Catch Up Time

There's been a bit of a delay in me getting this report together due to pressure of work etc. However; here it is!!!
I had a very successful Welsh Rally gaining a Silver award and also a Dragon award.
The weather was changeable during the rally but nothing that was too uncomfortable. The rally was completed in the company of Jim, Mick, Teresa and Hannah who rode as pillion with Jim.
Getting back to the finish at a reasonable time meant that we also has a good choice of grub and I indulged in a curry & chips, really good comfort food when you're tired and hungry. That aside I had a great although windy ride on the day before the rally bagging all the North Welsh Landmarks with Jim and another British National Park at Snowdonia. On the Sunday after a nice late breakfast at Morrisons in Welshpool, I bade farewell to my fellow riders and made for the South West of Wales for another LM and BNPR run on the way home. This made for another full but enjoyable day and meant that I completed all the Welsh landmarks for this year. Back to earth with a bump though because having covered 90,000 miles, my bike now needed a cam belt change. The parts were ordered and fitted and it just now remains for me to clean the bike and get back out there at the earliest opportunity to wear out my tyres.

All Ready For The Welsh Rally

I've just given the Pan a wash and check over ready for the Welsh Rally. It was covered in dust after my run out on Sunday, most of which was picked up near Clun in Shropshire. Looks clean again now though.
I'll be making my way up to Wales on Friday and will be bagging the North Wales Landmarks before making my way to my overnight stop in Welshpool. I'll also be meeting Jim on his 1300 Pan for the duration of the weekend. It was Jim who encouraged me to take part in the Welsh this year for my first time. I'm really looking forward to a great weekend of riding whatever the weather may be.

Another 8 Landmarks Completed

I went out on another trip yesterday and rattled off 3 LM's in England and 5 in Wales, bringing my total so far to 28. I have now achieved a bronze award this year so far.

I also visited another British National Park at Brecon Beacons (photo), enjoyed glorious weather again with only some light rain for about 5 minutes all day. The Welsh rally is very much on the horizon now and I will be taking the opportunity to complete the rest of Wales as far as the RBR goes during the weekend.

9 More Landmarks Added To Total

Yesterday, I added another 9 Landmarks to my total. I started out at 07.30 and took photo's at Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire.

That now puts me at 20 completed.
I had brilliant weather almost all the way and no rain, so despite travelling 430 miles, the bike still looks good apart from the odd suicidal fly. Obviously the bike is too quiet with the new silencers as they can't hear me coming.
The photo was taken at South Croxton in Leicestershire and gives some idea of the weather experienced.
I also met some really nice people at Rous Lench in Worcestershire and partook of a mug of tea and a chat with them, they really know how to make people feel welcome. Not so sure about Birmingham though where I witnessed a local lass dropping her kit and taking a dump at the side of the road on the pavement in a built up area with pedestrians passing by. Perhaps that isn't unusual in that part of the world; was a bit surprised though. Oh well better go now, looking forward to the Welsh Rally in 2 weeks and already planning capturing LM's in the area the day before.

Eleventh Landmark Chalked Up

I rode out after dinner tonight to my eleventh landmark this year. I did the tithing stone at Beaconsfield. It was a pleasant ride in the sun and for the first time this year, I wore my summer kit. Hopefully this will be a good year for weather and I'll have many more opportunities for evening rides as the days get longer.

Up to Date

Time I was bringing this blog up to date. I managed to get one day out on the rally over the Easter weekend. On the Friday I decided that I would do East Anglia, so set off at about 09.30 and did the landmarks in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, before heading home. I also visited How Hill in The Broads to take a photo of my second National Park.

After having very slight drizzle all the way to the Dartford crossing, I emerged into brilliant sunshine that wa to last until I got to Kings Lynn later in the day, from then on the heavens opened and I arrived back home with a really filthy bike, Ah well!!!!

On Wednesday 15th April I decided to go out after dinner to do the LM's in East Sussex and enjoyed a superb ride in really warm weather and two good walks to the LM locations.

This evening I went to do the LM in Kent and had another ride in 17 degree weather to the very interesting LM in Dover. That's it for now folks, I've knocked off 10 LM's so far with 2 National Parks. More good riding to come and I'm already looking forward to the Welsh Rally early next month.

Back In The Saddle

My exhaust silencers turned up today and because of the preparation that I had already done on Sunday, they only took 15 minutes to fit. My bike is now running quietly once again so I'm very happy. I decided to do a quick run out to burn in the exhausts and bag a local landmark, so did a quick run up the motorway to Windsor and LM 03. Interesting place especially when under the scrutiny of a local cop. Anyway, while I was there I couldn't resist taking a photo of Windsor Castle, so here it is, looking up Castle Hill with the Queen Victoria Statue in the foreground.

Buggeration Factor Hits Early

I got hit early by the buggeration factor this year. I got up at 5 o'clock this morning and left home to rendezvous with Jim at his place at 7.00.
All went well, I arrived on time and we grabbed a quick cup of coffee and set out for Jack's Hill Cafe near Towcester. The bike was running extremely well in the cold damp morning air and I was just thinking what a brilliant machine this is.
I was listening to Pink Floyd's wish you were here and thoroughly enjoying it as always when I noticed a louder than usual exhaust note, I was about 2 miles short of Towcester at the time. I pulled the clutch and gave it a rev, bugger!!! it's me. I carried on to Jack's hill by which time the noise was very obvious. When I stopped outside the cafe a quick look told me that the right hand silencer had bought the farm and completely broken through where it enters the collector box.
That was my run to the Annual Rally Start Event near Barnsley cut short. After partaking of breakfast, I had to bail out and head for home. A noisy but uneventful ride put me back in Redhill where I immediately took off the broken silencer and eased the broken peice out of the collector. These silencers are the same age so I proceeded to remove the L/H one for checking, as suspected that broke in the same place, so that was also removed. I took the opportunity while in that area to remove and de-rust both stands and give them a coat of smoothrite. Now I just need to wait for David Silver to open tomorrow and I can order my new parts and get back on the road over Easter. The photo shows the two severed ends and the inside section of both silencers that you never see until they come off, pretty rotten huh!!

