Vocal Voices

Hi all,

I've been suffering with a new job, totally new to me as I'm working at UOL, a broken bike, a cold for nearly two weeks and trying to juggle travelling into the city to work.

The bike has been a real PITA, flooding, running rough, jamming the brakes, running out of brake pads, nearly breaking down on a long run and then blowing high pressure out of the radiator if I gun the engine when it's really cold (absolutely certain it's the head gasket), then, to add insult to injury, last week the throttle cable snapped, on the way into work.. That's a cable I replaced new 2 years ago.

Enough is enough. Mrs S phoned and said "buy another one". Now when I picked myself up off the floor and kind of said "eh" in a dozy way (she wore me up), I started looking for bikes. I found 3, all of which were snapped up before I could even phone them. So on Wednesday night I put a bid on another bike, cheaper than I expected, I've been looking around £1,700. I put £1,000 on it and got it for £780. It's a full decade newer than the Kawasaki, but then again it's a lot smaller (650 instead of 1,000) and about half the power (given that the Kawasaki actually runs).

Tomorrow I hit the train for Chester at 17:40, pick the bike up and ride it back to the environs of Wembley. I guess I'll arrive around midnight to 1am.

Insurance done. Tax is the same as the Kawasaki at £82. Now I just have to go and get it and bring it back. Dressed like a polar bear too. Riding in winter is a cold process.

Hopefully I'll be a bit more social after I get the bike and settle down. Although I'm back at #1 daughters on Saturday to fit her new Dishwasher which is coming over. I'll ride up on the new bike.

Now the $64k question is "do I fix the old bike and sell it"? It's not that I can't do it, I'm trained to even repair thinks like throttle cables, I can strip and rebuild the entire engine if I need to, head gasket is circa £35 and I already have the exhaust gaskets. If I could sell it on for, say, £500, I could go back and reconsider a different bike and make a trade in with the one I've just bought.

Decisions, decisions, might think on it over Christmas.

I wouldn't be feeling very sociable either Suff.

Sorry you've had a cold for 2 weeks. Not nice.

The bike? Sell the damn thing!

Take care. X

I agree, just do as little as it really needs and get what you can for it x

Suff,
In one word as my wife keeps saying--De-clutter.
So sell the bike as it is and have more space.

Totally agree with the other replies - and wishing you better very soon xx

Bikes are wonderful but I wouldn't fancy one in December! Hope you get better soon Suff and yes, get rid of the old one without spending too much on it.

Sell the bikes both of th e m and use the tube
Old bones don't like the cold and rain
Get well soon why do you have to go all the way up to your daughters to fit her washer
Let her pay some one else have a rest

Hope you're feeling better soon Suff, and I agree that you should sell the bike!

Safe journey when collecting the new one!

Suff, I would just get rid of the Kwacka and be done with it.

Yes, you could fix it, but at what cost? Parts you have to pay for, but your time is not free. Say it took 20 hours to strip, replace and rebuild, and you only charged yourself at London living wage, £9.75 p/hr, that's £195 plus parts. Is it really worth it?

As for the ManFlu, there is not much you can do but eat, sleep and then get yourself well asap. A few drops of Olbas or Euclyptus oil on your pillow might help to clear the passages and make sleeping a touch easier.

Thanks all for your kind words.

I'm back. Bike is, as expected, in a bit of a rough state. I paid, in the end, £1,000 less than I was willing to pay so I should not expect it to be much better. It was a long and frustrating ride back. But I've done worse. I think a bit of TLC it has clearly been lacking will cure most of the rough edges. Runs smoothly though and is quite nimble.

Work today....

WM, my time is, essentially, free because I do nothing with it and have no inclination to use my more expensive skills when out of work. I was, once upon a time, a pretty intuitive mechanic and I would have done this kind of thing without batting an eyelid. I have the tools, I have the time, I only need one part and, having just dragged a weary 650 Honda from Chester to London, I can appreciate the difference between a bike which struggles to make it up hills on the M1 at 65mph and one that eats hills at 110mph and climbing. Just by a short twist of the right wrist.

I know that the Kwaka will never be viable for commuting. However I aspire to getting it back to some sort of fitness and sell it on to someone who would appreciate the thrill when you let it rip. Well not too often though.

It all depends on how whacked out I feel and, right now, that's pretty darn.

Later.