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...It's about bikes... and travels... mostly on bikes!
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More Wonders, Weird Food
It's another day filled with fabulous things for Andy. Knights and bends in the road, mountains and flat bits, and a posh hotel with a sunset.
Wonderous Wales And Epilogue
The ride home from The Elan Valley gives our Dynamic Muppets some delightful scenery - which confuses Ren. It's also time to wrap up the tale.
Braving Barmouth Bridge
Our brave and heroic editor is bravely and heroically doing something many many riders have easily done before. There's also a lot of reminiscing, oh and some chips.
Feet Forward Prologue
Bogger is organising his next French escapade. It's the who, why, what, and where this time, oh and the how. The why never makes sense, nor should it.
Best Feet Forwards
Title page for Bogger's latest trip with a bunch of people on weird motorcycles.
Back On The Road And Heading South Again
Having mostly recovered Andy's back on the road making big miles through ever more stunning scenery. A few notes then pictures aplenty that'll make you wish you were there.
Bigger Scenery South Of Biggar
Sharon has suggested today's destination with Ren putting in an add-on. It's a part of the UK less explored, which is a shame, but at least it's quiet.
Andy's Local Ride
Feeling a little better Andy's having an easy day exploring The Pyrenees. Scenery aplenty while dodging some rain.
Choo Choos And The Yorkie Disaster
Today is mostly steam powered with a little motorcycling to one side. Sharon experiences another personal loss, a terrible tragedy.
Poor Poorly Andy
The sun is shining, the air is warm, the surroundings are lovely. Andy is rather under the weather himself, it's not the best couple of days.
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Latest Posts
Wonderous Wales And Epilogue
nab301 said :-
Ehhh, I gave you the idea as a freebie , I was going to ask for a 10% of any benefits accrued introduction fee... You might need to move upmarket a bit, restaurants and hotels rather than Morrisons, , chippies and camping.
Nigel
03/01/2026 15:37:47 UTC
More Wonders, Weird Food
nab301 said :-
Andy , lovely photos and food, at last, bringing culture to Bikes and Travels!
Nigel
03/01/2026 15:28:25 UTC
More Wonders, Weird Food
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I nearly felt warm for one fleeting moment looking at the pictures. Ta me duck.
The stew looks good, the black pud looks like heartburn.
Upt.
03/01/2026 15:05:20 UTC
More Wonders, Weird Food
Bogger said :-
Hotels, venison I'm at a loss for words. Nice piccies again. To be fair you're best spending your money. If you have any spare the current Government will soon relieve you of it.
Bogger
03/01/2026 10:46:39 UTC
More Wonders, Weird Food
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Some more great pictures, many thanks for keeping us informed. I gave up camping many years ago and find hotels much easier, more comfortable and convenient if as you say they can be expensive....
03/01/2026 10:25:34 UTC
Wonderous Wales And Epilogue
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Don't suppose you could go the extra mile and persuade The Welsh Tourist Board to sponsor me nab301?
02/01/2026 17:40:58 UTC
Wonderous Wales And Epilogue
nab301 said :-
As always Ren, happy to help !
Nigel
02/01/2026 14:55:57 UTC
Wonderous Wales And Epilogue
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Ooohh that'd be great nab301 - I could get The Welsh Tourist Board to pay for accommodation up and down the country and all I'd need to do is make sure I put lots of lovely piccies on here.
28/12/2025 16:06:38 UTC
Feet Forward Prologue
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Like many British manufacturers, Royal Enfield produced a mixture of innovative engineering and total idiocy. The Dreamliner, which I remember reading about in Dad's copies of The Motorcycle, was an example of the former but of course was too radical for the buyers of the day. Examples of the latter from the same factory were the use of very fine Cycle threads (26tpi) into soft aluminium alloy. OK for initial assembly perhaps but invariably stripped after the usual ham handed owners had got at the, They also persisted in using a floating big end bush in their singles which was OK till it inevitably got starved of oil.
I regularly pass the old Enfield factory which nowadays houses an aerospace company so at least isn't an amazon warehouse. That's a couple of miles away.
