December 2012 Third ride on Blue in 8 days. This time to the Super Sausage café on the A5 near Towcester with the HBBB group and then had a quick look at the Concrete Cows on the way back. They have had a make over recently. Then I was going for a coffee in Supamoto forgetting that they shut on Sunday in the winter so diverted to La Piazza in Bedford.

Second ride on Blue in less than a week. Maybe not a record for winter but not bad and it was a proper ride of over 50 miles. I went with a mate to Earls Barton for the first time for a tea and cake at Jeyes. For the older amongst you yes the Jeyes Fluid people. My mate had to head back but I had a look around the place and then rode back via various B roads. On the way home I spotted a "Common" Buzzard in tree right next to the road, which was a nice bonus.

I got Blue out and rode into town for a coffee with a chum at La Piazza in Bedford. That's just over 6 miles! Oh well I have ridden it and it was good to sit in the sunshine and talk bikes. There were a few other bikers there a couple of which I also know and some scooter riders to.


November 2012 I took Blue down to Scorpio Racing in Kempston to have her cleaned and coated with ACF-50 liquid. I was happy with the work done and they adjusted the chain and straightened the gear change for free! Other than that not much news as it has been wet and most of my local green lanes are now closed for the winter I've not been off tarmac recently. I have ridden the bike into to town a few times for shopping as there is free motorcycle parking but in the car I have to either pay or park and walk.


October 2012 I rode Blue to work once and stopped off on the way at Supamoto for a coffee and chat. Other than that not much to report. I hope to get Blue out the odd day in the winter for a bit of light trail riding on the lanes that are still open locally and just to keep her ticking over. The rest of the time she will be locked up in my garage with the trickle charger running.


September 2012 I had a trail ride early in the month, and at long last most of the trails were open in North Bedfordshire. All was going well until I had a comedy off, but the chain jumped the rear sprocket and jammed up in the front one. After some messing about with the tools we had we gave up and pushed the bike to the nearest road, which was only a few hundred yards but uphill! I then called RAC breakdown who arrived within 1 hour & were able to fix it so I could ride home. Whilst riding home I realised the forks were a little twisted in the yokes but as I've been busy at work and riding about on Red it's taken a while to sort but Jamie of Two Wheels Better has fixed it now.

August 2012 I had another trail ride on Blue. We were mostly on the Icknield Way between Ashwell and Melbourn plus a few bits and bobs. We did about 60 miles in total although less than 20 was off tarmac. A few snaps are loaded here.


I've had a busy couple of days at Silverstone watching practice and the WSB races. It was sunshine and showers, which must have been tricky for the riders, & a number came off. I took loads of pic's some of which you can see here. I went on Red on Saturday which I've not ridden recently. I thought the handling was off & when I got back I checked the tyre pressures & found the rear was very low. So on the Sunday I went on Blue. On the way home on Sunday the mileage clicked over 5,000 and I had a nice ride down to Buckingham then across to Bedford on the A421 in the sunshine.


July 2012 I had an easy trail ride on Blue on Sunday morning mostly on the Icknield Way Roman Road around Ashwell and over towards Royston. I went to the Silver Ball Café on the A10 for a cuppa. There were a few bikers at the café including a group of H-D riders but nothing that exciting. Then a trail I'd never been on before between the villages of Reed and Barkway and I tried a trail from Therfield village I'd also not been on previously but it was closed for repairs, but I do know exactly where it is now. Plus I went to Stevenage for a very nice roast beef lunch.

The speedo has almost 5,000 miles on it now and I think it had less than 2,500 when I got it 13 months ago. Not bad as I also have a cage and Red.

I had a trail ride on Blue last Friday evening with a mate that has just got an old Honda XR 250cc. Many of my local trails were still closed due to the wet Spring we had in the UK (see a list of closures here) but we managed to find a few bits and bobs to ride on.


Last week I finally got around to taking the rubber bits off the footpegs for better grip off tarmac. Only taken me a year to do a 5 minute job! I did intend to do this when I got to Wales last year and this year but it didn't happen!

