Now that the dust has settled and we are all getting on with life after the MadMopeddy, (is there really life after the Challenge?) I would like to thank all of those who have made donations via Pete's and Ken's links on the blog, to those who took the trouble to visit us on the journey and make donations, to the people who have sent donations directly to me and/or the others, and to those who still have collecting tins in place. I am uncertain of the final totals yet as we are keeping the "tins open" for a few weeks yet.
However having said that the known number of contributors from RC land and from this board is still very small. If everybody posting on here sent £5 it would greatly increase the size of the fund. If every non-posting visitor, watcher or lurker were to contribute £5 then we would be able to contribute thousands of pounds to H4H.
The Mad Moped Challenge was intended as a fund raising event, and it gave pleasure and entertainment to everybody I believe, so can I ask you all to dig deep and show your appreciation of the effort of Team RC, and all of the other teams. Please be as generous as you can, and more generous than normal.
Tuesday 5 April 2011
Monday 4 April 2011
TeamSteve H4Htrip in Words
This just in from Steve:
TeamSteve left Derby on Tuesday morning and journyed Northwestward in what can only be described as "ordinary" weather. We passed a large military vehicle on the M6, and a tea stop at the motorway services saw it join us. SteveB was in the pasenger seat like a rat up a drainpipe, interviewing the driver as best he could through the Liverpool accent he found himself confronted with.
Moving along, we decided to lunch in Morcambe as this was the nearest we would be to the sea on this trip. We saw a lot of beach, but not much sea, then rolled along the route that we hoped to ride the next day but in reverse direction.
Arriving in Keswick, we booked into the YHA not long before the mopedders began to arrive. We had heard snippets of the problems with our Chinese mount, and now had a chance to join in the stripdown. The more pieces that were removed, the more it became obvious that the engine was not turning over.
Having removed the cylinder head, we could see evidence of something impacting the head, and then noticed that the "something" was a needle roller nestling at the end of the bore. Craig, our volunteer mechanic for the week, had a little difficulty removing the cylinder. The reason soon became obvious. There was a broken off chunk of piston ring sticking out. The little end had imploded, and we only found 3 rollers, so the verdict had to be that our moped was beyond any help without spare parts being obtained. TeamSteve was now in limbo, and relying on the interweb to come up with help.
We could either worry about it or go to the pub.... no contest. R K Ick joined us, and we explained the meaning of our RealClassic monikers to each other (I admitted that I'd never read his properly, he thought I was a country bumpkin). A fine meal and some fine beer, including Jenning's Sneck Lifter ( a good half hour was wasted discussing the meaning of this peculiar name) later, we welcomed a couple of the other riders to our table.
At some stage one of the guys, Tristan, casualy mentioned that he had a spare moped that we might wish to ride the next day. I seized the moment and grilled him further before shaking hands on the deal. And so we retired for the night leaving Ken in the safe hands of the C90 stunt team and some dodgy photos of their escapades.
Wendesday morning dawned grey and damp, so SteveB nominated me to ride the early stint. After breakfasting in style at the YHA restaurant, we fitted our Hippo Hands to the Honda Zoomer we were to ride, and I test rode it up the street and back. What a super little machine! Shortly after, I set off 3rd in line of our party of 5. The weather had closed in, so it was disappointimg to be in such a beautiful part of our country with no view to speak of. However, the elation of actualy being able to fulfill my part of the charity ride more than made up for it.
Before long, we arrived at the garden centre for our tea stop, there to be joined by Malcolm (Pathfinder) on his Enfield. The staff had reserved us two big tables in the middle of the cafe, and it seemed that most of us had a big sticky cake to help sustain us.
Malcolm helped us get through Lancaster, then we battled our way through the outskirts of Preston. An interesting interlude was provide by a female driver of a VW Beetle who took exception to Fiona's headlights on the red Zoomer. So excited was she, that she reverted to Anglo Saxon to converse with John, our esteemed leader. She seemeed to think that he was overweight and of doubtful parentage (with a few choice F words added) How she could deuce that from driving alongside him I don't know. Maybe she has a sister called Sarah who works in Morcambe.
A planned lunch stop at a good looking canalside pub went awry. The pub had closed for refurbishment 4 weeks previously. Backtracking to the main road, we were welcomed to the pub where we turned off to the other pub. Although they could only provide sandwiches, it was all very pleasant. Being around halfway on our trip, it was time for SteveB to ride the Zoomer and me to drive his van.
This gave me chance to leapfrog whenever possible, and get some action photos along the way. The final stop for the 'pedders was another traffic calming exercise (dropping in to a layby to allow the following convoy to pass). So I nipped on ahead to the Travelodge at Shrewsbury where I knew MadMike was waiting. The NVT was already there and being mollycoddled, which was nice to see. Ten minutes later, and the gang rolled in and introductions were made.
MadMike proceded to remove any valuable items from the Dead-Ped.. valve caps, plastic number plate screws etc etc, whilst Craig flashed his spanners at the Peugeot. This needed a new shock absorber, an item collected by Craig and our Ken earlier in the day. The Mighty Gusset and Hazel dropped by, then all too soon TeamSteve had to depart.
I really enjoyed my couple of days, made some new friends, put faces to internet names, and hopefully did some good.
Thanks go to everyone involved with the organisation of this ride and, hugely, to John Tristan and Fiona for trusting us with their baby.
In case you've not seen the photo's, they're here:
http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn104/mrrealtreat/H4H%202011/?albumview=slideshow
TeamSteve left Derby on Tuesday morning and journyed Northwestward in what can only be described as "ordinary" weather. We passed a large military vehicle on the M6, and a tea stop at the motorway services saw it join us. SteveB was in the pasenger seat like a rat up a drainpipe, interviewing the driver as best he could through the Liverpool accent he found himself confronted with.
