On a differant note i have been watching a guy Ed March and his girlfriend Rachel ? doing a ride from Alaska to Argentina on Honda C90 bikes. His Videos are entertaining with some great visuals Heres part one of the trip.


His Youtube is

https://www.youtube.com/user/c90adventures/videos

Edds website is

http://c90adventures.co.uk/

Rachels Blog is

http://wanderonahonda.co.uk/

Been a long time.

Well hello world its been a while since my last post regarding the VFR.  2016 was a bad year for riding infact only managed 2 short trips to Chelmsford City Motorcycles for a MOT and returning for a retest. She only failed on tight front brakes which was quickly repaired. We then took a trip to my brothers place in Hereford for a short break. This being the first time properly riding in about a year my skills were a bit rusty, i got back into the rythem after an hour or so while taking the backroad route from Essex to Hereford. With about 30 miles to go i managed to mess up a right hand corner and ran off the road into the soft dirt and fell on my left side. My first crash was fortunatly a very soft landing and only a few extra scratches to the side panels to add to the collection. Happly the trip home was made with no mistakes and Viffer was put way again and not used as while falling off i managed to twist my back and riding was painful.

Now to 2017

Well Viffer has been taxed and insured and is ready to be used, im just waiting for the mornings to be warmer so i can use her for my trip to/from work each day and other trips will be made im sure.

Take care out there .

Caterham 485 on Sustenpass //pure roads (Porsche Turbo, Cayman S and Ni...

A rant regarding Vodafone!

My 2 year deal was at a end on the 25th Dec 15 so i decided i would keep my old phone and downgrade my tariff to a sim only deal. Why keep paying extra to pay for a phone that i've already paid for. I choose the unlimited Minutes and Texts with 4Gb of 4g data, i calls the call centre on the 26th and was told sorry cant do it now your account is being moved to the new system please call back in a few days. Called back on the 31st agreed a plan listened to the T & C speech and off i goes. A few weeks have past and i checked the My Vodafone app to make sure i was on my new tariff and i wasn't. So i call the call centre on the Tues 12th Jan 16, normal stuff very sorry blah blah its all fine now your new plan will start at Midnight, Thanks. Checks app late on Wednesday, Guess what tariff not changed! Called call centre Thursday 14th while at work and gets an agent, ow i see yes my manager has allowed the change all will be good in no longer than 24Hrs . Friday 15th still no upgrade call them, sorry blah blah new system failure, all done have a couple of quid a month discount for your troubles. Saturday NO CHANGE now cant login to app or website, and there's a sudden Extra £20 charge on my account. I decide i will call on Sunday when i have plenty of time and im not so pissed off i might call them all a load of untrained monkeys and get charged with insulting monkeys, 30 mins on hold give up try later after lunch, 30 mins on hold gives up try later again, later 50 mins on hold i get someone who cant help next person cant help. On the 6th person now, all done will be working no longer than 24hrs well we will see about that soon enough. I ask to get to the web team to fix my access to the app and website he tries but cant help needs a member of the website team they don't work Sundays. So lets see that's 3hr 47mins about plus about an hour at work so about 5 hours so far to save £12 a month and get a bit more data. NEVER again, i think i am changing provider every year now just to keep them on there game. I have been a faithful Vodafone customer for 23 years this will be the last year for some time. That's assuming the tariff change does actually happen or it could be bye bye sooner VodaFone.

Fun times with Viffer

We went to Blake end craft center in Gt Bardfield today to watch a round of the BLMRA that's the British lawn mower racing association. There was only 2 types of machines racing which were a powered drive roller mower with a trailer for the driver and ride on machines that used to be like a little tractor. They were what I wanted to see and I was quite impressed with the speed and handling of these machines. As for Viffer she worked perfectly as you would expect from a 105k mile honda. Have a look at the pics and video here.