I have been up to North Wales for a week to see my chums who live near Lake Bala, and ride Blue on and off tarmac. The weather was all over the place as usual but I enjoyed my break and took some snaps. You can see them here. Whilst there I visited various preserved steam railways but didn't ride on any of them. I find they often have a decent café , parking, and loos so a handy place to visit with the bonus for me of seeing a live steam train, or two. I went to the Fairbourne Steam Railway for the first time, and repeat visits to the Talyllyn Railway, & Llangollen Railway. I was going to have a first look at the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway on the way home but managed to just miss one train and the next was not for a couple of hours, and as there did not appear to be much to keep me entertained at Welshpool Station I pushed on towards Jack's Hill Café. In all I did about 750 miles in 8 days with most of this on tarmac. A highlight of the trip was a red kite almost crashing into me as it tried to grab some road kill right next to me.

I am happy with the Pirelli MT21
Rallycross off tarmac and on tarmac they are OK as I expected with less grip than the Avon Distenzas I took off and still have.

 

On the way to North Wales I took a detour and stopped off at the Heritage Motor Centre (see near left) at Gaydon. I'd not been before but enjoyed it. I took a few pic's which you can see here.
On the way back I stopped off at Jack's Hill Café for
Ton-Up Day which was free! I took some more photo's which you can see here.


June 2012 I went down to Bedford Wheels and got the Pirelli MT21s Rallycross at long last. Not cheap but supposed to be a good, and the price included fitting. I asked for the old Avon Distenzas back to store for future use. They are great on tarmac, and hard ground, but not elsewhere.


The hand guards I ordered last week have turned up and I've fitted them . They are actually listed as DT 125 parts by Yamaha. The clutch side went straight on but I did have to remove a small amount of plastic from the brake side to get it to fit.




Blue went in for it's annual MOT (safety) test on Monday morning which it passed, and as it was Ride to Work Day I rode her to work in the afternoon. I've had her for a year now and I am very happy with her. That's the second Serow I've got unseen off fleabay. I would not recommend buying bikes unseen, but it has worked for me! Maybe I've just been very lucky?

Last week I had a trail ride on
Blue with a mate in the morning. I took a few snaps with my mobile, which you can see here. It was a bit muddy and wet in places and my mate did take a tumble which you can see from his helmet cam here, and a longer video here of a different trail. Also I visited the Oakley Motorcycle Club that evening.

As to knobblies think I'm going for the Pirelli MT21
Rallycross but have not ordered them yet. They are supposed to be good both on and off tarmac and are road legal in the U.K. I like the look of the Continental Twinduro but don't think they do the right sizes as they are intended for bigger dual sport bikes.

I was intending to look into knobblies a bit more for my trip next month to North Wales but ended up buying a Wolfman
Enduro tank bag for the bike. It has arrived and looks good. It's small so only good for a few bits and bobs but has some useful pockets... It's not waterproof but small enough to cover with a shopping bag or similar if I use it in the rain. In particular I like that you can fill up the bike without taking the bag off.

May 2012 I had a little trail ride last Sunday. Whilst out and about I stumbled across the Classic Ford Show at Santa Pod. Lots of lovely old Ford cars for rally, road... I didn't stay long as I had not put any sun screen on and it was hot and sunny all day. Also whilst out I did see a red kite whilst riding on the B645 near Rushden.

I needed to pop into town on Saturday & I went on
Blue then on the way back decided to have a coffee at The Embankment. I'm sitting outside in the sunshine nice and relaxed when random senior backs his car into my bike. No damage done but why me!

The weather has turned fine at last so I've been riding
Blue or Red to work for the last few days. The top box is very handy for bits and bobs like waterproofs...

I've not ridden
Blue much as it keeps raining! The local green lanes are now open for the summer but I've not ventured on any yet due to the rain and the fact I still don't have any knobblies for Blue. The local authority close the lanes for the winter when it was dry and they would have been fine. Now it's spring and pouring it down. Must be another Murphy's law or something?

