2013 Road Trips (So Far)

Its never to early to look forwards to next years Road Trips - so far I have 3 booked and it looks like about 6500 miles!

Trip 1 is my annual pilgrimage to the HOG Rally at St Tropez - I am going with my regular riding buddies and maybe a few more  - we are doing a circular route taking in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and Belgium.

Trip 2 is with my local HOG Chapter 1066 - I think there will be about 10 of us and we are going to tour the Hebrides and check out all the distilleries, staying at this nice hotel there for 4 nights Harris Hotel

Trip 3 is with my wife Lisa to the USA - she has never ridden on a bike and is going to follow on in a car - which should be fun!

Really looking forwards to these trips which will all be made on a Harley Davidson Streetglide - my bike of choice for nearly every occasion apart from posing on the seafront.  Any recommendations from anyone on places to check out let me know.

BSA Mereworth

One of my favourite pictures I have taken of my bikes is this one, I took it in July 2010 on a sunny days rideout, and then tweaked the spectrum in Iphoto to give it this dated look.

So I was extremely disappointed to hear via a good friend Carl Abrams recently that this lovely old garage is being knocked down and re-developed - here is a picture with Carl's Husky in front all done up for his valuable work as a Blood Runner for SERV.

Brightona 2012

my two favourite domestic bike days out are the Ace Cafe Brighton BUrn up in September and Brightona in October - I issed them both last year and missed the Ace this year, so I was determined to make Brightona!
In some bizarre the weather is always good for Brightona and this year was no exception, a huge turn out and a blue sky always makes for a great day.  I rode down with my friends and managed to blag a space right in the middle of the event in front of my friend Nutty's stand for his business Clean Bike Clinic.  We had a good look around and and then when it was time to leave I found the hydraulic clutch on my bike Richard II had failed.  So a top up with water and managed to get it going for the ride home.

a little bit more ROMEO80

.....getting there, just needs wiring - "just" is a complete understatement, dragging loads of wires through the frame to the brainbox and battery and back again.  We are keeping all the original BMW switchgear, but new Oberon indicators and a sweet little German speedo which is marked out to 220  - I will only be using the first 30% of that dial - I might even calibrate it for kph so I can watch it move more.  After its wired, rear tailpiece goes on and the seat - get an MOT and hit that road.  Here are some pics.

The Distinguished Gentlemans Ride London

I picked up on the Distinguished Gentlemans Ride via facebook - and right away it grabbed my attention.  For some time I have been getting tired of the Harley and HOG scene, and have been looking for some alternate riding events that are more for me, the emphasis being on alternate bikes and in many respects alternate dress styles to go with them.  Another event which I must do next year is "Wheels and Waves" in Biarritz, check out the video.....

Anyway to return to the Distinguished Gentlemans Ride - the aim was that worldwide on the 30th September, groups of likeminded people would dress up in suits and ride their cafe racers, old style, brat bikes and trackers around the city - just for the hell of it - no Hi-Viz, no rules, just fun.

The London event was organised by the Bike Shed and Untitled Motorcycles and in the end we had over 60 bikes meeting up in Kentish Town for a marvellous 1 hour ride through the centre of London to Wandsworth.  I have to say it was a fantastic experience and I would love to do it again, and other similar events.  Anyway here are some shots that I took of the LOndon Ride - I rode my Caesar Racer (I think we only had 5 Harleys in all - what a relief!).