Milligan

Looking at the weather forecast I'm not surprised noone's interested, don't think I am now...me mothers cuppa will have to wait for another day!

Hate to start getting obsessive about organising rides or anything......but.......anyone going to Scarborough Easter Monday?

If its dry...when isn't it?...at least one bod...me...is off.

Following our lovely Sunday jaunt there may well be one or two from Howden joining in...strong chance of a cup of tea at me mothers...who obviously lives in Scarborough...

Drop us a line and see what happens?

Cheers,

Mark.

P.s. Top Rock/Blues band on April 10th at the Shire Hall in Howden (Sat) KING KING ....check out http://www.howden-live.com for all the details.

Cheers,

Mark.

Pics only on ride reports now? Cleverley forgot me camera so no go for that one.

Met up with two bods at 10.30 as arranged, no sign of a couple of others I knew were coming...popped round to their house and guess who forgot to put their clocks forward?

After much stopping and starting...fuel fill ups galore...finally got going, six bikes...well not strictly true...five bikes and a Lambretta...

Top Tip.....take a Lambretta on a ride out with you and save on fuel!!

Going over the top between Wetwang and Malton v.v.windy, back wind though so it did increase the Lambi's top speed by 10mph every now and then. Stitched the ride up to Goathland and Egton Bridge due to the late start and straight to Newton Upon Rawcliffe and the mucky duck, due sustinance and off across to Helmsley and back home the scenic route from there...Top day...first ride out with any real numbers...it was indeed a blast!

Aye....well.....despite all that malarky I've ended up with a pair of draggin' camo ones, black cargo's were a smidgin skinny and I gave up on imagining I was, longer ago than I care to remember.

Got 'em from Infinity in York and wouldn't have if I hadn't got enough points from their incard bonus system. I may have thought twice as the knee protectors were an extra fourteen quid, if you wanted hip protectors they had to go away and have special pockets sown in for £15 plus the cost, 'bout £14, of the hip protectors.

Wouldn't a complete package be more attractive?

But doesn't having a thead in a specific area invite a response? i.e. the original heading "Calling all Hull and East Yorkshireites (And beyond?)" ? Didn't cop for anything much and it was only an enquiry. 'Reet then' was more specific and nothing much back?

There might be all sorts of reasons why anyone didn't choose to respond given the short notice but shouldn't a forum like this be what it says on the label?

Any road up.....we still have an initial meet at the new Coop par cark in Howden at 10.30am today (Sunday March 28th) (9.30am really) and we are off up past Shiptonthorpe 'bout 11.25 and across the Wolds to North Yorks ending up at Goathland and then down to The Black Swan at Newton Upon Rawcliffe at whatever time we get there.

If anyone is around wherever, look out for a light green Tiger, a Lambretta and numerous other two wheeled thangs.

Cheers,

Mark.

Knack all response to the idea....try something practical....Subject to the weather we will be doing a rideout up to Newton Upon Rawcliffe on Sunday March 28th...It will start from Howden with all the ugly buggers who can be bothered to get out of bed at 10.40am and stopping at Shiptonthorpe 'bout 11am then a windy route via Warter, Wetwang, Malton, up to Goathland and then via the moors down to the Mucky Duck at Newton.

If noone on here is up for it then we probaly won't stop at Shiptonthorpe....but if there is....we will.

Please let me know if you are up for it. If you're not, come to Howden anyway, there's a mini festival all weekend featuring: KEEP IT CASH Friday, Claudio Kron & The Papa Jaca Band Saturday plus percussion workshop, dance workshop and Brazilian food Saturday and a Spike Theatre production of Top Of The World Sunday.

Please check out full details at http://www.howden-live.com

Cheers,

Mark.

Its interesting how many people I know where I live who ride a bike, had a look around the pub at teatime Friday and there were nine sets of wheels, not to mention a fair few others who were'nt in the pub!

With that in mind I'm pondering organising a ride sometime soon, the destination I have in mind is my mates pub (tea, coffee & soft drinks available, good grub too!) at Newton Upon Rawcliffe the other side of Pickering. Half an idea of a route incorporating a big chunk of the North Yorks moors, but I would like to get a good idea of what sort of numbers might be interested in said proposed jaunt.

An initial meet at Shiptonthorpe might be a good start, saw shedloads of bikes there the morning of Mothering Sunday on the way to Scarborough, and then....onwards!

Mooching through the whereabouts of bods on this forum there seems to quite a few Hull, Beverley, East Yorks based so I wonder if anyone reading this would be kind enough to express an interest if you were up for a ride? If it seems like a viable idea then I'll start having a good look at a route, likely day a Sunday as thats the only day they are open before teatime, mind you, if there were enough people interested it might be worth his while to open on a Saturday dinner, exclusive use and all that?

Look forward to hearing from whoever,

Cheers,

Mark.

Pondering kevlar cargo pants...Red Route in particular...the cordura ones I've got now do the job and have been brilliant in really wet, cold weather but now the thermometer has gone up a few degrees they are turning into a bit of a sweat suit...good way of losing weight mind!

The things I am looking at have good protection for the old kneeknobs but how effective is kevlar? They look great but is that too much of a trade off over safety in a spill?

Passed Mod 2 today with 5 minors, going too wide on a couple of left turns and one or two other bits and bobs. Chuffed!

