Eunos Chump

Spent Sunday as a track day marshal at RAF Odiham.  It was quite interesting, but not something I'd want to do again - mostly I did it as it guarantees a place on the next track day.  It was BLOODY FREEZING COLD, yet I managed to get a sunburnt face.  Some other observations: Radio comms are very difficult in high winds with bikes rattling past at speed.  It was hard to keep on top of the situation at times. It was virtually impossible to tell the Fast and Intermediate groups apart.   There were folks in Novice going faster than some in Fast. Novice had the most near-misses, thanks to huge speed disparities. Fast bike does not mean fast rider. Make sure everything on your bike is tightly secured.  A fair bit of track time was lost searching for parts that had fallen off. If you're marshalling - bring a chair!  And a sun hat!  An earplug would help with the radio too - radio earpiece in one ear, plug in the other.

First up, a Dodge Viper engined bike: Next, a jet powered shopping trolley - well, more accurately a go-kart with an APU mounted on it, but everyone came running when it started spooling up: Finally, the Royal Breakfast from Little Chef - it's an Olympic breakfast with a steak added to it.  I thought Chris was pulling my leg when he told me about it, but it's real and it's brilliant: The whole thing was ruined a bit by the muddy field provided for bike parking - it was very traumatic and I'll not go again if it's been raining beforehand.

"Hello, I'm Judith Chalmers.  This week I'm visiting a fabulous new resort theme park called Silverlake Car Spares , located just outside Southampton. "It's aimed at the new class of aspirational holidaymaker who doesn't want the traditional sun, sea and beach experience, but instead wants an exhaust manifold for £20, and maybe some crisps out of a vending machine. "On arrival I was greeted by a cast member dressed in some wonderfully authentic-looking filthy overalls.  Staying in character throughout, he addressed me as 'mate' and directed me to the main entertainment complex. "This comprises several hundred cars arranged in rows, each boasting exquisite patina.  There were already many holidaymakers present, enjoying activities such as spilling the contents of a radiator down their trousers. "I settled down to a pleasant 30 mins of spannering on a Picasso that somebody had helpfully ripped the face off.  Disappointin...

I've had a busy morning removing the cracked exhaust manifold from the Berlingo.  It required a lot of dismantling and although everything came apart OK, that didn't stop me bleating about how difficult it all was and cursing the French for the quality of their engineering. All of the above (and more) had to come off.  The alternator feels a bit grumbly, as does the belt tensioner - I didn't know this previously and I was HAPPY, now it's going to bug me.  I broke the terminal off the main alternator lead too, but it must have already been very weak - perhaps that's a breakdown avoided? The offending part.  A new one is about £285, or I can get one from a breaker near Southampton for £20... but I have to remove it myself.

I've spent a very pleasant couple of days dismantling, cleaning and servicing the ZZR, ready for it's return to the road in April.  I'm guessing the air filter has never been changed then... That said, reaching the filter does involve a lot of dismantling.  Oil and filter changed (weirdly Kawasaki recommend a special tool to torque up the filter, as it needs more than normal hand pressure - I just did it up tighter than normal), as well as coolant, brake and clutch fluids (latter was like oxtail soup). Just need to book an MOT and it'll be ready for it's primary mission - which is delivering me to Poole to stuff my face with ice cream.

I should be in Snowdonia, taking part in the annual Gentlemen's Tour of Welsh Chip Shops, but the combination of rain and illness (other 2 guys sick), means it was cancelled.  Not to worry though, 'cos this means I have more time to hang out in remote lay-bys with my mates from the RAC. The rear tyre on the CBR suddenly deflated when I was going fairly* quickly, which was an interesting experience.  The valve had split - I have a theory that the big metal valve caps it wears were the cause.  Anyway, RAC man superglues it together, and I ride it home with him following. Had a trip to Swindon earlier in the day to visit the bike porn warehouse that is Blade Motorcyles. There's a lot of really tempting stuff in there, especially the Suzuki GSX-S1000F.  I don't have the necessary £10K though, and I've got a rule about not buying anything on-tick unless it's absolutely essential.  Being really, really pretty and awesome isn't enough.

First proper ride-out of the year; Loomies, then Goodwood.  It was quite cold, there was sleet at one point, but there were sausages and cake so it was ALL GOOD. Plus, it dragged me away from Stardew Valley for a few hours.