Rallymania

Wednesday 21 December 2011 at 8:40 pm It's December. It's cold, wet and miserable outside. We're winding down for Christmas, which will involve a lot of eating and drinking and absolutely no motorcycles. I've still managed to find a few things to get excited about though. (more)

Hafren Rally Report

Sunday 27 November 2011 at 5:27 pm Ok, so this actually happened at the start of October and it's taken a ridiculous amount of time for me to get round to writing it up, but here is the story of my first competitive outing on the Tenere - the Hafren Rally.



(more)

CNC Pornography

Thursday 17 November 2011 at 7:37 pm Taking the Tenere racing in the Big Bike Rally Challenge is, I think it's safe to say, venturing beyond the boundaries of what Yamaha expected people to do when they designed their cheap, middleweight "adventure tourer" - but it manages pretty well, all things considered. The biggest weak point (as ever, when accountants are involved in bike specification) is the suspension - adequate for road and trail use, but not capable of controlling over 250kg of bike and rider when travelling at even my modest racing speed. Earlier in the year I replaced the tired OE rear shock with a lovely Nitron Race Shock, which firmed up the Ten's saggy rear end quite nicely, but also served to make the stock forks look bad - too soft for taking big hits, and insufficiently damped when bouncing over loose rocks.

Since the rally season is over until the spring, I've got a bit of time to spend resolving this issue. To that end, last week I had a rather expensive package arrive from Germany... (more)

Tickets please!

Sunday 30 October 2011 at 5:20 pm Our postman's been full of pleasant surprises this week, mostly in the form of tickets to a couple of upcoming events.



The orange wristbands are for Rollerburn, "a festival of motorised death traps and roller derby vixens", organised by the chaps at Sideburn Magazine and taking place on the 19th of November. The three light green tickets are for next years Dragon Rally.



I'm quite excited.

Back to school

Friday 16 September 2011 at 7:19 pm It's been a little over two years since I first swung a leg over a trail bike (under the guidance of Dave Haines at Lot Valley Enduro) in the South of France. Somehow I managed to make it through a couple of hours on the trails upright, despite Dave leading me down a few that he'd 'forgotten' were a bit steep for a novice. The next day, we set off for the 2009 HUMM, two full days in the Spanish Pyrenees which also saw my first crash - parking one of Dave's DR-Z400S' in a tree, which seemed better than the alternative of throwing it off a 20ft drop. Since then, I've ridden in two more editions of the HUMM on the Ténéré, had a go at racing Hare & Hounds on a DR-Z400E and latterly a GasGas EC300, and done quite a lot of mileage on the byways of the UK.

After all that, I've come to consider myself a fairly competent trail rider. I don't often fall off or get stuck, and if there's no particular hurry, then there's not much that I can't pick my way through. What I've never been particularly good at is 'pressing on' over rough ground, even while racing on a small bike. This is compounded when I'm on a big bike by the sheer weight of the thing.

Having never really gelled with the GasGas, but still thoroughly enjoying the Ténéré, my thoughts have naturally drifted to running the Yamaha as my sole dirt bike (and as of last Saturday, that is the reality, as the diminutive Spanish stroker was dispatched to its new home with a friend in rural Gloucestershire). Not a problem for general trail riding, where I'll always gravitate towards the Ten' anyway, but it begs a couple of questions: "How do I scratch the racing itch?", and "Will I be able to keep up on rides with the East Mids TRF group, who all ride small trail/enduro bikes?".

Actually, the first question isn't phrased quite correctly, as I already knew what I would need to do. For a while now I've been glancing inquisitively towards the Big Bike Rally Challenge, a racing series designed for big bikes, and assembled by piggybacking on to the various long-distance rallies run by different clubs around the UK. The question is really "Can I manage to finish these rallies aboard the Ten'?".

I have no doubt that the bike itself is up to both these tasks (with a few choice mods paid for by selling the GasGas, more of which at a later date), but the 'nut between the handlebars' could definitely do with a bit of improvement. So when I heard that the BBRC organisers were teaming up with Black Desert Training (Dakar Rally finishers Craig Bounds and Tamsin Jones) to put on a weekend of training at the start of September focused on racing big bikes in rallies, it wasn't long before my deposit cheque was in the post. (more)

I'll ride into the sunset, my horse waits on the plain

Wednesday 24 August 2011 at 10:27 pm A few photos from a day spent riding around Wiltshire and Salisbury Plain the weekend before last. This was supposed to be a run out with the East Midlands Group of the Trail Riders Fellowship, but having turned up to the appointed place at the appointed hour there was noone to be seen. Fortunately, I had my own maps with me, so I went for a ride on my own, covering ground from Barbury Castle in the north of the county to Shaftesbury in the south. (more)

Great Lakes

Sunday 29 May 2011 at 8:40 pm Aside from a quick jaunt down to Gloucestershire and Devon to visit both sides of the family over Easter, I've been a bit short of motorcycle adventures since the Dragon Rally (hence the lack of updates on here). Last weekend I set things back on track with a run up north to join members of the XT660.com forums in their annual Lakeland Weekend.

(more)

Dragon Rally: The machinery

Monday 21 February 2011 at 9:49 pm One of the great pleasures of the Dragon (lets face it, camping in February isn't all that good in itself) is having a gentle wander round the site on Saturday night and checking out the somewhat eclectic variety of two- and three-wheeled machinery which people bring along. Here's just a few of them. (more)

Dragon Rally 2011

Tuesday 15 February 2011 at 9:29 pm Last weekend saw the 50th incarnation of the Conwy Motorcycle Club's annual Dragon Rally, and my second trip to the event.

(more)

One year on...

Sunday 23 January 2011 at 9:55 pm One year ago today I travelled down to South Wales to pick up the newest (and most expensive) bike I've ever bought - a ten-and-a-half month old Yamaha XT660Z Tenere with a mere 2,866 miles on it. Within 30 miles, I was riding it up a dirt road in the company of a Tenere owning friend who resides in that part of the world.



I spent today doing a 120 mile lap of Nottingham, exploring and testing out some new trails, bringing the bike up to 17,425 miles - 14,559 in my ownership.

(Note: there should be some photos here, but it's late and I have no idea where the camera cable is. Check back) (more)