What did you do WITH your bike today.

[rob m]

Quick oil change and a run to the local tyre place to replace the rear with another Michelin Road 6. The last one had a plug in it after a puncture, right in the centre which was fortunate but I don't feel comfortable knowing that the rear tyre isn't 100% so had it replaced. The Road 6 has been fantastic though, no cause for concern at all. 

 

Going away to Europe next week so wanted to make sure that I'm happy to ride the bike over there. 

 

 

[V650]

2 hours ago, Simon Davey said:

That seems to be such a dream @V650.

I look at that picture, and all I can see is the sea and shiny pipes 

Yep LED headlight revenge   ( Dazzle them back with shiny pipes )

 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Whilst it is still fresh in my head I went out to explore a route for the Congo ride 2026. I've worked out a morning route and an afternoon route, mainly rural lanes and no built up areas. 

 

Minor tweaks nay be needed for one part of the afternoon route but otherwise I'm happy with them. Should be easier for the stewards. 

[Mawsley]

Took it for breakfast with the old MAG mates then off to the Newmarket HD birthday extravaganza.

 

Newmarket HD had marked down their clothing by 20% to celebrate - so you now only need to take out a 24month loan instead of 36 in order to afford a T shirt. Honestly, f**k these people. Didn't seem to bother the HOG crowd who were busy lapping up anything from Harley Davidson branded pants to whatever other nonsense they stick a logo on.

 

I was kinda thinking there'd be free stuff. There always used to be free stuff at events like this. There was no free stuff. They had the free coffee machine - but HOG had hogged all the space by it, so I had to pay £2.50 for a cup of instant from a van. Two pounds fifty! For instant! World's gone mad.

[Tinkicker]

First " destination" ride of the season after a couple of 30 mile circular rides round the local area to chase down any faults that occurred over the winter layup.

 

Of course, it was a ride out to my favourite destination for a bacon buttie and can of fanta.  Breighton Airfield.

 

Unbeknown to me they had a celebrity attending.  One so breathtakingly beautiful that the hair stood up on the back of my neck.

 

Enter the Boeing PT17 Stearman.

 

 

 

 

And the real star of the ride, resting after a faultless and very enjoyable performance.  Cannot believe how much dust she collected on her wheels after a 60 mile ride.  Roads must still be filthy after winter.

 

Edited Sunday at 12:18 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

Glad the VFR pulled it out of the bag, it's a lovely looking machine.

As for that Boing, there must be a some real owner pride there. I imagine she's got more than one owner?

[Tinkicker]

No.  One owner called Richard.  Its kept at Sherburn Airfield.  Richard is a first class display pilot.

 

I know all this because as I was sitting, drinking my fanta, a bloke ambled up complete with bike jacket and Arai and asked if I minded him sitting at my table.

Nope, so he sat and we chatted about old bikes for awhile, he said some very kind comments about the VFR while watching the planes.  He also restored old bikes, although his were mainly british.

 

I noticed a lot of people seemed to know him.  He was very knowledgeable about bikes and aircraft, as am I.

 

Then the stearman came by, took off and put on a little air display over the field.  I had mentioned what a lovely aircraft it was and he made an absolute bombshell comment.

 

 " Yes, I am rather proud of her, I look after her at Sheburn Engineering Services".  Yup I was sat talking to the engineer that kept her in tip top shape!

 

Apparently she is like a brand new aircraft inside and out.  

Edited Sunday at 13:56 by Tinkicker

[Simon Davey]

@Tinkicker

Sounds like a brother you didn't know you had. It's in the blood.

[Fish]

Decided as the weather was decent I'd take a little trip around the southern part of the Kentish coastline. Only issue was that one of the speakers on my cardo died. Quick stop at a J&S branch and they only had the second helmet kit, not just the speakers. So looks like I'll be using the link to SBS and getting a set ordered.

[Simon Davey]

Rode out to Thetford Forest this evening. 

A really enjoyable 80 mile round trip to grab a tag. Although, when I say "round" trip, it was pretty straight..... 

Some cracking roads through the forest. 

[bonio]

I like the roads through the Forest, especially the quieter ones. 

I'm hopefully off there on Wednesday to ride some trails.

[Simon Davey]

You'll have some great weather for it, grab a picture or two whilst you're there. 

[bonio]

Today I finally discovered what the hole under the seat is for.

[bonio]

Rode the "Thetford Loop" with a couple of others from the local trail riding group.

Ah my legs! They hurt today and they will hurt more tomorrow. I started doing this because I was looking for a challenge. I think I've found it

The CRF performed faultlessly, and the suspension coped well with the wild sandy rollers. Here it is, at one of the a places where we crossed a tarmac road.

And here I am, back in Suffolk, on the way home.

 

[Simon Davey]

It's such a beautiful place. 

How awesome that you can ride trails through it. 

Cracking pictures too mate. 

[ColinWB]

On 27/04/2025 at 13:13, Tinkicker said:

First " destination" ride of the season after a couple of 30 mile circular rides round the local area to chase down any faults that occurred over the winter layup.

