Trooper74

This weekend, on Sunday the 18th, I’m riding to Cairn Ryan from Rotherham and catching the ferry to Belfast. 260 miles. 30 miles to my sisters house at Strangford. Monday morning, 2 meetings with railway companies in Belfast and back on the 0330hrs ferry Tuesday morning for the journey home to Rotherham .. 600+ miles in sunshine on my Himalayan .... I HOPE !

I do monthly rides to Bristol, Salisbury, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh etc, for work, on my 27 BHP Himalayan Those that go on about 400 - 500 mile rides ...... where are they getting the fuel from ... or they doing 3 - 4 150 mile rides, with fuel stops, leg stretches, toilet breaks, cafe visits ... ? My experience is more towards the segment length rather than the total distance. In 2018 i cycled the LEJOG, 912 miles ( we got lost a lot) ... in 14 segments .. or night stops on campsites, near a pub, as we cyclists like to call them ... Enjoy your adventure ...

I'm off to Belfast next Sunday from Rotherham ... nothing special, 260 miles ... I allow a 40mph average speed, mustn’t miss the ferry, and will stop at Scotch Corner for a coffee and a pee and at Penrith for Full English Breakfast at the Rooster or the truck stop cafes. I have a swimming float seat pad which is super comfortable and gives a decent seat rise ... Aim to stop every 80 miles for a leg stretch, it’s not the “Iron Butt” event .... just enjoy the travel ..

Toilets .... As per the title ... trans .. fluid , binary ..... So we all pee and poop .... So why so many toilets .... My girls say that when in clubs and pubs they don’t sit ... just hover .... and often miss the intended target ... Personally I hate mixed sex toilets .. as opposed to unisex toilets .... When I was on deployment with the US Marine Corps some years ago the toilets where all sit down with no partitions !! Nothing ... you where sat having a poo with a girl sat next to you ... also having a poo ... Marines wipe back to front between the legs sitting .... Too Much Knowledge !!

So my Himma has the original c&s set fitted. It’s done 8000 miles now mostly long distance day rides 2 - 400 miles ... And the worrying thing is .... Chain and sprocket wear is minimal ... worrying. I’ve only had to adjust the chain once in those 8000 miles. Checking the teeth on the rear sprocket shows minimal wear .. I always spray a top quality chain lube on before every long ride. I’ve been riding everything from MZ’s to ZZR 1100’s over the 45 years i’ve been riding and cannot remember a chain lasting so well. Have things really got that better or am i sliding into paranoia ... ?

Green Flag every time ... easy, cheap and get to you quick. My motorcycle and campervan are with them. The Aygo and the Transit are covered by a business contract with the AA so I don’t have to pay for them ... which is nice ...

Many, many thanks... that was a surprise ....... all 4 children at school for 9 .... back to bed with Jules ... up showered and off for dinner in a bit ... disc lock and new tool box as pressies ... And the suns shining ....

Don’t suppose for a second that this is a BOT ...??

Just click on “View the full article” at the bottom and all is well .. 17 bhp ? Its the Himalayan engine with 60 cc removed ,,, why have they lost 7bhp ?

Put 400 miles on the Himalayan ... Rotherham to Aylesbury ... then Aylesbury to Rotherham. Neither route direct but via Jacks Hill Cafe on the way down. 2 sausage, fried slice and beans, cup of tea (shark fin) ... sat in a cafe .... great !!! Spent an hour at Chiltern Railways doing sander stuff ... so fuel and brekkie were on work and a grand day out ....

I wear A2 flying jacket, T-shirt and jeans with bike boots in the summer ... You can spend thousands of pounds on motorbike clothing which frankly just keeps your remains in one place after the 27 Tonne HGV has driven over you ....

Left the bike securely locked up with a neighbour watching the house on Friday. My wife and I took the 4 children camping to Haxey Quays campsite ... 17, 11, 9 and 3. We had great time, the middle two playing out with hoards of other children until midnight Friday and Saturday nights .. The youngest girls teacher came wandering past on Saturday morning with his 12 year old twin boys and his 3 year old boy triplets ... !! I cooked sausage sandwiches for all of us as his wife had a lay in ...lol Over 300 people on site and not a mask to be seen .... But the serious thought Jules and I had on Sunday morning ... why was the campsite completely White ..... ??

