Total Motorcycle Community Forums

We had arranged to go to the Motorcycle Show at Spalding in Lincolnshire. Keith from Potters Bar on a KTM Adventurer, Richard on a K3 SV1000 and me from Welwyn Garden City on a K2 SV650s met at the slip road on the A1 at Knebworth at 9am. On the way up we were passed by three bikes from the Stevenage & district MCC that Richard and I are members. We tucked in behind for a while then they hit an area with no speed cameras and they were gone. I can’t see the point of putting your licence in jeopardy after all there are mobile cameras out there.
We turned off towards Huntingdon and then on through the Fens up to Spalding. It was a fascinating ride as the land was so flat and the roads consisted of long bumpy straights with big ditches on either side ending in right angled corners which could be quite slippery. Poor Richard was suffering as his rear tyre had lost its profile and his bike was skipping around a bit. As we were parking the bikes the other three arrived. I got some stick from them for organising pirate club runs but Richard saved the day by saying we were the slow section of the club. The show was OK and we stayed for a couple of hours.
We decided to make for home and when we got to our bikes the other three were about to leave and invited us to tag along. The inevitable happened, Richard and I got stuck behind a lorry on a narrow road and they were gone. Keith went with them just to see how they ride. Keith doesn’t really like riding in larger groups so keeps to people he knows. He is very tolerant riding with Richard and me as we aren’t the fastest of riders but I reckon he could outride any of them being an ex racer. He is so smooth and to follow him is a joy.
We followed on together and when we stopped for fuel we decided we were really bored with the A1 dual carriageway so cut off down the lanes to see what new territory we could find. Richard led as he knows the area better than me and I didn’t have my Garmin Quest as it had gone back for repair. To digress, the Garmin is a wonderful tool as it allows you to wander off not caring where your nose takes you and it will always get you home, choose the shortest rather than the fastest route and it takes you down some very interesting roads, you could be on a small lane running parallel to a jam packed arterial road, it does make you feel smug. Anyway we ended up going around Cambridge and eventually found the Comfort Café where Richard had his second breakfast of the day (I wished I had his metabolism) and we ended up chatting for an hour or so. All in all we had a very satisfying day.
I’ve had a bit of a nightmare 10 days. First my Garmin packed up on me and it had to returned, Then Kathy (my wife) who goes to work early woke me at 6:45 to say there was a leak in the bathroom which entailed draining the system to get at it. Then the boiler wouldn’t light as the thermal coupling decided to pack in. Then it broke off whilst trying to remove it having seized in the gas valve controller and being 32 years old no parts were available. I managed to drill the seized part out and fit the new thermal coupling but the boiler just wouldn’t light, our plumber couldn’t get to us to help so I just had to keep trying and of course the weather got down to freezing. It’s amazing how you can improvise to keep warm. I kept on at the boiler and low and behold it eventually worked so we were only two days without heating, and then the weather warmed up.
I had been asked to pick Kathy’s nephew Ryan from Heathrow, he was due in at 6:40 am from Perth, Australia, the traffic was a nightmare and my exhaust pipe decided to part company with the silencer at Watford so I hobbled on to Heathrow only to find I had missed him. Eventually I got home to find a message on the answer phone to say he had been delayed due to plane trouble and he would be arriving the next day. I found someone to do the exhaust at a cost of £146 which was a big shock and picked Ryan up the next day.
After the weekend bike run I thought my heated grips should have been warmer than they were so set about having a look see one evening so I would know what to do the to it the next day. I had planned to change the oil, oil filter, air filter, fit a fender extender and hopefully fit a Scottoiler. When I got to the bike the next day the bike was dead so I tried charging it but something was wrong as the alarm kept going off and I just couldn’t stop it so there was I on the phone to Datatool with the alarm going off every 30 seconds or so trying to find out how to turn it off. I was told to turn the ignition on but as I had a flat battery there was no ignition so in the end I had to take out the main unit and disconnect the loudspeaker. I disconnected the heated grips and low and behold things were back to normal. Now I have to find out if there’s a short in there somewhere, if there is that means cold hands for the ride on Sunday. Its Saturday tomorrow so will finish off by doing the fender extender and plan out where the Scottoiler reservoir is going to be mounted and the delivery pipe route to the rear sprocket.
Phoned Garmin to see what was happening to my Quest. They couldn’t find it on the system but someone did ring back, took some details and promised to chase thing up. As I put the phone down I had a parcel delivery, you’ve guessed it, it was my Quest and a brand new one at that. Maybe things are on the up, something has gone right.
Saturday – First job was fit the fender extender and wished I hadn’t started. I had marked it all out with a pencil and the marks for the holes looked pretty equal around the guard so I drilled and fitted the extender and guess what the holes were on either side didn’t line up. It looked horrible but there was nothing I could do but fit it to the bike. It’s just as well you only look at one side of the bike at a time so it might not be that obvious. I must learn to leave jobs like that until I have fully come round in the morning and got into the swing of things.
It seems the control for the grips may be the culprit so I will have to source one as cheaply as possible.
I’m all ready for tomorrows run just waiting on Keith to phone to see if Neil on an XL 500 Honda will be coming and how long they have out. Neil is a taxi driver in London so sometimes works on a Sunday, it all depends on how good a week he’s had. It’s amazing the knock on effect things like that have on others.
Sunday - Well it worked out Neil could only make a short ride and Keith felt obligated as his uncle to go with him. So it ended up with Richard and I organising our own ride. I suggested go we out to Foxes Café in Berinsfield in Oxfordshire about 60 mile ride and then we would decide if we wanted to go further. Christ it was cold but my gear held up well. I had bought some Windstopper socks and the equivalent in Oxford long johns and they worked well. So far this winter I have worn my textile lined over trousers worn over jeans but today was going to be dry so I wore the Oxford long johns under my leather m/c trousers at first I thought I had made a mistake but I got used to it and they the combination turned out very comfortable. I wore my textile jacket with my Hi Vis jacket over the top. I feel safer and it is added warmth and plus its waterproof. As for gloves I had a pair of ski gloves inside my Belstaff over mitts and again I was reasonably warm. I would have been very warm if my heated grips had been working. Boy they are good to have.
We had a good breakfast and a chat then I bumped into Steve Allen who was an old friend from The Chiltern Classic Motorcycle Club (motto ride it don’t hide it) I went to the Isle of man with him and two others in 1978, we had a quick chat and he was off home. We then looked around M & P as Richard wanted some thermal socks but they had sold out. Sod’s law really works don’t it.
We decided to go onto the Cotswolds and ended up in Bourton on the Hill. We had a walk round, took some pictures and then Richard said he was hungry (where does he put it all). After the fish stop we decided time was running out and started for home at a good steady pace with Richard leading, as he is scrubbing in new tyres it was best we go at his pace. We made good time stopping in Aylesbury to choose what road to take; we opted for the A41 by pass as time was now against Richard. We got separated and made our own way home at quite a fast pace, I was up near the 90’s at times. I arrived home to a lovely welcome from grandchildren and a wonderful roast dinner about to be served up with six of us round the table, a lovely end to a lovely day. I rang Richard and found he made it home safely. I’ll see him at the club tomorrow night and no doubt will have a post mortem on the ride.

