
> this.
>
> I rode from Dalston down to the Blackwall Tunnel, under the River
> Thames and out of London on the A2. This was a good route to take as
> the speed limit is 50mph! Good because it meant I wasn't going too
> fast, just in case the exhaust decided it was going to fall off. The
> A2 turned into the M2 a six lane road before turning back into the A2
> again. I periodically pulled over to check the state of the pipes and
> would tighten the nuts on the exhaust studs if needed. Gradually I
> was getting comfortable with the idea that I had done all the
> wrenching to the required standard and I was able to relax a little
> and enjoy the ride. At one stop I made I checked my cell phone. There
> was
> one text from Mary, she was in Florence but I hadn't told her the name of
> the hotel we were booked in to. Ooops, I sent the necessary information
> and
> it all worked out Ok. We'd decided on texting each other as voice calls
> cost an arm and a leg when overseas.
>
> It really is a wonderful feeling riding down the A2 to Dover knowing
> that I'm going to be catching a boat over to the Continent. Even more
> so when I know that my wonderful wife is waiting for me.
> Approaching Dover the A2 turns gently down a fairly steep hill,
> overlooked by Dover Castle, and there before me was the English
> Channel. I'd made it. Unfortunately I'd just missed a boat and the
> next one wasn't for another couple of hours (20:55). The wait gave me
> a chance to chat to a boy and girl racer on their respective
> Kawasaki's and a Dutch guy. The crossing lasts just over an hour and a
> half. I manage to tuck into pie, chips and peas for dinner, the posh
> restaurant had already closed unfortunately. Then I curled up in a big
> chair and tried to get some rest.
>
> Due to the fact that the Europeans are an hour ahead of us Brits it
> was 23:20 when the boat docked. I didn't have any accommodation booked,
> but I had taken a look at etaphotel . com before I left and saw that they
> had
> a hotel in Saint Omer about 30 miles from Calais. It only took a few
> minutes to clear the usual formalities of customs, I think that I cleared
> French passport control in the UK. The ride to St. Omer took about 40
> minutes which allowed me the luxury of a wrong turn leaving the docks,
> Doh!
> The map I had covered the whole country and was useless as far as street
> level was concerned, so I just rode around and got lucky. I found the
> hotel
> without having to run some kind of search and rescue pattern all over
> town.
> I locked up Mr Bike, carted pretty much everything into the hotel and got
> myself a room.
>
> More drinks please, Schmoes buying <sf>.

Damn right! This is a fine read so far. Don't mess up the story by including
any triple digit Assholes who's last number rhymes with pour. Pour you say?
Sure, howzabout a shot 'o Patron' for a happy Friday.

Missed this yesterday so... 1st of May, 1st of May, outdoor fucking starts
today!


Reply from: George Pollard
Date: 02 May 2008, 21:53
Re: Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

Schmoe <s@s . net > wrote:

> Missed this yesterday so... 1st of May, 1st of May, outdoor fucking starts
> today!

Glad to see someone else say this. I get real strange looks at work when
I say that very same phrase at work.

--
George BS235

Reply from: Rick Begeman
Date: 02 May 2008, 23:57
Re: Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

In article <BOudnYrmAOW97IbVnZ2dnUVZ_orinZ2d@hiwaay2>,
George Pollard <george@hiwaay . net > wrote:

> Schmoe <s@s . net > wrote:
>
> > Missed this yesterday so... 1st of May, 1st of May, outdoor fucking starts
> > today!
>
> Glad to see someone else say this. I get real strange looks at work when
> I say that very same phrase at work.

So, where does this outdoor fucking take place?

The "sounds like an enjoyable pastime" asshole.

--
Ryder Rick

Reply from: Schmoe
Date: 03 May 2008, 00:33
Re: Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

"Rick Begeman" <despaminator@yahoo . com > wrote in message
news:despaminator-053684.14584302052008@news.verizon . net ...
> In article <BOudnYrmAOW97IbVnZ2dnUVZ_orinZ2d@hiwaay2>,
> George Pollard <george@hiwaay . net > wrote:
>
>> Schmoe <s@s . net > wrote:
>>
>> > Missed this yesterday so... 1st of May, 1st of May, outdoor fucking
>> > starts
>> > today!
>>
>> Glad to see someone else say this. I get real strange looks at work when
>> I say that very same phrase at work.

> So, where does this outdoor fucking take place?

> The "sounds like an enjoyable pastime" asshole.

Anywhere she'll let you that's not indoors. Duh!


Reply from: Rick Begeman
Date: 03 May 2008, 00:55
Re: Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

In article <481b96f9$0$15160$607ed4bc@cv . net >, "Schmoe" <s@s . net >
wrote:

> "Rick Begeman" <despaminator@yahoo . com > wrote in message
> news:despaminator-053684.14584302052008@news.verizon . net ...
> > In article <BOudnYrmAOW97IbVnZ2dnUVZ_orinZ2d@hiwaay2>,
> > George Pollard <george@hiwaay . net > wrote:
> >
> >> Schmoe <s@s . net > wrote:
> >>
> >> > Missed this yesterday so... 1st of May, 1st of May, outdoor fucking
> >> > starts
> >> > today!
> >>
> >> Glad to see someone else say this. I get real strange looks at work when
> >> I say that very same phrase at work.
>
> > So, where does this outdoor fucking take place?
>
> > The "sounds like an enjoyable pastime" asshole.
>
> Anywhere she'll let you that's not indoors. Duh!

I shoulda known...

--
Ryder Rick

Reply from: Tud
Date: 03 May 2008, 02:14
Re: Italia 2007 - Departure Day - Long

Aitch wrote...

> Drinks all round barkeep and keep 'em coming, this goes on for a bit, come
> to think of it better rustle up some food too...

Thanks Aitch.

> It really is a wonderful feeling riding down the A2 to Dover knowing
> that I'm going to be catching a boat over to the Continent.

I know what you mea ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
Ah, I can't imagine.

<snip>

Good stuff, H.

> More drinks please, Schmoes buying <sf>.

In that case, make mine a double, or maybe a Guiness.

--
Tud
SENS BS#111 LFS#32 FLF MISFIT Vermort AH#115
* ah115 . com
Sisyphus rides a Triumph






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