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A few more tales of Stewart.
I mentioned that we first met at a club trackday at Mallory but I didn't say exactly how.
It was my first ever trackday and I was in the novice group.
After a few sessions Stewart came up to me in the paddock and complimented me on my riding.
I gave him a puzzled look to which he responded "No, I don't mean you were fast ... but you were very courteous to slower riders and resisted the temptation to dive under them at corners, preferring to hold back and then pass them on the following straight".
I was impressed both that he had noticed and that he had taken the trouble to seek me out and mention it.
I went on four or five trips to Italy with Stewart.
Indeed I would probably never have seen the place at all if it hadn't been for his insistence that I tagged along on the first trip that we shared, to the EICMA exhibition in 2013.
I was skint at the time but Stewart made me accept his offer to fund my share of the trip.
It didn't cost me a penny at the time (although of course I later repaid him) and he even insisted that what little money I had available should be reserved for buying duty free tobacco on the return through Belgium.
Subsequently we went on trips to WDW every other year.
Stewart would arrange the hire of two or three sprinter vans and fit them out with chocks so we could put four bikes in each and drive to Italy, arriving with fresh oil and tyres.
He would organise the journey down to the last detail .. and woe betide anyone who hadn't studied and fully digested the details on the infamous clipboards.
He would be sure to pack a crate of english beers and a couple of bottles of HP sauce to give to our hosts in the 100HP club .. and some treats to give to the dog at the B&B (he had a soft spot for dogs).
Stewart struggled with the heat in Italy and I remember, now with fondness, the night he insisted on having the fan in our twin room going full blast all night long. I said that I couldn't sleep because of the noise, to which his response was that he didn't give a ****.
He could be blunt like that and it sometimes got peoples backs up, including mine, but what he really meant was that he would struggle to breathe in the stifling heat.
I went and slept in the garden .. and actually found that most enjoyable and did the same for the rest of the trip. I still remember watching the moon cross over the valley with the crickets and cicadas singing.
Back in blighty, Stewart used to visit me in Leicester every few weeks, for years.
He would usually bring some little motorcycle related trinket as he said he didn't like to come empty handed. Indeed, Stewart gave me the first piece of titanium that ever adorned my bike .. a front wheel spindle nut, which is still there and always will be.
I would make us a meal, as cooking wasn't Stewart's strong point. A regular favourite was sausages, baked potatoes, a huge dollop of my homemade coleslaw and some spicy chutney. He would often bring the sausages .. lincolnshire, of course.
He would invariably bring me a drawing of something that he needed making for his bike and I would set to on the lathe in the interim.
The attention to detail on that bike of his was phenomenal ... I once had to make him a titanium rivet with which to reassemble his lightened seat latch !!!
That S4R tipped the scales at a mere 153kg ... I know this to be true because we hung it on spring balances from the beam in my shed.
I have lost count of the many discussions that we had on the technicalities of motorcycle engineering.
His knowledge was extensive but he retained an open mind towards new ideas (but you had to be persistant) .. so I would do my best to offer them at every opportunity.
We both enjoyed these discussions immensely.
And we fell out a few times.
With Stewart, this was something that you just had to accept .. and usually be the one to make amends too.
In retrospect, it was worth it.
I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
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