The centre stand on the Mario Mobile was bad. Shockingly bad. I had to put it on planks of wood to get it to stand up. If you tried using it on the road, the bike would wobble unsteadily - a bit like me walking home from darts.
Anyway, I splashed out on a new one and rode over to see Luigi this morning. He said, "Hey, long time no see!" to which I replied, "Hey, look what I've brought over for you to fit to my bike!" He looked so thrilled I was touched (with guilt).
As you can see from the shot on the left, he had to take off part of the exhaust to remove the offside bolt. You can also see me taking a well-earned rest - it's stressful watching him work on my bike while he's muttering under his breath about someone taking liberties.
As you can see from the shot on the right, the camera was more interested in what was on the floor than the stands, but the new one is on the left and the very worn one is on the right. Notice also how the centre hole is oval rather than circular.
The final shot below shows the new centre stand in action and that the rear tyre is off the ground - spiffing.The second job of the day was to make good on the bodge job I'd made on Luigi's bike when we took a link out of the chain. The back wheel wasn't quite in alignment and you could occasionally hear the chain catching on the guard. Time for the old string trick! Tie it round the front wheel and drag it backwards through the centre stand. Wiggle the back wheel around until:
- the string touches the front tyre in two places and also the back tyre in two places;
- the chain is at the correct tension - not too tight or loose.
