Welcome To Bikes And Travels...
...It's about bikes... and travels... mostly on bikes!
Spring has sprung, now we have a few months of warm pleasant rain to enjoy after the cold and miserable rain of winter.
What excitement and adventures will this year bring?
What's New?
Hereford And Home
A brief note on the last couple of days of this short trip and Ren is reflecting on just how much countryside there is out there.
Distant Memories
Ian Douglas heads a long ways back down memory lane, sharing a few flashbacks that seem oddly familiar. Hard times and/or halcyon days.
Onto The Ferry
Ren takes a simple short trip and turns it into an unnecessarily arduous ride to the ferry. Then all the Dynamic Muppets have to do is get on the ferry. Should be easy - right?
From The Quaint To The Bucolic
Honey coloured stone buildings all around, words like "quaint" and "charming" abound. Ren endures another day of likeable towns and comfy beds. He'll have to find something to gripe about.
Easing Into The Trip
After plenty of flapping and fretting Ren can calm down and start to enjoy the ride. It's a simple journey today with no purpose other than getting closer to the forthcoming ferry.
A Cotswoldian Reconsideration
It's about time Ren rethinks his position on what is generally considered a nice part of England. It's all very nice, but is it too nice?
Prologue - Some Iberian Mountains
Organising a simple 2 week bike tour should be easy peasy. Watch Ren make this simple task as difficult as possible.
Some Iberian Mountains
Title page for The Batties' Iberian Expedition.
Prologue - The Middle West Of England
In a completely unnecessary level of exposition Ren explains the lead up to a short break. There's genius maps to help in case you're bored.
The Middle West Of England
Title page for a short break in The Cotswolds and Hereford.
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Latest Posts
Distant Memories
Bogger said :-
I had lots of fun back in the day on my SS50 and then a KH100. The were lots of shenanigans that we got up to.
One standout episode of madness, on my behalf, involved a trip to an aqueduct in deepest darkest Staffordshire.
We climbed up to said aqueduct and were having a mooch about. I took a long hard look at the body of water in the upper canal and said it was so narrow I could jump over it, no problem!
Obviously my mates took me up on this act of bravado. Needless to say I rode home very wet.
Why are teenagers so stupid? Still am I suppose.
Bogger
05/11/2024 11:17:10 UTC
Distant Memories
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
My first forays into motorcycling were with a group of friends loosely acting as a club known as "The Animal Crew". Me on a Honda H100A (which is what put me off 2 strokes) trying to ride with lads on XJR 900s and Gixer Slabsides. That wasn't working (obviously) so I hung around with a few other "yoofs" all of us on 100cc bikes because they were cheaper to insure than 125s and not much slower.
We were terribly adventurous, managing to get as far away from Leyland as, ooooh Preston and Southport and even Wigan!
I once bravely and heroically managed to get to Lowton all on my own. My motivation was purely carnal, vying for the attention of a pretty young lady with the nickname "Bina" as she like Ribena. I failed to gain her affections and the late night ride home, lost and lonesome in the dark, was terrifying for an 18 year old who was so far from home he might as well have been in Mongolia. Lowton was 25 miles from my home.
I daresay many of my explorations and mileages were covered in the search of illicit liaisons. Ormskirk, Skelmersdale, Chorley and Blackburn were all explored, interesting roads and routes found, and many times I had to ride around in search of a sign pointing to somewhere that I knew to get back home. Half the miles were covered in exciting anticipation, the other half were ridden in the sadness of failure due to the rejection of my advances.
I'm a persistent git and on the rare occasion my advances were accepted and I started dating a girl I'd find a thousand ways to get to her place. Mostly because I was lost.
I can look back on these times with a smile. BUT! Like any young man those times were filled with angst. "Does she really like me?", "Will they laugh at my silly little bike?", "She's dumped me, my world has ended, I'm never going to recover!", "Does my hair look cool, have I got the right t-shirt on?", and so on and so on and so on.
I'd like that young man's body back, I want his energy and his libido. I do not want his paranoia, I don't want his moods, I don't want his delicate ego and I don't want his attitude. I miss the highs, but I sure do not miss the lows of youth.
04/11/2024 12:41:00 UTC
The DIY Camchain Tensioner
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Errrrm. Thanks Cidney. I'm trying to figure out if your observation is simply a warning about amateur mechanics or a dig about my own rather "hammer based" DIY bodge jobs. I shall give you the benefit of the doubt.
