Daves Blog

Just got back from a long weekend in Wales with Roundway Riders and once again it was really enjoyable. We stayed in the same huge house as the last time with its 11 bedrooms and full size snooker table and went on some fantastic rides including the ones there and back. The weather was good too. Sunny on the first and second days, overcast on the third and ending sunny on the fourth. Great company, great roads, great weather… what more could you ask for?

Meike rode her own bike there and back and thoroughly enjoyed it and it gave me the chance to get the K1300S run in which I’m pleased to say it now is.

Here we all are at a ‘rest’ stop on the way to the house. Blue skies!

I rode back marker on the way there which was perfect for allowing me to keep varying my speed etc. while running in the K1300S. That’s Meike’s bike to front left in the pic.

Just setting out from the house on the second day to lead the ride out. First stop, M&P in Swansea and then over the Black Mountains to New Quay (the Welsh one) and finally back home. We rode on some truly fantastic roads. Smooth and well maintained with plenty of bends and fortunately not much other traffic around.

Here’s the full crew at the top of the Black Mountains on the A4069 prior to tackling the descent. From left to right… Ro, Nkosi, KJ, Ade, Frenchie, Rinksy, JD, Nelly, Lou, me, Meike and Sue. Thanks for a great weekend peeps… you’re great.

The K1300S behaved impeccably and is a real pleasure to ride. It feels so much more sure footed than the K1200S did. I don’t know what that’s down to, perhaps the ESA2 or the tyres but whatever it is, I can already tell there’s a very very long way to go to find its limits. There was one ‘incident’ that I’m not sure I understand yet in that on one stretch of road, the quick shifter simply wouldn’t. Shift, change gear that is. I was accelerating at the time so that’s when it really should work, but it just wouldn’t. At all other times it’s worked perfectly and so I don’t know what caused this. Even later in the same journey, without stopping and restarting the bike, it worked perfectly. Perhaps as I live with it more, I may realise why. It’s booked in for it’s first service this coming Saturday morning, and so I will ask about it then too.

During the course of last week I’d fitted the rack and the pannier mounting frames which of course were straight bolt ons from the K1200. Previously I’d bought the BMW large soft bag for the rack but I found with the panniers on the bottom of this bag would have rubbed on the top of them. To be honest I wouldn’t have needed the capacity anyway and so last week I also bought the small soft bag which fitted perfectly. That meant I could take all the luggage for us both easily leaving Meike to ride her bike without additional weight or unbalance.

The only real cause for concern on this trip, apart from a driver of a black van and another driver of a Citroen C4, who both decided to overtake, on separate occasions when I was already over-taking them, has been the Bluetooth connection between the Zumo 660 and the Schuberth collar. When it works it’s great but twice, and at the most inconvenient times, it simply stopped. Of course I didn’t realise until I’d missed a turn and then it seemed no amount of switching on and off would get them to communicate again, until we got back to the house. When of course, everything then worked perfectly.

Looking at the Zumo forums it appears there are issues with Garmins Bluetooth implementation, particularly on the 660 and so I hope they get it fixed soon. I do have the option to hard wire the headset and so will do so if I’m leading any rides soon. I’ll also be keeping a close eye out for the fix.

The Bandit is sold! To a very nice chap who’s coming to pick it up next week. I’ll be really sorry to see it go as it’s a great bike, but with the K1300 and now Meikes Divvy I really can’t see the point of keeping it. It will be much better with someone who’s going to use it much more.

Think that’s about it for now.

Not much to write about at the moment to be honest, well, that’s not stictly true, but there’s not much I am going to write about lol.

Meike’s been out a few times on her bike and seems to be getting on well with it. Certainly she’s a lot happier on it than she was on the 250 and so hopefully as the weather improves she’ll only want to ride it more and more. I’ve ridden it a few times too and I have to say it’s great fun. Obviously we’re not thrashing it yet, but I’m looking forward to when we can. I reckon there’s some get up and go in there straining to get out. I’m certain I’d be happy with it as a substitute for the Bandit and so I can see us going to just two bikes in the not too distant future. Obviously it doesn’t have the torque or power of the bandit being just half the size engine wise, but never the less it’s a fun bike to ride and easy to chuck around etc. If I want more power then of course I always have the ‘K’. So far we’ve got about 300 miles on the Yamaha and it’s already booked in for its first service at the end of the month just before Meike’s planning to ride it on our Mermaid Bikers annual Wales trip.