April 2012 I went to Ride Free 2012 on Blue which I enjoyed and it was sunny if a little chilly to start with. In particular I liked the Dave Coates stunt show. I loaded a few pic's here. Then I had a short trail ride as there's a green lane near the venue that is open all year and it's been dry for ages so it was easy going. I can't go out on Red as she's still waiting for clutch parts.


March 2012 Blue has been serviced by Jamie at Two Wheels Better and he fitted the "new" bash plate, changed the fork seals, flushed the brake fluid and serviced the front brake... All looks good now apart from he said the chain and sprockets will probably need changing next winter. That's not a surprise to me! I just need to sort out those knobblies ready for the local green lanes to open on 1st May and North Wales trip which is in July this year.

The used bash plate has arrived from the USA and looks good although not so cheap after I got charged import duty and a handling charge on top!

I've been on to Jamie at Two Wheels Better and booked a date from him to service the bike and swap the bash plates over... No rush as the local green lanes don't reopen until 1st May. I've been "researching" knobblies and the Pirelli MT21
Rallycross look good but maybe a bit pricey? Looks like Maxxis do something similar and perhaps a bit cheaper?



February 2012 I treated Blue to a used bash plate as the one on it at the moment looks a bit wimpy. I've just got to wait for it to arrive from the USA. Blue still needs some knobblies and maybe hand guards & I need to get on to Jamie at Two Wheels Better to get it booked in for a service and to change the fork seals. I might be riding it on tarmac later this week as weather for Thursday/Friday supposed to be dry and 15C maybe warmer?

December 2011
I rode Blue to work once between Xmas and New year as it was sunny and mild. Before Xmas I fitted the top box (see left) and it looks good. It has a quick release thing inside so that I can take it off and the base plate stays bolted to the rack. It didn't take that long to fit once I had all the bits.



December 2011 I ordered a cheap plastic top box to go on the rack I fitted months ago. It's arrived and we will see how long it takes me to fit it? Update on checking the instructions some of the fixing bits are missing. I have been on to suppliers and hope to have missing bits mid-week.

September 2011 I went for two trail rides late in the month before the local green lanes close for the winter. The later mostly around North Beds including a stop for food at The Quarryman's Rest café at Irchester Country Park went well apart from one comedy get off on wet mud on Yelnow Lane and I've hurt my knee! I hope it is nothing major and will be OK in a day or two. See picture on left and comment below about boots. There was not a cloud in the sky and it was hot all day. I then went to the O.M.C. meet for a pint and chat.



The first ride I went to AJ's Diner in Wellingborough for refreshments which I enjoyed. It's a Happy Days/50's styled place above a new motorcycle dealer. Inside it reminded me of Angel's diner in Palatka.

The Avon Distanzias tyres on this bike that have impressed on the road and that were OK in North Wales were not much good as I expected in the mud and leaves rapidly clogging up and sliding around. I will need to think about some more off road boots for next year. Also I noticed the left hand fork seal is leaking so more expense! There's a few more pic's here.



August 2011 Cheap weekend for once where I had a little look at the Franklin Gallery in an old barn on Saturday then Sunday afternoon to the Civic Theatre Bedford for a free talk about adventure travel by Paddy Tyson, Sam Manicom, and Simon Gandolfi. Both of these I rode to on Blue.

I was trying not to spend any more money but I recently bought a rack. I had a quick look at fitting it the day I got it but locks like the helmet lock is in the way and I could not get that off quickly. 
UpdateRack fitted and I did indeed need to remove the helmet lock. I'm looking for a suitable place to refit it but not urgent.



July 2011 My White '92 Serow (see left) has sold and Tom has collected it. I hope he is as happy with it as I have been. I didn't want to sell but just got the Blue '04 Serow which needs a new chain and sprockets, the Buell needs new boots soon, and the cage needs a new radiator, and I might pay out for a Sky dish...

