Moto escape France

Seems like a distant memory now, this was back in late September. I had a free week and the weather was good so I jumped on the opportunity to get some riding in.

The original plan was to make it to the Pyrenees and to hit some trails but apropos this I found myself trapped in a bit of a catch 22. I had off road capable tyres fitted for the mountain trails but then I found myself unable to reach those trails because the tyres made covering distance on motorways intolerable. When you're only nudging 30bhp it's quite amazing how sapping some knobblies can be when trying to cruise near your limit. And the noise, that noise! Even ear plugs couldn't drown it out.

No choice then but to go for back road cruising and lessen the ambition regarding distance covered. In the end a good decision as there's not a lot of joy in riding a Himalayan on a motorway. The Dordogne was decided upon as a suitable new target destination.

The first couple of nights I was the sole
occupant of each campsite I stayed in.
This is the municipal camping at St
Fraimbault in Normandy. Both a peach of
a campsite and village.

 

Following the motorway debacle I tracked my way down using secondary roads and trying to zig zag as many national parks as possible. Second night was at another municipal at Mezieres-en-Brenne. The Parc naturel regional de Brenne is a bit different as it is a wetland comprising of hundreds of small lakes and ponds. From Brenne I went through the Parc naturel regional Perigord-Limousin, stopped for lunch in Chalus at a traditional fixed menu place and was surprised to find it run by Brits after rocking up with a bonjour in my best French.

Despite the campsite in Domme being fairly busy I
was able to pitch up right by the river.

On to the Dordogne. A quick google for the most picturesque villages and I settled on Domme. Indeed it is quite stunningly picturesque. The temperature rose to above thirty degrees and suddenly I was in an area popular with 'snow bird' camper vanners from slightly more northerly climes. Totally undestandable given the balmy temperatures, beautiful scenery and high quality camping with pool.

Domme in the Dordogne. Stunning.

Sunrise view from my tent in Domme.

Leaving Domme I decided to follow the Dordogne to the sea as much as possible. It started a good idea with sweet roads and great scenery but I should have probably packed it in a good way before Bordeaux which was traffic hell. I'm sure a beautiful city centre but the ring road was purgatory.

It wasn't great scenery all the way.

It can't be great scenery all the way every day and the ride up to the municipal camping at Pons from Bordeaux proved that point. A functional stop over and everything got better the next day with a shorter ride to Angers on the Loire. The Indian summer was coming to an end and temperatures plummeted somewhat. I still opted for camping and the site at Angers was a lovely walk along the river to the city centre.

Angers.

Next stop was Falaises back in Normandy. I was determined to camp for the last night despite the very strong chill in the air. I rocked up to the municipal camping mid afternoon and was pretty much told to go away by a surly caretaker as the reception was not open for another twenty minutes and no, I could not hang around and wait. To a certain extent a relief as I had a good excuse to book into a cozy hotel, have a hot bath and dry off my dew soaked tent.

A short hop back up to Cherbourg taking in as many coastal roads as possible along the East coast of the peninsula and back to home and reality that same evening. All in the Himalayan was a joy as soon as I made the decision to ditch the motorway route. Never again on off road tyres though!

Royal Enfield Model A

Here's a picture of a humble Model A Royal Enfield. A development of Enfield's long line of 225cc two strokes built for the budget end of the market. This is an early thirties one with sloping cylinder as was the fashion of the time. Note also the pressed blade girder forks.

Royal Enfield Bicycle website

In the last year I've taken on the role of bicycle and industrial engine archivist for the Royal Enfield Owners Club. I'm slowly getting on top of the role and am beginning to catalogue and scan the material. Copies of material in the archive are available for club members as one of the benefits of membership. I've also however created a website for anyone with an interest in the bicycle products of Royal Enfield as an information resource. There's a whole load of RE bicycle brochures there that are in my personal collection available to view on the site as well as help with identifying and dating your Enfield cycle.

 https://royalenfieldbicycles.wordpress.com/

 

 

Royal Enfield Bullet twin tube bicycle

 

Another bicycle project done and dusted... Really must work on those motorised contraptions too but there was good reason to prioritise this one, it's a nice small frame and will be my daughter's ride in the Benson Veteran Cycle Rally this July. She tagged along last year on her modern bike, enjoyed it and stated a desire to take part on an appropriate cycle the next year, so what's a father to do...?

