170 miles around mid Wales.....just the ticket👍👍
Wales for me as well today Enoch. Bala, Barmouth and Betwys. Lovely ride out, around 200 miles total I guess with a good group of lads, glad the chippy on the harbour at Barmouth was open, it was great to be sat on the benches overlooking the bay having a tray of them !!
Stuart
Nice one Stuart.... there were around 45 bikes in the group I was in, they all got stopped by the police at Newtown, but me an my mate just drove past the lay-by that the cops pulled everyone into... I Figured 2 cops can’t stop everyone So drove passed as if not part of the group... it worked too.
The police stop was to give advice on safe riding, and everyone said the cops were pretty cool. We then stopped at the cafe at cross houses, but by this time, I wasn’t comfortable riding with that many bikes Especially with riders I don’t know (even though I was tail end Charlie)
So me and a couple of mates, split off, and did our own thing, it was safer, and there was more riding than stopping and talking.. a most enjoyable day.
Bloody ell Andy, thats a big group !!.
I had arranged to go out with two lads on Gixers, and meet a few of my old Ducati mates at Bala, however one of the gixers was a no show. So, two of us set off to Bala. We got there but the Duc lads were ready for getting off so for me and Martin (gixer) it was a very short stop. However, one of my Duc mates asked had I seen the speed van on the way into Bala, we hadnt, so I'm hoping he'd moved on or we werent actually speeding.....!
Onto Barmouth and we stopped for a stretch an a photo line up. I am actually right at the back with Martin.
Most of the Duc guys wanted to get some food at Betwys as they'd eaten before our arrival at Bala. However Martin and myself were peckish so we stayed and had some chips. By the time we got to Betwys they had already gone, no bother, nice ice cream and coffee and we set of back home too.
I actually prefer smaller groups. Usually its just me and Phil, the guy you met with me at Bala last year on the S1000RR, but he is bikeless at the mo. Big groups seem to attract attention, sometimes the unwanted kind. Mind you them Ducs with Termis get a fair bit of attention as well !!.
Stuart
Andrew I went for a spin on the monkey this evening around 6 ish. I stopped to take a phone call and a lad on a Bike with a White bikini fairing stopped thinking I had broken down. He said he had been out with a group of 43 bikers. Really nice lad from Buckley, he must have been on your ride. In fact the bike looks like one on your photosOriginally Posted by Enoch
Steve
Last edited by higham5; 12th July 2020 at 21:46.
There were a few lads from Buckley Steve, I didn’t know any of them. But we met a chap on a white Honda with a bikini fairing.
He joined us on the ride and was from Buckley..
That sounds like him, nice chap, glad you all had a good ride.
Would have loved to have had a ride this weekend, but my left hand needs a bit more healing time after the carpal tunnel op on Tuesday, so I had to console myself with a couple of drives in the new car.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Can anyone recommend an effective breakdown assistance provider for a trip to Spain and France? I am obviously aware of the AA and RAC options and have also seen Start Rescue but it’s not so easy to find reviews from people who have actually used them for breakdown (and recovery) whilst overseas.
I was reading about a German provider who appear quite good but I can’t find the link.
Thanks (pic of bike getting ready for the trip).
To the best of my knowledge (which may not be up to date) this doesn’t exist in France.
Motorways have a recovery system where each segment is the responsibility of a specific local garage. I believe a AA or RAC European cover means they get in contact with the garage.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I think the German provider is Adac, if you google them you will see mixed reviews. Start rescue does Get good reviews. How old is the AT , is it covered by Honda’s own breakdown cover?Can anyone recommend an effective breakdown assistance provider for a trip to Spain and France? I am obviously aware of the AA and RAC options and have also seen Start Rescue but it’s not so easy to find reviews from people who have actually used them for breakdown (and recovery) whilst overseas.
I was reading about a German provider who appear quite good but I can’t find the link.
Thanks (pic of bike getting ready for the trip).
