Welcome To Bikes And Travels...
...It's about bikes... and travels... mostly on bikes!
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Struggling Into France
It's time to go to France, alas there's far too much time to go to France. Ren is early, the trains are late, it's hot, and it's disorganised. Oh and Sharon's life flashes before her eyes - or was it a Transit van?
Honda GB350S Test Ride Review
Ren stumbles into a test ride of the Honda GB350S. Can he get his head around a new way of riding? It's all very different in the world of low revs and heavy flywheels.
A Dodgy Hip, A Mesh Seat Cover, And Pants
In trying to reduce leakage in the rain our brave and heroic half-wit Ren has got himself a cunning and devious plan. However this idea is causing him issues because he's getting old now and the newness has worn off.
Bedfordshire Is Not In France
And they're off to France! Well Bedfordshire today, but they will get to France eventually... hopefully... maybe?
The Last Day Of A Big Ride
It's Andy's last day of an epic trip. Save for some wind (no not that kind of wind) it seems all rather mundane somehow. Anyhow he's home and safe after over 4,500 miles.
Home And Epilogue
Just a brief summary of the return leg from Much Wenlock and Ren's thoughts of the lovely little town.
A Holiday In Normandy - Prologue
France! Well northern France because our soft arsed lazy writers can't be bothered to go any further. It's time for excuses and explanations as to why The Dynamic Muppets are off on holiday and not an exciting expedition.
A Holiday In Normandy
Title page for A Holiday In Normandy
Rain In Northern France
Yep - the rain has returned, the temperature is colder, and the accommodation is below par. Andy must be getting closer to Blighty now, obviously.
Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy
It's probably best not to compare things, there's always something bigger faster smarter lighter neater more stylish etc etc etc... And yet we are a competitive species. Ren is trying to rationalise logic against feelings.
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Latest Posts
Spare Parts for the Keeway RKS 125cc
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08/08/2026 20:44:01 UTC
Review of the Honda CLR 125 City Fly - By Ren Withnell
nab301 said :-
With time you may find something cheaper to suit , a friend of mine did locate cheap replacements for a CG125 , They are a much more popular bike but I'm guessing a shorter stanchion , however if you google search for rusty fork stanchion repairs using epoxy adhesive this may tide you over. Sand off the surface rust until just the pitting remains (assuming it's not structural rust, ) thoroughly degrease the metal and spread on the epoxy mix thoroughly filling the pitting , sand down the surface until smooth , all very time consuming , then add gaiters and all may be fine for a year or so...
Nigel
08/08/2026 17:50:45 UTC
Struggling Into France
Upt'North ¹ said :-
She's not that little. But yes time does fly. I was running a 77 Honda CB750f2 sohc at the time. She was a beaut.
Thanks for posting.
07/08/2026 16:34:53 UTC
Struggling Into France
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Sultan's Elephant in Calais. 20 years ago - doesn't time fly?
https://youtu.be/gNE-iJ-CYl0...
07/08/2026 15:21:56 UTC
The Last Day Of A Big Ride
Bogger said :-
Excellent write up and photos Andy. Thanks for taking the considerable time and effort to do so.
Bogger
06/08/2026 11:08:07 UTC
Struggling Into France
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
No no no you're right Sharon... Snod went in July and we went in June. I am not reading like wot aye shud innit.
No Upt', no tent pegs were harmed in the making of this holiday. You may regrettably see that at some points in the future real food was consumed, contrary to my own misgivings.
04/08/2026 16:56:40 UTC
Struggling Into France
Upt'North ¹ said :-
What brain?
04/08/2026 16:20:25 UTC
Struggling Into France
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Coffee bags you say, there's a strange thing about coffee bags, they don't taste of anything resembling coffee. That hour going over is a blummin nuisance, it's about time they stopped it. The Portuguese get on just fine with proper time.
It's obviously a continental thing, maybe Scottish too, everything opens and closes at strange times; except the public houses in Scotland which never close.
Looking forward to the next installment and not a tent peg or cuppasoup in sight.
Upt.
04/08/2026 16:19:08 UTC
Review of the Honda CLR 125 City Fly - By Ren Withnell
Type25dude said :-
Thanks for this, I really appreciate your time and effort coming back to me. I'm hoping it will pass tbe next mot so I'll get some of the summer out of it, but will look to replace or re chrome over the winter
04/08/2026 15:52:51 UTC
Review of the Honda CLR 125 City Fly - By Ren Withnell
Type25dude said :-
Thanks for this, I really appreciate your time and effort coming back to me. I'm hoping it will pass tbe next mot so I'll get some of the summer out of it, but will look to replace or re chrome over the winter
04/08/2026 15:52:50 UTC
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Latest Repair-Chat
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nab301 said :-
Ian , I never had an AVO but I remember a biking neighbour back in the 70's had one , or rather his father had which was useful for fault finding on his electric start Yamaha 200 (combined alternator / dynamo electric start)
BTW , I recently purchased a cheap digital meter from Lidl which has a capacitance check feature that works as you describe.