Speaking of Mermaid Bikers, we’re changing the clubs name and at the moment there’s a poll up on the forum to choose the new one. Roundway Riders is winning at the moment… named after Roundway Hill or the Battle of Roundway if anyone wants to look it up. Generally speaking we were all happy with the name Mermaid until the new landlord of The Mermaid pub decided to re-commence bike nights on the same night as ours now at The Oliver Cromwell. I have asked The Mermaid if they’d consider changing their night so we could then more easily support both, but so far no reply. Strange attitude! Anyway, we’ll be changing our name soon so watch this space.

I’ve been looking again at new comms systems for the bikes as a new bluetooth system has been introduced by Schuberth for the C3 helmet. Of course being Schuberth it’s not cheap but it is by a million miles the neatest system I’ve seen yet, with all the bluetooth gubbins built into the helmets collar. I’ve made some enquiries on price and so hopefully will know soon. I’ve wanted a new helmet for some time because while I find the C2 comfortable and reasonably quiet, it doesn’t seem to fit my head shape well. It tends to sit too low over my eyes and this is supposed to have been addressed in the C3.

Anyway, that’s about all the news for now, but watch this space :)

OK, now don’t feint or fall over… yes, it’s amazing…

Amazing I’m posting again and so many amazing things to report. Firstly, thank you for the messages of well being, I’m fine. I was pretty ill over Christmas and the new year but I’m fully recovered now and back in the saddle - literally.

Something very odd happened this winter. Last winter you couldn’t keep me off the bikes but for some reason I just haven’t been interested through this last one. I think it was November we went on a rideout, I parked the bike in the garage and apart from cleaning it, didn’t give it another thought until earlier this month. Well, it’s not true I didn’t think about them, but I had no desire at all to get on ride either one. That all changed earlier this month with the appearance of sunshine, and despite low temperatures I couldn’t be happier to be back riding again.

Of course we’ve continued to meet with Mermaid Bikers, now at the Oliver Cromwell every Wednesday evening, but until a couple of weeks ago it was more like Mermaid Drivers. The official bike nights are starting at the OC on Wednesday 31st March, just after the clocks change to give us longer evenings. If your local and free, please do turn up and help make it a success as well as meet a great bunch of people.

Last Saturday we went to George Whites looking for a new pair of boots for me - I have wide feet and find most ‘normal’ boots quite uncomfortable. Anyway, we didn’t find any suitable because of course they cater for ‘normal’ people. We did though come away having put down a deposit on a new bike… Yes, I know, amazing lol. It’s for Meike although I suspect I wouldn’t be unhappy to ride it. It seems having given it lots of thought she does still want to ride but was deeply unimpressed with the Ninja 250. I have to say it is somewhat gutless and so she’s finally agreed with me to have something bigger… A new Yamaha XJ6S ‘Diversion’ in red.

I have to say I think they’re a very smart looking bike and size wise it seems more than OK for her. We’re supposed to be collecting it this Saturday but at the moment I’m still waiting for the insurance paperwork to come through so not sure we’ll be ready in time.

If the bike is as a good as the test reports suggest and goes well enough then there’s every possibility that later this year I’ll get rid of the bandit and just keep this and the K1200S in the garage. I’ll know that a lot better after riding it of course.

Last Sunday we attended the Afghan Heroes ride through Wootton Bassett. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you must have been asleep because it’s been covered widely by the press including the national news on the TV. It was truly an amazing event to take part in with so many other motorcyclists. Everyone met up before the ride at Hullavington air field and I have to say I’ve never seen so many motorcycles in one place. News reports suggest there was anything between 10 to 22 thousand bikes and so I think 15 would be about right.

Here’s the view behind us while we waiting for the off…

You can see the bikes in the distance (horizon, to the left) still queuing to get in.

Here’s the view in front of us…

Truly amazing! We left the ride in waves of 500 bikes and to be honest following press reports the week before about how we weren’t welcome, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Well, as usual, the press couldn’t have been more wrong. People turned out in their thousands to wave, clap and cheer us on our way. The crowd in Wootton Bassett high street was just incredible. With everyone taking part having paid at least a fiver to do so, the charity is expected to make well over £100,000.00 which is just brilliant.

I think the most moving thing I saw was an old lady sitting outside a home on the way there, wrapped in a blanket to keep her warm and waving her union jack and all with a big smile on her face. It made me realise that the people actually did recognise what we were doing and appreciated it.

Truly amazing.

