The hairy Gael and the beautiful 62 year old German...

simondippenhall · Apr 13, 2018

are thinking of going for a bimble for 2-3 days next week if the weather forecast stays dry. Suggestions where please, starting from North Hampshire.

The hairy Gael (not you, Jockser!) has had his mug featured enough in recent ride reports not to inflict it on you again. (If you are a glutton for punishment, click here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/464067-Gael-Warnings-in-West-Africa/page16

The sleek elderly German beauty is less well known in these pages

This will be the first multi day outing on this bike, a 1956 r50 which was first delivered on 10 March 1956 to a customer of Friedrich Voos jr. Bmw dealership (now defunct) in Solingen, West Germany. It then resided in Holland from 1956 until 2016 when I acquired it.

Hoping to avoid motorways (but also the muckier B roads) and possibly head into Wales (but will follow the weather

).

All thoughts gratefully received. This will be a bimble with maps rather than GPS.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

chasbmw · Apr 13, 2018

simondippenhall said:
are thinking of going for a bimble for 2-3 days next week if the weather forecast stays dry. Suggestions where please, starting from North Hampshire.

The hairy Gael (not you, Jockser!) has had his mug featured enough in recent ride reports not to inflict it on you again. (If you are a glutton for punishment, click here: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/464067-Gael-Warnings-in-West-Africa/page16

The sleek elderly German beauty is less well known in these pages View attachment 371098

This will be the first multi day outing on this bike, a 1956 r50 which was first delivered on 10 March 1956 to a customer of Friedrich Voos jr. Bmw dealership (now defunct) in Solingen, West Germany. It then resided in Holland from 1956 until 2016 when I acquired it.

Hoping to avoid motorways (but also the muckier B roads) and possibly head into Wales (but will follow the weather ).

All thoughts gratefully received. This will be a bimble with maps rather than GPS.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My R50 is the one year younger.........even at the modest speeds of an R50. The brakes are a bit iffy (except when damp first thing in the morning), very heavy flywheel means slow gear changes upwards and I bit of a blip of the throttle downwards.

Lots of charm and a surprisingly cramped riding position

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

MikeO · Apr 13, 2018

Lovely bike. :beerjug:

I'd think that suspension (and its effect on your arse and back) will define how many miles a day you'll average...

simondippenhall · Apr 13, 2018

Mike: suspension seems remarkably comfortable (but let's see how I feel after I do more than 70 miles in one hit!).
Lots of competition from posh young totty like this

and this

both seen at Bahnstormer yesterday....but you can't beat the real thing!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

oddshapedballs · Apr 13, 2018

That RnineT is nice, except for the school satchel on the back :barf

but each to their own.

The Triumph, no...just no!

Ash · Apr 13, 2018

Sunday us looking like rain around our parts Simon.
But next week looks nice, dry & warm...

simondippenhall · Apr 14, 2018

Indeed, Ash... thinking to depart Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. A kind GSer up Nantwich way has offered me garage space so that's one potential direction.

Preparation is important for these long and arduous trips to distant parts, where the security situation may be tense and there is the possibility of crossing international boundaries (if I go to Wales).

Issues to be addressed include:

Which passport shall I travel under?

Do I need my immunisation record?
Probably not.

Have I packed the tool kit?

Yes neatly tucked into the tank, it even has tyre levers and feeler gauges.

Is the piece of emery paper excessively large?

Yes and I have trimmed it down, as I am still psychologically scarred by Tim Cullis' (of this parish) mockery of my excessive duck tape packing en route to follow the 'Lisbon- Dakar' over a decade ago.

Reduced size emery paper

Is the (completely ineffective) standard pump packed?

Have I got my cycling puncture repair Kit? Yes, seen above the pump. (As if I thought I could lever off the tyre of the BMW, given the hard work I found doing this on my KTM 690).

How will I fix my navigation device to the handlebars?

Good meteorological intel is also critical:

Fortunately it looks like Ash is on the case! (See previous post).