And They're Off

We're up and running, Ladies and Gentlemen the 2009 Round Britain Rally has begun. Being a week day work had to come first, but after an early dinner, I literally got on my bike and made for my first landmark of 2009. The LM is in Ewhurst, Surrey; that much is not a secret, but you'll have to wait to see what photo I submit at the end of October. I will take what are hopefully interesting pictures at or near the towns and villages I visit and post them here as the rally continues. This is the first and as you can see The Bulls Head pub in Ewhurst is a very interesting place, mainly because it serves beer!!!!

Sod the DIY!!!

The weather was brilliant today so I ventured out this afternoon to take a photo of my first British National Parks Ride location. I just wanted a gentle ride in the sun so chose my nearest location which is at Seven Sisters Country Park on the South coast. Had a brilliant ride but had a couple of gremlins on the bike to sort out. Nothing serious, but my ambient digital temp guage was showing error instead of the temp, which was just down to a poor connection, plugging and unplugging did the trick. The other problem was a curios one in which neither my Zumo sat nav or my Inforad GPS camera warning would not communicate with satellites. This was due to them being too close together, found after experimenting. I moved the Inforad aerial to a location further away from the handlebars and everything was perfectly OK with excellent reception on both units.

What a Scrubber!!!!

Well, I've been doing a little more to the bike today in preparation for the RBR, which included use of a newly purchased Sonic Scrubber. This gadget is like an electric toothbrush for bikes. Used with the right chemical solutions it makes an easy job of all those little nooks and crannies that you can't get into. I found it especially useful around brake calipers and wheels where you just can't get a rag or normal brush in. I bought mine directly from Halfords and use it in conjuction with Meguiars Hot wheels spray which is superb at removing brake dust residue without stripping the finish from your wheels.
Here's to a good clean rally when it starts on 1st April.

Getting Ready

Yes, I finally managed to get out and do some work on the bike over the weekend. Brakes have been serviced, checked and lubricated to prevent siezure of the pistons, levels checked and general lubrication and checking fasteners. I even gave it a wash in readiness for my forthcoming trip to the Ace Cafe this coming Sunday. May even be able to get a bit of polish on the plastic if the weather holds out and I get the time before leaving on Sunday.

As you can see in the picture in one of my posts below of my bike covered in snow. It lives outside as I don't have a garage, but I have a really good cover that helps to prevent the major problems of parking a bike outdoors. Actually I've had the cover since 2003 and it's still perfectly serviceable so I can highly recommend it. It is a heavy duty cover from Motrax and if memory serves me correctly cost was about £35. When you consider that I've had nearly 6 years use out of it, that's quite impressive.

Things are moving slowly

I've posted my entries for the British National Parks Ride and the Welsh National Rally today. I've also bought a new modular or flip type helmet. This time it's a Nolan N103.
I have several requirements of a helmet these days for rallying. I prefer a flip type, preferably with an internal dark visor for those sunny days and the lining has to be totally removable so it can get washed each night when camping to get rid of the day's sweat. This helmet is the only one I've found to date that meets all these requirements as well as being comfortable. There are flip helmets out there that cost a good deal more and don't offer anything like as many attributes.
It was also very easy to add my autocom to. I dont use the autocom speakers, but if I did there is plenty of room for them in this helmet. Now to the best bit!!! I paid about £70 less than most prices that I've seen online, this was less that £200.
There's been no progress on the bike other than charging the battery with my optimate as I'm still limited for time due to DIY. On that front I'm making excellent progress and should see the living room finished well before April when the RBR starts.

I've now got my entry number for this year which is 110, so that's everything done on the paperwork front. I'm now just waiting for 2 things to happen. The first is that the weather needs to improve so that I can fettle the bike ready for the riding ahead and the second is that the clock needs to keep going round until we get to about the middle of March when I will receive an e-mail from Dave the Disorganiser with my clues for this year. Not sure what award I'll get this year, as I'm approaching the rally from a different angle. I'll be taking part in several different motorcycling events this year so will largely only do LM's as a secondary traget and see how many I get by the end of the year. In the meantime, I'm using my time wisely by decorating the lounge (ah well).

Blast, that's put paid to any preparation for the time being, it's too damn cold to get out there and start working on the Pan now.
I need to give the brake pistons, their periodic clean to ensure that they don't bind as well as giving the whole bike a once over and general lubrication of all controls etc. Guess it'll have to wait until the weather improves somewhat.

Hi, once again I shall be taking part in the Round Britain Rally this year on my Honda Pan European and this blog is designed to keep anyone interested up to date with my preparations and progress on the 2009 rally. Of course, you wont get any clues or photo's here to any of this year's landmarks, but I hope to include other photo's that I'll be taking during my travels around the countryside in pursuit of my rally landmarks.