Sunday 29 May 2011

1704 Miles on a Custom

Just a brief post on my trip to the 20th HOG Rally in Biograd Croatia - it was an epic ride of 1704 miles on a custom that had just been built.  The bike tackled the Alps, the Dolomites and the twisty coastal roads of Croatia, and its part of my philosophy that bikes are for riding.

Big thank you to Harley Davidson, it was a brilliant festival in a fabulous location, and a great chance to see lots of old friends.







Tuesday 24 May 2011

On the road to Croatia

I am on day 2 of my road trip to the 20th annual HOG rally in Croatia and have reached Turin in Italy some 850 miles from home. We have gone a longer route deliberately to take in some amazing roads through the Alps. This shot here was just through the St Bernard pass over the Italian border.

Tuesday 17 May 2011

Travelling Light to Croatia

Next Sunday 22nd May, is the start of my first big Road trip of the year - its an 1800 mile ride to the 20th European HOG Rally in Biograd in Croatia.  I am going with my good friend Gary France, and we have planned the route as follows:
  • Day 1 - UK to Beaune - the wine capital of Burgundy.
  • Day 2 - Beaune to somewhere near Turin in Italy - we have left this open to see how it goes.
  • Day 3  - Turin to Bolzano - this is up in the Tyrol and the way there takes in the famous Stelvio Pass, a challenge on our bikes.
  • Day 4  - Bolzano to Trieste  - these last 2 nights are staying in very nice hotels - a bit of luxury on a trip is always appreciated.
  • Day 5 - Trieste to Biograd - arrive at the HOG Rally and we have an apartment for the next 3 days.
  • Day 6-8 - Hang out at the rally and in particular we have a Chelsea & Fulham party on the saturday night which will be fun to see some mates.
  • Day 8 Fly home on wonderful Ryanair.
I am going to be riding my 1970 FLH No.7, and Gary will be riding his Road King "Leading Ladies" - you can tell Gary has the organisational skills, as his bike has two huge saddlebags and a large tour bag as well - he also tested it doing 20,000 odd miles in the US last year.  My bike has got 4 beautifully crafted  bolts which double up supporting the huge rear fender, and using this I have to strap on a weeks luggage!  So using my trusty Ortleib Waterproof holdall, a cargo net and a large bungee I have managed to get it all on, as a test before I go.  One other detail is the Nash Motorcycle Spare Fuel canister in a nice leather strap, as No.7's range is just about 100 miles.  Roll on Sunday.



Monday 2 May 2011

Hastings May Day Bike Run 2011

I cant remember the last time it rained I seem to have been out riding every day for a month now in warm sunshine - and today was no exception.  The May Day bike run to Hastings is a real season opener with up to 10,000 bikes hitting my favourite seaside town.  Here are a few of the shots I took today.









Sunday 1 May 2011

A Bloggers Centerline Day ABCD

My mate Gary France, had this idea that all the bloggers he knows should take a picture of themselves and a centreline on May 1st and publish it on their Blog.  Well not having a tripod or a remote handy and not having many centrelines out in the sticks where I live - I decided to just go and join the guys at Meridian HOG for a ride instead.  On the way there I noticed that the odometer on my 1977 XLCR was heading towards 6666 - so I thought I know I will get a picture of that and a centreline - and if you look closely you can see a tiny bit of me reflected in the gauges!


I went off to Warrs after that for a rideout, with about 60 of us through the lanes of Sussex and Kent, before heading home for a nice Sunday Lunch.