Since my last entry it has been quite a change. I have become more involved with the Dykes on Bikes club and have enjoyed meeting with them over the winter months.
I am very proud and happy to say I achieved my full patch just this month.
and wore for my first club event this last weekend.
A group of us flew over to Germany to attend a surprise 50th birthday party for the Vice President of the Dykes on Bikes Hamburg chapter. We were collected from Bremen airport and taken to the home of the VP which also acts as their clubhouse. What a fantastic group of women, we were welcomed with open arms and treated as honoured guests. The party in the evening was perfect, they had hired a local bar/hall, a live band and provided drinks and hot food. An extremely enjoyable weekend was had by all. The only downside is that most of use then contracted the flu so lots of poorly girls in both countries.
As you can see.. loads of fun… many, many thanks to Indy (Hamburg President), Dori (Birthday grrl and VP), Olle who drove us around and generally looked after us, Püppi, Corco, Blondie, Julia and others. I also learned how not to play the Kazoo….
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (workshop), I have decided to undertake a few jobs on the Fatboy. As I get older the arthritis in my hands, wrists and feet is worsening and I need to think about hand position on the bikes. My old Fatboy (1991) had ape hangers which I liked and now I think they would suit my wrists much better as a, long, tour riding position. I also think I should change to an hydraulic clutch actuator as this will require less effort to engage the clutch. Alongside this I think I will make a couple of cosmetic changes such as upgrading the indicators to LED and something a little more stylish than the bog standard HD ones that are currently on the bike, change out all the accessible bolts for stainless steel, maybe upgrade the brake calipers too.
First thing is to get some new bars. I have a look around and find a polish company (on E-Bay) who hand make bars to your specification. I order 18″ Apes, drilled for internal wiring and 1 1/4″ tubing. I also order the hydraulic clutch actuator and some rather fetching LED indicators that match the style of the Apehangers. So, once all that arrives I can get it put on the bike. I am also going to route the front brake and hydraulic clutch pipes internally through the handlebars so there shouldn’t be any wires or tubing showing on the front of the bike… niiiice.
Watch this space.
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