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Prologue And A Rough First Day
Prudent as ever Ren accidentally stumbles into a super cheap static caravan north of "Skeg-Vegas". All that remains to be done is getting there. If previous experience of heading east is anything to go by - it might not be that easy.
Frolicking In The Flattish Lands
Title page for a midweek break in Lincolnshire.
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.
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Prologue And A Rough First Day
ROD¹ said :-
Does it really rain at Sunny Hunny?
Hunstanton is one of my nearest coastal towns.
28/11/2025 16:34:20 UTC
Prologue And A Rough First Day
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Thanks nab301. I'm not entirely sure Sharon ever "signed up" to be the fall guy for your entertainment but that's the way the cookie crumbles. You'll have to wait and see how the rest of the trip pans out - but - it is worth noting we returned home on Friday 14th November. I seem to recall there was something in the news about Storm Claudia that day?
28/11/2025 10:48:48 UTC
Prologue And A Rough First Day
nab301 said :-
Excellent Ren , as always you do it so we don't have to...!
Nigel
28/11/2025 10:09:10 UTC
Getting To The Static
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Talyllyn is the name of the preserved railway that runs from Tywyn to Nant Gwernol. There is a place called Tal-y-llyn which is just a place, not a village or a hamlet, just a place. While Tal-y-llyn is not too far from Talyllyn's Nant Gwernol station the narrow gauge railway tracks do not reach Tal-y-llyn. Perhaps they did once upon a time.
As for a hill race? I know nothing and Google doesn't offer anything either.
26/11/2025 07:58:58 UTC
Getting To The Static
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I don't know why that lovely lady would allow you to chain your grubby thing up to her beautifully clean two wheeled contrivance.
It's obviously because she's lovely.
This Talyllyn place, does it hold a yearly hill race event? If so I think I've been there, if not, pffffffftttttt.
Upt.
25/11/2025 20:58:54 UTC
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
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Latest Repair-Chat
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Glyn said :-
You’re right Ian, the new o rings are viton. Expensive at £44 the set but I’ve saved a lot by not having to buy a new battery as the one supplied is holding up well. I’ll wager that the full carb set from Ali express at £14 won’t be made of that material. One of the choke slides is broken but I’ve bought a used item as a replacement. The airbox , (supplied in one of the cardboard boxes) has a miriad of tubes in and out and the various connections are unknown to me at this stage. Here is a picture of the ultrasonically cleaned carbs. Apparently, these Mikuni BST carbs are used on the 1200 Suzuki Bandit bikes.
27/11/2025 15:28:34 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
That looks like a very professional paint job Glyn, lovely.
26/11/2025 20:05:36 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Hi Glyn. I like doing carbs as well but mainly single ones! I always understood that nitrile wasn't the best for fuel and that Viton was more resistant, especially to the cocktail of weird stuff in modern fuel (not ethanol which I don't believe to be a problem) but benzene, acetone and the like.
26/11/2025 15:35:00 UTC
Glyn said :-
Strange as it may seem, I do like to strip and rebuild carbs, especially since I’ve spent the last 3 weeks repairing and painting fairing panels for someone else’s TZR. My TZR is all finished now and under covers in the corner of the garage. The triple Mikuni BST36 carb set up on the Triumph is relatively straightforward but there are dozens of o rings that really should be replaced. I have tracked down the sizes but they need to be nitrile as anything else will fall apart. I’m glad that, as a species, we’ve done away with points and condensers as I always faffed about setting them up including bobweights for advance retard settings. Here’s a pic of an LC 350 bikini fairing and TZR nose cone that I’ve completed recently;
26/11/2025 13:01:41 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Glyn - fear not! As long as people's comments aren't nasty and 'orrible then they can go wherever they like. I'm not getting all precious about this must go here and that must go there. Admittedly... logic dictates the repair chat makes more sense.
26/11/2025 08:03:37 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Rod, I was watching some'at on the gogglebox the other night. There was a mechanic scratching his head because this car had points and condenser. How times change.
Although I really don't miss stripping and rebuilding carburetors.
Upt.
25/11/2025 21:02:59 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Glyn, we love all of the content that you post, but we really love content with pictures.
Although my current bikes a have dragged me into the twenty first century too some extent, I still miss using the skills I had built up with carbs contact breakers and dial gauges ect.
25/11/2025 18:32:29 UTC
Glyn said :-
I decided that this Triumph story maybe better placed here in the Repair section rather than general chit chat, (decision with Ed of course).
I’ve removed the triple carbs and found that one of the butterfly spindles is jammed through its carb body which is the cause of the stuck throttle. We now have a huge number of miscellaneous carb parts in the ultrasonic cleaner. I have established that the engine does actually turn over on the starter motor driven by the original battery and there is a spark. It’s almost finished!!
25/11/2025 16:19:08 UTC
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
Latest Chit-Chat
Go To Chit-Chat
nab301 said :-
Glyn , no personal experience with Triumph triples but back in the day the early ones had issues with sprag clutches , the main problem being that replacement(on the early ones )required a complete engine strip . A good well charged battery usually keeps these issues at bay...
Leaking internal carb O rings was another issue which you seem to have covered.
Nigel
28/11/2025 10:29:06 UTC
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
Random Link - France...I wanna go but can I...??