A walk in the snow.

It's been snowing around here so I thought it be fun to take wifey and pooch for a hike.

Does it get any prettier?

Dog had a blast making doggy versions of snow angels.

Stupid mutt! (but lovely)

Bloody Yamahas'!

Never would have happened to my Honda! On Friday the XT decided to die on the middle lane of the M4! Thankfully a helpful car driver flashed his lights and blasted his horn in an attempt to cure the problem. The AA sent the breakdown truck to the wrong end of the motorway (jubction 3 instead of junction 33!) so a long wait was on the cards. Our Boys in Blue were brilliant. Understanding and helpful, they took the photo and got me [and bike] to the nearest services and coordinated the AA for me.

The AA were very sorry for the delay and coughed up £20 so breckie, the papers and a relax was order of the day. Result.

Initially I thought the problem was carb icing, but while digging around once I finally got home found corroded wiring at the starter solenoid and the ignition circuit. Not totally convinced the electrics are to blame, but until I can fix this fault it's impossible to say.

More bashing in the kitchen

After the joy of knocking through from the old building into the new, the time has come to finish the alterations to the existing structure. The kitchen entrance and hallway dividing wall have to be re-structured to move the opening into the kitchen, block off the old entrance into the understair cupboard and generally tidy things up. This is the offending wall and doors (one on the left is the cupboard, one on the right goes into the hallway).

After half an hour with my mate sledgy followed by Mr broomy and you get this.

...And then re-construction can begin.

Kitchen chaos

Bit of a major day with the kitchen extension project today because today is the day I knock through from old to new. Spent the last few days gutting the old kitchen including removing the old back door and window. This is what I ended up with.

Couple of props, a big hammer and a few hours 'expressing' myself and this is what you get!

Now all I have to do is put a kitchen back in. (oh, and wack some steel lintels in to hold the house up).

Weekend at the Stafford bike show

Well a fine weekend was had at the Classic bike show at Stafford Show ground. Club stand attracted a fair few visitors and one of our number won an award for her SRX. Just a few piccies for those who are interested.

A beautiful SRX 400 electric start motor stuffed into a 600 kickstart frame.

The prize winning SRX 600. Not bad for a first attempt at a custom build.

Snuck this triumph trident/featherbed cate racer in amongst the singles as it has to be the most beautiful cafe racers out there. I could be converted to triples!

Found this amongst the 'Early Stocks' racers. Lovely little pocket rocket.

How's that for a funky FT500 flat-tracker?



And here's my baby. loaded like a pack mule and resting next to my weekend base camp. She may lack the glamour of those bikes in the show, but I wouldn't swap her.

Sad sight

Is there any sadder sight in the world than a project bike boxed up and covered with a dust sheet? Here lies Abigail with her engine in the two cardboard boxes :-(

On a brighter note... Isn't the shed tidy :-)

Extension roof

Work is [slowly] progressing with the extension. Roof timbers on along with waterproof membrane and battons.

Today starts with fitting the velux window frame (that's what the big square hole is for) then onto tiling.

Extension phase 2 complete

The blockwork is now complete and ready to start the roof structure. Joints may not always be mid block, but everything is square and level. took a width measurement at both ends of the plot and there isn't 2mm in it. How chuffed am I?

Picture above shows the supporting wall that will carry the steel beam that forms the backbone of the vaulted ceiling.

This snap shows the front elevation. As you can see, it's going to be nearly all glass door and with two sky lights in the south facing roof, we'll be bathed in light.

Greg's Motorcycle Song

Extension update.

Finally got a camera sorted so I can post some pictures of the new project in my life. Not very bikey, I admit, but still fun in some ways.

As you can see all the site work is now complete. Foundations done, floor laid, perimeter fence built, drains in and surrounding site leveled and covered with scalpings ready for the patio slabs. Even got a few breeze blocks on standby ready for the build.

This shot shows the prep work to the existing house wall that was damaged when removing the old lean-too. Still patches of render to remove but I only had the power chisel on hire for a weekend and ran out of time.

Steel sections that will bond new to old to be fitted tomorrow and then Saturday will see the first block laid in anger. Be interesting to see how many I can lay in a day. I can work out how long the rest of the block work should take then.

Will post again after the weelend.

5 Peaks weekend.

Just completed the 5 peak challenge walk. The mission was to walk the 3 highest peaks in Britain followed by the 3 highest peaks in Wales (Snowdon appearing in both lists). The list reads; Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, Snowdon, Cadair Idris and Pen-Y-Fan. That little lot was to be topped off by a 35 mile night hike from Pen-Y-Fan to Llantrisant. Sadly exhaustion beat me and I had to be collected from Abercynon after walking for 8 hours. Some highlight piccies follow.

Hard done by feet dangling off Pen-Y-Fan

man at C&A pose ontop of Pen-Y-Fan.

Service at this bar is awfully slow!