 

Of course, it was a ride out to my favourite destination for a bacon buttie and can of fanta.  Breighton Airfield.

 

Unbeknown to me they had a celebrity attending.  One so breathtakingly beautiful that the hair stood up on the back of my neck.

 

Enter the Boeing PT17 Stearman.

 

 

 

 

And the real star of the ride, resting after a faultless and very enjoyable performance.  Cannot believe how much dust she collected on her wheels after a 60 mile ride.  Roads must still be filthy after winter.

 

I am mega impressed. I flew in a Stearman in Los Angeles in the early 90s, a wonderful experience.

[ColinWB]

I had a lovely ride around Renfrewshire and Ayrshire this evening in brilliant sunshine. The muppets were out in force in Bishopton, which was early in my ride, so there was plenty of time to enjoy the ride after they were out of my system.

 

Cars were parked on the opposite side of the road and the Range Rover coming the other way must have thought “it’s only a bike” so pulled onto my side of the road to pass it. I was only going about 20mph after a set of traffic lights, he was going slow too , so I decided to make it awkward and maintained my position in the middle of my lane and pointed at the driver to pull back onto his own side of the road. Then another muppet behind him had come out blind, so they got the same treatment. The third car stopped behind the parked cars until I had passed. Finally a sensible driver. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so assertive but their arrogance got to me.

 

The rest of the ride was relaxed and I  enjoyed the scenery, sunshine and, most if all, friendly waves from the swarms of bikers I saw

 

 

[billysugger]

I've got to stop reading these posts, I'm really missing my bikes now

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Met with a few mates and rode to Chester, on to Old Stores, then to Berries in Wrenbury. Cracking weather. 

 

I was leading and had an interesting encounter at a T junction when a motorist waited until I was right on the junction before deciding to pull out. I had a feeling she hadn't spotted us so was on the brakes in good time. 

 

It became a non-event as I was able to stop before she crossed my line of travel, but her elderly passenger was clearly berating her quite vociferously. 

Edited yesterday at 15:26 by Mississippi Bullfrog

[Simon Davey]

Phew!! At least you didn't become another YouTube statistic.

[Old and Withered]

That Bobber is gorgeous. 

[Simon Davey]

Today I went out to grab a tag, but I had to leave myself enough mileage to go out again without going too far over the 600 break in, oil change.

I've not got it in "baby (rain) mode" anymore, although it's a very good throttle curve, I found that for fast dual carriageways, and motorway type roads like the A14, I needed a bit more of a response. It gives it in bucket loads, and that's just standard response, I haven't tried the most responsive mode yet.

I've had the ABS and traction control keep me upright, it was getting dark the other night and I got to some road works where I had to pull out of a junction and accelerated away across gravel and grit, the darned thing just dealt with it, not so much as a flinch, just got me out of trouble.

 

Anyhoo, today was a trip from Haverhill to Downham market, grabbed a picture or three at Denver windmill, and then headed back.

The surface of the A10 was atrocious from Ely heading north, it was so bad I just rode in line and didn't overtake, I honestly thought I could be thrown from the bike. On the way back, I diverted east to Mildenhall, that road was worse . I stopped at R&C Motorcycles for a chat and a sausage roll, then headed home via Newmarket, it's a great ride, done it  a few times recently. Got stuck behind some exhaustless twat on a bike, horrendous bloody noise, he must get a headache..

 

Took me a few hours, but had a very good ride out and back, if not pretty sweaty in places, thank goodness my jacket has the facility to fasten the collar back, and the left lapel too, gives lots more ventilation. Disappointed with the Nolan in this respect, it has awful ventilation, and being white made little difference to my head getting hot, even with the vents open.

 

 

[bonio]

The A10 between Littleport and Denver has always been astonishingly bad, especially the south carriageway as you approach Littleport. I haven't been that way in a few years, but I used to like that bit of road. As your heading north and you pass the burnt out speed camera, you feel you can open up the throttle and let the bike off the lead a bit. It's best on a summer's evening when there's almost no traffic. That road has seen a few wild rides.

 

I had a great ride home from Woodbridge this evening. Amazing scents hanging in the air - cut grass, mayflower. Being out riding on a warm evening is hard to beat.

[bonio]

@Simon Davey I once rode a road in the fens that made the A10 look as flat as a pancake. The bumps were like 3-foot high waves of tarmac, frozen in a snapshot of time. The best way to ride it was standing up. I wish I could find it on the map now... 

[Simon Davey]

11 hours ago, bonio said:

@Simon Davey I once rode a road in the fens that made the A10 look as flat as a pancake. The bumps were like 3-foot high waves of tarmac, frozen in a snapshot of time. The best way to ride it was standing up. I wish I could find it on the map now... 

 

I wonder if it's the darned Prickwillow road that I took to Mildenhall, that was so undulating that they reduced the speed limit to 30Mph in the worse part. Also had to stick to the centre of the road, or risk hitting one of the many, extra dips in the tarmac. 

EDIT: I've just checked, and it was the A1101

Edited 7 hours ago by Simon Davey