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The annual twenty-five year or older bike ride was the event,
and we rode from Albany to Walpole during which we all got
thoroughly drenched between Denmark and Walpole. A new jacket
that I had just purchased was more of a sponge than a waterproof
cover as I was soaked through. This was an omen of things to
come. We left Walpole with many other bikers going in all
directions, who were also very wet, mostly because they were
only wearing leathers.
Got to Northcliffe late afternoon where we set up camp in the
rain. The weather improved and we had a pleasant evening in the
campers kitchen. Next morning we headed off to Hamelin Bay via
Nannup but halfway to Nannup there was a bang and the bike
stopped. Raelene was following and saw a big puff of black smoke
ejected from the exhaust. A quick investigation revealed no
compression so the bike was loaded onto the backup trailer and
we continued to Hamelin Bay
After setting up camp we decided it was not a roadside repair
and Daniel volunteered to trailer the bike back to Albany so I
could bring another bike for the rest of the trip. The next day
a short ride was planned as we had two nights at Hamelin Bay, so
Daniel and I loaded the Ariel 500 onto his trailer and made the
round trip and brought back the Ariel 350.
Tuesday we set off for Bussleton for a couple of days camping
and a few short rides. The generator decided to stop charging on
the 350, and as I needed to have a stop light, the owners of the
caravan park lent me some solar panels.
I borrowed Raelene's Guzzi for the day while the girls went
shopping in town. After a good day out we returned and the
battery was nicely charged, so I knew it would be right for a
couple more days.
After a couple of nice sunny days in Busso we headed for
Pemberton and had a lovely ride through Donnybrook, Bridgetown
and Manjimup.
Alas after leaving Manjimup about halfway to Pemberton I
detected a rattling noise coming from the engine but by the time
I found somewhere safe to pull over the rattle had intensified
and the bike stopped. I knew this was going to be serious so
once again the bike was loaded onto the backup trailer.
We spent a night at the caravan park and had an excellent meal
at the Pemberton sporting club. I had the rest of the trip back
to Albany on Saturday with Warwick in the support vehicle while
the rest of the riders enjoyed the last day on their bikes.
Sunday was spent stripping down the bikes to find the causes of
the trouble. The 500 had dropped a valve so a new piston, valve
guides, valves and spark plug required here.
The 350 had a big meltdown. Pulled off the barrel and the top
half of the piston was sitting at the top of the barrel and the
rest was disintegrated and floating around in the crankcase
along with the bottom of the barrel which was also smashed.
Split the crankcase open and voilą, the two flywheels parted
company, revealing a split crankpin!
Many thanks to Daniel and Mary for their generosity of car and
trailer to swap over the bikes and to Warwick for bringing the
support vehicle and club trailer.