Moving along, we decided to lunch in Morcambe as this was the nearest we would be to the sea on this trip. We saw a lot of beach, but not much sea, then rolled along the route that we hoped to ride the next day but in reverse direction.
Arriving in Keswick, we booked into the YHA not long before the mopedders began to arrive. We had heard snippets of the problems with our Chinese mount, and now had a chance to join in the stripdown. The more pieces that were removed, the more it became obvious that the engine was not turning over.
Having removed the cylinder head, we could see evidence of something impacting the head, and then noticed that the "something" was a needle roller nestling at the end of the bore. Craig, our volunteer mechanic for the week, had a little difficulty removing the cylinder. The reason soon became obvious. There was a broken off chunk of piston ring sticking out. The little end had imploded, and we only found 3 rollers, so the verdict had to be that our moped was beyond any help without spare parts being obtained. TeamSteve was now in limbo, and relying on the interweb to come up with help.
We could either worry about it or go to the pub.... no contest. R K Ick joined us, and we explained the meaning of our RealClassic monikers to each other (I admitted that I'd never read his properly, he thought I was a country bumpkin). A fine meal and some fine beer, including Jenning's Sneck Lifter ( a good half hour was wasted discussing the meaning of this peculiar name) later, we welcomed a couple of the other riders to our table.
At some stage one of the guys, Tristan, casualy mentioned that he had a spare moped that we might wish to ride the next day. I seized the moment and grilled him further before shaking hands on the deal. And so we retired for the night leaving Ken in the safe hands of the C90 stunt team and some dodgy photos of their escapades.
Wendesday morning dawned grey and damp, so SteveB nominated me to ride the early stint. After breakfasting in style at the YHA restaurant, we fitted our Hippo Hands to the Honda Zoomer we were to ride, and I test rode it up the street and back. What a super little machine! Shortly after, I set off 3rd in line of our party of 5. The weather had closed in, so it was disappointimg to be in such a beautiful part of our country with no view to speak of. However, the elation of actualy being able to fulfill my part of the charity ride more than made up for it.
Before long, we arrived at the garden centre for our tea stop, there to be joined by Malcolm (Pathfinder) on his Enfield. The staff had reserved us two big tables in the middle of the cafe, and it seemed that most of us had a big sticky cake to help sustain us.
Malcolm helped us get through Lancaster, then we battled our way through the outskirts of Preston. An interesting interlude was provide by a female driver of a VW Beetle who took exception to Fiona's headlights on the red Zoomer. So excited was she, that she reverted to Anglo Saxon to converse with John, our esteemed leader. She seemeed to think that he was overweight and of doubtful parentage (with a few choice F words added) How she could deuce that from driving alongside him I don't know. Maybe she has a sister called Sarah who works in Morcambe.
A planned lunch stop at a good looking canalside pub went awry. The pub had closed for refurbishment 4 weeks previously. Backtracking to the main road, we were welcomed to the pub where we turned off to the other pub. Although they could only provide sandwiches, it was all very pleasant. Being around halfway on our trip, it was time for SteveB to ride the Zoomer and me to drive his van.
This gave me chance to leapfrog whenever possible, and get some action photos along the way. The final stop for the 'pedders was another traffic calming exercise (dropping in to a layby to allow the following convoy to pass). So I nipped on ahead to the Travelodge at Shrewsbury where I knew MadMike was waiting. The NVT was already there and being mollycoddled, which was nice to see. Ten minutes later, and the gang rolled in and introductions were made.
MadMike proceded to remove any valuable items from the Dead-Ped.. valve caps, plastic number plate screws etc etc, whilst Craig flashed his spanners at the Peugeot. This needed a new shock absorber, an item collected by Craig and our Ken earlier in the day. The Mighty Gusset and Hazel dropped by, then all too soon TeamSteve had to depart.
I really enjoyed my couple of days, made some new friends, put faces to internet names, and hopefully did some good.
Thanks go to everyone involved with the organisation of this ride and, hugely, to John Tristan and Fiona for trusting us with their baby.
In case you've not seen the photo's, they're here:
http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn104/mrrealtreat/H4H%202011/?albumview=slideshow
H4H. Home at last
This just in from MadMike:
Well the ride finished yesterday at Lands End as you all know.
Our brave little Mopeedything died but its spirit lives on.
Thanks to the kindness and generosity of the Zoomer team I was able to ride on Thursday as planned. I rode from Shrewsbury to to Bristol where we met the NVT Easy Rider with the Real Norman Hyde as rider.
Ken the rode from Bristol to Glastonbury on the same Honda Zoomer thing.
Yesterday they rode Zoomers and so we travelled in the support vehicle.
There were a number of "stars" on the ride. The NVT was the real star. The Bristol Boys for their sheer excitement and energy, they went fishing on Loch Lomond in the nude, rode through drainage gulleys in grass verges, and one even rode into Lands End naked.....well apart from a toilet roll middle and some gaffer tape to protect the parts that all beers eventually reach, and Glen a young chap who rode the whole distance on his Cub and who really impressed everybody with his determination. Sa, John the organisers son, who only has a CBT and rode with L plates and dayglo pink hair and says he never wants to hear another ringy dingy ding two stroke again. Then there was Craig, a young man who started up a motorcycle repair and spares business about a year ago, who contributed a whole week of his time to be a travelling mechanic and van driver. He was very kind and generous to us all and if anybody in the North East wants bike repairs done he is your man.
