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The Rhins Of Galloway
It's another grand day out for 5 fools in Kilmarnock. There's sunshine, forest, hills, a lighthouse, and a harbour. There's also guilt, a lack of tea, and all kinds of strange places.
An Easy Ride And A Woodland Sprite
It's a short ride today for the Dynamic Muppets and the accommodation transforms Sharon into an ethereal being. Ren is happy because he gets to be grumpy. Business as usual.
The Last Days And Words On The Polish Adventure
It's the final 2 days of the otherwise massive Polish Adventure on small bikes. After all that there's not a lot to say save for a few notes, thoughts and another ridiculously long day on the road.
It Was Going OK, Until It Wasn't
With only 150 miles to cover the threat of rain is only a minor inconvenience really. Sharon makes some new friends en route and they both enjoy the countryside riding. It's the last few miles that are a problem.
Back When I Almost Quit
Back in the past Ren had his doubts about continuing to ride motorcycles. Turns out he's crap at riding motorcycles, no news there then. Or was something else afoot?
An Even Longer Ride Homewards
There's more big miles today, and not to anyone's surprise - more chaos. Traffic jams and sheer foolishness means some folks are having a REALLY bad day.
A Good Start To Heading Saaaf
It's an easy and chill ride today as The Dynamic Muppets make their way southbound. A lucky cafe find, a lovely village and fun in a pub? This can't be Bikes And Travels, surely?!
A Long Ride Homewards
After another big breakfast there's a long ride ahead for Bogger and pals as they get their teeth into the journey home. Of course there's a disaster, admittedly it's only a minor inconvenience.
To Rebel Or Not To Rebel
Ren's getting on a bit and the newness is wearing off. Will his aches and pains be alleviated by a different bike with a different riding position? It's time to see if rebellion is the solution.
Norton Electra Starter
Ren was wondering what Ian's pawls were for, Ian has provided an answer! Details of the starter mechanism for a Norton Electra, particularly the actuating ratchet.
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The Rhins Of Galloway
Upt'North ¹ said :-
We like The Rhins, but have only experienced it in late December on two occasions. It was indeed wild.
We weren't on a two wheeled contrivance. I doubt you could actually have ridden one, the wind was a little fierce.
Upt.
08/10/2025 16:16:45 UTC
The Rhins Of Galloway
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Aaah ROD. I love water and Sharon loves trees. As such Sharon is always on the lookout for a perfect property with the sea on one side and a forest on the other. These places do exist - the fly in the ointment is they cost way way WAY more than either of us has to spend.
08/10/2025 09:44:16 UTC
The Rhins Of Galloway
ROD¹ said :-
I had a ride around the forest last year when I stayed at Kirkcudbright. I agree with your sentiments about riding in a forest. It can only be bettered if you are also riding beside water.
07/10/2025 16:07:43 UTC
Review of the Honda NTV 600 Revere - By Ren Withnell
Henry said :-
Hey all Revere lovers. I have one for sale in good condition with 32k on the clock. Thinking of selling. I love the bike and will sadly miss it as it’s been one of the best bike I’ve ever owned for many reasons, not mainstream ones. But I’m now looking for something designed for long motorway cross continents touring. Anyone interested let me know. Henry
03/10/2025 17:32:12 UTC
An Easy Ride And A Woodland Sprite
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Woodland crazy does require you to be without clothing. Pictures are not required. Nor wanted. Definitely not. Certainly not. No.
01/10/2025 17:45:18 UTC
An Easy Ride And A Woodland Sprite
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Point taken, I'll shut up.
Pffffffftttttt.
But......I can't imagine a 6'4" pixie.
When the rain stops I'll go woodland crazy and let you know. Do I have to take all me clothes off. Not a pretty sight. Do you want pictures?
01/10/2025 09:07:27 UTC
An Easy Ride And A Woodland Sprite
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I'm not sure if the legal definition of a pixie includes a specification of height. I know she's tall enough to give your ankles a good bashing if you're rude to her!
It was good to take our time and take it easy. At the other end of the spectrum my high mileage friend Andy is in Spain and I'm hoping to bring his latest rambling to this here website. My ass hurts just reading his Facebook posts.
