Subject: Re: Curse of the monkey paw - a trip report (long)
From: Mark Holbrook <holbrook@net1plus.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 08:30:57 -0400 (EDT)

Blake Johnson wrote:
> Now that the bandages are off and the Love Glove is retired, I can recount the tale of woe that beset most of the members of the Philly contingent


This reminds me:  I had a somewhat disconcerting mechanical experience
on the way home.

I had just put the bike on the sidestand (on a sidestand plate on a
gravelly spot at a campsite) and dismounted.  I have a habit of tugging
on the left handlebar in these circumstances to pull the bike over to
make *sure* it is resting firmly on the sidestand, on the plate.

Imagine my surprise when the whole left handlebar came off in my hand!
I almost fell over backwards.  It turns out the weld between the
handlebar tube and the riser had broken (probably from 80K miles worth
of bumpy back roads - the bike has never been down).  I jammed it back
in and went on my merry way in the morning, watching as it worked its
way out occasionally and slamming it back in with my palm, but then
realized this process had a good chance of getting me into serious
trouble eventually, so I finally wised up and stopped and bound it
tightly in place with heavy wire.  An application of good old JB Weld
will probably make it as good as new again.

-- Mark (Holbrook@net1plus.com) "Back roads. Period." http://www.net1plus.com/users/holbrook/mark.htm