'Twas the best of days, and the worst of days. The weather today was sensational, in the low '70's and brilliant sunshine. The poor old 'Wang hasn't been out since the end of August, so I thought it only fair to leave the Triumph home and put some miles under those whitewalls.
As I left for a cruise down to the coast I realised that I only had 120-odd miles to go before the old beast had done it's first 100,000 miles! Well looking down I realised also that the bike was filthy, and as I couldn't remember when (or if) I'd last washed it, as there was a coin operated car wash coming up, I decided to give the old bugger a tub.
Of course on reflection, it was also a bit stupid, because I spent the next 10 or 15 minutes getting it to run on 4 cylinders again. Eventually the plugs dried out, and I was off again, looking slightly cleaner. Eventually I made it to the Balnarring beach, around 75 miles from my humble abode. I was hoping to get a pic of it parked on the beach, but this was as close as I could get. Yes, that is the sea in the background, and yes, the sidestand was sitting in fairly loose sand, so I was a tad concerned that it was going to fall over, but luckily, it didn't.
Once I'd taken the pics I rode into the village of Balnarring for some lunch. I rode past a group of Ulysses Club guys who were lounging around at a local eatery, and (very) briefly saw my first new Indian Chief as I flashed past silently. I parked outside the Red Hill Bakery, and enjoyed a pie and chips, and a chocolate shake. I looked across at the old girl and thought to myself that it's not looking too bad for a bike with almost 100,000 miles under it's tyres.
Anyway, places to go and people to see etc, so I turned for home. As I got closer to the magic mark I got excited, and decided that a pic was in order. Of course, if I just took a pic of an odometer with 00000.0 miles on it, I might be accused of just installing a new speedo, so I took a pic on the side of the freeway with 99,999.9 miles showing.
Anyway, by this stage it was mid afternoon and the temps had climbed. I was hot, my massive wang was hot, so I decided to ride to my local RSL (Returned and Serviceman League) Club, for some refreshing drinks. I stayed for a couple of hours, drinking, smoking cigarettes, and winning and losing a few bucks on their poker machines.
I wandered out about 7pm, put the key in the 'Wang's ignition, hit the button, and............ nothing. Poop. It cranked and cranked, and occasionally backfired so loud that I heard a couple of people scream in shock. (he he.......) I'm pretty sure it was a fuel pump issue, so I pulled it apart and cleaned the points, but to no avail. Eventually, a bloke wandered over and asked me if I needed some help.
I conned him into giving me a push, but all that issued from my exhaust pipe was a massive "BANG" as it backfired right beside his ear, and we had to stop for a minute until he regained his hearing. He really was a nice bloke, because he offered me a ride home, which, as the sun was setting by now, seemed like a wonderful idea. I locked up all of the panniers and top box, and left it in the car park. I figure that if anyone manages to steal it, they're a better mechanic than I am, so they deserve it. Also, if someone steals it I'm 8 grand richer, so it's a win/win.
Tomorrow is a sacred day, it's the Bathurst 1000 V8 supercar race, I always sit in my comfy chair for the whole day watching the race, so I'll either have to get over to the RSL early, or after the race. Right now, I really don't care............ Cheers, Terry.
