A short time with a Bonnie Scrambler…

Last spring in the middle of the covid madness and the middle of my first bout of cancer, I decided I would treat myself to a new used bike, like you do! when this Bonnie scrambler came up on a dealers site on the web, after a couple of phone calls a deal was done, and a few days later it was delivered, untried, and untested by me.A great looking bike, ran well, pretty quick, and sounded great. Unfortunately I never bonded with the bike probably something to do with my illness, so I moved it on, but it was fun for the short while we had together.

Self portrait time.

Bonnie with vintage VW bus.

Long gone now.

It’s been two years, it’s been far too long…

Whats the old fool on about, you may well be asking! a walk around Kempton is the answer, the Covid pandemic, an ongoing battle with cancer, lockdowns, social distancing, more cancer, the list goes on. But today, I joined some friends, grabbed a camera, and walked in the land of expensive rust.

Excelsior board track racer.

Triumph TT racer.

Daisy’s Diaries 3…

I am sure a few of you who have followed this blog for a while will know that one of my mates is Graham Ham, we have been on a few “adventures” together over the years, whilst riding our old bikes, Graham on the infamous Daisy, and me usually on my old BMW R80 st.

Well Graham has just released his latest episode in his Daisy’s Diaries tales, only available in download form, but available now.

 

Daisy’s Diaries 3

 

 

Tiger Cub Head…

Just picked up this Triumph Tiger Cub head from being vapour blasted, for one of my neighbours. Nice job too.

Tiger Cub Head

Triumph Tiger Cub Head.

R1150GS…

My Triumph Bonnie SE frustrates me, I love the way it looks, I love the way it rides, and it really is a lot of fun to ride, but, and this really is a big but! the seat is appalling, I can’t believe that Triumph tested these seats before releasing these bikes, or is it just a case of style over comfort?

I guess the final straw for me was going to the John Bull rally earlier this year, 60 miles down the road and I was ready to get off and walk, and I still had another hundred miles to look forward to. So for a while now I have been thinking of changing the Triumph, but I had no idea what I fancied to replace it, a big Japanese bike maybe, like the XJR1300, or maybe an 990 KTM Adventure, I have never owned a KTM so that was tempting in itself. Or there was always another BMW or Harley.

Triumph Bonnie SE

So just recently I have started looking more seriously, when out of the blue i got a nice TAX rebate, so I looked at what was available and shortlisted it down to an KTM 990 Adventure, or the big BMW R1150GS, but I wanted to find something with low mileage, and after going to see a KTM, which I really liked by the way, I found an BMW over in Leominster, with nice low milage, full history, and very well looked after. So a few phone calls later, and a deal was done, and this morning I went over and rode the bike home.

2003 BMW R1150GS

Rabbit Rally 2017…

Rabbit Rally 2017

Damn Unreliable Triumph, part 2…

Incase any of you guys are interested, I came up with two answers to the starting problem.

1. I bought a small power pack assembly, about the size of two mobile phones, that comes with a set of jump leads, and has enough power to start a car. it was just £34 and also has a USB port for charging a phone if needed. I will take a picture later, so you can see.

Here is a video I found on the Tube…

2. When I got the bike back in June, I fitted a new MotoBatt battery, I always fit new batteries to any bike I buy, as it takes the guesswork out of the equation. But when talking to a friend about this, he told me to change the battery again, to a Varta maintenance free type battery, as these have a higher storage voltage, not a lot higher, but over 12.6V. So that is what I did, and even during this cold weather, I have had no further problems so far.

Triumph Bonnie SE

 

Seasons Greetings…

First I would like to thank all you guys from around the world who have visited, and subscribed to my blog, and I hope you find the time to check in from time to time in 2017. And you never know, maybe we will meet somewhere out on the road.

My first trip out on a bike will be to The Phoenix, at Hartley Wintney on new years day.

Kevin.

Seasons Greetings

Triumph Bonneville,The Click of Doom.

As some of you know I have an 09 865cc Bonneville SE, I got it earlier this year, and as of today I am on my third battery! apparently there is nothing wrong with the batteries, but using the bike around town does not charge them to the required level, and if like me you are unable to put your bike on a battery tender when it is not used, the battery voltage will fall to below 12.6v and then the bike will shut down.

So today I fitted another new battery, and put the older one on charge, and went for a ride and all was good. but I was annoyed about the battery issue, and now carry jump leads with me whenever I take the bike out. So this evening when I had a chance I decided to google surf to try to find a fix for this most annoying problem, that Triumph really should sort out. And I found this……

So maybe this will help one or two of you, I am certainly going to try this next time I get the click of death

Clocks Back Rally…

I headed out to the Moto Guzzi clocks back rally all on me lonesome. So being a Moto Guzzi rally, I grabbed the Triumph Bonnie SE, loaded it it up with my camping stuff in the warmth of an autumn Friday, and headed out with a loose plan to be at Upton upon Severn, eighty or so miles west of me, by lunch time, and a date with with a traditional British lunch in the shape of a steamed, steak and kidney pudding! For I had found out that hidden in the backstreets of Upton was the world famous Pudding Shop & cafe.

Eighty country lane miles later, and I was pulled up outside that very purveyor of savoury goodness, and they were open for lunch…

The Pudding Shop

 

Steamed Steak and Kidney pudding

The camp site

That was pretty much it for the first day, just time meet a few people, drink a beer or five, and get settled in for the evening in the warmth of a country pub.
The next morning started damp with heavy grey cloud and light drizzle, although it did get a bit heavier during the day, it was not too cold or unpleasant. so after a full english breakfast, I decided to take a walk into town, and have a bit of a mooch about, first then was the river Severn, from where the town gets it’s name. Once a thriving market style town, now though overwhelmed with antique shops, but it does still have a few decent pubs to keep the thirsty traveller quenched.

Mmm

V7 750 Special in Upton

The Anchor Inn