Unfortunately Chinny couldn't make today ride out, even the promise of a large plate of fried pig couldn't tempt the poor fella, so after a quick cup of tea at Bob's house (Thanks Lyn) we set off down the back lanes and onto the M40/M5 towards Worcester.
The ride over to Fromes Hill cafe was fun, including a sphincter clenching moment when we approached junction 6 of the M5 and on the bridge above was a couple of fluorescent clad gentlemen and a rather large speed camera along with a couple of police cars on the hard shoulder that had pulled over a few cars.
After we arrived at Fromes Hill cafe and gotten our cups of tea we waited for Bonzo and Ray to arrive and noticed that they were late, after a while Bonzo turned up on his own - Where's Ray?
It turned out that poor old Ray had slid off his bike while coming off and island near Cardiff and while Ray was OK (except for some bruising) the bike was not really up for the long ride over to Fromes Hill cafe due to the mirror/indicator hanging off but was ridable. After Bonzo and Ray checked everything was OK Ray insisted that Bonzo continue on to Fromes Hill cafe and Ray rode his bike home to inspect the damage.
After Bonzo had told us about Ray we immediately ordered breakfast (well we were starving!) and only then after eating up we decided to head back to Cardiff with Bonzo to check on Ray and his broken Blade.
After following the whirlwind that we call Bonzo, we arrived at Ray's house and checked that Ray was OK and then we retired into his garage to inspect the poorly Honda CBR1000.
The initial inspection showed that the bike had slid down the road on it's left hand side and as well as snapping off the mirror/indicator and sand papering away the engine case and fairing we noticed that the link arm to the gear change was also bent, the clutch lever was bent and the foot rest hanger had cracked pushing the heel plate into the chain guard.
Thankfully most of the damage was cosmetic but that also means it's not going to be cheap to fix.
The obviously most important fact was that Ray was OK and only battered and bruised so all that was left was for the p*ss taking to start.
As always a few more pictures can be found here
Not Ray's Day
Jaws Motorcycles
9 am on a very cold December morning and I was heading east along the A14 through Cambridgeshire and towards the market town of Thetford.
Why Thetford? well apart from being known as the place where queen Boudica once lived it's also well known (at least within the Honda Blackbird community) as the place where Jaws Motorcycles are based, the oracle of everything Honda Blackbird related.
The reason why I was heading to see John at Jaws Motorcycles was that Flo had now covered over 24k miles and she was due her 24K mile service.
After arriving at Jaws Motorcycles and meeting John, who is a very friendly guy with an obvious passion for all things motorcycle related, not just Honda Blackbird and having being given a most welcome warming cup of tea John took Flo into his workshop and began the process of giving her a 24K service.
I'm no expert when it comes to motorcycles mechanics, hence the reason for the visit the Jaws and John's vast knowledge of Blackbirds but over the next 3 hours or so John and his son (sorry I forgot his name) gave Flo a very detailed going over, including changing the oil and filter, clutch fluid, air filter, fitting a Scottoiler, checking that the cam chain tensioner was working OK and that the suspension was OK as well as loads of other little checks.
The service given by John was first class and he's obviously not only very knowledgeable and passionate about motorcycles but a true gentleman and well worth the 7 hour round trip and one that I will certainly be doing the next time Flo's due for a service.
British National Parks Ride
Grim Rider has just posted over at his blog about a great idea on how to not only raise money for a worthwhile cause but also to give you a reason (as if you ever needed one in the first place) to get out on your bike.
The challenge is called the British National Parks Ride and the aim is for you to visit as many of the 15 National Parks of Britain within a calendar year on your motorcycle and depending on the number of parks you manage to visit you can earn a Bronze, Silver and Gold certificate all while helping to raise money for the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance
I've just signed up for this challenge and over the next 12 months I aim to visit as many of the National parks and I will obviously post my progress over at RigsVille.
So if you want to get out of your bike and explore different parts of Britain while feeling that your helping out a worthwhile cause - get over the British National Parks Ride website and to find out more.
Cold day in the Cotswolds
It was a very cold day on Saturday as we sat at Bob's house drinking tea and talking bollocks, nothing unusual there it must be said but while twittering away we eventually decided to head south into the Cotswolds and hopefully end up at Fox’s Diner for a warming breakfast.
