Great Bank Holiday weekend...

Just had a great long weekend (Sat-Mon) which actually included some good weather for a change! Friday night I bought a new petrol mower (the old one had been given to me as non-working, been using it for at least two years!) and a petrol strimmer, from Homebase. Dan and I built them both up when we got home, and tried them out. The mower is a bit flimsy, the strimmer works well.

Plan was to bash away at the allotment on Saturday, to knock down the tall grass and weeds with the strimmer, mow the grass, and to keep on recovering the sides. We also did some sitting in chairs and eating in the sun! Because Sunday was supposedly the "best" day we went to Mudiford (me, Julie, Margaret snr, dan and his mate Ross, all jammed in the Focus), and sat on the beach. Unfortunately it was quite chilly, with a cold breeze. Would have been better off staying inland

Monday it rained at first then got a lot warmer, we did a bit more allotment digging, and then, in the afternoon, Julie and I went to two garden that were open for charity in Boscombe, on the way to Salisbury. First one was nice, second one even better! Julie bought some plants and we came home, had tea, and I took Dan to Army Cadet's by motorbike.
Today (Tuesday) it rained heavily at first (so I came to work by car) but now it's OK but windy.

That's all folks!

Well the RE has gone......

Took the Enfield out for a last run last night, it was lovely and sunny and, once it started, it ran well. Went round my "loop" out to Thruxton, round to Appleshaw, and, instead of coming back, I ended up extending the ride out to Chutes as well. Bit worried at one point that if I stopped it would not start again and I would be stuck out in the countryside, with Julie at gym in Amesbury and Dan at Army Cadets in Andover!

Brought the bike back, took some last pic's, got the Yamaha out, and went to get Dan! When I arrived another parent came over and told me all about his biking experience with his big Honda something, and how he had been knocked off and taken to hospital with two broken rib's. Nice.


So this morning Kevin came and took the Enfield away, for the sum of 731.00 pounds. Since it cost 600.00 and I had added 100.00 pounds of rack and crashbars, and probably another 50 pounds worth of bit's, that's not a bad result. Bet I don't get the same result on the Yamaha!

After he took it I got the Yamaha out and came in to work. Just been chatting to Doug about it and he was telling me about fuel problems with his Triumph.

Meanwhile life goes on.....

RE Sold to highest bidder.....

Well I have sold the RE on Ebay, after nearly exactly a years worth of ownership. It is going to a nice guy in Swindon, who has has Bullet's before, bought a Honda, and now wants to go back to the Bullet. Plan is to collect it Thursday morning at 8am. Fingers crossed it will all go well.

I am sure I will miss it, it has been a love/hate relationship, with more tinkering and polishing than riding. Killer is the my local RE owners club are now becoming active and going out on rides every month, and they have published a list of events to attend. And now I don't have a RE, or even any classic bike, unless you include my black beast of a Yamaha as a classic!

>
Lot's of lovely Tenere photo's on Ebay and the internet in general, so lot's of ideas bubbling around to spend money on mine! Options include:

All new plastics, thru Ebay, would be expensive
Repaint what I have
Leave it as it is!

It really needs lowering (50.00 pounds) and the rear brake is nearly on all the time. Also concerned that the rear tyre is near the end of it's life. Bought a really clean Haynes manual on Ebay for it, which will be useful, I am sure.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Back from Sweden...

Last week (Wed-Fri) I went to a Broadcast exhibition in Sweden, just outside Stockholm, to support our dealer, JMG. It was quite a nice visit, exhibition was quiet from our point of view, they all are at the moment. Had a nice meal out with JMG on Thursday night at "Sjopaviljongen", an old looking building built out over the sea which turned out to be only 15 years old!

Trip home was naff, BA had a plane problem and sent a smaller plane to Stockholm, so me and several other passengers were sent off via Olso (Norway) to get a different BA plane home. Got home about three hours late, did not get up in time to do radio, and spent the rest of the weekend tinkering with the Enfield.

Talking of which, it is on Ebay right now, bid up to 410.00 pounds, with a day and a bit to go. Hope it goes up and over the minimum I want for it. Won't tell you how much in case you are reading this blog and bidding on the bike!

Sunday went out on both the Enfield and the Yamaha. I reckon the Yamaha's rear brake is dragging, it was hot to the touch after my ride, and it is very hard to push around. I know that it is big and heavy, but I can hardly move it! Bought a Haynes manual on Ebay, probably need a caliper refurb kit next. Hopefully the RE will sell and I can put the money back into the savings!

The BMW pictured is very similar to the one that I just saw a lad riding around town. On the way back to work he was coming towards me, and he turned right on the mini-roundabout without indicating. I had stopped, but he gave me a V sign anyway. What an idiot. Hope he survives and doesn't wreck the bike!

