Welcome To Bikes And Travels...
...It's about bikes... and travels... mostly on bikes!
What's New?
Getting To The Static
There's the odd minor hiccup but the first day's ride to Llwyngwri (I have no idea how to say that...) is an easy one. Ren is struggling with parking.
Chillin' In Mid Wales
There's sun in the sky, the roads are good, the surroundings are pleasant, and Ren is having a terribly non-Ren moment. His wallet saw the light of day...
Stuck In The Cols - Painful!
Andy is enjoying all the mountain passes on the French side of The Pyrenees - until he's "Route Barre" from getting back to the campsite. He's got the sniffles too.
An Easy Day Around The Pyrenees
Andy is taking it easy today. Just a casual bimble around The Pyrenees, across mountains and valleys, you know, the sort of easy ride we all do on a lazy day. Ever more delightful images too.
The Excuse This Time Is 2 Deaths
They're off back to Wales. The reasons this time are unusual and some might say quite sad. Fear not, Ren's prudence will make a mockery out of respect.
Odd Reasons To Be In Wales
Title page for a short trip to mid Wales that has some purpose.
The Kelpies - Again
It's Deja-Vu time for Ren and Sharon. It's traffic and town riding too. Sharon manages to find some lovely green stuff to brighten the day.
Into The Pyrenees
With improving weather Andy is still heading south. It's all terribly positive, even the diversions are opportunities to explore. The Pyrenees continue to impress.
Perfect Weather And Parking Problems
The weather is wonderful, the scenery is great, the bikes are behaving. Fear not Ren will always find something to moan about and a reason to be narky.
Smiling In The Rain
It's a soggy wet day through France for Andy, but that won't dampen his spirits. He stumbles upon 2CVs and climbing walls, straight roads and twisties.
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Chillin' In Mid Wales
Glyn said :-
I have a TV license! If I didn’t pay how else would auntie be able to splice snippets of political nutters speeches together. Plus, if Mrs Glyn has a TV to watch, manly Mr Glyn can go out in the garage. Licenses are a British thing, we even had one for our dog when I was a lad.
24/11/2025 15:17:16 UTC
Chillin' In Mid Wales
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
The English midge? We occasionally endure the odd random English midge here in the wilds of Bolton, but they are indeed a rare sight. I presume you get them in Wooler? If so - how can you be sure they're not simply Scottish midges raiding over the border into England?
I was trying to come up with some notion that the Scottish midges wear kilts and play bagpipes, the Welsh midges form male voice choirs and prefer sheep. But I thought better of it because that would be offensive to someone somewhere I'm sure of it.
I have a TV licence - admittedly I'm beginning to question why. I inherited a nice TV from my mother and I've not even plugged it in yet.
21/11/2025 10:21:58 UTC
Chillin' In Mid Wales
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Yes, yes, yes, you're a fool.....tell us some'at new. Pffffffftttttt. Fool!
What matters here my lad is the blatant racism you hide mischievously in these ramblings. In these times of openness you must be admonished and outed for you are a racist. Why! I'll tell you why young Ed me lad.
Not a single mention of the English midge, a wee beasty capable of terrifying misdemeanours. I expect a full apology published in a prominent place on this travel blog and in penance I will post a quantity of the said creatures for your displeasure to your home address. Not Sharon's, she's lovely.
Upon the arrival of the English Midge you will place on your protective helmet and through the open visor empty the beasties within before closing said visor. A YouTube video will be required to show full compliance. If you fail in any way then I will have no alternative but to withhold my subscriptions.
As an aside, does anyone (?!) pay for a TV licence anymore, thought not.
Upt.
21/11/2025 09:59:43 UTC
Stuck In The Cols - Painful!
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Errant cows? Meh.
Closed roads? Meh.
Nice murals, very acceptable.
Ta me duck.
Upt.
18/11/2025 16:21:42 UTC
Stuck In The Cols - Painful!
nab301 said :-
Some more great photos of great scenery, as for the crazy cyclists It must be even more difficult for the motorcycles filming the Tour , with a camera man pillion either standing up or facing backwards...
Nigel
18/11/2025 15:25:48 UTC
Stuck In The Cols - Painful!
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Great pics Andy, and brings back memories. I was actually once overtaken by a cyclist when descending - I think - the Col d'Aubisque when I was on the Commando. Crazy doesn't come close.
18/11/2025 09:45:59 UTC
Ayside, The Lake District 2012 - Going Home
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
It was a long time ago and it was a different Ren! This being said if I am to be criticised for not camping... there's much more criticism to come.
It is funny, I watched a YouTube video and this "Tuber" noted how many subscribers complained when the style of the content shifted slightly. They lost views and therefore income. (Un)Fortunately I never managed to make money from this here blog so I don't need to worry about that!
15/11/2025 06:34:57 UTC
Buying The Bent Bike
said :-
15/11/2025 00:24:46 UTC
Ayside, The Lake District 2012 - Going Home
ROD¹ said :-
And, apart from the Fazer being far too clean.
Where was the tent!!!
14/11/2025 19:16:46 UTC
Ayside, The Lake District 2012 - Going Home
nab301 said :-
I thought I was on the wrong blog what with mention of Harleys and lace up leather chaps....
As for the Early Fazer , always a bike I admired but never got around to owning , and I'm guessing it belongs to a previous version of Ren , it's far too clean!.
Nigel
14/11/2025 11:48:43 UTC
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Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I wouldn't go as far as my being a Viz aficionado Ian, I've never once purchased said comic and only glossed over random copies over the years. It's just a part of everyday culture, perhaps you're just not down wiv da kidz like what I is innit ?.
