Showgirls, frozen fingers and Blinging Bolts

Last weekend, despite the sub zero temperatures, me and the Marrinator decided to ride up to Excel for the MCN bike show. He had to pick up some tickets from Fratton Park (*spit) so I planned to meet him at Portsdown Hill at 10 before the ride. Icey roads slowed the ride but I was soon parked up at P Hill with a burger and coffee. Dean was a little late but after 30 mins of talking to a complete fruit loop on a new Royal Enfield, Dean arrived, some more snacks demolished and we were on the A3 heading towards London. A quick peestop and we were soon in a 90-100 mph flow on the M25. Soon the Dartford tunnel approached and after realising we didn't have to pay we both played around a bit in the tunnel playing exhaust note top trumps. Dean won, easily. Soon we were at the show. It was ok, nothing special, lots of scantily clad ladies to admire and a few bargains to buy. Dean bought some gloves and some new leathers which he decided to wear home. We left at about 5:30 and after being blown away by the spectacle of Dartford crossing bridge at night we were back into the usual flow on the motorway. We stopped at Fleet services as Dean had realised that leathers aren't as warm as his textile gear and the subzero temperatures had taken their toll. It was a good riding day.

Sunday was spent cleaning which meant it shouldn't have needed cleaning on Wednesday on my day off. It did, so I did. Fairing off, mudguard off, belly pan off, a full strip clean. it wasn't all good though, I lost one of the fairing bolts, broke another trim clip and I noticed one of the oil pipes from the oil cooler was split, not leaking but split part through. it looks like a sharp stone may have hit the pipe, it is in a vulnerable postion. A quick phone call and it appears that this part is the piece that I received a recall noice about months ago that I hadn't got around to doing. Result! Instead of paying £111 + labour it will be done free on Monday at J2 Honda.

To celebrate I bought some new Tasty Nuts. Spending £50 on shiny nuts to replace slightly pitted furry nuts may seem to be a waste of money to some people but I would rather spend it on making my bike look a little less crappy than on Beer or Pizzas.