I Want One Of These!

Last night on the TV programme 'The Gadget Show', they featured a one wheel, electric, self-balancing scooter. This is called the Ryno. It has gyroscopes to make it self-balancing and the TV presenter was riding it relatively comfortably within just a few minutes. This looks very cool indeed and I want one. It will have a 30 mile range, top speed of 20mph. It looks like a lot of fun.

I found a video on the web that shows what it can do....



I have a nagging doubt though that these would be allowed in the UK. For all sorts of bureaucratic nonsense, Segways are not allowed here and I fear the same fate would happen with the Ryno.

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Progress of my Book

Towards the end of my tour of the USA, I decided to write a book about the trip. After I got back to the England and life returned to something approaching reality, I spent the time until Christmas writing one test chapter and investigating alternative publishing routes, book sizes, layouts, fonts, printing costs, book distribution methods and many other things I didn’t know writing and publishing a book.

Each of the 27 states that I visited will have a chapter of its own, plus about another 5 about planning of the tour / other introductory chapters – about 32 in total.

So far, I have written 5 out of that 32 - Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and South Dakota, plus a chapter giving tips about riding in the USA for visitors that Derek Polhill and Chris Luhman kindly helped with. With the help of a guy I used to work with, Brian Bascle, I have the cover and book title all sorted.

My cousins partner, Helen, is editing the book, my brother is doing the laying out of the words and pictures and my son Jeremy is going to draw the maps, so I am sort of keeping it in the family!

However, at this rate, I will take too long to finish writing the book, so I need to speed up somehow.

Having never written a book before, I am finding it quite difficult. To be fair, it is a book of photos supported by words, rather than a book of words that contains just a few pictures, but it is still very hard for me to do. I have always found it hard to concentrate on one thing for a long time, so I keep getting distracted and I find myself doing lots of other things when I should be writing. I am determined however to complete it and I want to finish it all and get it printed and available before the end of the year.

I will post an update in a few weeks time about how I am getting on. For now though, I must get back to writing.....

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My Last London Motorcycle Show?

I went to the London Motorcycle Show at the Excel Centre in London’s Docklands a few days ago.

As I walked around I found myself wondering why I went. Sure, I looked at and sat on some of the new bikes like the Yamaha’s Super Tenere, Harley-Davidsons Blackline and the Triumph Tiger. But, I looked at helmets I have seen at every bike show I’ve been to, clothing I don't want, tools I already have and paddock stands I don’t need. I walked past insurance stands that wouldn’t insure one of my bikes and pictures of Motor GP racing I’m not interested in. I only glanced at the dolly birds, who seemed much more tarty than usual. Most shows are essentially the same and although I hate to admit it, after you’ve been to a few, they start to look the same. This one was the like that and even though I took my camera, there were so many people, I didn’t feel like struggling to take pictures of bikes without too many people in the shot. I should imagine if you are thinking of buying a new bike, the chance to sit on a number of your possible alternatives is good. I’m not in that sort of new bike market though.

As I walked around, I was bored of mainly seeing the same old things.

Deciding to try to find something different, I walked around the outside of the show and looked at some of the smaller stands and I noticed a large number of people that specialise in motorbike tours. Either I hadn’t noticed there being so many of these in previous years or their numbers had risen dramatically. I stopped and chatted with a few and they confirmed the number of such companies had gone up a lot in the past few years. Motorcycle touring it seems, is growing.

I have been a some organised tours on European roads in the past and I enjoyed them. Travelling around on such tours bikes with like-minded people is nearly always going to be fun. Of course, the people you do it with can make or break the tour and the riding is generally very good as the tour organisers have normally already planned to be on great roads. What I did notice at the bike show however was the large number of adventure tours to places like Peru, India, Africa and even New Zealand. A few of the guys I spoke to put to put this down to one simple thing – the “Long Way Round/ Down” tv programmes that featured Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman which I guess really introduced us to what is possible in adventure touring. Sure, such tours have been around for a while, but that tv series has really made them popular.

