Welcome To Bikes And Travels...
...It's about bikes... and travels... mostly on bikes!
What's New?
Perfect Weather And Parking Problems
The weather is wonderful, the scenery is great, the bikes are behaving. Fear not Ren will always find something to moan about and a reason to be narky.
Smiling In The Rain
It's a soggy wet day through France for Andy, but that won't dampen his spirits. He stumbles upon 2CVs and climbing walls, straight roads and twisties.
A Day Out From Marlborough
Another easy rest day for the not so dynamic muppets. Sharon's happy with trees, Ren's happily mansplaining locks, and there's Curry for tea. What's not to like?
A long Ride to Gien
Big miles already on Andy's first day on the road. He's just getting settled into the ride and making his way south through France.
To The Southern Tip Of Europe
Title page for Andy Gray's Facebook posts following his trip across France and Spain - and back.
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?
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Perfect Weather And Parking Problems
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I won't keep you in suspense any longer ROD - either we both were tired enough to sleep through any antics from the DoE yooofs or they didn't get up to any antics. Yes it's a lovely area. We hadn't fully realised quite how lovely.
We might well have visited Blobby's Field Bogger - alas I know not the precise location therefore I can neither confirm or deny our success of failure in visiting said field.
THE gas man Upt'? Is there only one gas man in the whole of Northumbria? I wouldn't be surprised, I believe they only got gas there a couple of years since. No wait... perhaps there is no gas there and you're waiting for THE Calor gas man (other bottled gas brands are available) to deliver a bottle to keep 'Er Indoors warm this winter? Maybe you mean gas as in petrol like the yanks call it gas? Oh I dunno, the suspense is too much!
23/10/2025 15:07:43 UTC
Perfect Weather And Parking Problems
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I don't truly care how any unpronounceable name is pronounced. I've reached an age where I read it and say it like it's written. I am a wascally rebel. I know.
23/10/2025 11:37:09 UTC
Perfect Weather And Parking Problems
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Modern life....arrrgggghhhhhh.
Kids......arggghhhhh.
Parking......arrrrgggghhhh.
You may be pleased to know your pain has eased mine. Thank you.
You're lovely campsite and perfect weather.......pffffffftttttt.
Upt and waiting for THE gas man!
23/10/2025 11:39:15 UTC
Perfect Weather And Parking Problems
Bogger said :-
Elan Valley? Rhayader?
Did you visit Blobbys field. It's at Rhayader you know.
Bogger
23/10/2025 11:15:59 UTC
Perfect Weather And Parking Problems
ROD¹ said :-
The Elan valley is lovely, and last time I was there the traffic was very light.
I await your camping experience next to Duke of Edinburgh award scheme youths.
I camped near them once in Wales and they were very quiet. I settled down to sleep at around 21:30 and was awake again at 23:30 with loud thumping music sounding out around the campsite.
The reason they were so quiet earlier was because they were not in their tents!!!
23/10/2025 10:28:40 UTC
Smiling In The Rain
Bros Steve said :-
Pity about the rain but great photos. I have been to Cahors a few times and have friends who live about 20 minutes north of there. Some great roads, as indeed there are throughout France.
20/10/2025 09:09:26 UTC
Smiling In The Rain
nab301 said :-
Interesting trip , as for 2cv's , Back in the day the Local race track (Mondello park ) used to host a 24hr race for said cars , I wish I'd bought one when they were cheap , I'd decommission my 1100S Bmw and transfer the engine into one...
Nigel
19/10/2025 16:28:20 UTC
Smiling In The Rain
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I like the 1:1000000 IGN (similar to UK Ordnance Survey) maps for France. They don't overwhelm you with detail but you can easily see 50 - 100 miles on a folded sheet in the tank top map window, and all the nice D and N roads are shown. Their larger scale maps are good for local exploring.
The last time I used satnav in Italy was in a hired car near Sorrento, trying to find a B&B. It took us up a rapidly narrowing dirt track which then petered out in a forest with a sheer drop on one side. And it was raining and getting dark. More by luck than good judgment I managed to reverse back down far enough to turn round. I must admit though that copilot, the one I use for the car, is generally good and accurate.
