[Baketech]

Just wanted to post a quick report and a few pics from our recent trip to England.

My wife and I had been planning another UK visit for some time, with the primary purpose of the trip being to visit her grandparents. While I enjoy a family visit, they are no cure for boredom, so in the back of my mind I was hoping to meet up with "Proto" aka Tim, a UK Fireblades.Org member that I have kept touch with for a few years now. Aside from the obvious interest in motorcycles, we share some other common ground such as our line of work, and as I would find out during the trip, the fact that we both married well above our station...

As plans developed, I began thinking about the possibility of renting a bike for a couple of days in order to make the visit a bit more of an adventure. The logistics were a bit of a nightmare though... due to family commitments, I only had a couple of available days, and staying in Cambridge meant that hiring a bike was a bit problematic. I found plenty of bikes available in London, however getting down there and safely navigating my way out in the available time frame was a non-starter. Just by chance I got a tip from the VFR ranks that Black Bear Harley in NewMarket, (just outside of Cambridge) rented Buells. This was just a few miles away, and we had been there before, so why not? While there was a bit of irony to my travelling all the way to Britain to rent an American motorcycle, the convenience factor was such that it made the whole idea possible. A few emails and a phone call later, I had reserved a spanking new XB12R that would arrive just a week prior to my trip...

In preparation for the trip, I had planned to carry my helmet on the plane and stow gear and leathers in my track bag as checked baggage. Due to terror arrests in London during the short days prior to the trip, the airline carry-on restrictions changed considerably, meaning that I would have to check the helmet as well. I wasn't happy about this, but managed to pack it all away in a reasonably secure fashion. For the first few days of the trip though, I was questioning my sanity as to whether it was worth lugging this massive bag around for a 2-day bike trip...

We finally made our way up to Cambridge after a few days in the country, and were finally getting a bit more comfortable with safely navigating around on the wrong side of the road. Driving and navigating was a 2-person chore, one person to safely pilot the car, and one person to read the requisite maps and signage. While we were getting better at it, I began to wonder if I would be able to make the solo trip cross country on the bike to meet Tim. I had a growing vision of myself stuck circling forever around some roundabout in the middle of Bumphuck, England... Once in touch with Tim, my fears were laid to rest, as he graciously offered to ride out to Cambridge on Saturday and pick me up for the trek back to his place where I was welcome to stay for the weekend.

On Friday however, the whole shebang nearly came unraveled. Some unexpected problems arose with the grandfather's doctor visit and crunched the time window down even further to pick up the bike. We discussed it for a bit and had decided to call Black Bear and cancel the rental when the doctor called and rescheduled the appointment for a couple of hours later. I threw my gear on and we headed to NewMarket with about a 2 hour window to get the bike before having to be back on track with family commitments.

The folks at Black Bear had the bike ready to go when I got there and were on the spot with getting the arrangements finalized. As the shop man was checking me out on the controls of the bike, we noticed that the reserve fuel light was on. He apologized and explained that there was a petrol station just about 800 yards up the road where I could fill the bike. He then showed me how the trip odometer worked in conjunction with the fuel light. When the light comes on, it starts a 3rd trip odo that counts the miles ridden since the fuel light came on. Pretty handy feature I reckoned, and made a mental note to remember that I had about 25 miles of "reserve"....no worries.

So I fire the bike and take a short cruise up the road to familiarize myself with the new bike. It felt in some ways similar to the XB9 I had ridden before...but smaller and bit more nimble. The exhaust note was a bit muted as compared to those in the states, but it was torquey and jumped off idle with a lot of urgency. I asked the wife to follow me to the station, where we would fuel up both the bike and the car, and set out on the left side of things.

We were in a massive hurry with the clock ticking, so I quickly grabbed the pump and filled the Buell to the brim. I drug the nozzle around to the car, but couldn't seem to get it in the hole...didn't want to fit properly for some reason. After a few puzzled seconds of trying to get it to mate up, the guy next to me asked me if I realized that I was holding the DIESEL nozzle!!!!! BLOODY HELL!!!!!
My heart went in to my throat at the realization that I had just pumped the bike full of diesel...PHOCK ME!!!! In the rush, I had completely missed the fact that the color code for diesel and petrol are opposite those at home. Diesel is black and petrol is green... I had simply grabbed the black pump without evening noticing the 1" tall letters saying "DIESEL" This was definitely a show stopper... I quickly rolled the bike to a safe spot, paid for the fuel and had my wife run me back to the bike shop. I told her to head back to town (using my shitty hand drawn map) to make the doctor appointment on time, and I would link up with her later.

