r6paul
13-03-2005, 09:12 PM
Well thats a bitch!
Got back this afternoon from a good weekend with the TA and thinking, hummm its a nice time to go out for a ride. So i text gareth (Gazdaman) and set up for a nice, gentle, quick ride. Set out and everything is fine, meet up with gareth, everything fine. Going along and i think the bike might not be running properly, but then i put that down to me being tired after a long weekend and that my riding wasn't as good as normal. Ride is fine, am taking it gently as i wasn't as aware as normal.
On the way back i notice i need some petrol soon, so we pull into a petrol garage. I turn the bike off and all of a sudden see smoke coming up, and think 'sh*t whats happening, is the bike on fire? whats wrong?'. I look down and see white stuff all over my engine and liquid dropping off the bike. So i rolled it over to the side and stupidly tried to start it up. It wouldn't start and it backfired. Gareth rang his dad and he reckoned that i had blown the head gasket. Oh great all i need. So i ring home get all my insurance details.
Ring up the company and they put me through to 'Greenflag' the breakdown service i am with. Talk to them, tell them what i think/know is wrong, where i am, where i want to go. OK sir they will be there in no longer than an hour. great only an hour thats ok. sit there and walk into the shop and get a little food and a newspaper. Get a phone call from the breakdown people along the lines of; 'Hi, mr Odd, is that Danbury in Oxford? WTF!!?!?!? i just told you i'm in Essex!. O sorry mr Odd, so thats Danbury, Essex, they will be no longer than an hour, o yes what makes you think its a blown gasket?' i just told them the reason and they said ok. 10 minutes later i get another phone call, 'Hi mr Odd, they will be there shortly, just had to change companys and its in Essex again isn't it?' My god, how many times do i have to say! sit there talking to gareth and eating, then later get another phone call, 'Mr Odd, they are on there way, you're going to Galleywood from Danbury aren't you?' How many times do i have to tell them where i am and are going to?
About two hours later the guy arrives and doesn't say hello and is a complete grump. He know's sod all about bikes and didn't know what was wrong with mine. Then asked if it was a 250cc. He got it loaded then his mate in another SOS (service On Site) van/pickup went past and then pulled into the garage. They chatted for abit and there was also a little trouble with a car about 50m down the road, where a car had mounted a traffic island and my recovery guy left the bike and took a stroll down with his mate to have a look while i was sitting there waiting for over two hours to get home!
He finally came back and we got off back to mine. Gareth followed on his bike behind. While in the car he got a call from his site. They asked him to pick up another bike after me in a town not too far away (about 10ish miles) and he started whining and complaining. We hardly spoke but when we did he said he lived not too far away but was based in Boreham (about 7miles away from me). Then he got a phone call from his mate, and started complaining about me and this other bike that he may have to do. I mean this guy is getting paid for this and he is sitting in front of me complaining about my bike and another bike breaking down! They also told the other biker that the soonest someone could get there was 90mins, even though he could get there in not even 30 mins and there were free people back at the base.
And why did it take him 2 hours to get roughly 7-10 miles? he was blatantly messing around or having a kip. So now i have a bike sitting in my garage that i can't ride. I haven't even had it on the road a month! It seems that i have a leak in the radiator pipe or something, because after having a full bottle on friday, and not riding the bike since, having any empty bottle this afternoon. So now i'm back on the CG till it gets sorted.
Not sure if i'll come out next saturday now, if i do i'll be on the crappy, slow, CG :cry:
Thats my little rant over and a little happier now its out.
Paul
Got back this afternoon from a good weekend with the TA and thinking, hummm its a nice time to go out for a ride. So i text gareth (Gazdaman) and set up for a nice, gentle, quick ride. Set out and everything is fine, meet up with gareth, everything fine. Going along and i think the bike might not be running properly, but then i put that down to me being tired after a long weekend and that my riding wasn't as good as normal. Ride is fine, am taking it gently as i wasn't as aware as normal.
On the way back i notice i need some petrol soon, so we pull into a petrol garage. I turn the bike off and all of a sudden see smoke coming up, and think 'sh*t whats happening, is the bike on fire? whats wrong?'. I look down and see white stuff all over my engine and liquid dropping off the bike. So i rolled it over to the side and stupidly tried to start it up. It wouldn't start and it backfired. Gareth rang his dad and he reckoned that i had blown the head gasket. Oh great all i need. So i ring home get all my insurance details.
Ring up the company and they put me through to 'Greenflag' the breakdown service i am with. Talk to them, tell them what i think/know is wrong, where i am, where i want to go. OK sir they will be there in no longer than an hour. great only an hour thats ok. sit there and walk into the shop and get a little food and a newspaper. Get a phone call from the breakdown people along the lines of; 'Hi, mr Odd, is that Danbury in Oxford? WTF!!?!?!? i just told you i'm in Essex!. O sorry mr Odd, so thats Danbury, Essex, they will be no longer than an hour, o yes what makes you think its a blown gasket?' i just told them the reason and they said ok. 10 minutes later i get another phone call, 'Hi mr Odd, they will be there shortly, just had to change companys and its in Essex again isn't it?' My god, how many times do i have to say! sit there talking to gareth and eating, then later get another phone call, 'Mr Odd, they are on there way, you're going to Galleywood from Danbury aren't you?' How many times do i have to tell them where i am and are going to?
About two hours later the guy arrives and doesn't say hello and is a complete grump. He know's sod all about bikes and didn't know what was wrong with mine. Then asked if it was a 250cc. He got it loaded then his mate in another SOS (service On Site) van/pickup went past and then pulled into the garage. They chatted for abit and there was also a little trouble with a car about 50m down the road, where a car had mounted a traffic island and my recovery guy left the bike and took a stroll down with his mate to have a look while i was sitting there waiting for over two hours to get home!
He finally came back and we got off back to mine. Gareth followed on his bike behind. While in the car he got a call from his site. They asked him to pick up another bike after me in a town not too far away (about 10ish miles) and he started whining and complaining. We hardly spoke but when we did he said he lived not too far away but was based in Boreham (about 7miles away from me). Then he got a phone call from his mate, and started complaining about me and this other bike that he may have to do. I mean this guy is getting paid for this and he is sitting in front of me complaining about my bike and another bike breaking down! They also told the other biker that the soonest someone could get there was 90mins, even though he could get there in not even 30 mins and there were free people back at the base.
And why did it take him 2 hours to get roughly 7-10 miles? he was blatantly messing around or having a kip. So now i have a bike sitting in my garage that i can't ride. I haven't even had it on the road a month! It seems that i have a leak in the radiator pipe or something, because after having a full bottle on friday, and not riding the bike since, having any empty bottle this afternoon. So now i'm back on the CG till it gets sorted.
Not sure if i'll come out next saturday now, if i do i'll be on the crappy, slow, CG :cry:
Thats my little rant over and a little happier now its out.
Paul