I can’t believe how long it is since I last made an entry in the blog. Five plus months and so it won’t surprise me if no one ever reads this. I imagine anyone who’s had an interest in the past will be long gone. There so much that’s happened over the months that I can’t even remember it all, let alone write about it, but let’s see what I can…

I still have the BMW K1200S and the Bandit 1250 and both are still going just fine. The BMW’s had it’s first service some time back… 6000 miles which almost coincided with 1 year and so both parts were done at the same time. Oh, yes, that reminds me now… I had the service done at North Oxford. Yes, I know, but apart from better the devil you know, they also collect and deliver it free of charge. They kept the bike for a couple of days and delivered it back on a Friday. On the Saturday we went to meet friends and go for a ride and it was lovely to ride, that just serviced feeling being very evident. Once home, I was chatting to my friend near the bike when I noticed some drops of oil (I thought) on top of the fairing, just under the right handle bar. “Hope that’s not brake fluid” said my friend. Well, it was! To cut a long story very short, and as it happened a few months back I know this to be correct, the moron that serviced it had completely overfilled the front reservoir and spilt brake fluid all around it. In the ham fisted way these idiots work, to clean it up he’d only wiped what was visible from above. Underneath the bar, the switch gear and the brake lever it was absolutely dripping. It took me a few weeks and many checks to clean it all up. Good one North Oxford!

Nothing really to report on the Bandit except that it continues to be reliable and great fun to ride as my “chuck it around” bike. Meike still has her 250 Ninja but she seems to have lost interest in it and so with just 600 miles on the clock it’s for sale. I think she just needed to get the experience out of her system but I can’t help feeling she wouldn’t have had more fun, and therefore still be keen if we’d got her a 600 rather than a 250. Never mind, I’m glad she’s done it and at least now on the back of my bikes she knows that’s where she wants to be and won’t be hankering after riding for herself.

Mermaid Bikers is still going strong even though The Mermaid pub closed without any warning and we had to find ourselves a new home. We now meet at The Oliver Cromwell in Bromham every Wednesday and despite the fact The Mermaid has reopened it’s where we’ll be staying. The pubs great and very friendly and the location is a million miles better than The Mermaid.

Funny thing! I haven’t ridden either of my bikes for over 5 weeks now and for some odd reason I have no great desire to do so. I’m not sure why I feel like this. You couldn’t keep me off bikes at this time last year and even through the winter, but whether it’s because of the weather or work demands, I just have no desire to ride right now. I’m sure it will improve soon though.

Wiltshire Riders finally folded for good. No big surprise there, the guy who ran it had really lost interest and although he’ll blame anyone else before himself, it never really recovered from him abandoning it over last Christmas. He has other interests now though, which a few friends are also involved in… Biker FM. It’s an internet radio station supposedly for bikers, but I’m not sure how that works. I wasn’t aware that bikers had musical taste any different to anyone else. I don’t listen though, so perhaps there are bike related things going on I don’t know about.

Hm, what else? Well, I’m not sure there is really. We’ve had some great times with friends and the bikes over the last months including quite a few ride outs and a 4 day trip to Wales. That was so good we’re doing it again next year.

I think that’s enough to be catching up on and I’ll try to start writing more regularly again, although that will depend of course on having anything to write about lol.

Remember that song? I think the title was really different to that but I’m sure you’ll know it by that name. Well, song is used lightly as it was really some american fella talking over the top of some very repetitive music and giving his version of life. Something he said in it has always stayed in my mind though, something about don’t waste time worrying about things because the things you really should worry about will hit you out of the blue at 5.30 some Tuesday afternoon. So it was a couple of weeks ago when we got the message my dad, my best friend, had fallen very ill. We rushed round to the hospital in Kent to see him very ill indeed and for a few days the bottom was falling out of my world. I’m not going to go into any details but true to form, he’s somehow pulled off a remarkable recovery and I’m delighted to say is now back at home and doing very well.

Because of this though and spending most of my time travelling between home and hospitals in Kent and London, we really haven’t been doing very much on the bikes or anything else for that matter. We were due to be going on a trip to France this last weekend with Wiltshire Riders, the reason for getting all the camping gear recently, but we’ve had to opt out of that now as I really didn’t want to be stuck on the other side of the channel if I was needed at home. In the end I wasn’t, but I’m still glad I didn’t take the chance. I’m sure all the camping gear will get tested more than once this year when we go travelling with friends.

Over four weeks ago now, and my memory is a little blurred, we had gone to George Whites to pick up the crash bungs and seat hump that were finally in for Meike’s Ninja. The following morning I fitted them and it became very clear why the crash bungs were some of the most expensive R&G make. Not only do they supply the crash bungs but also all the bracketry required to mount them which is some pretty substancial stuff. The quality of manufacturing is superb and once the brackets were fitted, the fairing mounted back with everything perfectly aligned. It’s then simply a matter of bolting up the crash bungs and voila. The seat hump was a piece of cake to fit of course.

