Under lidt oprydning faldt jeg over denne artikkel fra 1995, sansynligvis
fra enten Classic Bike eller The classic Motorcycle. Jeg håber at
forfatterne bærer over med, at jeg offentliggør artiklen her i gruppen. Det
er der altsammen, markedsføring, manipulering, motorcykel, og en kat
Det skal nævnes at "Basket Case" er den normale engelske betegnelse for en
adskilt motorcykel som køber overtager i papkasser eller lignende. Og for
yngre læsere i gruppen, at man faktisk _har_ kørt med flettede kurve på
bagagebæreren af motorcykler i gamle dage.
mvh
Orla
Enjoy !
A Real Basket Case
Roy Poynting gets exactly what he ordered.
I’M SURE that you've all experienced the influence of the expert salesman.
You know the sort of thing - you go in to the shop to buy a 14in portable
television, and come out convinced that life would be impossible without a
25in monster complete with remote control and Teletext. Well, the classic
motorcycle world is not immune to the syndrome.
Last year, in order to compete in the Banbury Run, I bought a vintage
James. No, this is not the basket case of the title. The two-stroke single
was in remarkably good order. All that was required was a determined session
of tidying and fettling.
Well pleased with the motorcycle and my own efforts, I decided that the
final touch would be provided by a wicker basket on the carrier. This was
mainly for cosmetic reasons, but I justified it by the need for somewhere to
stow tools and waterproofs.
My wife, a social worker, said that she knew of a local blind basket-maker
who would provide exactly what i wanted. However, she discovered that this
fellow had recently retired. Nothing daunted,she enquired further afield,
and discovered the existence of a certain Reg Mills, who runs a blind
workshop at Great Bedwyn in the depths of rural Wiltshire.
Armed with the dimensions of my carrier frame I phoned up Mr Mills to be
greeted in a cheery Wiltshire brogue asking how he could help me. When I
explained that I wanted a basket for my motorcycle and asked if he could
oblige, he confidently stated: "of course we can, just tell me exactly what
you want, and we can make it."
"I thought I'd have it woven on a solid wooden base so that I could bolt it
direct to the carrier," I began. This raised the first note of caution from
Reg. "You can have it like that if you want, but it wouldn't be authentic;
they always had woven bases, In any case I'd have to get the base made up
specially. Of course it's up to you, but if you want a proper job..." he
told me.
"All right," I conceded, "we'll have a woven base and worry about attaching
it later."
"Okay then," says Reg, "we'll make it like that if you're sure that's what
you want. What size does it need to be ?" I had this all ready. "Base nine
inches by twelve inches and six inches high please."
"Hold on", cautions Reg, "is nine by twelve the actual size of the basket,
or the size of the carrier frame it's going to fit on?"
On being told that this was the frame size, he countered: "it’s no good
having the exact size, you need a bit of overlap. Of course we’ll make it
nine by twelve if that’s what you want, but if I were you..." I agreed to
extend the width to ten inches, but decided to stick to the original length
for fear of being jabbed in the back by my new basket.
"Okay, if you are sure that's what you want, that's what we'll do. Now how
high did you say ?" asks Reg.
"Six inches," I replied, thinking there couldn't possibly be any dispute
about that. Wrong. "Is that inside or outside ?" asks Reg. "Outside," I
responded confidently.
"Well, if you're positive, that's how we'll do it, but that won't leave
much space inside will it ? Course it's up to you, but....," says Reg. I
hastily changed my mind and pretended that I had meant six inches inside all
along.
"How do you want the hinges ?" was Reg's next query. Since we had agreed to
Reg's choice base, width and hight, and my lenght, the score was 40-15. It
was time to be more assertive.
"I thought I'd have the hinges on one of the ten inch faces so that it
would open forwards rather than sideways," I said firmly.
"Well, if you’re sure, that’s what we’ll do, but it ain’t normal, you know.
Hinges always come on the longer side. Course, it’s up to you...," says Reg.
Who am I to fly in the face of tradition? Hinges on the long face it had to
be. This only left me to make a decision about the catches. "What would you
suggest?" I asked. "Well it’s up to you, but it’s normal to have two
straps," says Reg.
I rang off with Reg promising to phone me when my design of basket -
remember: I chose the length - was ready. Two weeks went by without a word.
So I phoned to see if there was a problem.
"No, in fact I've been trying to phone you," says Reg. "After we had our
last conversation, I looked in the storeroom and found that we had a basket
already made exackly like you wanted. It's two inches longer, but you can
have it for the same price. If you want it, it's ready."
Alert readers will realise that I had been completely outmanoeured. But I
know when to give in gracefully. "We'll come and pick it up now," I said.
"Well, it's not quite that ready. It's got a handle on it that you don't
want," says Reg. "And I have to re-varnish it for outside use. It should be
ready about eight o'clock."
So, on a fine May evening we rode up to Great Bedwyn on my BMW, to be
greeted by Reg and a large cat that he claimed was a guard dog. I don't
think his eyesight is really that bad, but... Outside the shop was my
basket, resplendent in a fresh coat of varnish.
With the aid of some wooden plates and four coach bolts, the basket was
soon in place. It really looks the part. If you didn't know better, you'd
think it had been specially designed for the job.
Reg Mills is a real Wiltshire character who has appeared on local radio and
television. He can be contacted on 01672 870425, or by letter at The
Bungalow, Brook Street, Great Bedwyn, near Marlborough, Wiltshire.
I can vouch for the fact that he will make any shape or size of basket you
might want. And if you're lucky, he'll even help you to design exactly what
you had in mind.