Blue’s WordPress Blog

Yesterday was also the first long trip I’d done with the Sargent Solo replacement seat fitted.

Whereas before I’d be shuffling around uncomfortably after a relatively short while, the Sargent cossets your bum in comfort and even has space and a tube for you to stow something in the seat itself (in my case a ZRXOA rubber torch).

Recommended.

So yesterday I had that 240 mile round trip to make in really cold conditions: so cold, in fact, that one the return journey, the gritters were out.

To make the journey tolerable, I’d added a pair of proper winter gloves to my wardrobe: Belstaff Thermosport winter gloves - these are Pittards leather with Kevlar knuckle protectors, extra leather and abrasion resistance on the palms, Thinsulate (to keep the heat in) and Porelle lining (breathable but waterproof) in case of rain. This was the first time I’d worn them, so they still need to soften up, but they worked really well, aided by two things:

1. A stop each way at the BP Garage on the A505 at Sawston - don’t ever think that those coffee shop things they’ve put in are a fashion accessory: when your hands and body are getting cold, a hot cup of coffee really helps.
2. The radiator shrouds on the ZRX1200R make handy heated glove racks when you’re filling up with petrol!

So other than the gloves, I also wore a vest-style T-shirt, roll-neck T-shirt, ZRXOC sweatshirt and my lined Rukka jacket. On the legs, a normal pair of bike leathers worked fine, especially as they zip together with the Rukka jacket to help keep the draughts out and the heat in.

If I were commuting this distance regularly, I’d still invest in some proper electrically heated clothing, but for the occasional winter foray, the kit did the job well.

Yesterday, I managed to get on the road at 9.00am: the Big Man Upstairs had laid on a clear but cold day for Martin’s funeral.

A fairly clear run down to the Ace with an arrival there at 11.15am. Most of the ZRXOC boys had already arrived and after a cuppa and a sausage and egg sandwich, I began to thaw out enough to speak. There had been a change of plan: we were now going to meet up with Icey and the London Ambulance Service bikes who were going to escort the funeral cortege to the church, so at 12.00pm we set off from the Ace and parked up at the bottom of Martin’s road.

At about 12.30pm, Martin’s hearse and the other funeral cars came past, led by two of the eight outriders from the London Ambulance Service, all with flashing blue lights. We tagged along behind them and rode slowly to the church, ignoring red lights and junctions as they were taken care of by either the outriders or by police cars and LAS members.

We met up with some more of the ZRXOC lads at the Church as they’d driven directly there.

We’d already decided to stand at the back of the church as a mark of respect, but in the event we didn’t have a choice anyway as the church was packed with family and friends from all walks of life: ‘normal’ people, bikers, patch wearers, ZRXOC bods and a whole host of Martin’s colleagues - yesterday would not have been a good day to be injured in NW London…

We estimated there were something like 400 people in the church.

The ambulance service had a piper playing as the coffin was taken into the church and the mourners came in.The priest opened with some great words: something like

“The ties that bind us in friendship do not unravel with death”

The funeral mass then progressed and was followed by two eulogies; the first on behalf of Martin’s three young sons (Conor, Richard and Carl - please excuse the spellings) which had me welling up as it mentioned what a great Dad Martin was to the boys he clearly idolised; and the second by Martin’s partner in the ambulance service which mentioned our club and the rest of his friends and of course his wife Cathy and the lads. He managed to nearly complete the eulogy without breaking down but at the very end it became too much for him (and indeed looking around he wasn’t the only one in tears). Cathy had also asked for “Wind Beneath My Wings” to be played whose lyrics added to the emotion of the occasion.

The coffin was then taken back out to the hearse, led by the standard bearer and again being piped out to the tune of “Abide With Me”.

The roads of Greenford were then again brought to a standstill as the funeral cortege, again led by LAS outriders, made its way slowly to the cemetary. I think everyone from the church had gone there as the cemetary was packed with mourners and Martin’s colleagues lined the path up to his burial plot.

As we walked up to it, another ZRXOC member joined us.

The priest then took the ceremony and a bugler played the Last Post at the graveside.

There were some awesome floral tributes from his family, friends and colleagues (especially the Kawasaki bike from his colleagues) - some photos here.

We’d been invited back to Cathy’s (his widow) for some refreshments so we made our way there and spent longer than we’d thought there managing to chat to Cathy and Martin’s Mum. Good people. We’d also said we’d go and say hello to the crews at Martin’s station, but as time was drawing on, we headed straight back to the Ace through rush hour traffic to have a beer in his honour. A quick “light bite” - it said, they lied: it was huge - later, we said our goodbyes and headed home in the darkness of the rush hour.

So 240 miles (round trip) later here I sat, occasionally ‘filling up’ as I wrote this and raised another glass to Martin. Like it was said yesterday by many people: he never had a bad word to say about anybody and no-one ever had a bad word to say about him. He’ll be missed.

So the nice man from DHL arrived yesterday morning with my shiny new bike trailer on his lorry and I moved the boxes into the garage where they were in the way.