Once in the shop, I explained the situation and prepared for the worst. To their credit, the folks at Black Bear could not have been more professional. Within a few minutes, they had zoomed off in a lorry and returned with the bike. I watched them unload the bike and headed into the shop to see what could be done. It was a humbling experience to say the least, for someone of reasonable mechanical means to screw up so badly, then be totally reliant on someone else to fix it... I waited in the shop, a bit redfaced, while they quicky drained the fuel from the frame and into the tank on their mobile power washer. Yes, they did take the piss out of me a bit, but they did an outstanding job of quickly getting me back on the road. Mad props to the folks at Black Bear...


So I am off again, toddling down the road feeling like an absolute git... I fubared one roundabout and had to reverse course, but otherwise made it safely back into Cambridge in reasonable time. I spent the rest of the evening quietly jury-rigging my gear to the Buell, and kicking myself for being a complete idiot...

I was however, able to console myself by engaging in some street racing...


Saturday rolled around and true to his word, Tim showed up on a gorgeous blue Fireblade. After the obligatory pointing at maps, we were off through the streets of Cambridge to his home outside of Oxford. I got a quick primer in the proper way to filter a bike through city traffic, and was more than pleasantly surprised to find that motorists were more than happy to share a lane or allow you to split when necessary. This was a bit of a revelation to see this contrast. At home, you are a nearly invisible nuisance to motorists...here you are just another vehicle, to be treated with equivalent courtesy and caution. I found myself shaking my head at the notion of what reaction filtering this way at home would cause...surely some honking, blocking, and most likely some good old-fashioned road rage...



Once out of town, we opened up onto a couple of really nice minor roads and it was time to catch a little bit of speed. I was at first cautious of the speed camera signs, but was quickly learning how to pay attention and avoid them. The relative narrow width of the roads was far less apparent on a bike than in a car, and for the first time in a few days I was truly enjoying being on the road. The Buell was setup a bit harsh though and at higher speeds it became a bit hard to maintain clear vision...and it was a bit flighty over bumps and such. I caught myself longing for my VFR, but quickly dispensed the notion as I was here now and would have to make it work. I started fiddling with the gearbox a bit to understand where I needed to be in the powerband and that really seemed to help a bit. After a few miles, I was starting to get comfortable enough that I could enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way.

It was a picture perfect afternoon of riding as we made our way to Tim's, stopping for fuel and coffees along the way. One of the last roads of the day, the B4011, turned out to be a fantastic piece of pavement. It was a gorgeous run of scenic sweepers on flawless tarmac...I caught myself thinking about amping up the speed a bit, but as discretion is the better part of valor, I decided to plod along at my own pace and catch up to Tim at the next roundabout. A long way from home, on rented tackle is no place to have an off, but dammit that was one seductive road...

Arriving at Tim's, we parked the bikes and spent the rest of the evening having dinner with his family and friends. Always the consummate hosts, I was immediately made to feel at home. As it turns out, our Tim is quite the fortunate man...a beautiful family, a beautiful home, and the wits to live life well...


Admittedly I drank more than my fair share of wine, but morning came early, and there was MotoGP on the tube. After watching Loris battle Rossi we gathered on the porch for a very traditional fry up while enjoying the early sunshine. Tim took me on a quick tour of his shop nearby, and it was really interesting to see how similarly we do things while at work...