And mustn't forget the National Trust vacuum mug which saw me through 3 months across Africa. It's important to have a flask of tea for sitting in lay-bys (although ideally you need a Morris 1100 to go with it)

Got the first leg of the trip in mind

My impeccable pre-expedition planning established this route leads to a garden centre with superb fruit scones, an essential for energy replacement in hostile environments.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

simondippenhall · Apr 14, 2018

Forgot to attach a picture of the trusty trans Africa flask!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

chasbmw · Apr 14, 2018

If you need a night in Bristol give me a shout....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jockser · Apr 14, 2018

simondippenhall said:
The hairy Gael (not you, Jockser!)

I should hope not :rob

But, to be on the safe side, I went for a bit of a tidy up this morning

I do like that little bike :drool

If you ever get fed up with it.....

simondippenhall · Apr 14, 2018

Thanks Chasbmw: will look at the weather forecast tomorrow and let you know - very kind!

Jockser: hope I won't tire of her but if this run goes well, maybe a run on her to the Emerald Isle ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jockser · Apr 15, 2018

simondippenhall said:
Jockser: hope I won't tire of her but if this run goes well, maybe a run on her to the Emerald Isle ?

Cool, look forward to that. Now get on with this run

simondippenhall · Apr 17, 2018

Well Jockser I took your advice and had the beard trimmed....to the necessary hipster style for riding an old airhead

The bike is fuelled up and the weather tomorrow looks promising

I have packed navigation guidance and the necessary emergency nutrition

It’s not quite as far as my last bimble this year

Just hope the locals will be as friendly!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

tuftywhite · Apr 17, 2018

Looking forward to this.

I may come and meet you on one day, depending where and when?

simondippenhall · Apr 18, 2018

After a fabulous day with a great 450kms ride in sunshine I will let the pictures speak for themselves

Ready for the off

Coffee break in Highworth, Oxon

One of many many stop signs as the country’s roads are repaired

Parked up at morning break

The view from the cockpit

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

simondippenhall · Apr 18, 2018

Lots of wet roads across the country

But beautiful spring gardens like this one at Dipley Mill

The Duke of Wellingtons back door

Roman towns

Barbed wire at Aldermaston

I am settling in to the old Bmw saddle but my but still my rear-end wishes this sign were literally true! I think this town was named so because it’s on the A4 halfway between London and Bath:

The scenery is changing as I get into the Cotswolds- Burford:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

simondippenhall · Apr 18, 2018

The famous hill climb...wish I had stopped to visit it.

The houses are looking a little different

Evidently not everyone in Wales is a Leaver (Engineer, don’t lose faith!)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

simondippenhall · Apr 18, 2018

And a few reflections on the ride:

I wore my genuine hipster gear (jeans, Rokker boots and open face helmet) and 30 miles in I was having second thoughts- boots pressing on shins, getting a bit cool, and windy around the head.

But it all settled into a comfortable routine and felt better, meanwhile the r50 was going like a train...cornering well and accelerating vigorously even if the brakes were a bit enthusiastic

And it has been averaging about 60 mpg which is not bad as I have not been holding back!

Safely arrived at my generous host, Albatross

Visited Nantwich church just before

And finally a tribute to this site for the support it offers to random riders like moi

(I have had several offers of help and accommodation from inmates).

Albatross has asked if I am 'done with the pictures' so with this snap of the Ridgway, crossed near Hinton Parva, I can say 'Yes'!
'

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jockser · Apr 19, 2018

No pictures of locals washing their smalls in the streams, women carrying heavy bundles of firewood along the road or donkey & carts heading to market :nenau

What sort of an RR is this at all at all

Keep up the good work Simon :beerjug:

jonnie comet · Apr 19, 2018

A cracking write up and what a lovely old bike. The whole read made me go ahhhhhh...

Loved it..... :thumb2

The hairy Gael and the beautiful 62 year old German...

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Registered user

Oh Yes....

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

getting away with it so far!

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member