Snorkel

I couldn't agree with you more roby.  I have just joined and they seem a very friendly crowd.

[quote user="BIG MAC"] It's not my bike and not my business therefore my comment is after the fact and to an extent superfluous. I trust my brake lines, I fitted them and they haven't been used as caliper lanyards.   [/quote]I thank you for your comments.  Let's be honest, if everyone agreed with everyone else wouldn't life be boring.

[quote user="BIG MAC"] I am philosophically looking at a caliper hanging of a flexi pipe and can assure you I would rather see a dealer ashen with eroded profit after he has replaced it that a mechanic who has possibly made a genuine  mistake. The dealer is responsible for the actions of his employees and has got away scot free.   [/quote] Obviously from your statement, you and no doubt others think that I am wrong in taking the approach I have. This I can accept: as I said before we are all different people with differing views and priorities. I would however like to restate the service I received. After registering my grievance the fault was rectified to my satisfaction at my home address in just four and a half-hours. Not bad I thought. I checked the hose and calliper myself and there was no damage with the exception of some scratches, which will never be visible. The scratches on the wheel, which they offered to repair, were tiny. I fixed these last night. You’d never find them even if you looked. If out of sheer bloody mindedness I had asked for further work to be done, I would only have been shooting myself in the foot. More trips to Poitiers, more time with the bike off the road and for what? If it was out of principle, I’m afraid that one goes past me. When decisions are made they are made at the time with many variables to consider. To enter into all facets of a situation would be both timely and boring. I can assure you that altruism was not my primary thought when dealing with this problem, it was sheer practical expediency. I am not sure quite the level or your language skills or the length of time you spend in France, but from my experience some things are just worth avoiding. Standing next to one’s wife while she does the talking is a scenario best avoided. To be honest I would actually pay money to avoid it. I stand by my decision and think that sometimes less is more. The only absolute here was that the mechanic learnt his lesson. He had to face me and make good his mistake. Lesson learned. I’m sorry I missed my day out and would rather not have been put in danger but, hey ho, c’est la vie.

Well I have the concluding episode of my break failure saga, regrettably for some it will be seen as a bit of a damp squib, as for myself, I am satisfied with the result. We arrived 0930 sharp, my wife and I, just as the doors opened and were seen by the mechanic who was responsible for the problem. It was explained to him the series of events leading up to the present and he was shown photographs of his negligence. To say that he physically became ashen would be an understatement. He then went off to speak to his supervisor and on his return explained how they would proceed. He would come to our house between 1200 to 1400 make an assessment, refit the calliper and an appointment would be made if necessary for any follow up work. This we agreed to. At 1355 our mechanic arrived with new bolts and Loctite and in a space of fifteen minutes, job done, hands shaken, all over and done with to my satisfaction. Now I’m sure many will disagree with my course of action considering me too lenient. I will briefly outline why I was so laid back about the whole affair. The mechanic was visibly shaken by what he had done. He will never do the same thing again, of that I am sure. Having spoken to a couple of French neighbours the general consensus was that as the bill had been paid some sort of refund was unlikely. To push the matter further would only have caused more distress to the mechanic. In my lifetime I have made mistakes and there but for the grace of god go I. If the dagger is in, what pleasure would I have in twisting it further. My bike is back on the road, the matter was dealt with promptly and I can live with a couple of tiny scratches. In the end, as people, we are what we are. In my assessment the mechanic was contrite, lesson learned, and I feel that Anglo French relations have not been damaged. I thank you all for your comments and hope that my next post will be on a lighter note.