Thursday - Sod’s law is still getting at me. On the run on Sunday the bike was backfiring on the over run and popping softly in the exhaust on low revs. I had fitted new plugs and air filter so replaced them with the old ones to go back to square one but it still popped away on tick over so put back the new ones and run the engine again and it seemed OK, then I took the prop away from the tank to bolt it down and it started popping again. It seems that as the tank gets closer to the air filter housing the revs die by about 100 and it starts the popping. Everything under the tank is clear and no pipes are trapped. I just can’t work it out. Somebody on the SV60.org site say he is having the same problem since having his bike serviced, as long as no harm is being done I suppose it’s OK but I do like it running correctly.
Keith lent me some films of the TT, the Brands Hatch Super Prix of 1989 where John Surtees got together a wonderful collection of racing bike including Gilera 4’s, Benelli 4, MV 4’s, Honda 6 loads of Manx Nortons, AJS and Matchless singles and loads more. He also lent me his own videos of Classic meeting that featured some of the above bikes so I set about getting them all onto DVD and have just finished. I was at that Super Prix and the 1963 TT which was one of the featured races of the TT films, such great memories and I feel so lucky to have been there.
In fact as far as bike racing goes I haven very lucky as I Marshalled at Brands Hatch in the sixties, Got press photographers passes for the Grands Prix at Silverstone in the 70’s and 80’s. I must get the programmes out sometime and refresh my memory of the races and who was there.

