Day Trip to France and Belgium

Went on a great day trip to France and Belgium yesterday organised by Meridian HOG - in the end we had around 50 bikes and although not a long trip about 140 miles (overseas) was nicely done.  I went with three friends Paul, Simon and Gary (who I rode to Croatia with) and the trip involved a stop at Beruges for coffee and for me to by loads of cheese, salami and cake.  Followed by lunch in the very nice town of Veurne in Belgium, before we arrived at our final destination Bikersloft a combined bar/restaurant/hotel for bikers.  Its converted from an old industrial unit and they have created a cool basic environment with cell like bedrooms, communal washing and indoor bike parking  - its better than that sounds and I am sure with 10 litres of Leffe it will be like the Ritz.

Harley Davidson Streetglide

Following on from earlier posts I now have my 2009 Streetglide back in its new 1980's style AMF livery courtesy of Keith Baker at  Classic Cycle Works , a new 110" Screaming Eagle engine, bag extensions, nice wheels and new speakers - all in all I am very pleased.

Road Trips

One of the big parts of 7Ages for me was the opportunity to not only build a few unique bikes but to also get plenty of riding time in.  In the last 3 weeks I have ridden 4300 miles - firstly 1700 miles from the UK to Croatia and then 2600 miles in the USA.

Its been very interesting comparing the two trips  - the first on my custom Shovelhead No.7, and the second on  a rented Streetglide.  Dealing with the Streetglide first I have said it before and I will say it again, I really think this is the best Harley ever, it does it all with style and comfort, and eating up the miles is a pleasure.  The next post on this blog will show how I have customised mine very simply to make it a really nice bagger, and one that I will be proud to ride anywhere.

In respect of No.7, what can I say this is a hand built bike with a brand new engine and for it to do 1700 trouble free miles is a testament to its quality.  Being honest its a tough ride and you feel the miles compared to riding the Streetglide, but when you get to the rally - nothing beats posing around on a custom ride.

Anyway here is a video of us all riding through Zion National Park

Las Vegas to Yellowstone Park and back

On Sunday I flew back from Croatia, and had my bike shipped back home by We Move Bikes. Because on Monday I flew out to Las Vegas with these three mates to go on a bike tour taking in the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Yellowstone Park before coming back via west Utah. We have three more friends joining us in Monument Valley to make 7. We are on all rented baggers and so far it's been a blast.
I am last on the right.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Harley Davidson XLCR 1000 (1977)

Whilst on Twitter yesterday, there was a tweet from Warrs Harley Davidson showing a picture of Halle Berry on the back of an XLCR looking very cool.  Back in 1977 this was the bike I wanted the most, but being still at school, and only 17 I had to get the 125cc Single cylinder Harley and pretend it was this beast.

Anyway seeing this picture prompted me to do a quick search on Ebay to see if there were any going - and to my surprise there was an unrestored 1977 XLCR in full working order with only 6500 miles on the clock and all the original documentation, with only a day to go until the auction closed.
So I put in my best realistic bid, and thought nothing more until I got the email this morning saying I had won!  So cash out the bank, train to South West London, where I met a real gent Paul who has a huge collection of bikes, and rode it home in the warm spring sunshine.

The bike is an absolute delight, purrs along with its 4 speed box, brakes are more for slowing you down than actually stopping, but you can compensate for that - but a real treasure and one I am delighted to own.  My plan is to keep it as it is un-restored after all only about 1900 were built and they wont be making anymore.

2009 Harley-Davidson Streetglide with a touch of AMF Heritage

The blinging up process is now well underway  - all the bits are off and at the paint shop for an AMF Harley Davidson makeover from the 1970's with a nice lurid shade of metallic blue and some fancy stripes.   The reason for this is that my first Harley ever in 1977 was an AMF single cylinder and I suspect this Streetglide may well be my last proper out of the box Harley - so its a sort of tribute.

Picked up some original Decals and Saddlebag emblems on Ebay from the USA, which should hopefully arrive soon.  I also had a satisfying browse through the 2011 Harley Davidson parts catalogue -its been ages since I bought OEM parts from the Motor Co, and its amazing just how much they do now.  Settled on a new wind splitter screen, which looks a copy of Klockwerks' one, some extensions for my saddlebags for that tail dragger look, Boom Speakers and some new grips - NICE!

Meridian HOG

Today was the season kick off ride for Meridian HOG which is the South London Chapter I ride with - they are affiliated to Warrs of London who also sponsor Chelsea and Fulham HOG - who I also ride with! (and 1066 HOG too in Sussex).

The ride commenced at General Wolfe's statue in Greenwich park, and the plan was to follow the Meridian line south all the way to Peacehaven in Sussex by the coast.  There must have been 120 + bikes and I rode my Richard II (No.7) Bike which has now completed 500 miles and is due an oil change!

I took this brief video of us all rocking and rolling out of a car park at the half way point in East Grinstead - which is conveniently 10 miles from where I live and so a great point to bail out and leave them to it!

2009 Harley-Davidson Streetglide

The Streetglide is my Harley-Davidson of choice - whenever I rent a bike in the USA I choose a Streetglide, and I have one at home for doing the shopping and any mundane trips that I do out and about, and sometimes for long hauls like my trip to Finland in 2009.  My current one has done about 9000 miles and the paintwork is a bit scuffed and chipped and I have been thinking of moving it on.  I took it to my local Harley Dealer and it seems even with the nice wheels and Stage 1 its only worth about £10,000.
So having had a long think I decided on the next best thing, and am going to bling it up a little bit.

• All the paint is now off and at the paint Shop ready for a 1970's style metallic blue makeover with AMF style stripes, and badges.
• I have a Screaming Eagle 110" in the garage which is going to replace the stock 96" engine.
• Finally I will install some Boom Speakers so I can blast my sounds out as I ride.

Hopefully back together and ready to ride in June.

Caesar Racer No.6

I always like to run in my new bikes for 500 or so miles and as such the last posts have all been about No.7 which is going to be my summer ride of choice  - and its real test will be the 1400 or so miles to Croatia.

However Bike No.6 is well run in as I have owned this bike in various incarnations since new in 1999 and its done 25,000 reliable miles.  So here are a few excellent pictures taken by Mike Prior the other week for BSH magazine - I am never quite sure of my view on draping babes over the bikes - but this one does look rather good.