I would welcome advice or comments on how you would proceed given the circumstances I now find myself in. Yesterday I picked up my bike from a reputable main agent for Suzuki after having had a 12000k service and two new tyres fitted. Today I rode down to meet up with Bugbear and co. for a ride out. On route I heard a couple of ominous clonks and on approaching my rendezvous the rear brake failed. As I was nearly there I carried on only to be met by looks of horror from Gary and Brian who were signalling to me that something very obvious was wrong. On inspection it could be seen that the two bolts holding the rear brake calliper had gone and the whole assembly was floating in the breeze. Gary kindly secured everything safely and I returned home with great care. Now if I were back in the UK, no problem, back to the garage and explain I could have been killed or injured. Lean on them for a refund and or some gesture to make up for my lost time, endangerment etc. That would’ve been easy. Now to be practical that’s not going to happen here in France. First barrier to face is the language, the second being the culture and legal status here. Knowledge is power, so before I sally forth I wonder if anyone has any knowledge or experience that could assist me. As the fault is theirs I assume I can insist they send out a mechanic, or pick the bike up, it is dangerous to ride. I am not concerned that they will not correct the fault it’s more about their responsibility. My bike is out of action, I have been greatly inconvenienced and my life and others has been put at risk. I’m not greedy or grasping but when you get a bill in excess of five hundred euros I personally think it proper that there should be some kind of refund. My questions then are what would you do? Do you think I am being unreasonable? Am I looking at this from a UK perspective, not a French one?

Just got in the door having returned from Poitiers with new tyres and a service. Got to run in the tyres so I’ll see you all at Super ‘U’ in the morning to discuss strategy. I can toodle off on my own from there if necessary.

A good opportunity to put down the paint brush.  See you at 10am.

I have very fond memories of motorbikes and sidecars having spent many hours in the 50’s stuck in the back of my dad’s Watsonion child adult sidecar powered by a 600cc Panther. Oh the luxury when they changed to a double adult and I could actually move. Speeding along and standing up when the roof was off, my brother and I would lean across and stare at the speedo creeping towards the magic 60mph. Cries of "faster faster" to our dad sporting Gaberdine mac, Corker helmet and army surplus gauntlets did little to improve the speed, but it was brilliant fun. I remember well when my brother decided in the 60’s to fit a chair to his BSA B31. Having had the chair fitted at Pride and Clarkes in south London he proceeded to pull away from the near side of the road and promptly collided with a car on the other side. Having dealt with that accident he then went on to scrape down the side of a bus going round Trafalgar Square and had another collision in Kentish Town before arriving home. To say that he looked white when he walked through the door would be an understatement. I imagine that stability and braking have been vastly improved since those early days but I wonder if they are still as challenging to drive? I hope perhaps to I have an opportunity to meet up with you at some time or another as I would be greatly interested in seeing your rig and hearing your comments on driving/riding it.

What a fine figure of a man, well worth looking at.

Count me in, I'll be at Super U car park 9.30am.

Sounds just what I need and yes I would love to go but, as always, there’s a slight problem. For those who are not aware, three weeks ago whilst in Spain I had my wallet nicked containing, amongst other things, my English driving licence. May that unknown person rot in hell! Sorry, I digress. Now without going into too much detail, we’ve all been there, I’ve eventually stopped running from pillar to post and got it sorted. My new French licence I’m told will be with me in about fifteen days. Here’s the problem: I am now the proud owner of a piece of paper which says that I am only permitted to drive a car until receipt of my new licence. The lady at the Prefecture was most emphatic about this choosing to tell me it in English. Prior to receiving this I felt confident with the paperwork I had that I could waffle my way out of an encounter with the police but now, although legal in my car I feel I am more vulnerable than before on a bike. I have an enlarged scanned copy of my original licence showing quite clearly of my entitlement to ride a motorcycle but obviously it is not legal. I would be breaking the letter of the law but not the spirit. My fate would lie at the mercy of the police if I were stopped. Having been a policeman myself I can testify to the fact that the parentage of most policemen is not questionable, I have always found the police here in France most accommodating, but there is always one. Given my situation, I feel unable at the moment to commit myself to a yes but would nevertheless invite comment from others. If I were back in England, no problem but having been run ragged for the last few days I don’t think I could face anymore French bureaucracy. Question: What would you do?

