General Category > General Discussion
From the Library
Biggles:
I began posting excerpts from the books I own on September 29, 2012.
In the intervening eleven and a half years there have been some folks join us who may not have seen the series. I'm re-posting the first book's quotations- a real classic by Ted Simon who is one of the trailblazers of the Adventure riding genre. The revived interest for me was caused by my having recently finished reading another book which I'll add after the 30 Jupiter's Travels excerpts. I've just begun a 700+ page saga (which weighs 1.25kg!) co-authored by an Australian rider. FWIW, I have scanned in 2538 excerpts, all but 9 of which you can find in the forum if you look hard enough.
===========================================================
The idea of traveling round the world had come to me one day in March that year, out of the blue. It came not as a vague thought or wish but as a fully formed conviction. The moment it struck me I knew it would be done and how I would do it. Why I thought immediately of a motorcycle I cannot say. I did not have a motorcycle, even a licence to ride one, yet it was obvious from the start that that was the way to go, and that I could solve the problems involved.
The worst problems were the silly ones, like finding a bike to take the driving test on. I resorted to shameless begging and deceit to borrow the small bike I needed. There was a particularly thrilling occasion when I turned up at the Yamaha factory on the outskirts of London to take a small 125-CC trail bike out "on test." I had my L plates hidden in my pocket, but first I had to get out of the factory gates looking as though I knew how the gears worked. Those were the first and some of the hardest yards, I ever rode; now it can be told.
Ted Simon Jupiter's Travels p 17
Jdbiker:
Thanks for bringing this back 👍
Biggles:
I carried out my first-ever major motorcycle overhaul in Alexandria. I found a cavernous garage near Ramilies Station, haggled bitterly over five piastres for the right to work there, and then received many times that amount back in tea, cigarettes, snacks and true friendship from the poor men who struggled to earn a livelihood in that place.
I took two days to do a job that might be done in two or three hours, but every move was fraught with danger. I dared not make a mistake. Already I knew that there would be no chance at all of getting spare parts in Egypt. Both pistons, I found, were deformed by heat, and I had only one spare piston with me (a piece of nonsense which inspired more waves of telepathic profanity to burn the ears of Meriden [UK Triumph company]). The pistons had seized their rings, and I put back the less distorted one after sculpting the slots with a razor blade. It seemed the only thing to do. I prayed that I was right. I had no real idea about what had caused the overheating after only four thousand miles, and felt rather gloomy about it.
Ted Simon Jupiter's Travels p 66
Biggles:
"Yes, yes, yes," they scream and, in a flurry of brown limbs, they fight with the Triumph up a gangplank, over a rail into a narrow gangway, through hatches, over sills and bollards, four hundred pounds of metal dragging, sliding, flying and dropping among roars and curses and pleas for divine aid, while I follow, helpless and resigned. Finally the bike is poised over the water between the two boats. The outstretched arms can only hold it, but they cannot move it, and it is supported, incredibly, by the foot brake pedal, which is caught on the ship's rail. Muscles are weakening. The pedal is bending and will soon slip, and my journey will end in the fathomless silt of Mother Nile. At this last moment, a rope descends miraculously from the sky dangling a hook, and the day is saved.
Ted Simon Jupiter's Travels p 73
Williamson:
--- Quote from: Biggles on March 13, 2024, 12:15:20 PM ---"Yes, yes, yes," they scream and, in a flurry of brown limbs, they fight with the Triumph up a gangplank, over a rail into a narrow gangway, through hatches, over sills and bollards, four hundred pounds of metal dragging, sliding, flying and dropping among roars and curses and pleas for divine aid, while I follow, helpless and resigned. Finally the bike is poised over the water between the two boats. The outstretched arms can only hold it, but they cannot move it, and it is supported, incredibly, by the foot brake pedal, which is caught on the ship's rail. Muscles are weakening. The pedal is bending and will soon slip, and my journey will end in the fathomless silt of Mother Nile. At this last moment, a rope descends miraculously from the sky dangling a hook, and the day is saved.
Ted Simon Jupiter's Travels p 73
--- End quote ---
Could have spoiled his day, big time!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version