Romeo80 Update

Its all coming together now, polishing and powdercoat are all back in the workshop.  Quick visit to Cycleworks today to check on the paint; its looking good and will be ready next week.

Smoking Hamlet

Here is another great little video by Paul Leeson of our recent shoot down in Dungeness - proves we go fast sometimes!

The wind in my face

In a rare non -motorcycling post for this blog - thought I would show a picture my daughter took of one of our terriers JimmyWorf - showing what Dogs and Motorcyclists have in common.

13 Months....

Last Sunday we made a video down at Dungeness - really just a cross between an art film, a bit of fun, and a chance to show the bikes.  I had a soundtrack in mind by a recent favourite band Sweet Billy Pilgrim - and by the wonders of Twitter they let me use it.
Over the last few years I have taken a lot of "road videos" just sticking a camera on the bike and letting the scenery do the talking  with the aid of a soundtrack.  But as with my photography making better films is becoming much more interesting - although its a lot more effort.
The soundtrack of this song "Here it begins" is effectively a score by Sweet Billy Pilgrim of a monologue by Mandy Patinkin from the film "Music of Chance".
Anyway here is the film  - filmed, directed starring and edited by Paul Leeson..... - watch it in full HD!

Making a Video

A couple of my friends are keen on making videos and offered to make a free one of my bikes.  So this Sunday we set off to Dungeness on Hamlet and Othello for a spot of film making on the coast - great fun was had by all, and the film will be posted in a few weeks.  In the meantime here are a few stills I took.

The Olympic Torch Relay

Well the Olympic Torch Relay came to Tunbridge Wells today - I am not that bothered, but as the route comes past our village I thought I would ride up for a quick look.  I was expecting to see a parade of vehicles and a runner carrying a torch.....but no they ride from town to town on a coach then get out at the edge of town light the torch, run through and then get back on the coach for the next town - bit of a fraud really.

Anyway here is a picture of me from the live TV Feed from the front of the Torch Relay Coach waiting on my bike - which all the motorcycle cops really liked and gave me waves!

ROMEO 80 - Polishing

First stuff is coming back for ROMEO80 - its the polishing all done by an excellent craftsman in Hove Sussex - for £100.

Exhausts, triple trees, Z handlebars, headlamp bracket, number plate bracket, side stand, gear shift, rear brake and exhaust bezels.

In the meantime....

I need to clear out my garage and get rid of loads of junk - I have Othello to put back in after repairs from its crash in Portugal and the new ROMEO80 coming in August - better sell a couple.

ROMEO 80 - Break Down for Paint

Its been a long time coming but my 1982 R80 is now ready for breakdown for Paint, Powder, Polishing and Cleaning.  I suspect this will take about a month and then another month to put it back together again - so hopefully on the road by the end of August 2012.

Cascais Road Trip for the Harley Davidson Rally

Just back from an eventful trip to the Harley Davidson Euro Rally in Cascais, Portugal. Originally the plan was to go with three other friends, all riding customs and go there and back via the Portsmouth Bilbao ferry, but circumstances changed and plans had to be altered.

So last Sunday 10th June I got up early and rode 280 miles in the rain on my Othello Tracker to Plymouth to get the ferry to Santander and planned to meet two of them (Gary France on his amazing stretch chopper and his son Charlie on his Sportster) two days later in Penafiel in Portugal.  Getting to Plymouth was not pleasant with no front fender and cold rain the whole way,

but when I got there it was well worth it - the ferry had 200 Harleys on it for the crossing, and I hit the bar at 4:00pm before we had left port, and stayed there until 2:00am making many new friends.  We were due to arrive the next day about 12:15 and were only a bit late, when I got a text from Gary saying his bike had been hit by a the gear shift from Charlie's bike and it was being transported to Santander Harley Davidson for repairs, so I agreed to meet them there for half past one - by this time there was thunder and lightning and of course siesta time which meant they wouldn't open until 3:00pm - but all credit to them they fixed both bikes and we were on the road to Leon by six that night.  


However the bad luck was not over and about 8:30pm that night the chain on Charlie's bike a 1987 Sportster broke and got wedged inside.  Gary managed to get a recovery vehicle out who took us to Palencia by 11:00pm and found us a 2* Hostel in the middle of an industrial estate where he assured us a mechanic would come and fix the bike at 10:00am the next day.  Fortunately Danny the mechanic did turn up and after running around a bit got a new chain and at last we were back on the road and able to make our scheduled stop in Penafiel of Tuesday night - although somehow I managed to lose my wallet with all my money and cards out of my pocket on the road.

So Wednesday we set out full of optimism for the ride into Portugal and the coast at Figuera de Foz - and this was one of the best rides of the trip, over the river Douras and the wine regions and up into the mountains, before a nice ride to the coast - and the sun was out and it was warm - this is what riding is all about.

Thursday morning when we got up for the final 150 miles into Cascais the weather was not so good fine rain and wet conditions, and within a mile of leaving the hotel I lost my back end on a slippery zebra crossing and slid down the road.  I had a few bruises, but both brake controls were damaged and my handlebars bent and cracked.  Despite this I decided to get the bike going and get to Cascais about lunchtime ready for some well earned beers. 

As ever HD have done well with the resort, Cascais is a affluent seaside town and the whole marina and seafront was secured for bikes only with all the bars and restaurants geting involved to provide a brilliant party atmosphere for the next three days.  We had a great hotel the Farol Design Hotel just on the cliff above and it was a superb base for the whole weekend.  