Well that was the plan and as we all know things never go to plan, so after jumping onto the bikes we headed down the A429 and passed our usual breakfast stop near Wellesbourne and carried on through the popular market town of Moreton-in-Marsh where we turned onto the very frosty and cold A44 until we came into the infamous town of Chipping Norton.
Once we arrived in Chipping Norton we decided to stop and try to find somewhere to get a hot drink and get warm as even the local brass monkey’s were started to get worried.
After finding a local book shop that also sold coffee (the cakes look very nice as well but we decided to wait until we got to Fox's Diner) and had warmed up we decided to head in a more direct route to Fox’s Diner due to the cold.
So on with the GPS and through the centre of Oxford we went until we arrived at Fox’s Diner only to find it closed – crap
The lucky thing about Fox’s Diner is that next door the bike accessories shop MPS Express were open so in we popped to have a mooch about.
Due to time getting on a bit and the fact we were all starving (knew I should have had some cake in Chipping Norton) we decided to head to the nearest Little Chef, unfortunately this meant a trip around the Oxford ring road that just happened to be almost full of stationary traffic but nothing gets in the way of Bob and his Full English so 15 minutes later the bikes were parked in the Little Chef and we were in a nice warm restaurant ordering coffee and Olympic Breakfast (Cheers Chinny)
We decided that is was in fact way too cold, even for us so we took the decision the jump onto the A34 and then the M40 and get home nice and quick rather than take the long way home.
As always a few more pictures can be found here
Funny YouTube Video's
I've just been sent 2 amusing video's that have been posted on YouTube that I thought I would share with you.
The 1st one, titled Secret Life of Bikers is a very humorous David Attenborough style documentary looking into the lesser spotted biker at winter time.
The 2nd video is made by Triumph and details the enormous and complex methods that Triumph go through in the production of the Rocket III in the 21st century.
YouTube: Secret Life of Bikers
YouTube: Rocket III in the 21st century
Road Tax Petition
Number 10 website
Bobs Tyred Out
Well we started our Saturday ride out in our usual way by meeting up with Bonzo and having a nice breakfast at Fromes Hill cafe where afterwards we were planning on going to go to Rhayader as the scenery is amazing this time of year but my I noticed that my rear tyre was a bit bald so we decided to head back into Birmingham to the Two Wheel Tyre Centre on Queslett Road for a new tyre.
When Rob (The main tyre guy) looked at my front tyre he noticed that I'd got the wrong fitment on the front!, it turns out that Bridgestone have a specific fitment for the Blackbird and when I had been previously visited the Two Wheel Tyre Centre they had fitted a standard Bridgestone BT-020 and not the specific Bridgestone approved one for the blackbird.
I'm not sure what the difference is but as Bridgestone make a specific BT-020 fitment for the Blackbird there must be a reason and seeing as your tyres are an extremely important safety feature I decided to replace both tyres... Bugger Bugger...
As always a few more pictures can be found here
France 2008
Bob and Chinnys bikes ready for the tripWell it all started with a bike clean on the 17th of Spetember as we were not going to get much work done.
Next morning Paul was knocking on my door about 4.20am and after a cup of tea and a chat, we load the bikes up and left about 4.40am. After an hour and ten minutes we meet up Bonzo and Ray at Newbury services, with us needing a hot drink after the cold and foggy drive down. We all fill up and blasted off to Brittany Ferries at Portsmouth and the sun is shining hopefully a good omen for the trip ahead.
We get on the 8.45am ferry to Caen which docks at 15.45pm English time so 16.45 French time. We have bit of a blast down the A84 to Rennes, around the ring road and blast off towards Redon. Before we get ½ mile away from the ring road we are pulled up by the Police for the noise and speeding. They checked insurance and licences, two coppers were alright but the third did not like my exhaust said that they are illegal in France with no baffles, they did not like Rays tyre as it’s a bit on the limit plus he had not got any insurance or licence on him. They even make us take a breath test to make sure that we had not been drinking. There was a mention of paying some cash with the police talking to each other, but they then let us go, phew!!