28/12/2025 13:01:34 UTC
Wonderous Wales And Epilogue
nab301 said :-
Lovely views, are you sure you're not double jobbing for the Welsh tourist board ?
Nigel
27/12/2025 16:53:48 UTC
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nab301 said :-
Ian , thanks so much for the link, if I do get involved with this I may be bending a few ears. Hopefully it's just a recommission of a previous runner aka cleaning the carburettor rather than a collection of mismatched internals from a previously unsuccessful rebuild!
Nigel
04/01/2026 15:59:21 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Hi Nigel, the C11G is very similar to mine but has as you say plunger rear suspension. It also has the points assembly in the timing cover rather than in the rather quaint distributor type assembly my C11 has, and also an alternator rather than a dynamo.
They're pretty straightforward bikes although havetheir quirks as I've discovered especially when they're just a loosely assembled set of unrelated parts.....
This forum (see link) has been of great help to me and has some very knowledgeable and friendly members.
https://bsac10c11c12.co.uk/smf/index.php...
04/01/2026 09:58:44 UTC
nab301 said :-
Ian , in what must be an amazing coincidence , immediately after posting on this thread I received a call from a non biking friend who was asking if I'd be interested in looking at a newly acquired BSA for a friend of his. (he's unable to start it) Just received photos and immediately thought that looks like Ians bike! Some searching suggests it's a C11G (plunger rear suspension) so must be around 1955?
Wish me luck if I get involved!
Nigel
03/01/2026 16:23:41 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Many thanks Glyn, if I can actually find something useful I'll pass it on.
In other news I was rather worried about my welding capabilities as I'll need to weld internally threaded plugs into my struts. I've done a little bit of practice on some scrap and am reasonably happy. This is using a basic stick welder on about 120 amps. My welding has improved immensely since I got a decent self-darkening helmet!
03/01/2026 15:02:50 UTC
Glyn said :-
Mrs Glyn lived and worked in Germany for 26 years and our 2 sons currently live in Munich. So, if you’re after translation Ian, I can almost certainly help. Great work on the C11, there’s a lot of satisfaction in sorting a problem that others couldn’t and even more so when others have created man made faults. Those sort of problems don't appear in the technical manuals.
03/01/2026 11:07:57 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I believe it's rubber in torsion (like indespension units) but may be a torsion bar. If the latter there's no damping - rubber in torsion is self-damped like the old Mini rubber system. Getting reliable information is quite tricky and what there is tends to be copies of Steib literature in German so translation's a bit tricky. I don't really want to take it apart as spares are also rare and expensive.
03/01/2026 10:19:56 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Those attachment points are looking good and should give solid attachment for the sidecar.
What type of suspension does the chair have Ian?
02/01/2026 21:33:16 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
A helpful chap on the owners' club forum has come up with the goods, and all for postage cost plus a donation to Air Ambulance. I look forward to fitting it although with some doubts. It's quite a nicely designed little machine but I fear may be too gutless for me - although a 250 it only has a 3 speed box. Be nice for popping down to the shops however, as that's only a mile or so! I don't really fancy tackling Redditch's notorious roundabouts on it especially the famous cloverleaf (the only one in England so I'm told although I believe there's one in Scotland).
In the meantime I've been occupyinmg myself with B'Zuki sidecar attachments and think I have it all sussed. The attached shows them on the bike. The rear lower one isn't finished - it will be a 10mm mild steel plate picking up on the hollow swinging arm pivot and the conveniently positioned rear brake pivot just below it. It will also have a 3/8" bolt through the pillion footrest mounting to the rear of them.The others are all clamps made out of alumimium alloy.
Most of the vertical load is taken by the 2 lower ones, and probably 75% of that by the rear one. The top 3 act as triangulation points both to brace the whole thing and to allow and set the lean out Rod mentioned. They will connect by means of seamless tubing with threaded inserts in the ends to allow for that adjustment.
