Get on yer Bike and RIDE!!!

In fairness to the mechanics, they brought the bike in within the quoted price and seem to have done a bloody good job. I loved riding it home. And I am about to go out on it now. Encouragingly, they also said that what I thought was loose tappet noise was pretty normal and that I shouldn't worry.

Got that Queen song running through my head, albeit edited from bi-cy-cle to mo-tor-bike:

I want to ride my mo-tor-bike, I want to ride my bike di-na-di-na, di-na din........I want to ride my mo-tor-biiiiiiike........

GET ON YER BIKE AND RIDE!

If teachers could charge more when they discover that kids are thicker than expected....!

The GT550 failed its MOT on two points: headstock bearings were locking and the brake arm was floppy and needed retapping because it couldn't be tightened up. They are probably jobs I could have done myself....but you know how it is - if you start a job you will probably end up being interrupted, not having all the right tools, etc etc...and with no guarantee that you have done it to the MOT pass standard. So I bit the bullet and got them to do the jobs.

£46 plus VAT per hour - I swear, I am in the wrong business! That is twice what a teacher makes......and teachers can't charge for extra time spent on the job.

Worst case scenario quote was £230!!! SHIT.....and just when I think I can cope with that, they discover that their work on the headstock has affected the wiring, which they say they will put right at no cost because there was nothing wrong with the wiring before, but then they discover that the fairing bracket is affecting the run of the brake cable. So I tell them that if necessary I will rip the fairing off.....

Anyway, they are making good and hopefully they won't exceed the worst case scenario....but you bloody know they will and that they have you over a barrel.

How do they manage to sound irritated with you for feeling squeezed? You back off when the phone call is getting tense because they make you feel like if you play hard ball the price will go up.

But, all is not lost. I have worked out a way to foot the bill, I will just invoice the Headteacher for another 500quid this year. He will say that he has my contract which says I get 500 less than that, but I will just say that while I was teaching Year Two this year, I discovered that they were unusually thick so teaching them took a lot longer than anticipated. He will threaten not to pay and I will pull the old, "Well I can always open them up and take the new parts out" ploy.












In fact, I am going to float this with the teaching community :)





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