Tuesday 17 June 2014

Ferry nice trip


Dordrecht harbour
Time for the Tiger's first service, so last Friday afternoon I rode from work over to the Hook of Holland to catch the ferry over to England. This was my first time on a ferry with the bike, so I was almost excited....Actually, the ferry itself was pretty nice (although I guess after being in a cabin on a construction site anywhere would be nice), not many bikers making the crossing. It took about 6 hours, dead calm sea so I slept most of the way. We got to Harwich at 8pm, rolled off the ferry looking forward to a nice change of scenery and nearly fell off the bike from laughing out loud - round the first bend there in front was a windmill!

Anyway, I needed to get home before dark as these old eyes don't work too well so it was a two hour blast down the A12 then M25 onto North Circular, cruising a nice steady 85mph all the way - easy. I did note that the screen produces very uncomfortable buffeting at higher speed...so no doubt there's a new accessory in the Tigers future.

Saturday morning up early and rode down to the dealers in the most horrendous thunderstorm I've ever ridden in - as I stood inside the showroom in a large puddle with water dripping, no running, off me I realised that the jacket wasn't waterproof after all. I'd arranged a loan bike so I could ride down to visit the kid in his new house down in Henley-on-Thames, the trouble was I was soaked through, so ended up buying a new (guaranteed waterproof) jacket there and then - got a 25% discount so that wasn't too bad. The sun came out during the ride down, so I spent a nice couple of hours drying-out in the sun on the kids boat landing watching the river flow by, then a nice ride back on the now-dry roads. Collected the Tiger, now complete with heated grips, topbox and a centre-stand.

The Kid and the river

Sunday I'd booked the overnight ferry back to Holland, so after a relaxing breakfast I rode over to Essex to visit my old Mum for a while, then spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening riding the Essex lanes up to Harwich, what a pleasant ride through all the sleepy old villages. At the ferry terminal the place was packed with bikers, got chatting to some Dutch Moto-Guzzi-ists returning from a tour of Ireland, and some English couples off continental touring on their BMW rocketships. Somehow the Tiger ended up with the BMW's, but got some positive comments based on how small she was (!)

All my mates are BMW's

Another good kip and we rolled off at 8am Monday morning, a quick blast and I was in work for 9am, but wishing I could have tagged along with the Brits going down to the Black Forest and a ride around the Nurburgring.

Inevitably I'd bought some bits for the bike to make it 'more suitable' for me - the bar risers fitted easily and quickly and have completely eradicated my aching shoulders and wrists, so that was money well spent.


Not such an easy fit are the lowered footpegs, oh they are good quality, but I find I just can't fit their shiny aluminium blinginess to the blacked-out Tiger, so I'll have to resort to some home spray-painting (in the hallway) to render them inconspicuous.


And finally, if you remember the picture of the big yellow box I posted up back in the winter? Well that got finished and shipped off by barge down the river on its way out to sea - here's a picture of it on its way; now we can see into the shed where our little platform is getting built - a long way to go yet!









11 comments:

  1. I have come up with a fix for my screen buffeting issue, will blog it soon.....

    That yellow top box looks a bit OTT?

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    1. N, look forward to your tip, hopefully it'll save me from buying another gadget that doesn't work!

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    2. http://nwlabs.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/banish-buffetting.html

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    3. You could of course do it the simple way - google "GIVI AF6401 Airflow Screen" around £150. People I trust say good things about the Air Flow and it can be adjusted in a givvy for us normal people!

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  2. EL D:

    Just as I was thinking about your Heated Grips, top case & centre stand, you mentioned that they were FINALLY installed. Those are Really, Really, Really, Tall risers. Is your Tiger the only bike Tied Down on the Ferry ? I was just wondering why

    Now that you've got a waterproof jacket, it won't rain anymore . . .

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. Bob, the Xc does come with higher risers than the standard Tiger..but you're correct, with the additional spacers added the bars are pretty high. Then again, I'm freakishly tall. The Tiger was first to be tied down as I was travelling light, all those Bmw riders had capacious panniers to unpack first! As for the waterproof jacket not being required.....I hoe you're right!

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    2. Freakishly tall? We are normal Jon!

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    3. N, you're right - actually, here in Holland, 6' 3" is pretty average!

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  3. Wow, a whirlwind trip. Ferry rides, thunder shower, new jacket. I bet those heated grips were nice on the way back to Holland too.

    I laughed when you said you saw the windmill.

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    1. T, I wanted to stop and take a photo just to celebrate the irony, but I had to get home before dark. Maybe next time,,,,,

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