My next blog should be celebrating the sale of the Enfield, fingers crossed!

Enfield passes MOT!

Well I took the Enfield in to work on Friday, and it passed it's MOT! It was kinda strange. the tester pushed it into his garage, I waited in reception, and half an hour later it was done. I did not hear it start, receptionist said it was probably too noisy in the garage to hear, but I am sure I would have done. Who cares, I now have over a years MOT to sell it with.

Apart from the usual starting problems I quite enjoyed the ride home that night. Bike is now on Ebay, and somebody has bid 100.00 pounds, with eight other watchers! Somehow I managed to list it as a 1993 Royal Enfield Maroon, missing off the 500 Bullet bit, but I cannot change it now. With a 10 day listing I shall just have to hope I make some money, to put back into our savings!

Took the Yamaha over to Tidworth to a small Summer Fair Baz was doing with the RRRR. Got there just in time to give him half an hour to get a few interviews and a photo or two, helped pack up and then put the trailer away. We (Dan and I) will be doing B&Z on Tuesday. On the way back I rode around for a few minutes then decided to "green lane" the Yamaha. Wrong decision! Within minutes I had got stuck in a rut in the grass and took a low speed tumble into a barbed wired fence!



Luckily I was wearing my proper bike jacket (which I don't think I damaged) but I was only wearing jogging trousers and heavy trainer/boots. I hit the kill switch, and managed to get out from under the bike, tried to pull it up but it was too heavy, so I had to lift it instead, if you know what I mean. I had bent the footbrake lever and scratched the guard a bit, but it started OK. Problem was, I could not turn it in the lane (too rutted), so I had to carry on!

I got through OK, and ended up coming out on Crawlboy's Lane. Lesson learnt I hope, DON'T TAKE THE YAMAHA OFF ROAD! I love the way that it pulls through the gears on the road, but it is far too heavy and tall for an off-roader. My opposite neighbour has suggested we go out on Salisbury Plain together, he has a Kawasaki KLE500 (I think), if we do it will be on roads and tracks, no rutted green lanes! When I got home I tidied the garage a bit and put both bikes away.



May get to work/tinker on the bike(s) today, but yesterday I started sorting out the edge of the allotment, which needs completing, and there is a lot of stuff to dump, so may have to get the trailer out. Monday plan to take the home PC in (by car, obviously!) to get what we can off it before it is wiped and start again, Monday night Dan wants to try Army Air Cadets, Tuesday is B&Z, Wednesday I am off to Sweden to a trade show in support of JMG, our dealer out there.

By for now.....

Catching up continued...

So when I came round I was lying on the grass in the food tent, with people going round me to get their free food. One of the Wiltshire Wildlife guy's was telling me not to panic, and they covered me up (I was shivering) and then the St John's arrived. After a while they got me up into a wheelchair with a blanket, and took me over to the ambulance for a checkup.

Meanwhile Dan had 'phoned Julie, who was at home, and told her I had passed out. Apparently she dropped everything and drove up to collect me. Once the St Johns had checked me out, I was allowed to be driven home, leaving the Focus in the Stonehenge car park.

When I got home I started to shiver uncontrollably, so it was straight to bed. That night was spent shivering and sweating, and I missed Tashies 21st party at the Crown, which I regret. Dan and Julie went, getting home about 1.30am. Dan had a couple of pints of beer, so I am told, and there was lot's of fun with fake willy's!

Next day (Bank Holiday Monday) I woke up OK, with stiff leg's and BIG blisters. I think the boots that I wore (same one's as two years go, when I did the Sarsen Trail with Lin Beer) had worn down, so I could feel all the stones and gravel through them. Also, I had done very little practice walking, so my feet were softer. Did I mention that Dan and I had made a pact not to do the walk again!

Monday passed with a bit of car washing and stuff. Should I mention now that I bought a new/old bike last week as well! Rewind to last Wednesday, 29th April, early in the morning. I had been looking at what they now call "Adventure bikes" for a while, having rode the BMW GS at NEC last year. Of course I could not afford a GS, but I had seen a few Yamaha Tenere's on EBAY, one white one in Wales, and one black one that happened to be in Southampton, not too far away.

So that Thursday morning, as the bidding increased and the listing ended, I found myself winning a 1991 Yamaha Super Tenere, 19K on the clock, painted all black. My heart was pounding, I felt sick, what had I done! During the rest of the week I emailed back and forth with Chris, the Yamaha's owner, and went raiding the piggy bank to get the 999.00 pounds I needed. Saturday we (Dan, Julie and I) set off to Southampton to get the bike, via the new Ikea, to get a mattress for Tash (that's another story on it's own, if you are thinking of going to Ikea Southampton, leave at least a couple of hours to get round it!).