We’ve been to The Mermaid a couple of times in the last 4 weeks although we did miss one bike night which was a first for us. There’s no question that the bike nights are catching on well and everyone who attends seems to have a great time.

We’ve also managed to get on a couple of rideouts. One with Wiltshire Bikers to Weston Supermare and another with Moonrakers EVS to raise funds for this new Devizes based blood group. The weather was very nice for both rides although the one to Weston seemed to be too drawn out somehow. The traffic was very bad that day and we were stopping too frequently to really get into the riding. I was very concerned with the Moonrakers EVS ride for two reasons. Firstly my old shoulder pain re-appeared which makes riding a very painful experience, but probably more importantly the standard of riding was attrocious. As a group, and I’m ashamed to admit I got drawn in for a while - like everyone else, we appeared to have little regard for other traffic and in some cases even each other.

This is absolutely the worst scenario for any rideout in my opinion because the more inexperienced riders are encouraged to ride well beyond their abilities. So with my concerns over this and my shoulder we decided to opt out at lunch time when we were about half way. Much later in the day we learned that one of the riders on a Kawasaki ZZR1400, not someone we’d ever met before, had gone into the back of a car, at speed, and ended up in hospital with 7 broken ribs and a broken collar bone. Obviously I’m sorry to have heard this, but it didn’t come as a complete surprise. I hope he heals quickly.

This weekend we’re off to the Isle of Wight with some friends, on the bikes of course. The weather looks as though it should be OK and we’re both greatly looking forward to it. Tonight is bike night at The Mermaid and we’re looking forward to that too.

What else has happened in the last four weeks?

I’m on the WaBAM committee now. I think this was more because of a lack of volunteers in the posts but I’m happy to help out where I can. I’m now responsible for the news letter and publicity.

I’ve been assigned my RoSPA observer and had in fact arranged to have my first check ride a couple of weekends back. I had to cancel that though and so will be arranging for it again soon I hope. Interestingly I already knew my observer, Julian, from The Mermaid bike nights lol.

My new Zumo 660 finally arrived and overall I’m very pleased with it although there are a few software bugs. Still, I’m sure Garmin will sort them out over the coming months. The unit is noticeably faster than the 550 especially on map redraw and route calculation as well as playing mp3’s. I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it over the coming weeks and months. This meant though that Neil could finally have my Zumo 550 for his (my old) FJR and so he came round this last weekend and I fitted it - or rather re-fitted it.

Anyway, hopefully life is returning to normal and my entries in the blog will become more frequent again. Thank you to everyone who sent me messages of concern during this awful period. Each one was very much appreciated.

Meike’s parents left for home last Thursday as planned, despite the French trawlermen doing everything possible to prevent it. We then had a couple of days of pretty cold and damp weather but on Saturday the sun returned and Meike took the 250 Ninja out for it’s first ride. We only did about 30 miles but it was great experience for her and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s obviously going to be a little slow while we run it in and she gets used to riding again, but it’s still great to see her on it.

On Sunday it was the monthly Wiltshire Riders meet and she rode to that too…

Here we are having just arrived at The Moonrakers for the meet.

We hung around for an hour or so and it was then decided some of us would ride up to George Whites as it was their open weekend. Meike didn’t fancy that on her own so we took her bike back home and then returned on mine.

George Whites was packed silly and so after an hour or so we left with some friends to spend the late afternoon at The Mermaid. As usual, it was a good day.

Yesterday evening, Monday, we went to the new bike night at The Chestnut Tree in Andover. Meike again rode the Ninja to get some more miles on it. It was a good evening with the weather being so nice and great to meet up with friends we hadn’t seen for a while. I can imagine it becoming a very popular bike night as the year progresses.

I’ve been giving a lot thought to our up coming camping trip with Wiltshire Riders at the end of May and thinking about how I’m going to pack the bike. It’s only two nights, but there’s two of us and we need to take the tent as well as sleeping bags and mattresses etc. Looking at the K1200S and the new rack I will only really safely be able to fix the tent to it and so will need to use the panniers and tank bag for the remainder. Our sleeping bag was not designed for compactness and there’s just no way it would fit anywhere and so I went looking for new ones. During this exercise I also started to read a lot about mattresses and read a very interesting article about how the right mattress can do more for your comfort and especially warmth in a tent than the sleeping bag. So with this new found knowledge I went looking for the best mattress and sleeping bags with compactness when folded up being high on the list of requirements.

