Friday - 3 days till departure.
The panniers were loaded up with nearly everything packed, and the yellow 40l dry bags were almost packed as well, we decided that it would be worth strapping everything on and going for a little trip through the forest for an hour
This proved to be an excellent idea as during our little hour trip we bottomed the bike out three times with the centre stand!
You may remember that I had the bike lowered to allow me to touch the ground as at only 5ft 8in it was a bit of a challenge otherwise.
Having had the bike lowered the centre stand sat low, hence grounding out.
Clearly this was not an ideal situation, and in hindsight we should of tested this out well in advance, especially as this was now early Friday evening!
I must admit to sleeping badly Friday night, I was a little worried, but had a plan!
First thing Saturday morning I called Paul and Bursey Engineering and explained the problem. Not a problem, bring it down and we will take the centre stand off!
Problem solved!
I have never used the centre stand, the bike is just too heavy for me to lift it, especially as I have had it lowered, which now makes it impossible to use without enlisting the help of some one else to lift the other side of the bike.
So once at the garage, and with a limited amount of time, as I was due at a family lunch at 1200hrs which required me to be suited and booted and not covered in grime from a centre stand that had been on the bike since day one! We cracked on.
However, nothing is as easy as it sounds, a number of bolts came off, with a bit of a struggle but there was one which to gain access to required the exhaust and a few other bits to be removed!!!
This is when I suggested just cut the bloody thing off!
Paul kindly obliged and 10 mins later the centre stand was in half and removed!
Phew, I was much relieved, no more grounding out with the risk of being thrown off!
My next encounter with the Honda Varadero would be after the wedding on Sunday when we set off for France and Italy on our Grande Tour!
The journey continues...........
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