Alaska / Yukon Series

Easter Weekend Trip

On Good Friday i went to Derbyshire area to visit a friend and biker buddy i've know for years. I made the trip on Viffer, we were only going for a couple of nights so just a topbox with a few items was all that was needed. I spent a while the evening before trying to learn the new Garmin Base camp software so i could make a custom route to Jamie's house but gave up and just wrote a note to put in my tank bag top with just basic info of where i wanted to go. As is often the case i was eager to go come Friday morning but there was no race as i didn't need to be there till 5pm ish as Jamie was working. So i left home around 10 and stopped for breakfast in Chelmsford and carried on with my trip with a full belly of Jumbo sausage bacon and fried eggs in a french stick. My basic route was lots of the good local roads we use all the time until i got to less familiar territory where i stayed with the main A roads. As i was travelling along the A6 i say a small brown sign for Santa Pod Raceway and decided i would detour and visit there as i've never been there before. After following a very bad small road i found another brown sign sending me left and what seemed further into the no-wheres. I made it to Santa pod to find they had a weekend festival on and decided i didn't want to pay to go in just for a short visit so i just took a few pics of Viffer at the entrance with the flags behind her. It was still only around 2pm and i only had about a hour and a half of trip left so looking on the sat nav found that Donnigton Park Circuit was not to far and was kind of on route so i navigated there to find that Touring Cars were there that weekend. So again just a few pics of Viffer by the sign and we were of again. The rest of the trip to my friends was uneventful apart from a stop at about 4.30 for a McD's milkshake. That breakfast lasted well. I arrived at Jamie's around 5pm and awaited his return from work. We went for a ride on Saturday with Jamie and Dave both on there KTM Duke 690's i cant tell where we travelled but it was a good ride with a stop for a late breakfast in a Weatherspoons pub and then back to Dave's so he could collect his wife and swap to his VFR800 for an afternoon ride. More great roads unfortunately there were plenty of cars around to spoil some of the fun but we finished up at CMC Motorcycles. We parted ways with Dave and Jo there and made the trip back to Jamie's which was only maybe 30-40 mins. Sunday was leaving day for me and Jamie decided he would wash Viffer on Sat evening in the dark in his garage so what greeted me in the morning was a much cleaner VFR ready for my trip home in the miserable rain that had started when i decided to put my riding gear on. We had aranged to go get Dave and go for lunch at Rutland waters as that was about half way down for them to ride. I was wet to the skin by then so decided i would push on  for home and not stop and the rain did stop and i dried out pretty well until i got to Chelmsford area where it was raining very hard and carry on till i got home wet through for the second time that day. Despite the rain i really enjoyed the short time away and am looking forward to a longer trip later in the year hopefully. Well until next time have fun and be safe.  Stuart

New tyres fitted

New pair of Avon Storm 2 ultra tyres fitted today. It's nice to have nice smooth handling again, and they scrubbed in nice and quick, this is the rear after just 20 miles.

Its been a productive morning

I found about 10 days ago that the exhaust can had a big hole in the side of the pipe that links the can to the collector exit. There was a lot of rust so i didn't think it could be welded closed, so i ordered a replacement pipe from Simmi Performance Exhausts on ebay. I chose them because they had quick delivery times and a good feedback and the exhaust can looked kind of like the standard part, and they were cheap. The can arrived within 2 days of order and looks like its pretty well made, only time will tell i guess. Also i found that the offside oil cooler pipe had a leak and was dripping oil on the exhaust manifolds. I have already fitted a new nearside pipe so have learnt that the only place to get the replacement part is from Honda themselves as it has some special fittings that only Honda use. I ordered the new pipe with my local Honda dealer Essex Honda and that arrived in only a week which is pretty good as Honda themselves didn't have the part in stock. I collected the part yesterday evening and have fitted it and the exhaust can this morning, it took about an hour and a half. When i first started the engine to test for exhaust and oil leaks i realized i really should have check with Simmi about how load the can would be. Its not to bad but louder than the blowing standard can, but it does have a great note to it, and on my short test ride seems to have improved performance a tiny bit. Now if only the rain would go away and stay away maybe i can go for a proper ride today. My internal tyre choice debate was settled when i found these extra costs so i went for Avon Storm Ultra 2's, there almost as cheap as the Pilot Powers but last as long as the Pilot Road 3's i have used them before and was quite happy with them i seem to remember. Well until next time have fun and be safe.  Stuart

Well its been a while.

