Learning from experience

[Mixyblob]

Me too. On one roundabout the budgie cage slid off the bench seat and fell on the floor. Poor little feathered chaps had a fright.

Oh no, poor budgies. Not quite as bad as our aquarium though.

 

[Tea Bag]

ex lorry driver

Hi GROMIT69.
" Ex .........". Bet you know what the BIG BANG is on the back of the cab when drawing away from dropping a trailer........... A clue ?........Lorry drivers overall trousers ?.......... Grease marks below the knees,due to these Pesky Pipes !!.....
Tea Bag
.

 

[Rodders1234]

We have a check list on the phone but we need to ‘bring the towels in that are drying on the bike rack’! Yes, no one told us, we were leaving Maastricht Marina and had to get out to put the gate code in and luckily noticed the 3 towels before getting on the road.

 

[pelican]

Good gracious me! What a bloomin' palaver. I've never had any check list.

Oh, you've forgotten.......

Flies zipper up CHECK/CONFIRM

Or partner/ dog onboard

 

[Hawkstone]

Some do, some don't. I drove off with the cable attached, for the third time, a few weeks ago. I often forget to lock the fridge and drawers.

My hubby never locks the drawers and they make a horrible loud bang the first sharp corner you drive round I then have to stagger to back to lock them.

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[Neil n Pat]

here is the full story of the potential fireball going down
the M6.
Around three weeks ago I fitted a second 11kg refillable gas bottle
connecting both with a tee piece. So basically you have a fill hose
going to the centre of the tee with one side of the tee going to bottle
one and the other end of the tee to bottle two. Bottle one has the
output port with a gas gauge then on to the pressure regulator. Simple
enough eh ?
I thought whilst having the time I would make a real pucker job
laying some underlay carpet foam underneath the new bottle and between
the two bottles to stop them rubbing. After the installation I also
fitted a gas detector. The first bottle cannot decant into the second
as the lpg is still in liquid form so the second bottle will only fill
when I go to a garage to fill them both together. So I checked all the
fittings with soapy water for bubbles with non evident. So we have the
shake down trip to Loch Fyne and all is well.
So yesterday we call into some services on the M6 then filling
both bottles taking around 24 litres in total. So far so good. Then we
travel a further 10 miles to a services for her indoors to make a bacon butty
and tea. During this period I take Iona our westie for a walk. On coming back the
gas alarm was sirening away at 125dB in the gas locker. I told the boss
to turn the gas off straight away which she replied "can´t I finish
frying your egg" Obviously never took onboard the gravity of the situation.
I gingerly opened the cabinet door on the outside of the
motorhome to get some fresh air in turning off the alarm from inside
the garage also. Had a good sniff, soapy bubbles tests again then try
tightening all the fittings again. Closed the cabinet door, turned on
the alarm then five minutes later everyone in the garage forecourt
getting filled with fuel looked alarmed, as I was, when the siren bellowed
across the forecourt. Hell was I scared and stressed knowing lpg being
heavier than air could be potentially oozing across the forecourt right
under the hot exhaust pipes. I tried this exercise again which resulted
in same.
I tried ringing six Gasit agents with no answers being bank
holiday weekend. Hell what do I do ? Executive decision. I wedged the
locker door ajar then taped it down with Gorilla tape heading off to the
camp site in Uttoxeter 75 miles away knowing lpg would be diluted with
the air rushing through the cabinet, hopefully. Then we hit a traffic
jam. A car was pulled up right alongside me in the next lane with the
driver smoking flicking his ash on the road. Jesus Christ you couldn´t
make it up. So there is me being in a left hand drive motorhome and him in a
right hand drive chatting away merrily whilst myself knowing I was sat
on top of a ticking bomb. Then the curveball " got problems with yer
lock mate on your door" "yep sure have, thanks goodness for Gorilla
tape" " oh look we are starting to move"
On the way to the campsite I considered pulling into a fire
station to get them to jet foam the cabinet whilst I purged the gas tanks.
So we arrived at the campsite. I explained to the warden my
concerns and could he place me somewhere remote preferably 200m or so
from anyone else whilst also asking does he have any service business
cards I can ring for help.
Now then this is when lady luck comes into hand having thrown the
chicken bones on the carpet simultaneously crying out incantations to
the motorhome God´s. Here on the site the Honda Goldwing club were
having their 40th anniversary bash and being well organised had an
engineer for the weekend from Wakefield to repair any of the bikers
motorhomes. A lot of their treasured thirty two grand two wheeled
possessions are towed behind them.
So I ring the guy and five minutes later he arrives clad in one of
those the silver suits they use to picture close ups of volcano lava.
"stand well back" I did of course 200m of being back. He connects
his trusty manometer to the regulator then monitors if there is any
pressure drop. After thirty minutes I get the all clear allowing the
Uttoxeter fire brigade to stand down.
So what was the problem you may ask. Something I never realised.
At the base of the gas bottle cabinet there is an open hole to allow LPG
gas to escape. Yep good old Neil covered this with the foam allowing the
LPG to sit there with the gas alarm also at the base of the cabinet.
When you fill your bottles then disconnecting you a get a rather
disconcerting woosh noise which is some lpg escaping.
This lpg then drops to the bottom of the cabinet escaping through the
vent hole harmlessly. I of course had the foam there. The engineer and
I removed the foam then tested the alarm again and all was well.
Another classic was me going to take the lid off the gas cabinet from
inside the garage. Another no no. The cabinet is sealed of course. I
then told him I drilled a hole though for the alarm cable. He told me
to seal it up.
So all my connections were good. I was given a pressure test cert.
as proof. Paid the man and poured myself a brandy. Hell I aged
yesterday thinking I could be on the ten o´clock news.
And that's the story. Lessons learned.

