Home from the travels

Well it's been an eventfull three or four weeks we went to the IOM for the Jurby day and that was good I enjoyed that seeing all the Old bikes having a run round and being able to walk round them in the pits







then we stayed over for a few days and watched some races sorry not for me some of the classic stuff was like watching paint dry , as any one that knows me will tell you I love my bikes but classics on the mountain just dont cut it for me now the new comers riding in the Manx that was different that was good




then on the Wednesday we returned to uk to head round to Anglesey for a week it was going to be to the BSB at Oulton Park but we had problems with having the Dog with us as we couldn't get dog sitters so it would have ment coming back home then going back over the hills so we were just going to miss the BSB and have a weeks hols but we had problems with a fuel pipe connector sp bodged it up and headed for home where we got the Bugilow fixed ( well we thought we had ) so then headed over to Scarborough for the Gold Cup and watched some good racing



have to pop out now so will finish the story later be good or I will get jealous

YEah... I'm with you on the old bikes. Nice to hear them, and see them, and watch them go! But really, around a short circuit for 10 minutes is enough. No sense in killing them!
It's always fascinating listening to people from Europe comment on 'popping up' somewhere to watch a race, and then zipping over an hour or two to watch something the next weekend. The last two meets for the Canadian Championship were two weeks apart and an 18 hour drive in between! It takes me 4 hours to get to the closest site!
I'll just get a taste looking at your pics then, Eddy!
Hope there was nothing seriously wrong with the mobile palace!

Nothing major just a fuel pipe plastic connector and then the low pressure pump gave up the ghost with the extra work it ended up having to do more photos and detail to follow

Yeah, we are starting to get on our feet, and starting to thing of some race meets to attend. We have some of the same problems as J.P. (maybe not so bad, as we have more race meets!).

Like to go to Austin to see the Circuit of the Americas, but that is a bit of a jaunt. Wanted to go to Barber in Alabama for the vintage festival, but just not enough time yet to do that. Maybe next year.

Well, we do have a few things in Daytona in a few weeks, and the big bike show in Orlando as well. Looking forward to the show, as it gets bigger and better every year.

well as I was saying before I had to rush out , we had been to scarborough and had a few days chilling out and visiting friends we called in to see one of our old forum members that doesn't come on these days old Stubottle as he now calls him self or Guzyman as he once was , he is doing ok but doesn't go on the forums much these days and then on the way home the Bugilow lost its power and then came back on so pulled in to the next layby and had a look but nothing looked out of place so home it came got the diagnostic doo da plugged in and it was just showing that it had low fuel pressure faults showing so on with another pump and all appears to be ok now , as for the racing where we live we are very lucky we are only about 2 hrs away from about 7 circuits and half of those are class acts with some top races held at them , and then on top of that we have some great riding areas on the door step the Yorkshire dales and the North Yorkshire moors
as for pictures of racing

UK tracks are SO different... At least the 'road' ones (which we don't have).
I think this is the narrowest part of our local track!

yes but as you say the big difference is the roads circuits to track circuits the Scarborough one is very narrow and you do get to stand very close to them as in the IOM and Scarborough is the only Roads circuite on mainland uk , the other circuits you are a lot further away , I dont have any from these places as yet to show the difference , I think Silverstone is the worst when marshaling there if someone falls off we used to ring for a Taxi , and then as a punter you were kept behind 8' wire fences great for using a camera ( I don't think )

and in the IOM at the Jurby day that is something else with bikes like these two there and being taken for a run round the track


Awsome

There is a loto draw over here tomorrow with a grand prize of 60 million $. (That's a mere $45M in Smilo money!). I spent the morning doing a crappy weld on a utility trailer I need to transport firewood. I was just wondering what I'd be like if I won that much money (which will never happen because I never buy loto tickets).
I think I would probably turn into somebody who spends oodles of money restoring mechanical things like old AJS bikes and Chevy pickups and WW2 Mustang fighters...
Oops! Money's all gone! Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

Well I do buy a ticket once or twice a year as the mood takes me , just so I can dream on , i would love the old Handa's the K4's and the 6 , and the MV 's all though the 6 and the MV have been made as replicas the MV still to be had new the Six was done by Beal who did the Binelli he built 6 of them for a while there was one left but I think it will have long gone by now , and the other one's that I would just have to have would be the Triumph Bonneville and an old Triton , it's nice to dream sometimes

Yup! I've seen a totally restored K4 750 and it would be something I would be after with money from the Loto (Somebody in Ontario won it, so not me... Oh wait, didn't have a ticket, did I? So REALLY not me!) I'd also like my CB400F back, and a perfect CB350, and a Yamaha IT250, and a Honda 90S... All of the above were ones I actually had and let get away. I'm not old enough to appreciate any of the bikes from the 50's, but I might like a 200 Cub, and a Bonneville, and... Oh yeah! And a '67 Norton 750 Commando (green, with the fancy fiberglass seat)...
Oh course, Smilo already HAS a proper collection going, so his list might be smaller.

I was out playing this week and went somewhere I maybe shouldn't have been, at least not alone. Way off the beaten path, and nobody but coyotes around to witness a possible get-off... This is off the Cabot Trail. The only Hydro Electric generating station in Cape Breton.


Road in is solid enough, but quite steep and very rocky in parts.


Found a viewpoint of an old abandoned wind turbine...



Good view from the top of one of the reservoirs...



The map said the way out was via the second lake...