The cycle is a circa 1935 Royal Enfield Bullet which is notable for the twin top tube design and the fact that the tubes are 'up-sloping'. Really it's a style of frame that was most seen in the 1890s. However in the thirties there was a vogue for quirky frame designs and innovation. The Moorson twin tube had come out in 1926 and was well thought of so perhaps Royal Enfield looked at that for inspiration and designed the Bullet frame to be unusual and instantly recognisable.

Royal Enfield bicycles for many years used the
cannon 'Made Like a Gun' logo on their chainwheels.

The twin tube Bullet is a rare beast and though marketed as a top of the range sportster with fixed gearing it is actually not much of a lightweight and the frame angles are quite relaxed. Royal Enfield offered numerous options across their range and the couple of other twin tube Bullets I have seen have both been fitted with Sturmey Archer gearing.

The cycle has been built up from a bare frame that I've had kicking around for a few years. There were clips on the frame for a Sturmey hub so that is what I've fitted with the bonus that they are very nice in use too. Though the frame is very shabby there are the remnants of the original Bullet transfers on the down tube so I've elected to leave it as it is warts and all. At the risk of sounding pretensious I've gone with the Japanese ethos of 'wabi-sabi' - essentially the philosophy of embracing imperfection. There is a rather horrible repair on the rear lower mudguard bridge that is however structurally sound so I've left it completely as it was as part of the cycle's history.

In keeping with the quirky nature of the frame I've tried to put as many period correct oddball parts on the bike as possible and the end result I believe is quite aesthetically pleasing. Aforementioned daughter has taken it for a test ride and reported back that though slightly challenging compared to her 21 speed modern cycle the ride is good and reasonably lively. So now, just need to fill in and send off that form for the Benson Rally...

  

Here's the Bullet from the 1935 catalogue. The twin
tube Bullet was catalogued from just 1934 to 1936.
The same twin tube design frame was used on the 'Club
Lightweight Model 77' which had a very similar spec
but cost £3 less and was built with cheaper tubing.

I was particularly pleased with this eBay
find: the front wheel wingnuts. The wing
shape is really lovely. I have no idea who
made them.

Devil is in the detail. Period correct metal valve cap.

The front hub is a 'Constrictor' item, probably just
post-war and slightly too late for the Bullet but I
always make an effort to use parts I have on the shelf
instead of buying new. The rims used are Dunlop
LA (Light Alloy) and laced up by my local cycle shop.

The Burlite brake is also just post-war
but does really look the part and fits the
bill of being quirky.

Brake levers are Resilion alloy ones and the front
has a security lock (pull it on and turn the key and
the brake locks on).

I hung this little medallion on the handlebars. It is
an advertising giveaway from Royal Enfield and
John Bull tyres commemorating a ride from England
to Lapland and back in 1951.

The flip side of the medallion is the patron saint of
travellers, St Christopher.

This magnificent light is the cherry on top of the
bicycle quirk fest! It is an Ennwell light which I
believe was German made.

The offside rear quarter.

Harmo 'Fearnaught' push button bell. As well as
being slightly odd these Harmo bells work
extraordinarily well. The handlebars are Reynolds,
I'm not 100% sure of the model name but I would
describe them as 'flat lauterwassers'.

Brittanialloy pump.

Though it looks like the twin tubes are in one piece
I believe that the top tubes and seat stays are separate.
They appear to be straight tubes and the bend join is
cast in with the seatpost lug.

Royal Enfield 570cc combination

Here's a factory promotional photo of the Royal Enfield 570cc combination. I believe it dates from 1939. The pressed steel girder forks are quite a distinctive feature, there was a vogue for pressed steel forks through the thirties. Several manufacturers used them on their smaller-engined models but, as far as I know, Enfield were the only ones to use them on their heavyweights.

The 570cc side-valve model was usually known as the Model L, Yesterdays in the Netherlands offered a similar combination a while back and referred to it as a Model H (which I had thought was normally the 500cc sv?) but on the Enfield promotional photo here there is no model designation at all bar 570cc... confusing...

Royal Enfield v twin at the Rahmi Koc Museum

A couple of pictures of the 1921 Royal Enfield 6hp (770cc) Model 180 v twin at the Rami Koc Museum in Istanbul.

If you are ever in Istanbul the museum is excellent and well worth visiting. It is housed in a former Byzantine shipyard, the theme is the history of industry and the collection is eclectic and wide ranging.

Trans European Trail Wales

The same time last year Matt and I rode the Trans European Trail from Dorset to Mid Wales: it was so enjoyable that we came back for more this year. Last year we were both on Royal Enfield Himalayans but this year Matt has moved on and was on an AJP.

