With the year marching on the time had come for a trip to the scenic North Wales before the great UK weather put any thoughts of that region out of the mind for another year. Initial planning included a trip to the Flintshire coast for a stop off at the Read more…
Back on the Road Again…although, with apologies to REO Speedwagon, not leaving, but a return to two-wheeled adventures. It was time to get the new wheels back into the groove and have a trip out. After a two-year two-wheeled break from the roads other than a quick blast around on Read more…
Twist A Go-Go The search for a more practical replacement to the Street Triple had gone through the Yamaha MT-10 (FZ-10), Kawasaki Z900 and arrived at the Honda NC750X. Having had an adventure bike previously this model had the potential to meet the two up Sunday trips out tick box Read more…
This rally was one that I was looking forward to; I was totally clueless in which way to tackle this year’s event after my errors last time around. It wasn’t that my original plan was no good, in fact with hindsight it had the making of a sound rally, it Read more…
Second attempt at this rally, and, being the easiest of the year from a riding point of view, is a fine way of spending a Saturday riding some decent roads on your chosen route without the problem of possible detours up goat tracks in the middle of Wales or Devon. Read more…
This was my second event organised by Rob & Barbara and they certainly work hard at the job. All the scouting that is involved must take untold hours so it is a big thank you from me to the pair of them for all their hard work. The event this Read more…
The “Ride the County” concept is a by no means small effort to raise funds for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance, this very activity brings to the fore the ever-present debate of the necessity of these events in order to raise money for what is a first class service up Read more…
Into my second year of Motorcycle Scatter Rallies and the SWPSR is the first up on the calendar. The idea is to visit so many points during the day between 08:00 and 23:59 the start and finish being in Langley, South Somerset. This event is split into four categories: Gold Read more…
The day started later than usual as bob had a bit of work to see too first!, on a Saturday too, what is the world coming too?. It did give me the opportunity to take the scenic route to his place and mop up a couple of local TMBF Photo Read more…
According to the weathermen, the day promised to be a dry one. With this in mind Bob was eager to get the BMW R1200RS out on the road for a blast, not to mention trying out all the GoPro and associated gizmo’s he had been suckered into purchasing to make Read more…
Billy had been eyeing the weather forecast for the last few days and sure enough, the expected rain was hammering down, these weather forecasters were getting better. It was no all doom and gloom however, the rain was forecast to hold off over the Iceni region and it was south Read more…
End of January already, where is the year going?, Billy found himself with a free Saturday so it was all go, the weather was forecast to be on the cool side of cold but a good chance of a dry day, somewhat rare at the moment and given that storm Read more…
For the third year running both Steve and Rig are both taking part in The Motorbike Forum UK Challenge 100 which is organised by the splendid fellows over at themotorbikeforum.co.uk. The challenge consists of visiting 90 locations that are divided into 9 groups based on region and also 10 pubs. Read more…
The Iron Butt Association seem to be the masters of the rally scene but a 36 hour rally or even the 18 hour version seemed to be a step too far for me to contemplate. Step up the inaugural running of the Iceni Rally, this is planned as an 8 Read more…
This event was laid out in a different format to previous rallies that I had entered, so the planning challenge was a new experience. The checkpoints are issued in a matrix format with the lines between allocated a set mileage value. This is not the actual road mileage but is Read more…
Homeward bound on the M6 it was blacker than black over Bill’s mothers, you just knew that the waterproofs were in for a severe testing, the road was dry at the time and tootling along at the regulation 70 MPH was going to eat the miles up easily, however the Read more…
This was now my third event of this kind following on from the South West Peninsular Rally in March and the Welsh National Rally in May. I completed the online application and sorted out payment as directed and was in, all I had to de now was wait for the Read more…
Following on from my participation in the South West Peninsular Rally I decided to have a crack at another event. I downloaded the entry form for the 2015 Welsh National Rally and in the good old fashioned way completed and sent off with a cheque to the organisers. From initial Read more…
Mmmm did I need another bike? That was a bit of a leading question, you always need another bike, silly one to ask really, but did I really. My KTM 1190 Adventure does everything that I need in a bike, tours excellently, goes fast when I need it. But it is Read more…
With the Triumph Street Triple R now fully run in I decided it was time to splash the cash and hit it with a few farkles, all unnecessary of course, but were on the list if and when I got around to it. The usual upgrade on any motorcycle is Read more…
It was the middle of April already and this was my first RigsVille Collective Rideout of the year. Where has all the time gone???. The day dawned with perfect weather, wall to wall sunshine, the clear visor was removed from the Shoei and the dark replacement fitted in anticipation. I Read more…
The idea for doing this event came from my participation in the Grim Riders Virtual Rally back in August 2014, I enjoyed the planning and also following on from the long days out with Rig on the TMBF Challenge 100, thought I would give a dedicated day’s rally a go. Read more…
After much deliberation on the purchase of luggage for the KTM 1190 Adventure I have finally settled on a modest system of the Dakar Panniers from Bags Connection. The usual solution to this problem is the aluminium type with scaffolding mounting frames which was far more than my needs required Read more…
Saturday started as a mixed bag, cold and damp, with the collective undecided on which breakfast venue to use Billy thought he would crack on with a trip from the sat nav database and visit a few TMBF Challenge 100 locations, always a good excuse to get out and about. Read more…
With the last day of February being a bit on the wet and miserable side Billy decided on a short trip out just to keep the bike in its usual dirty state. Kimbolton was the target of the day with the route planning taking in a quick stop off in Read more…
This event is the second virtual rally organised by Robert from Grim Rider fame, as yet I have not competed in a “proper” road rally but that is forthcoming on the 28th March where I have entered the South West Peninsular Rally organised by the Somerset Advanced motorcyclists. “Any time Read more…
Today’s ride out was not one of Billy’s favourite reasons, it involved the parting of the ways with a shed load of cash, namely the purchase of a new rear tyre. Having said that the piece of rubber in question had been rotating on the same wheel for 8,000 miles Read more…
I headed off to the 2014 Motorcycle Live show with two main items on my shopping list, one of which I actually achieved and the rest consigned to the “perhaps next year” column. I arrived just before the 10am opening time so joined the lengthy queue at the entrance of Read more…
With Saturday dawning with clear sky’s, just as the Met Office had predicted, it was looking like a definite summers day in the winter. With the Rigsville Collective still in a state of semi hibernation trying to loose the Christmas excess and squeeze into the leathers and also dreaming of Read more…
With the Christmas festivities out of the way for another year it was time to set about the last motorcycling trip of the year, as usual it was a visit to the Annual Boxing Day Trial organised by the Leamington Victory Motorcycle Club and held at the White Hart Pub in Ufton. Read more…