Nigel
08/08/2026 18:08:12 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I thought there may be some people who remembered AVOs here given the demographics. Sadly mine didn't come with the leather case although does have the original heavy cardboard box together with instruction manual. I've sorted out the overload button which just needed a hard press to reseat it and it now measures voltages correctly. I'll pick up a D battery later today and will order the 15 volt one - there's a seller on ebay.
It's so beautifully made inside and as you say Jeff the rolls-royce of meters and I look forward to using it in earnest.
I too have forsworn kickstarts given my knee issues - saw a physio yesterday who said I was progressing well. Three months with ongoing - although lessening - doesn't feel like good progress to me but heigh-ho.
06/08/2026 14:03:31 UTC
kiwiJeff said :-
Ian your mention of AVO8 certainly bought back memories. Like Glyn I used one through the 70s and early 80s as a radio technician working on communications valve radios. They were the Rolls Royce of multimeters. Using one balanced at the top of an equipment rack was a challenge though, they were heavy! Did the meter come in a stitched leather carry bag with a carry strap? Riding through our winter on the Bandit although while you are overheating in Europe we are having an unusually cold winter? Turned around on one of my favorite roads when I reached a sign that said next 12 kms is ice and grit! We use grit instead of salt on icy roads here which while our vehicles don't rust like yours due to the salt causing rust the grit doesn't melt so becomes a hazard on the bike for some time after the ice is gone! Ren you have my sympathies with your aching hip, my titanium hip aches in the cold my theory is the metal gets cold and affects the surrounding tissue so causing pain. The hip and the arthritic ankle mean I'll never use a kick starter on a bike again! I have to get the missus to help me roll the Bandit onto the centre stand these days! Getting old is a privilege but comes with it's challenges! Ride safe everyone through your summer, we are off to China for a month to have a look at where everything we use these days is made! Regards Jeff
06/08/2026 11:14:26 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I had to google U2 Battery, apparently it's what I would know as a D Cell? If I recall that's the big 'uns that were in the Ever Ready bicycle lights when I were a lad. Several weeks worth of pocket money for a pack of 2 D cells into the bicycle light that would be bright for 20 minutes, then dim for maybe half an hour, then dead. Today you fit a AAA into an LED light that'll blind drivers for several weeks. Kids these days, don't know how lucky they are(n't).
06/08/2026 08:27:11 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Nostalgia's not what it was.... As Glyn says, the 10A current measuring is a bonus - my digital meter has this but it's a bit of a faff. The AVO is a beautifully made bit of kit. I've found out why it doesn't work - the overload button has been activated and won't stay down It should be a simple repair or if necessary bypass it. When I hold it down it works for voltage (and I assume current). The batteries for measuring resistance have of course disintegrated. One is just an ordinary U2 - the other is special but replacements are available.
One use of an analogue ohm-meter is to check capacitors. Connect one way and the needle should make a slight kick and drop back to zero. Connect the other way and the kick should be repeated. This won't work on a digital meter.
I do have an old analogue job but it won't zero any more so when I get the AVO fixed that will be retired.
05/08/2026 13:08:16 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I would be Glyn but have a look at Chit-Chat. Due to "unforseen circumstances" I've had to remove the ability to upload images :(
Why do you want the old mulitimeter Ian? Nostalgia I presume.
05/08/2026 12:03:12 UTC
Glyn said :-
I used an Avo8 daily for at least 5 years back in the early 70’s. It was forcibly removed from me and replaced with a Fluke digital which I hated for a while. One of the plus’s of the Avo was the current measurement, even a 10Amp setting if I remember correctly. This was very useful then and would be so today.
The surgeon that repaired my finger may not have done me a favour, it’s been that painful since, I’ve often thought it would have been better to have removed the top. Are you ready for that picture of it now Ed?
903306...
05/08/2026 11:13:01 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Idly browsing my local auction house's offerings I came across a "vintage" Avo Mk 8 multimeter. I rmember using these nearly 60 years ago as an apprentice. A low bid secured it for just over £12. It doesn't work but I'm sure I can fix that. Or can I?
No pic (obviously) but here's the link.
https://www.lilybidsauctionhouse.com/catalogue/lot/482979564e1c213be831d1848eb58...
05/08/2026 09:53:30 UTC
nab301 said :-
Glyn , looking forward to seeing and hopefully hearing the fruits of your labours , will you be stripping the engine?