Adac, that’s it thanks ;) The AT is from 2017 and not covered by Honda as far as I am aware.
Struggling to find actual reviews from bikers who have broken down when in France/Spain. Most reviews seem to be from car drivers and people complaining about paying a policy excess when they didn’t read the small print. I’m just looking for a reliable provider who will arrange to fix or repatriate if necessary.
Its a Honda, it wont breakdown! Im guessing its wire Spoked wheels So a puncture could be an inconvenience. I run tubeless and carry rats tails and a small compressor. You could mitigate that by adding a slime type product, however Im not a big fan. Maybe just pack a run flat aerosol foam pack. If you look at other things, chain ideally new and pack a 50 ml bottle of oil. Get the right spanner for the rear hub, and cut it to length if its too big. Are you running led bulbs , if not Pack a bulb set.
Im guessing you are do a pad service now.
Last of all , lots of different length zip ties, which I mainly use to fix other folks bikes!
Failing that in Spain France Germany you are never far from a main dealer who could fix the bike which might lead to an unplanned stay Near a town.
I toured through Belgium Switzerland Italy and France two years ago on the bike and the only issue I had was a dry contact on an indicator bulb. I only had Euro breakdown through my insurer. I did gave to ring them up to activate it and the modern equivalent of a green card. About £25 from memory.
Enjoy your trip.
A friend broke down in France a few years back, covered by AA. A bloke in an old 205 turned up with a trailer about an hour later and took him to a local garage. It couldn’t be fixed as the ECU had fried, but the service was great. They sorted him out a hire car to continue the holiday, and shipped the bike back to the UK.
I think they will all use local operators, rather than their own. France and Spain are big countries to cover!
I can't make any suggestions, other than to check the terms very carefully.
A friend of mine got stuck when returning from Spain - he rode there and his wife did fly/hire to meet him.
In Spain, the wife's handbag was stolen with all her cards and her phone. All her cards were cancelled. Between them they just had his debit card.
To enable them to get back, he took a load of cash out on the card and she retained the card for the return journey.
He set out on the bike leaving her in Spain to complete the holiday then fly home.
He then broke down in France with a melted fuel pipe. Called his breakdown service who sent out a mechanic, the mechanic replaced the fuel hose and sent him on his way.
Next day the new pipe melted as the underlying overheating problem hadn't ben fixed so he called the breakdown service but they declined to help as he was only entitled to one breakdown per trip...
None of the recovery services would take him unless he could pay in advance - he couldn't as he had no cards and the replacements or new ones could only be delivered to his home address in the UK
The problem was solved by me fitting a tow bar to the car, borrowing a trailer, booking an overnight ferry and heading to the Dordogne to collect him, but as International Rescue is not always available, I'd highly recommend having a very good look at the terms of whatever breakdown cover you are considering to make sure it meets your needs!
One more thing: My experience of motorcycle riders solidarity here is a bit meh, but it is very much alive in France. Bikers will wave at each other, with a "V" sign or by flashing their headlights, or by sticking their boot out if they must keep their hands on the handlebars.
If you break down on a road (not motorways), you are virtually guaranteed that the next bike will stop. They may not be able to help directly but will do what they can (including, in my case, provide food and lodging as I was waiting for a part to be delivered, or going to the nearest petrol station, buy a jerrycan and bring back some petrol because I had forgotten to turn the fuel tap the right way).
It's often likely to be a local biker who will know who to turn to as well.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
That`s a great service!
I`m going to Bulgaria in August - can i have your phone number just in case?
The deal last time was that my mate covered the cost of the tow bar and the ferry and I covered the fuel. He also filled the boot of the car with beer on the way to the ferry.
Happy to do the same this time :-)
P.S. having checked, the cost of a tow bar for my current car is close to £800.
I am travelling with a friend so hopefully the first line is covered but good to know just in case. I am somewhat thorough my planning (wife calls it worrying) so I have some tools and spares on board so hopefully ok. I will give the AA a call as I have U.K. cover with them through my Lloyds bank account and I’m sure they will upgrade me.