It was another bright and beautiful day and there was riding to do, so we packed the bikes and headed off. The plan was to take a scenic route for a bit, and at some point split off to venture back home solo. We rode through some fantastic countryside (Cotswalds?) lots of villages connected by marvelously twisty roads. I was comfy with the Buell now, and could sightsee a bit as we passed the breaks in the hedge. At some point, while turning through a roundabout, the bike stumbled and I nearly dropped it...it caught again, then stumbled again as if it were running out of fuel. I looked at the dash but no fuel light?!?! As we pulled out of the village, I tried to catch up to Tim, but the power was down and I could not get close. As luck would have it, he pulled over to show me some local interest and I explained that I thought the bike was out of fuel... We turned around and started down the long hill into town, I pulled the clutch in and let the bike idle all the way back to the village...nearly 2 miles of coasting. We quickly found a petrol station and filled the bikes, and that seemed to cure the problem, as we were back to business after that...


At some point we decided to split off and Tim showed me an easy return route to Cambridge. We said our goodbyes and I headed for home. Once underway though, I realized that the 2 days of tutelage had been beneficial. I was able to navigate my way onto a couple of really nice B roads on the trip home...not too much hooliganry mind you, just some good natured fun while trying to avoid being spat off into the hedges...

I was all at once relieved and disappointed to be back in Cambridge, it had been a short, but intense little adventure...definitely the highlight of the trip...

Thanks again to Tim and family for the most wonderful hospitality imaginable, I truly can't thank you enough, and am already thinking about a longer adventure...

[Baketech]

This Space For Rent

[sheepofblue]

so not a single rabbit sucked out of the hedges when you passed

[abtech]

Excellent glimpse of your trip!

How is your grandfather? I hope the trip ended on an up note with the family!

[Proto]

Arriving at Tim's, we parked the bikes and spent the rest of the evening having dinner with his family and friends

You forgot to mention the state banquet we laid on for you. Eighteen for dinner that night. Even had other foreign visiting dignitaries - well a bloke from Chicago and some "serious" Aussie bird

Oh, and an English woman that had lived somewhere in the USA more remote than most of the members of this forum, which kind of surprised Bake.

[bwhip]

Great report! One of the favorite places I've visited in the world (other than the fact that their food is almost as bad as their dental hygiene....)

[Baketech]

Originally Posted by abtech

Excellent glimpse of your trip!
How is your grandfather? I hope the trip ended on an up note with the family!

The grandfather (actually the wife's) is doing pretty well, knee probs, but on the mend...that's him on the scooter...
Her grandmother is doing well too, we took her in for throat surgery and she seems to be recovering just fine, so all is good...

[Baketech]

Originally Posted by Proto

You forgot to mention the state banquet we laid on for you. Eighteen for dinner that night. Even had other foreign visiting dignitaries - well a bloke from Chicago and some "serious" Aussie bird

Oh, and an English woman that had lived somewhere in the USA more remote than most of the members of this forum, which kind of surprised Bake.

Or the Englishman dressed as a cowboy...

I had a lot of good conversations that evening...not sure if it was the wine or the good company...

Thanks bake, I enjoyed the read!

[sheepofblue]

Originally Posted by Baketech

Or the Englishman dressed as a cowboy...

I had a lot of good conversations that evening...not sure if it was the wine or the good company...

You sure he was not a Harley rider with chaps on

Sounds like fun and glad to here the family is on the mend. I would not mind getting over there one day, Scotland also. Maybe stop and see how the old tyrants are doing (yep no doubts that we escaped or were tossed out rather than part of the upper crust)

[Proto]

Originally Posted by Baketech

Or the Englishman dressed as a cowboy...

Yes, I must admit that was a bit of a shocker

[RAH-VFR]

Welcome back. It seems that you paid enought attention as to what side of the road to be on and did not become a hood ornament. That's always a plus wheather the bike is rented or not.

To bad you could not have rented an SP2 I hear they're quite fast. Then you could have kept pace.

[Heavy-Dee]

Cool trip!

[Baketech]

Originally Posted by RAH-VFR

Welcome back. It seems that you paid enought attention as to what side of the road to be on and did not become a hood ornament.

More often than not, that seemed to be the center...

[BDA116]

Quick report my ass.

[Red Rider]

Great writeup! It brought back memories of the summer I spent living there in my youth. Can't imagine riding those roads on a bike.

Glad to hear the grand folks are doing well, too.

[booracer]

excellent read. will have to visit there someday. must've been a pain to lug all the gears especially with the terrorist stuff going on.

[Hammer]

Nice trip it sounds like.

Do they have pissed off finger wheilding Jeep drivers there?