I haven't forgotten our own team members incidentally so here goes: -
Pete Sykes who rode 2 days through the Highlands of Scotland. Ken Rawlinson who rode in Scotland and was unfortunate enough to be the rider who was on board when the brave little mopeddy had its termional heart attack. Steve Burton (SteveB) and Steve Adcock (Dohboy) who had their own adventures as you have seen on the way to Keswick. Both were faced with no riding after the "break down" but the generosity of the Honda Zoomer team, John, Tristran and Fiona, in loaning their second bike allowed them, me and Ken to ensure that our team rode every day except the very last one. Ken for all his help to everybody and especially for putting up with my leg pulling for "murdering" the mopeddy. I was only joking Ken........honest I was. Also Ken for his passion about the event and the sheer hard work that he has put into fund raising.......Thank you Ken.
Thanks also to Will, DaveC, Pathfinder and NVNL for coming to visit us during our adventure. Board members The Nighty Gusset (sorry that should be Mighty.......man fingers/keyboards etc etc) and Hazel. They not only came to visit us at Shrewsbury but kindly offered to take the mopeddy to their place in Telford to try and repair/ sell for charity/raffle or otherwise dispose of the remains. Gus can you take off some parts like piston etc so that I can send souvenirs to the team, please. He was proposing to sell raffle tickets for £1 each with the mopeddy as the first and only prize, with all proceeds to go to the H4H collection. So please order your raffle tickets.
Special thanks also must go to John and Cindy Morris who proposed the ride, reconnoitered the entire route, booked accommodation and navigated and rode the journey with us.
John Young also deserves our thanks for keeping us up to date with events......I was in the pub you see.
This was a truly Mad Challenge, which was accepted and undertaken by whole bunch of brave and adventurous people. Please, if you haven't donated, please do so. The people who rose to the Challenge deserve your thanks and that can best be given by making those donations.
It has been a real privilege to have taken part in this event and to have met such a wonderful, kind and generous bunch of people.
One last thing Ken has a limited number of Mad Moped Challenge lapel badges. They are £2 each please buy them from him in aid of H4H. John Young has bought 30 (he actually ordered 25 but I think he needs more......don't you John?)
Here endeth todays lesson as they say. I shall post more over the next day or so. Now it is time for curry and then just for a change I shall go to the pub.
Well the ride finished yesterday at Lands End as you all know.
Our brave little Mopeedything died but its spirit lives on.
Thanks to the kindness and generosity of the Zoomer team I was able to ride on Thursday as planned. I rode from Shrewsbury to to Bristol where we met the NVT Easy Rider with the Real Norman Hyde as rider.
Ken the rode from Bristol to Glastonbury on the same Honda Zoomer thing.
Yesterday they rode Zoomers and so we travelled in the support vehicle.
There were a number of "stars" on the ride. The NVT was the real star. The Bristol Boys for their sheer excitement and energy, they went fishing on Loch Lomond in the nude, rode through drainage gulleys in grass verges, and one even rode into Lands End naked.....well apart from a toilet roll middle and some gaffer tape to protect the parts that all beers eventually reach, and Glen a young chap who rode the whole distance on his Cub and who really impressed everybody with his determination. Sa, John the organisers son, who only has a CBT and rode with L plates and dayglo pink hair and says he never wants to hear another ringy dingy ding two stroke again. Then there was Craig, a young man who started up a motorcycle repair and spares business about a year ago, who contributed a whole week of his time to be a travelling mechanic and van driver. He was very kind and generous to us all and if anybody in the North East wants bike repairs done he is your man.
I haven't forgotten our own team members incidentally so here goes: -
Pete Sykes who rode 2 days through the Highlands of Scotland. Ken Rawlinson who rode in Scotland and was unfortunate enough to be the rider who was on board when the brave little mopeddy had its termional heart attack. Steve Burton (SteveB) and Steve Adcock (Dohboy) who had their own adventures as you have seen on the way to Keswick. Both were faced with no riding after the "break down" but the generosity of the Honda Zoomer team, John, Tristran and Fiona, in loaning their second bike allowed them, me and Ken to ensure that our team rode every day except the very last one. Ken for all his help to everybody and especially for putting up with my leg pulling for "murdering" the mopeddy. I was only joking Ken........honest I was. Also Ken for his passion about the event and the sheer hard work that he has put into fund raising.......Thank you Ken.
Thanks also to Will, DaveC, Pathfinder and NVNL for coming to visit us during our adventure. Board members The Nighty Gusset (sorry that should be Mighty.......man fingers/keyboards etc etc) and Hazel. They not only came to visit us at Shrewsbury but kindly offered to take the mopeddy to their place in Telford to try and repair/ sell for charity/raffle or otherwise dispose of the remains. Gus can you take off some parts like piston etc so that I can send souvenirs to the team, please. He was proposing to sell raffle tickets for £1 each with the mopeddy as the first and only prize, with all proceeds to go to the H4H collection. So please order your raffle tickets.
Special thanks also must go to John and Cindy Morris who proposed the ride, reconnoitered the entire route, booked accommodation and navigated and rode the journey with us.
John Young also deserves our thanks for keeping us up to date with events......I was in the pub you see.
This was a truly Mad Challenge, which was accepted and undertaken by whole bunch of brave and adventurous people. Please, if you haven't donated, please do so. The people who rose to the Challenge deserve your thanks and that can best be given by making those donations.
It has been a real privilege to have taken part in this event and to have met such a wonderful, kind and generous bunch of people.
One last thing Ken has a limited number of Mad Moped Challenge lapel badges. They are £2 each please buy them from him in aid of H4H. John Young has bought 30 (he actually ordered 25 but I think he needs more......don't you John?)
