Son's first long bike trip

One of Jamie's best mates is holding his 17th birthday bash today (his
Dad has got his birthday 125 stashed in the garage!), and Jamie was
invited. Mate is in Cookley, near Kidderminster, so maybe 160 miles
from the Chateau.

In the past I've done a sort of Spy Swap at Oxford Services, where the
two fathers meet up and hand over teenagers.

This time, he wanted to travel yesterday (Wednesday), and both myself
and The Doctor are working, so I told him: "You've got a bike: use
it."

"But I'm not allowed on motorways...."

"Nor was I when I was a learner. Main roads all the way: I reckon it
should take you at least four hours."

"But will the bike do it?"

"It's a Honda 125 Benly. It's indestructible. Of course it'll do it.
It'll just take a long time."

Told him to follow the South Circular/North Circular signs out to the
A40, gave him a map, scribbled the roads and towns to aim for on a
piece of paper, and he set off. Four hours later, no sign of arrival.
Five hours later, ditto.

Six hours after he set off, he made it. Seems he got rather lost in
London and wound up at White City. Still, he's rather chuffed at
having made the journey, all on his own, and the last hour or so in
the dark.

Fair takes me back, that does. It's a long time since I did any real
distance on a small bike.

 

[snip]

Well done to Jamie.

Well, us pre-125cc limit riders probably never did, depending on what
you call small. I did a trip to Torbay, Devon on my RD200, which isn't
far, but I did the return journey with no RHS foot peg!

The longest trip I've ever done in one go, was Coleraine, NI to back
home in Alton, Hampshire on a GS550E.

 

I regularly used to trundle from Brighton to Oxford, in the mid-1970s,
on my first bike, a Yamaha YB100. About 130 miles each way on main
roads, and used to take three-three and a half hours.

Thinking about it, I realise I'd forgotten my epic non-stop run to the
Bol at Paul Ricard, in the early 1990s, on a restricted 125. Sixteen
hours from Calais, and that after I'd done a full day's work and taken
an evening boat.

My mate Niall went two-up to Wales and back, from Brighton, on his
girlfriend's (now wife) Honda C50, again, back in the 1970s.

 

that's nothing. I know a couple of eedjits who travelled to and from
Bangor, NI to London two-up on a CG125. Several times.

 

Well done young Tog.

First longish bike ride I made as a 17 year old was Doncaster to Pebble
Mill, Birmingham on my KH 250 with L-plates. (I was a cast-member of 'The
Archers'), again without motorways etc. Mum and Dad made me call home as
soon as I got there, before I set off, and halfway home...

After the first one it was easy and I made the trip twice every month for a
couple of years.

Longest ever (as a 21 year old) was to St Tropez and back in six days on a
KH 500. Costa Fortuna .... Bike never missed a beat, with absolutely no
maintenance en route, but I got sunburned pretty badly though.

 

Quite.

I do feel that I should have done a bit more long distance stuff by now
but it's just something I've not really got around to organising.

One day, I'd like to do a Mugello/Jerez trip.

 

Cool. Do you want to do an Oxford Services RV, or are you coming down
here anyway? I'm free Good Friday. Gissa call.

 

Commiserations.

Mind you, he still has to get back

 

Do tell. Who were you? Did you get to bone Caroline?

 

Yes I remember our first 100 mile run. It took us hours to calm down once we
returned home. I haven't seen the other school chum for years but when we
would meet it always came to mind.

A year later I was commuting weekends Glasgow-Manchester with an RD250 on
L-plates. That explains my A6 over Shap comments elsewhere BTW.

 

ewwwww

 

My first bike was a 125 (an SL like the one Tog's got now, but in a
proper colour) and I used to ride it everywhere. Commuting to college
in Liverpool from Derby over a bitter winter was interesting, and I
even remember picking up helmet-wielding hitch-hikers on the way home
from race meetings at Cadwell, Outon, et al.

Them were 'days.


--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I was Terry Barford, supposed to be from Leeds but a bit of a "wrong 'un".
From about 1974 ish to about 1981 ish, can't really remember, though I still
should have a box of scripts and transcripts somewhere, or my mum has.. .

Heheheh

 

Absolutely nothing went wrong with it on the trip, just kept filling it with
petrol and oil. An RD 400 came with us and two Z1/900's and all did same,
nothing wrong, just petrol and oil. IIRC we didn't even check the chains,
let alone adjust them. Mind, IIRC we didn't hoon down, just steady 70/80
ish, but there was the odd blast on the road into St Trop ..

They were fine if not nailed. Trouble was, most did get nailed and
suffered.

 

I used to do London-Leicester on a 12bhp XL125. Not the highlight of my
biking career..

Phil

 

These eight words contain a whole world of understatement

 

<TOG@toil>; <>; <>
wrote in message

ah yes, an A100 with a knackered plug, spent half the time in the back of
some guys pick-up truck
Those were the days when someone would stop, pick you and the bike up, take
you home and you did'nt even know them.
other memories include 5 miles in the snow[1], feet as out riggers, stop,
gloves on pipe to warm up, then another 5 miles.
[1] when we used to get proper snow, not this wishy washy crap nowadays.

 

Points?

 

Aye. Slightly different but similar experience happened to me and a
mate back in about 1979 - his Suzuki 810 Kettle had holed a piston
(again) and we were stopped on the hard shoulder of the M6 around
Morecambe area. He'd come prepared with a rope, but also had his
girlfriend with him, which would have made towing him, err,
interesting. Anyway, some guy in a Hillman Imp pulls over, saying "I
know that bike, I see you around in Leicester all the time, can I
help?" and ends up taking the girlfriend, tent and the rest of the
luggage back.

It was still an interesting tow all the way back to Leicester, mind,
but my XT500 was well up to the job. John didn't like it when I went
over about 50mph though...

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

and pigs may fly.
--
Adie
(replace spam with nickname to reply)

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