Priest in the Church of England. Father, husband, son. Keen biker.
I’ve often wondered where it all began. Where and when did I first get interested in Motorbikes. Was it because my next door neighbour when I was very young had a very very loud Kwack that would wake the whole street every morning? For years I thought that was it, the excitement of running to my bedroom window and seeing the super cool neighbour blasting into the morning sun… but no.. I was wrong… it all began here;
Well as you all know the Russian Bear will have to wait. I have a bike to rebuild once my body is rebuilt (thankfully unlike bikes there’ll never be bits left over when it’s fully back together) and to be honest I’m more or less there. With the trip on hold for a bit Matt and Stace are off on their travels leaving me with a garage full of bike bits…Thanks guys!
Stace is off to Cornwall and France for a bit of R&R he’s off soon and no doubt will have some breathtaking pictures upon his return. Having learnt much from the prep for this trip he found he didn’t have to worry about the Cornish leg and the Foreign Office assured him that Cornwall was indeed part of the UK and the terror threat was low(ish).
Matt seems to have drawn the short straw again though. As with Russia he seems to have engaged mouth before brain and a throw away remark now seems to be sending him somewhere warm and sandy. I suspect when he mentioned he wanted to go to Morocco to Mrs Cashmore and later to Stace and I he at least hoped for some worry over his plan…Not so!
Indeed ‘Ooooo great idea’ was one of Catherine’s comments and ‘How soon can you leave’ was mine… Joking aside this is a big trip for the Big Boyo. He’s taking on a monster run down through France and Spain and then dipping his toe in the sands of Africa (who needs to be a journo to write this stuff….) is a big undertaking – especially for the solo rider.
However it’s also a fantastic oppurtunity to test some of the bits we’re planning for Journey To Russia. So hats off to Matt and like us you can follow progress at journeytomorocco.com
Damned if I know… so I thought I’d ask the people who would know… the overlanding community over at Horizons Unlimited.… I asked…
Interesting question.. I thought I could answer it pretty well… in fact I’m a bit of an armchair adventure motorcyclist – that’ll change in September – but I’ve read every single book I can get my hand on and talked to so many people….
So it was interesting when I was reading Ted Simon’s latest book – Dreaming of Jupiter – that I found myself thinking..
“He’s not really being an adventure motorcyclist because he’s staying in hotels”
How stupid is that? I just caught myself in time and called myself many silly names… but it got me to thinking… what is it that makes a biker and adventure motorcyclist? Where does the line start?
In September I’m off to Morocco – I’m going on a CBF600 and will stick to the main roads where I can. Morocco is a well trodden route and as I’m not going off road, and I’m not on a KTM or a GS. Does that mean I’m just on a biking holiday?
Then in July next year, same bike, but this time I’m going to Russia and back, is that adventure motorcycling or just a long road trip on the bike?
Is going RTW on a bike and staying in hotels adventure motorcycling? Or do you have to rough it at every opportunity and try to break records?
It’s quite interesting when you think about it and I discovered that I was being really rather elitist with no good reason – I’m sometimes a prat.
What do you think? (not about the prat part)
I got a whole host of replies, some saying that we shouldn’t be snooty and should just experience the adventure in our own heads, to others who feel that in this day in age, being continuously connected means we’re never really having an adventure… I’m still not sure what it is… but have a read for yourself and say what you think.
Morocco is now in full swing – as you know the ferry tickets are booked and now the blog is live and thrashing around on the net – worth a visit if you want to keep up with the trip and find out how things are going…. head over there now and subscribe via the RSS Feed.
Or rather… ‘why I shouldn’t be allowed to fix my own bike’.
It seems every time I try to fix my bike, do something simple, it always turns out to be a pain in the butt. In this case I was putting new pads in the front callipers ready for September – I didn’t want to be riding the length of France, Spain and Morocco on brand new pads – and I completely screwed the retaining plug for the pad pin… this was the result
Then to add insult to injury I ordered a replacement off ebay from a breakers up north and they sent me this
If you can tell me what bike this part is for I’d be grateful – because it ‘aint for the CBF! New (correct) part should arrive today – so hopefully I’ll be back on the road tomorrow.
However, given I plan to do an oil change this weekend – that could be short lived!
Now the thing is this week I’ve been tucked away in Cashmore towers because the lady of the house has required a nurse – and as you know I’m quite good at doing that kind of thing – in any case I took the opportunity to carry out a few repairs to the CBF – oil change, brake pads – that kind of thing. All was progressing well until I did this… to the left hand brake calliper…
Now, fortunately I was at home this week so I thought, no great issue I can afford the time to order a second hand part off ebay – see the auction here – and wait for it to arrive.
I’m already frustrated because I can’t get out of the house (not to mention breaking a £100 part off my bike), but to make matters worse there’s a postal strike and it doesn’t arrive until today – 7 days after I ordered it – nothing to do with the breakers sending it – just the bloody post!
But guess what – here’s what they sent me…
Can you see the difference here? I bloody can, and it means I’m going to have to drive into work all next week in the bloody car because the bloody breakers sent the wrong bloody part.
Now where’s my book – ahh there it is – Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
You see there’s just so much to do… there’s the ferry (well that’s taken care of now) but then there’s the equipment, and that’s where I fall down.
I can’t pass a camping shop without popping in just to see what gadget I absolutely have to have in order to make the trip – this one is a bit easier because it’s just me, rather than all three of us so I’m not playing my inflatable bed is better than your down mattress!
Rather amazingly the bike turned up this morning – over a month since the accident Bikers Legal Defence have returned the bike good as new – in fact they’ve not just returned the bike but also all the parts they removed – some of which are still in useable condition.
Here’s what was damaged and replaced
All that came in, with labour at £2,282.23… so how close was I to having the bike written off?
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