I’d been promising to replace our bathroom suite for a long time; in fact the new bath has been in the garage waiting to be fitted for about six months. I always had a reason not to do it but now Kathy has taken a week off work to help, I mean, supervise me. My heart was not in it at all because all I could think about was the problem with my bike. Luckily she visited a friend and it was bright sunlight so I reasoned I could wheel the bike out of the garage and have a proper look in natural light after all I could do the bathroom anytime in the evening. I found the fault pretty quickly. I noticed as the tank was almost lowered the fuel pipe from the tank was kinking and ran my fingers around the pipe and found a small tongue of a split, I couldn’t remove it from the carburettor without damaging it so I stuck it with rubber solution from a bicycle puncture repair outfit and strapped it up with tape and its back to normal. The pipe is black so in the garage with artificial light I didn’t see the split in the shadows cast under the tank. If that pipe is a standard length then there must be other SV 650’s with similar problems. I know some of the riders on the SV650.org site say it’s normal to have back firing and popping in the exhaust especially in winter, in fact they think it good fun. Sad people.
I went to the bike show at Alexandra Palace yesterday, it wasn’t bad, bit like a market, and all the stands seemed to be in the same place as last year. Managed to buy a few useful things and then was suddenly woken from my thoughts by Steve Allen from my old club who I bumped into at Foxes Café a few weeks back. I tracked Steve down last year as I hadn’t seen him for ten years or so and found out a small number of the old Chiltern Classic Club still meet up at various pubs around Aylesbury on a Thursday night so I went over a couple of times, it was great to see them again, it was as if time had stood still.
I used the Garmin Quest to get to the show and I still have to marvel at it, oh what a great birthday present from Kathy.
I didn’t go for a ride last Sunday as I was visiting my Brother near Rochester and of course it was a brilliant sunny day, sod’s law, especially as we spent most of the time indoors except for watching his grandson play football.
Saturday - Richard rang to say he was having trouble with his bike, his battery was flat. I’m sure you will hear what happened in his next instalment but what he needed from me was a copy of the System 3 alarm manual which I copied and e-mailed to him and to arrive at his house on Sunday morning with jump leads and a bolt for his battery connection so we can get out and meet Keith and Neil at the Silver Ball.

It’s a beautiful morning and it all seems to be going pear shaped. At the moment I’m sitting here in my leathers typing this up waiting for a call from Richard. He had his battery on charge for 4 hours last night but still no life in it so he is trying to locate one this morning. We are supposed to meet Keith and Neil at 10-10:30 this morning but the bike shops open at about that time so I can’t see that happening.
Evening - Richard eventually located a battery at Bike Stop in Stevenage Old town, the one shop we were certain wouldn’t be able to help. So I got kitted up and picked it up for him and also getting the club’s 10% discount for him. It was one of those dry charged batteries with the electrolyte in tubes. We had to wait for half an hour for it all to settle before running the bike so went and had a cup of tea and a chat with Di who was just going out shopping with her daughter. She was in good form and very cheerful but I couldn’t help thinking that is was exactly a year ago at the Stevenage Club dance we were all on the disco floor having a good old jig about and having fun and now her daughter is pushing her to the shops in a wheelchair.
After Di left we got ourselves together , fitted the battery and set off on a mystery run, it was a mystery because neither of us new where to go so whoever was leading just changed direction at random and found good and bad places and roads. Among them was Grafham Water, a nice place to stop that had nice food.
Goodness knows what is being put on our roads this winter, it’s slippery, leaves the bikes in a terrible mess and does nothing for your confidence. The only good thing is it is teaching a feel for the bike and road surfaces. Later in the afternoon when the damp air came down Richard’s bike was leaving tyre marks on the road rather like in the wet but these stayed and were black. It was the round contour of the tyre biting into whatever has been spread on the roads. We saw some lovely villages, ugly industrial estates, had some interesting conversations and covered about 100 miles. All in all a good day out.