Heaton in Newcastle this morning ..set off at 0430hrs ... Railway Stuff done by 0800hrs ... back to Chesterfield, did some deliveries to Doncaster ... then ..... the mail came ... Another part of the jigsaw ... gear lever turned up today ... Really need a downpipe .... MZ TS 125 / 150 ... ???? Anyone ???

So yesterday ......... Up at 0430hrs .. and with my Grandson, Connor , we drove to Bristol, did railway stuff there, then on to Exeter, more railway stuff, then Long Rock at Penzance... guess what .. railway stuff .... up to Redruth to our caravan, get all the camping stuff ..tents .. mats.. etc for our camping weekend at Gainsborough with all the family on the 11th June ... And picked up a spare Engine for the MZ 150 ... Then we drove to Newquay, cost road to Mawgan Porth .. showed Connor my first house at St Eval ... Atlantic Highway to Bude ... paddle in the sea then Bideford .... and finally to Taunton Dean Services where we paid £12 to park for the night and we camped out in the Transit ... We had a great day .. long but great ... Maccie D’s for dinner ... and a can of monster and a can of cider ... Camping in a Transit Van ??? I stopped in Bridgwater Premier Inn last week ... £59 ... this week ..£186 .... They will rip you off .. because they can ... We left the services at 0500hrs this morning ..... home for 0930hrs .... Off to Newcastle at 0530hrs in the morning ... railway stuff ...

As of this morning the Mayflies become Junebugs .... is isn’t nature amazing ...

And then there was one ..... other bike sold in just 3 hours on the ebay ... Still need a downpipe, lefthand panel, righthand panel inset panel, rear footrests, gear lever .... and a re-wire .... Huzzah ... nearly done ... MZ TS 150 .. Weltmeister !!

The professionally outraged are walking amongst us ...... again ...

Removed the engine from the donor bike, keeping the engine, rolling chassis off to ebay ....

After drying out the Himma .... Started the MZ "1 out of 2” assembly. The idea is to get all the best parts from the 2 bikes onto one chassis ... not restored ... just in the one place ... and this is it .. The second bike can be seen in the background and will make a good source of spares for any other MZ rebuilders. Hopefully .. Now .. does anyone have a MZ TS 125 / 150 downpipe in any condition I can use as a pattern to make a new stainless version ... Please .. Note Riley’s ex-chair ... brilliant tool holder ....

Looks like the fuel tube from the tap to the carb has popped off .... take the seat off and lift the tank .... it may be so simple to sort ... Hope it works out ok ..

My sons Gay ... he can’t stand the buffeting from his hair dryer ...

Friday ... Engine Management Light on .. Well .. according to the Dealer the engine temp sensor to the ECU has failed ... new one for the 2nd June and with labour i’m looking at a bill the wrong side of £200. !!!! At 8000 miles why am i looking at a bill for a failed sensor, failed due to heavy rain, on an “Adventure, Ride the World “ bike RE ? Royal Enfield Himalayan .. the Adventure Bike that can't go out in the rain !!! Not a happy bunny at all .. Who do i email chaps .... Saturday ... And now the LCD data panel has gone blank !!!! This just gets worse ...... Sunday ... Instrument binnacle removed, split, and attacked with a hair dryer followed up by 30 mins in the hot sun ( yes, hot sun in South Yorkshire, relatively ), seal lubed, re-assembled and tested ... Satis ! It’s still my favourite bike ... £300+ plus investment in a carburettor kit from Hitchcocks beckons ... Sod FI ..

mmm .. Lycra .... red lycra briefs and black shorts ... You Know You Want To !! “ Suits you Sir, Suits you ...!! " Why should girls get all the slinky stuff ... OOPS ....

And it got better ..... In the morning ..well 0500hrs ... i was up, showered, all clothes DRY ... ( Thank you household staff ) and off up north ... I really must stop taking pics of the bikes in garages .... Gloucester South services and Stow in the Wold.....