Viffer has been locked away since late Nov 13 awaiting the better weather, now that spring is here it was time to get her out the garage and give here a oil and filter change and get her ready for riding again. After months of not riding and driving a very slow car it was great to ride again and feel the blast of acceleration and adrenalin while leaving cars in the mirrors. I have to reel myself in and remember to take my time re-honing the riding skills so as not to do something stupid and hurt myself or the bike. I just cant decide what new tires to get, the pilot powers are really sticky and fell really well planted but the rear has worn out in less than 3k miles. Or get the pilot road 3's which are very good and last a lot longer but don't have the same planted feel. I have a few hundred miles left on the rear so i guess i don't have to worry to much just yet. Viffer starts this season with 102500 miles on the clock and shes is still a pleasure to ride, lots of people keep asking when im changing to a different bike, my answer to that is when Viffer cant be kept on the road anymore because shes to broke to fix i don't see that time coming soon though as shes a Honda after all. Also i haven't been as comfortable on any other machine as i am on Viffer. So guys and gals i hope you have a good season of riding and that your all safe while doing it. Bye for now Stuart.

I just need to vent!!

I ride about 20 miles each way to work when i use the Vfr on a mix of main roads and back roads. What has me vexed is the car drivers that are only able to drive at 45 mph in a National limit where there's far less to cause you trouble, that's not the problem though they can go as slow as they like that's fine, its when you get to a 30 mph limit where we all know there is far more dangers for drivers and riders and those same car drivers are such experts at the craft of driving that they seem to believe there safe going 45 mph. I have on a couple of occasions had cars that i passed in the National limit a few miles back catch me and over take me while im doing 30 in a 30.  Off cause there never far away when we hit the 60 limit where i catch them and pass them Again. If there in such a rush they should go fast where its deemed safer to do so. THE NATIONAL LIMIT areas.  Vent over. As i have written before i am running on the Michelin Pilot Power tyres at the moment and there great. They offer good feed back and grip really well and provide great confidence. There is a draw back though my rear tyre is near the wear limit and its only covered nearly 3K miles. I think though its worth the extra running cost as they are so good to ride on. Also i got a cheque from the Insurance company of the the Focus driver that hit me so that's all finished with now. Thanks for reading this and don't forget to use the follow link on the right to be informed of updates to my blog. Stuart

Poor Viffer has suffered a blow From a Focus

Yesterday evening i was on my way home from chelmsford, i got to the Sandon Park and ride roundabouts over the A12. There was a Ford Focus in the left lane and i used the right lane on entering the roundabout, just as i was about to leave the roundabout still in my lane i caught a flash of the Focus moving to the right to go around the roundabout from the left lane and then bang the car hit me on my left leg and caused a bit of a wobble but i stayed on. The car driver carried on around the roundabout until the checkered area on the left i  turned around and rode back to the car. When i had my helmet of i heard it for the first time, Sorry i didn't see you. We spoke, swapped details and we parted me with a Thumping lower leg and a bent and twisted foot hanger and damage to the end of the rear wheel spindle and the Focus with the front right of the bumper all broke and cracked. Gladly my leg feels fine this morning and im getting a quote to get the bike fixed so hopefully i will have my girl back on the road soon.

100,000 MIles

Its with great pleasure i inform you that Viffer has just rolled onto the 100K mile mark and is still going strong and performing as she should. I bought her in April 2007 with 34156 miles on the clock, all i have done to keep her going is regular oil and filter changes and replaced parts that were worn or broken. I have made a video of the mileage clicking over and then i went for a bit of a blat round the Burnham bends. Hope you enjoy.

