Trip to Yorkshire with friends

Hi all its Wednesday 30 May 2012 and on Sunday myself and viffer and a few friends returned from what was the best 1000+ miles of riding i have had in a long time.  On Thursday 24th i meet with Ian and Bernie his wife riding a fazer 1000, Terry on his fireblade , Colin on his fireblade , john also on a fireblade and Richard riding a gs1200 at the Birchanger services near stanstead airport to depart for a 3 night trip to Yorkshire. we departed the services with full tanks around 9.30am aiming for the Farm Cafe in         where we had a bit of breakfast and a cup of tea before continuing our northward journey.  we made a stop for fuel at about 140 miles and we all topped up and also decided to give Bernie the £1.25 we thought the Humber bridge would cost to cross it. when we arrived there at the tolls we were just waved though it turns out the Humber bridge was free for motorcycles which it never had been, we pulled up in the tourist parking area on the left just after the tolls for a rest stop and a stretch. This was i think the last stop before getting very close to the B&B where we all topped up with fuel so we were ready for a ride on the Friday. We arrived at The Black Swan pub and B&B by around 5ish i think, were staying here for the 3 nights and when entering the bedrooms i was very impressed with the quality accommodation we had for such a small per person price. We got a evening meal and breakfast included in the price and the food was chef prepared quality stuff which is always a good thing. A few drinks in the bar and early to bed for most of us as we had all had a early start and ridden around 300 miles that day in weather that was HOT. Friday morning were all sitting eating breakfast at 8 am getting ready for our day out which Ian told us was going to be a trip out to Hawes for a stop and then on to Hartside Top cafe. i have been to both these places before on my trip to Scotland but it was raining all day while riding so i couldn't get the best out of these great roads. No rain today though so we had a great ride and all day. a high light for me was the road up to the hartside cafe which was great fun in the dry. we left hartside and carried on in a big loop back to the B&B which completed our day out which i guess was about 250 miles if memory serves me right. Again a good night of listening to stories from the others about this and that coupled with a couple of drinks and a very good sirloin steak meal made for the conclusion of another great day out. Saturday morning arrived far to quickly and again we were of on the bikes but this time to Whitby using some roads through the moors this ride was a lot easier but still good fun. We rested at the cafe by the train station in Whitby with a piece of cake and a drink and then decided to make our way back through the moors towards Masham and then use some of the roads we rode the day before ( A6108) as they were so much fun.  We ended up in Richmond in the market square area at a snack van for a cup of joe and a rest before returning to the B&B for the final evening meal and night of banter between the guys and girls there was even a Million pound bet placed which i suspect will never be paid by the losing party as we could never decide who really lost. The route home was hard work as the Holiday blues began to set in and we were slowly making our way south. We did end up using the A1 from Newark down to Stanstead which was a very easy way of clocking up about 80 miles in a hour and a bit. By this point in the ride it was just me and Ian and Bernie riding together as the others were keen to get going home to see family.  To sum up the weekend i would say Great roads Great company in a super B&B serving good food made this a weekend i won't forget any time soon and im very keen to return next year and do it all again. As for Viffer she worked like a great bike should and caused me no trouble all weekend and even returned a very impressive 50MPG on one take of fuel on the first day.

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