I found a sleeping bag made by Snugpak, the Traveller Lite, which is a one season sleeping bag rated down to 2 deg C that rolls up into a bag not a lot bigger than a coconut lol. I’ve bought two, a left handed one and a right handed one so they can be zipped together. We’re a little concerned that they won’t be warm enough, even though in May the nights should not drop below 2 deg C, but we decided it was certainly worth trying. I then found the best mattress I could, the Exped Down Pump DLX 9. This is a down filled air mattress that’s 9cm thick and yet rolls down to just 11 inches long by 6 inches diameter. It has the highest warmth rating of any camping mattress and is supposed to insulate down to -38 deg C. The theory here being that the mattresses will off set the thiness of the sleeping bags. Anyway, all will be told at the end of May lol.

The beauty of both these items however is that they’ll easily fit in the panniers leaving room to spare for other bits and clothing with the remainder in the tank bag if needed.

It seems like a good plan, so hopefully it will all work well.

Earlier in the week I ordered some adapters for my Abba Superbike stand so that I can use it with the 250 Ninja to lubricate the chain and things. Interestingly I had a call from them this morning to ask what bike I’d originally ordered the stand for. When I told them a K1200S the guy was very relieved. Apparently they make the stand in different heights but the K12 one is already low. If I’d had the higher ones, then apparently it lifts the Ninja too high off the ground. Great service!

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking a little more about my riding and wanting to keep developing. When I did my IAM a year or so ago I really enjoyed having someone observing me and pointing out where I could make improvements. I’m pretty sure I still ride to a good standard, but I do miss the evaluation and advice. Consequently I’ve signed up to do my RoSPA certificate. While the riding is ‘taught’ to the same system as the IAM the RoSPA qualification is a little different in that a pass is graded bronze, silver or gold and is only good for 3 years when you must retake the test if you want to maintain it. Of course I’d love to take the test and get a gold first time out, but that’s probably unlikely and so getting one of the lower grades still gives you something else to aim for. I’ve already had my observer assigned and so hopefully will be going out on a first ride very soon. I’m looking forward to it.

I’m still waiting for my Garmin Zumo 660 that I ordered back in February. Garmin have delayed the release while they’ve been ironing out some issues apparently. Last week, Audio 66 told me that they’d been promised their first delivery on the 26th April but they weren’t sure how many they were getting. I hope I don’t have to wait much longer.

Meike’s Ninja 250 was delivered on Wednesday as arranged…

Looks to me like one very satisfied customer!

She didn’t fancy riding to The Mermaid bike night straight away though and so we went on the K12 as usual. Unfortunately, or really fortunately, her parents arrived on Thursday for the easter weekend and so as of yet she hasn’t had a chance to ride it. On Saturday I took myself off to George Whites to meet up with some friends and when I got home I took the Ninja to the fuel station to fill it up. While it feels very small to me, I can tell it’s going to be a lot of fun to ride. It’s very light and seemed to me to handle very well. Of course the weight makes it very easy to lean and turn but it also felt very precise. I could also tell that it likes to be revved and that there’s a little bit of a tiger lurking in there when you get into the higher revs.

I have a feeling though that running it in isn’t going to be a lot of fun. The manual recommends not exceeding 4000rpm for the first 500 miles and then 6000rpm for the next 500. The problem with this is that 4000rpm in top (6th) gear is just 35mph which in itself can be a danger on national speed limit roads. I’ve always believed that engines should be run in but I don’t agree with limiting the revs so strictly. Of course it shouldn’t be thrashed but I’ve always understood it’s more important to keep varying things, speed, revs, gear etc. than it is to sit at a constant 4000rpm. I’ve never had any problems with any engine I’ve broken in and so I don’t think this can be so wrong. Therefore, I really don’t see any harm in taking the bike up to 6, 7 or even 8000rpm in the gears and so long as it’s not being laboured, up to 6000rpm in top. This gives a much more respectable and safer 50 or so mph in top and I am absolutely positive won’t hurt the bike in any way.

Anyway, as soon as Meike’s parents have gone home on Thursday I’m sure she’ll be itching to ride it. She already is really, but I know she wants to ride it for the first time without an audience. We’re also still waiting for the crash bungs ordered at the same time as the bike. Obviously she’s not expecting to need them but I know she’d rather they were on before riding it.

