INTERMITTENT IRRITATION

‘ Those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first drive mad’… particularly if they are motorcyclists. My two BMWs (1979 R80 and 2004 R1150GS) have been resting in the garage, getting a bit furry but still starting on the button. I got the ancient (100k miles) R80 out to go up to Brum today for a meeting. I got to Droitwich only to have the clutch refuse to engage once withdrawn.

I’d had this happen a few years ago when going up to Scotland. As then I waited five minutes for the bike to cool and it freed. I continued on the M5 but it did it again. Again ten minutes waiting meant that it freed off, but this time I decided to ride home, changing gear without the clutch all the way – not easy when you have to judge your approach to roundabouts, lights, etc.

Once home, I got out the GS. After a mile the oil warning light came on. I switched off, started the engine again and the warning light went out – only to come back on a mile later. I went home gingerly, coasting down the side of the Malvern hills. At home I checked the oil level. OK. So I started the bike. The light went out and stayed out.

When I returned home again I took the old R80 out for an inspection ride, and this time the clutch was as smooth and faultless as ever.

Little things like gunge on clutch pushrods or on the surfaces of oil pressure switch contacts can seem to spell disaster and then suddenly everything seems OK again. What malign forces are at work, I ask myself? What have I done to upset the higher powers? Roger Bibbings, member 4256

Just count yourself lucky you don’t have tyre pressure sensors. ‘Tyre underinflated,’ it says, despite all physical evidence suggesting otherwise. You can then spend a couple of hours trying to convince the sensor that the tyre is in fact at exactly the correct pressure but to no avail – and on a motorcycle it won’t even let you limp home on an ‘unsafe’ tyre. Sheesh! Rowena