Ray, Bob and Chinny on the ferrySo a blast off down the D177 to Redon where we called at the Pil a Pil restaurant in Rue Victor Hugo, where after consuming some of their dam good pizza we headed to our house for a few beers out the fridge, a bit of telly and so to bed.
Friday. (Map)
We got up and I cooked the lads a ‘Bob’s English breakfast’ (never mind the hairy bikers) lol. We decided to have lazy day and a small ride out, so off we go towards St-Nazaire on the D177. We cross the bridge on the D213 then cut off towards the costal roads at Pornic (Bonzo’s favourite place for some reason) driving all along the coast to La Barre-de-Monts. We were trying to get to the island of Noirmoutier but it was getting a bit late so we headed back across country to Le Pellerin. We crossed the river on a free ferry on the D91 into Redon to the supermarket to pick up some steaks, chicken, beef burgers and salad (well tomatoes any way).
On the ferryWe get back to our house to flash up the barbecue, park the bikes in Terry’s garage next door. We then had a mans version of a barbecue which consisted of meat, meat and more meat oh and the token tomato all washed down with a load of beer.
Having a Man-bercueSaturday.
We decided to get up early and go pick breakfast up on the way to Cognac. We then started off through the back roads to Nantes and I only dropped the bike once. He he. We were looking for yet another tyre for Ray (this is the third one, one in Spain and one in Andorra and one in France). We found a lot of shops for bikes and tyres in Nantes. So off with a new back tyre, Ray’s smiling and off we start, around the ring road and down the N137, a nice fast road. We went to Chantonnay and along to the N148 to Niort around the ring road and down the N150 to Saint Jean-d’ Angely then down the D939 to Matha. After that we found some crappy back roads to Cognac. We then went to the Cheval Blanc hotel (White Horse) which I booked by phone from Nantes as Ray wanted a bit of comfort (more likely some clean sheets) they said no problem see you later. When we get there we were told that they where very busy but had got only one room left (so much for my French) which has two beds upstairs and two beds down stairs. Nice new building and large en-suite. Only 75 euro’s with breakfast another 5 euro’s each, Eric the boss gave us a free beer each, thanks Eric.
We got changed and walked the 300 yards up to the town where we had a few large beers at a bar sitting outside watching life go by (looking at the ladies more like). We then went into a restaurant for a meal and more beer and a bottle of wine (Well France is famous for its wine so it would have been rude not to sample a few bottles) and on the way back we called at a small but very livery bar and had a couple more beers and the lads went off to bed leaving me there, so I had another three small beers then the boss got me another one. Afterwards I staggered back to the hotel using my well tuned beer compass and woke up the boys who were fast asleep, all in we had a bloody good night.
Sunday.
The next morning we started with a traditional French breakfast with some fresh bread, croissants and a bowel of fruit (haven’t seen this on the hairy bikers). We then packed our bikes and headed off towards Saints we then got on the A837 motorway looking for petrol but no services, so we get off onto some back lanes with grass in the middle on the road (SAT NAV on shortest route and onto the N137 found a Super U supermarket and filled up at a 24 hour pump and the cards worked (not all English cards are accepted at some supermarkets) we then got back onto the A837 and then back on the N137 off onto the D937 towards La Rochelle where we stopped at the marina and called at a café for drinks.
We go out of town on the D104 to D105 onto D9 towards La Roche-Sur-Yon and we stopped at a nice restaurant for more drink and food. We then headed up through Lucon on the D746 and we went through La Roche-Sur-Yon and out on the D937 where we then joined the D178 to Rize we traveled along the D145 across the river La Loire on the N844, and we picked up the D201-N165 we turn off on the D15 we cut back on the D164 then have a little divert in Plesse to stop and have a drink in the bar. (did you spot the pattern here?)
We then nipped to our house in La Touche empted the top boxes and shot into Redon for a meal at a restaurant by the river. After a couple of soft drinks and a ride back we settled for some beers and a few laughs about the journey and Bonzo’s shiny head.
Monday.
We got up had a Bob’s breakie using double of everything just to get rid of what’s left in the fridge (Fat Bastards) afterwards with a full belly we then went on some nice roads to Guerande, an old walled city. We had some drinks at a bar in the town then decided to go to La Baule. Now that’s what you call a beach, so with another stop at the beach bar for some food and drinks and try and get a tan with leathers on. So we then cut across country and head into Redon, go to the supermarket and get some more meat shoot back into La Touch and than have another man-beque with loads more meat and beer, we also fed the local wild cats that our neighbours Jackie and Terry have trained into house cats (good to catch to local vermin). Lol. Also you can leave them in there in a nice kennel that Terry has built for them when on holiday.