Last year's trip:
https://reddevilmotors.blogspot.com/2021/07/himalayan-on-trans-european-trail-pt-1.html 
https://reddevilmotors.blogspot.com/2021/08/himalayan-on-trans-european-trail-pt-2.html 
https://reddevilmotors.blogspot.com/2021/08/himalayan-on-trans-european-trail-pt-3.html

Once again we found ourselves riding in the middle of a heatwave, not as intense as last year and not an altogether bad thing as the normally damp Welsh trails were fairly dry which suited the Himalayan's dual purpose tyres nicely.

The key difference this time was that instead of wild camping we based ourselves at a campsite in Brecon and set out from there each day. The riding was considerably easier without luggage and there was the added bonus of not worrying about weight so much so it was possible to bring along a few more luxuries!

Day 1:

The TET in Wales branches off in several places. For the first day we elected to do half of the Llandovery / Brechfa loop. Some really beautiful routes over mountains and through forestry. A nice mix of easy and occasionally technical trails with a few streams to cross and rocky sections. Somehow it seemed easier than last year, I suspect the lack of luggage as opposed to any increase in rider skills was the root cause.

I had worried that the Himalayan would be far outclassed by the AJP but it took all the abuse thrown at it without complaint. Had the trails been damp I'm sure the standard tyres would throw up some problems but as it was all was good. If you wanted to press on then the AJP would no doubt be the tool of choice but at the sub 15mph speeds we were travelling (this is the speed limit for green lanes for both law and common decency) all was well. 

The camp at Brecon the night before. A beautiful spot.

Many of the TET routes are suspiciously
narrow and seem like little more than
footpaths. You've just got to trust the route
creators and assume that they are all legal.

Himalayan contemplates the route ahead.

And this is riding up the same track.

Mountain top with nowt but sheep for friends.

Trying to drift the Himmy for the camera and largely failing...

Day 2:

Today we started the TET from Llandovery once again and took the route headed North. This route took in the Strata Florida, reputedly the UK's finest green lane route.

The run up to the Strata Florida saw nothing
particularly challenging just some nice
trails and wonderful views.

Just before the Strata Florida when you approach from
the South is the Llyn Brianne reservoir. The road around
it is paved and simply stunning.

This was near the start. The route was just easing us in...

The Strata Florida is noted for multiple river crossings

and a lot of deep puddles. I felt grateful we were riding it

during a dry spell. I can only imagine that it is nearly

impassable during wetter months.

The puddles tended to get deeper and longer as we

went further Northwards.

Yep, getting deeper.

It didn't take long for boots to become fully soaked.

From that point on anything challenging looking I walked

first before riding. After an earlier wetting of the Himmy's

air filter this one seemed a bit too daunting. Matt made it

on the AJP but I elected to try to go around. This particular

puddle was the only one with a, at least slightly, realistic

alternative route. All others just went straight through bogs.

And this was the result of the 'puddle
by-pass'. All the same better than flooding the
bike. When the bike digs into a boggy
rut like this the best tactic is to lay it on
its side and then drag out first front and then
back. Upright it again and carry on.

As the Strata Florida goes further North it gets a

bit dryer but also rockier. The Himmy's sumpguard

earned its keep during this section.

The Strata Florida took us some three hours
to complete. Learning from it is (and yes,
this is pretty obvious) bring along some
snacks just in case you spend longer on it
than expected and also don't forget a first aid
kit. You really will be fairly remote at times.
We finished the day riding past Devil's Bridge
and the Cwmywstwyth lead mind ruins, a
stunning route, and then this sweet easy trail near
Llanidloes to finish the day's TETing before
heading back to Brecon.

A proper shepherds hut.

Day 3:

For our last day it seemed like a good idea to finish off the Llandovery / Brechfa loop.

A nice shorter ride for our last day before heading home. The first part of the day went down much the same as day one. The occasional moderately challenging section interspersed with a lot of great scenery and happy trails and back roads. The end of the day though had a sting in the tail.

Just beautiful. The scenery that is. The bike
is a definite in the eye of the beholder job.

The Himmy's rear brake jammed on
during a particularly steep downhill section
and caused some nervous moments. Turned out
that the lever had bent slightly and in heavily
stamping on it I had managed to get it tangled
with the cat heat guard. An easy fix. When I
got home I took the guard off and trimmed it
down to ensure that the same won't happen again.
My Himmy doesn't have an ABS override, I
had wondered if it would be a problem but in
reality it wasn't much of one at all.

More fell top views...

Another one of those narrow tracks.
This one carried a warning on the TET
map as being prickly.

