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Lonesome In The Flatlands
Ren is hoping for a better day weatherwise and riding-wise too. Ingoldmells is deserted, Skeggy and Mablethorpe ain't up to much, luckily the countryside is better than expected.
Homeward Bound And Epilogues
Alas it's time to go home. The weather gives Ren deja-vu and there's a moment for a little more cake. Both Sharon and Ren sum up their feelings about the area.
Naughty Boys On Strange Bikes
It's a discouraging start to Bogger's Feet Forwards French expedition. Not to worry, soon the 2 old men are sneaking around like naughty school kids.
More Wonders, Weird Food
It's another day filled with fabulous things for Andy. Knights and bends in the road, mountains and flat bits, and a posh hotel with a sunset.
Wonderous Wales And Epilogue
The ride home from The Elan Valley gives our Dynamic Muppets some delightful scenery - which confuses Ren. It's also time to wrap up the tale.
Braving Barmouth Bridge
Our brave and heroic editor is bravely and heroically doing something many many riders have easily done before. There's also a lot of reminiscing, oh and some chips.
Feet Forward Prologue
Bogger is organising his next French escapade. It's the who, why, what, and where this time, oh and the how. The why never makes sense, nor should it.
Best Feet Forwards
Title page for Bogger's latest trip with a bunch of people on weird motorcycles.
Back On The Road And Heading South Again
Having mostly recovered Andy's back on the road making big miles through ever more stunning scenery. A few notes then pictures aplenty that'll make you wish you were there.
Bigger Scenery South Of Biggar
Sharon has suggested today's destination with Ren putting in an add-on. It's a part of the UK less explored, which is a shame, but at least it's quiet.
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Lonesome In The Flatlands
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Deep maaan, real deep. Far too spiritual in intellectual for oiks like me Upt'.
If and when the "battery problem" is sorted out and we can have fast recharging mobility scooters I can imagine a camping trip on a mobility scooter. Let's face it people WALK the entire globe with a rucksack so doing it on a mobility scooter must be luxury. As for motorcycle engined mobility scoots it's already been done to death.
That's the point ain't it Ian - those surplus shops cause folks to buy things they seldom need simply because they can be ridiculously cheap. If we had been in the car it could well have been a real problem.
14/01/2026 16:16:01 UTC
Lonesome In The Flatlands
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I love those surplus shops but it's soeasy to emerge with a pile of tat that you'll never use. There was a brilliant one in King's Heath, Brum but it closed down a few years ago.
But I'm afraid I'm not enticed back to Lincolnshire.
14/01/2026 13:06:08 UTC
Lonesome In The Flatlands
nab301 said :-
Quote Ren " but the regular shops at least appear to be trading and there's a number of mostly elderly people milling around. The preferred method of transport for winter Mablethorpe is the mobility scooter, there's hundreds of them."
Ren , how long before you're doing road (or is it footpath? ) tests on mobility scooters ? I wonder can we get two stroke mobility scooters? !! Something to look forward to I guess...
Nigel
14/01/2026 12:57:20 UTC
Lonesome In The Flatlands
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Truth is everybody is going to hurt you, you've just got to find the ones worth suffering for.
Who said that? And...why do I remember it?
14/01/2026 09:15:43 UTC
Lonesome In The Flatlands
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I thought you lot only came here to see me suffering? You wouldn't know I was suffering if I wasn't moaning.
14/01/2026 07:59:22 UTC
Lonesome In The Flatlands
Bogger said :-
I'm so happy that you're easily pleased. It stops you from moaning so much.
Bogger
13/01/2026 11:29:53 UTC
Homeward Bound And Epilogues
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Blimey Ian that's LUCKY!!
I have a massive set of key but with a carabiner. On the carabiner the bike key alone comes off, then one set of house keys and one set of bike security keys. I also have a spare bike key, disc lock key, top box key and house key secured "elsewhere" in case I lose the set.
Oh that feeling when you've lost your keys, it's like nausea, panic, dizziness and disbelief. Same when you've lost ya wallet.
The window is open Upt' to allow the smell of roughty toughty mean and well'ard bikers to leave the room. Fear not the owner of the property lives nearby and would soon be there to secure the place. Tables? Pfffft, nerd.
09/01/2026 17:46:52 UTC
Homeward Bound And Epilogues
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Ah, but do you put the cream on first or the jam? I also understand that some odd folk don't bother with the butter. The more saturated fat and sugar the better as far as I'm concerned.