This is the list of touring companies I saw.... quite a few really!.....

Adventure Riding Academy
Adventure Peru Motorcycling
Blazin Bikes
Compass Expeditions
Dust Devils SL
EagleRider
GlobeBusters
HC Travel
Hidden Ireland Motorcycle Tours
Hispania Tours
Kudu Expeditions
M C I Tours
MSL Tours
Nurburg Ring Tours
Paradise Motorcycle Tours NZ Ltd
Pole Position Travel
Toursareus Ltd
Two Wheel Trekkers
VFR - New Zealand

I have decided to give such shows a miss in future and this will be my last London Motorcycle Show. I will go to the smaller and much more fun custom bike shows, where you really see something different in both the bikes and the people, but big general motorbike shows? – probably not. Would I consider going on another organised tour? – to a country where I don’t speak the language – probably yes. Only problem, where.....?

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Nathan’s Great Road Trip Video

I was looking at Lucky’s blog, The Great Motorcycle Pizza Tour and I watched a couple of videos he had posted on there. They are so good, I have taken the liberty of also linking to them here on my blog.

These videos are about a young guy called Nathan who on the spur of the moment woke up one day and decided to buy his first motorbike and go on a road trip to Scotland. Oh, I should include that this trip was done mainly in the rain! He hasn’t even got a full motorcycle licence, so he has to display “L” plates to show he is a learner rider. He went to a dealer, bought a 20 year old 125cc Suzuki and went for a 958 mile ride on it, which as he says, "Is not bad for my first trip on the bike". He made two short videos about the trip and posted them on the web.

I have lifted the photo below from Nathans website but I am sure he won’t mind....

The videos will appeal to most people but especially to anyone that had a bike when they were young. They are brilliantly made and Nathan is very good at taking a simple story about a bike ride and telling it very well. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman watch out!

The videos are well made and no doubt took him a lot of time. Get ready for the bit about the kill switch – it’s a classic!

Keep up the good work Nathan.

The videos are in two parts.....





You can read more about Nathan's trip at www.boyonabike.com

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Hogslayer - The Unapproachable Legend

Some of my readers will remember I was lucky enough to be able to go see Jay Leno's private car and bike collection when I was in Los Angeles. This was possible because I happened to meet a TV producer months before in Milwaukee, called Jim Cutting.

It was Jim who very kindly contacted Jay and asked him if I could go see his collection so I owe Jim a big thank you for getting my visit sorted. I know that Jim is making a documentary about a Norton dual-engine drag bike called Hogslayer. Set for completion this year, the production team is looking for any existing material such as film, photographs, publications and video of the dragster and race team for inclusion in the documentary. They also have some sponsorship deals available.

This is the trailer for the documentary....



Here is the full recent press release distributed by the production company....

Hogslayer Documentary in the Final Stretch

“Hogslayer: The Unapproachable Legend” Set for Release in 2011

SLINGER, WIS. (January 31, 2011) – Excitement is building among racing enthusiasts for a new independent documentary about the multi-world champion motorcycle drag racing legend – the Hogslayer. Slated for a 2011 release date, the production company, The Edge Ltd., is accepting additional documentary materials and offering sponsorships on this exciting project.

Hogslayer: The Unapproachable Legend is the true-life story of the dual-engine Norton dragster designed, built and raced by John Gregory and TC Christenson of Sunset Motors in Kenosha, Wis. The documentary chronicles the Sunset Motors Racing Team’s unrivaled innovation and unbridled courage as they faced unyielding challengers throughout the United States and Europe in the 1970’s. The Hogslayer dragster is presently on exhibit at the National Motorcycle Museum in the United Kingdom.

The project is currently being financed and produced independently by The Edge Ltd., however the production company is offering sponsorships to assist with the remaining funding and to share in the premieres and distribution promotion of the documentary. The Edge Ltd. is also offering an open invitation for anyone familiar with the Hogslayer story to submit film, photographs, publications and video of the dragster and race team for inclusion in the documentary. For additional information or to submit materials, contact James Cutting, independent producer, The Edge Ltd., at 262-224-3777 or edgeltd@charter.net.