I forgot to mention I signed up for the Advanced Motorcycling Club at the Alexandra Palace Bike Show. I had been thinking about it for some time, asking people who had tried it and not liked it very much but I was attracted to the idea of improving my riding. On their stand I met up with a member of my local group and asked a lot of questions particularly about “making progress”. You see I’m not too fussed about getting pass cars in a hurry, I can wait, but I do like to bend swing on the open road as fast as is safe and comfortable. My issues were mostly answered but then he said motorcyclists use about a third of their safe braking ability, now I was interested. It was something I hadn’t given too much thought to but instinctively knew I was lacking in that area, so I signed up and paid my money.
The club meets monthly which was last Tuesday, I’m glad I went as I made welcome and met a few people who put my mind at ease about joining one of their club runs which brings me to today, Sunday.
I woke to find it tipping down with rain and as I was expecting dry weather had to revise what to wear. The meeting place was the Baldock services on the A1, 15 or so bikes turned up which was a nice surprise. After a briefing about the marker system we were off and I immediately felt comfortable with their company on the road. I suppose the comfort area was knowing all the riders were either trainees (associates), advanced riders or observers (trainers), in other words they ride to a system so the unexpected doesn’t happen except with other road users. We did about 130 very wet miles with a break about half way. It certainly helped to wake up the old wet road skills, I used to love it in the wet as it really concentrates your mind, observation and anticipation and to be doing it in the company of good sensible riders was a joy. I finished the ride on a high even though I dropped my bike doing a slow U turn, I somehow hit the kill switch and it stopped dead and just dropped suffering a broken brake pedal.
For those who are not familiar with the marker system, it entails having a leader who point to where the rider behind should stop to mark where a change of direction will occur, the marker stays there until Tail End Charley wearing a red bright vest arrives. Apparently TEC must be an observer with first aid skills. The marker must remain no matter how long it takes for TEC to arrive as there may have been an accident or breakdown. It works really well and nobody gets left behind. The leader generally sets a good pace and riders in between him and TEC can overtake as much as they like but that of course means they do more marking. AS I said I really enjoyed it and can’t wait now for some training.
My heated grips switch/cheat controller has packed in and I got fed up with cold hands so bodged a pair of bar muffs. I was in my loft and found two hoods to our old Barber coats, perfect I thought. I found some plastic curved strips used for painting skirting boards and pop riveted them to the hoods, bolted the finished muff to the bars using the on the bar ends, tied the two together with string and low and behold warm dry hands on a very wet ride. The string will be replaced with a suitable strap and a bit more stiffening in the muff and they will do very nicely.

Well the bar muffs are working fine, I haven’t done the improvements though.
I had my first observed run with the Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists (IAM), it went very well even though I had two observers. My observer David had asked if I minded the chief observing coming along to observe him observing me as he was training for a senior observer position. I got high marks for the ride and was very pleased with myself but then I received an email with my copy of the report, the message explained that I had been marked down on the advice of the chief observer as it was my first ride and shouldn’t be marked that high on my first outing. I thought that was a pretty rotten thing to do, if I had ridden well I deserved the marks. Anyway I was diplomatic and went along with it .
Had another good run last Sunday with the IAM with very few major roads, 7 bikes turned up on a very cold and windy day. The numbers were down as there was another training session that attracted about 40 bikes in all, that was observes as well as associates. I did about 130 miles or so and arrived home for lunch about 2pm. Keith with the KTM Adventurer had left a message to ring him and he persuaded me to go out again with him for the rest of the daylight. I had a really good days riding.
Had another observed run with David on Monday, this time there was another pupil on his first assessment ride; he was good and got high marks. I did wonder if they would have been reduced if the chief observer had been with us though.
My observer is sales manage for the local BMW dealer and I had visited him to arrange my first observed ride, when I got home I teased Kathy, my lovely wife, that I have thrown caution to the wind and spent £10,000 on a BMW. Her reply stunned me, “if you would one special treat I really wouldn’t mind”. Well my mind went into overdrive about what bike to have and do you know what I haven’t a clue. I’m only 5ft 9ins and 29/30” inside leg so a KTM is out of the frame, most of the BMW’s are too heavy, so I am waiting to have a good look a the BMW f800 models but I think I’ll end up making the SV into a good little touring bike. So bar risers, centre stand, rear carrier and a gel seat will start the ball rolling. I have the Baglux tank cover and bag and a top box fitted to a spare rear seat. I don’t take passengers and don’t like the way top boxes sit so high and far back. The rear carrier is to take a tent and sleeping bag when needed.
I have been reading Laurie Lees book about walking through Spain and thought it might be a good route to follow, it’s just an idea at the moment so no work has been done in planning the trip.
Richard hasn’t been able to get out on Sundays as Di’s son is away so can’t take care of her. I sort of miss his company and long chats at our coffee and breakfast stops I hope he can make for Sunday’s ride to Brighton for the Pioneer run. For you non Brits have a look at these links, it’s a great day out. It looks like its going to be cold, just hope its dry.
http://www.imagesbrighton.com/picweek121.htm
http://www.imagesbrighton.com/picweek121.htm
http://ukpix.com/pioneerrun2005/
http://www.realclassic.co.uk/ridesfiles ... 41300.html
http://www.vmcmotor.com/Pages/Pictures/ ... n_2004.htm