13/11/2025 22:15:23 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I had to duckduckgo that (other search engines are apparently available). I msuppose I'm not surprised you're a Viz aficonado Ren....
11/11/2025 09:43:19 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
It's a good job Finbarr Saunders isn't reading this! Fnarr fnarr yik yik...
10/11/2025 20:53:16 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
One of the speedos - the one in the cluster I bought - had a tiny Phillips screw buried inside the knob - this came out easily enough so half way there. The one on the speedo I want to fit has nothing similar. I don't mind if the knob breaks as I may want to extend the shaft anyway, but I don't want to damage the inside workings.
10/11/2025 13:33:53 UTC
Glyn said :-
Sadly, that is not the case for my TZR speedo. The only way to get it off was a heavy hand that broke it. On closer examination it was only an interference fit but there was no way it would just slide off. I had to file off one side of the knob shaft to remove the bit left behind. Now I’m making a shaft to connect the shaft and the knob. Good luck Ian.
09/11/2025 21:37:44 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Thanks Rod, will have a look tomorrow. It's often these daft little things that throw you.
09/11/2025 16:44:33 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
On the older Japanese bikes with the trip knob to the side of the Speedo, ( as opposed to on top of the Speedo ) there used to be a small hole underneath the Speedo in line with the trip reset knob. I can't remember if this was for a screwdriver or an Allen key, but this hole gives access to a small grub screw which needs to be loosened to remove the trip knob.
Hope this helps. Sorry if I haven't made myself clear. If you still have problems a picture may be of use.
09/11/2025 16:23:35 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Trip knobs.
No this is not a rude post about idiots on tour.... I need to remove the trip reset knobs from 2 speedometers (modern-ish Japanese) but can't for the life of me see how to do it. Any useful tips?
09/11/2025 15:22:16 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
DOH!!!
30/10/2025 10:46:28 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Don't bite Ed, oh you already have...hook, line and sinker.
30/10/2025 10:16:24 UTC
Latest Chit-Chat
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Upt'North ¹ said :-
That's the North South divide right there.
Working with the garage door up in November. Brrrrrrrr.
And....having a TV licence. Blummin suvverners.
I like the Trumper.
Upt.
25/11/2025 11:26:56 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
This is like a soap opera for bike fans! There's twists and turns, anticipation and excitement, even mystery and intrigue. In next week's exciting episode... Will the Triumph be triked? Will the carbs be clean? Will the tank have pin hole leaks? Whatever happened to the TZR? Will Mrs Glyn put her foot down and say "enough is enough"? Will Glyn's knees see him through this restoration?
Ooooooh the antici..............pation!!
25/11/2025 08:04:25 UTC
Glyn said :-
I’m falling for this Triumph! I like it more with every visit through the garage door. It seems to be rather well made and certainly solid. It has been stood for years but the Exide battery has not only taken a charge but also held it overnight, I’ve never had that before. The fuel tank is full of some horrible, rusty oily mess which will take some sorting out. I’ve used Kreem sealer on rusty tanks before with great results. The double front and single rear calipers are very sticky. The previous owner had done a “stick coil” conversion (I know, I had to google it myself) which I may remove in favour of the original set up. The Kehin triple carbs are Japanese and I know them very well from previous experience so first job is to get them off and into the ultrasonic cleaner. The throttle cable is locked solid and the brake light is constantly on, all very straight forward stuff really. There appears to be no rust other than a few bolt heads.
In short, I might just keep it as a bike and look to three wheels on the next machine.
25/11/2025 07:55:26 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Or... right... oooh... electric motor powered rear axel - output from engine to generator - generator to battery - battery to rear axle? Petrol-electric hybrid electric only drive. Do it Glyn!
24/11/2025 17:06:33 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
There are car based trikes as per the V-Dub rear end with a motorcycle wheel bolted on to the front. There are bike based trikes with a pair of wheels bolted to the back of a motorcycle. There are bespoke trikes such as Can-Am (2 wheels at the front, single rear) or Boom Trikes (2 wheels at rear, 1 at the front).
The hardest part of grafting a rear axle to a chain driven motorcycle is converting the chain's rotation output to the one for an axle with a differential. Seen some nice solutions where the diff is cut open and a rear sprocket replaces the crown wheel.
24/11/2025 17:03:18 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
I seem to recall ( but I may have imagined it )the early trikes were the back end of a VW beetle complete with engine, with the front of a motorcycle grafted onto the front.
Looking forward to the build Glyn.
24/11/2025 12:19:58 UTC
Glyn said :-
Even Rhino Trikes use the Reliant axle, there cant be that many left. Casarva trikes build their own independent frame and use the diff, shafts and brakes from E39 BMW cars. Theres much written about the pros and cons of the ISR versus the fixed axles for M/C trikes. I think my preference would be for something made by BMW that can handle many horse power rather than by Reliant with their somewhat lower power unit.
24/11/2025 11:24:38 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
That doesn't look in bad nick Glyn, and should prove an interesting project. Would you use something like a Reliant back end (obviously needing to turn the drivetrain through 90 degrees) or are there trike-specific diffs etc available? It would be very tricky to add a sidecar given the type of frame.
23/11/2025 16:16:39 UTC
Glyn said :-
I have and am considering that very idea Ian. Bike is an ex demo, one owner bike that’s covered about 11k miles. It hasn’t run since 2001 and everything needs looking at. All calipers are sticky, throttle cable is jammed. All items that happen after a long layup. I have 4 boxes of parts removed by the previous owner but they’re mainly largish bits and he’s supplied a Haynes Manual with the paperwork.
23/11/2025 15:38:51 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I look forward to your progress Glyn. Are you going to trike-ise it?
22/11/2025 14:46:49 UTC
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