For the latest Hogslayer news, become fans of the ‘Hogslayer Documentary’ on Facebook.

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Great Ocean Harley Tour

What does it look like from seated on a Harley Davidson motorcycle as we cruise down the Great Ocean Road here in Victoria Australia? This Youtube clip was taken on a recent ride when we took one of our customers down the coast as a pillion passenger recently.

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The Bikes I’ve Owned....

I have owned just five bikes which I guess is not that many really. A few people I know have got that many in their garages now!

Here are the bikes I have owned....

First a Honda C90......

I got my first bike, a Honda C90 in red and white, when I was 16 years old. Looking back now, I think it was a good bike to learn to ride a bike on, as with just 3 gears and no clutch, it was very simple to ride. I read the Honda Cub range has been made continuously since 1958 and is the biggest selling bike of all time with over 60 million sold. Wow, to think mine was one of them! When I first got the bike I thought I was pretty cool.... Okay, I was young and impressionable! I enjoyed the bike and did all the maintenance myself, all self-taught. I passed my bike riding test on this bike.

My next bike was a Yamaha YR5 350cc, in orange....

While riding a Honda with no clutch was easy, the first time I tried to ride this “proper bike”, I realised I didn’t know how to use a clutch. I was probably 17 at the time and I had never driven a car either, so how to operate a clutch was a mystery to me. I learned quickly though, on the tiny forecourt of the bike dealers and on the way home. I did ok as I made the journey without incident, but then immediately took the bike out for a ride and ran out of fuel and not realising the bike had a reserve tank (I was more interested in finding out about girls than reserves), pushed the bike to the nearest petrol station.

I kept that bike for many years and as my only form of transport, rode it everywhere in all weathers. I crashed it a few times due mainly to the stupidity of the other road users. Okay, it was probably my own stupidity and recklessness....

I then went up-market and bought my third used bike, a magnificent Suzuki GT750, known as “the kettle” because it was water cooled with a radiator....

I think I was probably about 21 at the time I got this bike and I kept this bike until I got married and had kids when a car became much more necessary and the bike had to go. I was living and working in London and even though this was meant to be a long-distance touring bike, most of the journeys I did were short, buzzing around London. It was an unusual bike and now very sought after as a collector’s item. I wish I had kept mine.

It was then many many years before I even rode another bike. I was 49 years old and in London one day I was about 30 minutes early for a meeting. I needed to find something to do while I waited, so I went to look in a Harley dealer I knew existed in west London. I hadn’t gone there with the intention of getting a bike, just to have a look. I liked the big, new shiny bikes and wondered if I could ride one after so many years of not riding. I arranged to rent one for 4 days and a few days later I rode away from the dealers on a Road King. I didn’t need 4 days to make my mind up as within about an hour I decided I wanted one and went back to the dealer and ordered my very own Road King ....

I was a born-again biker! I loved being back riding again and soon went on a few long distance trips across Europe. This Road King was the bike I did my tour of the USA on.

I attended a few Harley-Davidson rallies and had seen many of the one-off custom bikes at many shows and decided I wanted one. I had a good idea what I wanted and designed in my mind a long low bike and I found a H-D dealer in Waterford in Ireland that could build just what I wanted.  Thirteen months later I had my own dream bike....

I called the bike Tradewinds and entered it in a custom bikes show in St Tropez in southern France where it won best in class. It has done very well at custom bike shows since and for a custom bike, it has done many miles as I just love riding it. My Road King is my touring bike and my red custom bike is my show-off bike! Harley-Davidson heard about the bike and very kindly wrote about it in one of the HOG magazines and also put it in one of their e-zines

So, I have had just 5 bikes. Not so many really, but I am feeling the urge to get number six.....

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