Well I ended up going to Brighton on my own, Richard was away in Lincolnshire for a well deserved rest, Keith had committed himself to go out with his nephew Neil who has just purchased a 950 KTM Adventure and wanted to get used to it and as it’s the same bike as Keith’s he wanted his opinion on set up etc.
The run around the M25 was as boring as always except for watching the antics of the over takers who give such late signals and dive into the smallest of gaps taking away vital breaking and thinking distance. What a pity there isn’t a camera to capture those manoeuvres and issue heavy fines, I reckon lack of lane discipline is one of the biggest causes of accidents and the worst of it is the perpetrator often leaves the accident behind him.
I got off the M25 eventually and found the route the old bikes were taking to Brighton and managed to follow a BSA Gold Star for a while, he wasn’t getting through the traffic in built up areas, unfortunately I lost him when I was caught by a traffic light, it didn’t half bring the memories back especially as he was using racing oil, the sound and the smell was wonderful.
A favourite stopping place is a lovely village/small town that I can’t remember the name of near Handcross. There were some absolutely gorgeous bikes there including a couple of Vincents. You name it and it seemed to parked somewhere along the road, it seems to be a point where people ride out to meet up and have a beer or coffee and then either return home or carry on to Brighton.
The rest of the ride was really pleasant and the air was getting warmer which made it very comfortable. I found a spot to park right next to a Guzzi Le Mans with a large alloy tank and ally side panels, it looked mean and lean. There was great turn out of bikes and trikes. There were four or five on the pavement outside the pier, one believe or not had a Jaguar V12 engine in it and it looked great, the engineering was superb.
I met up with some interesting people, one when having the worst fish and chips ever on Madeira Drive, he was biking over to Portugal for what is said to be the biggest rally in Europe. Another was an old feller who asked me if I knew what I was looking at. It was a Puch and he informed me it was a split single and we ended up chatting for about 40 minutes, he was so interesting.
The Vintage bikes always amaze me with their differing designs and configurations eg a steam engined bike, an in line four cylinder water cooled shaft drive, all forms of belt drives and many more. Mind you half the time I have no idea what I’m looking at but I do appreciate the effort of keeping them on the road and making it down to Brighton. I think it one of the best events of the year.
I rode home along the coast to Newhaven and pulled off the main road down a lane for a time and stopped and set my GPS for East Grinstead and was taken down some beautiful roads with great scenery and then it was onto the boring M25 and home.
Didn’t have a ride today (Sunday) as we had visitors and the Moto GP was on, I just had to see the first one live and what happens, we get a house full of family coming to see Kathy on Mothering Sunday, luckily they went just as the big race was about to start. I’m really lucky as Kathy loves the Moto GP and is an ardent Rossi fan. Valentino certainly takes after his father Graziano; I remember seeing him at Silverstone with his long hair flowing from under his helmet. I was lucky as I could get a photographers press pass for the British Grand Prix as a stringer for UPI , my brother worked for them, I could go anywhere on the circuit and I now realise what a privilege it was. I must put the pictures on my web site and post the url.
I must wash my bike and car before the hose ban comes into force at the beginning of April and get all that salt and grime off. At least it is now warmer and raining so the road salt will be washed away, just hope there is no more icy days and it is the last of the salt.

I seem to have lost track of time as Kathy and I seem to have spent our time in hospitals, dentists and opticians.
Sunday 2nd April Keith, Richard and I met up in Hertford but we all seemed to want different things from the ride so some map searching for a route took place, I had one sorted on my GPS but it didn’t go down well. At last we agreed on a general direction and we ended up at Heybridge Lock in Essex arriving about 12noon only to find they seemed to have a local law that anything resembling a cooked breakfast must not be served after 11am. Richard found this particularly difficult due to his allergies so we had to split so he could find something to his taste. After eating we made our way back home via Chelmsford and ended up at Finchingfield. Finchingfield is a beautiful village in a hollow with a duck pond, village green and a couple of typical village tea rooms and loads of bike turn up there, but the real attraction is the roads leading there. They are a real test of riding skills and I don’t need speed but smoothness, the bends are glorious and easily catch you out. After that we made it to Sawbridgeworth and then down some more great country lanes to Ware and back to Hertford. All in all it ended up a very good day.
Last Sunday 23rd Keith, his nephew Neil on KTM 950 Adventures and me SV650s K2 had a great ride through the lanes to Red Lodge just north of Newmarket where we had breakfast then on to our favourite, Finchingfield where we stayed long enough to look at some bikes and have a cup of tea and a bun and then on home. It was one of the best rides I have been on. The weather was nice and warm enough to wear ventilated leathers, the roads dry with plenty of grip, in other words perfect.
I’ll post some pictures when I work out how to do it.