Here endeth todays lesson as they say. I shall post more over the next day or so. Now it is time for curry and then just for a change I shall go to the pub.
Wednesday 30 March 2011
The TR3OC NVT...
With the unfortunate demise of the RealClassic Moped (hopefully you'll be able to get another machine by tonight), the TR3OC NVT is now the sole remaining "British" interest in this run.
If you would like to follow this little bikes amazing adventures day by day , you can do so on by visiting :
http://tr3oc.co.uk/?page_id=526
If you would like to follow this little bikes amazing adventures day by day , you can do so on by visiting :
http://tr3oc.co.uk/?page_id=526
Tuesday 29 March 2011
Obituary
It is with great sadness that I must inform the great RC Family that our brave little mopeddy suffered a terminal case of a heart attack to its gudgeony area today. Lots of little rollers have infected the internal workings of its gallant little engine and caused terminal damage.
Two and a half days of heavy load and flat out running just proved too much for the poor little thing.....RIP Mopeddy.
Now if anybody can lend us a moped or a stepthrough which could be available say tomorrow night in Shrewsbury we could carry on. This is a plea from the heart after much hard work by the riders over the last couple of days. It would be a shame not to be able to arrive at the finish line. So can anybody lend the RC team a bike. There must be one available out there somewhere. Contact MadMike via the RealClassic.co.uk message board...
Two and a half days of heavy load and flat out running just proved too much for the poor little thing.....RIP Mopeddy.
Now if anybody can lend us a moped or a stepthrough which could be available say tomorrow night in Shrewsbury we could carry on. This is a plea from the heart after much hard work by the riders over the last couple of days. It would be a shame not to be able to arrive at the finish line. So can anybody lend the RC team a bike. There must be one available out there somewhere. Contact MadMike via the RealClassic.co.uk message board...
Day One and Two: From the Saddle
[This just in from Pete]
Days one and two
I was there.
The challenge started for Ken at 5:30 on Saturday as the car left Kent. For the bike it started 4 hrs later as it left Leicester and for me about 2:30 as I was picked up in Edinburgh. Its still 300 miles to JoG and the motorway runs out past Perth. The car arrived in Wick about 8:30 and the van with the bikes a couple of hours later. We had a long ride the next day and an early start so we sat in the bar for an hour or two. The lads from Bristol went out on the town – but as the town was Wick they were back before the clocks changed.
The following morning saw the bikes getting assembled in the car park at JoG. The tardis ( what else can you call it) had 4 running C90s and a spare one in it plus a settee, tents and a small boat. John Morris’s van had our mighty machine two 100 cc scooters and another Cub. Add the NVT Easy Rider and a couple of Honda Zoomers and you have the fleet. A few wheelies round the carpark, photos by the harbour with either Orkney or the derelict JoG hotel in the background followed by some general faffing about later and we were ready for the off. John decreed that the big scooters go first, the Cubs second and the two 50cc weedy bikes last, followed by the van. A couple minute later the weedy bikes zoomed off figuring that setting off first and being overtaken was preferable to waiting in the cold drizzle to be last.
The mighty machine is a JianLing Skywing 50cc moped. Its been modified by Mike with the addition of Hippo hands, a back pack full of tools on the pillion, Norton footrests and Norton badges. We had already removed the back pack so it could travel in the van. It wasn’t just to reduce weight as Ken was sitting on the pillion seat in order to fit his legs on the bike. More bits were taken off a time went by, The bike was made in December 2002 according to the plate on the headstock. It was acquired in Feb 2011 fresh from the crate and Mike said he’d run it in. As we set off I realised that 10% of its mileage had been put on it whizzing round the car park. 10km on the clock as we left. Its has a strange transmission: a centrifugal clutch by the engine drives a gearbox on the back wheel via a rubber band. A lever on the rear hub engages drive (not always reliably) If it has a variator, I never saw it or detected it doing much. Direct lighting means no battery, and no lights either to be honest. The photons kind of limp out the headlight and fall to the floor a few inches in front of the wheel. It really is rather basic.
I reckoned having seen the fleet I’d be slowest but was soon proved wrong as I whizzed past the Easy Rider. I ignored the fuel stop a few miles later as the tank was already full and kept pressing on. Caithness is quite flat, quite bleak really so the bike was willing to get to a heady indicated 50 km/h on the flat. Headwinds knocked that down a bit. The Easy Rider was maxing out at 20 imperial mph but he later found a second gear he didn’t know he had and things improved. At one point a small deep read weasel ran out in front of me, saw the bike, ran alongside me for a few seconds and back into the verge. Yes that’s how fast it was.
About 90 minutes later the bike came to a halt. Started again briefly and stopped within ½ mile. I waited for the van. The rest of the fleet sailed past and I got refuelled. We were a bit worried about that as it’s a 4 litre tank and we were doing under 40 miles to a tank. The locking fuel filler was also a problem as we had no key, but as it didn’t work that wasn’t (yet) a real issue.
Riding position is variable. I experimented with conventional, feet on the pegs. OK but I find I’m sitting on the metal bar between the saddle and pillion seat. Slide forward and rest the back of calves on the pegs. OK but the bike, who’s stability is questionable at the best of times, feels worse. Heels hooked on the pillion pegs by the back axle is 2mph quicker but my head is so far forward I can’t see the mirrors and when the traffic behind is twice your speed that’s important. Stability goes too.
The first coffee stop was at the Bay Owl Inn near Dunbeath. Not only did they organise a photographer but they had also done a bit of fund raising and handed over £650. Amazingly generous.
