Sunshine & motorbikes

What's not to like? During the recent hot spell I managed to get out on three good rides all of between 50-60 miles, Before the weather went ballistic with record breaking temperatures I got to meet up with an equally old school chum who I rode with back in the period 1973-1978. Then there was 4 of us, now there are 3 with one resident in Canada but Simon and I had different career paths to find each other living in the midlands having started out near Manningtree in Essex. So now we meet at The Swan at Fradley junction between Burton on Trent and Lichfield where they serve good food, good drinks and have plenty of outside dining trestles.

A few days after meeting Simon there was a bike nite at The Swan so I was back there with my mate Phil on his new (to him) ex-demonstrator Royal Enfield Bear having traded in his RE Hunter out for his first ride of any real distance. He's a big lad and the Hunter was a little on the small size so the larger Bear is more correctly sized for him but at 243kg it's a big lump of a bike, not for me. I'll stick with my Z650RS (for now) as I can manage it's 187kg ok and it is a ball to ride.

Better weather brought better activities

In the recent warm weather spell Sue and I got active, out came the ebikes and off we went. Rides around/through Derby and local villages, along country roads, riverside and canalside paths and cycle ways. One trip saw us mount the bikes on a cycle rack on the back of my car and head off to Hartington station where we joined the Tissington trail. Sometimes just the two of us went out, sometimes we went with friends but always in sunshine. We cruised along at between 9 - 13 mph taking in the sights and greeting others we found along the route. Most of the time we were out it was breezy/gusty/windy which kept our speed down, but all five trips were enjoyable and in total we covered over 100 miles on our bikes.

Now reading the above makes it sound all nice and rosey, but it wasn't all trouble free. On one ride with another couple I got a rear wheel puncture ut by vigorously pumping air into the tyre then equally vigorously peddling for all I was worth I managed to get back to where we'd parked the car (with rack). Slime did the trick when we got back. Another day when we went to set off my front wheel was lose, easily fixed.

Now some will say that ebiking is cheating - mostly folks who have never ridden one, but the truth is that without the PAS pedal assistance I would not be cycling at all what with my age (70yo), dodgy joints and reduced capacity lungs. But with electric assistance I am able to enjoy recreational rides which is definitely having a positive affect on my body.

On the mend and riding

Last weekend started on Friday getting quotes for some paintwork on my Peugeot made necessary by a kind individual who keyed down the side of the car (see previous post) which firstly pee'd me off and then shocked me with the cost of a professional paint job. It's eleven years old with 82k miles on the odometer and has just cost me £1,400 for new tyres, service, new front suspension and steering rack. Paint will have to wait.

Saturday we motored down with our eldest son and his family to West Midlands Safari Park which had eluded us until then and we had a fabulous time. Sunday we drove down to visit our youngest son and family living near Royston, Herts. Weather was good and both granddaughter and garden needed attention so we all set to mowing, weeding, trimming and generally tidying up their back garden. We slept overnight because plans for Monday were for me to drop off Sue at a friend's place in Kesgrave and for me to then visit family in Eye, Suffolk. It went to plan, we had a great time. Sue and I both saw our respective uncle Alan before dining out with our friends and then making the trek back to Derby.

Yesterday (Friday) started early, 09:00 in Urology at Derby Royal hospital and my second endoscopy (camera into bladder via pancreas) to check if the antibiotics are being effective and doing the job of clearing out the infection. Hooray, yippee and phew! The good, no great news is that it is back to "normal" (whatever that is) and the hospital signing me off back to my GP. So one issue sorted and two to go - stomach hernia and right hip waiting on treatment list.

However, today started bright at 11°C forecast says to expect clouds and rain later so get the Kawasaki out and go ride. First job, fill the tank then head out of Derby and through Ilkeston, Selston and Alfreton towards Clay Cross on the A61. At Hadleigh it was obvious that the forecasted cloudy and possibly wet conditions were coming in on the breeze so I hung a left and headed back towards home. In total just over 43 miles covered and 2 hours out and back. I had a ball but was surprised by the number of drivers who pulled out of side roads infront of me leaving me to ride round their mistake which saw them partially blocking my progress. Right now as I write this 3 hours on from that ride the rain has blown in and the heat has gone from the day and the central heating has kicked in. Oh well...

