Drop of a hat .… 2003
Yet again I am sitting above the Atlantic
on the way over to the U.S. to collect bikes, and to say that
this is only the start of the journey it has certainly not gone
well so far!
The story of
this trip starts a month before the Annual Rally, 12 H2's & a
couple of H1's in various stages of disassembly came up for sale
on EBAY, they were located near Memphis Tennessee, you may
remember from the last magazine that I bid on the package with
Three seconds to go and was thwarted by my PC asking for my
bidding password, I immediately mailed the vendor and told him
of my interest, a week later I mailed him again and apparently
the original winner of the auction had still not come up with
the funds. There was also an additional problem now that other
parties from Japan were interested in buying the bikes. A few
frantic mails later and "Jeff" decided that I was the worthy
winner of the package.
So, it was time
to try and find a flight. I was busy waiting for the flight
schedules to download and checked daily mails, here came a
shock - "Henry" had mailed me telling me that he needed a set of
H2 cylinders and pistons and would gladly exchange airmails to
the U.S. for the purchase - Coincidence or fate? I snapped him
up on the offer as there had to be a few of the H'2's that would
be purely for breaking! A couple of weeks later after sorting
out the paperwork my flights were booked! I then priced
containers and was relieved to hear that a container was easily
available and was slightly cheaper than last year!
The next couple
of weeks was dedicated to organising the rally and looking for
other suitable bikes in the area to fill the container, I bought
a H2 in Texas off EBAY and then my dream bike came up for grabs
- a Brand New H2c in Purple in Detroit - I was told the bike had
been stored in a climate controlled environment from new and was
"as new". Again the bike was on EBAY and the auction was set to
finish around 8.30 on a Monday morning. I wanted the bike badly
and utilised a service called auction sniper, I told them my max
bid and asked them to bid 5 secs before then end of the auction.
I also put in a bid myself with 8 seconds to go - Both myself
and the sniper won the auction and plans were made to pay for
the bike before seeing it, as this bike was now the most
expensive H2 in the world (my plans to replace the old Audi this
year were down the pan – you can buy a car any time – but a NEW
H2c?) I was uneasy to part with the funds to say the least! As
you know I have travelled to the U.S. several times before to
see new H2's only to end up very disappointed.
The planning was
slowly coming together, I would fly to Chicago, then to Detroit,
then maybe drive to Canada to see my old friend with the New Old
Stock parts that he had finally decided to talk about selling to
me, from there it would be down to Memphis with a slight detour
to take in the Mid Ohio vintage swap meet and see Dave Crussell
race. Then after dropping the bikes off with the other 14 H’s in
Memphis I planned to drive down the Houston and collect the H2,
from there I was going to Austin to collect another guys H2c,
then Dallas to meet up with old friends and then back to Tn to
load up all the bikes and set them on their way – maybe from
there I could go up to see Harry in Michigan before I flew back
out of Chicago? Just a 3,600 mile round trip in ten days . . .
A call to
customs in " Mobile " South Carolina revealed that not only were
they not 24hrs a day there but unlike Detroit they were only 5
days a week! With the 3 days waiting period that I had to have
in it would be pretty certain that I would miss my pre booked
return flight (again!) It looked like the easiest way around it
was to abort the 1400 mile Texas detour and get the bikes
freighted overland to the central location in Tn - easier said
than done as the company (Forward Air) needed a lead time
of 2 weeks and I was booking just 9 days before I wanted them
there - they promised to do their best.
My next problem
was a new one to me, my health! I had had an annoying heavy cold
for some Two months which had resulted in a large build up of
fluid in my ears (glue ear) to the point where my hearing was
seriously impaired. A visit to the docs ten days before my
flight resulted in me being on a course of antibiotics. After a
week I started to feel very lethargic and weak, a couple of days
later I was having bad stomach pains and was concerned that I
had been over doing it, I had my blood pressure checked and it
was a touch high, the pains started to get worse and when I took
my afternoon pill the pain turned to agony and I was violently
sick. I checked the prescription on the Internet and was shocked
to see it contained penicillin which I am VERY allergic to
. . . . an hour later and I was gasping for breath and vomiting
violently - a call to the docs suggested that I get to the
Hospital pronto. So, 12 hours to my flight and I am having
my chest shaved for the electrodes to be attached in between
barfing everywhere! . . a few hours later and I am given the all
clear, some pain killers and a new course of anti biotics. A
totally sleepless night being VERY sick was not the ideal way to
prepare for a long haul flight.
But, fly I
did...
