Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: tunnie on 28 March 2012, 15:42:47
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Some may remember that a couple of years ago I did a similar thing, I just finished one of my shifts and had 3 days before next one. The weather reports looked stunning, the beautiful weather was set in for at least the next week. With Wales saying Sun Sun Sun, I thought I'd load up the bike for another quick camping trip.
So I did. Glad I did as well, best 48 hours on bike I'd ever encountered, weather 18-21c is all day, warm, sunny, no clouds, nice breeze and no traffic. Perfect!
I planned to go on Sunday, however the bike needed a new battery & wash, tyres checked and so on. Plus a few other jobs crept in so I spent the day getting bike ready. I loaded it that night, ready for the off Monday morning.
So here it is washed & ready to go, with no real aim other than just to explore bits of Wales I'd not done before:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010660.JPG)
I usually stop for a greasy breakfast on the way, place I used last time had closed down, so I tried a new one
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010663.JPG)
I called by Church Stretton again as the weather suggested I should:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010667.JPG)
I got a bit lost in the single track lanes, finally found a small village that was actually on my map. Still there are worse places to be lost...
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010669.JPG)
Reached the first place I was aiming for, Lake Vyrnwy.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010675.JPG)
People always come up to me and chat to me while on the bike, shortly after taking this a couple who used to ride BMW air-heads were chatting to me for about half an hour!
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010677.JPG)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010679.JPG)
Not a cloud in the Sky all day
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010683.JPG)
Apparently this is a pumping station of some sorts, not your usual 60's disaster!
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010690.JPG)
Yet more miles of empty roads, heading towards Bala.
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010692.JPG)
Now the campsite I wanted to use, which allows camp fires was shut :(
However, I was glad this was the case come morning (read on)
I setup camp for the night
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010702.JPG)
and put dinner on the go
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010706.JPG)
Now I checked weather before I left, they said it would be around 5-7c at around midnight to 05:00, well they got that wrong....
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010707.JPG)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010708.JPG)
Now I was glad I did not use the other site, as its just basically a field with no real facilities. This place had decent shower block so I was glad of the long hot shower !
By 9am though it was 9c again 8)
Weather continued from Monday
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010716.JPG)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010719.JPG)
Spotted at end of another Lake another Dam/Bridge, went to take a look, a gate was across the road, but luckily the bike would fit through the pedestrian gate ;D
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010720.JPG)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010726.JPG)
Lake at Bala looked like a Mirror:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010735.JPG)
Just as I stopped a Hercules flew over
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010741.JPG)
Next, I found by accident Bwlch y Groes, famous for its Hill Climbing days, cracking bit of road:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010747.JPG)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010751.JPG)
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010754.JPG)
Back at Lake Vyrnwy, it looked stunning
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010756.JPG)
Stopped off for some lunch
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010759.JPG)
Had a visitor while I ate....
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010762.JPG)
I planned my route home after quite possibly some of the best biking weather I'm going to see this year
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/803897/Motorbike/Wales2012/OOF/P1010765.JPG)
Next trip? Scotland!
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Nice pics :y some sadly spoilt by lousy piece of german rubbish in them ;D
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Great piccies Mr Tunnie. :y
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Excellent pictures. :y :y
Spontaneous holidays are very often the best and I'm glad you have a good time. :y
My older brother goes out every Sunday with a group of friends on his bike and did over 1,000 miles in January. The bike stayed at home for most of February due to the cold snowy weather and a couple of weeks ago he went to a bike show in Edinburgh as part of a long weekend into the Scottish highlands and back home via the Lake District. Weather was very good and he had a fantastic weekend. :y
Sadly my bike is currently off the road a victim of recession cost cutting. >:(
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Nice pics and nice bike as well :y :y
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Nice pics and a nice trip! Had one of my favourite automotive outings in a very similar area a couple of years back with a whole bunch of MR2 owners :)
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Yes, did a tour of that area in the MX5 about this time last year. Very nice roads.
.. and first rule of camping above sea level. Don't rely on the minimum forecast temperature!
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Some nice shots there :y
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Excellent pics. :y
Like that sky reminds me of ours.
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I'd have popped down if I had known you were so local :y
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Great pictures , brings it all back when we use to go out biking and camping . I had a CBR1000XX blackbird which ate the miles up in comfort 8)
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I'd have popped down if I had known you were so local :y
Yep, same here :y
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nice pictures Tunnie.. thanks for free trip :) :y
yesterday it was snowing here :-\
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nice pics mate..... know it all very well indeed...... had some "fun" drives along that road from Vyrnwy to Bala , it's been used as a special stage in several rallies over the years...
much of my childhood was spent at the far end of Pen Llŷn, (around Aberdaron, Sarn, Rhiw, Nefyn and so on... ) and quite a bit of time spent trekking between south-east england and there.... lots of routes, lots of picnics, then later, I lived up there full time for 15 odd years ...
still miss it
....
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looks stunning...... :y
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I'd have popped down if I had known you were so local :y
Yep, same here :y
I'd have popped down if I had known you were so local :y
Would have posted up, but my plans were still up in the air really.
I do plan to go to Scotland end of May, know Daz was interested in taking his bike up there too.