See pic's here of my recent adventures in North Wales where both Serow were faultless. Since then I hired a van for the day, and brought
White back to Bedford ready to be sold.

I won free tickets to both days of Rhythms of the World in Hitchin which I enjoyed and in particular
The Selecter were great fun. I rode there both days on Blue and got free parking which was nice. On the Sunday I tried out a couple of trails I'd never been on before near Hitchin/Luton. Nothing that exciting but was good to go off road on Blue and I had a good view of a red kite to.

June 2011 Just back from a good week riding on and off tarmac in North Wales mostly on familiar trails but did try a couple of new ones. I've loaded some pic's here. I went on the Blue Serow and it ran perfectly apart from the chain &/or sprockets are rubbish. I have adjusted the chain several times already and taken a link out even though I've only done 800 miles on it and drenched it in chain spray several times.



July 2011 I rode Blue to the Oakley Carnival then a parade around the village with the Oakley Motorcycle Club.

June 2011 I bought another Serow. This addition to my "fleet" is a Blue 2004 Brazilian built model with less than 2,500 clicks on the clock.



May 2011 I was out recently on some easy trails in North Beds/Cambridgeshire borders. Everything went well apart from the branch (see left) blocking Donkey Lane near Keysoe. I've e.mailed the Bedford Rights of Way team about this.

I've been using
White as my day to day wheels recently as my cage has been playing up and the weather has been great. So I swapped to my Buell but the Buell was overdue for a service and it took me a fortnight to get that sorted.

The speedo now shows almost 20,000 kilometers



May 2011 Early in the month I was out on the lanes around Santa Pod. Didn't try any new lanes or even go out for that long but it was good to be riding about in the sunshine on White.

April 2011 I rode to the Ride Free event at Old Warden on White then to Stevenage and back. Was good to be out and chugging about in the sunshine.

The speedometer now shows over 19,400 kilometers (about 12,120 miles) and
White is safe and secure in my garage. I've taxed it for another year and it passed the MOT test so all ready to go for another year. I've booked to go to North Wales in June and should be out and about before then anyway.



September 2010 I had my usual "pilgrimage" for a week to North Wales to ride on and off road based at my chums Kev and Sammys' place near Bala. The weather was all over the place as usual but still got out and about. You can see more pictures of my visit here. On the left we were in the hills above Barmouth.

I bought a used Oxford
Maximiser (I already have an Oxford Optimiser) so I can now plug both my bikes into a trickle charger and the Maximiser can also do the cage.



August 2010 I had a little B road weekday chug about with friends on White to Blades Motorcycles late in the month.

In early August I had a ride around the green lanes near Poddington and finally found a lane I had tried to find for years that leads South from Santa Pod (see left) towards Sharnbrook that you can then use to make a loop with Yelnow Lane.



July 2010 I've had White for over 3 years now and it has been 100% despite my amateur off tarmac rides!

I had a nice ride out on the 9th and as it was a warm and sunny day I decided to venture a little further North again. I tried various mainly easy lanes near to Kettering that I had not been on for 10 years plus (maybe never?) On one trail I came across this sign. Didn't see any badgers (they are nocturnal) but the sett did look tidy so I think they were about. As usual in this area I had good views of red kites circling not far away in the thermals.



June 2010 Replacement road tax disc has arrived and in the middle of June I had a nice ride about off road mainly on the Icknield Way (Roman Road) to East of Ashwell and tried a trail off the Baldock to Buntingford road somebody told me about years ago but there was a locked gate and it looked unused so gave up on that. I did try three short trails near Guilden Morden that I had not been on for over 10 years (maybe never?), "Peacock Hill" South of Ashwell, and a trail near Potton. On way back near Everton I slowed for a muntjac deer to cross the road in broad daylight. I didn't take any pictures but enjoyed my day out.