Tuesday. (Map)
We all get up have showers and clean up and pack the bikes. We head off early towards the port. So we head into Redon and out on the D177 towards Rennes (looking out for the police) we fill up with petrol and go onto the ring road around Rennes and along the A84 towards Avranches. We make our traditional stop at the Le Mont-Saint-Michel services for food and drink and then carry on along to Avranches and turn off on the old road D937 towards Sartilly and onto Granville after a bit of a ride around the town we head out on the D971 to Coutances we head out of town on the D244 and D268 and get on the coast road D650. At this point the road was soaking wet but we had a few spots then the road just dried and all was good again(great) We carry on till we get to Saint-German-Sur-Ay then we turn off on the D306 and into La Haye-de-Puits where we stopped for more drinks and a chat.
We then give it some stick up the D900-D2 towards Valognes and jump on the E46 to Cherbourg. We stop at the supermarket for a bit of shopping and fill up.
We shoot down onto the ferry port and relax. After the fast ferry home we stop at the Little Thief (Little Chef) on the A34 and have 4 large all day breakfasts, which went down very nice. We then said goodbye and headed to the M4 waved Ray and Bonzo off and headed home.
We covered 1,299 miles.
Cost:-
Ferry £92.00 each.
Petrol in England £41.57
Petrol in France £148.80
Total £282.37
Plus spending money
As always a few more pictures can be found here
Many thanks to Bob for this excellent write up - Cheers mate!
Bourton-on-the-Water
France
While I did not manage to get over there myself, Bob and Ray were very kind to send me 1 or 2 pictures to give me an idea of the fun and frolics that took place while they were away. Bob has also kindly (or more accurately I've hassled him) to write a few words regarding their trip which I hope to post soon.
In the mean time if you have a few hours to waste you can find over 70 pictures here
DSA "practise your theory test" website
Highwaylass has just posted a link on her blog where you can practice your theory test, both car and motorcycle.
I would highly recommend that if you have the time to visit the site (you have to sign up but it’s free) – I just about managed to scrape a pass – I got 43 out of 46 but I think a couple of my answers were more luck than judgement.
Check out www.theory-tests.co.uk if you want to have a go (and don't forget to post your score)
Please say hello to Flo
After selling my Sprint ST last week I then spent almost all my waking hours pouring over Internet forums, eBay and the local newspapers in search of a new bike until eventually I found a nice looking Honda CBR1100xx Blackbird that was being advertised only about 50 miles away, so after work my lovely wife and me drove over to have a look at the bike.
After checking the bike out and chatting to the owner a deal was struck and I rode home on my new bike.
It’s obviously very early to tell as I’ve only done about 100 miles but I’m very happy with the bike, clearly loads has already been written about this bikes amazingly powerful engine and everything I’ve read it true – WOW! But one of the things that impressed was how the bike handled, it seems to hide its weight very well.
I’m now look forward to a clear weekend where I can get out on Flo and give her a good old fashioned spanking!
Sold my Triumph Sprint ST
Why? I'm still not sure, I noticed that my wandering eyes had started checking out other bikes, firstly it was just an occasional glance out of the corner of my eye, then it started getting much harder to ignore them, either sitting in a car park or dealers showroom, showing off their lithe smooth lines I started getting the urge. You know what I'm talking about? please don't let me be the only one.
So what are you going to get next I hear you all ask? I'm still unsure (typical!) I do like the look of Yamaha's 1000 Fazer with it's nice looking engine, comfortable riding position and great engine, but then again I've always liked quirky looking bikes such as BMW's R1100 but the Mr Sensible in me fancy's a Honda Blackbird. OK it helps that almost all of my mates ride Blackbird's and they are forever trying to tempt me over to the dark side with promises of endless power, great build quality and reliability and I must admit that even though the bikes been out for over 10 years it still looks good (there are a couple of rumor's of a slight change for the 2009 model)
As with most things in life we try to make decisions with our heads, thinking things through and weighing up the pros and cons but in the end all of a man's decision making is done by another part of his anatomy - his heart!
