2012 has come and gone.
It’s been an eventful year for me but a very uneventful year for Tiberius the Trumpet (aka The Custard Racer). My work contract in Vegas is finished and I’ve moved back to South Carolina and gazing at Tiberius as he’s spent the last 12 months in storage.
I fire him up and got running last summer, by reconnecting the disconnected fuel hose inside the tank, then had a quick spin around the block where he rides like a champ. I definitely want to replace the fuel hose in the tank as new shiny rubber fuel-hoses are a good thing. It disconnected itself at the end of the street, so I had to push the bike a few hundred yards back home… However, I am now in no rush to get the fuel hose replace because I was pulled over by a Daniel Island Policeman and questioned about the bike:
“Is that one of them fancy Yooropean DooKodi’s?” he said in a drawl, as I imagined him spitting chewing tobacco out of the side of his mouth.
“No” I sighed “It’s a British bike called a ‘Triumph'” and gestured towards the huge TRIUMPH word that is emblazoned on the fuel tank in that common spot where every bike manufacturer in the world prints the company name. *sigh*
We chit chatted about the bike, I explained I had just got it fired up for the first time in several years but the fuel hose had come off again.
He waffled on about his brothers Harley and how its the best brand in the world.
I said “Well, nice talking to you!” and jokingly asked if he could give me a tow back to the house.
And rather than tell me off for test riding on my street, he proceed to right me up a traffic voilation ticket for testing a bike on my street.
Twat! $120 fine and had to go to court to talk the Judge (who luckily just gave the traffic cop a look that said “Really? You waste my time with this?” before letting me off without any further charge)
Anyway, he also went on to remind me that my UK bike license, UK Car and USA Driving license was no good “You need an American Bike license to ride this”. I had figured as much, so now need to sit my USA bike test before I even think about fixing this bike up and getting tempted to go for a quick spin.
So, Spring 2012 files by and I’m heading out to Nevada for a few weeks on business… the weeks get extended into a few months and suddenly…. I’ve been working out in Las Vegas for a whole year while Tiberius the Trumpet (“yes, that is his name”) has quietly slumbered in a storage locker in South Carolina. End of Summer and Decmber rolls around. I finish my remote gig and now its back to Chucktown for good. Huzzah! Its January and I’m looking for a new place to rent. Tiberius will be getting a new home and I will finally be able to spend my weekends tinkering with his guts… polishing his battery terminals and *hopefully* actually find the time to get him back out on the roads….
but I’ve said that before
Lets see if 2013 is the year of the resurrection!