DIY Sat Nav Mounting Bar For Honda Varadero 2001

I tried mounting the SatNav directly onto the handle bars, which did not work out as well as I hoped due to a couple of reasons.

Firstly, to get a good view of the SatNav whilst riding it had to be tilted up, but on a bright day the sun made seeing it a problem, so not a great position to be in.

Secondly, I could not use it with the tank bag on, as the bag obscured vision of it.

All in all a bit of a nightmare.

The only thing for it was to look at ways of mounting up higher on the fairing/dash. I wasn't keen on drilling holes, as this would of been the most obvious answer, instead I decided to investigate my local DIY surplus store for inspiration.

I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, based on the fact that there are two screws on the fairing either side, just above the speedo and rev counters of the dash. They secure the black moulded plastic to the screen.

If I could some how attach a piece of conduit or pipe across I could mount the SatNav directly onto it using the existing screws as mounting points.

As you can see from the pictures above, it seemed to work a treat! Not sure if I will have the SatNav mounted centrally as shown or to the right.

Centrally may obscure the dials, but to be honest I do not ride faster than 70 mph which is where I wont be able to see or take it over 6000 revs.  So not really an issue.

But happy with the concept and design. Total cost - £5.20

And it took less than 15 minutes to bolt on. 

The journey continues......................

Honda Varadero In For It's Service At 34,000 Miles

This morning I took the bike down to Bursey Engineering based in my home town of New Milton for a full service.

I dropped it off in the capable hands of Paul, who also looks after my little Honda C90 aka "Lucille".

I only have one known problem at the moment, which Paul says is an easy fix and they can sort for me.

The problem is when I brake using the foot pedal the brake light comes on, but when I brake using the handle bar lever the brake light does not come on.

This is 9 times out of 10 the fault of the micro switch in the lever.

On initial inspection Paul thought it prudent that the front tyre is changed, all though it is still good for a couple of thousand miles, with a couple of trips planned it would be ragged by the end of them. Better safe than sorry.

So she is down there as we speak, I haven't had a phone call yet telling me there is a problem, so fingers crossed!

Will find out later today!

Well it's now later, and I am pleased to say that I have the bike back with no issues! Hooray!!!

The brake light was sorted with a new switch.

I was a little nervous, I asked Paul to give it a proper going over, but he couldn't find anything wrong with it at all! 

Very chuffed - £200 lighter in the wallet, but money well spent as far as I'm concerned.

Just the new tyre to go on the front and ready to go!

The journey continues...........

Long Weekend In February 2016

Checking over my schedules at work I found out today that I have a long weekend coming up in February!

I have from Friday 12th till the 16th off.

So.................. I was thinking I may get away on the bike for a couple of days!!

As the weather could still be wet and cold, I thought that instead of camping I would use Youth Hostels as I am a member.

The only thing I have to think about is where. Wales is favourite with plenty of places to go, and with a good few hostels to bed down at, it seems the obvious choice.

Waiting to see if an old friend can join me for a couple of days, then a bit of planning, and I'm off!

It will also give the bike a good shake down before our departure for a more sunnier climate!

Watch this space..

The journey continues.........

Honeymoon Trip - 1st nights in France Booked

We are getting married on Sunday 27th March 2016 (Easter Sunday) the next day we catch the night boat over from Portsmouth to Le Havre arriving in France at approximately at 0830hrs.

Our plan is to ride to the South of France somewhere near Nice and then turn left and head up the coast. Ideally we would like to get to Florence in Italy, but we have no fixed plan so who knows where we might end up!

We will be booking a cabin on the boat to make sure we are well rested for the ride down to our first over night stop.

We decided that we would book our first night in advance as after the wedding and an over night crossing we didn't want the hassle of looking for somewhere on route.

By chance a link popped up on my Facebook feed to a small hotel/bed and breakfast in the Correze region of Limousin. Run by an English couple Rob and Mandy. Their hotel is called the Riders Rest and can be found by clinking on the link highlighted.

It's run by bikers for bikers with secure parking, a workshop and drying facilities! The rooms look great and the prices excellent.

More importantly home cooked food and having contacted them and arranged our dates I must say that the level of communication is exceptional.

I can't wait to get there!

We have actually decided to stay for two nights as we reckon we will be pretty knackered after a rather full on weekend so having two nights to wind down will be heaven.

Whilst here we will decide on which direction to take for the next part of our adventure.

I have a few spares to buy to take with us just in case, and apart from a full service we are ready to go!

With less than 9 weeks to go till the big day it wont be long till we are off!

The journey continues...................

New Forest January 2016 Honda Varadero Rideout Video

My first GoPro video - a trip out to accompany my previous blog post!





Got a long way to go with the editing and production, but we have to start some where!!!

The journey continues.............................

Quick Blasts - Rideouts Through The New Forest And Coast

As I have said on more than one occasion I feel rather lucky to live in the area that I do.

Even with just an hour or less of day light left at the end of the day, it's still enough time for a quick blast through the Forest.

This was taken at a place called Hatchet Pond not far from Beaulieu. A great place to watch the sun go down, although it was a bit nippy this evening.

The next time I finished work I only had a few minutes of day light remaining, so this was directly on the way home and taken at Milford Cliff Tops.

Finally the last picture of the week and it was taken at Barton Beach looking directly towards the Needles of the Isle of Wight.

So a good week on the bike, with some really cold starts with plenty of black ice about. You just have to take it slow and gentle!

My Oxford wrap around hot grips have been working overtime! However, there is one snag to this.

There are just two settings on the pair I have, that's Hot and Bloody Hot. The last couple of days I've needed them on the 2nd setting, but because my journey to and from work is so short, (20 mins avg) then unfortunately they draw more current from the battery than what is replaced by the notoriously rubbish Honda alternator. Thus resulting in a flat battery the other morning! Not what I needed.

You live and learn. 

The journey continues.......................

New Forest - Quick Blasts!

Living in such close proximity to the New Forest and the South Coast is great.

10 minutes ride from my house and I can either be looking out over the English Channel or deep within the New Forest.

So today I had an errand to complete in Southampton, so I set off reasonably early with the idea that if I managed to complete my mission of buying wedding attire I would treat myself to a few hours of riding.

The sun was shining and with only a slight breeze I set off for Southampton.

An easy trip in, with dry roads for the main part, however due to all the rain we have had recently you often come across water coursing across the road. Together with large amounts of gravel washed out from the verges which can catch you out if you are not fully on the ball!

I managed to get what I wanted in a record time of 15 minutes! Brilliant, now lets go riding!

Heading out of Southampton towards the New Forest I took a left and headed for Hythe and Fawley. Straight on past Fawley and out to Calshot where I stopped for a wee and then onto the spit where I have been a few times on the bike.

I didn't hang around that long so headed over to Lepe Beach where there is a little café which does a great bacon and brie pannini!

As I walked back to my bike a guy pulled up on a baby Varadero, Honda decided that they would make a 125cc version of my bike with a similar look, V twin engine, but only half the size.

You can see from the picture there is a bit of a difference between them. I had a chat with the owner who had never been near a full sized one and was a little taken back by the sheer size of the bike!

I set off heading for Exbury, then onto Beaulieu, where I then turned right and headed for Lyndhurst. Through the town and heading out on the A35.

A few miles out of Lyndhurst I took a left and headed through the forest past Rhinefield, a cracking ride through the forest and up across the high ground and into Brockenhurst.

Straight through heading for home and a brew.

Approx 90 miles of fun. Riding a bike is definitely good for the soul!

The journey continues.........