Hunstanton
We decided to stop early in our little run as we were heading past The Long Itch Diner so we stopped to fill up our bellies with a nice Traditional Full English breakfast for the long day's riding ahead (well that was our excuse and we're sticking to it)
After breakfast we climbed aboard our bikes and headed north via some lovely back roads through Lutterworth and then into the market town of Market Harborough and after navigating it's one way system we picked up the B664 into Uppington where we decided on a nice quick blast along the A47 towards Peterborough.
I love the A47 into Peterborough but I didn't love the strong winds and we spent most of the A47 after Peterborough trying not to get blown clean off our bikes and when things started to ease off guess what we found the other side of Guyhim - Traffic! it was chock-a-block with car, caravans and horse boxes, it must have been over 10 miles of almost stationary traffic so instead of enjoying the country side the next few miles were spent attempting to get pass all the cars. In fairness I was quite taken aback by the number of vehicles that moved over to the left side of the road so that we had more room to pass them, It got to the point I wondered if we were being followed by an unseen police car with it's blue lights which was making the cars move out of the way.
Once we arrived at Hunstanton we headed straight for the promenade where bikes can park for £1 so after stumping up a quid we decided that a little walk along the seafront was in order, it was a shame as it was so blooming cold so we decided to only stop longer enough to have a cup of coffee to warm up and look around the other bikes that were parked up before we got back on our bikes and headed home.
Our return journey was very similar with the exception of being forced to stop at the Little Chef on the A47 at Uppingham for more coffee and cherry pancakes!
As always a few more pictures can be found here
The Long Itch Diner
Today's little jaunt was only going to be a short one as Bob had only just that morning arrived home after playing Captain Jack Sparrow on a narrow boat holiday, he was the curse of the seven seas we think it more a case he was a pain-in-a$$ along the Grand Union Canal.
Chinny also came along for the ride or more likely the promise of fried food, which he duly paid for (Thanks mate!) so we decided that instead of a long ride out to Wales or other places in the land of far far away we decided to to head the 20 or so miles over to the The Long Itch Diner as we had heard that it was a very popular, biker friendly place.
When we arrived at the The Long Itch Diner the first thing we noticed was that the place was busy which is usually a sign of good scoff. so after parking up and checking out the menu we decided to order the Traditional Full English breakfast that consisted of 2 sausages, 2 bacon, a well cooked egg, 2 black pudding, beans, tomato's and for me the highlight of the breakfast was the mushrooms, the breakfast also came with 2 rounds of toast and a proper cup of coffee.
During our mass scoffing session we discovered that all of our bikes were due MOT's within the next few days so we decided to head to Arch Motorcycles over in Leamington Spa and see if they could fit us in for the test.
After arriving at Arch Motorcycles we found out that we had turned up almost with perfect timing and they were just finishing off an MOT and could perform all 3 MOT's so after hanging around talking to the guys at Arch Motorcycles we finally left with 3 new MOT's - Thanks to the guys over at Arch Motorcycles for the friendly banter and of course thanks to Chinny who paid for today's scoff.
A few more pictures can be found here
Round House Cafe
Only as usual Rig couldn’t make it today due to “family commitments” or so he says, we all think he’s turned to the dark side and is out road testing Harley Davidson’s in his leather chaps and tasselled jacket.
As with all good long hard ride’s the key to success is lubrication and that’s even more true when you get Bonzo and Chinny together, they both need loads and loads of lubrication in the form of copious amounts of tea and a full English breakfast or in Bob’s case a plate of Bacon and Beans (go figure!) at the Round House Cafe on the A40 near Monmouth.
After everyone was full to the brim (If my memory serves me correctly Bonzo was close to over flowing) we jumped onto our bikes and went looking for some great roads and of course even more food.
The beauty with meeting up near Monmouth is that you’re starting at the gateway to one of the best bike friendly countries in the world – Wales – it really doesn’t matter where you go in Wales you will find some great roads and some amazing scenery.
