A picture a day....biker banter (Vol 3)
Discussion
Hooli said:
Mont st Michel is amazing isn't it? We ride along the causeway n parked for free. I broke a restaurant door that wouldn't open properly, f
king st French stuff.
If it wasn't for the French then france would be great.
That it is,they may be awkward at times but back home M.S.M would be part of a group attraction and a £50+ family day out, the French really do embrace their culture and tradition, much more family (and bike!) orientated and the standard of driving is far, far better..Given the opportunity, id much rather live ther than here.king st French stuff.If it wasn't for the French then france would be great.
We spotted this in the M.s.M bike park and jealously eyed it up for the return trip..
podman said:
Back from France..fantastic trip, as always, travelling around was a pleaure, complete contrast to coming home and hitting the A2/M25 and M1...f'kin nightmare..was slightly shocked to see the blatent attempts by these (potential) illegal immigrants just walking down the autoroutes and trying to jump into the back of lorries to make it over to the UK, after the beauty of France, whatever countries they have travelled through and the potential risks of trying to make it onto a lorry, the UK must offer an heck of an incentive to make it over..
Our trip was done on the cheap, £51 for the ferry, route planning largely done at WH Smiths in Dover and £85 each for 4 nights accomodation at an IBIS Budget, room had air con, was clean and brekkie was good thou.
There was a mini meet in Maidstone over that weekend apparently, lots of lovely minis like these going back home..
Now, the boat was delayed our end, in an attempt to make the hotel before check in, we upped the cruisng speed, we had been stopping every hour-hour 15 , a fuel stop was signed for 10KM away , just outside Caen but as we got near,it was closed..
An SP1s range isnt great in the first place and unfortunately, it didnt make the next stop..luckily(!) it conked out on a huge hill and managed to coast a few miles, I towed hom for another few and he had to call out the breakdown people, my fuel light was solid at this stage too..
Running out of fuel is never great but in France , on a Sunday evening, after some haggling, £150 was the cost of a call out and 10L of fuel.
Still, we was happy to get going and the recovery man agreed with us the bill was a piss take..
With that delay and the ferry, we covered the 500ish miles and made it to the hotel at 10.30Pm (after leaving at 8am).
Explored Granville the next day, lovely place.
Had a much needed 40 winks on the beach in the afternoon..all along the coastline you could pick up little dirt tracks and end up in your own little section..
Visted Mont Saint-Michel , an (very old) monastry, the sczle of the place was staggering, if anyone has been there, they will understand how gobsmacking it is.
It cost 5 euros to park a bike , for the free shuttle to the Island and to look aorund the place..bargain..
Was some serious steps around the place, not one to visit if you suffer from vertigo..
Bit of shopping and off for lunch.
Some more touring around
We had a 2pm Ferry to catch, left Granville at 8am, popped into Belgium for cheap fags/booze and made it to Calais at 1.30pm.
total trip home for me was around 560miles, much of it in torrential rain, the GSXR was a brilliant bike for the trip, reasonably comfy, stonking motor, screen didnt cause much buffeting..and the box caused no hint of weave or wobble at 170MPH+..
Looks like a great mini-adventure!Our trip was done on the cheap, £51 for the ferry, route planning largely done at WH Smiths in Dover and £85 each for 4 nights accomodation at an IBIS Budget, room had air con, was clean and brekkie was good thou.
There was a mini meet in Maidstone over that weekend apparently, lots of lovely minis like these going back home..
Now, the boat was delayed our end, in an attempt to make the hotel before check in, we upped the cruisng speed, we had been stopping every hour-hour 15 , a fuel stop was signed for 10KM away , just outside Caen but as we got near,it was closed..
An SP1s range isnt great in the first place and unfortunately, it didnt make the next stop..luckily(!) it conked out on a huge hill and managed to coast a few miles, I towed hom for another few and he had to call out the breakdown people, my fuel light was solid at this stage too..
Running out of fuel is never great but in France , on a Sunday evening, after some haggling, £150 was the cost of a call out and 10L of fuel.
Still, we was happy to get going and the recovery man agreed with us the bill was a piss take..
With that delay and the ferry, we covered the 500ish miles and made it to the hotel at 10.30Pm (after leaving at 8am).
Explored Granville the next day, lovely place.
Had a much needed 40 winks on the beach in the afternoon..all along the coastline you could pick up little dirt tracks and end up in your own little section..