Getting about

It's been an expensive start to 2026. First my car needed 4 new tyres, followed by a full service, then some new front suspension parts and a replacement steering rack. That little lot came to £ouch! but the result was good until we went to the local Aldi for some bits and some dear soul keyed the side of my car, more expense, Ggrrr!

While and in between the work that was going on with the car we took off to Budapest for a river cruise on the Danube, which got me thinking how we take mobility for granted. We drove to the airport, walked in from the car park, boarded a plane and flew to Budapest where we jumped on a coach transfer to the moored up boat. That night it set off up the Danube and over the week we visited towns and cities along the river - Bratislava, Krems, Passau, Linz, Vienna and back to Budapest. These visits involved lots of walking plus the use of metro and trams. Since returning back home I've been out and about on both my Kawasaki Z650RS motorbike (51 miles) and my e-bike (34 miles over 2 trips). In all that's a whole heap of miles and variety of transport modes.

All the above has been achieved while suffering probably the longest and worst period of health in my 70 years on planet earth, no details but I have a way to go to get out from being under both my doctor and the local general hospital. It would have been better if both had started with some real analysis instead of just making assumptions and prescribing three courses of antibiotics when the first 2 were totally ineffectual leaving me now on a long term antibiotic for an as yet unspecified period of several months. Apparently my infection is very rare (like 1 in 100,000) and more serious due to the 3 week delay in getting their correct diagnosis.

But life goes on and I am still vertical and breathing, every day is a bonus.

A month on...

So what has happened in the last month (and a bit)? Well first off a trip to A&E for a "waterworks" issue coming away with 7 days of antibiotics. Then 10 days later into a local walk in clinic for the same reason and same result. A few days later and into Urology at the local hospital for CT scans resulting in a request for blood samples. So off to a different walk in clinic, resulting in a phone call 2 days later saying new (different) antibiotics are on the way because the ones I was on are not effective againt the infection I've got.

Then on Monday 20/04 we went on holiday, river cruise on the Danube (where I'm composing this post). Tuesday morning I get an early morning call telling me to quit taking all my type 2 diabetes meds because of further analysis of the blood samples taken and that I have to supply more blood samples within 24 hours - that was scarey being as I'm in the middle of Europe and it's agreed that I will comply as soon as I get back.

This week has gone well so far but I am experiencing loads of weird stuff - body reacting to the sudden ending of meds after more than a decade of taking them? It's called going Cold Turkey. I've been here before coming off steroids after 3 months of being on them back in 2005 but that was much more vicious than what I'm experiencing this time around and for that I am grateful.

So motorbiking has taken a back seat, just 3 rides out around Derbyshire, and it's hurting.

Finally some sunshine

Finally, last week we had some sunshine and despite my health issues I managed to get out twice for a bimble around Derbyshire, Wednesday and Friday. I would have liked to do more but other commitments dictated otherwise. Still, 92 miles and 65 miles is a reasonable opener for the season considering I am below par, but getting sorted. I just love the bike, so much grunt but like other owners have commented the throttle is a bit on/off snatchy which can be cured using a ECU flash update. Not now but maybe.

Dismal & Depressing

Well thats just how it has been, the weather primarily but also my general health which I hope will improve when the NHS people have completed their investigations - enough said for now.

So much has happened but where do I start? Happily, with family news. which is that our eldest son Andrew and his partner Emma produced an addition to the family towards the end of 2025, so now they have Ada and Ivy (and Millie the dog) and we now have 3 little granddaughters who are such a joy.

I ordered a small screen for the Z650RS and fitted it but riding it was no different to the bike being naked. Ordered and fitted a larger screen but it deflected the wind blast straight up under the front of my helmet when I want it over the helmet so I worked out a temporary solution (not very pretty) to tilt it forward. Better, but I'm still not happy with it.... work in progress.