I decided that I would assemble it last night whilst Mrs. Blue was at work, so at 6.30pm I headed outside and began unpacking the parts and assembling it like some giant Meccano set. All went remarkably well until the last pair of guard rails whose bolts and nylock nuts were a real bugger to get at and more particularly get a spanner or socket on. Remember that the trailer is basically a bunch of aluminum channels so there are quite a few sharp edges. Anyone who’s ever worked on an old Mini would recognise my hands last night and this morning: bruised, cut and sore. Oh and I’ve also got some bruises and scars on my thighs and stomach from heaving it around later that evening…

I assembled it partly inside and partly in the rain outside our small, single garage which, being a “family garage” and part of a spec. built Beazer house, is rather small and is full of:

• five bicycles;
• two scooters;
• two wardrobes full of bike clothing;
• wine and beer;
• two brand new ST200 alloy wheels;
• two brand new ST200 floor mats;
• standard ZRX1200R exhaust silencer;
• standard ZRX1200R seat;
• a fridge-freezer;
• a tumble-drier;
• two music centre/separate systems;
• DIY tools, paint, etc.;
• kitchen roller blind;
• pasting table;
• Black & Decker Workmate;
• 3 piece aluminium ladder;
• large wooden garden table and four chairs;
• sledges;
• tools;
• ramps;
• wall-mounted kitchen units;
• cupboardy thing;
• data backup fireproof safe;
• paddock stand;
• carpets, lots of carpets;
• assorted fluids and oils for cars and bikes;
• general crap;
• bag of 10 footballs, pump, bibs and first aid kit;
• central heating boiler; and
• a big Kawasaki ZRX1200R.

It’s a very big trailer. 10′ long by 5′ wide by 2½’ tall. And 125kg.

I’d been lucky enough to nab my neighbour when he got in to lift the wheels on whilst I lifted the trailer up high enough - I’d found I could lift it with one hand but struggled to line up the wheel bolts with the holes with the other hand.

At this point, I stood back and admired my handiwork. Mrs. Blue came home at 9.00pm and I stayed outside to work on the trailer (and never did get anything to eat).

And then I looked at the chaos that is the garage and wondered how it would fit inside…

So I’m pondering my options: there’s no access to the back garden other than a 3½’ wide passage so that ruled that out. I could wheel the trailer into the garage and permanently stand the ZRX on the trailer, but access to everything else would be nigh-on impossible. I could eBay it. Or I could try to stand it up on its side against the wall.

Except that that was easier said than done. Did I tell you it’s a very big trailer? I tried heaving it up and over onto its side, but the internal width of the garage meant there wasn’t enough room to allow for it turning onto its side - I could get it to a 45° angle but not much further. So I did some measurements and discovered that if I took the front section off again, it might fit standing up on its back, although I’d still have to somehow lift it onto the back section and then manoeuvre it into position against the wall. So I set about it with the spanners and sockets and dismantled the work I’d already done. With the front section removed, I reckoned I could just about get it in place against the wall and resting against the wall units, so I put an old kitchen mat next to the wheel and heaved it up onto its side, bumping it outwards as I did so. Success! There was also just enough room between it and the wall to slot the heavy towbar section in to take up less space. 11.00pm and I was finished.

There’s a photo here, taken this morning showing the finished article in the packed little garage. Mrs. Blue asked me to take her bike out so she could go and grab a DVD for this evening’s booze and filum session at her friend’s house and I was able to show her that it wasn’t that tight and inaccessible ~:0)

I seem to have bought a new Erdé two bike trailer from eBay: now all I need to do is get the towbar fitted to Mrs. Blue’s Fester (as I can’t get one fitted to the ST200 ).

Should make travelling to and from circuits easier, plus I can carry spares and tools.

[edit]
I spoke to the sellers and they let me upgrade it to the bigger, 750kg trailer which arrived this morning.

I’ve just heard that one of my friends in the Kawasaki ZRX Owners Club, Martin Lovejoy, died at home yesterday following a massive brain haemorrhage.

Martin was one of life’s good guys; a family man working for the ambulance service in London. He loved his bikes too and was always quick to have a laugh and a joke with his mates. He’ll be sorely missed.

I’ll look forward to seeing you again one day, Martin.

A couple of snippets I’d forgotten about the ‘O’ ring fettling session:

1. I was really pleased that I could hoik Blue Rex onto the paddock stand (for stability, level and height) and work on it in the garage at last, rather than outside on the driveway.
2. For the first time whilst manouevering the paddock stand into place, I managed to let Blue Rex topple over sideways, it being stopped by the two pushbikes next to it. Fortunately, it was such a gentle roll sideways that there was no damage (thank goodness it was slow and there were no sharp ends sticking out of the pushbikes). Now if it’d happened outside, the bike would’ve gone right over onto its side…

I wasn’t entirely happy about not having bled the cooling system after fitting the ‘O’ ring, so this afternoon, I fired up Blue Rex, took off the pump cover and fuel tank and undid the bleed valve/screw and was pleased to see a little coolant come straight out of each.

Job done.

Whacked it all back together and went for a quick 100mph thrash of about 15-20 miles just to be sure. No obvious signs of any leaks, so I’ll check again after I use it next time.

At least the roads were dry and I was toasty warm in my leathers and Rukka jacket.

Blue’s Top Tip

Avoid leaving your helmets on top of the fridge-freezer in the garage as they’ll get filled up with condensation… Bugger!

So I picked up the ‘O’ rings and some premixed Motul coolant from the dealer today and after lunch, drained down and disconnected the leaking hose. The ‘O’ ring was fine once I’d cleaned it up a bit and likewise the hose. I replaced it anyway, but I really couldn’t see anything wrong with the old one.

Ah well!

Refilled the system, ran it up, checked the level again, loosened the bleed valve but no fluid came out of the top one and I didn’t bother with the bottom one for now.

I’ll take it for a proper run tomorrow and see what’s what, weather permitting.

Well as I hadn’t heard from them “by the end of the week”, I rang Seastar Superbikes this afternoon to see if the ‘O’ rings had arrived: they hadn’t. ~:0(

Bugger! So those plans went astray…

…until the ‘phone rang at 5.40pm - I’d told the parts guy I wanted to do the repair this weekend and as the parts had just arrived there (!) he’d telephoned me to let me know.

Looks like these might be a good bunch of chaps…