Visted Mont Saint-Michel , an (very old) monastry, the sczle of the place was staggering, if anyone has been there, they will understand how gobsmacking it is.
It cost 5 euros to park a bike , for the free shuttle to the Island and to look aorund the place..bargain..
Was some serious steps around the place, not one to visit if you suffer from vertigo..
Bit of shopping and off for lunch.
Some more touring around
We had a 2pm Ferry to catch, left Granville at 8am, popped into Belgium for cheap fags/booze and made it to Calais at 1.30pm.
total trip home for me was around 560miles, much of it in torrential rain, the GSXR was a brilliant bike for the trip, reasonably comfy, stonking motor, screen didnt cause much buffeting..and the box caused no hint of weave or wobble at 170MPH+..
Edited by podman on Friday 8th August 16:15
996 sps said:
podman said:
Back from France..fantastic trip, as always, travelling around was a pleaure, complete contrast to coming home and hitting the A2/M25 and M1...f'kin nightmare..was slightly shocked to see the blatent attempts by these (potential) illegal immigrants just walking down the autoroutes and trying to jump into the back of lorries to make it over to the UK, after the beauty of France, whatever countries they have travelled through and the potential risks of trying to make it onto a lorry, the UK must offer an heck of an incentive to make it over..
Our trip was done on the cheap, £51 for the ferry, route planning largely done at WH Smiths in Dover and £85 each for 4 nights accomodation at an IBIS Budget, room had air con, was clean and brekkie was good thou.
There was a mini meet in Maidstone over that weekend apparently, lots of lovely minis like these going back home..
Now, the boat was delayed our end, in an attempt to make the hotel before check in, we upped the cruisng speed, we had been stopping every hour-hour 15 , a fuel stop was signed for 10KM away , just outside Caen but as we got near,it was closed..
An SP1s range isnt great in the first place and unfortunately, it didnt make the next stop..luckily(!) it conked out on a huge hill and managed to coast a few miles, I towed hom for another few and he had to call out the breakdown people, my fuel light was solid at this stage too..
Running out of fuel is never great but in France , on a Sunday evening, after some haggling, £150 was the cost of a call out and 10L of fuel.
Still, we was happy to get going and the recovery man agreed with us the bill was a piss take..
With that delay and the ferry, we covered the 500ish miles and made it to the hotel at 10.30Pm (after leaving at 8am).
Explored Granville the next day, lovely place.
Had a much needed 40 winks on the beach in the afternoon..all along the coastline you could pick up little dirt tracks and end up in your own little section..
Visted Mont Saint-Michel , an (very old) monastry, the sczle of the place was staggering, if anyone has been there, they will understand how gobsmacking it is.
It cost 5 euros to park a bike , for the free shuttle to the Island and to look aorund the place..bargain..
Was some serious steps around the place, not one to visit if you suffer from vertigo..
Bit of shopping and off for lunch.
Some more touring around
We had a 2pm Ferry to catch, left Granville at 8am, popped into Belgium for cheap fags/booze and made it to Calais at 1.30pm.
total trip home for me was around 560miles, much of it in torrential rain, the GSXR was a brilliant bike for the trip, reasonably comfy, stonking motor, screen didnt cause much buffeting..and the box caused no hint of weave or wobble at 170MPH+..
Looks like a great mini-adventure!Our trip was done on the cheap, £51 for the ferry, route planning largely done at WH Smiths in Dover and £85 each for 4 nights accomodation at an IBIS Budget, room had air con, was clean and brekkie was good thou.
There was a mini meet in Maidstone over that weekend apparently, lots of lovely minis like these going back home..
Now, the boat was delayed our end, in an attempt to make the hotel before check in, we upped the cruisng speed, we had been stopping every hour-hour 15 , a fuel stop was signed for 10KM away , just outside Caen but as we got near,it was closed..
An SP1s range isnt great in the first place and unfortunately, it didnt make the next stop..luckily(!) it conked out on a huge hill and managed to coast a few miles, I towed hom for another few and he had to call out the breakdown people, my fuel light was solid at this stage too..
Running out of fuel is never great but in France , on a Sunday evening, after some haggling, £150 was the cost of a call out and 10L of fuel.
Still, we was happy to get going and the recovery man agreed with us the bill was a piss take..
