Stuart’s GoldWing Blog

It takes a lot of work to earn the right to wear one of these

On a recent holiday to Florida I had the opportunity to renew friendships made at last year’s Blackpool Light Parade, when the Team Captain and three other Team Riders came over to show us their skills. They ‘re a great bunch to spend time with.

This further contact also gave me the opportunity to learn more of how they go about things, including how they train up new Team Riders. Training to be a Drill Team Rider is quite a complex and prolonged business and building up the level of skill and consistency, especially consistency, takes quite a while.

The Team, still the reigning World Champions, is thriving and busier than ever, with a programme of twenty or so Displays planned for this year.  And in between Display weekends, a regular weekly Practice Session gets a pretty full turn out ever time, so one way and another getting involved with the Central Florida Motorcycle Drill Team takes up most of a rider’s leisure time.  They’re off to Americade this week, which is continues………

Snake Pass in the Derbyshire National Park

Barry Walton will be leading a full day’s ride in Yorkshire and Derbyshire on Sunday 14th June.

The route will take you over Snake Pass, passing Ladybower Reservoir and through country lanes to Matlock Bath and a scenic return to Keighley.

Meeting at 0830 at Appleyards Keighley Showrooms (Waterloo Road) leaving at 0845 then calling at Appleyards

Ladybower Reservoir

Matlock Bath - popular with bikers every Sunday

Huddersfield Car Showroom (Lockwood Road) at about 0945 for a coffee stop cum pickup, leaving there at 10 am.

Barry would be grateful if those planning to come would give him a ring on 01535 606311 or email him at b.walton@colinappleyard.com, for catering purposes, so perhaps he’s planning something more than a brew.

Honda's new Tire Pressure Monitoring System

You may be very unlikely to see a tyre valve like this on a GL1800 in UK, although all the 2009 models in the States have them.  One of the changes made by Honda for the 2009 model year in the States is a new warning device for loss of tyre pressure; if the tyre pressure falls below a certain level a warning light tells the rider.  This chunky-looking tyre valve houses the device which tell the bike when pressure in its tyre is low.

This is potentially a very valuable safety feature; undetected loss of tyre pressure can cause handling problems and lead to loss of control. Assuming Honda have made this new piece of kit work reliably, which they are usually very good at, I would very much like one on my bike.  So presumably do Honda, it’s been introduced across the full range of GL1800 models in USA.

But UK Wingers are not going to get the option. My information is continues………

As you can probably guess from the backdrop, this bike is not currently located in UK

Here is an unusual opportunity for UK Wingers to buy a nearly-new US Spec GL1800 and get help from the owner to ship it to the UK.  The bike is of course also for sale to American viewers too.

The Owner is Mark Madden, one of the Central Florida Motorcycle Drill Team who came to the 2008 Blackpool Light Parade.  And no, he hasn’t used this bike for Drill Team work, it’s been his second bike and he’s only done 2000 miles on it.

Mark, hitherto a Harley rider through and through, was so captured continues………

I kept the filter to show you....

I kept the old filter to show you, said the mechanic, when Nigel had his bike serviced recently.

It was quite a while ago when he saw some evidence of a mouse having been  in his garage and there had been no evidence of any harm coming to his bike or of it moving in long term.  The bike had also been running perfectly satisfactorily so far this year, with no hint of power loss or increased fuel consumption.

Yet when the mechanic took the lid of the air filter housing this is what he discovered.  Mice had clearly been in residence there, tucked away cosily during the winter.  The GL1800 has dual forward-facing air inlets to the air filter housing and these are of course plenty big enough to admit a mouse or indeed something much larger and easily accessible to an agile climber.  There are no grills or other barriers until you get to the air filter itself, which fortunately blocks access to the inlet manifold completely.

Mice have squashable skulls and they like squeezing into tiny dark holes; if a hole is big enough to poke a pencil into, a mouse can get in there too.  Presumably they close their eyes and use their whiskers.  I’m too claustrophobic to be reincarnated as a mouse; I’d quite like to be an albatros next time around, although I suppose if I’m honest my natural physical predisposition would lean towards being an elephant.  Indian rather than African hopefully; I am getting much more docile with advancing years and I haven’t had a proper Musth for many a year.  Anyway, from a mouse’s perspective continues………