Bike cleaned, serviced and laden with luggage, ready for my trip up North this afternoon. Spending a few days in Shrewsbury, Shropshire with family. I’d rather travel light, however I have a funeral to attend so need to pack a suit and shoes.
My plan is to avoid the usual motorways (M25, M1, M6, M54), as although quicker will get very monotonous and tiresome very quickly. I am going to take a more cross country route on A roads, with some interesting scenery and bends. The route is roughly A41, A44, A458 and will take me across the top of the Cotswalds and through the Vale of Evesham.
Le Filtrage
Stumbled across this excellent riding video that brought a smile to my face. For anyone who spends most of their time filtering through the city, this is for you.
Finally got round to giving the bike a damned good clean and polish. Tried to make good damage recently sustained in crash. It’s not too bad, but the belly pan and crash mushrooms look a right mess.
Still awaiting outcome from insurance, other party is contesting liability. Recently submitted by account of incident, photos and diagrams, but still playing the waiting game.
Dammit. Just broken the zip on my Hein Gericke jacket. This is the waterproof inside pocket. No idea what happened, just zipped it up, then found my keys falling out. Not good, expected better really, jacket is only 9 months old.
Might see if I can take back, however I’m not sure I still have the receipt. Not that you should need one for faulty goods. Otherwise I’ll shall gave to look into getting it repaired.
First Time Pillion Rider
Yesterday I took my sister-in-law pillion on the bike, the first time she has ever been on a motorcycle. Kitted out in a mixture of my spare leathers and my wife’s gear, I gave her a lift back home to Islington.
Lovely sunny weather, just cleaned, polished the bike and a great day to ride out through the quiet-ish city streets. She was a little scared and apprehensive at first, but soon got the hang of it and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.
Was a great ride, except for when I mashed the gears trying to pull away in 2nd or 3rd, stalling lots and struggling to find first. Doh!
Public Transport Strike, Missing Bike
I’m currently working on site for a company in Heidelberg (about 1 hour south of Frankfurt), however there’s been a local public transport strike, both limiting my options and causing huge waits for taxis. The client is situated on top of a big hill a couple of miles out of town, in the middle of some lovely countryside and has some great bendy roads and hairpins on route.
Really missing my bike right now. It would be so handy to get about and so much fun on the roads over here. But alas it sat at home 500 miles away.
London Biker Borough Market Meetup
Just back from a good meet up at Borough Market with the London Biker forum bunch. Great turn out, lots of bikes (only half in photo above), of all shapes, sizes and ages. Good friendly banter, but cut a little short due to rain. Can’t believe I’ve not made it before as I only work 5 mins around corner.
Here Comes The Sun
At last, it looks like we might be getting over this long winter that has dragged on far too long. First ride into work of the year without thermals on, heated gloves off and shades on!
To be fair, yesterday was also fairly warm, didn’t really need heated gloves on, but I left them on the lowest setting. I must be turning into a nesh Southern pansy. 🙂 Could be time to swap to my summer gloves.
The bike desperately needs a nice wash and polish, however, I’m still waiting for the damage and insurance claim to be resolved. At least the other insurance company is starting to get their act together. Just had a visit from their engineer to assess the damage and push the claim forwards a bit. Fingers crossed it will be all sorted soon. However it’s looking likely it will be written off, but I have been advised to buy back the bike cheap and repair it myself on the cheap.
Delays on My Commute Home
There were long delays on my commute home today. I ask you, who brings a yacht up the Thames into central London and gets Tower Bridge to make an unscheduled opening at rush hour?! It wasn’t even a posh or expensive looking yacht, nor very fast!
That said, sat on Tower Bridge on a warm Spring afternoon, Canary Wharf, Isle of Dogs, Dome to my right, and to my left I can see the Shard, HMS Belfast, City Hall, Tower of London, St Pauls, the nearly complete ‘Walky-Talky’ building, and in the distance, BT Tower, the Eye and Big Ben. London is a mental place to live and work in, crazy, busy, total bedlam, but there are moments when you stop and take in all amazing history and breathtaking sights. Over 15 million people each year, travelling from around the world to visit London, the city I call home.
Repair Quote
Eeek! Just got repair quote to get bike all sorted. Come to just over £1600! Mostly a replacement front cowling. They did however factor in a new Givi top box as it was scratched. Sure a lot of it is just fixing cosmetic damage and not essential to run the bike, but the claim is to return the bike to its previous condition.
However at that price, I suspect the insurance will want to write off the bike… Not what I need. 🙁