Random rides

[O.C.]

The Castle and the Gatehouse are both beautiful buildings...thanks (again) for sharing      

[Rynglieder]

21/10/2021 Bala & Llyn Celyn (c.172 miles)

I'd wanted to take the GTR out today but to get to it I would have to shift the GSX from the front of the garage as it was the one I had used last. UNBELIEVABLE – having just replaced the rear tyre twice within a month now it seemed to have a flat front tyre. Once again I got some air back into it enough to shuffle the bikes around, I was not going to waste a good free day messing with it any further just now.

It seemed that I had not been around lakes or mountains enough this year so today's destination was to be Bala. It's a place I have ridden to many times in the past but usually as a stop off when going deeper into Snowdonia, this time as I was working with reduced daylight in autumn I picked a more direct route that would take me over some "new" roads.

The road up to and just beyond Shrewsbury was all very familiar and routine but this time I broke away from the A5 at Nescliffe through the village of Knockin and the passed wonderfully named Knockin Shop. There was then a beautiful sequence of minor roads through places that I would not begin to try to pronounce, stunning Welsh countryside with alternately dry and wet tarmac under my wheels, it looked as if I had been lucky enough to dodge a series of showers passing before me.

I took a break with a coffee in the town of Bala and rested a while before carrying on the few hundred yards to the lake shore. As I often had before, I found myself wondering why I had bothered, the views from this main visitor car park don't strike me as being that special so after the length of a small cigar I re-mounted the bike and rode back through the town and on up to Llyn Celyn which I recalled had better views. I pulled up at the dam and walked its length taking a few photos, probably rather too many of a spectacular rainbow that I was being treated to.

The ride home was the way I came and I managed to push home in time to be back before darkness fell.
Another five star day on the bike, the days will now shorten with the clocks going back so there will probably be few such long days out for a while now.
 

[Lonewolf]

At least you managed to get out on the bike, I'm suffering with Man Flu, not covid I've done the tests. Hopefully I'll be bike fit again by the weekend. Sounds like you had a great bimble out, personally I quite like Bala Lake but each to their own of course.

[O.C.]

once again thanks for sharing and for brightening up my otherwise dull day, like Steve I've also got a slight bout of man flu (snotty nose - No big deal)   

I'm still unable to ride as my new hip isn't fully 'run in'      

[Rynglieder]

At least you managed to get out on the bike, I'm suffering with Man Flu, not covid I've done the tests. Hopefully I'll be bike fit again by the weekend. Sounds like you had a great bimble out, personally I quite like Bala Lake but each to their own of course.

That ride out was a couple of months ago Steve, I'm still catching up on my notes and photos..

There was not much riding in December except three trips out for MOTs on various bikes (all passed  ).

Only one little trip out so far in 2022, more to follow.

[Rynglieder]

once again thanks for sharing and for brightening up my otherwise dull day, like Steve I've also got a slight bout of man flu (snotty nose - No big deal)   

I'm still unable to ride as my new hip isn't fully 'run in'      

I'm sure the man-flu will pass and hopefully the hip will not take too long to bed in. Hopefully I'll see you on the road when the weather picks up. 

[O.C.]

I'm sure the man-flu will pass and hopefully the hip will not take too long to bed in. Hopefully I'll see you on the road when the weather picks up. 

getting back on my bike is a big target for me....according to my consultant  my recovery is doing well, however he did remind me that it is a big operation  and will take some time to get back to normality,
he quoted "summer"     which is not what I  hoped for

So it's a day by day exercise at the moment 

[Lonewolf]

Summer? 

Better to be safe than sorry though, it certainly isn't worth jeopardising the healing process just for the sake of rushing things.

[O.C.]

Summer? 

Better to be safe than sorry though, it certainly isn't worth jeopardising the healing process just for the sake of rushing things.

That's exactly what we thought Steve, time will tell with the healing process.

One things for sure and that is I'm not going to rush into anything and take backward steps or undo the good work that's been done

Some folk report that they are back to 'normal' after about 8 weeks or so, however we all repair differently and I am an old git     so maybe it'll take a little longer in my case

[Rynglieder]

22/10/2021 Bridgnoth (36 miles) & 30/10/2021 Clee Hill (60 miles)

The Z1300 is back!

