Errrrr….Hello!

 Hello people, remember me?
Well, as you may have guessed the new job has taken off big time. It’s great, I love it. I’ve had LOADS to learn and feel like a real rookie because I knew nothing when I started. But it’s slowly coming together and I am beginning to run trials from the very start now. 
When I started I was basically taking over trials that had already started and my mentors were trying to get me up to speed to run them by myself so they didn’t have to do the travelling to get to Peterborough. I was also having to travel anything from 50 to 100 miles one way to meet my mentor at their place of work to learn some more.
But all this has been really good. It’s the challenge I have loved and it just continues  because new trials mean challenges. The management seem happy with my progress so far, which is all good too.
Other things that are happening in life is that Lee has had a couple more meetings, one with the consultant and the other with his solicitors. (Great guys and total nutter/bikers). The decision that Lee has made with advice from the consultant is that he is going to have his right leg amputated above the knee. This might sound really drastic, but this way he will face approx. 12 months for the op to heal and rehab to get walking on his prosthetic leg. IF he kept the leg as it is now and they tried to lengthen it then he would be facing at least another 3 ops, a further 3 years treatment and after all that there would not be 100% guarantee that the leg would heal totally anyway. This way , he can get on with the rest of his life sooner , without a lot of the problems that would come with a shortened leg. It has been a hard decision despite all the plus points, but I do think he has made the right one. There will be a good chance that he can even get on a bike again. At the same time he keeps failing his Theory test to get him on the road! As soon as he can pass it, he will take the practical which I am sure he will sail through. He has the test again later this month.
Paula (eldest) is 9 weeks away from producing our 3rd grandchild. She’s getting fed up carrying the extra weight around now and wants it over and done with! At lest she hasn’t had to put up with it through the summer months. She has got really big and we kid her on that she’s having twins, but we know it is only one really!
My bike has been very poorly and is still in the fixit shop at the minute. I hope to get it back this week though. I had a misfire before Christmas which only seemed to happen once the bike was warm. Investigations showed that there was a head gasket leak, which might possibly have caused the misfire, but not a cert. It needed doing anyway, so I got that fixed. After they put it back together and ran her up to check for leaks, they noticed that one of the carb manifold rubbers was leaking. This could definitely have caused the misfire, especially as the mechanic said the spark plugs were black when he took them out, meaning there was too much fuel and not enough air getting into the mixture. I wasn’t surprised at the rubbers leaking as the bike is 10 years old and rubber hardens and perishes with age, so I have had all those replaced too. They put the bike together again, no leaks, road tested it, and still had the misfire! The only thing it could really be now is the coils, which I thought it was right from the start anyway! Genuine Triumph parts are £76 ($110) +VAT each. Through the Triumph Trophy forum I frequent I heard that there were alternatives that others had used so I went for them. In fact they are BMW K series coils and are £24 ($36) each +VAT! So I got both coils for less than the price of a single genuine part! The BMW guy said he had sold a lot to Triumph owners as well, so I knew I was on the right track. So I delivered them to the Fixit shop on Saturday and will hopefully hear something on Monday. I’m really missing the bike now, as the weather is turning drier even if it is still cold. I need to get some miles under my butt as I’m going for another charity ride this year.
This time it is for the Poppy Appeal and the Royal British Legion. This is a group that supports our forces veterans , past and present, and help their families too. I’ve been a member for the last 2 years, not only because I am ex-RAF, but I wholeheartedly believe that our troops need to be shown support by someone, because the government doesn’t seem to care much!  The ride is 1,000 miles in 24 hours. There are 4 routes, a northern route, clockwise and anti-clockwise, and a southern route , the same. I will be taking the southern anti-clockwise route. This starts off at Leeds, Yorkshire. Across to Telford in Shropshire, then south on the motorways, past Bristol, through Devon into Cornwall to Redruth. From there it will be back along the south coast to Southampton (Hampshire), through to Dover, then head north, around London, then back up the A1M (past close to my home), back up to Leeds. The journey should pan out at about 1,036 miles.
 This is basically for British forces, but anyone that wants to sponsor me can do so at  http://www.justgiving.com/Paul-Smart-RBLR1000 and anything will be gratefully appreciated.
The new cats are settling in well and ruling the household as cats do. I’m adding a photo or two so you can see how big they’ve grown!
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On their sun-lounger (Ironing board!)

Right , I think that’s got you all caught up right now, so I’ll sign off. I will try to get back more often , now I am getting things more organised with work-time!
Hugz all
RNBiker