On the subject of 2 wheels, Sue & I have both acquired new ebikes over the winter period. Her previous bike a Leader Fox, City Park got damaged in a fall while we were out riding and the PAS sensor got damaged. Contacted the maker in the Czech Republic and determined what bits we needed but they won't supply because of Brexit so she now has a Raleigh Motus. My bike was one I built 5 years ago and while doing winter maintenance ready for this spring/summer riding I found there to be too much play in the rear wheel bearings and the wheel had a decidedly wonky wobble. Invstigation showed the wheel to be a sealed unit with no way to replace the bearings and it wasn't worth replacing the wheel so I now have an Engwe P275SE in the shed awaiting some better weather.

Final bit of news for this post - Mrs C (otherwise known as SWMBO) is going to join me in retirement from early April and plans are afoot to get some travelling done starting with a Danube river cruise and then a family holiday on Majorca and some motoring/touring of Europe.

New (to me) motorbike

After 2 years riding a Suzuki GW250 Inazuma "commuter", and having finally retired from all employment I have treated myself to an upgrade as a retirement present to myself. So what is it?

In the past I've ridden Honda, Suzuki & Yamaha but no Kawasaki so I have now put that right with a Z650RS in grey, first registered in March 2023 and with 1 former owner it had 2,800 miles and a full service history from the the selling dealer, Derby Kawasaki.

Yesterday me and my riding buddy managed an 80 mile ride out and all was good, no issues but I will be glad when the screen I have ordered comes through and I get it fitted. Further updates to follow.

A rekindling, relighting the flame

Yesterday was a noteworthy day for me. To get out on the motorbike, whatever it was, large or small, has always put a smile on my face and it still does over 50 years on from the first time I did so. But yesterday was different, yesterday I found that I could still ride "like I stole it" or at least "fast and furious"... well something like that. I was due to meet Simon (a fellow biker and school chum) for a pub lunch but roughly 4 miles after setting off my lefthand bar mirror swung round so that it was impersonating a loose sail on a small boat. I can't ride like that so pulled into a layby and rectified the situation but that meant I was now running a few minutes late.

Yes, there was the dual carriageway route but where's the fun in that? My mind was set on the backroads route and I was sticking with it but it would just have to be ridden a bit quicker. So it was. No more plodding along, not even zipping along, this was all or nothing "go for it" riding, me having a blast. And I did. I was still a few minutes late arriving at the pub but that was due to three sets of traffic light controlled road works and I am not a "bad boy" so I do respect the red/amber/green even if I treat speed limits as advisory rather than mandatory...

Well that was the plan

And as we all know, things don't always go to plan. The combination of bad and wintery weather, work commitments and domestic duties including a new bedroom carpet has meant the bike remained in the shed. Sunday gave us a break in the weather so I went to check it over with a view to going out on it for a couple of hours but it had other ideas. Battery as flat as the new bedroom carpet, made no better by 10 hours on a charger so new battery duly ordered and should be with me in a day or two.

It's been a while...

My last update was June 2020, as I write this it is New Year's eve 2023, so what's happened in between times? Well, for starters I am a granddad twice over, each of my sons assisting their partners in the production, delivery and raising of a granddaughter. Age wise they are 2 years apart, the oldest being 2yr 9mth. Both are adorable as only little girls can be. That aside, not a lot has changed really. Sue turned 60 in March and the whole year has been a celebration of that event, culminating in a wild Kenyan safari tour with friends that ended with some chill out beach time near Mombasa in September.

So we've not moved house/home, still drive the same cars, work is still for the same employers doing just more of the same. I briefly had a Sym Joyride 200i Evo but moved that on and now have a 2015 Suzuki Inazuma 250cc for the dry, bright and (hopefully) sunny days of spring and summer. One thing I need to do is to get back on here more often and update my Web site.... maybe that's a new year's resolution, maybe.

Where am I now?

My last post is dated 7th November 2017 - so where am I now?

Well, I have been and I am still on FaceBook. I've been busy with work - which means driving, driving and more driving until Coronavirus / Covid-19 came along and stopped the world. I then started a weekly email "Keeping In Touch" which circulates within the members of the Lister House PRG. I was going to post those emails here in the blog but seeing the results using the "traditional" blogger format left a lot to be desired, so then I tried the new version and that was even worse. As a result I have decided to abandon that idea, and I am now searching for a role for this blog and a reason to carry on with it. Perhaps it is time to search out another blog provider because this Google hosted one doesn't offer me anything right now - negatives out weigh any positives (if they exist).