Last Sunday's ride out......

.......which started with setting off at 6.30 am and heading out on virtually traffic free roads. I picked up the A37 some miles out of Bristol and then the A39 heading for Wells, Glastonbury, Bridgewater,Minehead etc. I think that once the few cars had cleared near the Hinckley Point  turn off then I had the rest of the A39 virtually to myself, which was great and a probably a first for this stretch of road. - Coincidentally came across another Guzzi (in the traditional black with white pinstripes) travelling in the opposite direction. I arrived at Ilfracombe Quay at 9.30 am which is not bad considering I stopped for a pee, then a fuel stop and four times to take pics. Particularly enjoyed the road all the way from Bridgewater, especially from the top of  Porlock hill where the Guzzi dealt very nicely with the twists, turns and very uneven road surface only averaging 60 / 65mph, but it just felt good! No need to go slower and no point in spoiling it with trying to up the pace. There were some other nice bits of road in East Devon and Dorset, but of course by late morning / early afternoon every other bugger was out wanting to enjoy the sunshine. I did just over 300 mls but was out for 9 hours with that being mostly riding time as each other stop was really only for 10 minutes or less  to take a pic. I was knackered by the time I got home and suffered with aching bones the whole evening. All the slow riding calling into a number of seaside towns I feel being a big reason for that....Oh yes and as I'm not as young as I once was etc etc.... Next time I do that ride to Ilfracombe I'll cut back across the relatively empty roads of Exmoor

Dunster Castle

Looking back from near the top of Porlock Hill

Lynmouth ahead

Lynmouth

Combe Martin

Ilfracombe Harbour

Damien Hirst's 'Verity'

I was hoping to see a Mermaid, but a big fish would have done.
Looks inviting though!

Just on the edge of Seaton town centre.
There's a small cafe hut to the left of this bridge which
had a line of bikes parked up.
I'd also rode down to Sidmouth seafront, a few miles back up the coast, but that
was very busy and just got frustrated going round in circles.

The seafront / town at Lyme Regis
On from here to Bridport and then headed northwards to Yeovil
and finally Bristol

Colourbox

I had a day of playing a number of old cd albums - from the early 70' and mid 80's at the workshop the other day with all of them standing up well as still worth listening to...........in my opinion.
   New York Dolls - Jet Boy is a lively little ditty - I saw them play at Warwick University in 1973' and Colourbox's 'Just Give 'Em Whiskey' also fire's things up.

Guzzi project wiring

and everything works so that's always a bonus!  A bit of tidying up of a few things and need to tone down the rather bright led number plate light.

Last Sunday............

...........was the Guzzi Cafe Racer day at the Bike Shed HQ organised by Nick. I went but didn't make it as had to turn around at Newbury. I'd left Bristol on the A4 and must admit that some 30 - 40 mls into my journey thought that maybe my fairing was moving around a little more than it should. Carried on, thinking it was just my imagination, when it got to the point that I just had to check, especially before having to jump on the M4. There are four mounting points where where the tubes are welded to the headstock mounting plate and the top r/h one had sheared straight through. A couple of cable ties and I turned and headed for home when a few miles up the road I checked again and now the top l/h one had gone the same way. More cable ties and back on my way. Just before getting to Marlborough I had to stop again when I noticed a lot more movement and the fairing not pointing straight ahead. The bottom two had gone too, but rather than call out the Breakdown and wait around for 1 1/2 - 2 hours I decided to tie the whole thing up with virtually every cable tie that I had in my bag. Luckily I'd been carrying them around for quite a few weeks and from now on I think that'll be the norm. Having the bracket tied around the forks and clip ons certainly made for interesting slow speed turning  at junctions etc. Fairing now repaired and hopefully it's enough?

Guzzi project off to it's new home

Pete and Sean came over and collected the le man project on Saturday afternoon with the aid of Sean's Moggy van. It's a 1968 model bought by his Dad in 1974 and in the last 12 months has become Sean's and still doing a grand old job