After a ride along the A40 through Abergavenny and down a few other interesting roads, including a stop off at the canal basin in Brecon for Bonzo to get some photo's of some ducks we stopped at the West End Cafe in Llandovery for more tea and finally ending up at Builth Wells for a well earned rest before saying goodbye to Ray and Bonzo and heading home.
A few more pictures can be found here
Sunday Jaunt
Due to my eldest son's birthday being on the Saturday I couldn't make the trip to Aberystwyth to eat ice cream and look at students...cough...err, I mean look at classic cars so instead me and Bob set out the following day for a little ride around a few of our favourite roads.
We started the day by heading down the excellent A6006 from Ashby-De-La-Zouch into Melton Mowbray where I persuaded Bob to try a Mc Bacon Roll while I gorged myself on a Double Sausage & Egg McMuffin.
When we left McDonalds we then picked up the incredible B6047 from Melton Mowbray all the way into Market Harborough where after several attempts we eventually found Midland Superbikes that was to be out next port of call. After expertly dodging the burger van parked outside we had a wander around what can only be described as a large warehouse that was packed with hundreds of second hand bikes and then eventually found the spiral staircase that led us up the parts and accessories department where Bob managed to pick up 2 pairs of EBC HH pads for his Blackbird.
Once we had left Market Harborough we decided to let Bob's new Garmin Zumo 550 GPS unit lead the way through the back roads towards Bourne and it was along one of these roads, not far from Rockingham that we came across the 82 arch Welland viaduct
After taking a few photos we then carried on our little jaunt towards Bourne and once we got to Bourne we picked up (not literally as it wouldn’t fit into Bob’s Givi box although that wouldn't normally have stopped Bonzo) the A151/B676 back into Melton Mowbray and then onto our final stop of the day for coffee and scrummy cake at the Alpine Restaurant that is part of the Grange Garden Centre. Well worth stopping at if your passing.
After scoffing our cake we then headed back home via the A6006
A few more pictures can be found here
A couple of updates
In my absence all the other lads have been out enjoying themselves and they have taken great pleasure in telling me what I’ve been missing and what trouble Bonzo’s been getting himself into.
The 1st update was a few photos from when Bob and Chinny met up with Ray and Bonzo over at Fromes Hill Cafe for breakfast.
The 2nd update was another meeting of great minds (and Bonzo can along as well) but this time the meeting place was the Round Table Cafe near Monmouth after which they found a few ducks for Bonzo to play with and they ended up at the West End Cafe in Llandovery for more cake and biscuits.
Rays 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade
At last years NEC Bike Show Ray spent quite a bit of time on the Honda stand, we thought at the time he fancied one of Honda's press girls but it turned out he was getting his rocks off looking at a different Honda badge, the new CBR1000RR Fireblade
It turns out that Ray has gone and replaced his 2005 CBR1000RR Fireblade with a brand new 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade - the lucky bugger!
Ray collected his new bike on the 13th of March and due to poor weather he has only ridden the bike home from the dealers.
A few more pictures can be found here
Abergavenny
After we had finished our brunch we decided to head down one of our favourite roads, the B4521 into Abergavenny. After 20 miles of slipping and sliding around corners, along straights covered in mud from all the tractors we eventually made it safely to Abergavenny and the (almost) world famous Oasis Snack Bar (Bus Station Cafe) for coffee.
While we were lounging around the cafe we got chatting to a guy on a Honda Valadero (Sorry I forgot your name) who told us about a new Honda dealers that had just opened in Cwmbran and seeing how Ray is looking at replacing his current 2005 CBR100RR Fireblade with the new 2008 CBR1000RR Fireblade we decided to have a ride over and take a look.
Once again thanks to the guy on the Honda Valadero as because we are useless and couldn’t understand where the Honda Dealers were he offered top show us as he was heading in that direction.
15 miles later we arrived at Dragon Honda’s new showroom and was impressed at the spacious layout, the various make and models of bikes on offer and the free coffee (try the hot chocolate, it’s very good)
After having a look at the new 2008 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and a number of other good bikes including a tasty BMW 1150GS Adventure and 2 amazingly engineered trikes we decided it was time to start heading home, we said good bye to Ray (and f&*k off to Bonzo) and headed back towards Monmouth via the A472 road through Usk and once again started up the A40/M50/M5/M42 home.
A few more pictures can be found here
