Thank you all
Now for the second part, hope I finish tomorrow!
Day 4 - Sunday, August 17th - Breakfast at Laragh. Struck by MO63WLR's curse! The noisy trip to Kilkenny!This day our plan was for a morning trip to Laragh (on our way to Glendalough) with a few of the PaddyMogs. I was told about this area as being beautiful (it is) and according to Robbie the Wicklow Heather Café, our rendez vous point, was a place where every Sunday, weather allowing, motorbikers meet for breakfast, bike-talk, car-talk, whatever-talk.
I am a motorbiker myself and we have a very similar “Sunday-breakfast-bikers- meeting-point” here in Portugal so I knew how fun and interesting it could be to go there.
Besides, two of the PaddyMogs are also bikers so that was it … plan settled: Breakfast at Laragh!
Leaving the Hotel and looking at our M3W in the car park, I found its different scale when in close proximity with cars, especially SUVs, almost endearing. Hard to understand without a picture, so here goes. Funny little thing isn’t it?
As soon as we had packed all our luggage into the car (never an easy job) we heard our escort arrive and pass the hotel’s entrance. We would be escorted by two PaddyMogs in their own big bikes (BMW and Harley) and also by Robbie and his lovely wife in their beautiful Plus 4. So our group had it all from 2 to 3 and 4 wheeled adventurer vehicles!
However, and as we were approaching our destination, some 30 miles away (not really sure, didn’t keep track of mileage) clouds begun gathering on our journey’s horizon. And no, it wasn’t the weather, it was the exhaust sound starting to become different, and a “clanking” sound of metal beating metal.
At first I thought it was just a matter of lose bolts and nuts, but a quick glance at the silencer on my side (left) showed me that, only two days and 500 kms after leaving the factory, I had been hit by MO63WLR's curse (I’m joking, of course, David never cursed me, in fact gave me much information about his own case that made me act swiftly when dealing with mine).
Anyway, it was still a mild gruntier sound when we parked up at the café. We parked the Morgans side by side, the bikes parked nearer to the building. Robbie is all smiles
But I only have eyes to what is already an impending disaster!
As a closer inspection clearly shows!
I decided to shut my mind to this issue while we were having breakfast. Since I was up for a while already, it didn’t feel like breakfast “out of bed” already and therefore, for the first time (and only, so far) in my entire life I was able to eat a full Irish breakfast, just because it felt like a lunch, or indeed brunch to me.
Anyway, and before we split our ways, this time for good, I got very good advice from all regarding how to deal (mend) as soon as possible with the exhaust failure issue.
Since I was going to Kilkenny, had a friend there, and it was Sunday, the best option was to proceed as planned and resort to my own friend to help out first thing Monday morning.
Meanwhile, and because I was returning to England and my path would take me through Bristol on the way to Porstmouth (Wednesday morning ferry to Bilbao), Robbie took as his own mission to get in contact with Mike Edwards in Williams Morgans, so they could call the factory and ask for new exhausts for TUESDAY morning (the day I would go by Bristol).
As for me, I would contact both my dealer and Mark Ledington first thing Monday morning too.
With our plan sorted and in my case very grateful for all the support I was getting, we did a final group picture (my wife as photographer so she doesn’t show up), with car, trike and bikes, before the PaddyMogs returned to Dalkey and I went on to Kilkenny.
As soon as we were left “on our own”, only a couple more miles, the left exhaust completely sheared off and I had now two completely separated sections of tube. The second one, with the silencer, was doing nothing, just dangling about, while the first one had a very “tractor” noise right by my side.
I considered using ear plugs. I think this is when my morale reached its lowest point, especially when I entered Kilkenny and had to go through its urban area. I wasn’t happy or remotely proud with driving this odd contraption into town, I was embarrassed by it.
(must be said that the Kilkennians didn’t seem at all bothered, I got cheered in each and every street before I could tuck the car away in a parking area).
Oh and on the way to Kilkenny we got into a quick but heavy shower too … but I didn’t almost mind it, my thought process wasn’t into that.
Got to say, looking back, it was a funny moment! After a few miles of drinking the excellent water of the Irish rain, we took shelter in a gas station. Soon after the rain stopped and we were back on the road .
My wife was taking all this much more lightly than I was, but I don’t think she knew what I knew and so the “fit for purpose” question was never something she considered. As far as she was concerned, we just had bad luck and it would all soon be sorted.
As for me, I wasn’t sure a second pair of exhausts, even if we managed to get them in 24 hours, would even last from Bristol to Portsmouth (I remember reading that MOW63LR’s second pair of exhausts lasted about 160 miles, and that was when he gave up on his Brooklands).
Anyway, lowest point reached, let’s get this writeup back to a lighter tone, shall we?
The road to Kilkenny gave us the Wicklow County and Glendalow beautiful scenery to look at, with green fields and lakes that could make anyone be at peace with the world, even with a cracked exhaust. Here two examples:
Of course, while my wife was looking at the scenery, you guys know what I was looking at:
When we reached our Hotel in Kilkenny I called my friend (Derek), told him about my misery and he volunteered to help. Showed up a little later and he already had bought (don’t know where, it was Sunday) a sort of very thick, oily glue that you had to put around the crack, than a foldable metal sheet to cover that, finally a flexible bandage and a metal wire to fix it all in place.
We decided to leave all that work to the next morning and we went to a fantastic pub called “The Left Bank” for a drink. Then we had dinner, talked endlessly until the restaurant waiter almost had to throw us all out!
A couple of funny pictures, one of them taken by Derek from his car, again showing how the 3 wheeler is so little when seen from the rear view mirror of a regular car.
1. Meeting Derek
2. Following Derek. You can hear us but you can't see us!
3. The Left Bank (outside)
4. The Left Bank (inside)
5. “Derek - We’ll fix your car!
“Mario - I’m already drinking to that!!”
And thus, between flashes of hope and pints of beer ended this day!
To be continued … 
