March
2022
It is now April and March is receding fast in my
memory with a few notable things that went on that included a trip to
Whitewebbs Museum of Transport on the Buell. I took my old friend George on the
back for this little trip, some 80 miles in total. Bear in mind that George is
a fit octogenarian but he did require a bit of assistance getting on and off
the Buell. Velocette man through and
through he had a pleasant ride with me and is game for doing it again.
Talking of Velocettes we eventually had the LE Club Christmas Curry at my place with Gita providing a range of curries that everyone enjoyed. It was warm and sunny that day and we spent most of the time in the garden. We postponed it from just before Christmas because of Covid and so many people being unwell. The next week was so different as I ventured out in the El Cid to Staines and Citroen Classics to get the kingpins replaced. Snow flurries added to the chilling cold. Gita was ill and not well enough to be my lift home so it was public transport for me. I was going to hang around in Staines until the car was ready. I had not planned to travel home but the job was going to take longer than anticipated. What did not help was that the access to the bus station in Staines one of the exit routes was blocked so the pickup points were relocated to the other side of the town and I had no idea where they were. I had a choice of a bus to Heathrow or one to Hounslow. As there was no bus at the time to Heathrow and I had found the bus stop for the one to Hounslow and one was due I took that one so as not to freeze. I had already been walking around Staines for an hour searching for a bus. I’ll not bore with more details other than it took nearly three more hours to get home. I could have walked it faster it was only twelve miles away. No wonder why a car is so important. I picked up the EL cid the next day and the TfL route took two hours. The day after I was not well. Having spent almost five hours on the buses it is not surprising I caught something.
March was not a good month for things. The Buell
battery died and had to be replaced and a light switch in the study jettisoned its lever. I have never seen that before.
A more constructive side of the month kept me busy with making another treasure chest for the grandson. He is a bit young but I have to get on with things while I have materials and how I did it. When I had finished I started on a fibre glass cover for a space below the spare on the van. I started with a plywood former and built up layers to get a reasonable strength. It looks fine but so heavy.
I then I made an aluminium one around a pattern, something I had never done before and this will lead me on to another project. Playing with glass fibre I had to reposition the bolt that holds the spare wheel in place. This was necessary as the bolt had been positioned for a 125x15 and I am to use 135x15 wheels. I ordered a new rim from ECAS for the El Cid and that needed painting as I have to change all the tyre sizes to 135X15 and I still have two wheels shod with 125 tyres. I can still get 125 tyres but they are twice the price of 135 tyres and I use these tyres on the Burton. A note for the van is 135 cross country/winter tyres are easily available and a better choice over a 125 tyre.
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