Onwards to Evanton and the Store House restaurant. Now I may have said Caithness is flat. Well Sutherland isn’t and the coast road has 13% hills and hairpins. The mighty machine slowed to 20 kph uphill. About the same as the Easy Rider’s 13mph.
After lunch, Ken took over for the ride past Beauly to Drumnadrochit and down to Fort Augustus. Plenty of ups and steep downs and from the van we could see he was really wishing he was on a real Norton. In Drumnadrochit we removed the Hippo hands. Ken wasn’t keen on them and I was happier without them so they are in the van too.
Into Fort Augustus and the C90 boys from Bristol loaded up the bikes with tents, wood for a fire, food to cook on it, and small inflatable boat to go fishing with the next morning. They left the settee in the van.
The rest of us went to the pub but managed to spend so long drinking that the pubs had stopped doing food. Never mind, Beer’s quite nutritious isn’t it.
Day two and its gloomy and overcast. John is winding us up about the awesome Glencoe hills (They are awesome, but the road isn’t so bad) Off to Fort William and the bike is getting more lively. Running in or wearing out, your guess is as good as mine. More fund raising in McDonalds in Fort Bill (I would have gone to Nevisport myself but I’m not running this) and off to Glencoe. The NVT guys are just blasting on. No stops apart from rider changes. I’d been with them for the Great Glen but didn’t see them again until the end of the day. The bile climbs outof GlenCoe and heady 40 - 45kph or 25 -27 mph to you. Stops at The Kinghouse and at the Green Welly then Ken took over again. The bike’s now quicker and the road down to Loch Lomond is a good one. The sun is out too. Past Tarbert and its wider busier and faster, so not so much fun on a moped.
We have also worked out that although the tank is 4l. It only takes 2l before the petrol filler spurts so although we are filling up every 60 km, its never more than 2l and usually less ( yes we have bought a jug) We have however broken the locking fuel cap as the dammed thing worked and locked. Nothing a strap wrench can’t open though. The locking bit is now lying by the side of the road and the cap reassembled with the assistance of a small hammer
The last stop was at Luss and that’s where we saw the bike dribbling petrol. The Norton footrests are bolted to the tank mounts and its created a leak where the mount is welded to the tank. Gummed up at present but no doubts things will develop.
I hopped off home on the train earlier this evening leaving Ken to ride tomorrow and Mike, Steve, Steve and Ron to complete the trip. I’ve done 200 miles on a moped in the last two days. My next ride will be a bit quicker.
I hear after Mike has ridden the bike home from Penzance that it'll be shown various places and flogged sometime later. If you can get a go on it, do so. Its fun .... in moderation.
I’ll post some pictures soon. Give me a chance to download the camera.
Meanwhile you know why we are doing this. Click on of the links at the top of the page
Days one and two
I was there.
The challenge started for Ken at 5:30 on Saturday as the car left Kent. For the bike it started 4 hrs later as it left Leicester and for me about 2:30 as I was picked up in Edinburgh. Its still 300 miles to JoG and the motorway runs out past Perth. The car arrived in Wick about 8:30 and the van with the bikes a couple of hours later. We had a long ride the next day and an early start so we sat in the bar for an hour or two. The lads from Bristol went out on the town – but as the town was Wick they were back before the clocks changed.
The following morning saw the bikes getting assembled in the car park at JoG. The tardis ( what else can you call it) had 4 running C90s and a spare one in it plus a settee, tents and a small boat. John Morris’s van had our mighty machine two 100 cc scooters and another Cub. Add the NVT Easy Rider and a couple of Honda Zoomers and you have the fleet. A few wheelies round the carpark, photos by the harbour with either Orkney or the derelict JoG hotel in the background followed by some general faffing about later and we were ready for the off. John decreed that the big scooters go first, the Cubs second and the two 50cc weedy bikes last, followed by the van. A couple minute later the weedy bikes zoomed off figuring that setting off first and being overtaken was preferable to waiting in the cold drizzle to be last.
The mighty machine is a JianLing Skywing 50cc moped. Its been modified by Mike with the addition of Hippo hands, a back pack full of tools on the pillion, Norton footrests and Norton badges. We had already removed the back pack so it could travel in the van. It wasn’t just to reduce weight as Ken was sitting on the pillion seat in order to fit his legs on the bike. More bits were taken off a time went by, The bike was made in December 2002 according to the plate on the headstock. It was acquired in Feb 2011 fresh from the crate and Mike said he’d run it in. As we set off I realised that 10% of its mileage had been put on it whizzing round the car park. 10km on the clock as we left. Its has a strange transmission: a centrifugal clutch by the engine drives a gearbox on the back wheel via a rubber band. A lever on the rear hub engages drive (not always reliably) If it has a variator, I never saw it or detected it doing much. Direct lighting means no battery, and no lights either to be honest. The photons kind of limp out the headlight and fall to the floor a few inches in front of the wheel. It really is rather basic.
I reckoned having seen the fleet I’d be slowest but was soon proved wrong as I whizzed past the Easy Rider. I ignored the fuel stop a few miles later as the tank was already full and kept pressing on. Caithness is quite flat, quite bleak really so the bike was willing to get to a heady indicated 50 km/h on the flat. Headwinds knocked that down a bit. The Easy Rider was maxing out at 20 imperial mph but he later found a second gear he didn’t know he had and things improved. At one point a small deep read weasel ran out in front of me, saw the bike, ran alongside me for a few seconds and back into the verge. Yes that’s how fast it was.
About 90 minutes later the bike came to a halt. Started again briefly and stopped within ½ mile. I waited for the van. The rest of the fleet sailed past and I got refuelled. We were a bit worried about that as it’s a 4 litre tank and we were doing under 40 miles to a tank. The locking fuel filler was also a problem as we had no key, but as it didn’t work that wasn’t (yet) a real issue.