I'm the same when leaving a place - I always think I've forgotten something. I've probably mentioned this before but I was on the Tiger one early morning leaving the small Ouistreham hotel I'd stayed in before a ferry. I'd split the Tiger's keys between 2 rings - one for ignition / top box, the other for panniers etc as I hate great bunches of keys rattling about. Of course I zoomed off to the ferry leaving the pannier keys on the steps outside the hotel.
I didn't realise till I was on the ferry and went to get some comfy shoes for the trip out of a pannier. Not really a problem but I'd have to wait till I got home for the spares. However, as I was enjoying a cup of Brittany ferries' excellent coffee, a bloke came up to me waving some keys and saying "are these yours?" He'd spotted them on the steps as I left but missed me in the ferry queue. Nice chap - he could easily have just left them there.
09/01/2026 14:17:11 UTC
Homeward Bound And Epilogues
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Oh yes, those tables aren't inline and the window's open.
09/01/2026 12:48:10 UTC
Homeward Bound And Epilogues
Upt'North ¹ said :-
There's always time for cake. If there ain't, some'ats up.
I do like D and G, I've said it before, probably here? But, it ain't the Highlands, but as you succinctly put it, that's the problem, innit.
We're off to Skye in May but it'll be a four wheeled trip and hiking aplenty to boot. But we've made sure we're on the West Coast away from the ferry to bridge crowd who are "doing Skye". Whatever that means?
And then there's another but, some will say until you've been to Tongue, Bettyhill and Gairloch you haven't seen the Highlands anyway so when do you stop going North, when your feet get wet? Life's a quandary, but only if you let it be so, make time to go where you want and see those places with your own eyes. Who said, "there's one life, live it"? Easy to say but sometimes much harder to achieve.
Thanks you pair of rascals and stay away from men on pink bikes.
Upt.
09/01/2026 12:45:53 UTC
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Ian Soady¹ said :-
ps Glyn, I used to ride in pre-65 trials in the 1990s on my Royal Enfield Bullet. One of the blokes in the club (Midland Classic) rode a fire breathing 750 Triumph outfit with a very brave "passenger" - a misnomer if ever there was one as they do as much if not more work than the rider / driver. It was always advisable to stay well clear of the back wheel when he took off.
Even more so with the Norton Wasps and occasional big BMW long distance trial outfits I was lucky enough to get close to on occasion. These were real monsters and I did toy with the idea of using one on the road till sense and self-preservation took over.
17/01/2026 14:19:10 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
It's certainly more challenging than I'd envisaged. I am lucky in that the sidecar is actually a new old stock one from a defunct dealer. I got it from David Angel of F2 motorcycles - he had planned to build it but didn't have the time. So I don't have the common problems of rust etc. He supplies fittings but at eye-watering prices - for example a simple frame clamp with clevis is £72 + VAT. My version costs around £12 and I think is actually superior. I attach a photo of his clamp below. A full fitting kit costs over £700 + VAT - more than I paid for the sidecar!
I do enjoy the challenge - as much the thought processes and research as the physical work of turning, boring, welding and tapping.
I'm having a short rest from machining etc. I have a split steel clamp which I bought as part of a job lot but needed to skim .060" (OK 1.5mm) from the inside face. This is easy with the alloy I've used for the other clamps but a bit tortuous with steel as I was limited to .010" cuts and even at that it was a clonky affair. I'd probably have been better off just making another new one.
Would you believe I've already used the whole of a 1 metre length of M14 HT studding and need to buy more?
16/01/2026 14:25:30 UTC
Glyn said :-
Ian, this sidecar build is brilliant, I can almost hear the cogs whirring in your head. I realise now the complexities of the set up. Being heavily into Trials riding , including outfits, in my younger years, I had no idea of how tricky they were set up. I do remember a local chap who got a Triumph 650 twin to fire on both cylinders at the same time. This was to make the engine “less smooth” to allow the rear wheel time to grip the terrain. There has always been clever buggers but, I fear, less of them per shed these days.
16/01/2026 13:53:47 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Your body and your experience will be quite different to mine Glyn - but - coming off the painkillers was a good thing for me. They seemed to make little difference to the pain while simply bunging me up giving me another problem to deal with. 90 degrees is pretty good! Just think about all them muscles and tendons and nerves they'll have been shuffling around to get the joint in. I mean it's pretty complex (not as complex as getting to the tappets on a CB500X though).
