Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

Yesterday after work the weather was wonderfull, about 18° Celsius. So after dinner I put on a pair of motorcycle jeans, threw on a leather jacket and took a detour to the ice cream parlor. No pictures taken, as unfortunately, the ice cream parlor was closed . But hey, at least I got to ride some .

 

West Mercia @Wessa - covers a huge geographical area - Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

 

@Sandi T: Your outfit is/was great!!!

 

Since the weather here is slowly changing from winter to spring, we have extreme temperature differences during the day. In the morning at -2 degrees Celsius (28,4 F), with the TIGER into the office and in the afternoon at 22 degrees Celsius (71,6 F) back home. Clothing-wise, I'm in multi-layer mode on the road and still have an additional summer pair of gloves with me. The beautiful weather I have then still used to ride out with the BONNIE. This time alone, because my dear wife had to stay longer in the office. After a change of clothes I rode a beautiful route through 2 provinces. On my favorite route over a part of the alpine foothills, the Wechsel, the BONNIE showed what it is made of and "snuffed" a DUCATI MULTISTRADA on the mountain road. I love the acceleration! For a short break I stopped at a café in Bad Tatzmannsdorf. After parking the bike, I walked from the parking lot to the entrance of the café and realized upon entering that I had forgotten my wallet and all IDs in the other motorcycle jacket at home. Therefore, I had to leave again without coffee and delicious cake and arrived home safely after a 170 km (105 mi) tour.

In the following some pictures.

My BONNIE in front of the café.



The billboard advertises the availability of the best coffee in the province. If you like strongly roasted coffee, then this is true!



My collection of bugs after the tour.

 

Fitted the Rocket 3 GT Bar ends I bought (see what's the last thing you bought).



I still think they look good; working well with the R3 GT bar end mirrors which look so much better than the stock mirrors. I like how the machined edges compliment the machined fins on the engine.



I'm just a little unsure the bling was worth the cost.

 

@Markus
Sounds like a beautiful ride, Markus! What a shame you forgot your wallet and ID. I recently did the same when I went out for a little local afternoon ride. Funny how when one doesn't have one's ID / drivers license handy, every white car in the rearview mirrors looks like a police car.

On another note, dang those are some big bugs plastered to your windscreen! I'd definitely be wearing a full face helmet with face shield snugly in place with those things coming at me at speed.

 

I took it to work today.

 

Soldered a nipple on the clutch cable to complete the modification.



Now cable more closely matches the brake hose I did last week in appearance and extra slack available.

 

I had better luck at the ice cream parlor today

 

I took mine to work and back today, about 36 ish miles each way. I also took a few hour's leave off the end of my day so that I could meet @Helmut Visor at a Steel Horse Bike Night on the way home. The traffic was horrendous with everyone trying to get away for their holidays, which did me a favour as it encouraged me to filter and exploit gaps in traffic more, which is currently something I am wary about, although getting better each time I do it. There were loads of bikes at the meet, a real mixture and loads more coming in as we left to come home. I am nowhere near @Sandi T's standard but we did actually take some photos for a change!!

 

A few more...

 

Filtering takes some practice, but it's worth it! Keep looking ahead, expect no-one sees you, stay on the ball. And as been said before, moving front tyres of cars are a tell tale sign!

 

Thanks @Vulpes at the moment the concentration of it is quite tiring somehow, but I'll keep on at it!

 

It'll get easier with time, practice makes perfect! You'll get there, I'm sure of it!

 

I get very tired after a long ride, its not a physical tired but a mental one. Bikes require much more concentration than driving a car. I think it's pretty normal for most folk, shows your paying attention too.

 

I absolutely agree Andy. But that is what makes it so rewarding. You’re in the moment so much. Nothing else matters …

 

Thanks for sharing all the terrific photos from Bike Night, @Mrs Visor! What a great collection and variety of bikes. I have to admit I'm a bit surprised by how many Harleys there seemed to be there. Looks like it was a very fun event. I'm glad that motorcycles events are starting up again!

 

Harleys and all makes of cruiser seem to be really gaining popularity here at the moment @Sandi T amongst all sorts of riders. I wonder if all the younger riders getting them were influenced by Sons of Anarchy as I have seen a few people say that is why they decided to get a licence so it wouldn't surprise me if that was a pretty common reason.

 

That's really interesting, @Mrs Visor. I guess anything that encourages younger folks to become new riders is a welcome thing so as to keep motorcycling alive. Sons of Anarchy really influenced (or perhaps was influenced by??) a niche motorcycle style here in the U.S. commonly known as West Coast Club Style. Just Google that and you'll see tons of photos which will immediately bring to mind the bikes portrayed in Sons of Anarchy. It is interesting that you've observed cruisers becoming more popular in the UK. For awhile here in the U.S. they seemed somewhat on a downhill slide. It would be interesting to see some stats on all this.

 

It would be interesting to see stats. I have found some, but they're not really specific enough. I have to admit I don't think our roads are best - suited to the larger cruisers, or definitely not the part of the country we live in as the roads can be pretty narrow and twisty; I always think of them in American movies on long straight roads stretching into the distance (in other words, my biased preconceptions). When I was growing up almost everyone was on sports bikes or off - road bikes apart from MCCs so that probably influences me too.