Three cairns near the top of Ben Nevis.

Latest mad idea

Still waiting to get a camera sorted (sigh!) and I'm off to the shops today to buy something as trying to sort out the problems I'm having with my phone camera has me beat.

The trigger for this change of approach is the fact that tonight I head off to walk, not only the National 3 Peak challenge in 24 hours, but also the Welsh three peaks straight after and then hike home [35 miles] once completed. If that's not tough enough, we're taking a rowing machine up all 5 mountains too! I'm starting to think I need help.

Still no sign of a camera

No joy yet at getting a working camera to photograph my projects. Things are moving a pace and I'm sad to admit a record is not being kept. This weekend will see the concrete floor laid in the extension. The drains are in [almost], the remaining site is cleared and the perimiter fencing posts are fixed and I haven't got any piccies!

Heyho.

News update

My apologies for the lack of entries. The reasons are; 1) flat out busy working on the extension. 2) my camera's broken!

So I thought I'd just type a few lines to keep anybody who's interested updated.

Extension.

Foundations done and block-work finished upto Damp Proof Course. I need the building inspector to sign off my efforts before I can proceed any further. Quite chuffed with my creation so far, it's straight and level and solid too. Actually starting to look quite big now. When it was just a hole it looked way too small for what we wanted.

Next jobs [after approval] will be a bit of house keeping. Perimeter fence needs sorting, site needs tidying, drains need laying and the wall of the house need to be prepped ready for the new block-work to link in.

Abigail.

Actually got round to ordering the stainless steel bolts to put the motor back together! Haven't got the gaskets yet, but this is still a major step forward. Just hope I can remember how it all came apart.

Poppy. (the XT)

I'll be working on Poppy today trying to grind out a drill bit from the cylinder head! Since I've owned her she has had a cronic back-fire problem which has been caused by the exhaust not bolting to the head correctly. The reason is two studs had been sheered off by a previous owner. One I've managed to fix, but the other has got a drill bit snapped off in it (not by me I hasten to add!) The best plan I can come up with that doesn't involve stripping down the head is to grind out the offending bit with a Dremell and some diamond coated needle grinders. To give this job the best chance of working I'm going to remove the front wheel, forks and mudguard. Wish me luck! As an aside, while trying to sort out the exhaust system I seem to have bought a set of stainless steel large bore down pipes. Lurvly.

Poppy is also getting a new back rack and set of pannier carriers ready for when I next go camping. Really looking forward to fitting them and finishing off the bike as I want her to be.

When I get a working camera I shall post some piccies. Report again soon.

Been busy

I have been a bit neglectful of this blog but there is a reason. This year is being handed over to building a kitchen extension on my house. There has been lots of 'behind the scenes' stuff to deal with but at last, construction has begun. Well, when I say construction I mean destruction! First job was to remove the original out house.

I cannot begin to describe how badly it was built. Whoever is responsible needs his trowel stuffed up his arse! As an example of the poor construction, the wall plate which supported the roof trusses was attached to the house by 6 x 4" wood screws! Looking for a positive in all this, at least it came down easily.

Next job was to dig the footings. Who is that handsome chap?

And this is what is left of my back garden.

As with all building projects, I had my share of problems, namely a main sewer pipe running right through the site! The building inspector insists it is exposed and bridged. Problem is it was 5' underground! Let me tell you, digging it out made one hell of a hole.

I have to form a shutter either side of the drain and concrete underneath it. Then I need to place lintels over it when building the blockwork up to DPC level.

Well the shutter is in and I've back filled to the level of the bottom of my excavation, next is to pour the rest of the footings before the inspector comes again. Only one other grief to contend with, and that's the mains power cable that supplies electricity to the house. (Oh and a gas main, but I might be able to doge that).

More to follow!

The Queen is dead...Long live the Queen!

After a hairy winter spell trying to ride around on the VX, I've taken the decision to go back to my first true love... Thumpers!

I loved cruising around in the summer and cannot deny it was good to arrive at a campsite with all my fillings in still place, but the fact remains the VX is one serious lump of a bike. 470lbs in wieght and as long as a barge, she is a nightmare to ride in grim conditions and that's most of the time in the UK. I thought I'd be taking the boys out more and a bigger bike would make that easier, but that didn't happen either. The fact is most of my miles are to and from work a trip of some 40 miles a day. Camping trips are limited to 2 or 3 a year and if I want to take my boys...well... we can all go by car.

So, I hear you ask, what have I bought?? Well Ive gone and got myself a XT600E!

Big enough to haul my sorry arse to work every day, but slight enough for a bit of green laning should I take a fancy. I'll need to sort out some kind of luggage rack on the back and something to stop the panniers touching the exhaust, but apart from that she's good to go!

Her first major trip will be the Dragon rally in about 3 weeks time and that's when I'll find out how I cope with the bike/rider interface.