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surely theres more than just risotto yer can cook :D
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and i never flew over anywhere ;D
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We'll have to work out a way to get my camping stuff on your bike ;)
:P
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nice to have open roads to drive on :y :y :y :y :y :y
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We'll have to work out a way to get my camping stuff on your bike ;)
:P
Need to fix your fuel leak first ;D
But yes, that does need to be looked at. I'm far, far from efficient in my camping gear. One pannier just had an airbed and pump ;D
As your not keen on getting to Scotland on bike, Wales make sense, its actually a really nice blast over there :)
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We'll have to work out a way to get my camping stuff on your bike ;)
:P
Need to fix your fuel leak first ;D
But yes, that does need to be looked at. I'm far, far from efficient in my camping gear. One pannier just had an airbed and pump ;D
As your not keen on getting to Scotland on bike, Wales make sense, its actually a really nice blast over there :)
Fuel leak fixed ;). But I need to fix my back first - probably irresponsible to ride a bike until thats a lot better, and regained some strength back in my arms. Give me gayboy plenty of time to reshim my valves and fix that annoying oil leak ::)
Scotland would be great if I could meet the bike up there ;D, so Wales looks more doable, as only half the distance.
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I went Stratford - Worcester - A49 - Newton, quite nice country roads, only crap bit really is around Worcester :(
Have you got a normal sized tent? Not the usual aircraft hanger?
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If you want some routes to try, I've done both Scotland and Wales a few times with my mates from the Se7ens mailing list and have a load of road books and .itn files for petrolhead-friendly routes.
Scotland is well worth making the trip, though, if you're lucky with the weather (also applies to Wales).
Don't discount Ireland either. Short trip up to Anglessey and fast cat to Dun Laoghaire.
I actually wouldn't mind tagging along in the Westfield, thinking about it. Trying to do a convoy would probably end in frustration as I'll obviously be a lot slower through traffic, but I'd be happy bimbling along doing my own thing. Worth thinking about?
I can get a lot of camping gear in the passenger footwell. ;)
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If you want some routes to try, I've done both Scotland and Wales a few times with my mates from the Se7ens mailing list and have a load of road books and .itn files for petrolhead-friendly routes.
Scotland is well worth making the trip, though, if you're lucky with the weather (also applies to Wales).
Don't discount Ireland either. Short trip up to Anglessey and fast cat to Dun Laoghaire.
I actually wouldn't mind tagging along in the Westfield, thinking about it. Trying to do a convoy would probably end in frustration as I'll obviously be a lot slower through traffic, but I'd be happy bimbling along doing my own thing. Worth thinking about?
I can get a lot of camping gear in the passenger footwell. ;)
I was thinking along these lines other day, OOF "alternate transport bash" - Lot of us have either bikes, kit cars and such. Could be a laugh :y
I do really want to do Scotland, I've actually booked some time of for it. Unless the weather that week is monsoon rain, I intend to go.
Been trying to get little fatty to go on the bike to Scotland, but he's not keen on blasting the Crapasaki up there :(
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I'm doing Scotland in the Westfield the first week in September.
Hasn't gayboy got a bike trailer? ;)
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If you want some routes to try, I've done both Scotland and Wales a few times with my mates from the Se7ens mailing list and have a load of road books and .itn files for petrolhead-friendly routes.
Scotland is well worth making the trip, though, if you're lucky with the weather (also applies to Wales).
Don't discount Ireland either. Short trip up to Anglessey and fast cat to Dun Laoghaire.
I actually wouldn't mind tagging along in the Westfield, thinking about it. Trying to do a convoy would probably end in frustration as I'll obviously be a lot slower through traffic, but I'd be happy bimbling along doing my own thing. Worth thinking about?
I can get a lot of camping gear in the passenger footwell. ;)
Sounds like a plan :y
I'm not what you would call a fast rider, and tunnie is even slower, so I reckon you wouldn't have too much hassle keeping up TBH. Maybe in towns, etc, but I suspect we would try to avoid most of them when possible.
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I went Stratford - Worcester - A49 - Newton, quite nice country roads, only crap bit really is around Worcester :(
Have you got a normal sized tent? Not the usual aircraft hanger?
I have the 'small' tent. 5 man ;D. Actually, the 'greenhouse' is only classed as 5 man as well ;D ;D ;D
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Hasn't gayboy got a bike trailer? ;)
Who's got a towbar....
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Can it take two bikes or just one? Imagine an old ZX10 & GS would be a tight squeeze.
Would also need to fit a tow bar to one of the LPG'd Omega's - Running on petrol up there would be a no-no! ;D
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Can it take two bikes or just one? Imagine an old ZX10 & GS would be a tight squeeze.
Would also need to fit a tow bar to one of the LPG'd Omega's - Running on petrol up there would be a no-no! ;D
At 50mph, you'd be surprised what a 3.0l can achieve on the motorway....
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Can it take two bikes or just one? Imagine an old ZX10 & GS would be a tight squeeze.
Would also need to fit a tow bar to one of the LPG'd Omega's - Running on petrol up there would be a no-no! ;D
At 50mph, you'd be surprised what a 3.0l can achieve on the motorway....
Given the figures Tunnie posts, about 60mpg? ;)
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Can it take two bikes or just one? Imagine an old ZX10 & GS would be a tight squeeze.
Would also need to fit a tow bar to one of the LPG'd Omega's - Running on petrol up there would be a no-no! ;D
At 50mph, you'd be surprised what a 3.0l can achieve on the motorway....
Given the figures Tunnie posts, about 60mpg? ;)
But what's the point doing 50mph up the M6? Be just as boring as doing 80mph on the bike? But we would get there a lot quicker!
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You can only go 10mph faster than that legally anyway (with a trailer on the back).
And I suspect the point is that the cripple stands a chance of still having the use of his legs & arms on arrival.. ;D
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You can only go 10mph faster than that legally anyway (with a trailer on the back).
And I suspect the point is that the cripple stands a chance of still having the use of his legs & arms on arrival.. ;D
Its not my fault he is a cripple...... and fat ;D