That would've been nice but I have arranged to go bowling tomorrow.  Shame really the bike really does need a bit of a blow through, just like me.  I did go to La Rochelle today with my better half and I must say the weather was excellent.  Perhaps another time.

There's no need to change the dates on my behalf, I actually went there last May.  As I can only really afford one of the trips if I don't do this one I'll be free for one of the others.  I'll leave it entirely up to the majority with regard to the dates that you eventually choose but, as I say, to be honest I think I'd be better off bowing out of this one and going for something different.  Sorry for putting a spanner in the works perhaps I should have made my situation a tad more more clear.      

Guess when my 40th wedding anniversary is?  You got it 2nd May.  I think some how this just might be a no no for me.  Thanks for all your efforts though.

Just a brief update to what was supposed to be a fun day out. I did indeed manage to extricate my bike from behind the sacks of cement only to find that for some obscure reason I had a great deal of difficulty starting her.  As she’s performed faultlessly to date (she being a 2yr old 650cc GSF Bandit) and feeling that the misfiring and cutting out would rectify itself when she warmed up, I decided to press on.  Now the drive from my garage is very steep uphill and now also festooned with a number of piles of earth due to my building work.  At the top the exit being through a single gate with an awkward lip onto the pavement.  Away I went, trying to keep the revs high enough so as not to cut out, but low enough not to disturb my neighbours.  I reach the gate, now at a funny angle due to the piles of earth, and attempt with one last surge to launch myself onto the pavement.  Isn’t funny how in a split second so much can go wrong?  The bike cut out, shot back like a rocket and before I could take any remedial action I was on the floor with the bike on my leg.  Damn was not the adjective I used at this particular moment in time but my displeasure compounded greatly when I realised that I was pinned down, my foot was trapped under the engine.  Have you ever tried lifting a bike up when you are under it?  Not easy.  I huffed, I puffed but I could not move the bike high enough to get the clearance.  I was not in much pain, thanks to the fact that I was wearing motorcycle boots but one does feel so incredibly stupid.  What do I do, I wondered?  I was well and truly stuck.  I found I was lying there checking over the bike for damage whilst rather stupidly thinking that perhaps if I waited long enough the bike would decide it had played enough and get off on its own.  Images of my neighbours on the way to the boulangerie seeing me there and exchanging the requisite polite bonjour whilst thinking, ‘these English do service their bikes in a very strange position’.  The reality of the situation then set in and filled me with horror.  If I were to be found by a neighbour, the inevitable outcome would be nothing short of a pantomime.  Urgent action was need.  Thank god for mobile phones, the fact that I had one and that I could get to it.  As I called home and reassuringly heard the phone ringing in the house I new I had the situation under control.  When my wife arrived in a pink dressing gown and fluffy pink slippers I was not so sure.  I didn’t consider that this was necessarily the appropriate garb for a rescuer but, hey ho, my saviour was with me.  Now on seeing my predicament my wife seemed totally unable to emulate the actions of Bruce Banner.  As I gazed up at her as she heaved at the offending metal, instead of turning bright green and bursting out of her nightie she seemed instead to go instead a rather deep shade of puce.  In the colour-coded scale of super hero’s, puce is obviously all that is necessary for motorbike lifting and I’m pleased to say that both the bike and I am now vertical.  No real damage except to my pride, a banana in my top box and a foot that seems to be expanding even as I type. So there you have it.  Before Bugbear can tell you what an exciting time he had, I just wanted to say that mine gave me much more of anadrenaline rush.  As consolation I think I just might take out my little Honda Dax this afternoon to wind down. I should be safe, it’s only 70cc and I can lift it up on my own. Moral of the story, if you’re going to fall off your bike, do it going backwards outside your house.  Embarrassing but convenient. I’m still coming to terms with the vision of my wife bursting out of her nightie. As for the misfiring bike, it is of course four weeks out of warranty, what a b****r. Ron.