And indeed it was.

And this is where self inflicted disaster struck. I think hubris is the appropriate word. Really I know that I should have walked this track before riding it but cockiness took over having managed everything that was thrown at us thus far. To cut a long story short a very steep muddy and rocky track lead down to a stream. All OK so far. The snag came when there was a felled tree on the way up at the other side. Nothing to do but retrace tracks, except it was way too steep to make it back up... To be fair to the TET I don't think this trail was even on the route. Matt was on navigational duties having invested in a Quadlock to hold his phone. Only snag was that he had downloaded the route a couple of weeks previously. I downloaded it on to my phone just a day before leaving and the route had changed. Moral of the story is to regularly update the route on your navigational device and do navigation as a team without being a lazy sod and leaving it all to your mate! (yes, and also really don't ride headlong down a steep trail without knowing what awaits the other side...).

It's hard to get perspective on how steep a track is in a picture. Suffice to say this one was very steep. It was also rocky, rutted and muddy. We managed to edge the Himmy up a little with a lot of wheel spin and clutch slip - I'm amazed the clutch didn't burn out, quite a testament to the bike for it took a lot of abuse. There came a point at which it needed a lot of manhandling. Unfortunately Matt slipped over and landed on his coccyx so was very much out of action for lifting duties. Hmmm... this is where we really rued our lack of first aid kit... 

A lot of tipping over, dragging and exasperation followed. We were close to giving up and walking to the closest farm to see if we could muster some kind of help. It really did look like we might have to abandon the bike down there for a while. In the end after much digging of the track, moving of rocks and physically dragging the Himmy up the slope on its side inch by inch we hit slightly easier going. At this point we discovered that the Himmy was happier going up without a 90kg rider so I walked alongside it. It was obviously tired of me and the abuse I had metered out over the previous three days. All in about two hours from bottom to top (about two hundred metres). Next though was to get the AJP up. We kind of expected it would sail up. But no. Granted it was a lot easier than the Himmy but it weighs about half as much. The walking alongside technique didn't work with the AJP and it liked my full weight right over the rear wheel (Matt was out of action for off roading due to his coccyx).

Back at the campsite in Brecon and ready for home.

Despite being dragged sideways up a rocky slope the Himmy sustained no damage, not really even a scratch. I'm constantly amazed at its capability when pushed combined with its ability to then ride home at 70 fuss free on the motorway. Learning from this incident though was that it would be very handy to carry a block and rope or ratchet strap to winch out of problems. Also I guess I should add, don't get cocky and walk the tough looking sections first, especially if they are going downhill. The very minimum should be let one person go first. Imagine if we had been a group of Himmys all following like lemmings and had ended up with five or six unextractable bikes at the bottom of the valley.... 

The TET is time consuming and there's plently left uncovered for us in Wales, both further West and North so hopefully we'll be back next year for another dose.

Royal enfield v twin combination

Here's a gorgeous Royal Enfield combination. It's a Model 180 v twin from 1926 or '27. A very impressive machine in either solo or sidecar form, lithe by the standards of many big twins of the time and with Enfield's excellent eight inch brakes front and rear. Really just about the perfect quintessential flat tank v twin and now highly sought after. Personally I'd love one...

What on earth is that over-inflated inner tube about though? 'The Charli Onion', is that what it says? The story behind it is surely lost in the mists of time.

Royal Enfield Model 180 combination.

Round the World Royal Enfields back in 1972

 It's not often you'll find a post on this site giving no more than a link but I've got to share this one.

Subhash Sharma has written the story of his round the world trip with three buddies and two Royal Enfield Bullets back in 1972. It's a great, warm hearted story of adventure and is well worth reading.

https://www.madornomad.com/the-first-indians-to-motorcycle-round-the-world/

Moto Legendes Montlhery 1999

I was digging through some old pictures recently and came across these two. From memory it was back in 1999 when the Moto Legendes event was still being held at the Montlhery Autodrome near Paris, before it moved to Dijon Prennois.

My father and I rode down from Cherbourg, stayed at the circuit for a couple of days and then rode home again, all in glorious weather. I was riding my '58 350cc Bullet that I had ridden back home from India a year or so previously and my father his '56 Velocette Venom. We both still have both bikes, the Venom is on the road, though, to my shame, the Bullet has been garage bound for quite a few years. I rebuilt the motor after a big end fail but got the crank alignment slightly out and it vibrated slightly too much. I lost heart with it and tucked it away and forgot about it for too long. Hopefully it's going to be resurrected soon.

