Finding myself with a rare day off from work and other family related duties I pondered over how best to spend such a rare and golden opportunity. Unfortunately the Infiniti Red Bull Racing team didn’t need my driving abilities today (our calendars didn’t match up) Chris Evans still had not 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
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
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
For the second 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 100 locations that are divided into 10 groups based on region and for each location 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
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
With the New Year upon us it was time for Billy to shake off the Christmas excesses and get out and about into the cold January air, normally Billy prefers visiting pubs during opening hours but today was about kick starting this year’s The Motorbike Forum (TMBF) Challenge 100 campaign. Read more
For the second 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 www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk. The challenge consists of visiting 100 locations that are divided into 10 groups based on region and for each location Read more
With 2013 drawing to a close, thoughts were being directed towards the New Year and reasons to get out and about on the bike being considered. For 2013 I had signed up for the first time to the Grim Riders annual challenge which this year consisted of visiting places with Read more
Saturday morning brought another mild but damp start to the day, todays call to arms involved a trip to Gloucestershire to sample a Toby Inns all you can eat breakfast. As these places stop serving said feast at 11am an early was necessary so that we didn’t miss out, that Read more
With the National Exhibition Centre being so close it would be rude not to make the short journey and have a look around at the latest models, the day chosen for this year’s pilgrimage was Friday 28th November, not being any significant day it was just a Friday and the Read more
Today’s Rigsville collective ride out was to celebrate Ray’s purchase of a brand spanking new Kawasaki Z1000SX and to get some miles in Ray picked a meeting point of Shobdon Airfield Cafe. In addition to the first viewing of Ray’s new machine it was also the first trip out for Read more
To misquote a famous North Warwickean celebrity “What a Grey Day”. Saturday morning was grey and miserable, the forecast was to stay dry with the possibility of it brightening up, this did turn out to be true so you can’t knock the met office, it just went from dark grey Read more
Londinium, 15th October 2014 Billy no mates latest trip involved transport containing more than the usual two wheels and the target for the day was our capital city, London. Billy was the guest of the day on “Wakes Tours”, now a bit of background is that Mr Wake is a Read more
This was the second attempt at this planned rideout to complete the Northeast tags of the motorbike forum challenge 100, the first effort being cut short when squadron leader Rig picked up a puncture before the meet-up point on the M1 which destroyed his rear tyre. The initial plan stood Read more
With the Rigsville collective on a short day it was an opportunity for Billy No Mates to have a trip out and tag a few TMBF Challenge 100 locations. The route had been planned for a while and was sat in the sat nav waiting for a suitable day to Read more
Today is Triumph Street Triple R collection day so it was a tour starting off on four wheels, clambering into the “arm in arms” motor with leather gear and boots made for the trip over to Performance Triumph in Stratford-upon-Avon and interesting one, I was going to go the whole Read more
A fairly innocuous email dropped into my inbox from Rob TheGrimRider.com touting an idea for a “Virtual Rally”, never having done anything along these lines before it caught my interest from the off:- I replied in the positive and started to give a bit of thought to what everything meant, Read more
This rambling is my own personal view on the KTM 1290R Superduke and should be taken in that context. First impressions, visually stunning, I prefer the black version but KTM will always produce an orange motorcycle. Of course the looks are purely subjective; if you like race reps then the Read more
The quote…. “The best laid plans of mice & men often go astray”…… could not have been written for a better day than this, after a late night/early morning of babysitting duties the alarm was set for a sparrow fart start to the day…… Plan A consisted of an early Read more
The longest day of the year comes around all too quickly, the summer hasn’t started and all there is to look forward to are the night’s drawing in and the onset of winter……. To shake us out of that thought and with our Welsh contingent unable to answer the call Read more
With a quiet day in prospect for the Rigsville collective Rig & Steve decided it was a good opportunity to venture way out East and tag a few TMBF Challenge 100 photos. Plan A was drawn up but with a prospective mileage of well over 500 and not enough low Read more