Over the course of the Island Classic week I think I saw just about every bike malady known to man manifest itself. From the catastrophic, Ryan Farquhar’s Yamaha engine virtually split in two, to the almost insignificant, tiny wires that failed to connect despite giving every appearance of having done so. Despite the obviously huge expense of replacing an engine in the pits on race morning with a tight schedule ahead, the minor problems are the ones that motorcycle racers hate the most. And it got me thinking…
My old Science Master at high school used to say that, if you were doing a Science experiment involving electricity and it wasn’t working, the first thing to check was your connections because the fault would almost certainly be found there. Later on, when as an impoverished Teachers College students, trying to keep my ancient wreck of a car on the road without having to pay a mechanic to help, I learned again how right Mr Linton was. Of all the faults that a car could manifest, the most annoying and prevalent was those of the electrical variety.
Still later, I still shudder when I remember that bitterly cold winter night when the main power fuse on my 500/4 failed out on the Coppins Crossing Road near Weston Creek in Canberra. It was, as luck would have it, as black as the inside of a black bear’s stomach and, even though I knew the fuse was to blame, I couldn’t see enough to be able to FIND it, let alone CHECK it. And, even if I HAD been able to do so, replacing it (I had a spare) was out of the question as I couldn’t see a thing. There was no choice but to push the bike, up the steep hill to the Cotter Road and into Weston Creek where there were overhead street lights by whose light I would be able to effect the repair. I don’t know how far I pushed but it was certainly a couple of kilometres and, by the time I reached the first street light and stopped, I was running in perspiration despite the ambient probably being below zero.
It was a similar night a couple of years before when the problem of bad connections had also reared its ugly head. I have recorded the whole gruesome episode on this site and you can follow the link to it if you wish.
At the Island Classic on the weekend it took more than just a few worried minutes before my friend David Hirsch, found out that, even though the bullet connectors on the Kill Switch were connecting properly, the actual bullets INSIDE the insulated covering were NOT. Similarly, Ralph Hudson found that ready-made connectors do not always connect even though they look like they have.
And it’s not only electricity where bad connections can bring you unglued (!!) Former AMA regular, Pat Mooney, came in from his first practice session on a brand new bike (it had had ONE shakedown run at Thunderhill Raceway in California before being stuffed into the crate and into the shipping container for the trip to the IC) with the front of the bike’s engine covered with hot oil. The problem was traced to a hairline crack in the oil cooler, mounted high on the steering head in front of the motor. The cooler was removed and the bike sent out again as practice time was so precious. It was a hot day so there was great concern about doing so but, times had to be set. On return to the pits it was found that engine and oil temperatures were well within tolerances and the bike subsequently ran the whole weekend without a cooler. What was wrong with it? A tiny, hairline crack had appeared, identical, in fact, to an identical unit that had failed in the same way at Thunderhill. It was subsequently discovered that a member of the Irish team had experienced the same failure in a brand new cooler of the same brand.
So, where does the idea of bad connections come in? Well, it was discovered later that the three failures had occurred (probably) because the coolers had been rigidly mounted to the frame and that they had cracked because of vibration. Several other riders were running identical devices but had mounted them on thick rubber washers and secured them with rubber bands, allowing them to move and so not transferring the vibrations of the engine to the oil cooler. Bad connections.
A bad connection on an exhaust pipe can be dangerous and potentially deadly. While this and the oil cooler story probably fall into the category of “joins” rather than “connections” there is enough “connection” between the two to put them into the same story.
My point? Well, there doesn’t have to BE one, but, in this case, there IS. It’s not about motorcycles, it’s about life. We are constantly making connections in life. Whether we succeed and whether we are fulfilled in life depends a great deal on the connections that we make.
In my life I have been exceptionally fortunate in having made (usually completely by chance) some amazing connections. They have led me to success in various fields, to unusual and un-thought-of places and to surprises that have turned my life completely around. Conversely I have made some connections that have been anything but profitable and which have led me to sorrow and disappointments. For the most part I have learned to recognise the difference and make more sensible and profitable connections the older I have become. Sometimes these connections are deliberate and sometimes they are totally accidental and come right out of left field.
Here endeth the lesson.. Make GOOD connections; learn to distinguish between the good and the bad and, if you are stuck with a connection that is not doing you good, sever the connection no matter how painful that process may be.
Remember that, just like a motorcycle, your life won’t run if there are bad connections.