On the way to Montlhery with '58 Royal Enfield
and '56 Velocette. Though the Velocette is nominally
a lot quicker bike for touring they were quite well matched.

And camping inside the Autodrome at Montlhery.

Dragon Rally 2022

Some pics and a brief write up of last weekends' ride up to the Dragon Rally in Snowdonia. If you can't be bothered to read on and just want to look at pictures, here's a quick summary: it was very wet.

In the run up to the weekend I had been considering getting my Velocette ready for the ride but in the end (and fortuitously as it turned out) lethargy prevailed and I took the easy option with the Enfield Himalayan.

I got on the road just after nine, heading up to Rhayader to meet Matt and Gary for lunch. Normally mid-Wales would be an overnight hotel stop to break the journey however this year we had a more ambitious plan to take in the Bruce Pollard Memorial Rally near Betws-y-Coed on the Friday Night.

A fly by from Matt and Gary with Matt's faithful Beesa

A10 combo.

The journey on from Rhayader was marked by cold and wet weather (we hadn't expected much different though had dared to hope to stay dry) along with fantastic scenery. By the time we arrived in Snowdonia we were well and truly finished with riding for the day. A stop for food in Blaenau Ffestiniog revealed that we had another hour to go, that was somewhat dispiriting!

We arrived at the Bruce Pollard site east of Betws-y-Coed a good while after dark and seemed to be the very last to arrive (apart from Phil who turned up significantly later!) A really nice friendly rally with a warm pub to relax in (though I was was worn out from the ride up and retired to my tent early). Some vicious winds and rain overnight but we all survived and were revived by a fry-up in the pub.

To know who Bruce Pollard was take a look at this article.

Nicely modified Enfield Bullet at the Bruce Pollard.

Kudos to the chap who turned up on this BSA M20
with correct military luggage, etc.

A damp Phil doing the morning pack down.

The Bruce Pollard rally field.

We were about the last to leave the Bruce Pollard when we headed off for Conwy to the Conwy MCC clubhouse at the base of Conwy Castle for the Dragon Rally check in. Always a great atmosphere there and the weather was clearing up nicely. There we met up with Dan and Wendy with Dan's Ural M72 combo. At this point Dan memorably declared that it looked like the rain was over for the day.

Having checked in, off we headed for the rally site... Soon after leaving Conwy the rain started and as we approached Betws-y-Coed we began to see rather a lot of bikes heading in the opposite direction, many of them familiar faces from the Bruce Pollard and wearing check in stickers. None-the-less we continued, as we gained altitude so the weather became yet more inclement and by the time we got to Capel Curig the rain was coming down in the proverbial sheets. As we crossed the pass to the rally site at Llyn Gwynant conditions were almost comically awful with streams running across the road and winds blowing us off course.

Many brave souls stayed but the prospect of putting up already wet tents in a bog with high winds, rain and worse weather forecast to come with no real shelter to be had we wimped out and made the decision to head back to our respective homes.

It was a bit of a downer to leave but the perceived misery of staying seemed so much the greater and the decision was unanimous. No grumbles though, it's a winter rally and if you set off to camp in the middle of February in the mountains you've got to expect inclement weather and harsh conditions. You make your choice and either put up with it or head home. And this time head home was what we did. With darkness approaching and a long solo ride in the rain ahead of me I took the decision not to ride back down through the twisty roads of Wales but to head out to England on the A5 and sit on the motorway for the journey. The Himalayan behaved itself perfectly on the motorways despite being out of its element and we made it home in around six hours.

Put off? No! Disappointed? Slightly. But in the end a fabulous weekend of riding was had in the company of good friends plus one winter rally was successfully attended. So, all in, not too shabby at all. Hopefully back to the Dragon again next year or the year after and wouldn't it be wonderful to have some good old fashioned ice and snow.

Loved this BSA A10 combo at the checkpoint.

Weird and wonderful chair on the A10
kind of looks like it has been stolen from
a fair ground ride!

My loaded up Himalayan next to Phil's
Kawasaki GPZ.

All sorts turn up to the Dragon.

A little video clip of the conditions at Llyn Gwynant.
The site is in the mountains at the top end of a lake.
Wind was whistling up between the mountains and
blowing waves up the lake towards the campsite.
Proper challenging conditions. Video taken from the
shelter of the toilet block and cooking area.

And a still of the site.

Last of all this lovely Brough Superior
SS80 from 1926 at a petrol station in
Betws-y-Coed. Great to see it used properly.
It had come over from Nottingham.