Tell us about your latest ride

[Marty_d]

Starting a new topic, similar to the "tell us about your last flight" on the sister site, but for motorbikes. (Or whatever else you've been riding. Just remember it's a family site 😜)

 

Had a lovely ride this morning, met @nomadpete and his better half for a coffee then down to Dover.

From there I took the Esperance Coast road (which I've never done before - but it was a beautiful riding road), which comes out at Surges Bay.

Beautiful day, no pesky cars in the way for most of it. Pure fun!

 

[willedoo]

My last ride wasn't very exciting at all. It was on a battered old postie bike down the driveway to pick up the mail from the letterbox. Uneventful trip down but broke down halfway back up and that's where it stayed for a few years. Haven't had a road registered bike for quite a few years now. Still remember my first ride (175cc BSA Bantam) and some of the more exciting ones. Some memories I cherish, some involving hospitals I'd rather forget.

[willedoo]

The two longest trips I ever went on were both two up with a mate on his Guzzi, sharing the riding. One was from Melbourne to Adelaide and back, around 1,500 klm, and the other was from the Sunshine Coast to Cairns and back, around 3,200 klm. There's a ton of bikes I could name that would make those trips a horror story two up, but the Guzzi was a great tourer with a nice long comfortable seat and quite low from top of seat height to the ground. I could imagine it as the sort of trip where a BMW would be good as well.

[nomadpete]

I'm keen to read the test ride report on a custom bush trike.....

[Marty_d]

When I was young and stupid (I'm no longer young) I rode from Hobart to Surfers Paradise on my Honda VFR750 for a holiday.

The viffer is a fantastic bike for throwing around corners, but it got a bit uncomfortable after 2500 km.

I did it in 3 days from memory. About 800km a day is enough on a bike, especially when you're cruising at 150 and still getting overtaken by semis.

[willedoo]

Marty, that's a big ride, a bit longer than the one we did from the Sunny Coast to Cairns. I think from memory, Brisbane to Melbourne is about the same as Brisbane to Cairns. We did that trip up in about three days as well. Slept the first night in some concrete pipes at a road construction job, second night in Townsville at a mate's place and when we got to Cairns we got talking to a bloke and his wife who both had Harleys and they invited us to camp at their place. I think it was in Rockhampton from memory, a bloke approached us in the street to have a look at the Guzzi and he invited us around to his place to check out his bikes. He had Black Shadow and Rapide Vincents and a Norton single, a long time ago so I can't remember if it was a Manx or International. Talk about envy, I would have chewed my arm off for that Black Shadow.

[Jerry_Atrick]

From the workshop --> home... Electrical gremlin fixed; sunny day, light breeze,  cooling weather (about 18)... traffic reasonable. Smile back on face. 

[facthunter]

 I can't see any Point in chewing your arm off and then be unable to ride ANY bike.. Have you ridden a Vincent? Nev

[nomadpete]

9 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

From the workshop --> home... Electrical gremlin fixed; sunny day, light breeze,  cooling weather (about 18)... traffic reasonable. Smile back on face. 

Never was a problem in the good ole days - bikes had a kick starter and a magneto to make the motor go and a carbide lamp up front to light the path.

 

Batteries? Bah!

[Litespeed]

4 hours ago, facthunter said:

 I can't see any Point in chewing your arm off and then be unable to ride ANY bike.. Have you ridden a Vincent? Nev

Agreed,

 

I'd chew the arm off the owner to get the Vincent would make better sense.

 

Then you can enjoy riding with two arms.

[facthunter]

They aren't such a nice bike to ride anyhow.. They have gone off their elevated value quite a bit lately.. Nev

[Marty_d]

8 hours ago, nomadpete said:

Never was a problem in the good ole days - bikes had a kick starter and a magneto to make the motor go and a carbide lamp up front to light the path.

 

Batteries? Bah!

Hmmmm. So your current bike has no battery and a carbide lamp?

[willedoo]

I've got two magnetos on the place, neither attached to bikes. One lives on an out of comission David Brown tractor, and the other one I'm not 100% sure, I think it's off an R-670 Continental.

[nomadpete]

3 hours ago, Marty_d said:

Hmmmm. So your current bike has no battery and a carbide lamp?

Not mine. But OME's might qualify

[facthunter]

It doesn't . Generator Elec horn Lights  stop Light and battery. Coil with Points ignition. Kick starter. Nev

[nomadpete]

5 hours ago, facthunter said:

It doesn't . Generator Elec horn Lights  stop Light and battery. Coil with Points ignition. Kick starter. Nev

Ok, older than a WLA.

OME knows I was only joking about his ride. No offense intended. I know he has broad shoulders.

