Full Scale Trial

On Wednesday 24th August I carried out a full scale trial run using all the luggage kit, including a can of fuel fixed to the seat with bungee cord. I followed a 90 mile circular route via Doncaster, Gainsborough and Worksop in the morning, and then did it the opposite way round in the afternoon, following a slightly different route. The bike stood up to it very well, and I was able to walk away at the end, and get up for work the next morning - despite doing the whole of the second circuit without a break. The only drama was the fuel can coming loose shortly after the starting the afternoon trip. Fortunately I was able to hang on to it, and stop safely one-handed. I think I have now worked out the right way to strap it on securely.

The first circuit covered 94.6 miles, took 2 hours 58 minutes and used 3.14 litres of fuel - 137 mpg and an average speed of 31.9 mph. The second circuit was 91.5 miles, took 3 hours and 6 minutes and used 3.42 litres - 122 mpg and a 29.5 mph average. In the morning I had been cruising at between 40 and 45 mph, in the evening I upped the speed to cruise at 50 mph, but had to drive through Doncaster in the rush hour. The lesson seems to be - cruising at 40-45 should make my assumed 30 mph average practical, but it would be worth not going through towns at rush hour.

Trial trips and comfier seating

I need to get some practice in before setting off, both to get myself acclimatised and to find out what might go wrong. 


The first trip provided more of the latter than the former. I decided to use the bike for a meeting near Barnsley, a 30 mile round trip, and was making good progress when I got a puncture in the middle of the countryside. Fortunately the AA arrived in 45 minutes and recovered the bike, which looked a bit forlorn in the middle of a large car transporter, to Jeff Halls. They repaired the puncture, sold me some spare inner tubes and allowed me to borrow the workshop manual so I could copy the bits about how to remove the wheels - so I can do it myself in future. I've also ordered a new rear tyre as the existing one probably wouldn't last 2000 miles - a choice between the original type at £105, or a European equivalent at £30 - no choice really.


My second trip was after work, going up to Featherstone to watch Eagles in a Thursday evening match, a 60 mile round trip. All went well except for an awful performance by Eagles, and it was raining most of the way back. It's not nice in the dark and the rain on unfamiliar country lanes. One good thing was the fuel consumption, which seems to be over 110 mpg on a long run. Not so good was how hard the saddle was feeling at the end of the trip. I made a visit to a place I found out about on the Internet, Bielawski's Sheffield Trimming Co., who do car upholstery. They said they could add some more, softer, foam to the seat, and as my trip is for charity they would do it for £40 rather than £60, with the £20 difference being their donation. I took the bike in on Monday morning and collected it with a wider, thicker and softer seat in the evening - it certainly feels more comfortable.

Softer, thicker, wider - appropriate for the rider?

Load lugger?

The box on the back of the bike when I got it can only hold a single helmet, not enough space for a long trip. There are larger Givi boxes available for about £100 or more, but I found good reviews of a 48l box by Tech 7 for about £50. Jeff Hall had one in stock for £49.99, so that is now gracing the back of the bike. It looks a bit big, but it will do the job, together with the throw over panniers I've just ordered.

Pimping my ride

When I first got the bike the original mirrors gave me a good view of my arms, and very little of the road behind. At the first full service I got Jeff Hall's to fit some better mirrors, you can see them in the picture on the earlier post. These give a good view of everything behind, they vibrate a bit at higher speeds but are still usable - and the bike doesn't do much in the way of "higher speeds".

I've also noticed the difference not having a screen like on the X7, so I've bought the proper Suzuki thing to fit. It's quite small but should provide a bit of protection. The only problem has been that it is designed to mount on the original mirrors, and has the wrong threads for the new ones that I have just had fitted. I left the bike with Jeff Hall's for a couple of days and they have found some bits to make a good job of fitting it. See below.

Next issue - kit storage for two weeks on the road.