With a lot of
idle time on my hands while I am flying I decided to get some
newsletter written, I had invested in a new laptop and as both
my RB's and the Clubs websites needed to be re-written I would
do that during my flying hours - - after all I will have around
20 hours travelling time to get some stuff done in! - I am
5 hrs into the 1st leg of the journey now and although not
feeling particularly good I will make a determined effort to
write some stuff . . . or I would have done except for the new
Microsoft Word programme that is installed asks me for a user
code that is on the original discs that are back in the office!
Glad I bought my Nokia communicator with me. As I sit here tip
tapping away I wonder what lies in store - especially as I have
just dumped a full cup of coffee into my lap and will leave the
flight looking like I have p*ssed myself!
So, I will just
edit the websites instead. . . no I won't, because that
programme requires a bloody passcode as well . . this trip
is not starting well at all and as I put the laptop in my
rucksack and pull out a bottle of Lucozade I am more than a
little gutted as I unscrew the top and half the bottle gushes
out on my clean shirt and coffee soiled shorts ! ! !
If I was superstitious then I would be getting VERY concerned
about all my bad luck so far!
So, still
Sticky and Sickly, and I am landed in Chicago and wait for
my next flight on to Detroit . Once in Detroit I head for the
New H2. Having already paid for the bike I am nervous about it’s
condition to say the least. I meet up with the bike seller and I
am relieved to say the least to see that the bike is all it was
said to be! Basically the owner was (maybe still is) to be the
biggest bike dealer in Detroit , he brought the H2c off the
showroom floor to start a bike collection for his son.
Unfortunately
the son died earlier this year and now after keeping the bike in
a climate controlled environment the father had decided to sell
it. Also as part of the collection was one of the 200 limited
edition “Americanization of Kawasaki” Z1000’s – the owner rode
this bike back from the Nebraska factory and never used it
again.
The H2c was
loaded up and I headed for Ohio and the “Vintage Days” swap/race
meeting. Oh, and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this old
car on the way down there!
Ohio
was as large as last year but with the added bonus that I get to
see my pal Dave Crussell race his H1r! There were plenty of
strange and unusual bikes of all makes at the meeting –
surprisingly there were more Triples there this year for sale –
but few of them were cheap. There was a also a 4 cylinder S3
that a guy constructed 10 years ago – a great looking bike that
was built along the lines of a works racer.
Dave's practice
lap led to him retiring with an ignition problem, the alternator
was stripped down and the loose plates re-shimmed and
re-assembled – Dave was not a happy camper and accused me of
being a jinx (If you remember last time I saw him race at
Daytona he broke down as well!).
The bike now
seemed crisp and for good luck I added some club stickers to the
bike – they obviously worked as he started off in 8th place and
clawed his way up the field to 2nd, he was having a serious dice
with a local guy on a Yam but pulled into the lead on the final
lap and took the flag, I have to say it was the best moment of
the year for me to see a pal win a race in a different country –
he was now well on the way to winning the series!
I left Ohio
early and headed for Memphis . A couple of hundred miles later
a stop off on the way in Nashville was interesting, the main
street has several bars that have live music all night long with
each band swapping shifts or pubs every couple of hours – shame
it was all country music – but even that can sound good after
enough beer!
I finally found
my destination in Memphis, “Jeff” had collected several “Junk”
H2’s over the years and had taken various parts off them with
the intention of restoring them One day – he also had a passion
for Drag cars and with him owning his own business the project
H2’s had taken a back seat. He was now moving to Florida and had
no intention of taking the H2’s with him so he had put them on
EBAY.
The next morning
we went to the "farm" where the H2’s were stored, it was a
little out in the sticks and it was slightly worrying to find 3
six foot long empty snake skins in the barn, I say barn (as Jeff
calls it) but it is a new building big enough to house his 2nd
Drag car, 14 bikes and room left for another 10 cars!
Unfortunately the majority of the H2’s were 70%+ Disassembled
and so a BIG job of boxing up the parts off Ten broken up H2's
ensued. – Still, we managed to get it all done in a few
hours . . it only cost a couple of pints of sweat!
Thurs
morning and I am woken at 6am by a serious storm, a look out the
hotel window reveals the most torrential wind and rain that I
have ever seen, just then a thunderbolt hit the power lines
outside and the hotel was plunged into darkness, panels were
being blown off roofs and when the storm passed it was revealed
that dozens of trees were down, two people died and the radio
was saying that 500,000 homes were without power in the worst
storm to hit Memphis for 25 years! Driving back to the
“barn” we were met by all sorts of array - several traffic
lights broken and swinging in the breeze along with a lot of
debris on the road - we carried on boxing up parts and
loaded them and the bikes into the small U Haul trailer and
Jeff's 28 foot race car trailer.
To be continued . . . . .