When I set off down this road last November I hadn't intended to do my test and stuff so soon but I have now and lo....the advice I got off a few people has come to pass...mainly the buying of a nearly new 125 and not something older and cheaper...its still a pearler though!

If you can afford the direct access (If you're old enough) I really would reccommend going that way, my instructer pointed out, before I made my choice, that for £60 more you could go direct as opposed to doing it on a 125 and getting a 250 or spending anything between £100/£300 to have a restricter fitted on a bigger bike.

Again, finances permitting, get some training incorporated into the build up to Mod 1 & Mod 2, I found it invaluable.

Now...How does that song go?.....Get yer motor runnin'.....Head out on the highway.....

Passed the bugger!

Had to go around on the hazard avoidance again after getting clocked @ 49kph.

Through at 58 second time, 57 on the emergency stop.

If its any help, practice and practice some more getting your revs/brake application right for the slow stuff and open up the throttle in 2nd off the bend for the hazard and emerg bit, throttle off as you go through and you should hit the min 50k (+) no problem.

If there is the slightest possibility of having a practice on the actual test area prior to testing...take it!...If I'd been able to I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have ballsed it up the first time, despite a good dozen successful go's practising away from the test area. I was focused so much on getting around the curve at 20mph and coming out right as I hadn't done it before I went braindead for the hazard avoidance and missed it completely and didn't realise until I was told I'd failed. Mod 2 on Monday.

Good luck!

No excuses....ballsed up mod 1 by missing the blue cones on the hazard avoidance and not realising I had until I was told I hadn't passed.

Problem is I had done it properly a dozen times training it and there you are...test day...nerves kicking in...cones in place for the end turn in to the avoidance that you haven't experienced before...test site the size of two football pitches...cones everywhere...would it hurt for the powers that be to let new larkers have a couple of go's on the circuit a couple of days or whatever prior to the test so you can do it confidentally? It would be paranoid to suggest that you are being set up to fail but the process could be a smidgin easier with familiarity with the place you are doing the test.

Its really frustrating to have to shell out more hard earned for the sake of a little flexibility and understanding, I'll go back Wednesday morning and (hopefully) pass, a guy who had been training with me the day before and had been fine got his time wrong and had to go around again, got confused and did the same as me, would it be such a hassle to remove the respective cones for the emergency stop and hazard avoidance + vice verca so that you can see where you are going properly when you are under pressure? According to my instructer shedloads of people fail on the same thing.

I'm going direct access and obviously its of paramount importance to get effective training in safety but because the test is in Hull you can never go faster than 40mph, is that an accurate reflection on wether you can handle a more powerful bike properly or not?

In hindsight I really would recommend anyone going for a test, mod 1 + 2, to get some training, I thought I was reasonably competant on the road but after two days training it became pretty obvious that whilst I was ok I had a lot to learn to be ready for mod 2, never mind mod 1!

Anyway, got to think positive as I've half convinced meself I'm going to miss the blue cones again as I still don't understand why I missed them in the first place!

I'd recommend the Haynes too, it really does the job, passed my theory ok today. Get in touch with Vicki to sort a loan of the hazard perception dvd and you would have all you need for your test.

Forgot....Vicki, thanks for the dvd loan, made all the difference, on its way back to you as I type. Cheers.

PS If anyone reading this is not far away you could do worse than get along to Howden Saturday 13th Feb to see Chantel McGregor and Derrin Nauendorf...Electric and acoustic rock and blues at its very best. Check details out at http://www.howden-live.com

In the words of the mighty Billy Connolly...." Theres no such thing as bad weather...just the wrong clothes"

Theory test passed today...full access training next week...hopefully pass mod 1 and then......da test!

Snow gone, bike out...hey hey! First ever visit to Squires, fair few bods there, mug of Bovril and off again.

Fitted a windshield before I set off and found out what the shavings of aluminium meant when I got home.....different sized threads on the screws.....different sized holes....same size brackets, haven't tried to put it back together yet = fear & trepidation of knackering the thing up even more, thats if its not shot already.

Git along to The Shire Hall if you can on January 30th....Tis SKAVOLUTION....Check things out at http://www.howden-live.com. Cheers!

I don't think it will hurt to have some on the road training, and I know I could find this stuff out by approaching a training centre, but what is a sensible amount of money to be spent doing that?

I keep getting conflicting opinions on the test process even though I thought I knew what it was....cbt....theory...module 1.... etc.

From what I have read it seems you have to have a spot of compulsory training if you are going for the open access test, but do you have to have training for the one you do on a 125 with a 2 year restriction to 33bhp once you have passed it? Someone has told me you do, hence the question 'am I thick'?

Common sense would suggest you get some module 1 practise but I consider myself reasonably competant after a couple of months back in the saddle after a 20+ year break.

So....do you or dontcha?

PS. Feel free to check out http://www.howden-live.com Its a thing of wonder...Two initial highlights are Skavolution and a double header with Chantel McGregor and Derrin Nauendorf.

Happy New Year!!

There most definately are on this one, hit top revs in 1st, 2nd and 3rd and there is a very obvious drop.

I've spoken with two different bike mechanics today re the derestricting of my Honda VT125 Shadow after I pass the first part of my test and the first one, a Honda specialist? says he's not sure but doesn't think so. The second one reckons you can't as Honda make em that way or you have to buy one thats not been restricted in the first place.

Anyone know any different?