By the end of the day I was both nervous and excited. We wandered over to Shirley, to collect the bike, and ended up parked in a dead end listing to an Asian birthday disco watching the local Asian kid's play football. When it was 6.15, we move the card to outside the bike owners house, and sorted out my bike gear, which was by now under the mattress!

Minutes later the bike roared up and I wondered for a minute what I had done! I new it had a side panel missing from the Ebay description, but the whole bike was painted black, over the original graphics, and the engine sprayed silver. But it sounded good. Chris was a nice bloke (a tattooist, of all trades!), and we exchanged paperwork and money, and I sat on the bike, which is huge/tall/heavy. My feet just reach the ground.

Mileage was about 19,660 odd, as I set off home to Ludgershall. Julie drove off one way, and I went up the road, ended up going via Romsey and Stockbridge. Apart from the sheer size and weight of the bike, the brake and gear pedals are swooped (the Enfield's gears on the right, brake on the left, and Yamaha the other way round). Also, the gears are one down four up on the Yamaha, and one up three down on the Enfield. I was able to potter along behind traffic for a while, eventually I stopped to let them go and took a rest.


Continuing on I eventually arrived home on one piece, just about in time to have a house full of Tashies friends getting ready for her Bournemouth trip. You know all about that bit of the weekend. So the bike was tucked away and did not come out again until Monday afternoon, when I went round my "Enfield" loop, just for a ride. It feels really good once it is going, quite smooth and fast!

Tuesday night was the REOC meet, and they were planning a ride-out. I was undecided which bike to take, until Julie suggested I tale Dan on the back of the Yamaha. So off we went to a class motorbike meet on a monstrous looking all black Yamaha big trail bike! Once we had had a chat we set off on our "ride-out", initially I was about 3/4 qtrs of the way back, behind a lovely Honda 500. Later after a stop at a junction I became "tail-end charlie". We seemed to go on forever in the Wiltshire countryside, over some really nice but narrow roads, pottering along at 40 ish MPH, which was a bit slow for the Yamaha, with Dan hanging on for dear life!

We got back after a hour's riding, my first "ride-out" completed, not sure if I would have made it round on the Enfield. we had a quick meet then retired to the bar for an OJ and crisps. Later, on the way home in the dark, we found that the headlights are crap on the Yamaha, and I had to ride home without my glasses, which has broke! Got home OK though. Used the bike for work Wednesday, picked Dan up from scouts on it Wednesday night, brought car in Thursday, and today bought the Enfield in, for it's MOT.

So come back soon to find out if it passes!

Playing catch-up yet again!

I seem to be forever playing catchup with this Blog, I want to do it, but time is really short at the moment. So I am going to write some bullet (pun not intended!) points before I forget!

Last time I wrote about Wyke Down and B&Z, well that Friday (17th April) we (boss Barry and I) flew off to Las Vegas to man the stand at NAB show 2009. This show is huge, or should I say was, it shrunk a bit this year with less visitors and exhibitors. It made the show quite relaxed, and we generally enjoyed ourselves, having an easy build-up and break-down, and staying at the Hilton, which was just next door. We did have a problem getting to Gatwick when the taxi broke down, in the rain on the M25, once the idiot taxi driver called us another taxi we got there OK, and all the other passengers had already checked in! It was deserted!



Moving on I got back in the early afternoon on Saturday 25th April and the rest of that weekend is a bit of a blur! Monday I took the Focus in for MOT, and it only went and passed, with a record two and a bit pages warnings, mostly to do with rust! So I decided to tax it again for a year and just keep using it.

Later that week (Friday 1st) we went to The Hungry Horse (Magic Roundabout) pub in Andover for a family meal for Tashies 21st, and it was OK. Her friend Cath had come from Norwich for the weekend, and on Saturday she went out to Bournemouth with her mates in a streched limo. She got it at 5am, just as I got up to go and do the 26 mile Sarsen trail!



Yes, Dan and I rather foolishly (it turns out) decided to walk the Sarsen Trail in aid of Wiltshire Wildlife. We started at Avebury, at 7.20am (after getting a coach from Stonehenge at 6.30am) and walked until about 11am, when we got to "halfway" on top of Redhorn Hill. We had lunch, and set off again. That was the easy bit! Problem is, Redhorn is not really half way, and when Dan started to see the 15 miles to go sign's etc, he got a bit down, and dragged his feet and wanted to stop all the time.



We had to keep going, the wind got up in our faces, and the going was hard on gravel and chalk military roads. We made it to the last stop at Bustard, had a break, and pushed on the last couple of miles until we finally got to the end. It was a slog, my feet got blistered, my legs hurt like hell, but we made it in 9 and a half hour's. Then I had a drink, took the photo of us and our medal's, went to get some food and fainted!

To Be Continued.....