Shropshire TT

Saturday 29th October saw the first (and possibly only) running of the Shropshire TT - something of a misnomer since the course lay nearly wholly within Staffordshire and its only link to any TT was the fact that at 37.6 miles in length it was approximately the same as the Isle of Man TT course. While riders are lapping the IoM in around 16 minutes our times were going to be far more modesty, as the event was restricted to 50cc mopeds.

This idea came out of my rather rash acquisition of a 1977 Honda Camino in the summer. Although 39 years old it had only covered 180 miles and still had the tax disc from 1978 on it!

So I came up with the idea of arranging a ride and advertised it on Facebook - we had 11 entries on a variety of machines although only 9 turned up on the day. machines included a 1959 Kriedler, two Mobylettes from the 1960s, an NVT Easy Rider, a Honda Dax, Piaggio Velofax, Yamaha DT50 and a Ariel 3 (the first time I had seen one outside a museum!). The aim was to complete three laps of the circuit for a total of 111 miles.

I left home just before 8am to ride the 7 miles to the start - the furthest I had ever ridden on the Camino to date! We all set off together at 9.40am, hoping to complete the first circuit together.



Video of Shropshire TT Ride

Further additions to the Scrambler

This week added a set of Puig crashbars:



and a BMW tank bag (I always struggle with not being able to carry things on a bike, but resisting the temptation to spoil the look of the bike with a set of panniers!).

First additions to the Scrambler

So having bought a new bike what is the first thing you do after riding it around for a bit. Well, after putting it in the garage, taking the seat off and learning where everything is, you then paint it with ACF-50 and turn to the pile of aftermarkrt parts you have been squirreling away for the past month or so while waiting for the bike to be delivered.

First a screen from Rizoma;


Then sidepanels from Wunderlich:




Some protection for the radiator cover (Wunderlich again) and a front engine protector:


And lastly for today some Grip Puppies on the handlebars and a change of mirrors:

I am going to use this blog to record the history of my motorcycles; journeys, experiences, changes and repairs. Let's start with the first day of my brand new bike, picked up from Benhams Motorrad, Wolverhampton on Monday 17th October 2016. It is a BMW RnineT Scrambler X. Had 0 miles on the clock when I rode off on it after this picture taken by David Stowe.

October 2016

A new start to this blog....