The Pathfinder patrols once more

[Steve1962]

Today Andy came over [ 90 mile ride from his house ] to fit a new ignition coil to the Pathfinder to get me back on the road again . As prearranged , my task was to remove the tupperware in readiness for the job at hand - when Andy arrived , it was almost done , just two allen bolts remained on the bike as I'd had trouble removing them .In a jiffy , Andy took them off - a twist with a screwdriver and voila - all this underlined my vast ineptitude with anything mechanical........

So , off with the petrol tank , after discovering that the securing bolt also doubles very well as a stopper for the fuel pipe - call it a moment of inspiration [ orluck ] , but it worked ..... once the new ignition coil was fitted , it was back on with the petrol tank ,but not before we found a missing rubber washer [ well spotted Andy ] , and not before I found out I didn't know my own strength when Andy asked me to lift the petrol tank a bit [ well I thought he meant over my head ] !!

Before refitting the tupperware and mirrors , time to check to see if the bike would start and make sure we had no fuel leak ........ a nightmare ensued momentarily as the bike would not fire up .until I realised that the immobiliser was still activated [ we laughed ] ...press the button .success !!

With all in place and only a few screws loose in my head , it was time to go for a ride , so we headed out in the mid afternoon gloom onto the roads of the Cotswolds , heading out to Burford , on through Bibury and Barnsley , eventually stopping at Upper Slaughter for a break and to check out the 12th century church and surrounding vista ......... even in this light , it's lovely ......some photos .....

 

http://steve1962.smugmug.com/gallery/6559503_TTNMr

 

 

Then we ventured west , heading for the highest point in the Cotswolds , Cleeve Hill ....on the way we passed through Guiting Power , where Andy was buzzed by a pheasant [ makes a change , but his bike is blue like mine ] ....when we got there we decided that as it was getting late , we'd head home , so Andy led the way as we picked our way through the rain sodden [ covered in agricultural mire too ] single track country roads before joining the delightful B4068 that leads to Stow on the Wold .Twas on this road , near the Naunton Golf Club , where Andy had a second moment with two pheasants , as he was forced to duck to avoid colliding with one ...... this road is a real gem to ride , coupled with the late sun dancing across the undulating countryside , illuminating the remaining autumnal colours in the leaves that still adorn the trees , it really was a pleasure to be there .

At Stow , we turned onto the main road and gave it some welly , arriving home just as the light faded , to be met by SWMBO with a welcome cup of coffee and a slice of home made cake , a fine way to end a nice day .

I can't thank Andy enough for taking the time to fix my bike , and for sharing the ride with me today .

 

Steve

 

[Marty Hill]

Good news and a good mate! Thanks Andy.

[Boffin]

I have always enjoyed working on bikes and so I was pleased to help out. Add to that the fact that I had diagnosed the dead coil based on Steve's description of his failures on the road, so I had a slightly nervous vested interest in the job.

 

Having ridden over to Steve's I found him concerned that the two rear-most side panel plastic fasteners had rounded off and that he could not remove the fairing. Having had this same issue myself, I just prised the spring clips open a little and the fasteners pulled out.

 

After a cup of coffee, we set to work and changed the coil. Now we came to the fun part of the day - the extended roadtest.

 

I had packed my bike with a few tools but forgot my camera, so my pictures were taken with my LG Secret camera phone (With carbon fibre battery cover, tempered glass screen and 5mp camera)

 

Pathfinder awaits the start of the ride:

 

 

Upper Slaughter, Gloucestershire, England:

 

 

Steve pointing out that there is water in the ford

 

 

Steve doing what he does best:

 

 

 

More random pics:

 

 

 

 

After a couple of hours of mixed roads and speeds, Steve's bike did not miss a beat - so it seems that the mission was accomplished.

 

Andy

[Paul_Burkett]

It is good news in hearing that the bike was able to so quikly be repaired and that the ride was againg soooo nice.

[Francois_Dumas]

Methinks your pheasants need some advanced flying lessons..... or a better altimeter

 

I'd take the Jeep through that ford, but not my RT !!!

 

Nice tale guys, glad all is running again !

[Steve1962]

Methinks your pheasants need some advanced flying lessons..... or a better altimeter

 

I'd take the Jeep through that ford, but not my RT !!!

 

Nice tale guys, glad all is running again !

 

Francois,

Pheasants know about as much about flying as I know about mechanics !!

I'd just like to underline my thanks to Andy for getting me back on the road , I really enjoyed yesterday .

 

Steve

[azkaisr]

Worthy tale. Someday I gotta get over there to ride with you mokes.

[Boffin]

Worthy tale. Someday I gotta get over there to ride with you mokes.

 

You're always welcome. Same goes for the rest of y'all.

 

Andy