North Wales (Woods) - Sat 6th Oct

[neilo]

I've no idea what the forecast for this weekend is as yet, but at the moment I'm hoping to visit Woods with a good friend of mine who's looking at buying a 796/1100. Hoping to be there ~2pm.

No doubt a little ride around North Wales will be on the cards if the rain holds off, so if anybody wants to meet up before/at Woods/afterwards, just let me know.

[singletrack]

Sounds good but I have arranged a motorcycle tour of the Lake District this weekend :mand:

[neilo]

If not for agreeing to help my friend, perhaps I'd have gate-crashed your party! :chuckle:
Have a good ride!

[singletrack]

Hubby and I are going to the Lakes for the weekend with a group of other riders (mostly BMWs). Very unusual to get him out on the bike. I hope the weather is good and doesn't put him off.

It would have been good to meet you.
I will definitely come over to Wales some time, on the naughty bike.

[neilo]

Well, what a great weekend that was!! Fingers crossed we get a few more like that right up to the point they dirty the roads with grit! Riding in autumn and winter is great! Quiet roads, not too hot, not too many bugs, and beautiful scenery!

So I rode three different bikes this weekend...

Hypermotard 796
Wow! What a machine!! I absolutely loved it!! I was grinning from ear to ear under my helmet. Everything I’d want from a bike at the moment. Fantastic engine (powerful enough, smooth, characterful), perfect riding position (for me), and it just loved the twisties! Would I have one? Alas, no…not until it comes with ABS/DTC anyway, and then I’d seriously be tempted! I can see myself ending up in a lot of trouble without ABS/DTC protecting me…it certainly brought out the hooligan in me, even more so than my Mevo (M1100evo).

Monster 796
Seeing as I ride a Mevo I don’t need to harp on about the good things about the 796. What did strike me though was that it was probably just as fast as the Mevo on normal roads. I did find that it didn’t like corners as much as my Mevo though, but mine has been set up for my weight though, so if that was done there’d be very little to separate the two, in the real world.

Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom
I had never ridden a cruiser until this weekend. So this was a completely new experience for me. What did I think?...
Engine – was great! Eager without being harsh – soft state of tune to chug along when you just want to watch the world go by. Watching my mate ride it (hard) completely changed my opinion on it as well. It could really shift when you want it to!! Riding position – it is what it is… Got to get the suspension and seat set up properly, or else you could end up in hospital with back problems! Every bump was transmitted up my spine through my coccyx. Suspension - not good enough for a bike that costs over £8k. It didn't like going around corners, but not because the chassis wasn't good enough, the suspension/tyres just couldn't cope/didn't instil confidence (in my opinion). Okay so my mate was much better riding it around corners, but compared to any other bike I've ridden it would take quite a while to feel confident in it. But, I totally got what Harley's are all about... Just like my Mevo, it had bags of character.

Am I thinking of chopping my Mevo in for something else? Never!! Apart from the riding position of the Hyper, my Mevo wins on everything else!