The main plan for Friday was the Custom Bike Show and reluctantly I entered as in the past I have come nowhere and as much as I love my bikes they are not out and out show bikes but built for value and usability.  The competition was held at the Casino in Estoril and amazingly all three of us won a prize, with maybe quite a bit to do with the fact we rode them there.  I won Best Custom, Gary got the Peoples Choice award and Charlie won Best Sportster.  Although I am not a fan of these competitions mainly as they are so subjective, it was a real buzz after all out incidents for us all to win and certainly put a smile on our faces.

As my bike was damaged I was fortunate enough to be able to call on the services of We Move Bikes to get it shipped home, but I still had plenty of time to pose around the resort on it over the weekend.  Gary and Charlie rode back the hard way - I did 1100 miles overall and I suspect when they get back it will be about double that - congratulations to both of them.  But the point was proved these bikes are there to be ridden and not trailered to shows.

....and here is the bike show on Portuguese TV., with the nice lady standing in front of Charlies Sportster

Cascais Harley Davidson 2012

This years big Euro Rally is in Cascais in Portugal, and like last year in Biograd, they have secured the whole town as a bike only environment.  Cascais is an upmarket resort with a clutch of 5* hotels and a gorgeous seafront.

I am taking a shortcut this year and getting the ferry from Plymouth to Santander and then riding a scenic 1000 miles to get to Cascais, meeting up with some mates half way.  I am riding my Othello bike - hardtail - 23" wheels  - limited range - so it should be fun.  Will update as I go on, but here is the HD preview video:

St Tropez or Bust

Just back from our road trip to the Harley Euro Festival in Port Grimaud.

Four of us set off on Tuesday 8th of May, me on my Caesar Racer FXD, Preben on the 2009 Streetglide with a 110" Screaming Eagle Engine, Paul of his 2011 Blackline and Andy on his 2010 XR1200 - we covered about 1825 miles by the time we returned on Monday 14th, although sadly we had to leave the Caesar Racer behind in Marseilles as it had some problems.

The first problem occurred in Bourges where the starter motor developed a fault - we checked all the wiring, but the motor wouldn't turn.  So with some effort we got it bump started and continued like this another 400 miles bumping each time we stopped, including riding over the awesome Millau Bridge.  So on day three we decided to head for Marseilles Harley Davidson but we got a flat tyre in the rear on the way, but finally managed to get it there where we hoped they could help.  I had always believed it was a Harley Davidson ethos that if a rider on the road got in trouble the dealer would do everything they could to help them get back on the road - but unfortunately this was not the case - and so we had no alternative to leave the bike there, and continue two up on the Streetglide.  On the other hand the excellent We Move Bikes came and collected it the next day and brought it back to the UK - I cannot recommend these guys highly enough if you want your bike shipped.

At least the weather was good and so we had a good three days at the EuroFestival to relax and enjoy the place, and ride the coast roads, all taking turns to be the pillion or "bitch" depending on what you prefer to be. As usual the festival was excellent, loads of people and bikes  - music and plenty to drink!
Here is a great video by Paul which shows some great moments from the tour  - and of course Elvis who came back to play for us on Thursday night.

Finally I have to say a huge thanks to Marjorie Rae the UK HOG Manager who lent me her Streetglide to ride back to the UK (she was flying in any event) - it certainly made the last 800 miles alot more pleasant than being two up on the other streetglide.

Great trip  - all problems resolved, hard rain, warm sun, drinks every night, cool bikes, great friends.

Harley Davidson Euro Festival 2012 - St Tropez

I went to the very first HD Euro Festival in 2006 and rode down my 2005 CVO Fat Boy - at just over £20,000 it was the ultimate factory custom bike, and I loved the feeling of riding such a unique and splendid bike......and then I got there and parked it up next to another 2 identical ones....it was that moment that made me realise I needed to build my own bike - here is a picture of it.

The next time I went was in 2009 and this time I was on my own bike Macbeth Bobber, a hardtail Panhead, a great trip despite a fuel tank range of only 60 miles which meant I stopped at every service station on the way down - but the weather was great and the Warrs boys were all there and we had a top time.  I am not sure who took this picture below of me - but I found it on Flickr.

In 2010 we rode down in a group with Chelsea & Fulham HOG - it rained the whole way for 3 days and was cold when we were there and rained all the way back  - I was just glad to be on my Streetglide.  For a bit of a pose I had the Hamlet Tracker shipped down - but as the old Harley saying goes, "Its the journey not the destination".

I missed last year, but I am now getting quite excited about going next week on May 8th.  I am going with three friends and will be taking my Caesar Racer, and sharing the riding with my mate Preben on the Streetglide - which will be laden up with our luggage.  This year we are going a different route, via Paris, Bourges, then down to the coast at Montpellier and along past Marseilles.  Here are the three of them on our run to Devon last year. 

We are meeting our mate Gary France down there who will be on his new super custom, which I am very excited to see - so next post will be a France update.....or if you cant wait follow me on Twitter @iansolley

ROMEO-80 - Supertrapp Race Mufflers

Following the success of the new 2-1 exhaust and Supertrapp Muffler I put on Macbeth Bobber recently, I have decided to fit a pair to the new ROMEO 80 Bike, and they look pretty good.

Digger Bikes

I was reading Cyril Huze Blog the other day, and was really interested to read a post about Arlen Ness re-inventing the Digger Bike, which is basically a low slung drag style bike running matching 23" wheels, which is very much what I have been doing with the last 4 of my bikes (4,5,6 and now Romeo80) - although all with a different style.  Here is the Ness bike and its very cool.

Looking at this has got me thinking as the one bike I have built over the last few years that I have not been totally happy with is the Othello Bike 5, for 2 reasons, the first its anti-socially noisy and the second is that it has mini-apes which are very comfortable but dont reflect me or my riding style.  So I have been thinking:

• Mount the headlamp lower
• Put on some drag bars
• Add a new 2-1 exhaust with muffler

Have a look at the pictures and let me know what you think?