01/10/2025 07:43:45 UTC
An Easy Ride And A Woodland Sprite
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Is she tall enough to be classified as a pixie? Just sayin.
Short days, kickin ya heels, twiddlin ya wot sits. Glad it turned out well, in my experience they rarely do.
Upt.
29/09/2025 16:28:31 UTC
The Last Days And Words On The Polish Adventure
nab301 said :-
Another story? looking forward already.
Nigel
27/09/2025 11:55:46 UTC
The Last Days And Words On The Polish Adventure
Bogger said :-
Another story will be on its way shortly. 343 miles, pah, thats easy peasy.
Bogger
26/09/2025 12:37:20 UTC
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Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, short 35 mile run yesterday morning and it worked very well. Started with the device rotated about 90 degrees then backed off after a few miles giveing a good idle but I still have to sort out the slow running mixture. I'm very pleased so far. The bike is performing well and another run without calling on the helpful chaps from Britannia!
07/10/2025 10:00:11 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Did you get to test it Ian?
07/10/2025 09:29:03 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes that's right Ren. I'll be testing it in real life later today hopefully. As far as EFI systems are concerned, they use the idle air control valve to maintain idle speed. As its name implies, this allows more or less air into the engine at idle speed by monitoring the actual RPM and opening or closing accordingly. The electronics then regulate the amount of fuel supplied - and of course ignition advance - by monitoring ambient temperature etc etc. But of course you know this. I think you're like the helpful detective sidekick (Dr Watson, Lewis etc) who asks questions they know the answer to so that the audience is given insight into various arcane subjects.
06/10/2025 09:54:28 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
It is then "set" in the warm idle position when the pointer touches the carb body - giving you a solid reference point. For the cold start you will rotate it as you see fit depending upon the temperature etc.
I was rather teasing you about automating it Ian. I too recall the "auto choke" systems on cars of the past. Various bimetallic strips, levers, coolant pipes, and fudges that never would work. It has been my experience if you have 2 engines of the same make, model, year, and mileage one will need choke even if it was just run 10 minutes ago whereas the other will never need choke even in the depths of an artic winter.
Lord only knows how the electronic FI systems cope with this variability.
06/10/2025 08:06:56 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Thanks Glyn, not that innovative as based on a pre-war Amal item! I assume your carbs are CV type - usually they have a separate cold start mini carb arrangement that both enriches the mixture and raises the idle speed a bit. I agree my solution would be a bit fiddly for you....
05/10/2025 10:30:18 UTC
Glyn said :-
Nice innovative design that Ian. Strangely, I have a similar issue on the Intruder. That is; perfect tick over when hot but it’s only too happy to die when cold. My issues will be different to your though as I have twin carbs which are probably out of sync causing the problem. I’ve bought new rear shocks as the old ones don’t seem to have any damping and the bike jumps up and down on the springs. However, most of my time is being spent repairing a friend’s fairing off his TZR. I must be mad it’s so time consuming!!
04/10/2025 20:44:01 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Possibly I haven't made myself quite clear. Not for the first time. There is an enrichment device which is a simple air slide which runs inside the main throttle slide. This does confuse many people as it operates when the handlebar lever is closed. This gives the rivh mixture - assisted on some bikes (not the Electra) by, as Upt' suggests, a tickle. It is crude however as once it os slightly opened it only works at larger throttle openings and does nothing at idle.
But when the engine is cold the rich mixture on its own is not enough to run the engine fast enough to stop it dying. Hence my device. Essentially it allows me to set the idle speed when the engine is hot, with the pointer / stop touching the carb body to the left and the screw at its most extended position hence the throttle slide at its lowest. The whole arrangement is rotated clockwise thus slightly raising the slide for a cold start - the exact amount to be determined by experience / ambient temperature. The device does work as hoped but haven't yet road tested it.
And why would I want to complicate it with electronics or even a cable control? It's only used once per run after all. I once had an Austin Maestro that had a bimetallic choke and it was a nightmare. Hot or cold was fine but warm you had to get out and jiggle the SU's damper rod to get it to go. Actually, SUs also had a little cam arrangement which when the choke was pulled out - which lowered the jet - a little cam also opened the throttle butterfly a small amount. Like my device essentially.