02/01/2026 15:58:03 UTC
nab301 said :-
Thanks Ian , the pushrod arrangement is amazing and the attached service data sheet makes it look like a relatively easy engine to work on if needed (famous last words). I'm looking forward to hear what it rides like when you hopefully get it all sorted!
Nigel
02/01/2026 14:52:15 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Hi Nigel, yes that's it. I bought in the spring as I wanted a project and thought both the Norton and B'Zuki were going well and needed little attention. We can all be wrong can't we? It's a 1948 C11 - 250cc OHV single with rigid frame and tele forks. Unfortunately although it looked tidy it had clearly been built from a pile of unrelated parts - the forks were wrong, the back wheel was off a different model, various fasteners replaced by metric allthread etc etc. So I completely stripped it and re-enamelled all the cycle parts, found the correct fork parts, made spacers and sleeves etc to get the back wheel working and so on. The engine turned over nicely so I assumed all was well till I tried to start it and couldn't even get a cough.
I faffed around with the ignition and carb for ages before noticing that the cam timing looked a bit odd, with the inlet and exhaust valves opening and closing at the wrong times. The owners' club forum, which has been very helpful, eventually provided clues in that the OHV and side valve versions of the engine had similar bottom ends but with different camshafts. Helpfully the cam gearwheel was stamped with the model, and guess what? When I looked it was C10 ie the side valve. The OHV engine has a rather peculiar crossed pushrod arrangement; the side valve operates the valves directly. The sketch shows the crossed pushrods.
So have issued a plea for the correct camshaft. I've found one in the Netherlands but it's a bt expensive....
02/01/2026 10:14:24 UTC
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Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I object to random businesses spamming the feed in the hope of improving their Google ranking. I've no problem with you trying to find the jacket a suitable home.
02/01/2026 17:46:19 UTC
Glyn said :-
If anyone is a size 3XL I have a brand new RICHA jacket. It’s never been worn but the tags are not there as it was originally a gift. There is some light armour in the elbows and shoulders but it can be upgraded. I’m not even an L size these days so it hangs in my wardrobe unlikely to ever see the light of day. Sorry Ed I know you frown on advertising on these pages (so I humbly apologise ) but it’s a shame to see it languishing unused.
02/01/2026 12:23:34 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Your feet must be even bigger than mine Nigel, size 46 is about UK 11.
01/01/2026 16:11:19 UTC
nab301 said :-
A pity they don't have any mens sizes!
Nigel
01/01/2026 14:35:13 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Anybody after new motorsiccle boots.
Check this out, sizes 42 to 46.
Upt.
*Remember there are fees and vat etc.
https://www.johnpyeauctions.co.uk/Browse?FullTextQuery=Motorcycle%20...
31/12/2025 12:55:19 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, not bad looking - te tank seat unit has a Triumph Hurricane look about it. I'm not so keen on the exhaust pipe lines however. It might be improved with something like the Triumph's stacked pipes. Although not the comical front brake.
18/12/2025 15:49:07 UTC
nab301 said :-
That looks great and the original so called (I think) Euro styled versions (although I never owned any) were always my favourite looking bikes , CB900f CB750F etc
Nigel
17/12/2025 15:46:27 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Styling Upt'. As you say it's a modern bike in old school clothing. If you took the same chassis and engine and covered it in fairings it's a sports bike. Cover it in angular body panels its a modern naked. I think it looks lovely just as it is.
17/12/2025 11:35:51 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Is it our own fault? Is it fault? Is it what we really want? I dunno. But some of the latest bikes could at first glance be exact copies of 70/80's bikes with a detuned modern ICE thrown in.
Is it what we want?
Yes, this is what happens when the nights draw in.
17/12/2025 09:12:02 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Yes nab301 this is not going to be one of those bikes that takes you by surprise with rapid speed and arm-wrenching acceleration. I daresay if that is what someone is looking for they're probably looking in the wrong place. I think I would wish to try before I buy if nothing else to convince myself there's enough power even for one as humble as my dawdling self.
16/12/2025 18:53:06 UTC
Random Link - Sharon's Shed