Your Stories

My first NABD rally

SMIFFY

Date 21.7.00.

I had an appointment at 10.00 am which frustratingly ran late: 12.45 pm to be precise.

The sun was shining and all I wanted to do was get on my way to the rally. I raced home after the appointment, packed the trike, and my wife and I set off for our first NABD rally. What could be better than a weekend away with lots of booze, bikes, loud music and even the chance to race down a drag strip.

But disaster struck part way through the journey. My Kliktronic gear changer packed up. Being a partial paraplegic, having no use in my left leg, I couldn't change gear so I had to improvise. I managed to borrow a length of bar long enough to reach from the gear lever so that I could pull the lever up and down by hand. This enabled me to carry on my journey albeit a little bit awkward. I thought that, if I could just get to the rally, the people in the know (yourselves) could possibly help me to get it fixed.

I thought that nothing else could go wrong. WRONG AGAIN! Upon leaving the motorway, the split link broke. As it was a new chain I didn't have a spare link. A very kind man pulled up in his car and towed me the rest of the way to the rally. A NABD rep towed me from the gate to the disabled camp site. A very embarrassing journey. I pitched the tent, kicked the trike and set off for the beer tent.

Date 22.7.00.

I awoke to the roar of engines. Some lucky people were racing down the drag strip. Luckily I had met a friend in the beer tent on Friday night who said he would ride into York and pick me up a split link.

Having slept on my problem day, I examined the trike only to find out that the clutch rod was in three pieces. Looking around I noticed three drag bikes, all Suzuki's. As my trike is a Suzuki, I made my way across to the owners. I explained my problem and, to my amazement, a brand new clutch rod was produced. I paid the man for it, took it away and fitted it. My trike was now running apart from the Kliktronic.

I went to see Vic, the NABD Adaptions Officer, and explained about my problems. He arranged for a replacement Kliktronic to be brought up on Sunday. No run on the drag strip today. Headed for the beer tent again.

Date 23.7.00.

Sunday morning my Kliktronic arrived. I hastily fitted it. BINGO! I headed straight for the drag strip. I finished the day off with a 12.84 second - 100 mph run.

This would not have been possible without the help of the NABD team, especially Vic Heward-Meadow, who watched me with interest on my maiden run.

Although I had my fair share of mechanical problems with my trike, I thoroughly enjoyed my first NABD rally and look forward to future events. I am very grateful for all the help and support that I received over the weekend.