Nigel
26/06/2026 14:53:36 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Ooooh eeeee ouch! I'm glad you didn't post your gory sliced digit Glyn (Flyn). You can show us when it's healed a little and we can imagine the rest. As for the heat... Enough already but it won't be long until I'm griping about the rain/cold dagnammit. The nights are already drawing in.
26/06/2026 09:57:29 UTC
Latest Chit-Chat
Go To Chit-Chat
nab301 said :-
Ren , I haven't been on here in a few days but that's a bummer with the copyright issues , as they say " a picture tells a thousand stories" hopefully you'll continue even if just with text while avoiding visits from the grammar police...
Nigel
08/08/2026 18:35:50 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
It's in the DNA of motorcyclists of a certain age to have a dislike of Vespas.
07/08/2026 15:10:07 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Thanks Ed, that helped. It also helped going up a blummin big ladder at 45° yesterday and spraying all kinds of crap in there. No stings to report.
I hate wasps.
06/08/2026 09:45:06 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I'm familiar with the Monkey Hanging tale Upt', I shall endeavour to not mention it when I'm collecting my free brew dressed in my latex waterproof jacket and pants. I wonder how the scoot got a V5 without any details on marque and model? Might be a fake V5 huh. And yeah I can imagine there's some rough Uber-Eats scooters out there. I was overtaken in a 30 zone recently by a scoot with a back box the size of a Victorian travel trunk. When the rider went around the roundabout it looked as though the rear wheel was either flat, the bearings had collapsed, or the contents of the trunk weighed more than the bike and rider combined. Probably all 3.
Calm down! They're only wasps.
06/08/2026 08:21:01 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Wasps, I said blummin wasps. Is it rational to hate the stripey little blummin fingies. They're flying into that hole she said. That fetishists attire might come in handy.
Wasps! I hate Wasps, but is it rational.
Upt.
05/08/2026 13:41:57 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Little Richie, the rubber fetishist. There's an image that'll keep me awake.
He was very perplexed yesterday, which replaced the normal, "what do you want you ugly git". The reason for this perplexitiscous behaviour waa a Chinese Scoot. Totally unbranded and even so on the V5. It was just a generic blob of plastic with an engine with no identifier anywhere, even the number plate dealer identification details were no use, "we just supplied the plates mate"?
Why was any of this an issue, because it had snapped a cable of strange sizing and no one knows where to buy a part from for a bike you can't ID. Might be a one off replacement to be manufactured which is worth more than the deliverers scoot. It was just two years old and a complete wreck.
But after a bit of chanting and psssting the job was complete under the cloaks of the Hartlepool Monkey Hangers. Just a tip, if you go to Hartlepool don't call em Monkey Hangers.
I'm almost dry today.
Pffffffftttttt or is that psssssssssst.
Upt.
05/08/2026 13:38:06 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Are you at liberty to divulge the real business details of "Little Richie"?
I'm beginning to suspect this is actually a secret club of tyre fanatics from across the North East. They meet in darkened rooms under clandestine conditions wearing robes bearing brands like Michelin and Pirelli. They chant mantras such as "Thou shalt scrub thy new tyres in carefully" and "Check thy pressures weekly". They meditate to the sound of a vintage compressor and cheer when the little pressure release valve gives off a "PSSSFFFFT".
On the other hand if there's free tea it's worth the journey.
05/08/2026 08:16:57 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
There's free tea to be had Ed. Sold (!) to the Manchester lad with a big mug.
04/08/2026 23:47:55 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
HARTLEPOOL! From Wooler to Hartlepool is - according to google maps - 75 miles. 150 mile round trip to get a tyre fitted? I suppose it'll be scrubbed in by the time you get home. Sheez. You are aware there's a big city of Newcastle and the big town of Sunderland closer to you? Heck even Edinburgh is closer to you. Either there's a shortage of tyre shops in the north east or Little Richie has other "attractions" to supplement his tyre business? Got me thinking I need to visit this tyre shop, see what it's all about. 127 miles from my place to Hartlepool.
04/08/2026 20:59:54 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Just got back from Hartlepool after visiting Little Richie, the STrom is resplendent with a newly affixed front black round thing. Bridgestone A41 if you're interested. I can now report that the Weise waterproof leather pants work. Almost biblical rain at times on the way down and I just had a damp bottom bit on me t-shirt at the front where water had blown up. I should have zipped the pants to me coat, but I didn't.
Pffffffftttttt. Bike had a quick swill off upon its triumphant return.
Now back wom with a cuppa.
Upt.
04/08/2026 15:59:03 UTC
Random Link - Scarborough and Whitby 2010 - Going Home