Cliff led eight of us off from Jonesy’s Café on his Ruby Run following a nice mix of roads to Bude via Hatherleigh and Holsworthy. Pasties, coffee and relaxing chat were enjoyed over lunch in the café on Bude Quay before heading north on a damp A39. Here your scribe, running as back marker, had a butt-clenching moment as the engine died at speed on the twisties before the Hartland turn. Luckily, I was able to run off onto a conveniently placed farm track . Dick turned back to find me scratching my head and pondering why my electrics were totally dead. Fuses were all intact, battery terminals were fine but finally a slight wiggle of the main earth lead at the frame connection flashed some power to the ignition. None of the tools in my fancy little Oxford tool kit would reach the inaccessible earth mount on the frame. However, Dick saved the day by miraculously producing a nice thin 13mm spanner to nip-up the offending bolt and off we went. The rest of the crew were waiting patiently for us at the finish on Bideford Quay, where I was duly embarrassed to explain the fault. Fortunately, Pete wasn’t there to rip the wotsit out of Italian Guzzi electrics which, ironically, in this case were fixed by a Ducati rider! Thanks go to Cliff for leading an eventful and enjoyable run.
