Well, I made it, but certainly didn't make thinks easy for myself ( I guess none of us who ride classics do)...
After the experience last year on my Venom (Bertie) I was determined not to put him through that again. The traffic was stop start it wouldn't tick over and then the clutch started to play up. If anyone on here is familiar with the Velo clutch it is quite unusual in it's operation, using a "ramp' effect to separate the plates, so neutral should be sought ASAP when coming to a halt. It also got so hot that I thought is was going to seize at one stage. Anyway move forward to this year, and as my Commando has never had a reliable tick-over so I bought a Madass140 linkage. I've had no time to fit it until Saturday. I also wanted to check the float levels again and fit the Renthal bars and new mirrors I bought. ( you probably all know where this is heading) I have to be finished by 18:00 as I had to go to work. So I start around 11:30 - plenty of time I thought! I get the carb tops off and have the linkage fitted in about an hour or so. Off with the float bowls, adjust the floats pop the bowls back on. Then putting the tank back on I dropped one of the rear bolts down into the gearbox area somewhere. I have no 5/16 UNF bolts, and being this is a 100% metric country zero chance of buying any on a Saturday afternoon. The bolts are also stainless so no chance of using a magnet:| So I search and search, and I shake the bike, and I lean it to the left, no bolt, I lean it to the right, still no bolt so I lean it a little further and the weight takes over - aaaaand down it goes. At this stage I was very thankful that I had not fitted the folding front footrests I had been thinking about. I managed to get it back up, but felt the strain on my back but no damage done to the bike thankfully. My back didn't get off so lightely. Then I remembered I had some odds and sods screws in the boot of my MGB, but it's parked in another garage I rent. Off I go and luckily found a door hinge screw which would do temporarily. Back to the bike get the tank on and secured, connect the fuel taps, turn on the fuel, all seems fine. Pop up to the house to get a tool, and my wife asks me to do something which takes 30 mins. or so. When i get back to the bike there is a large puddle of petrol and the (shared) garage absolutely reeks. Petrol is dripping rapidly from the right carb and won't stop. AAAARGH!!! off with the float bowl and I am mystified to see that a complete piece of the gasket is missing (right by the float valve) no idea where the piece went, oh - and of course I don't have a spare. So i find some gasket paper and make one. Time is really ebbing now, but I fit the bowl back on and it's not leaking thankfully. Quickly swap the bars over and fit the (Honda CM125) mirrors. Looks great, but now I have no time left for a test ride. I start it, the throttle response is transformed with instant response and I have a tickover!! I feel very satisfied, but my back just feels sore. So just time for a quick Epsom salts soak in the bath then off to work - what a day.
Sunday morning, and I thought i was on a different bike. Like i said the throttle response is just "crisp" and a lot of the vibes through the bars have gone due to the Renthals, plus the bike smooths out at around 3000 rpm whereas before it was 3500. - i.e. result !
Anyway, I get to Zurich and there are around 400 bikes assembled. We headed of at 10:30, but the route was different this year and much less arduous, plus we had a legion of the Zurich Hells Angels (The Hurricanes) blocking all the junctions so we could move in one group and unhindered (so i probably didn't need to put myself through all that the day before) :cry: The weather was absolutely beautiful, and wherever we went there were people out on the pavement waving to us. We stopped for complimentary coffee and croissants at one place for about 45 minutes, and walking around I reckon between 30-40% of the bikes were Bonnevilles of some type. See how many you can spot in the 4th picture below. They are an amazing sales success which thinking about it I can fully understand. They are a real blank canvass, ripe for personalization (which many of them were), and I bet the owners didn't spend Saturday bending over the things, but were out riding! I saw only two other Nortons, a very original metalflake silver Fastback, and a black and gold 961. What a great day. It looks as though the weather was kind to every event from what i could see.
When I checked my DGR page this morning, I was amazed to see that I was the 6th highest fundraiser in Zurich collecting around 1200 dollars. I felt very chuffed indeed, but may back still hurts!.
Peter R, what make is your jacket? it looks very Dapper !
Cheers,
cliffa