If I remember correctly, it's an add on, not an upgrade and I am quasi certain they will indeed.
Also, you have a Honda meant to cross Africa, you should be fine ;)
My tip about riders' salute and the likes is still valid. At a red light, at a cafe's terrace where they sit next to their helmets, you will usually find a good source of local knowledge, whether it is for a good place to eat, a good place to kip, a field where you'll be allowed to camp if that's your thing, etc.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Same here for the most part.
I always stop, no exceptions, in doing so, I've met some great people.
Unfortunately it hasn’t been my experience in Kent.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I'm saddened to hear this.
Unfortunately, there's the always those on 2 wheels who will never become motorcyclists.
I was out over the weekend and managed to shed the rear tyre on some lovely Welsh rock/slate, as well as my camera mount snapping off, beating up the lenses.
Considering I was on a trail, and not a road, I was still fortunate enough to have several chaps offer assistance. Intitially I thought I had popped the tyre from the bead. We looked for a sign of puncture but couldn't see anything obvious. It was only after trying some tyre weld that we saw the foam pumping straight out of a 2" split. It was hidden from sight under a layer of crud.
I managed to ride out to a road and get recovered to a mates house where I swapped the tyre. Made me think about what to carry and whether to pop in some inner tubes before the next outing.
Anyway, some wind turbines....
That sounds like a total nightmare for the poor chap - how long did he have to wait for you to source and fit a tow bar then get out to him?
I think the bigest fail whilst i`ve been on foreign travel is having an indicator fall off.
I obtained a secondhand one from a bike shop in Italy and fixed it with that most useful of accessories for the traveller away on on a foreign motorbicycle sojourn; the cable tie..
BTW, what bike was he on?
Early Harley Sportster.
IIRC, he called me on the Saturday evening to say "I'm stuck, any ideas?"
I, slightly relaxed, said "Don't worry, I'll come get you"
Phoned a local tow bar place near Gloucester when they opened Monday morning. They said under the circumstances they could get and install the following day, so booked the overnight ferry for the Tuesday night.
Tow bar place were true to their word and installed it that day, so I left work, collected the car, went and hitched up a borrowed trailer, collected my father as navigator and headed to the ferry.
Off the ferry early doors on Wednesday and got to him early Wed afternoon. Quick turn around and back for the overnight ferry, stopping only to fill the car with fuel and beer.
We shared a case of Desperados waiting to board <ahem> then quick eat & sleep.
Off the ferry early doors again on Thursday and got back home late morning.
As he had AA cover in the UK, they were called to recover it from just round the corner from my house and i was in work to deliver a board report by 2 :-)
So do I.
Did it a couple of times yesterday and people seemed to be just waiting for others, so I just went on.
I have heard about leaving the helmet by the rear wheel is a distress sign, but have no idea if that is true.
I was going to guess either BMW or Harley, with Ducati an outsider..
Great rescue mission!
For the money you'd think that Triumph would include a black screw for the bar end
Quick ride out report for Saturday, bit late, but better late than never....errrr.....well....maybe..........
With apologies to our Welsh brothers of the bars for any inaccuracies.
A Tale of Three Llyns
For the non-Welsh speaking....Llyn is the given name for what we English blokes call a lake. North Wales has loads of them, all incredibly beautiful, most have a tale to tell.
2.30 this afternoon, chores finished, though 'sod it'...get bike out...there's a few hours riding can be squeezed into what's left of the afternoon.
So, rode into North Wales again, loads of long fast sweepers, nothing much else on the road. Fabulous.
Amazing ride through beautiful winding roads up to the Pondo at Llangollen (550m elevation), then back down the other side and on to Corwen. This was the home of the 14th century, self-proclaimed Welsh King Owain Glyndwr. He ruled for about 15 years during which time he very nearly took the English Crown. (Close call…!)
From Corwen, there’s an superb 12 mile twisty run to Bala Lake…or Llyn Tegid as the Welsh call it.