My mum found a old picture of me

I thought i would share a old picture that my mum found of me riding a little Honda motocross bike while at Primrose Valley near Scarborough  when i was maybe 10 years old. I remember it was about 50p a ride for about 5 minutes and there were small quad bikes and trikes as well. As you can see the surface was just mud and you went around in a oval. It was great fun and i knew i loved bikes then, i just had to wait until my late 20's until i could get a road bike as Mum always said she was happy for me to have a motorbike but only if i didn't live at home at the time. Heres the pic.

Done some more miles now.

I can recommend Michelin Pilot Powers on a VFR750 to those that like the Michelin tyres in general they give me much more feedback in the bars to push on that bit harder and they really feel like there stuck to the road loving them so far. Haven't ridden in the cold or rain yet but I recon if your confident and ride properly they will be good.

New Tyres and a trip to Brands Hatch

Me and viffer were going to go to Brands Hatch today (weds 24 April 13) to watch a few friends doing a no limits track day on there bikes, until i realised my tyres were a bit on the worn out side. So new tyres were ordered on Monday which arrived on Tuesday a trip to the shop was arranged for weds morning to have the tyres fitted and all was done with plenty of time to still make the trip to Brands to watch some bike racing. I bought Michelin Pilot Power tyres this time as i don't ride so much in the bad or cold weather where there maybe not as good as the road 3's. So after a steady ride home from Brands on the motorways and main roads i got to South Woodham Ferries and the back lanes towards home and i got the first taste of leaning with these new tyres. Wow there sticky and they turn in really quick and offer far more feed back and confidence so far i really like them. We'll just have to see how long they last as the PR3's totalled about 9k miles. Viffer has rolled the mileage over to 99k on the way home so not long till were over the 100k mark. How many bike engines last that sort of mileage and still don't burn oil and still have a sweet gearbox i wonder. We have been together now for 6 years and have covered over 65k miles together. She's only broken down once in all that time and that was a rotten water hose in between the V of the engine. People are always saying i should get rid of her and get a new bike, but nothing i have sat on feels as comfy as the 750, and besides i can quit often ride around better bikes that have bad pilots on board so shes plenty capable enough. If your bike is a old trusted friend that you cant bear to part with let me know about it in the comments below. You can also use the followers link on the right of the page if you wish and then you will be sent a email advising you there is a new post here. Pics from Brands  http://razzi.me/a/24014
There is also a video of Ian on his fazer 1000 at brands last year. CLICK TO SEE IT

Went for my first fun ride in 2013

I just got back from a 50ish mile ride on mainly dry roads and it was great being able to get the throttle on mid corner and not feel the rear tyre sliding like the ride in January I did. The bike felt like it was gripping instead of just hanging in there. I even came home the long way just to make the ride last longer. Roll on the summer when the roads are nice and warm and we can get backup to speed again. If your out riding watch out for the little patches of road salt that build up and remember to take your time to get back up to speed. Be safe.

This is Worth a view. Pepsi MAX & Jeff Gordon Present: "Test Drive"

Insurance renewals CALL THE COMPANY

I have my car and bike insurance with Carole Nash on a 6 wheel policy and my renewal just came through offering a premium of £489 if i pay in full. A quick search with a comparison site provided separate quotes for the bike and car with the same features like legal protection and European breakdown cover etc provided a price for both of £368. That a lot of money to save. A call to Carole Nash and 5 mins later i have a renewal of £367.50 for the same policy as last year with all the same benefits. I guess i spent 30 minutes in total and saved £120 that's time well spent. Your insurance company will do the same to you so don't let them, call there bluff and if they cant compete for the same service change company.

Wow that was hard work, but worth it.

