NOVEMBER 2013 Update

November is here already and although there have been some good riding days in October I fear that many older bikes will be going away for winter in order to preserve them for future years. The Sunbeam is now partly striped down for what is likely to be its first major overhaul since its restoration in the 1980s. as mentioned last month this is aimed mainly at checking that the Frame, Forks and cycle parts are safe. So far there is a broken stand that needs fixing and the stand retention clip on the rear mudguard has snapped. This will need to be a new part if we can't repair it.

With autumn upon us, it is time to check out the bike related reading and viewing for the winter months and if you have not yet read Mondo Enduro, now is the time to get hold of a copy and follow the exploits of a group of friends as they tackle a 40,000 mile round the world trip on Yamaha 350cc enduro bikes (unsupported). The book is compiled by motorcycle legend Ausin Vince, from the log and diaries of fellow riders Clive Greenhough Louis Bloom, Charles Plenty, Mark Friend, Nick Stubley and brother Gerald Vince. The exploits were serialised at the time on MTV and there is also a Video of the same name. Although the Video is fantastic, I think that you also need to read the book to get a feel of the day to day experiences. The route they took was monumental; taking in Europe, Africa, Central Asia, the former Soviet Union and the length of the American Continent. This journey took place in 1995-96, years before McGreggor and Borman past through some of the same places on the Long Way Round and Long Way Down trips.




Dave Greenhough, younger brother of Mondo's Clive was determined to crack the trans siberian highway which beat the mondo Enduro Team. Dave was joined on his round the world trip, cristened Tera Circa by Matt Hill Charles Benner Austin and Gerald Vince. Terra Circa is another epic unsupported journey which is also available on DVD.



It has been a couple of years since I have seen the DVDs so I will be digging them out again soon. You now can buy these and more online direct from us at From our online bookshop 

After first watching the original DVDs I was keen to find out what Austin Vince was doing. Alas, he had returned to teaching and was invisible on the web. That was until I picked up a Tweet from Ross Noble recently who said that he had made a new film. After checking Its seems that Austin has given up the day job to promote low budget DIY adventures. The latest of these adventures is Mondo Sahara and the DVD is now available online.

Commenting on the latest adventure Austin Vince said

 "The aim was, starting in London, to ride off-road, across Spain, Morocco and Western Sahara. With this behind us, we would meet up with Richard Kemplay of Beast of Burden. Whilst we were riding out, he would have been burying food, fuel and water across the deserts of Mauritania. Once we rendezvoused at the Mauritanian border post he would hand us a GPS plot of the supply dumps and off we’d lunge into the Empty Quarter of the Sahara. Englishmen and Americans, following a Garmin speck across the wilderness for 1200 miles. Each night locating and digging up the supplies for the next day. Nobody had done anything like this before. It was only going to be four weeks but would still be a class-A adventure!"

This will definitely will be on our viewing list this autumn (and now available on our website) Click Here for more info and a trailer. 

Greatest Motorcycle Journeys

The Travel Channel are currently showing Henry Cole's Greatest Motorcycle Journeys of the world and watching one last week across Norway reminded the old Timer of his own trips following a similar route. My first trip to Norway on a bike was in the 70s and you could drive all day and hardly see another person. Henry's decent of Trollstigen (The Trolls Pass) was he said spoilt by the traffic. When I did it the road was not even fully tarmaced, but it could get a few coaches. I choose to camp in nearby and run up the zig-zags early in the morning, then over the icy wastelands before returning to the tent for breakfast. A few years later I went up at dusk and was surprised to see thousands of lemmings. They may not in reality jump of cliffs, but they sure do get squashed by the unsuspecting driver or rider.


Also one to catch up on BBC i-Player, if you did not see it is  Full throttle: The Glory Days of British Motorbikes shown on BBC4 at 9pm on October 28. It charts the rise of and celebrates all facets of the British motorcycle industry covering T.E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, IOM TT racing and the Ton-Up Boys of the 1950s

Click http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k4jm4 to view clips.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03fv7sl to watch. (Expires on 7 Nov 13)


We maybe into pre-war bikes, but we like to keep an eye on the retro scene. October was also the month chosen for the world wide launch of the Royal Enfield Continental GT Starting at the Ace Cafe London over 50 of the new bikes and press drove off across southern England including a stop off at Brooklands Museum, the UKs very own home of motorsport. The latest Enfield incarnation is a recreation of the bike of the same name first launched in 1963. Lets face it the only thing it really has in common with its namesake is the numberplate (63) but that said Indian Enfields do capture the feel of an older bike with the advantage of a reasonable price and mod cons such as electric start and ignition. Looking at the original and the new model face to face against the backdrop of the recently restored BP Petrol Pagoda at Brooklands it does capture the cafe racer look, but will not appeal to the dyed in the wool Ton-up Boy. We can't say much more as we have not yet tried the bike, but for more information or a test drive go to www. Haywards.co.uk or your local Royal Enfield dealer.