There is ABSOLUTELY no doubt that some of my "repairs" (ie bodges and fudges) have been far from the right thing to do. I have made mistakes and I have had things go terribly wrong due to my foolhardy assumption that I know better than Honda/Kawasaki/Yamaha etc etc etc. They have multi million pound budgets, engineers who know the difference between a grade 8 bolt and a lump of spaghetti, millions of miles experience from millions of customers, and they have a reputation to think of too.
It would also be fair to say they're profit driven, perhaps build in some obsolescence and are not impervious to mistakes.
If you want your bike to be right do things right, the way the manufacturer did them in the first place. And as you rightly say if you want things right - don't trust amateur idiots like me!
04/11/2024 12:16:47 UTC
The DIY Camchain Tensioner
Cidney said :-
We went to look at a Volkswagen camper, quite smart, we wandered off to look at other saw a salesmen carrying a lump hammer approach said nice camper, he kicked the wheel cover off, turned his back and lent against the body and proceeded to adjust the wheel bearings of said nice camper with his lump hammer.
He approached us and asked are you interested in something,no, with the service history of your camper and we are off somewhere else. Beware vehicles that have amateur mechanics 'fixing' them.
03/11/2024 20:46:34 UTC
Distant Memories
Bogger said :-
Loving the number plate.
Bogger
03/11/2024 12:51:16 UTC
Distant Memories
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Another lovely tale - thanks Ian.
My history is somehwta difeerent but shares many elements. My first bike was a Francis Barnett Plover which my dad encouraged me to go for rather than the Suzuki (I think) which I preferred. My life might have turned out differently...
That F-B, dire though it was, reliably took me to my work as a "student apprentice" with the lamented Central Electricity Generating Board at various power stations across the North East of England, including a stint at Grimsby power station. This had been destined to close with the building of Drax but as that was delayed they needed bodies to run Grimsby, a real old-school chain grate boiler powered facility. A motley bunch of us were sent there for various misdemeanours - in my case failing all (well nearly all) my exams due to too much time in the Station Tavern in Newcastle.
Being fed up with getting wet and cold on the little bike I "graduated" to cars but being impecunious could only afford those on their last legs - although my first was a Morris 1000 van which took me & three friends to Switzerland and back before expiring.
Shortly afterwards I departed the CEGB before I was pushed, having met the love of my life in Birmingham to which I then moved, complete with my current car - a very rusty Ford Anglia. A couple of months later this failed its MoT comprehensively so we were without wheels.
Idly scanning the small ads in the Birmingham Mail I found the ideal solution - a Norton 16H (500 side valve) of 1948 vintage with an Avon sidecar. I'd never bothered to pass my test on the F-B so the sidecar was great as I could take unlicensed passengers. £35 was enough to secure it and I rode it home - not without several scares as I'd never ridden an outfit and couldn't get to grips with steering instead of leaning.
Having passed my test - in those days just a couple of turns round the block and trying to avoid the examiner when he jumped out in front of me - the Norton served well after removing the sidecar and fitting a much livelier OHV engine. Until it was stolen and ditched after the thieves had attacked the engine with a sledgehammer.
For the next 10 years or so I drifted between no job, volunteering in various community enterprises and with an alternative theatre group, working as an AA patrol for a year and as a horticultural repair fitter for another year. A wide variety of - mostly - old British bikes passed through my hands during this time and formed our only transport. These included a lovely little Honda S90, a very slow BSA B31, and even slower C15, a nice Norton Dominator 99, a Bantam (even worse than the Fanny-Barnett), a Yamaha DT125E, and sundry others. I was never really part of the motorcycling fraternity, fitting with neither the Vintage lot or the modern bike brigade although had some good friends in both.
Eventually I decided that it was time I got a proper job and did a TOPS course in computer programming which opened up a whole new chapter. But that's another story.
01/11/2024 11:56:07 UTC
Onto The Ferry
nab301 said :-
Ren , will you and UPT be collaborating and bring us recollections of a hotels tour versus the beans on toast sort of tour!
Nigel
01/11/2024 11:52:35 UTC
Distant Memories
nab301 said :-
Ian , an excellent piece or reminiscing... I certainly wasn't any more adventurous than you! I did have a centre tank Honda S90 in the late 70's ( not sure what year it was ) and the
complete range of Em Zeds , 125, 150 and 250 . I must have been a bit of a loner and never travelled in groups but from 16yrs when I got my first bike was into clocking up miles around the country although I never travelled abroad ( from Ireland)
Nigel
01/11/2024 11:48:05 UTC
Onto The Ferry
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Good call Ian.
