... you know the rest of the saying ... and after much thought and consideration, I've decided to call a halt to my UK 'Ivanising' trips.
It was a difficult decision to make but finding time for them since quitting my day job has proved harder than when I was working 48 weeks of the year. Now that Lynn and I finally have the chance we hope to spend many months each year travelling extensively. With family visits to fit in around our motorhome adventures, suddenly there aren't that many spaces left on the calendar. It seems it's true what they say about being busier than ever in retirement.
Asking owners to travel to my work location during the UK winter months is a non-starter and the travel costs in the summer are too high for me to come over for just a handful of bikes. I don't like to admit it but I'm no longer up to doing 16 Full Monty installations in 4 days, with 600 miles in a rental car between venues.
However, the most significant factor in my decision wasn't the age and condition of the mechanic but that of the bikes themselves.
I still find it hard to believe that the last Gen 1 rolled off the line almost 13 years ago and most of the bikes I've worked on have been older than that. No matter how well they are maintained and cared for, corrosion and other age-related issues are appearing more regularly. I can only travel with a limited selection of tools and my biggest concern is that I might encounter a problem which I can't fix without more specialized kit. The last thing I would want is to have someone stranded having ridden many miles to get to my work venue. Thankfully that has never happened but the odds have increased to the point where I no longer feel it fair or sensible to take that risk. Since it's not feasible for me to do individual home visits or to set up a properly equipped workshop in the UK, it's clear that it's time for me to hang up my much-faded overalls.
I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has trusted me to work on their Fazer over the years, and a very special thank you to those who provided me with a workshop, sometimes a bed, delicious bacon butties and countless cups of tea and coffee on my travels. It was your hospitality and kindness that made these trips possible. Since doing my first Slip On kit installation in 2003, I've had the pleasure of meeting many hundreds of Foccers from all corners of the UK and it was a wonderful experience to see how one machine could bring folks together from every walk of life. Great times all round.
My heartfelt thanks to you all.
Mike