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Copied here from the GDB archives for our ongoing amusement (thanks Rocket). Rocketman - Saturday, May 26, 2001 - 09:08 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd like to say I'm glad to be back but I'm not. Only last week I was sat at a pavement table eating fresh pizza and drinking fine wine, in Cannes, right across the street from the Film Festival !!! No I didn't bother with all that pomp and ceremony, I was to busy checking out the skirt. Trust me when I say this, Julia Roberts doesn't come close to those hotties in the Med !!Then there was last Sunday when I took the Motorway from St Tropez to Monaco, which cuts through mountain tunnels and crosses viaducts the likes of which anything over 100mph delivers that Thomas Crown kinda feeling that only roads to Monaco could. Ate some more pizza and drank more wine. Met up with some F1 pit crews. Rode through the Tunnel and around the Swimming Pool complex and Rascasse Corner. The circuit is truly awesome and I'd revel in been able to do the full circuit at high speed but it wasn't possible. Took pic of me and Buell in Schumacher's pit. Beat him to it by at least a week !!! Popped some nice wheelies around the circuit. A rather nice one across the start finish line. Yeah the crowds loved it. Upon leaving Monaco and heading back to St Tropez I took the coast road, FAST. It's just totally freeking awesome. Nothing can compare to riding those mountain roads and coast roads in the South of France. What an experience. Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland and Monaco in 2 weeks. 2500 miles taking in some of the most spectacular roads on the planet. The stuff that dreams are made of and dreams do come true. Did the Buell have any problems ??????? No not really. All that occurred were not Buell issues. 1. Choke knob came lose (big deal) 2. Wood screw punctured rear tyre in St Tropez. 3. Yep it was bound to happen, clutch #5 burnt out. OK, so it was 3 in the morning and we were doing burnouts in front of the bar, but these clutches are pi$$ weak! 4. I fell asleep at the handlebars while out on the motorway. I hit a traffic cone which smashed the chin spoiler and front hugger. Broke the clutch cable adjuster at the primary case too. 5. Bearing spun in rear hub. I was forced to ride from st Tropez to Croix, about a 1000 miles, at no more than 70mph. By the time I got to Bethune the play in the rear wheel was considerable and its trashed the pulley too ! Still, it got me home in one piece. As for Croix, what a really cool event that is. After the 15000 HOG heads at St Tropez it was a nice cool down to be in the company of about 100 nice people, some good friends from last year and some new friends from this year, who all contributed to make Croix one of the best Buell events I've attended. Mind you, there was this one guy there, some strange American, who bored the t i t s off me talking about dyno's, a topic of which I clearly know nothing about. Oh, then there was Peter, but we wont mention him !!!! Hein, let me know when you get the bill for us trashing the hotel, then we'll have a laugh. I especially liked the bit where some of us more hooligan inclined Buellers reved the bollocks off our Buells at 2.30 in the morning in Bethune square. Hein's face was a picture at his hotel window !!! Fooking lightweights !!!! Brits on the piss !!!!!!!!! Rocket in England Blake Saturday, May 26, 2001 - 11:26 pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rocket: I am envious! Great summary. Now give us details, we crave details of such a grand adventure. Put 'em in the new Tale Section main topic for posterity along with the pics. Rocketman - Sunday, May 27, 2001 - 05:33 am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yeah it's true, the Dymag hub is totally trashed. When I get a new one from them I'm gonna ask them to return me this one so I can use it as a paperweight ! I'm not gonna dwell on this to much, but some more "cynical" members of the Croix gang suggested my belt tension was to tight. I remember Aarons quote most of all, "Rocket if you think that belts not to tight, you're on drugs". Well, I must confess, compared to theirs it was tighter, perhaps partly due to removing the wheel in St Tropez for the puncture repair and also just after leaving St Tropez I stopped off at the HD dealer in Frejus to remove the wheel and inspect the problem more closely. I was gonna pack the bearing with feeler gauge but it took me 20 minutes to explain what a feeler gauge is, only to be told that the shop that sells 'em was 2 clicks down the road and they were closing for lunch in an hour. Then the mechanic holds up a coke can !!! Yep, I knew it would never work but I gave it a go never the less. Packed the sucker with a few choice cuts of coke can and swamped it with bearing seal. I asked if the seal was quick setting which I was told it was. An hour later I was ready to roll. Funny thing was, just as I'm about to set off for the 1000 mile trek to Croix, the mechanic explains to me perhaps I'd be better off leaving tomorrow as the bearing seal takes 24 hours to cure ! What the hell, it lasted at least 5 miles before the coke can worked its way out. Still, mustn't grumble, it got me to where I was going. But like I was explaining, maybe removing the wheel a couple of times altered the belt tension but it was originally set by JH's and I've only ever checked it, last time with my 300lb friend sat on the bike ! No, I'm not taking responsibility and I'm hoping Dymag don't ask the question either. Then there was the time when we were riding south through Aix le Bains, a rather nice little French town on the Swiss side, sat on the edge of a rather nice lake, when all of a sudden this trick looking Triumph 955 shoots past me with a rather strange screaming exhaust note much like a two stroke. I had to take the bait, panniers, tent and sleeping bag flailing in the breeze. No he couldn't shake me through the traffic or twisties and I was rather amused to see him looking intensely in his mirrors every time we came to a stop. Yep I reckon he'd not known the likes of the S1 before ! Oh and the time I was flying down the canyon carving Sisteron to St Tropez road. A particularly fine 100+ miles of two lane black top that carves its way through mountain passes and cliffs and crosses the river and single track rail line so many times and encounters more hairpins than an old ladies "bee hive", when I shoots around this rather nice fast down hill wide open right hander to be received by the local Gendarme waving franticly in the middle of the road. After a document inspection and a slow down gesture, my apologies saved the day ! Oh man, so many tales !!!!! Rocket in England | ||
| Rocketman |
Blake : As I always use the search messages function, I appear to have missed this heading ! Please feel free to move all France\Croix related scribbling here. Rocket in England | ||
| Ebear |
Hey Rocket, Got any Pictures??? Please oh please oh please???? |