I noticed on the ferry when we got way out to sea my phone automatically connected to the ship's mobile phone network. I'm like "what the deuce?" then an SMS message came through from somewhere saying yeah you're connected to the ship and - in business speak - "it'll cost a fortune". I put my phone into Aeroplane mode for the rest of the crossing.
There is WiFi on the ship and as Ian's link says you get a free limited session, I seem to recall 90 minutes. After that you've got to pay for the WiFi too and that wasn't cheap either.
Unless you have deep pockets my recommendation is to put your phone into aeroplane mode for the crossing. I played a lot of games of solitaire...
30/10/2024 12:21:51 UTC
Onto The Ferry
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Just a point re using smartphones etc on a ferry - unless you use the ship's wifi you'll be using your mobile roaming data. And that will be supplied, not by normal land-based transmitters but by the ship. And it can be hideously expensive - which you only find out when you get the bill......
https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/information/faqs/ships-and-ports/will-my-mobi...
30/10/2024 10:59:41 UTC
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Glyn said :-
Harsh Ed, harsh. Perhaps we could settle this with a race off, my 250 against your 500 (or your Honda 125 if you prefer). I will probably win providing I can prevent the thing from breaking down for the duration of the event.
I've solved the Autolube cable problem. I was given an LC cable to try. The pump 90 degree end, adjuster and nipple were perfect but the joint end had an inline nipple instead of the required T nipple. I found an old steel nail and drilled a 1.5mm hole in it. I then cut the nail 4mm each side of the hole and soldered it on to the end of the cable. Incidently, the autolube pump works in exactly the opposite way to which I described above. It actually provides more oil at high revs. The reason for this is that when on a long straight, if you shut off at the end of it and use engine braking, the the lack of oil can cause the engine to seize. Similary this can happen when travelling downhill. Barry Sheene would get over this by taking a large blip of throttle but it was a risky thing to when entering a corner.
04/11/2024 20:44:06 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Ewwww! I've got that sting from a little vomit in the back of my throat just from seeing that image.
Maybe I've got PTTSSD - Post Traumatic Two Stroke Stress Disorder. Where there's blame there's a claim - Glyn my lawyers will be in touch.
04/11/2024 16:05:00 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I can almost smell it!
03/11/2024 12:16:41 UTC
Glyn said :-
Picture for the Ed. He loves these bikes don’t ya know.
02/11/2024 18:57:21 UTC
Glyn said :-
By Jove it goes! Yes indeed it’s alive. I rigged up a fuel bottle, sprayed brake cleaner into the intakes and she fired first kick. She ran second kick and really well. The smoke was overwhelming but I’m putting that down to the oil in the crankcase. I couldn’t take a ride as the clutch refused to release but that should be easy to rectify. So, supercharged with success I proceeded to take the thing apart.
02/11/2024 16:44:07 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ian, what do think about Vacuum Fuel Delivery Devices?
I know, I'm sorry. God made me say it.
The ST11 have a Vacuum Cotrol but no actual fuel tap. These can be problematic when age gets at the diaphragms. They're often bypassed and plugged without issue.
Upt.
02/11/2024 09:55:45 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Don't mention vacuum taps Glyn or I'll give you the sorry sga of my little Yamaha V twin. I think I've finally sorted it out....
No idea why Yamaha used such a ridiculous system whose only merit is that people didn't have to remember to turn the tap off when they parked the bike up. Instead they had to use the prime function if they left it more than a couple of weeks.
01/11/2024 14:57:51 UTC
Glyn said :-
The oil is very much a yellow shade of brown so I’m thinking it’s premix with the fuel element evaporated Just like I found in the carbs. If so, it would indicate a faulty shut off valve in one of the carbs plus a leaking fuel tap. The latter is a vacuum operated device of which I’m not happy with because I’ve had this failure before on the Diversion. In that case, I modified the tap to give me on,Res and off loosing the prime position. You had to remember to turn it off when you finished riding but you never had the crankcase full of fuel.
01/11/2024 13:38:52 UTC
nab301 said :-
@ Glyn , Oil in the crankcase is surely better than rust? Is it oil from the gear box I wonder or did a previous owner add oil to protect it in storage?
Nigel
01/11/2024 12:00:17 UTC
Glyn said :-
That is certainly true Ian. I’ve now run through the operating system for the autolube pump. What actually happens is that the power valve servo motor, when open, reduces the oil flow from the pump to the upper cylinders. I can’t think why but it has cost Yamaha in design, parts and production to do this and so they must have a good reason to implement it. The engine is the same unit as that fitted to the TDR 250 but they don’t alter the output of the oil pump on that model. Perhaps they assumed the TZR would be more likely to be thrashed.