With that delay and the ferry, we covered the 500ish miles and made it to the hotel at 10.30Pm (after leaving at 8am).
Explored Granville the next day, lovely place.
Had a much needed 40 winks on the beach in the afternoon..all along the coastline you could pick up little dirt tracks and end up in your own little section..
Visted Mont Saint-Michel , an (very old) monastry, the sczle of the place was staggering, if anyone has been there, they will understand how gobsmacking it is.
It cost 5 euros to park a bike , for the free shuttle to the Island and to look aorund the place..bargain..
Was some serious steps around the place, not one to visit if you suffer from vertigo..
Bit of shopping and off for lunch.
Some more touring around
We had a 2pm Ferry to catch, left Granville at 8am, popped into Belgium for cheap fags/booze and made it to Calais at 1.30pm.
total trip home for me was around 560miles, much of it in torrential rain, the GSXR was a brilliant bike for the trip, reasonably comfy, stonking motor, screen didnt cause much buffeting..and the box caused no hint of weave or wobble at 170MPH+..
Edited by podman on Friday 8th August 16:15
moto_traxport said:
996 sps said:
Slightly non bike but swam the English Channel as a relay on Monday (On date of 100th Anniversary of The Great War)- A really good test! Solo attempt next year is the plan.
Good luck and massive respect for next year!You look the wrong build for it, if my very sketchy knowledge is anything to go by.
Sounds like you underestimate a relay (Which I did!), I have completed plenty of ultra endurance events and thought the Channel Relay would be a good starting point for Channel Swimming (2 more events on my bucket list) - I've been having cold baths since Dec 13 at 7 degrees, ice baths, swam in lakes, seas (Port Erin whilst at the Isle of Man TT 13 degrees) throughout the months leading to Monday, had my 2 hour swim assessment last month in Dover harbour. If I'm honest still found it a test!
Another issue is when you get on the fishing boat whilst another member swims the boat is at such a low speed to stay with the swimmer you just get thrown about - Most of the team was sick then had to get back in the Channel.
Reference build never judge a book by its cover, you should see how petite some of the ladies are who have completed the Channel, I've found over the years the strength of mind in individuals is the inner strength which will get them/you to the finish, the elements do test the soul and the jellyfish stings did test my mind at times.
All in all though was superb - Can't wait for next year.
996 sps said:
moto_traxport said:
996 sps said:
Slightly non bike but swam the English Channel as a relay on Monday (On date of 100th Anniversary of The Great War)- A really good test! Solo attempt next year is the plan.
Good luck and massive respect for next year!You look the wrong build for it, if my very sketchy knowledge is anything to go by.
Sounds like you underestimate a relay (Which I did!), I have completed plenty of ultra endurance events and thought the Channel Relay would be a good starting point for Channel Swimming (2 more events on my bucket list) - I've been having cold baths since Dec 13 at 7 degrees, ice baths, swam in lakes, seas (Port Erin whilst at the Isle of Man TT 13 degrees) throughout the months leading to Monday, had my 2 hour swim assessment last month in Dover harbour. If I'm honest still found it a test!
Another issue is when you get on the fishing boat whilst another member swims the boat is at such a low speed to stay with the swimmer you just get thrown about - Most of the team was sick then had to get back in the Channel.
Reference build never judge a book by its cover, you should see how petite some of the ladies are who have completed the Channel, I've found over the years the strength of mind in individuals is the inner strength which will get them/you to the finish, the elements do test the soul and the jellyfish stings did test my mind at times.
All in all though was superb - Can't wait for next year.
By being built like a brick outhouse you are possibly doing something you're not ideally suited to, despite looking so to most eyes, so double respect sort of thing. Same way that older people and smokers often wander up mountains without issue and young proper fit people more susceptible to altitude sickness.
Agree that quite a lot of it will be in the head!
Yep, I assume they're two narrow wheels with a 'drive' wheel directly onto a surface between them. Same on the front, conventional style forks on (as above) essentially a big old bearing rim for the tyres.
I'm surprised that hub-less wheel technology, particularly in the rear wheel, hasn't been investigated more. Wouldn't be hard to do on a single width rear tyre, and would do away with long shafts or chains and swing arms
I'm surprised that hub-less wheel technology, particularly in the rear wheel, hasn't been investigated more. Wouldn't be hard to do on a single width rear tyre, and would do away with long shafts or chains and swing arms
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