- Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:13 pm
#91649
Took my Bullet to see Andy, my fabricator friend today. Reason was mainly social but also to have an additional support bracket put on the upswept exhaust to prevent excessive movement which causes the seal to the head to regularly fail. He decided that welding the bracket I’d already made for the front engine mount would not be the best way; he’s had such welded brackets break the pipe over time. Instead he fabricated a polished stainless bracket to fit over the pipe and bolted that to my bracket. This has the added advantage of preserving the chrome on the pipe.
He lives and works (at the same place) about thirty five miles from here. I took the back roads, avoiding the motorway on the way down.
Negotiating the Nottingham traffic was a nightmare, especially on meeting the young chap who pulled out from a junction on my right, cut right in front of me at 90 degrees and then stopped, blocking the carriageway on my side of the road. I’d just set off just after stopping at a Pelican crossing and off again after the lights changed to green. I had to stop dead, maximum braking. He then wound his passenger side window and began shouting, claiming I’d gone through a red light. His passenger, his wife, began mouthing off at me. I said I definitely had not gone through a red light but noticed he never looked in my direction before pulling out onto my side of the road. She then pointed behind me, saying the police had now arrived and were going to “sort me out”. A police BMW 4x4 with blue lights flashing pulled alongside me and the occupants and told us to pull over to clear the road. They immediately backed up my side of the story, explaining that they saw the whole thing happen because they were not far behind me and I was not at fault. The car driver then began mouthing off at the police and said he had been driving over two and a half years and he knew I was at fault. I told him I’d been driving for almost fifty years and explained that I’d actually stopped, allowed two pedestrians to cross then set off on a green, whereupon he pulled out on me. Again, the police agreed with me and told the car driver to calm down and get on his way, which he did, but not before his wife began mouthing off again and told me how I could have caused an accident.......in fact I had prevented it!
I thanked the police and followed them up the road.
Enough excitement for one day. On the way home I took the M1 motorway route, far less hassle, and shorter; it’s part of my normal work route. The bike kept up with traffic well. I even found myself overtaking in lane three of four a few times. I rode about thirty miles at an estimated 65-70mph. Hardly record breaking but quite good going for a 350, I think.
Built like a gun... could go BANG!