01/11/2024 11:58:52 UTC
Latest Chit-Chat
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Rev. Mick! said :-
Having been away travelling,I am once more struck by similarities between meditation and long motorcycle journeys.
From someone else in the Sangha I found this:-
https://castbox.fm/vb/322075957
If you have other Podcast sites it is Episode 198 of
"Urban Dharma Podcast". Not at all technical.
https://castbox.fm/vb/322075957...
30/10/2024 16:52:12 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Just to clarify, a quick shufti at Companies House indicates that Pidcocks is in fact a family run concern so what I said above doesn't apply.
28/10/2024 12:38:02 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, but....
I agree with much of what you have all said especially the debt business. More and more companies borrow excessively - often to fund dividends - then find they can't sustain that model when borrowing costs rise. Look at water companies, "care" home conglomerates and others. They have been bought out by private equity companies on the basis of loans. The only way they can carry on is to squeeze the services they supply to the minimum. And then we're all shocked when it turns out they're not doing a very good job and are struggling financially. Although oddly enough this struggling doesn't seem to extend to their CEOs and owners.....
Not sure whether this applies to motorcycle dealers or not.
27/10/2024 10:08:55 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
My own thoughts mirror yours. Businesses built on debt are always susceptible to market forces far more than established long running concerns and yes, we know motorcyclists are getting old. Just look at us lot. Not you Madame du Soleil.
I also believe that motorcycles are getting damn expensive, if you want to go either adventure or tour in a BMW emporium you can easily spend in excess of £20K. Now I know I'm a rich baby booming property enriched pensioner, but that's a lot of brass for some'at sitting in your garage.
Have this wave of buyers (us) exploited their ill gotten gains and the piggy bank is now empty.
I still see people spending brass but is it brass or just credit.
Either way, I would expect some more casualties as we go through winter, it's a lean time for bike shops in the UK. Plus there must be a knock on effect with less dealers now ever further apart who will buy into these brands.
My nearest franchised dealer is at least 50 miles away anyway, but that's pretty unusual and very geo specific. I don't think many would relish a 100 mile journey to reset the EMU or ABS module when they throw a fault.
It is also relevant that many manufacturers have insisted on one make palaces to stock their shiny new stock, that costs money and commitment.
Upt.
27/10/2024 09:51:27 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Although Pidcocks will not fit my theory, as they are a long established motorcycle dealer, many of the dealers that are relatively new to the market have been hit by the increased costs over the last few years with rapid growth and borrowed finance.
Completely motorbikes fits my theory as this type of dealer.
They have grown quickly over the last five to six years by taking over other dealers and opening larger showrooms. This growth I believe is financed with borrowing. Now if the stock of bikes in the showrooms have a value of £10,000,000 then interest rates of five years ago would have cost around £100,000. Interest rates today for the same £10,000,000 would cost around £600,000.
So finance will cost an extra £500,000 alone, plus the increase in staff costs, and increase in energy bills ect.
So with all these extra costs and a drop in sales for whatever reason, be it youths not buying or very poor weather through the summer there can only be one result.
Administration!
26/10/2024 19:49:58 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I blame da kidz.
Hanging out at a bike shop this AM and I notice that while there's the occasional young ones about the vast majority are my age and up.
When I was a yoof I was probably the last generation that viewed motorcycles as a cheap and available form of transport, since then it seems, despite "austerity" and various financial crashes and the whole world just getting worse and worse (apparently) most yoofs bypass the cheap motorcycle options and go straight to the car. Or just wait until they're older and can afford to insure a car.
Is it a cultural thing? Safety thing? I can see various possibilities but there's just not the young uns coming through.
There's PLENTY of 125s available in a myriad of styles and prices thanks to the new Chinese brands as well as the established brands. I'd hazard a guess it's still cheaper to insure a 125, although I don't actually know. I dunno, be curious to see what happens.
26/10/2024 14:58:34 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
What's happening to bike dealers?
Just heard Pidcocks have gone under too.
Sales of 1000 cc bikes is well down.
Have we finally run out of credit?
Upt.
25/10/2024 23:00:31 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
"Are we supposed to look for Sharon's head bobbing in the wake?" - oh Ian that made me larf!
I made a very minor alteration to the code and was simply checking to see I hadn't broken owt. You're all very funny, in a horrible way.
23/10/2024 08:10:13 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Perhaps it's a typo, he meant to say just decking.
22/10/2024 18:59:28 UTC
nab301 said :-
Maybe he's sold the bike and bought a Jetski?
Nigel
22/10/2024 15:28:39 UTC
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