 

[philann]

That’s why motorway services do not allow any naked flames anywhere in the car parks, not just in the filling areas. No one should be cooking anything there.

 

[BikerGraham]

Our list:

Inside
Outside
Wine bottles secured
Beer secured
Glasses secured
Enough ice in fridge
Tonic levels
Hanging thing in kitchen we always forget and rattles for next 200 miles
Where exactly is the dog

Off we go

The wife is in stiches with this as it is so close to home

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

Laminated checklist for me.
It lives in the sun visor

I run through it every time I move after a long stop, it's amazing how often it reminds me of something that was forgotten.

PRE-FLIGHT CHECKLIST
ALL Roof Vents Closed CHECK/CONFIRM
ALL Lockers Locked CHECK/CONFIRM
EHU Cable in Locker CHECK/CONFIRM
Bikes Loaded and Locked CHECK/CONFIRM
Fridge Locked and set to Auto/Off CHECK/CONFIRM
Awning In CHECK/CONFIRM
Gas ON or OFF CHECK/CONFIRM
Cassette Empty CHECK/CONFIRM
Waste Tank Level CHECK/CONFIRM
Fresh Water Level CHECK/CONFIRM
Waste Tank Tap Open/Closed CHECK/CONFIRM
Electrical Water Tap On/Off CHECK/CONFIRM
Satellite Down CHECK/CONFIRM
Engine Blocker OFF CHECK/CONFIRM
Side Step In CHECK/CONFIRM
Bin & Umbrella Stowed CHECK/CONFIRM
Chocks Away! CHECK/CONFIRM

We've got a similar laminated checklist, my co pilot reads it out and I confirm it's been done. It's become routine, only takes a minute or so and could save hours/days of heartache not to mention a small fortune.
At the end of the day, what's the rush? You're on holiday

 

[Spriddler]

Unfortunately you never get experience until just after you needed it.

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[Vennwood]

While staying on Aire at Honfleur I noticed a Belgian guy driving away with his electirc bikes dragging on the ground. I ran after him only to find he accelerated faster. I ran as fast as I could and caught up with the rear of his van and banged on the side to attract his attention. He stopped and I explained his now damaged bikes were scraping on the ground and all I got for my effort was an earful for banging on his van. I couldn't respond as I was totally knackered and out of breath. Clearly he didn't bother with a check list. A Dutch guy thanked me for stopping him as it turned out the Belgian had hit the Dutch guys Motorhome and smashed his tail light lense and was driving away to avoid liability. Two good turns in one go

 

[Revolvor]

.....I reversed over the dogs feeding station and then drove off still attached by the electric cable.

I once drove off with the dog attached to the towbar. I thought all the people shouting and waving were just being friendly. (The dog was fine!)

 

[nicholsong]

We have a check list on the phone but we need to ‘bring the towels in that are drying on the bike rack’! Yes, no one told us, we were leaving Maastricht Marina and had to get out to put the gate code in and luckily noticed the 3 towels before getting on the road.

We drape our towels over the wing mirrors - not likely to miss them there.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

While staying on Aire at Honfleur I noticed a Belgian guy driving away with his electirc bikes dragging on the ground. I ran after him only to find he accelerated faster. I ran as fast as I could and caught up with the rear of his van and banged on the side to attract his attention. He stopped and I explained his now damaged bikes were scraping on the ground and all I got for my effort was an earful for banging on his van. I couldn't respond as I was totally knackered and out of breath. Clearly he didn't bother with a check list. A Dutch guy thanked me for stopping him as it turned out the Belgian had hit the Dutch guys Motorhome and smashed his tail light lense and was driving away to avoid liability. Two good turns in one go

Well done, some folk are never grateful, he was probably a Wally rather than a Walloon

 

[joe and sue]

Our list:

Inside
Outside
Wine bottles secured
Beer secured
Glasses secured
Enough ice in fridge
Tonic levels
Hanging thing in kitchen we always forget and rattles for next 200 miles
Where exactly is the dog

Off we go

More to the point:
Where is the wife!!

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