Lands End

Took the morning ferry to Liverpool. A 2.5 hour ride to an overnight stop in Machynlleth  Wales . 

Following morning it was full wet weather gear for a 3.5 hour ride to Williton in Devon with one rest stop at a Roadhouse for burger,  coffee and a chat with fellow bikers.

I'd booked an Airbnb for two nights in an old Toll House. 

Set of the following morning at 09:00 in showery conditions stopping for pancakes & bacon during another 3.5 hour ride to the bottom of England. 

As my time of island was limited, I took a direct route this included a boring 30mile stretch on the M5 followed by a monotonous 100mile  on the A30. 

Picture took and a nice cup of tea, I dipped into Newlyn for a cold drink in the Swordfish (zero alcohol)

Time was getting on when I headed back to my digs, I arrived back at 18:15.

LE & JOG  have now both been ticked of my motorcycling bucket list.

New Bike

 Ive been out on the new Triumph Tiger GT Pro  over the last week racking up the mileage for  its 600 mike service which is tomorrow.

Peel Castle

Outside Neds cottage ( film 'Waking Ned')

TT IOM

Point of Ayre tea stop

Bushys bar.

Creg ny Baa

Laxey 

 

The island begins to buzz with thousands of bikes pouring off the ferries. It's time for the biggest motorcycling festival in the world and it all happens on a small island in the Irish sea.

My nephew came to the island for the first time on his Yamaha Tracer , we enjoyed a few rides and an occasional beer together.

Betws Y Coed

Pont Y Pair Bridge.

Betws Y Coed Station.

 

Ellan Valley 2

 

Bike test

 I rode up to Colwyn Bay on the north coast to have a test ride on a Honda NC750.

 

It was the automatic gearbox version of the bike. After riding for 40mins on a mixture of fast dual carriageways and bendy B-roads I soon found it was not the bike for me. 

 

I found a bit of lag between throttle and uptake of drive and I prefer to be in control of the engine braking. Plus it lacked power for a 750cc machine.

The following day I rode up to Deeside another 4 hour round trip from Machnlleth to try out a Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro.

I was really looking forward to this test  as its a bike I have admired for sometime but it wasn't to be, the dealers insurance didn't recognise my IOM driving license.

Riding to Llyn Clywedog Reservoir

A beautiful day to be out on the bike.

The reservoir is only a 20mile ride from Machynlleth.  

Taking Forge road over the hills to turn right onto the B4518  (signposted scenic route) a mainly single track route with passing places. Great views of the water and the dam.

The reservoir was built in the sixties to supplement the flow on the river Severn and help with alleviating flooding in the upper Severn valley.