Triple breakdown across the waters

Glasgow designer Janice Kirkpatrick was really looking forward to this year’s Milan festival.

So she bought a Ducati 900SS motorbike the day before she left, and set off from Scotland to Italy, via Switzerland.

Near Lucerne, Janice noticed a lot of rattling, followed by total lack of power.

Fortunately, Janice was near the only Ducati dealer for 300 miles. It took two days to repair, then she took off at top speed… until the bike started “dying on its wheels” in the Alps.

“There was a Yamaha dealer in a tiny village who ordered parts from Italy and I had to wait till they arrived.”

Sorted, Janice headed across to Nantes, France, to stay with friends, which was “wonderful – until the clutch went”.

By the time it was fixed, she was running late and decided to sail from Le Havre instead of Zeebrugge, to save time. But 30 miles out of Nantes the chain broke.

Throwing in the towel, Janice flew straight back to Glasgow. She can get the bike fixed on insurance – but this year’s Milan festival stayed out of reach.