The Bike

I'm using the closest thing I can find to the ubiquitous small motorbikes that are used all over south-east asia. Small engine, usually about 100cc over there, 125cc here - semi-automatic gearbox (no clutch lever) - "step-through" frame - big spoked wheels with narrow tyres - fuel consumption over 100 mpg if you are careful. Basically a more modern version of the Honda C90 I passed my test on back in 1967. In Cambodia the desirable bikes are the Honda Wave, which is called the Innova over here, and the Suzuki Shogun, called the Address here, but no longer imported. Unfortunately Innovas are expensive to buy new (£2,300) and I couldn't find any second-hand ones nearby. However, I found a 2007 Address FL125 which had done 2300 miles for sale on eBay in Keighley. I got it for £785.65, and sold my Piaggio X7 scooter (fuel consumption 65 mpg) to Jeff Hall Motorcycles for £750.

For a review have a look at http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/why-suzuki-are-bringing-the-excitement-back-to-biking-455737.html

The Route

19/09 Sheffield to Jedburgh  189 miles
20/09 Jedburgh to Braemar via the Forth Bridge  151 miles
21/09 Braemar to Dunnet Head (Latitude  58° 40′ 21″ N)  196 miles
22/09 Dunnet Head to Fort Augustus  165 miles
23/09 Fort Augustus to Glencoe via Ardnamurcan Point (Longitude 6° 13′ 24″ W) and the Corran - Ardgour ferry  158 miles
24/09 Glencoe to Dumfries via the Hunter's Quay - McInroy's Point ferry  191 miles
25/09 Dumfries to Chester  171 miles
Rest day to allow for any breakdown in first week
27/09 Chester to Caerleon  142 miles
28/09 Caerleon to Wadebridge via the Severn Bridge  189 miles
29/09 Wadebridge to Exeter via Lizard Point (Latitude 49° 57' 30" N) and the Fowey - Bodinnick ferry  176 miles
30/09 Exeter to Dunstable  182 miles
01/10 Dunstable to Norwich via Lowestoft Ness (Longitude 1° 45' 50" E),  152 miles
02/10 Norwich to Sheffield via the Humber Bridge  212 miles

Introduction

Hi, thanks for visiting my blog. I'm Pete Bull, for my 60th birthday I want to raise some money for Golden Futures www.goldenfutures.org.uk, the charity which helps disadvantaged Cambodian children make a future for themselves when they leave care homes. Click here to visit my Virgin Money Giving webpage with more details

I am going to visit the furthest North, South, East and West points on the British mainland using a small 125cc motorcycle - the kind used as everything from the family car to a delivery truck in Cambodia. The journey of over 2,000 miles will avoid motorways, and I aim to complete it in less than two weeks. I will have to ride for about 6 hours a day, covering up to 190 miles a day.

Google Maps tells me that the total distance for my anti-clockwise route will be 2,274 miles. I will travel from Sheffield to Dunnet Head, Ardnamurchan Point, the Lizard and Lowestoft Ness before returning to Sheffield. The route crosses the Forth and Severn Bridges and, with a small diversion appropriate for a civil engineer, I will cross the Humber Bridge on the final day to complete the set of major UK suspension bridges.

Through Virgin Money Giving http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Peter_Bull, you can sponsor me and donations will be quickly processed and passed to Golden Futures. I will be funding all the costs of the trip, so everything I raise through sponsorship will go to help the children in Cambodia. If you can spare 1p a mile (£22.74) I will be really grateful, and an extra tenner for each of the suspension bridges will make me and the children even happier.

There will be an opportunity to display some advertising on the bike, and I will be issuing media releases before and during the challenge. So, if you are part of an organisation who would like to link yourselves with the aims of Golden Futures by making a more substantial donation, please contact me through the charity website www.goldenfutures.org.uk or by emailing info@goldenfutures.org.uk

Virgin Money Giving is a not for profit organisation and will claim gift aid on a charity's behalf where the donor is eligible for this. I really appreciate all your support and thank you for any donations.