Riding position is variable. I experimented with conventional, feet on the pegs. OK but I find I’m sitting on the metal bar between the saddle and pillion seat. Slide forward and rest the back of calves on the pegs. OK but the bike, who’s stability is questionable at the best of times, feels worse. Heels hooked on the pillion pegs by the back axle is 2mph quicker but my head is so far forward I can’t see the mirrors and when the traffic behind is twice your speed that’s important. Stability goes too.
The first coffee stop was at the Bay Owl Inn near Dunbeath. Not only did they organise a photographer but they had also done a bit of fund raising and handed over £650. Amazingly generous.
Onwards to Evanton and the Store House restaurant. Now I may have said Caithness is flat. Well Sutherland isn’t and the coast road has 13% hills and hairpins. The mighty machine slowed to 20 kph uphill. About the same as the Easy Rider’s 13mph.
After lunch, Ken took over for the ride past Beauly to Drumnadrochit and down to Fort Augustus. Plenty of ups and steep downs and from the van we could see he was really wishing he was on a real Norton. In Drumnadrochit we removed the Hippo hands. Ken wasn’t keen on them and I was happier without them so they are in the van too.
Into Fort Augustus and the C90 boys from Bristol loaded up the bikes with tents, wood for a fire, food to cook on it, and small inflatable boat to go fishing with the next morning. They left the settee in the van.
The rest of us went to the pub but managed to spend so long drinking that the pubs had stopped doing food. Never mind, Beer’s quite nutritious isn’t it.
Day two and its gloomy and overcast. John is winding us up about the awesome Glencoe hills (They are awesome, but the road isn’t so bad) Off to Fort William and the bike is getting more lively. Running in or wearing out, your guess is as good as mine. More fund raising in McDonalds in Fort Bill (I would have gone to Nevisport myself but I’m not running this) and off to Glencoe. The NVT guys are just blasting on. No stops apart from rider changes. I’d been with them for the Great Glen but didn’t see them again until the end of the day. The bile climbs outof GlenCoe and heady 40 - 45kph or 25 -27 mph to you. Stops at The Kinghouse and at the Green Welly then Ken took over again. The bike’s now quicker and the road down to Loch Lomond is a good one. The sun is out too. Past Tarbert and its wider busier and faster, so not so much fun on a moped.
We have also worked out that although the tank is 4l. It only takes 2l before the petrol filler spurts so although we are filling up every 60 km, its never more than 2l and usually less ( yes we have bought a jug) We have however broken the locking fuel cap as the dammed thing worked and locked. Nothing a strap wrench can’t open though. The locking bit is now lying by the side of the road and the cap reassembled with the assistance of a small hammer
The last stop was at Luss and that’s where we saw the bike dribbling petrol. The Norton footrests are bolted to the tank mounts and its created a leak where the mount is welded to the tank. Gummed up at present but no doubts things will develop.
I hopped off home on the train earlier this evening leaving Ken to ride tomorrow and Mike, Steve, Steve and Ron to complete the trip. I’ve done 200 miles on a moped in the last two days. My next ride will be a bit quicker.
I hear after Mike has ridden the bike home from Penzance that it'll be shown various places and flogged sometime later. If you can get a go on it, do so. Its fun .... in moderation.
I’ll post some pictures soon. Give me a chance to download the camera.
Meanwhile you know why we are doing this. Click on of the links at the top of the page
Monday 28 March 2011
The Mad Moped Challenge Route
(All timings approximate)
DAY 1 Sunday 27th March 2011
Norsman Hotel Post Code KW1 4NL 7:30AM
Road: A99
John Groats Tourist information car park 8:30AM
Road: A99
Tescos Super Store WICK KW1 4QS (Fuel) 9:00AM
Road: A99 & A9
The Bay Owl Inn & Restaurant KW6 6EG (breakfast or tea) 10:00AM (Tel: 01593 731356) (Dunbeath)
Road: A9
BORA (fuel & toilet) 12:00AM (Evelix Garage)
Road: A9
EVATON (fuel & toilet) 1:30pm
Road: A9
The Store House (lunch) 2pm - 3pm, Folis Ferry, IV16 NUX. (Tel: 01349 830038)
Road: A9 & A862
DINGWALL
A862
MAYBURGH
B9169
BEAULY (fuel and toilet) 4PM
A833
DRUMNADROCHIT (fuel toilet) 5pm
A82 (side of Loch Ness)
Stravaigers Lodge PH32 4BG (overnight stop)
DAY 2 MONDAY 28 MARCH Stravaigers Lodge PH32 4BG (overnight stop) 9AM Road:A82 INVERGARRY (fuel & toilet) Road:A82 The Commandos War Memorial (photos/ time to reflect) Near SPEAN BRIDGE. Road:A82 Morrisons Store/ Mc Donalds PH33 6AN (fuel/food/break) 11AM Road:A82 ONICH (a MUST fuel stop) We start to hit the hills from here Road:A82 The Kings Head Hotel PH49 4HY (warm up tea/cake) 12:30AM (Tel: 01855 851259) Hills and peat bogs lower down. Road:A82 The Green Welly stop FK20 8RY at TYNDRUM (lunch/fuel) a well known bikers stop 1:30pm to 3pm Road:A82 still LUSS (full of quaint little shops/ coffee/tea) 4:30pm (on the banks of Loch Lomond) Road:A82 still DUMBARTON TRAVELODGE G82 2TZ Over night stop Around 6pm |
DAY 3: TUESDAY 29 MARCH
Leave 7:30AM
Road:A82
Fuel in 1.3miles
Over the ERSKIN bridge, soon as you cross left onto
Road: A726
AROUND PAISLEY keep on A726 onto B775 to GlenLiffer Braes Country Park
Through Hall Village and then onto A735 to Lugton and Dunlop
Stay on A735 to Stewarton.