Bala Lake is the largest natural lake in Wales, at about 4 miles long and a half a mile-ish wide. Great place to stop for a few minutes just to chill…..great place for ice cream too.
You meet the nicest people on a Honda….in particular, Lara. Here’s Lara on the left .
Really interesting young lady, she was riding a beautiful 959 Panagale in white…judging by her Facebook page, I reckon she could hand me my arse on a plate on a bad day.
https://www.facebook.com/Laramotorev/
Don't do Facebook?....just google 'Laramoto'...you'll get the idea......
Eight miles north east and above Bala, I arrive at the second lake, or Llyn Celyn as it’s known to locals.
Llyn Celyn is a reservoir built sometime in the 60’s to provide a water supply for Liverpool. The valley was dammed and flooded, drowning a small village. Huge opposition to it at the time, the project got railroaded through, local folk lost farm land and homes, a graveyard and a small school were lost too...
The Welsh are quite rightly still pretty bitter about it today. According to my daughter, the Manic Street Preachers wrote a song about it, but that could be bollo*ks…. the winding road up past this lake is probably one of the fastest in the Bala area, ending with a long constant left hand radius hairpin at the far end looping around the top end of the lake, set up for the turn, drop it in, and just fire it round. Illegal speeds made even easier with a positive road camber....be rude no to.........
Returning back down towards Bala, there’s a 90 deg left which runs through a beautiful valley, 9 miles later arrive onto the usually fairly deserted A5 trunk road…left again one mile further I’m heading towards Llyn Brenig.
Yet another reservoir built to provide Liverpool with water. Llyn Brenig is on the edge of the Denbigh Moors, and is one of the Welsh Areas of Outstanding National Beauty.
The views can be spectacular. Part of the Denbigh Moors gives it’s name to the ‘Evo Triangle’ …an 18 mile triangular loop, used Evo c@r magazine, and BBC’s Top Gear…
And from Llyn Brenig, back home, about 35 miles….the run back was quick and trouble free.
Was home for beer o’clock... about 6.00pm….
The lady on the right is Mia, also a Ducati rider. A really nice person and she has a business doing N Wales motorcycle tours..You meet the nicest people on a Honda….in particular, Lara. Here’s Lara on the left .
Really interesting young lady, she was riding a beautiful 959 Panagale in white…judging by her Facebook page, I reckon she could hand me my arse on a plate on a bad day.
https://www.facebook.com/Laramotorev/
Don't do Facebook?....just google 'Laramoto'...you'll get the idea......
I was there on Saturday On my XDiavel and was chatting with Mia.
Lara was riding a Supersports with termis, Mia has the same bike but stock...
On occasions when the water level is really low, you can still see some of the houses that once made up the village..
Eight miles north east and above Bala, I arrive at the second lake, or Llyn Celyn as it’s known to locals.
Llyn Celyn is a reservoir built sometime in the 60’s to provide a water supply for Liverpool. The valley was dammed and flooded, drowning a small village. Huge opposition to it at the time, the project got railroaded through, local folk lost farm land and homes, a graveyard and a small school were lost too...
Last edited by Enoch; 13th July 2020 at 23:00.
My CBT is booked for 15th August!
I bought a cheap-ish helmet as they're not lending atm due to Covid (sensible) and some gloves.
Im torn between getting a 125 to grow confidence on for a year or so, and just doing the cbt, then asap doing the direct access and going for something like the Moto Guzzi V7 / RE / one of the options ive mooted here before.
Anyone have any ideas which is the better route?
Excellent news.
I'd suggest getting an inexpensive used 125 and running about on that even if it's just for a couple of months until the coordination for gears etc becomes second nature.
That way when you come to do direct access you'll have mastered the tricky bit.
You shouldn't lose much on a second hand 125 over a short period, and you can use it to practice between direct access lessons
For reference, my lad's ybr cost about £800 5 years ago. It's currently worth about £800.
