2/24 – Getting It Back Together – 15-21 June 2024

With the paperwork done, all (haha!) that remained was to get things back together – myself included – and get back on the road. Let’s start with me.

My injuries were fairly minor – just a gash on my knee – or so I thought. The first treatment I had was a fairly rudimentary clean, the application of a liberal quantity of glue and a dressing and a course of antibiotics – all for a very reasonable $250!

At this stage – Tuesday evening – there was minimal swelling and I was reasonably mobile. However, by Friday, after two days working around the bike, my knee was up like a balloon and was quite painful. I decided an x-ray was in order.

I got the script for this “free” at the clinic and went to the ER next day. Here I had a, truly, free consultation with a nurse and a doctor, which included an ultrasound to see if there was any fluid collection that could be aspirated; this was negative, as was the x-ray. So, it was a case of carry on taking the pills.

My knee had other ideas, however, and woke me at 0400, throbbing and painful. Removing the strapping revealed a red angry knee, up like a Belfast bap. A return to the ER for a formal consultation was clearly required. At this point weight bearing was unpleasant, so I borrowed Terry’s crutches.

During this visit, I had another ultrasound scan, a battery of blood tests, and a CT scan. All the staff were very friendly and efficient, so my 4-5 hours passed quite quickly I have only two complaints: firstly, it was freezing thanks to the air on, and secondly, I got nothing to eat or drink – not so much as a glass of water. The reason for the latter was the possibility of some operative intervention if it turned out the infection had spread into the joint.

Happily, this was not the case, and I was discharged with a new dressing, a different course of antibiotics, and some strong analgesia, which I would be glad to have in the coming days.

The bill was another thing though. For, just, the visit to the ER, the bill was $4.150; because I was (but I didn’t) pay myself, this was reduced to $2.490; and then if settled within 7 days, it would be reduced by 20% to $2.365!  On top of this the fees for the doctor, the CT scan, and the blood tests would be added. Outrageous!

The bills would be sent to France and, I was informed that it was very unlikely that I would be chased for payment if I defaulted. Happily, I have insurance.

The next day we started putting the bike back together, with difficulty as it is not an easy task getting up and down off the floor with one leg that doesn’t bend. Getting the front wheel back on was a particular struggle due to the suck brake pad, as previously mentioned. This required a visit to the auto store to get a brake bleeding kit and some fluid.

One reassembled, we noticed that the front wheel was not quite aligned and then realised that this was possibly due to bent handlebars rather than a fork misalignment; the right side was decidedly higher than the left and was further back. Closer inspection revealed no telltale cracks in the chrome, so further investigation was warranted. In addition to the bars, this revealed that the fork bridge was not sitting level, back-to-front on the steering bearings cap.

A spirit level revealed that the top fork bridge, where the bars mount, was also not level side-to-side. The garage floor was level and the frame further back was also level, give or take a bit. So we concluded that something must be twisted up front. The question, now, was whether the bike was rideable as it was. Unfortunately, I was not able to test it as my knee still wouldn’t bend past 45º.

Online discussions revealed that a not uncommon result of accidents such as mine was a bent steering stem, and I guess if it can bend the direction of the bend would be determined by the direction of the bending force. If this came partially from the side rather than head on, the bend could present as a twist.

Mark Parrish, came up with an offer of a replacement triple tree and a new set of bearings, and by the time I returned to Greencastle, it was there waiting for me. The day after my return was a bit like Christmas Day, as I had ordered several other bits also, and all the boxes were piled up waving on me; the only thing missing was the tree.

One ray of sunshine in this otherwise depressing week was a further contact from Nick at Progressive Insurance. He asked fro further information on my damaged riding gear, and within 24 hours, I had received compensation or this. This was a very pleasant surprise as it was totally unexpected. New jeans, here you come! 😀

I got back to Greencastle in a hired U-haul truck. This involved a 9-hour drive covering 450 miles. By the time I arrived, I was done; my knee was throbbing and now my ankle was swollen and my lower leg felt as if a very heavy object had fallen on it. These were new symptoms which was a bit worrisome.

On Friday morning, I awoke with a very sore leg and still feeling the effects of the drive. We off-loaded the bike and I lay down to recover. This was the point when the pain, delays and struggles of the past 10 days hit me. I realised I was thoroughly fed up and now with a painful lower leg – much more so than my knee, which was still oozing slightly – was facing the prospect of a delayed recovery.

Realising that 7-10 days of inactivity would drive me nuts, and not wanting to impose myself Bobbie for such a period, I made an instantaneous decision to return to France for a couple of weeks. I would stress here, that this idea of imposition was purely my own feeling. Bobbie and Terry were insistent that there was no need for me to go; in fact quite the opposite, Bobbie was ready to break my other leg to make me stay! 😂 I was welcome for as long as it took, I was assured.

We went out for an early dinner with Vernon, an old friend, and the grandkids, and on the way I booked my flight from JFK to Manchester. Little did I realise what I had just let myself in for.

When we returned, I helped Terry with his CB350 Four, which he is bringing back to life, as he was having some trouble adjusting the valves. After trying a couple of times to set them, we concluded he must have set something incorrectly earlier. So we took the valve cover off, reset the cam alignment and tried again, this time successfully. This made me feel much better, as at last I was able to repay, in a small way, his generosity and hospitality.