But 1/2 hour later, the view was great, but the road disintegrated into a washed out mess...



So back I went the way I'd come!



Stay tuned for Video...



Today's adventure was getting up close and personal with a new version of the wind turbine. It is just across the lake from me. Jaysus, they're some tall!

I know what you mean about the being on your own , the first time I took the XL over to the IOM I went on a couple of trails that were very rough and were ones that were not used very often and half way through I was thinking this is silly any thing happens I could be layed there for hrs as no one knew where I was going or how long I was going out for , all our lives me being a truck driver the wife used to expect me when she saw me , so would not have raised the alarm for hrs , not a good idea , so now I always tell her where I am heading and how long I think I will be , not that I get on any trails over here they have made that many out of bounds now and they are not signed so knowing where you are allowed and where you aren't

Isn't easy
typing this on the new smart phone and clicked the send button by mistake , the smart phone is not yet used to a not so smart smart phone operator, lol

those wind turbines like that are all over the place over here and off the coasts all around the UK some of the places they have put them look awful and some off the coast on the way to the IOM there are almost 200 I am told far too many too close to a shipping lane for my money an accident waiting to happen satellite navigation or not

I was amazed looking at Google Earth and seeing all turbines off the coast as you say.
Holland has bunches too. They're still relatively new here. We've had cheap hydro power for so long, nobody saw the need to add power from the more expensive and less dependable turbines.
That's changing now though. Nova Scotia had only oil and coal powered plants other than the one hydro plant in the pictures, and New Brunswick has a nuclear plant as well as oil fired ones. So the 'Green' guys have been lobbying to replace the old plants AND they're getting expensive to run.
There has been an explosion of the newer wind turbines, we even have a manufacturing plant in an old locomotive factory. They are also dickering with tidal power which shows great promise if they can build a strong enough turbine. The first ones all got torn to rat-shit by the 40' tides!
They are currently building an undersea cable from a monster hydro development in Newfoundland to a station here just down the road a bit. Planning on selling the extra power to the States!
Mind you, they've also just opened up the first coal mine on the island in decades. It has proven reserves of some 50 years at full extraction rate. Should be interesting watching the political maneuvering around that 'dirty' subject. It is really 'coking' coal for steel making, but I bet they'll be thinking of turning it into power soon!

Ye as the steel industry is on a down turn , just announced plant closures here , here they have or are just putting a cable in the channel tunnel so they can buy power from France who use nuclear to generate the it power something they have a problem getting planning for over here , makes you wonder sometimes were it will end

Not sure if wind turbines are the solution, but definitely a cool piece of engineering.  Not pleasant if you are migratory bird, though!

Happy to see a little activity on here, but have been too busy to talk back the last few days.

Have the big AIM bike show (AIM Expo) starting up in a couple of weeks, so I'm looking forward to that.  Going to meet up with old sparky Beesa at the show.  Unfortunately, about the only time I get to see him these days!

Jealous of everybody's travels.  Maybe I can gloat a little in the near future when winter starts hitting your homes and nice riding weather starts here!

Well we are back again from more travels we have had six days down in Derbyshire a couple of days doing a trail

with the boss on the dune buggy and me on the peddlego and great it was then we went to Darley Moor for the Stars at Darley meeting

then a couple of days round the Matlock Bath area will try and catch up with more later in the week , looks like a nice day tomorrow so going for a ride out on the Pan up the dales so will try and get a few pictures of that to post up , be good or I will get jealous

Sorry should have put number 1 John McGuinness Honda , 10 Michael Rutter Honda , 47 Richard Cooper and 13 Lee Johnson both on  BMW S1000RR , and not sure but think it is number 60 Peter Hickman bringing up the rear also on a BMW

Darley Moor? Haven't heard of that one. Looks like lots of big stars there. Haven't had time to look at show pics yet, but good time had by all.

Not as interesting as a road race, but here are a couple of shots from the big AIM bike show last weekend...


Hard to explain, but the engine and gas tank rides within a big bearing, which is the main "frame".  Full marks for originality and engineering


This guy had a custom engine with Lycoming aircraft engine heads...


Rear shot of Honda's street going MotoGP bike the RC213V

I am sorry but them show bikes just dont do it for me , i can appreciate the engineering skills that go into building them it is more what they have ended up with , at it's best a engineering show piece , certainly not an every day motorcycle , most used as show room window attractions or front room ornaments , no not for me I would be hard pushed to travel to the other side of town to look at them

Had a ride up the Dale on Tuesday from home up to Middleham

on up to Leyburn a dales market town

from there on up to Hawes another dales market town that this time had a market in full swing

From there on up to Ribblehead railway viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle railway line that is known for its beautiful scenery

then hang a left and down through Horton in Ribblesdale to Settle another dales market town holding a market

with a regular bikers cafe

then down to Skipton known as the gateway to the Dales

then a bit of a detour to the small picturesque town of Pateley Bridge with one of Yorkshire's best shops for a butchers pork pie mm some things just have to be done

Hey, I was round about that area on one of my trips!

Yeah, the show was huge and took all day to walk through (my wife's fitness tracker said 4 miles). There was something for everybody, but I took a few shots of the odder stuff just out of appreciation of the work and imagination. If that was all that was there, I'd probably be a little less interested.

Then again if I posted a bunch of pics of new bikes that you will be seeing in the magazines, or a display full of sprokets, it probably wouldn't be that interesting either!