Clean Machine Number 2

Paul has also been preparing his bike for our trip. I don’t know how, but he managed to get his boss to clean it for him. When I suggested this to my boss he told me in no uncertain terms that I should “Go fourth and multiply” (no his actual words you understand). So no luck there then.

He has also fitted a couple of interesting devices to his bike. The first is a manual chain oiler, which is like a Scottoiler, only it’s manual and far cheaper. It’s called a Loobman and requires the rider to give a little bottle of oil a squeeze every 50 miles or so. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on with it during our trip.

His second toy is a wrist support called Crampbuster by Scottoiler, which fits around the throttle. The idea is that you apply downward pressure with your wrist to operate the ‘Faster Switch’, removing the need to grip the grip so hard. Hopefully it will reduce cramp on the long journey North.

I think I may also get one too as I suffer very badly with wrist ache. In fact last October my left wrist swelled up so much I ended up at A&E and I couldn’t move my fingers for a week. I still can’t lift anything heavy with it. The really stupid thing is that I’ve been using computers almost daily for 16 years and had no problem at all. I ride a bike everyday for 3 years and WHAM, my wrist is wrecked. Needless to say, I take a lot of care of them now.