Yesterday, Sunday, there was a pre-arranged Mermaid Bikers ride and so we all met up at The Mermaid for coffee and breakfast and then set off for Broadway. It was a little odd to me leading the rideout without Meike on pillion, but it was a great day all the same. Lunch in Broadway and then a different route home.

There were eight of us all together on six bikes and as always it was a lovely day spent with some wonderful friends. Meike and her parents had a nice day too walking around the countryside.

The titles really meant to be a joke as I’m not planning to move to weekly updates. I haven’t been very well for the last week or so, although carrying on as normal as much as possible. Don’t know what’s wrong really, just under the weather so to speak.

Anyway… what’s happened since my last entry? The rack arrived from North Oxford Garage the next day as promised and took all of about 20 minutes to fit lol. The instructions that came with it even explained how to remove the existing grab handles and so there really weren’t any challenges. It really is a direct bolt on to the K1200S and I’m very pleased with the result. It’s a very smart looking rack and very much in keeping with the sporty lines of the bike. I’m not sure about it’s practicality yet, but as it has lots of bungee mounting points, I believe it will work quite well. We’ve booked up for the Wiltshire Riders weekend in France at the end of May and as that’s a camping trip, it will be the racks first real test I suspect.

Speaking of camping, it meant we had to buy a new tent small enough and light enough to carry on the bike but at the same time, large enough to make use of in a field. After a lot of investigation I decided on a Vango Omega 350 tent which is a 3 man tent with some very practical features. It’s nearly 1.5m hight in the middle so I’ll at last be able to kneel or sit in it properly but it all folds down to very compact size and weighs just less than 5kg. I think it should do the job very nicely for a few years to come. I’m still trying to decide what to do about the other camping ‘essentials’ namely sleeping bags and mattresses. We have both already of course, but they’re not compact or in any way designed for easy carrying on a bike. I’m still researching these but if anyone has any recommendations I’d love to hear them.

Bike night at The Mermaid last week was great. It’s getting busier every week at the moment and there’s no doubt the lighter and warmer evenings are helping. As I type this, the sun’s shining and so I hope tonight will be even better.

Sunday was the monthly Wiltshire Riders rideout. The person who was supposed to be leading it had to drop out because of bike reliability issues and so I ended up taking on the lead rider role. The destination was already set as Mudeford Quay and so I planned different routes there and back that I hoped would be interesting. On the day there were about 20 bikes in all, it was once again warm and sunny and so we had a good ride. Mudeford is only about 45 miles from Devizes but I’d planned an 80 mile route there and a 70 mile route back. Of the two the route back was certainly the more interesting and it had some fantastic roads in it, South East of Shaftsbury, that I’d not ridden before.

I think everyone enjoyed the day although we had a couple of normally very fast riders with us who I know would have liked it to have been faster. On the other hand we also had some new people with us who I know felt it was plenty fast enough, if not a little too fast. Obviously you have to ride for the lowest skills and experience and so I think the speed I set was about right. To be honest, I wouldn’t go much faster on the public roads in any case and certainly not when I have Meike on the back.

I believe I’m still down to lead the May rideout for WR as well - in which case we’ll be going to Rykas Cafe at Box Hill in Surrey. I have some very interesting routes planned for that one already.

Unfortunately Sunday wasn’t without it’s mishap! On the way back, about half way home, Suggsy came off his bike through no fault of his own. Basically he had to brake, quite hard, and his front wheel lost traction. This happened at about 60mph and so you can imagine it was quite a tumble. Fortunately no one hit him or his bike, and they didn’t hit anything other than the road. His crash bungs did a great job of protecting the bike although it will need some new pieces.

It was obvious he was in some pain but wanted to finish the ride even though he had no gear lever as such. It was only the day after when he finally went to the hospital that we found out he’d broken his wrist in two places! Poor bloke is now in plaster for 6 weeks and obviously not able to ride. Hope it all heels up quickly for him.

On the way home from The Mermaid last Wednesday evening, coming round a fast left hand corner I know very well, the back of the K1200 slid sideways. It wasn’t like we had no grip and in fact felt more like a controlled slide but there’s no way I was putting enough power on to cause it. I suspect we got caught in a rut as there was nothing obvious on the road. In any event though it made me take a close look at the rear tyre which although it appeared to have plenty of tread left on it was flattening off to the extent where there were definite ridges both sides.

On Saturday, I rode the bike on my own to George Whites to take the required paperwork for Meikes new bike and to make sure it was in fact OK. The bike handled just fine and so I decided it would be OK for the Sunday rideout but then it would need replacing. Considering I’ve only done 2500 miles on it, that’s disappointing.

