It all started with a phonecall about work. My colleague was asking about some work related issues, and before he went mentioned he and a mate of his were going across the top of Milton Keynes on their bikes on Thursday. Would I like to meet them at Newport Pagnall? I said yes, and so it was settled.

Thursday night I started the bike, dragged it out to the road and got ready. I stopped for petrol along the way, and got to our rendez vous point just outside Newport Pagnall by 7:20 and waited. Soon Graham on his Yamaha and his mate Pete on a 1200 Suzuki Bandit arrived, and we set off for the Canal Museum car park at Stoke Bruerne going via he back roads. A pleasant enough ride, and Graham and Pete were graciously holding back for me on the Z750.

After a few decreases in road size and deterioration in road surfaces we came to Stoke Bruerne, and down into the Museum Car Park (some wags keep covering the “C” in Canal museum to leave the hilarious results on the local signs). I lost Graham in the car park, but soon found his Yamaha skulking in a corner, and Pete and I parked up nearby.

Across the canal we headed for a pub, and had a coke outside in the dying sunlight. Then went inside for another. Here we found a quiz night had just started so we joined in with the locals, and answered questions as “Norfolk n idea”. A couple of diet cokes later and we were declared the winners, accepted our prize and went back outside to find a cold night had settled in.

We all mounted up, all of us in motorcycle jackets, but only jeans on the lower half. As we set off the chill of the April night was immediately apparent. With Grahams words in my ears “Keep it at 60 on the A 508, should be easy enough even on that old crate” I headed for the main Northampton road back to Old Stratford and Milk n Beans. As we got onto the unlit A508 I realised I still hadn’t replaced the speedo bulb, so judging 60mph to be a tad over 3,500 rpm in top I aimed for that.

The second thing which hit me was that the last time I rode the twin at night I hadn’t been able to see a thing over 3 yards in front of me with the 70’s lighting of the old Kawasaki. This situation still held true, and was compounded by the two modern bikes lights glaring in my mirrors. So I headed along the A508, judging 60mph (wrongly it transpired) and trying to navigate by the dying candle of a headlight. Not great, reacting to white line changes as they happened a few feet ahead  isn’t recommended to anybody.

Going into the small hamlet of Grafton Regis there was at least a few street lamps, so I could see I had slowed to 25mph for the 30mph limit in force here. Unfortunately that also meant the visor on my crash helmet misted over just as we exited the lit area of the road. So foggy visored I tried again to hit 60mph and hold it with a visibility measurable by a regulation school ruler. In addition my legs were going numb under my faded blue jeans.

At the A5 roundabout Graham and Pete peeled off to head back to Bedford, grateful that they would be able to add some speed I guess. I went across through Old Stratford and home. I arrived cold, but beaming and full of enthusiasm for the next ride out. That’s if Graham will offer an invite again, as he rang on Friday on another work related matter, and dropped into the conversation some of the finer details of the ride along the A508. Firstly my speed judgement fell short, hitting at best just over 50, and mostly around 45mph. Secondly the two modern bikes had burnt a lot of brakes just trying to avoid my rear as I suddenly braked to make the turn they could have seen from half a mile away.

To give them their due, the guys were gracious, and didn’t mock me too much and sort of accepted my excuses re: lights in the speedo and headlamp. The proviso is get a speedo bulb before the next ride, and I decided for my own peace of mind to find a modern headlight or upgrade to help me see where the road is going in the darkness. A 7” round Suzuki Bandit one allegedly doesn’t look too bad on the Kawasaki Z750 twin, so I’m going to look for one of those at an affordable cost. Anyone giving any away? Oh wait, Grahams mate Pete was on a Bandit wasn’t he, I just wonder….

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at 6:49 pm and is filed under Repairing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.