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...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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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
Struggling Into France
Sharon said :-
The date was the 19th June Ren not July ?.
Age it's a real nuisance at times messing with the brain signals. I'm sure it was just a typo though.
04/08/2026 14:58:39 UTC
Struggling Into France
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
We didn't get lost actually getting to Le Shuttle Ian, from Ashford to Le Shuttle is a doddle, get on the motorway and look for the signs!!
For sure there's nicer areas in France than The Pas De Calais, I suppose you've been spoiled with your seemingly extensive knowledge of the wonders of France.
Dieppe is a town much like many others - but if you're coming in on the boat from Newhaven the setup has changed from what I remember the last time. You used to have to come through the town to get to the port, when we returned from this trip we seemed to skirt around the town on some new roads. I hope to give you a feel of our Normandy experience over the rest of the posts here.
04/08/2026 14:11:42 UTC
Struggling Into France
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
This day was the 19th of July Snod so we couldn't have been far apart.
"Agreeable" that's a good word to describe it Snod. I can't comment on Calais as I've never been in the town nor seen the port. I found Ambletuese on the coast to be "agreeable" too. Nothing spectacular, not exceedingly cute or quaint, I feel no reason to steer folks towards the area but I feel no need to avoid the area too.
Where were you headed?
04/08/2026 14:00:38 UTC
Struggling Into France
Ian Soady¹ said :-
My recent research on the shuttle explicitly tells you NOT to follow satnav but to use the directions on their website...... RTFM?
Re Calais and surrounds: it's really just that I prefer other areas. But if we actually manage to get to France later this year I suspect Dieppe will be calling although it's actually in Normandie.
About 20 years ago we went to Calais to see the Sultan's Elephant which was an incredible experience. If I try hard I just may be able to pop it on my youtube channel.
04/08/2026 13:44:47 UTC
Struggling Into France
Snod said :-
Haha yes, we went through the tunnel in mid July and there was still no EES silliness. They were busily planting small trees around the outside of it though, priorities and all that.
I've been through the Opale national park a couple of times and it's perfectly agreeable, even the town of Calais seemed nice enough until you find the enormous port/train station bolted onto it.
04/08/2026 12:16:32 UTC
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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
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I managed to slice a couple of mm off a finger with the angle grinder a couple of weeks ago removing the chain from the Herald*. I'm usually very cautious around them but a moment's inattention...... It's taken to now to heal up.
*And what's wrong with split links I ask you? Someone had gone to the length of fitting a continuous O ring chain at some time in the bike's 3,000 km life while studioudly ignoring the dreadful suspension units.
Goldie silencer arrived yesterday and it's in new condition. A bargain at just over £30. It does say pre 1985 bikes but this is invisible when fitted. Too hot for anything today.
25/06/2026 10:13:31 UTC
Glyn said :-
Oh no I’ve spelt my name wrong again. It’s these fat fingers I’m working with. Talking of fingers, I almost removed the top of my middle finger right hand in an incident with a sun lounger in Croatia 3 weeks ago. It took 5 stitches to reattach and weeks of dressings which I’m still doing. I’ve got some fairly gruesome pictures of aforesaid digit but I’m sure the Ed wouldn’t be impressed if I were to post one.
24/06/2026 20:54:01 UTC
Flyn said :-
Ian is right Up’t, not really my style to clear-coat it. I’ve decided to respray it colour number 8 in Elfenbein 732 which is a BMW ivory colour. Elfenbein is a direct German translation for “Elephants tusk”. It’s the colour that I painted the BMW K1100 2 years back. However, this time there will be no evidence of the colours that went before.
24/06/2026 20:48:49 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
It's like archaeology (or a time machine) when you get down through the layers like that, and as Upt' says it would be interesting to keep it. But I think that would offend your aesthetic sensibilities.
Re vinyl dye, the Steib came with a seat cover which is red and would clash with the BSA red so will probably dye that black as well. At the moment, the only passenger provision is a box full of pavers left over from a patio to keep the chair wheel down on left handers although this is scorned by some "experts". No idea why as an empty sidecar limits the speed round these bends. I can understand if a passenger is occasionally carried that you need to understand the handling in different configurations.
24/06/2026 10:17:29 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I wondered where that screwdriver had gone, have you got my 10 mill socket too!
I'd smooth that off and lacquer it as a homage to rattle cans.
You're welcome.
Who'd have thought it, Glyn a screwdriver thief?
Upt.
24/06/2026 09:21:38 UTC
Glyn said :-
Sorry forgot the image
24/06/2026 07:52:40 UTC
Glyn said :-
That is a remarkable upgrade for £15 Ian. It looks brand new. Talking about unsuitable colours this is the rear section of the little Aprilia. It has had 14 owners and been 7 different colours.
24/06/2026 07:51:34 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Looking good fella, like Ren, I have little sense of style and taste but the brown and black bike did look a little daft.
Looking forward to your ride report.
Upt.
11/06/2026 10:06:12 UTC
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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
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I suspect AI is playing it's part Snod. It'll be all too easy to give an AI a set of instructions "Go find images that look the same as the images we have in this folder". I'm using AI at work and to be frank in spite of the warnings and doom scenarios from YouTube developers it is very very good. You do have to check it's work that's fair, but it does good work. And that'll be the end of my current career.
04/08/2026 14:16:56 UTC
Snod said :-
And I was just getting around to posting pics of my con rods into repair chat..
Personally I think any regulars on here who are retired should be made moderators and can vet all submitted posts to pass the time. By this logic it'll just be myself and Ren who don't need to do anything, which seems perfect. All in favour say aye.
But in all seriousness this sucks for such a small/niche site.
04/08/2026 12:28:02 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I think for now I'm going to (frustratingly) omit the ability to upload piccies. It's such a shame as that's one of the best bits about the chat.
04/08/2026 10:58:07 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Ren, I am sorry to hear of the copyright problems.
I have looked for information online and it looks like a legal minefield!
Some of the suggestions to protect the site seem OK for a lager site generating income, but would not be practical in your case.
Sorry that I can't be of any help.
I hope you can find a way forward.
03/08/2026 20:30:00 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
No Ian not really. Google has a search for images same as function but in this case the image was from one of the big "Stock Photos" websites and that image may not have been "seen" by Google yet. Also imagine the image was from a very recent post on say MCN - "Oooh look there's a new Triumph out" and someone posts on here an image of the new Triumph, google might not have indexed that image by the time I check it.
"Well if it looks professional?" Yeah you can usually tell if it's a professional pic of a new bike versus a pic some punter took at the recent bike show. However - if the recent pic from the bike show was taken off someone else's blog or social media account...
03/08/2026 15:31:56 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I really hope you can continue Ren as this is one of the sanest and most useful bits of the WWW. If it's just images, is there some way of checking them for copyright before they're posted?
ps control enter doesn't work any more.....
03/08/2026 15:22:13 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
03/08/2026 12:56:12 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Thanks Upt'. Links apparently are fine!! However yeah I've been researching this and even if an image is edited, resized or trimmed it's still "IP", intellectual property. Heck even if you take a picture of a picture, or artwork, or seemingly whatever it can still be construed as IP.
It's really hard to know if an image posted is from the creator, ie yourself. What puzzles me is social media like FaceAche - loads of people will post a generic piccy of a bike from say Yamaha's web page with a comment like "this is my new bike". Do FB have people contacting them re IP hourly? Are they shelling out for this? Lord only knows.
I was advised I seek legal council then I looked at the costs of this. Yeah, easier and cheaper to cough up.
03/08/2026 12:56:47 UTC
Random Link - Ullapool 2012 - Bolton to Inverarnan