Stop for fuel and toilet at Sainsburys in Stewarton (KA3 5LE)
Stay on A735 to Kilmarnock
In centre of Kilmarnock (on 1 way system) go onto B7073 towards Crossroads/Mauchline.
At Crossroads go onto A76 towards Mauchline.
Fuel Stop at Mauchline
In 2 miles – stop at Catrine House Coffee Shop (KA5 5JY)
Road A76
In 26 miles - Fuel at Thames or Sanquahar (toilets on right at Sanquahar if required)
Thornhill (Lunch at Buccleuch Hotel) (Tel: 01848 330215) (DG3 5LU) (Organisers to phone with exact numbers on morning)
A76 towards Dumfries
A76 Dumfries Bypass onto A75 to Gretna
Crossways Inn, Gretna (DG16 5DN) (Tel: 01461 337465) (Tea/food/fuel at 3PM)
Bottom of hill in Gretna – DO NOT TURN ONTO A6071 TO LONGTOWN – go onto unmarked road alongside new M6 to Kingstown onto A7
A7 to Carlisle Centre
West on A595 to Newby Cross through Moorend and Red Dial
Around Bothel turn onto A591 towards Keswick
Pass Bassenthwaite Lake to Keswick YHA
Overnight Stop at Keswick YHA (CA12 5LH)
DAY 4: WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH
Leave YHA Keswick at 8.30 and refuel at Keswick
Road: A591
Through Thirlspot/Grasmere/Waterhead
Bypass Kendal on A591
Below Kendal turn West on A590 towards Ulverston
Within 2 miles turn south onto A6
Through Heversham/Milnthorpe and stop at Beethan
Tea Stop: Beethan Nurseries (LA7 7AP) approx. 11AM (Tel: 01539 563010)
Road: A6
Esso Garage is ½ mile south of Beethan Nurseries – petrol stations are now frequently placed
A6 straight through centre of Lancaster to Catterall
Stay on A6 to centre of Preston
Around Preston 1 way system to Penwortham on A59 (organisers to use sat nav as difficult route)
Road: A59
Past Muchhall at Burscough Bridge turn left down School Lane on Wheat Lane to Ship Inn, Burschough (Postcode: L40 4BX) (Tel: 01704 893117) at 1PM for lunch
Stop at first fuel stop after Ship Inn.
Left onto A5209/Right onto B5240 – under M58 motorway onto A570 towards St Helens.and around Rainford
Onto A580 around St Helens onto B5201 beside Rainhill over M62 motorway onto A557 towards Widnes.
Over Widnes/Runcorn bridge on Runcorrn side, turn right onto A557.
Over M56 turn right on A56 through Fordsham onto B5152 past Kingsley. Turn right onto A49 south to Whitchurch.
Stop at Whitchurch Truck Stop – Lynn’s Raven Café (SY13 2AF) (Tel: 01948 665691) at 3PM.
South onto A49 to Shrewsbury.
Hotel on Roundabout A49/A53 – Battlefield Travelodge Shrewsbury (SY4 3EQ) (Tel: 0871 9846120)
DAY 5: THURSDAY 31 MARCH
Leave Travelodge Shrewsbury at 8.30PM. Petrol station at Travelodge – refuel before leaving.
Road: A49/Shrewsbury Bypass
Turn right onto A5 Shrewsbury Bypass.
Road: A49 South. Past Church Stretton through Craven Arms.
Stay on A49 around Ludlow and Leominster.
Through centre of Hereford. Stop at first fuel station on roundabout entering Hereford.
Stay on A49 towards Ross on Wye
Stop at Much Birch – Pilgrim Hotel for bacon sandwiches etc if required (Tel: 01981 540742) (HR2 8HJ) 11AM.
Road: A49
Stay on Ross on Wye bypass onto A40 towards Gloucester.
Bypass Gloucester onto A417, slip road off onto A4301 onto A430 (to Quedgeley) - this changes into A38.
Road: A38 through Whitminster/Cambridge/Falfield turn right onto B4061 to Thornbury.
In Thornbury Town Centre, stop at Wheatsheaf Inn for lunch (approx.. 1.30PM) (BS35 2BJ) (Tel: 01454 412356)
On departing, stop at Thornbury Tesco’s for fuel.
Back onto A38 – under M4/under M5. Stay on A38 past Filton Airport – left onto A4174 towards Downend and Mangots Field. (This is the Bristol Bypass).
Road: A4017 through Kings Wood.
Road: A420.
Road: A4174 past Cadbury Heath.
At A4174 and A4 Roundabout, turn right towards Brislington. Second road on left is Riders of Bristol (Harley Davidson Showroom) – tea and toilets. (BS4 5LR) (Tel: 0117 9588777).
Double back onto A4 to Bath.
At Junction A4/A39, turn right at Globe Inn onto A39 South.
Road: A39 to Wells. Straight through Wells – stay on A39 to Glastonbury.
Overnight stop at Glastonbury Crown Hotel (BA6 9HD) (Tel: 01458 833353).
DAY 6: FRIDAY 01 APRIL
Leave Glastonbury Crown Hotel at 8.30AM
Road: A39 to Street – stop at first fuel station.
Road: A39 turn left on A361 to Ashcott through Othery and Athelney.
Over M5 onto A38 through centre of Taunton.