The front tyre looks hardly used and so I decided to order the exact same rear tyre, a Michelin Pilot Power. As usual I ordered it from Round and Black for a good price and it arrived the next day. I took it to Steve Lynhams in Swindon for fitting. I reckon by the time this one wears out in another 2500 miles, the front will be getting worn too and so then I’ll replace both with the 2CT dual compound versions of the same tyres. More expensive, but they should last longer.

I think that’s everything relevant for the last week and so now we get to today… a very exciting day in this household… the day that Meike’s new Kawasaki Ninja 250R arrives!

It’s supposed to be delivered in the early afternoon and I know she’s looking forward to coming home and seeing it. She might not ride it for a few days because the crash bungs haven’t arrived yet and I know she’d like those fitted first. I’m sure though that there’ll be plenty to write on it and her soon.

I’d like to be writing to say yet again what a great week and weekend we had and generally we did but something happened that put a bit of a dampner on it. Read on…

As usual we made it to The Mermaid last Wednesday evening on the K1200S. It was a good ride there and back on dry roads but standing outside the pub was a little on the cold side as there was a cold wind blowing. Still, it was great to see everyone as always.

Sunday was a planned rideout with Mermaid Bikers. It was Nelly’s idea because it was also the day the clocks went forwards and hour and The Mermaid were planning to celebrate with a hog roast. Nelly came up with the plan and destination - Glastonbury but had asked me to lead it and so together we’d worked out the route.

As the forecasts were for good weather if slightly cold, I spent some time on Saturday putting the video cameras on the K12 and fitting the new, low gain microphone. I fitted it under the rear mudguard about 3 inches away from the exhaust hoping it would record the exhaust tone with little to no wind noise. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out as the result was a great recording of my final drive, gear box and the wind with the exhaust faintly in the background. I’m going to have to work on this.

Anyway, as I was leading the ride, I shot all the video from the reat facing camera…

It’s not easy to lead a rideout you know. Firstly you have to of course ride for yourself but then you also have to make sure you maintain a speed that provides something for everyone without leaving everyone behind. In addition you have to make sure that you have someone behind you to leave as a marker and when you get into more built up areas it’s easy to run out of markers. Quite a few times on Sunday we had to wait at junctions for someone to catch up so they could take over marking the junction. I know I don’t ride too fast and in fact I’m sure one or two would like me to ride faster, but this is where the discipline of leading the rideout comes in.

The point of mentioning this though is that it’s relevant to the video. For quite a lot of it the following bikes are simply specs in the distance and so the best video was from slower or stationary sections where the following bikes are close. I may try an even higher zoom lens on the rear camera next time.

As it was a sunny March day with the sun therefore relatively low in the sky, it also shows the need in some clips for some form of filter. At times the sky light dominates the picture and as the camera adjusts for this it turns down the brightness and contrast of nearer objects. As always, it’s good experience though to help me get it spot on.

As you can see the ride was on some fantastic roads and we were able generally to keep up a good pace. Everyone was thoroughly enjoying it and having a great time until that is we got back to Calne on the return leg.

It was here that my phone rang and we learned that JP, our good friend, had come off his bike a mile or so back. I’m not going to speculate on what happened because the simple fact is no one knows but to say he’s extremely lucky would be an understatement. The next bikes round the corner found him face down in the grass and his bike in two major pieces, not to mention all the bits of fairing and lights etc. He was unconscious to start with but did come round fairly quickly and I have to say the response of the Paramedics, Ambulance and Police was absolutely first class. I’m sure it helped that he was within a mile of Calne Police Station but all the same they were there within minutes. The Air Ambulance was called initially but then stood down as the paramedics determined he didn’t appear to have any major injuries. Eventually he was taken off to hospital in the Ambulance and two of the group went with him. I think we were very lucky to have a fully trained first aider with us too.

I have to say the situation gave me a real dilemma as we were already down in Calne town centre with 2 other bikes and another two were still marking junctions. Everything in me wanted to go back and try to help but at the same time, there was everyone else to think about and I knew he was in good and capable hands. We therefore made the decision to continue back to The Mermaid but of course stayed in constant touch.

Everyone was shocked by it, and especially those who’d been at the scene and yet it was a really good ride out on some fantastic roads. Talk about mixed feelings.