In late December 2012 my buddy James who lives in the Derbyshire area called me up to tell me he was turning 40 in March 2013 and wanted to do something special and that something was Trail riding Wales. He had spoken to this firm at the NEC bike show that offer a 1-3 day trail riding experience for groups. James had a total of 5 people wanting to do this so we booked for the weekend of 9-10th march 13. There is also accommodation there where you ride from or if you fancy something posher or with private rooms there is places to stay in the near by town. We chose to stay in the accommodation at Colin and Marianne's house as it was cheap and we were all men so the open plan upstairs wasn't a problem. We arrived Friday afternoon so we would be ready for Saturday. We were provided with Enduro style jacket trousers boots gloves body armour knee pads helmet and even waterproof over socks. I choose to wear my EDZ base layers an then thermal layers on top of the body armour jacket and i was very warm even up high in the mountains. For our first day riding we drove to a National forest about 45 mins away and Colin and Marianne brought the bikes in there vans.This is where we first got to meet the bikes there were 3 Honda CRF 250's that had less than a thousand miles on them. these have had better trail tyres and had the gearing changed to be more off road than on road, a Yamaha WR250 which is already a proper trails bike made road legal and a Suzuki DRZ400 which i rode for the largest part of the weekend. We were under way riding by about 10.30 and wow i don't like riding these really thin ,light, knobbly tired things after 10 minutes on the hard packed road im hating off road bikes. I started to think and use the techniques Colin told us about and straight away this is  fun and a load easier. NOT EASY just Easier then trying to ride it like a road bike. We made our way out of the easy park roads into the wilds and its becoming a lot of fun. We rode for a few hours till we stopped in a little village for lunch. After lunch the going got a bit harder and we came to the first part of track where 4x4's have left wheel ruts that we need to ride in. I think all of us had a fall on that section you really just need to relax and keep your vision up and let the bike follow the track but its hard i  kept dropping my vision to the rut and then BAM im down. You cant follow a rut when you can only see a few feet of it. The only part of the ride that was really scary was a downhill sloop maybe 45-50 degrees with a lose shail and stone surface we all made it to the bottom with just a few people having drops but no one was hurt and we all had a good laugh about it at the bottom. We rode back to the vans and my car by about 5ish and packed up and got changed to go back to the house. Sunday morning and there's light snow blowing around and the temp is way down on sat morning so we rap up again. Today's ride leaves from the house so were on the road by 9.30 and im glad for the layers im wearing as we have some on road riding to get to the trails and these bikes are still good for 60ish mph. The trails today are starting as hard as yesterday ended so we all have a idea of what were doing but still have to work at getting through long deep 4x4 wheel tracks with your foot pegs sometimes banging on the edges of the ruts must remember to lift vision before i DAM im off. No damage to me or bike and were going again. Sunday carried on that way for me and most the others we were all tired and this is hard work. The big DRZ no longer feels light but more like a large lump of lead. My legs are tired from standing on the pegs arms are burning from holding me forward against the wind that was doing its best to blow me off the back of the bike. But its now lunch time so i was having fun as the last 3-4 hours have flown past. Lunch in another little village i can remember the name of and were of again feeling some what better. I have my worst off Sunday afternoon on a track that we had ridden in the other direction just a few hours earlier. As i follow the left wheel rut around a left uphill corner my vision drops to the track directly in front of the wheel and again im bouncing left to right in the track till the front gets grip on the left side and climbs out the rut the rear tire spins and then bites in and were off, me on the seat and the bike in the air starting to lay to the left we have leapt up the bank getting air, maybe only inches but it felt like feet and i remember thinking dam this is a long way to fall and there's nothing i can do till im grounded and bang i land on my back head down the slope. i was lucky i found a soft place to land but now the bike is on its left side bar and peg well dug in and the machine is nearly upside down. When Steve finished laughing and pointing he came and helped me lift the bike up we found no damage to it or me so of we went, me very slowly for a while. There were a few other crashes between us but no breakages of human or bike. We finished the day when the sun was just staring to go down so we had another really full day of riding and fun . If you fancy a go at Trail riding look up this place you'll have a great time.  http://www.trailrides-wales.com/index.html
I didn't take any pictures but here are Jamies pictures http://razzi.me/albums/23160-trail-ride-wales-2013