May 2010 In late May I had a trail ride North of A14 in Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. I decided to ride a little further than usual and try out some trails I had not been on for over 10 years (maybe never?) as it was a sunny and warm day. I had a nice time on mainly very easy trails but when I got home noticed I had lost my road tax disc. I tried to apply for a duplicate online but you have to fill in a form and send it off with a fee and then I had to buy a new holder... Whilst out and about I had a very nice coffee and cake at Beans in Oundle.



May 2010 First trail ride of the year on the 9th and it was very nice.

Nooj from All Year Biker gets busy with the jet wash. Bike is as clean as it will ever be now and has been coated with ACF50 protection oil. I had this done at Motorcycle Republic and whilst there watched 2 red kites flying around only a couple of hundred yards away then a buzzard in a tree by the roadside on way back - good times.

Jamie from Two Wheels Better has serviced
White and the North Bedfordshire green lanes are open now for the summer.



I have been on a few short rides on White recently mainly into town shopping...

Serow has passed an MOT so good to go for another year.



September 2009 I had an afternoon off road on the 16th in North Wales which was good and two afternoons in the sunshine on the North Bedfordshire lanes before they closed for winter. Also checked out a couple of lanes that I'm not sure I have ever been on before (certainly not in the last 10 years anyway.) One was very easy but enjoyable north of A14 near Spaldwick & the other was blocked at one end but still had a go up & back near Strixton. Did about 250k in a weekend although much of this was on tarmac. Still no mirror.



August 2009 Over the Bank Holiday weekend I went up to Wales for a day to ride over the Wayfarer. Bit showery & I was rusty but enjoyable day.

June 2009 I had a week up in North Wales & went out for 3 days on Green Lanes including a ride near Cader Idris where this shot was taken.
I had taken the bike up in advance in a van then rode my Z750S up for the week so that I had both available.



Took this whilst we stopped for a map check. The larger bike is my mate's Africa Twin.



This was a small ford somewhere in Happy valley near Tywyn in North Wales.

Note lack of mirror.

Bike fell over in back of van & broke mirror otherwise it is running well.

I had a nice green lane session around Podington on White & Yelnow lanes plus a couple of others. Was all going well so decided to try 40 Foot lane. Big mistake as I got stuck for about an hour when a nice chap on a KTM took pity on me & helped pull us out.

May 2009 Trail ride around Grafham Water, Stow Longa, Sandye Lane see left. 

Jamie from Two Wheels Better serviced my bike so it is good to go for another year.

February 2009 Trail ride in the snow, which was a long held ambition to do this but usually by the time I can get out there in the daylight it has gone. This time it was cold enough to last until Saturday.

Somewhere on the edge of Snowdonia National Park

Dry day on the Wayfarer trail

Bumpy or Puddle or Splashy Lane in Ceriog Valley

Ickneild Way Roman road near Ashwell the yellow crop is oilseed rape.

On Hen Graig in Ceriog Valley just before I fell off or was it just after? Can't remember! This bit is very steep with rock steps and loose slate chippings!

The white bike with blue saddle is a '92 model which was imported used from Japan in '98. It has both kick and electric starts, which is handy. It has a disk front brake and drum rear. I owned it from May 2007 until July 2011. I bought it unseen off a well known auction site. It has a single cylinder air cooled 4 stroke engine and only has 20bhp (maybe less) but does not weight much. These bikes have a cult following as an economical commuter bike as they can do over 80mpg, &/or as a trail bike for shorties &/or beginners. I used mine mainly for riding green lanes local to Bedford in England or in North Wales and also for work, local shops, library...

The blue bike I acquired in June 2011 and it is a 2004 model which was imported used from Brazil. It's very similar to the white bike apart from it has more modern looking body work, a plastic fuel tank, and only electric start. I still own this bike.

Finally the white, and green bike is a 250cc built in Japan in 2007 again electric start only plus this version has only 5 gears, which I sometimes forget! It is slightly more powerful, but weights more so power to weight ratio is about the same. It has a steel tank, and disc brakes on both wheels. I also still have this bike.



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You can mail me r_coughlan@yahoo.co.uk