I had just fitted a Scottoiler and was out testing it finding my way to Sawbridgeworth BMW in Hertford my IAM observer’s bike shop, hoping to see the new F800 but he was too busy to talk and its not out until May 13th anyway. As I walked out to my bike I realised I didn’t have my new glasses, the last I saw of them was hooked over the handle of my tank bag which was on my bike. Well I thought that was £225 down the drown, it was pretty obvious to me they had fallen off whilst riding and could be anywhere, so I went home annoyed at my stupidity. On arriving there were my glasses laying of the footpath outside my house, I thought they must be damaged, on picking them up not only were they undamaged they were my reading glasses which came free with the other pair which were safe on our dining table.
So I decided to take a video tape over to Keith at Potters Bar, we sat in his back garden drinking tea and chatting and just chilling out with kids riding around on a Suzuki Monkey bike. I thought I would use my Garmin Quest to find a way home that didn’t use highways (main roads) and it took me down a small lane to a junction where I turned right after waiting for an oncoming car from my left. I pulled out taking my time and as I was going quite slowly I was well to the left. The road curved to my left so I didn’t have much vision then all hell broke loose. Coming at me side on about 3 feet from my kerb was a Porsche totally out of control rear end facing my kerb, it was amazing how at times of emergency how things seem to go into slow motion. I saw there was a two to three foot gap between the car and the kerb and thought I can make it through there, then I thought suppose the tyres gripped and threw it back towards me, I also realised I didn’t have the angle to mount the sloping kerb onto the grass as I might slip back into the path of the oncoming Porsche so I tried to lay it onto the grass and get away from the bike as it fell but my leg got trapped, the car whistled by me just missing my bike. The Porsche’s rear end swung clockwise 270 degrees and ended up facing the opposite way slap bang in the middle of the road straddling the centre line. The car I had let by at the junction realised I wasn’t following and thought the worse as the Porsche had only just missed him and turned round to see what had happened. He had his wife and two children in his car and wanted to do something violent to the Porsche driver but I managed to talk him out of it. I was luck as the Porsche driver gave me his details and I had two witnesses. All I could think about afterwards was had I been driving my car I would have had the rear end of a Porsche which is the heavy bit crashing into me and I think I may not have survived. How the Porsche managed to stay on the road I will never know. Today Sunday I went back to take some video and still pictures of the skid markings. As far as I could make out the marks went on for 120 yards or so. Strangely no one thought of calling the police, I suppose because there wasn’t much apparent damage to my bike and I was only bruised a bit. I’ll wait and see what the total damage to my

May

Well the Porsche driver has reneged on his promise to pay me and is even trying to put the blame on me saying I shouldn’t have jumped off my bike as he passed me with plenty of room to get by, bastrd. So it going to be through the insurers, I did so want him to pay out of his own pocket.
My bike is running OK but was in the repair shop having the shims and carbs checked over so I couldn’t use it for Di’s funeral (SV Wolf’s widow) A few of the Stevenage Club arrived on their bikes to escort the coffin to the crematorium which was a nice touch and asked for by Di. If you judge a person by their friends and relatives around them then Di was a wonderful person. There were so many people saying such nice things about a real nice person. Thanks Richard for inviting me along.
I’ve been setting the bike up for a trip to France; I’m going over to Dijon for the Coupes Moto Legende on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th June, it is supposed to be about the best classic meeting of bikes in Europe, if not the world. As far as I can make out bikes are paraded around the track all day long but I’m hoping there will be some proper races as well. According to the adverts Phil Read, Giacomo Agostini and Christian Saron usually appear. After the meeting on the 5th I’ll be making my way to Grenoble to see my nephew who moved to France some years ago and then I hope to make it the Millau Bridge and then on to my niece who lives near Limoges and then home. I’ll be away 14 days in all.
I have had the most violent cough and three weeks later have just got over it. I eventually had to go to the Doc for some antibiotics which haven’t worked as well as I thought they should but Richard came to the rescue with some of his magic mixes so between the two I hope to be OK before leaving for France. I also ended up with a real stiff neck caused by a torn muscle when coughing again Richard has come up trumps with a shiatsu massage. He’s a clever bloke that Richard. He was going to come to France but thought better of it at the moment but there will be other opportunities I’m sure.