Thanks John, yep, I'll grab whatever I can. What pisses me off is I bought a "Complete" bike that's missing the pipes, carbs, gauges, handlebar clamps etc. When I asked the seller where they were, he said, "Oh they're here somewhere, I'll see if I can find them." That of course was after I paid him, and by then I can imagine how hard he looked for them, as he never got back to me.......
Anyhoo, I spent close to 6 hours wearing the most restrictive mask in the world on Saturday. I had to hop the train to Bairnsdale to collect the old 1995 Subaru Liberty (Legacy in the US) that I gave my ma in 2016. I chatted to the Indian Uber driver all the way into the city about Indian food and promised I'll stop in at his cousin's restaurant around the corner from my place for a meal this week, then into the station, picked up my $19 Concession ticket from the counter (gotta love Covid 19, or perhaps looking like an invalid, no-one asked me for my VA card, or my "Seniors card", they just gave me the ticket, which cost half the price of a regular ticket, or a third of the price of the Uber ride) then I wandered up to the platform, and seeing that the train was already there, walked into my carriage and sat down in my seat.
A young lady walked up to me and told me they weren't actually boarding yet, so I got off again and sat down on a bench, just as they announced that they were now boarding, so I got up again and walked past her and growled under my breath, and sat down on my seat again. As a quick aside, back in the 90's, the then state government switched off the Bairnsdale train because it wasn't economically viable, so the government got voted out next election, because the opposition leader said, "Vote for me, and I'll put the train back on", and now they have two trains to Bairnsdale each day, even though maybe a half dozen people were on the train with me on Saturday? Oh well, at least I didn't have to get up at Sparrows fart to hop the train, and apart from the mask, it was a pleasant enough journey with almost a whole carriage to myself.
Bairnsdale Weekend 19-20 Jun 2021 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
By the time I arrived I was almost unconscious from breathing my own carbon dioxide due to that fcuking restrictive mask though, so was happy to take it off. My big sister was waiting for me at the station, even though I could have walked the 4 or 5 blocks to my Ma's place. No biggie, it was threatening rain anyway, so I couldn't complain. By now it was 4.40 pm, and the light was fading (deepest darkest winter) so I grabbed the keys to my old Subaru and drove to the gas station to fill it up, check all of it's vitals, buy my Ma some firewood and kindling and check all the vitals in my sisters car, another one of my old Subaru's that I gave her 7 years ago. (yes, I do like old Subaru's)
My sister told me that the boot (trunk) wouldn't open on my Subaru, but of course she had only tried to release it from inside the car, so I used the key and it opened, but the lid wouldn't stay up because somehow she and my ma had busted the springs inside the boot when they'd loaded it full of firewood a few years ago. Oh well, I used one of the "springs" to prop the boot lid up while I loaded it with firewood. We had some nice Chinese takeway that I went and picked up, then I drove over to the Bowls Club to meet up with my cuz for a couple of drinks before I went home to have an early night before I drove the 200 miles back home. On the way back, I remembered to pick up some Castrol 2 stroke oil for the Suzuki and the upcoming Yamaha project, for the bargain price of $29.
Bairnsdale Weekend 19-20 Jun 2021 1 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
The drive back was pleasant and fairly uneventful, apart from the broken fuel gauge (it was broken when I had it, so I always zero the trip meter when ever I fill it up) and an annoying "Check Engine" light that came on randomly. It wouldn't be an old Subaru if there wasn't something wrong with it.... I stopped at Fred's place to pick up a much better CB750 tank than the last POS tank he sold me that I'll be giving back to him next time I see him. Not his fault, it'd been painted and looked straight, but it was full of dents, welded up holes, and several pounds of bondo, so no good to me.
Coming into Melbourne I stopped again at a cops place to pick up a heap of really good BSA C11G parts. Okay, "Really Good" and "BSA C11G" doesn't normally go together in the same sentence, but I got a ton of parts in really good condition (several new pieces included) for my (eventual) C11G resto, and I was happy to find parts locally. The seller, Jeff, had several classic American muscle cars, plus a porsche, a Norton Commando, Kawasaki Mach III 500, and even a Ducati 900 "Darmah" that he bought new, which of course, is a non runner. Nice guy though, he even gave me some lemons to take home. (not a reference to BSA C11G's, or maybe it was......?)
Anyway, I didn't do any bike work today, I had to go to physio after work, pick up some more drugs, and wash and vacuum out the car. While Ma had hardly driven it, it was filthy outside (parked under a tree) and in as well, but after 45 minutes of scrubbing, while not perfect yet, it doesn't smell like little hairy dogs any more, and the inch thick mud that was sitting under the boot (trunk) lid, the Bonnet (hood) and the fuel cap door thingy has all been blasted back to the original paint, which surprisingly, was still intact. I've still got to clean all of the interior of dog slobber, but I'll work on it slowly. More bike stuff tomorrow.
Bairnsdale Weekend 19-20 Jun 2021 2 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