18/10/2025 15:45:10 UTC
Smiling In The Rain
Upt'North ¹ said :-
KJ, I know I'm a dinosaur.....but.....
I do like a good map. There's no modern equivalent in my humble opinion. Sat Nav is a wonderful thing but you never really embrace where you are going until you get there. I've just used a Ford Sat Nav in Italy and Google maps for the out of the way destinations but I still had my equally old Italy map with me. Used it too.
18/10/2025 13:08:35 UTC
Smiling In The Rain
kiwiJeff said :-
Loving the travel story Andy. Following it on my 1981 AA Travel map which is what we used to find our way around Europe in 1981 before GPS! Roads still have same names which helps.Your first day at 400 miles is epic I can manage 200 Mile days but need a couple of days off afterwards. That lovely BMW obviously helps with the big mile days. Regards Jeff
18/10/2025 10:47:09 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 :-
Wassup wid it Upt'? I can pop over and drop off a box of matches if you and the missus need a wash?
24/10/2025 06:10:57 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Still not right, pffffffftttttt.
23/10/2025 17:23:57 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
You have a boiler!?!?! LUXURY!!!
When I wur a lad we used to have a box of matches and a tin cup. There were 27 of us all huddled round the match as we lit one, just one mind, to heat the water in the cup so we could all have a wash. Kids these days, don't know they're born.
23/10/2025 15:11:02 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Had a new burner, seals, leads and condensate trap in the boiler today.
Pffffffftttttt.
23/10/2025 13:32:36 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Had a new heat exchanger in the boiler today.
Pffffffftttttt.
22/10/2025 16:32:00 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Jeff. It was probably the weight of the pie and gravy brain fog. It happens.
I'm no stranger to gravel and riding off road but I wouldn't dream of doing it on a road bike.
You're a brave/foolish pie filled upside down fella.
I've got an urge to make a pie!
Upt.
17/10/2025 11:23:52 UTC
said :-
You need sidecar outfit Jeff! My Steib should be arriving next week - can't wait.....
17/10/2025 09:40:05 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Good heavens KiwiJeff! Have you considered stabilisers. It's one thing to mess up on gravel on the Bandit, we all make mistakes, but forgetting to put your feet down "due to covid"? Anyhoo, hope the Mrs recovers well from whatever the quacks are doing to her.
17/10/2025 08:03:10 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
And just to prove I didn't get the picture off the interwebby thing here is a picture looking the other way with me rocking my wife's colorful helmet. I need to wear her's a bit as it's tight on her head and she is making noises about getting back on the back of the Bandit after the next op has healed up.
17/10/2025 00:22:19 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
Not the Dordogne in the below picture but still quite pretty for a sheep farming area. The gravel roads have finally dried out enough for me so got the Inazuma out for a slide around. I need the practice after parking the Bandit in a wet roadside ditch leaving one of favorite country cafes last week! In mitigation, the carpark gravel was deep marbles, the gravel access road had a highish camber, I approached the exit road at a 45 degree angle from the carpark so had to turn to straighten up, but lack of attention was probably the main problem because I complaining to my mate on the intercom that the steak and mushroom pie had gone up in price by a pound since my last visit 3 months ago! Apparently all our beef is going to the USA to make burgers! Lying down under the Bandit laughing my head off as it was all so stupid I did remember to turn the bike off. Lifting the bike up was a drama as the grassy ditch was full of water. No damage just mud here and there on the bike and very muddy boots. The rest of the fairly quickly ridden 280 km ride was without drama so a good day. My last bike lie down was stopped outside a cafe 5 years ago when I forgot to put my foot down to hold the bike up, but I had had covid,it was a cold winters day and I'd been riding for 2 hours so maybe Covid is a legitimate excuse! Cafes they are a hazard!!
17/10/2025 00:12:55 UTC
Random Link - Prologue - The Middle West Of England