Agreed, and I suspect that the timeline between passing CBT and booking/passing theory and mod 1 & 2 bike tests is such that the couple of months of waiting is almost inevitable (especially now when it's harder to book than it was pre-COVID). Celia, just do what I did - book as soon as you can and pick up a cheapish 125 to practice on in the interim (it was about two and a half months for me). I even agreed a buy back from the dealer who sold me the 125 so it was all very straightforward and the "rental" of the 125 ended up costing me less than £100 per month.
I agree with Gyp, it is what I did (27 years ago admittedly) and 4 months on a 125 gave me much more confidence for taking the test - although not direct access back then!
Okay perfect. I think you're right as 0-750cc with no practice inbetween is a bit alarming to think about.
Im off the idea of a monkey as saw one yesterday and they're TINY and I'm a bit lardy for 10 horses.
I once got a National Rally Bronze Award (250 miles in 24 hours) with a mere 3bhp. The YBR is 9bhp and has happily (ish) carried me and the lad together with a combined weight of about 180kg
I watched a YouTube video of a couple touring Thailand two up with luggage on a 125.
I'm a month and a bit ahead of you. I did my CBT on July 1st and originally had my theory test booked in for the following Friday. That was postponed as I'm not an essential worker but I've now got one for July 24th. Once I've passed my theory test I'll speak to the people I did my CBT with about a Direct Access course and Mod1/2 tests. Last time I spoke to them they told me that practical tests are now available but they're struggling to get their hands on slots so they're struggling to to plan their DA courses.
Had it not been for Covid, my original plan when I started thinking about this (about 10 years ago!) was to go straight from CBT to DA to big bike in one go. But now things have stretched out a bit I decided to get a 125 and picked up a Yamaha YBR125 yesterday. I paid a touch over £1000 for it and if I sell if for a touch less than £1000 after I pass my test I'll just think of it as 'hire'. I've had it less than 24 hours and have been out on it three times already clocking up 50miles. I reckon I'll benefit from the road experience and the bike handling which can only help before my big bike training.
And I have a Moto Guzzi V7 on my list too although the list is long and changes every time I see something else tempting.
Last edited by MakeColdplayHistory; 14th July 2020 at 12:55.
I'll add my voice to that C.
125 can be very good fun, and it will help you a lot with coordination, filtering, etc.
The only thing it cannot do as well as a bigger bike is speed, both in how fast and how long it takes to go fast. But they are a proper learning tool, and modern ones are significantly faster than my "Dr Who" (a 76 CG sport with WHO as its 3 letters on the reg). Bit of a time travel tool too, so the name stuck.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Er, ok, I’ll take your word for it!
A contradiction if ever I’ve heard one
Don’t take this seriously C, any bike can be fun and you don’t need lots of power. When you’re starting out, a small bike feels great; coming back down though and you realise how gutless they really are in comparison.
It's a hooligan toy compared to a BanthamA contradiction if ever I’ve heard one
Don’t take this seriously C, any bike can be fun and you don’t need lots of power. When you’re starting out, a small bike feels great; coming back down though and you realise how gutless they really are in comparison.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I quite like the look of the Hyosung Aquila gv125
Korean but gets a lot of good reviews and apparently they're quite adept at making engines that go on and on.
I'd stick with the known brands as you won't be on it long. Stepping stones don't have to be fancy.
I am sure it’s quite good but you’ll struggle to sell it more than with a Yam, Honda or Suzuki.
Also, more limited choice second hand, no?
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Aye, Japanese would be ideal but the likes of old Honda shadows are similar pricewise.
life choosing a 125 would be so much easier if I liked ones that look like sporty waspy wee things as they're everywhere.
What is your budget?
£1000?
£2000?
£3000?
£4000?
(all these are on Autotrader; you'll get more, and possibly at better prices on eBay, and even better prices on Gumtree)
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Budget 1.5-4 I guess.
like the shadow, the non plasticky ybr also dandy.
Id rather not HP a learner bike so something easy to get in and out of.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
