Welcome To Bikes And Travels...
...It's about bikes...and travels...mostly on bikes!
Spring appears to have arrived, so we can now look forward to warmer rain and more daylight in which we can enjoy the rain. Heck, we might even enjoy a summer one day this year!
What's New?
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Happenstance and circumstance is the driving force behind this trip's direction. Ren explains it all.
Monuments, Masonry, Forests And Fascination
Title page for Sharon and Ren's first exploratory adventure in quite some time.
Build Quality Frustrations
Entropy is a terrible thing if you like your motorcycle looking just like new. Ren looks at Keeway's and Kawasaki's limited efforts to keep the rust mites at bay.
Even More Tyre Trouble
Does Ren have a special superpower? How can one motorcyclist have so many issues with simple rubber rings? Maybe he's just cursed. Or he's an idiot. He's an idiot isn't he.
Sharon's Hand Guards
Form or function - it seems Sharon's priorities are shifting with the sands of time. Kindness allows her to find out one way or another and at minimum expense.
Ren With A Sat-Nav?
It appears Ren has taken a turn towards the dark side. Is this the end of a narky grumpy buffoon being permanently lost? Probably not.
Up Too Early
Montgomery has a lovely sunrise that Ren would rather not have seen, oh well.
A Long Ride In The Sun
In yet another twist of fate Madame Moisture and that grumpy git are enjoying themselves, again! Montgomery is chosen destination.
Montgomery? How Splendid.
Title page for a very brief trip to the small town of Montgomery.
The CBF125 at 95,000 Miles
(Yet) Another update on the long, painful, drawn out, tortuous demise of the long suffering CBF125. And yet, in spite of the cruelty he shows the machine he still has a soft spot for it.
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Latest Posts
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Having experienced a Ren visit I concur. I had to move house to avoid the possibility of a repeat.
18/05/2022 10:14:03 UTC
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
You've missed your change to meet "The Infamous Ren" Glyn, most people would consider this to be a fortuitous escape. If we had arrived I reckon by now you'd just be getting the oil stains out of the settee that I tend to leave everywhere I go. Your good lady still wouldn't be talking to you though.
18/05/2022 09:08:50 UTC
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Glyn said :-
As you're home and the event has passed, not a lot of point in me inviting you to join us for a cuppa down here on the Southern outpost.
18/05/2022 07:55:40 UTC
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ren the Ed and his able assistant/boss Sharon; I read Upt'North but obviously no, it was up north. I thought I was going to find you camped in the back field demanding tea and dunkers..
You be careful dowwwwwwn soufffffff.
They're a strange lot down there, too much money and not enough clothes. You can't trust folk who don't wear bob hats in July and indeed call bob hats beenies? Or is it Beanies?
I look forward to your future musings about your adventure and having visited the New Forest some years ago I can confirm it ain't all wood.
Upt'North.
17/05/2022 12:48:13 UTC
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Ian you are a fountain of knowledge. Essentially the word forest was the Lord's land of any description to go hunting, presumably complete with gamekeepers trying to keep the poachers and peasants out.
17/05/2022 12:45:32 UTC
Monuments, Masonry, Forests And Fascination
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
In a cheesy TV style - "You'll have to wait for the next exciting episode to find out!"
17/05/2022 12:42:17 UTC
Monuments, Masonry, Forests And Fascination
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Where's the pic then?
17/05/2022 11:06:13 UTC
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The term "forest" was originally used to describe an area of land set aside for the great(?) and the good(??) to enjoy themselves - the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable. Such areas were not necessarily actually covered with woodland but would be a mixture of woods, scrub and open areas - like much of the New Forest is now. The term only became used for solely wooded areas more recently (than 1066 anyway).
17/05/2022 11:05:29 UTC
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I suppose it's confusing but I write these reports "retrospectively"! I'm already back home and the deed is done. Thanks for the tips though good folks.
Snod - Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh... I see. It all makes sense now.
17/05/2022 09:43:19 UTC
Prologue - It's Not Up North
Snod said :-
Ah you was thinking of Old Forest, this is New Forest. Different kettle of wotsit innit.
16/05/2022 21:10:54 UTC
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Upt'North ¹ said :-
The levers Ian.
The bars are standard Ian but on risers, the jury's still out on the risers.
Upt'North.
18/05/2022 13:30:35 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Is it the bars or the levers you've changed Upt'? I'm currently having a little tussle with the baby Honda. The front brake felt very wooden and I noted the master cylinder was 5/8" diameter (kindly embossed on the casting). I had success with a smaller diameter one on the Guzzi so thought I'd do the same here. Found a 1/2" diameter (why on earth not metric dimensions?) from a CB500R and fitted it only to find huge lever travel. What I hadn't twigged was that as well as different bores the pivot distances were different as well - 25mm for the original, 20mm for the replacement. So adding a further 25% to mechanical advantage / travel. The lever doesn't quite come back to the bar but I haven't dared try it in real life so far.
Had a jolly jaunt out on the Norton yesterday but it was spoiled by horrendous traffic and roadworks everywhere so only stayed out for an hour or so.
18/05/2022 10:19:59 UTC
Borsuk said :-
The yokes are aluminium, use a big enough hex key and they will snap due to the leverage I think.
A new yoke from MotoGB was £80. You can get cheaper on the internet but I wanted the oem part and they are the importer. Cheap addons I will do but not when they are part of an essential system.
I am not an engineer, I am one of the guys who tells the engineers to start the engines. Saying that though a lot of my departments equipment requires large flogging spanners and lump hammers to be used when fixing things. The engineers don’t consider us technically minded enough to be allowed torque wrenches so we just pound bit’s of metal till they fit.
18/05/2022 06:31:35 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Took these off The B. Put the standards on which came with the bike.
They just felt wrong. Plus they'd been fitted by an idiot. No not you Ed.
Upt'North.
17/05/2022 16:54:08 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Yes likewise Borsuk, how many Weetabix did you have.
Obviously don't pick an argument with Borsuk the Gorilla.
Upt'North.
17/05/2022 16:52:20 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Borsuk - it would worry me a bit of the yoke broke before the bolt stripped. Mind you, if I remember correctly your day job is on massive marine diesels.....
17/05/2022 12:15:18 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Sharon's 125 is a tad on the small size even for me as an ordinarily sized bloke. For Upt' I think he'd look like he's stolen a child's bicycle.
Borsuk - how much was a new yoke? For my Honda you'd probably be looking at several hundred quid.
16/05/2022 09:16:23 UTC
Borsuk said :-
Fitted a new top yoke to the interceptor yesterday. I snapped one side overtightening after I dropped the front a cm a while back. Was easier than I thought it would be. Hardest part was getting the screws for the ignition assembly back in. Then went out on a test run with No 1 stepson today. Nice little route around Snowdonia. Of course my tracking app crashed soon into it so no record so I can do it again myself some day.
15/05/2022 18:41:12 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Just think how much you would save in petrol costs. Ohh wait a minute!
Just think how much it would cost in oil consumption.
Maybe you would be better asking Sharon if she would sell her 125.
15/05/2022 14:25:04 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I wonder if Ed would sell me his.
Upt'North.
15/05/2022 12:36:23 UTC
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