I went for a ride today, and before you ask..NO it didn't rain.. anyway I was on the A470 heading for Brecon when I passed an old Triumph stopped in traffic by a lake..something about where it was struck me as odd, there was a layby the other side of the road and the rider was beside the bike so I thought he had broken down, I was poodling along at about 60 in traffic as I went past so I only had a second or two to decide..I looked for a place to turn slowed down and waved the cars behind me to pass, then I turned round and headed back..I often carry a barrel bag hitched to my sissy bar with enough tools to strip a bike and repair almost anything, but today I hadn't bought it because I had left it on another bike that I was working on..
I got back to the bike and rider to find a 1960 Triumph that the owner, 74 year old Mr Jones, had built from a box of bits, It had run out of petrol and he was trying to push it to the nearest petrol station..I said park it in the layby and I will give you a lift..First picture if you will a fat 16 stone 74 year old biker trying to get on the back of another fat 16 stone 70 year old's cruiser..So I got off and let him struggle on first, How far is it to the nearest petrol station he asked, about 5 miles I replied..It turned out to be 11 miles.I can't imagine what it would have been like to push his bike 11 miles..So with over 32 stone on the bike we headed back to Asda at Dowlais top on the A465., he was a good pillion rider, I said grab those bars and pretend you are luggage, and he did.. We arrived at Asda where he bought a can and I asked him to buy some bungee cords, he came back with tie wraps which while good for some things, won't really hold a can on to my pannier brackets, I managed to explain what bungee cords were and he said, you mean like this? he had one around his waist to hold his trousers up..So can filled, held in place with bungee cord, two old men precariously balanced on my bike we set off again for the 11 mile trip back, I pulled into the layby beside his bike, got off the bike and reached for the can, there it was..gone..
This time I left Mr Jones with his bike and set of back the way we had come, the can and bungee were nowhere in sight so I bought another can, Asda didn't have any bungee cords so I bought a roll of twine, secured the can to the pillion seat, filled up at the pump and set off again, the twine was pretty flimsy and having lost one can I kept feeling behind me to make sure the can was still there..I got back and almost filled the bike with what was in the can..The old bike started and ran like a dream, I followed for a while at 50-60 mph to make sure he was ok then I waved as I passed and continued my ride..
Well I had only gone out to get a cup of tea and follow the road, the weather was nice..I reckon I had a pretty good day.
John.
Another deposit in the bank of positive Karma...you must have quite a nest egg in there by now.
Now not saying it would be funny to watch the climbing on and off, but it would have livened up the day......
JH you are now moving up on the list to Sainthood........always nice to help someone out.....
JH funny story but , the main thing that goes unnoticed is the good dead you provided ! Nice to hear from a fellow drifter rider . Man it's not only the classy bike we ride it's our riders that separate us from the other groups .
Way to go JH. I just wish you had pictures of that! ;D
Great story! 8)
Good deed done and a great story!
Did you ever find the missing gas can?
Thanks for sharing.
Quote from: Troll on October 07, 2013, 20:29:07 PM
Did you ever find the missing gas can?
No not even the bungee cord..It didn't split open because a little gas makes a big splash so somebody got some free gas.
John.
Sad part is someone found that container and will think it was some idiot playing a joke and added water or something to the gas and threw it out, ....