It had spent most of the last 18 months firmly at the back of the garage and although it had been pulled out in late November 2020 for its MOT, it made sense to put it onto SORN as my area was still under lockdown and opportunities to ride it were limited even if I wanted to risk its very unreliable running.

There seemed no point in it just gathering dust in the corner so I decided to throw a few hundred pounds at someone to do a major service and get the carbs ultrasonically cleaned and set up again.

The ride home from the workshop bode well and once I arrived back home I was disinclined to just put it away again. Still not being absolutely certain of how it would be running I decided to go for the Very Short Loop which I use when I just have an hour and want to blow the cobwebs away. I took the loop in the opposite direction to usual as I needed to fuel with some premium fuel which I knew I could get from a supermarket in Kidderminster, given the general switch to E10 fuels I am not sure how the 38 year old Hippo would deal with running on stewed cabbage which seems to form the basis of new standard petrol.

I must say that I was very happy with the way it was running, I even let it cool while I had a coffee in Bridgnorth to see how it would behave on restart. All good, I really enjoyed the ride home although there was a bit of traffic in front of me and I had yet to get confident enough for overtaking on it.

The next opportunity to get out was a week later, during these shorter days it takes me a while to get motivated to go out and by the time I did the day was ebbing away but there was enough time to get out to Bridgnorth again but this time feeling a bit more secure I was happy to press on through Kinlet, on to Cleobury Mortimer and finishing at the summit of Clee Hill.

The Z1300 is a heavy old bike at low speed but not too bad when moving, I had good clear roads on this day and the six cylinders were singing to me again, all was well with the world.

Going forward I need to make sure it is used more regularly, I think it really does not like fuel sitting in the carbs going stale, so note to self – ride more!

[O.C.]

Great to see the 'old' girl on the road, and I'm sure you loved every minute of riding the bike    

[pross]

Awesome looking old school muscle bike 👌.
Glad you had a good ride out 👍

[Rynglieder]

17/11/2021 Wellsbourne & Hanbury Hall (c.88 miles)

Another sunny day was on offer and having replaced the front tyre on the GSX it seemed an opportunity to make a start on some steady mileage to scrub it in.

I'd enjoyed to road out east that I had taken to Coughton Court a few weeks back so I thought I would do it again but push on through and past Stratford on Avon. Beyond Stratford I made my way to the Touchdown Café on the edge of Wellsbourne Airfield. I had been there once before with a few members of the old GSX owners forum, one of them had suggested it as an add on from one of the April Fools Meets at the Motorcycle Museum and it seemed as good a plan as any to revisit it. It still seems a popular bikers destination, there were half a dozen there even on a weekday.

I spent half an hour with my mug of tea on the balcony watching a few light aircraft come and go before I decided to move on.

There was still a bit of the afternoon left so I took more or less the same route back but took the opportunity to stop off at Hanbury Hall near Droitwich to take a few photos and indulge in a National Trust latte.

Not a bad couple of hours riding in the sunshine, a bit of a bonus for November.

[O.C.]

excellent.....I especially like the picture of Touchdown cafe with your bike   

[Rynglieder]

31/12/2021 Berrington Hall, Herefordshire (c. 68 miles)

New Year's Eve and it looked like there would be a chance for one last ride in 2021.

It was to be a dry, dull day but not too cold for the time of year – nevertheless I was minded to take the GTR out and take advantage of the heated grips and a decent fairing.

The ride-out took me to Berrington Hall, near Leominster. It was another run down often travelled roads but despite the repetition I knew they would be roads that I enjoy. The days are too short at this time of year to travel far enough away from home and find much that is new.

Berrington Hall served up a walk, some photos and a decent coffee but it was not a long visit and the day could have done with being brighter for any decent pictures.

The ride home was by much the same route except for a short additional loop to take me to Tenbury Wells via a more minor road.

Nothing stunning, but every chance to get out in the winter feels like a bit of an achievement.