Edited September 10 by nomadpete

[Jerry_Atrick]

My daughter moved into a house in Exeter yesterday with two others ahead of the start of the new academic year. I decided to use the bike to deliver some odds and sods and go for my first decent ride in a couple of months - after the best summer we have had for riding for ages. 

 

It was about an hour each way, country lanes and roads to the motorway and then through Exeter to her house. The ride on the motorway was relaxed, maintaining around 70mph. A few groups of bikes passed and we all waved to each other - excellent comradery amongst UK bikers. 

 

From the motorway, travelling to and through the main part of Exeter is a pain as it is single lane, busy and has buses. It is often little more than a traffic jam. But with the bike, filtering between the two oncoming lanes was a breeze. Cars move out of your way and when passing or facing oncoming wider vehicles (buses mainly), one just zips back in and everything is OK. Passed two police cars who waved as I went past. 

 

On the way back, the traffic was a little lighter and I was a little faster on the motorway. Weather was lovely - sunny, little wind, and about 18 degrees, although a little humid. 

 

I return the rental car today. And will go for a ride again after that.

 

Still smiling.

 

The dark blue was the route I took

 

Edited September 13 by Jerry_Atrick

[Marty_d]

3 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Passed two police cars who waved as I went past. 

 

"Waved", or "gesticulated for the offender to pull over"....

It's all in the perspective. 😜

[Marty_d]

My wife and I had a good ride yesterday. Weather was absolutely magnificent so we went to Richmond via the lovely bends of Grasstree Hill.

At one point, coming the other way were half a dozen bikes which I exchanged nods with (no waving in the twisty bits!) - but the last one in line was a police bike. We don't know if he'd pulled out and was about to book them, or if it was a training ride (although they didn't look like learners), or if it was just a bored cop who decided to have a bit of fun himself.

We had lunch at Pooleys vineyard, then went via Tea Tree and Brighton back to Hobart.

After a coffee with Kate's brother we headed home via Taroona, which is also a great road for bikes. 

Very enjoyable day.

[Marty_d]

Rode into Hobart this morning to check out the vintage motorbike show in Princes Wharf #1. ( @nomadpete- on til 4pm if you want to see it, $5 entry, free parking for bikes on the forecourt).

Heaps of lovely old bikes including a 1951 Vincent Black Lightning in original condition which apparently went for $1.3m at auction.

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

This week, I decided to stay in London two nights instead of one for my commute as I hadn't ridden in for a while and wanted to ease myself back into the commute:

 

This is my autumn/winter route as the shorter route is all A roads except for the last 50 or so ks and I don't like the idea of a much larger chance of bumping into wildlife. 

 

So, on Monday night at around 7:30pm I took off on that route and headed for a motoway services Travelodge in Heston, which is on the M4 a little close to London than Heathrow. It is probably closer to the vertical red line on the left than the red mark on the right, but somewhere between the two. I got there at around 10:30 from memory, but I was taking it easy. Up at 5 and on the bike at 5:30, was in the office by about 6-ish. London has 20mph limits everywhere except the A4 (which is a continuation of the M4) - at least until Earls Court (used to be the Antipodean capital of London), where everything turns 20. It is probably the most exceeded speed limit in the world, except where the speed cameras are. Even the buses usually do around 30 - at least at that time of the morning. 

 

On the Wednesday evening, I intended to leave the office at 5pm sharp, but as usual, something came up, and I didn't get out of it until about 9:00. I had to stop for fuel, so left it as late os possible as the bike only has about a 170 mile range for "normal" motorway riding. 

 

Filled it up with as much as it would take, and I was off. The traffic out of London, which pre-covid at that time of day would still be solid, was flowing nicely. I was on the A4 and M4 in very good time. Then it was the long slog to Bristol. But, I had to stop at a services just east of Swindon as the old bladder ain't what it used to be. Feeling a bit peckish, I had a chocolate bar as all the fast food outlets had closed, and the WH Smith food looked decidedly unappetising to me. Back on the bike, and a car overtook me at a great rate of knots, so I decided to follow it.. we were averaging 90 (except at speed cameras around Bristol). I figured he will light up any deer (although it was really too late in the night for them to be a problem) and he will brake if there are police on the side of the motorway. 

 

As it happened, he turned left at Bristol to join the M5 and head south. Excellent. In the M4 and M5 immediately around Bristol, there are speed cameras, so it was slower, but once outside them, the driver of the car sped up, so I followed. He turned off at Bridgwater which meant I only had one junction to go to Taunton where I turned off. I slowed down as the motorway side barriers, which generally seem to keep deer off the motorways are patchy at best.. although I am yet to see a dead animal on the side of a motorway like you see on A roads which don't have the barriers... I nipped in behing a car doing slightly less than 70mph, turned off at Taunton, and arrived at home at midnight on the dot. 

 

It was a great ride. I have to do a camera setup one day.