03/10/2025 15:19:01 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Help me out here Ian. Am I correct in thinking what you've created is a throttle stop screw with a pointer? The idea being with experience you learn to start the bike put the pointer to position X then when it's warmed up turn it to position Y. Position X And Y are learned from experience. If it works - it works!
Now - a man with a lathe and your skills should be able to engineer some kind of automation for this surely. I'm thinking bimetallic strip attached to the engine such that as the engine warms the bimetallic strip curls or uncurls, automatically adjusting the throttle stop. At the absolute minimum a remote operation lever...
03/10/2025 14:41:53 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ian, looks a job well done.
But.....there's always a but.....why didn't British carburetor manufacturers think it might be a good idea to fit a choke for our inclement climate.
Do we just like a tickle?
Upt.
03/10/2025 10:53:56 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I thought you folk might appreciate this. Modern carburation / injection systems generally have some sort of mechanism to slightly raise the tickover speed when the engine is cold. Simple slide carbs like the Amal fitted to my Norton don't, so you either set tickover to be correct when it's hot which means it tends to die until it's warmed up, or correct when cold in which case it races when it's hot.
Some pre- and just post-war Nortons and Velos had what they called an easy start device. This was very simple and was merely an extended throttle stop screw with a stop which abutted the carb body. You rotated it clockwise, hence lifting the slide, to increase idle speed when cold then back to the stop when warm, obviously setting the stop accordingly.
So I thought why not make something similar for the fake Amal on the little Norton. It was simple to find a spare throttle stop screw in the Amal pile, bore the outer end 3mm diameter then make a stepped component out of a bit of scrap phosphor bronze. A Schrader / Presto cycle valve adaptor provided a nice knurled knob for the outer end. A pointer was made from 1.2mm alloy and secured to the adaptor with a valve securing nut. All was then soft soldered together. I have to eport that it works very well although for various reasons haven't taken the bike on the road with it yet. The picture shows the Mk 1.0 version - version 1.1 has the pointer / stop made out of thicker material to be more robust. If I were to bother with V1.2 I'd make the whole lot a bit longer as it's almost colliding with the float chamber edge.
02/10/2025 16:51:03 UTC
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Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Expensive you say? Well that'll explain why ROD is there, he's posh with his big Beemer.
08/10/2025 19:10:20 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
No need to worry ya'self Ed, the Dordoggnee is all posh and expensive.....you wouldn't like it.
I'm sorry for using the word "expensive". I seem to remember other than lunch we just rode though it, maybe to the Lot region (?), dunno it was a long while ago.
08/10/2025 17:09:38 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I couldn't work out how a French person would use the colloquial "Ay up". I'm sure the French will have their own peculiar phrases, I don't know enough French folk to ask.
08/10/2025 16:55:36 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Or in Derbyshire proper, "ay up me duck".
08/10/2025 15:10:56 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
A bit like Derbyshire Upt? Does that mean when you go into a shop they always say "Bonjour mon Canard"(ie Hello my duck)?
08/10/2025 13:19:56 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
The Pan in the Dordogne Ed. It looks a bit like Derbyshire?
07/10/2025 12:58:16 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Just past the pic are some stone age caves in the cliff face which are interesting but not as much as Lascaux - to my eyes anyway.
07/10/2025 12:29:21 UTC
Henrik said :-
Nice Rod ,.. the houses looks like growing out of the cliff ??
Very charming
07/10/2025 10:33:53 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The Dordogne is indeed lovely but some places are rather spoilt by the number of Brit expats..... Lascaux 2 - a replica of the original Lascaux caves which are now closed to the public as the wall art was deteriorating - is astounding. The local cuisine is heavy on the foie de gras which I like although its production is questionable. Great D roads as in most of France.
07/10/2025 10:03:54 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
You lucky boy ROD!
I'd like to know more about the Dordogne (Door-dog-knee(Door-doy-een)) region. Google maps suggests it's very green, spacious and a little hilly? Is it quiet, good roads, good riding, nice towns? I'm sure Monsieur Soady will be able to advise me as well.
07/10/2025 09:28:28 UTC
Random Link - Replacing The Chain And Sprockets Fazer 600 - By Ren WIthnell