So, other news from the week and up until now…

Meike has a bike on order! A Kawasaki 250R Ninja in Green. In fact I ordered it for her last Monday. I’d love to have been able to keep it a surprise but as it has to be ordered in from Kawasaki and will take around 3 weeks, it just wasn’t possible. She’d have been asking can we go and look at bikes, and I’d have been trying to put her off. I know she’s very excited about getting it and so I very much hope delivery is no longer than the promised 3 weeks of which we’re already half way there. I’ve also ordered R&G crash bungs for it which were very expensive as they apparently come with some convoluted bracketry so you don’t have to cut the fairing. At the time of writing I am a little concerned because George Whites have not yet confirmed the delivery date, but as I’m dealing with a friend there, I’m sure he’ll look after us.

I also spent some time helping Suggsy at Wiltshire Riders plan a route for a France trip coming up on the May bank holiday weekend. It’s a 3 day / 2 night trip in all and the plan is to camp for the two nights. This gives me a couple of problems - firstly we don’t have a tent small enough to carry on the bike (and large enough for me to want to sleep in it lol) and secondly we don’t have means on the bike of carrying one.

This has prompted me to order the rack for the new K1300S which I understand from all the BMW forums is a direct bolt on to the K1200S. I’ve ordered it this morning from North Oxford Garage and they even had one in stock so it should be here tomorrow. As for the tent, I think I’ve found the ideal one, but will hold off on ordering one until I’m sure that it is the right one, and that we’d actually use it. I know we have other friends who’d like to go camping with us on the bikes and so I’m sure it would see some use.

OK, I think that brings us up to speed. Mermaid bike night tonight… yippee.

Hm, such a lot feels like it happened and yet I’m not sure I can remember it all lol.

As anyone in the UK will know it’s just been a fantastic week weather wise with sunshine every day and next to no wind. It’s still been getting pretty cold at night times with it being -4 or so a couple of times, but with the sun shining the roads have been completely dry and lovely to ride on.

We went to The Mermaid on Wednesday evening on the K12 and it was great to see some new people turn up for that. As always the food was delicious and it was just about warm enough to stand outside all night. Lovely evening and I have a feeling it could become very popular once the word spreads.

On Friday Meike had her second refresher ‘lesson’ with Devizes Bike School in the afternoon and as she’d forgotten to take the camera it gave me all the excuse I needed to get on the K12 and take it to her. I stayed for 45 minutes or so to watch her and she certainly seems very stable and capable on the bike. When she came home she was again grinning from ear to ear as it turned out they’d finally been out on the road and she’d thoroughly enjoyed it. I was surprised but also in a way pleased to hear that they’d been into Marlborough and back and along the high street which is possibly one of the most hazardous places I know on a bike. Not only is there the normal traffic to cope with but there’s also parking down both sides of the road and along the middle and so cars can be coming at you from all directions.

This was still on the 125 from the bike school which was probably wise as neither her or her instructor felt she’s ready to ride something much bigger. She was a little disappointed that ‘wringing its neck’ along the A4 only got up to about 60mph but it was enough to convince her of a few things…

Firstly, she would like something with a little more power but is really not sure about owning something much more powerful. Secondly though she realised my concerns with a naked bike and said she could see what I meant about the wind pressure on her.

So, on Saturday we went off to George Whites as usual to meet up with friends and we took the opportunity to look at a Kawasaki 250 Ninja. To say Meike almost fell in love with it would be an understatement. The riding position, size and shape of the bike is almost perfect for her and I have to say she did look good on it. It has three times the power of the 125 she was riding and will of course easily do legal speed limits with more in reserve. For the type of riding she wants to do, the occasional rideout to a bike night, it could be the ideal bike. If she really takes to it, then in a year or so’s time there’s nothing to stop her upgrading of course. So, perhaps we’ll see her on one of these soon?

We stayed at GW’s for an hour or so but had also planned a rideout for anyone interested and there were about 10 others who wanted to join in. Rather cheekily I’d planned it so we could go to North Oxford Garage and collect my new seat. While at NOG I was chatting to Phil and asked him why my earlier emails had been ignored. He denied all knowledge of ever having received them and even went and looked on his computer there and then and sure enough they weren’t there. Very odd! They received and responded to my email about the seat so I wonder why my K1300S enquiry never got through?

Anyway, new seat fitted we then set off for Cirencester along a route I’d planned previously to keep us off the main roads. It was a fun route and everyone seemed to enjoy it and have a good time. From Cirencester we went back to Chippenham to friends for coffee and then home.

On Sunday we stayed at home all day and got some gardening and housework done. It was another beautiful day but to be honest I wanted to stay off the bikes. We’ve been out every Saturday and Sunday for the last 4 or 5 weekends it seems and I just wanted a lazy day off. It was nice and relaxing.