Road: A38 to Wellington – go under . At Waterloo Cross, turn left onto B3181 to Cullompton
Stop at Manor House in High Street (EX15 1JL) (Tel: 01884 32281) (organisers to phone on the morning)
Road: B3181(which keeps winding around M5) to Exeter.
Just before Exeter, on bypass road B3212 – stop for fuel.
Onto A377 and then onto A30 to Okehampton.
Road: A30 – stop at Plusha Truck Stop (Subway) for fuel and lunch (PL15 7RR) (Tel: 01566 782882).
Road: A30 to Penzance and then onto LANDS END
Photos!
"The Beast" in its final form:
Ken Rawlinson (R. K. Ick) tries The Beast for size at John O'Groats. He looks a bit big doesn't he?
The bikes and riders ready for the start at JohnO'Groats.
Ken Rawlinson (R. K. Ick) tries The Beast for size at John O'Groats. He looks a bit big doesn't he?
The bikes and riders ready for the start at JohnO'Groats.
Route for Friday 1st April
[This just in from Pete Sykes]
The route next friday is:
DAY 6 – FRIDAY 1ST APRIL (WE HAVE ALMOST MADE IT)!
Leave Glastonbury Crown Hotel at 8.30AM
Road: A39 to Street – stop at first fuel station.
Road: A39 turn left on A361 to Ashcott through Othery and Athelney.
Over M5 onto A38 through centre of Taunton.
Road: A38 to Wellington – go under . At Waterloo Cross, turn left onto B3181 to Cullompton
Stop at Manor House in High Street (EX15 1JL) (Tel: 01884 32281) (organisers to phone on the morning)
Road: B3181(which keeps winding around M5) to Exeter.
Just before Exeter, on bypass road B3212 – stop for fuel.
Onto A377 and then onto A30 to Okehampton.
Road: A30 – stop at Plusha Truck Stop (Subway) for fuel and lunch (PL15 7RR) (Tel: 01566 782882).
Road: A30 to Penzance and then onto LANDS END
http://www.justgiving.com/Pete-Sykes and its about time some donations came in :-)
The route next friday is:
DAY 6 – FRIDAY 1ST APRIL (WE HAVE ALMOST MADE IT)!
Leave Glastonbury Crown Hotel at 8.30AM
Road: A39 to Street – stop at first fuel station.
Road: A39 turn left on A361 to Ashcott through Othery and Athelney.
Over M5 onto A38 through centre of Taunton.
Road: A38 to Wellington – go under . At Waterloo Cross, turn left onto B3181 to Cullompton
Stop at Manor House in High Street (EX15 1JL) (Tel: 01884 32281) (organisers to phone on the morning)
Road: B3181(which keeps winding around M5) to Exeter.
Just before Exeter, on bypass road B3212 – stop for fuel.
Onto A377 and then onto A30 to Okehampton.
Road: A30 – stop at Plusha Truck Stop (Subway) for fuel and lunch (PL15 7RR) (Tel: 01566 782882).
Road: A30 to Penzance and then onto LANDS END
http://www.justgiving.com/Pete-Sykes and its about time some donations came in :-)
Mad Moped Challenge Day 1
Well after a slow start, small 2 stroke urban moped, steep hills and large riders the "beast" made it to the foirst stopover point in daylight at about 5.30 tonight.
Everybody has survived and apart from the speed, or lack of it, and some initial heavy fuel consumption all appears to be OK.
Report on day 2 will be tomorrow.
Everybody has survived and apart from the speed, or lack of it, and some initial heavy fuel consumption all appears to be OK.
Report on day 2 will be tomorrow.
MadMoped Challenge Report The One
Bike arrived safely in John O'Groats last night as did Pete and Ken. They met no resistance from the men in skirts.
The run started on time at 0830 this morning. It is reported as very cold with a possibility of some snow flurries today.
Team Real Classic as you know have elected to use a MadMoped.......made in China and a sort of black colour with Norton decals and Commando footrests to help boost its power.
John Youg's (of this message board) team from the TR3OC are using an NVT Easy Rider moped(s). The others all appear to have opted for "modern" scooters or step throughs, at least one of which is brand new! They obviously don't understand the meaning of the word Mad, and are clearly normal people.
Anyway with Pete (of this very message board) riding they are now heading generally southwards and pointing in the direction of Lands End. Other reports will follow and some photos after today. Ken follows in the van at the moment.
Commercial follows: -
Mad Moped Challenge: Raising funds for Help 4 Heroes.
As usual I would ask those who have not made a donation to the Help 4 Heroes Mad Moped Challenge to please do so. Please be generous it is in a good cause. Either use the link that Ken put on here recently or send it to me. My e-mail above if you want more details on how to pay.
The run started on time at 0830 this morning. It is reported as very cold with a possibility of some snow flurries today.
Team Real Classic as you know have elected to use a MadMoped.......made in China and a sort of black colour with Norton decals and Commando footrests to help boost its power.
John Youg's (of this message board) team from the TR3OC are using an NVT Easy Rider moped(s). The others all appear to have opted for "modern" scooters or step throughs, at least one of which is brand new! They obviously don't understand the meaning of the word Mad, and are clearly normal people.
Anyway with Pete (of this very message board) riding they are now heading generally southwards and pointing in the direction of Lands End. Other reports will follow and some photos after today. Ken follows in the van at the moment.
Commercial follows: -
Mad Moped Challenge: Raising funds for Help 4 Heroes.
As usual I would ask those who have not made a donation to the Help 4 Heroes Mad Moped Challenge to please do so. Please be generous it is in a good cause. Either use the link that Ken put on here recently or send it to me. My e-mail above if you want more details on how to pay.
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