I recently claimed that
Angie's YBR125 'never misses a beat.' Well guess what: spoiler alert!
It missed it's first
beat on a soaking wet, icy cold Monday. I thought little of it.
Nearing work after a clear run, I gently rolled over the bridge and
disengaged the clutch as I came to a halt. The motor stopped! It
started right up again so I assumed it was me being a bit useless.
Saying that, it was idling a little low, perhaps 1200. That was it
though, until the end of the week.
The week dragged on and
when the final bell rang on Friday, it felt a few days overdue. The
ringing was somewhat drowned out by rain drumming on the skylights.
Fed up and tired, what I want wanted to do was get on my bike and
ride. What I didn't want was to get soaked through only to arrive
home at the moment storm clouds gave way to bright blue sky. Thus
daylight gave way to indecision.
By the time I left,
there was virtually no light and still plenty of rain. The YBR125's
single 35w/35w lamp is already useless in the face of oncoming
traffic. The heavy cloud annihilated what little twilight remained
and I was fighting a loosing battle to clear my visor. In such
situations you're pretty much riding on a wing and a prayer when
anything but a YBR125 comes the other way.
Not five minutes in and
already soaked, I met a particularly well lit car coming mid road.
Obviously I slowed right down and aimed for the darkness left of the
blinding headlights. That's when the engine stopped. Instinctively I
thumbed the starter but this time it didn't start right back up. “Oh
great!” (possibly words to that effect)
After I pushing to a
nearby driveway, it started up again so I
rode off but with confidence in the bike utterly lost. Anyone who's
been there knows how it affects your riding. Loosing confidence in
your bike on a dark, blustery and wet night isn't quite a nightmare
but it's super stressful. I soon found that the engine would cut out
at speeds over 50 if on full throttle.
Anyone
who rides a YBR will know that any slope means full throttle at
speeds of over 50. Anyone who rides a YBR around these parts will
know that we don't really have roads that aren't sloped one way or
t'other. Only your wrist notices them on a big bike. Generally,
there's way more thinking involved in getting a learner bike from
Harrogate to Ilkley. Each gear change is anticipated well in advance
so, ideally, timed to perfection. When you roll on to full and find
the motor cuts, blood pressure rises just as fast as the oil pressure
drops.
Thankfully
I got it home. I've since washed it and can't find anything looking
like the culprit. Stand back a bit while you're hosing it off and
that bike looks fairly new. However, get in close with the sponge and
a soapy paint brush, it starts looking long in the tooth for sure.
The swinging arm and parts of the frame are rusting heavily along
with the whole exhaust system. The whole rear end could do with
pulling apart, stripping back to the bare metal and painting. I might
do all that. I thought I might do that last summer. It really
needs it now so I really
might. Then again, I might not.
One
thing's for sure, the bike I once trusted to the point of abuse can
never again be described as having 'never missed a beat.' Now it
needs some Alan time. He'll probably tell me off about one thing or
another but I know we'll most likely get it back in a fit state to
see the winter out. That way when spring starts getting serious I'll
be able to ride it to work just like I could when I filmed this two
years ago.