16/01/2026 07:59:42 UTC
Glyn said :-
Theres a lot of knowledge on these pages. As mentioned by Ren, there are considerable financial savings to be made on toilet roll when one mixes anaesthetic, codean and liquid morphine. None of the tablets work very well, that includes painkillers and Senna pod derivatives. “Movement” is the watchword here for both of the situations I find myself in. The joint, when attached in the theatre, is pretty much full strength immediately as it’s stuck in with some epoxy type glue. The rehabilitation is generally to do with making the displaced muscles etc work again. I can achieve (close on) 90 degrees bend which is good going after 5 days but theres a long way to gg before I consider that the joint is flexible. I am definitely a determined sort of chap which I’m relying on. Thank you all for your well wishes.
15/01/2026 15:31:13 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The hard part as always is actually the thinking and going through umpteen scenarios before discovering flaws and having to reimagine. Of course once tool meets steel new issues raise their heads but nothing that can't be overcome. My little lathe is struggling a bit trying to face off 3" square blocks of mild steel. Aluminium alloy is no problem.
Once the attachments are finalised I then will have the problem of the nearside radiator which as far as I can see want to occupy the same space as one of the struts.
And then of course the body. I hope to have the basic attachments and alignments sorted out within a week or so, then to tackle the radiator issue before doing a dry fit of the body before it goes off for paint. But that isn't scheduled till the beginning of March.
15/01/2026 14:48:11 UTC
nab301 said :-
Looking forward to the end result , although you still have your work cut out!
Nigel
14/01/2026 13:06:29 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I'm now starting to get an idea of the setup. This is the chassis in position with 9" sidecar wheel lead, but a bit further away from the bike than it will end up to allow adjustments. As I thought the forward mounting on the chassis is far too far forward to be of any use so will need to make more split clamps.
Mr Waitrose's grovery boxes are ideal for this job!
14/01/2026 12:40:26 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian, Thanks for the explanations (plunger and joint replacement!)
@ Glyn, I've no idea what the usual recovery period is for knee replacement but hopefully you'll be back out in the garage over the coming months completely pain free. Keeping it politically correct Surely it can't be worse than childbirth ...!!
Nigel
14/01/2026 12:04:20 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The problem with replacement knees is the physio that's necessary to make sure you still have a decent range of movement. I know someone who had a replacement but refused all the physio. They ended up with a joint that would barely flex enough to walk let alone get aboard a bike.
Stck with it and the pain will go. Eventually........
13/01/2026 10:32:01 UTC
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Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I object to random businesses spamming the feed in the hope of improving their Google ranking. I've no problem with you trying to find the jacket a suitable home.
02/01/2026 17:46:19 UTC
Glyn said :-
If anyone is a size 3XL I have a brand new RICHA jacket. It’s never been worn but the tags are not there as it was originally a gift. There is some light armour in the elbows and shoulders but it can be upgraded. I’m not even an L size these days so it hangs in my wardrobe unlikely to ever see the light of day. Sorry Ed I know you frown on advertising on these pages (so I humbly apologise ) but it’s a shame to see it languishing unused.
02/01/2026 12:23:34 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Your feet must be even bigger than mine Nigel, size 46 is about UK 11.
01/01/2026 16:11:19 UTC
nab301 said :-
A pity they don't have any mens sizes!
Nigel
01/01/2026 14:35:13 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Anybody after new motorsiccle boots.
Check this out, sizes 42 to 46.
Upt.
*Remember there are fees and vat etc.
https://www.johnpyeauctions.co.uk/Browse?FullTextQuery=Motorcycle%20...
31/12/2025 12:55:19 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, not bad looking - te tank seat unit has a Triumph Hurricane look about it. I'm not so keen on the exhaust pipe lines however. It might be improved with something like the Triumph's stacked pipes. Although not the comical front brake.
18/12/2025 15:49:07 UTC
nab301 said :-
That looks great and the original so called (I think) Euro styled versions (although I never owned any) were always my favourite looking bikes , CB900f CB750F etc
Nigel
17/12/2025 15:46:27 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Styling Upt'. As you say it's a modern bike in old school clothing. If you took the same chassis and engine and covered it in fairings it's a sports bike. Cover it in angular body panels its a modern naked. I think it looks lovely just as it is.
17/12/2025 11:35:51 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Is it our own fault? Is it fault? Is it what we really want? I dunno. But some of the latest bikes could at first glance be exact copies of 70/80's bikes with a detuned modern ICE thrown in.
Is it what we want?
Yes, this is what happens when the nights draw in.
17/12/2025 09:12:02 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Yes nab301 this is not going to be one of those bikes that takes you by surprise with rapid speed and arm-wrenching acceleration. I daresay if that is what someone is looking for they're probably looking in the wrong place. I think I would wish to try before I buy if nothing else to convince myself there's enough power even for one as humble as my dawdling self.
16/12/2025 18:53:06 UTC
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