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Sunday August 8th Events
We are spoilt for choice when looking for things to do related to our
interest in vintage and classic machinery. An example of this was Sunday
August 8th when there were three events that I wanted to attend. I was
asked months ago if I would like to join a run to the Anderton Lift in Cheshire
and have a canal boat trip using the historic lift. I said yes, committed
myself to the event and paid my money. More about this run later.
Later I noticed that the Coventry Parade and the VOC Annual Rally, two more
events I was interested in, were on the same day! There were 68 entries in
the Coventry Parade including Don A, Chris C, Geoff P and Dave S. Reports
say that it was a nice day with a good route and lunch hosted at the home of the
proprietors Fretton's motorcycles. Don usually uses his side valve Sunbeam
for this event but due to magneto problems he was riding his little Morini
"V" twin.
The VOC Annual Rally was at Whitley Bay. Coventry section was well
represented by Dave D, Paul E on his twin, Mick P Ducati mounted, Loz P on his
Comet and Tony R. The vehicle carrying Dave's "canvas hotel"
took 8 hours to get there so that must have been the "scenic" route,
right? Erection of the afore mentioned "hotel" took several
hours with much discussion about what bit went where to combine the 50 or so
joints and poles into a viable structure. Highlights of Whitley Bay
enjoyed by our team include eating ice-cream while walking the front in the
drizzle and watching well lubricated local Saturday night revellers on their way
to their late night entertainment. The staff at the local rugby club did a
great job and the awards evening was at a Bikers Bar owned by a VOC member.
A switch back now to the Anderton Lift run and my day when things didn't quite
go according to plan. I set off on the Rapide to the start at Burton upon
Trent. The group set off using the "drop off" system. The
bike was running nicely as we enjoyed our ride on a fine Sunday morning. I
was in position behind the leader as we neared Uttoxeter and stopped in position
on the corner as as the leader made a left turn at a junction. As I slowed
down to a stop at the junction I thought I heard an unusual "catching"
noise. As the bikes following reached me and took the turn I quickly
looked to see if I had a loose guard or similar that could have made the
noise. I didn't spot anything so when the last man arrived I set off up
the road. I only managed a few yards before I lost all drive. I
thought perhaps it had jumped out of gear but when I looked again the chain was
hanging down, not broken but slack because the rear sprocket had lost all ten of
the bolts and was off the drum. This was not fixable without a handful of
suitable bolts so I told the last man to carry and catch up the rest of the
group and I would call the rescue service. While waiting I looked and
found five of the missing bolts and one nut. I had fleeting ideas of bodging the
sprocket back on to make a gentle return home. On closer inspection the
sprocket was a bit bent and distorted so I just had to wait for recovery.
A van with an excellent bike trailer arrived and after explaining to the bike
that this kind of thing was definitely not going to happen on a regular basis we
set off home. This was the first time I had used the Carol Nash rescue
service. I found it quite efficient they arrived in about an hour even
though initially they did have a bit of trouble finding me. The
bolts I had used to fix the sprocket were set screws rather than bolts with a
plain portion where it passes through the drum and sprocket. After 15,000
miles I think this had allowed a little movement that once started quickly got
worse until all the bolts came out. On Monday a visit to the VOC
Spares Company provided a new sprocket and the correct fixing bolts and we were
back in action again.
Eddy.
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