Writing my previous note got me to thinking about breakdowns. Sometimes even a
breakdown can result in everything going your way, other times you fare less
well.
Some examples of fortuitous breakdowns:
Years ago I was driving my trusty AMC Hornet (no laughs please) on a freeway
in a heavy rain when it started sputtering and died. That occured just short
of an exit ramp. I rolled down the ramp, and as luck would have it the
stoplight at the end of the ramp was green. I rolled through the light and
into the parking lot of a billiard supply store. I borrowed a screw driver
from the owner to dry the distributor, and was on my way in minutes.
Second event was even earlier. I was riding a Triumph 650 when it started
indicating it was running low on gas. This was way out in the country in the
middle of nowhere. I looked up and there was a gas station. I rolled up the
exit ramp as the bike sputtered to a stop. But the gas station was downhill,
so I rolled right up to the pump.
Now to the somewhat unfortuitous:
I was very near a national park in the evening looking at a bat cave. This was
just after I had put the Rover back together. The headlights at that time were
not very good, and on the way back we fell into a tremendously deep rut with a
bang that set my wife and child crying. We were stuck on the frame. Stupidly I
had not installed the front driveshaft at that point, so no amount of digging
or back and forth would dislodge it. The road was a very isolated dirt track
and it was pitch dark. I fully anticipated staying the night there, and was
starting to think about tigers and such like. Mosquitos were out too. After
about an hour a pickup truck appeared, and eventually someone found a tractor
to pull us out. It was very embarrassing explaining why a 4 WD vehicle
couldn't get out of the ditch.
John
Bangkok
1975 SIII 109 2.25 Petrol
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