Jacqui Furneaux
“ What ’ s wrong with you NOW ?”, it wasn ’ t the first time in its twenty-year lifetime that I ’ d called out in desperation to the bike .
A motorcycle is a magnificent thing when it ’ s working but a thing of frustration and dismay when it stops unexpectedly , leaving the rider feeling helpless and bemused as the machine rolls slowly to a silent , ignominious halt . It had happened whilst travelling in many different countries . This time it happened in England , not too far from my home .
Dismayed , I sat there in a state of disbelief . Everything had been fine on leaving the Bristol mechanic who had just had it for a week , sorting out various problems . How could something else have gone wrong within thirty kilometres of riding away from the workshop ? But there I was , by a set of traffic lights , on the A38 at Thornbury .
Luckily , there was a paved area for getting off the main road . When I removed my helmet , there was a strong smell of petrol , I turned the petcock to off and had a look around . Big bulging drips emerged from the carburettor . Fuel poured out when I temporarily turned the tap to on .
I got the toolkit out and started to fiddle about . This was something that hadn ’ t happened before . Perhaps the carburettor float which regulates the petrol flow had become stuck .
I tried to start the bike and there was no power . Nothing !
Now there were two problems . Electrics baffle me so , with a sigh of resignation , I put down my spanner , picked up my phone and rang the breakdown service .
A chirpy young man who , like everyone else the world over , was probably looking forward to his Friday evening . He took my details and reassured me that someone would be along soon . I stood by the bike and waited .
Just as I was musing that ‘ If this were India , someone would have stopped to help by now ,’ a scruffy van pulled up and the female passenger called out from the wounddown window , “ Are you alright ?”
I walked over to the van where the couple within sat , engine still running .
“ I ’ m on my way to Tewkesbury ,” I explained . “ Thanks for stopping but I ’ ve called the breakdown people . They
TRAVERSE 81