A Random Ride Pics Thread.... Post 'em up!

[GSXKING]

Once again great ride report and pics. 

The 6 cylinder bike must be much heavier than a GSX. How's the handling in comparison ? 

[Rynglieder]

Didya find enough diesel enroute!!!

Well the old tractor is a bit of a thirsty girl and sometimes it seems that the fuel needle is moving faster than the tacho, but it made it there and back.

The biggest problem at the moment is getting hold of the Super Unleaded grade of fuel which I would prefer to put in this; a lot of the supermarkets seem to have dropped it now.

[Rynglieder]

Once again great ride report and pics. 

The 6 cylinder bike must be much heavier than a GSX. How's the handling in comparison ? 

Awful.

It's much safer to get off it and push it around traffic islands.

To be fair, once you have a bit of momentum the wheight seems to drop off but the GSX is way easier to ride. The real thing you have to watch out for is the braking, the single pot calipers are near useless and it is not a bad idea to make a note in your diary with a reminder notiication for any impending bends or junctions.

It's getting on in years, overwheight and expensive to keep but I hang on to it because it reminds me of the wife...

[Hooli]

After a round trip to a cafe that was somehow twice as long as it needed to be I met a few mates today. One had passed her test this morning & we dragged her out on her HD Sporty to stop her being nervous about it, she did really well too for a new rider.
She went home to meet her bloke though & I went to Squires with two girls on girl's bikes, slower colours ya see...

[GSXKING]

They haven't been fast enough to collect dirt on them like your fast blue and white @Hooli 

[Hooli]

Good excuse, I'll remember that one 

[Eric GSX1400K3]

What's with the bumblebee 1400 in the middle?

[grog]

Yeah, its a shocker. No excuse for doing that to a 14.

[Mick_J]

Didya find enough diesel enroute!!!

Well the old tractor is a bit of a thirsty girl and sometimes it seems that the fuel needle is moving faster than the tacho, but it made it there and back.

The biggest problem at the moment is getting hold of the Super Unleaded grade of fuel which I would prefer to put in this; a lot of the supermarkets seem to have dropped it now.

If you want to avoid ethanol (always a good thing) especially with older bikes you should use Esso super, it's the only fuel in the UK without ethanol in it.  The pump will say it's E5 but that's just to comply with the law.

[Hooli]

What's with the bumblebee 1400 in the middle?

Grizz likes yellow, all his bikes seem to end up like that.

[VladTepes]

What's with the bumblebee 1400 in the middle?

Perhaps its a transformer and transforms into a real colour under certain circumstances?

Circumstances like.. paint stripper.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

What's with the bumblebee 1400 in the middle?

Perhaps its a transformer and transforms into a real colour under certain circumstances?

Circumstances like.. paint stripper.

Following that analogy, All 1400s other than b&w (and the bumblebee version in the aboce pic) are then Deceptacons.  I think we are in danger of getting off topic...

[Rynglieder]

Wroxeter Roman City (c. 60 miles)

Having wasted a morning trying to fit what turned out to be an incompatible new fan to our oven I decided that I needed something worthwhile from the rest of the day and rolled the Z1000 out of the garage. There is nothing quite like a hyperactive lightweight 1000cc bike for clearing a few cars and releasing a bit of tension

Only around 30 miles from home is Wroxeter Roman City, one of the few local English Heritage sites that I had never visited and today seemed as good a day as any, it's just about the right distance for the little zed.

Okay, most of the road out there is one that I can say without exaggeration that I have ridden hundreds of times but when you want a blast that's just fine, every overtaking opportunity, bend and possible speed camera location is logged in the memory allowing you to focus on the inevitable new potholes and MAMILs.

The truth is that you can see most of the Wroxeter site by looking over the fence if you are just passing by and don't want to put your hand your pocket, but for ten quid you also get to look around the museum with the usual collection of broken pots and pointy metal things. Also across the road is a reconstruction of a Roman town house which also can take your attention for 15 minutes or so – there is no plumbing, electricity and it is very badly insulated, however it is significantly bigger than other houses in Telford.

What I did learn is that Wroxeter was originally as large as Pompeii even though there is just about a football pitch sized area that has been exposed to view. Shropshire does not really have an equivalent of Mount Vesuvius but the mound of the Wrekin a couple of miles away does at least add a bit to the topography.

As Wroxeter lacks a café I took a trundle over to Ironbridge to find a coffee and for the sake of making a loop out of the afternoon I returned via the "Rabbit Run" road between Telford and Dudley.

I felt much better when I got home but still have a duff fan to package back up and return...

[Rynglieder]

14/04/2022 Gloucester (c. 100 miles)

My initial plans for a run out were to take myself further south, I had Malmesbury in mind but in looking for a suitable interim stop I started to look at the city of Gloucester. It turned up a number of places that interested me and although I had visited the city a number of times during my working days I'd never really had the chance to explore it so the fair city of Gloucester became the final destination.

Having extracted the GSX from the garage my ride down there took me through Worcester and down the A38 which I always enjoy. Parking the bike up in the centre was a case of trial and error, cruising the streets until I chanced upon a bike park near the cathedral quarter. First job was a walk to the ruins of Greyfriars scooping up a takeaway coffee as I plodded through the main shopping streets. I sat myself on a bench overlooking the ruins with a hopeful squirrel looking over one shoulder and a seagull looking over the other.

Greyfriars did not take long to view so it was off on foot to do a lap of the cathedral taking in the architecture and it its attendant close and gardens. Another five minutes on foot brought me to what is left of St Oswald's Priory, another monastic ruin now hemmed in by busy roads.

I fancied a different route back and managed to follow the western side of the River Severn up to Upton upon Severn, a road that I don't think I had taken before and all the more pleasure for being "new". The remaining part of the run is at the foot of the Malvern Hills which is nice riding until the fight through Worcester city centre.

A decent day out and Malmesbury will keep until later in the summer.

[Rynglieder]

30/04/2022 Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings (31 miles).

A short run was in order for the Z1000 and somewhere I'd always intended to visit was the Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings. It was barely a ride out being just over 30 miles all in, but there is so much more fun doing the run on a bike than in the car.

I had a good couple of hours around the site where a charitable trust has dismantled several "at risk" historical buildings from around the midlands and re-erected them where they can be conserved and enjoyed – well worth a visit if you are in the area and like a bit of history.

There's a wide range of building types there, a good few were picked up by my camera and a lot more photos can be found on my Flickr stream (link in my signature strip below).

The return journey home was less direct, just because I could.