Motorbiking
"Biker" for me usually means motorbiking, though I also have a couple of mountain-bikes... see Trail Bike
My current motorbikes are a Honda CBR600RR ABS 2017 and a Kawasaki Ninja Z250SL.
Previously I have owned: Kawasaki ZX4-RR (Ninja anniversary edition), Honda CRF300 Rally, Honda CBR600RR 2005, Honda CBR600FW, Honda VF750F, Yamaha FJ600, Suzuki GSX750EX, Yamaha FJ750, Yamaha XJ900, Kawasaki Z750 and I passed my riding test on my Kawasaki KH250.
See also my Motorbiking web links
Carqueiranne, difficult to say and similarly difficult to get to by road. The railway has long gone so it’s a bash down through suburbia from Toulon. But the ride on the old N8 over le Mont Sainte-Baume was a fine compensation, its banked curves giving plenty of sportsbike rider interest.
My visit was inspired by reading that the writers and lovers Raymond Radiguet (1903-23) and Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) enjoyed a fling here in 1920-21. A complicated liaison, intertwined with publications and performances in Paris. The presumed simplicity of the Mediterranean fishermen of the 1920s is replaced on the quays of 2024 by the similarly presumptive sophistication of millionaires’ motorboats.
I found Carqueiranne to be special nice so it was hard to turn round and ride back. So thanks guys for the inspiration.
Two bikes on my drive and snow up there with the clouds above 900 m. on Skiddaw. Cumbria all-weather biker Andrew C rode his Versys 650 over from Kirby Stephen on the Pennines for coffee and a chat.
That was semi-heroic riding, my garden weather station shows just 6°C (up from 4.5°C at dawn) and still gusts to 50 km/hr (30 mph). He has electric heated grips and seat plus wearing many layers, then a microfibre balaclava and skull-cap.
My bike was out of the garage so I could remove the battery, to store it warm in the house during the winter weather.
A sleet shower was getting going as he left to continue his ride round Lakeland. Heroic all-weather rider.
When I rode a Versys 650:-
Once more our traditional lunchtime club gathering on the banks of the Thames at Vauxhall to celebrate Christmas and the end of the biking year. Raffle drawn by the GBMCC London Area Rep, Noam.
- GBMCC London Xmas lunch 2023
- GBMCC London Xmas lunch 2022
- GBMCC London Christmas lunch 2018
- GBMCC London Christmas lunch 2017
- GBMCC London Christmas lunch 2016
A ride for pure sportsbike fun, enjoying the big sweeping roads around the Lac de Sainte-Croix. Payback time for all those gym sessions and everything else: rides like this make it all worthwhile.
Golfe de Porto
Embarking at Marseille
Corsica in November, my escape from storms on the continent and taking advantage of Black Friday pricing. Seeing snow on the Corsican mountains at dawn was the first of many memorable sights. The road from Ajaccio to the red rock Calanches goes over two good cols, both reasonable surfaces for a bit of sportsbike fun, though a bit of sand washout. Cool but not cold first thing, and by midday I was opening the vents on my jacket and boots
Subcategories
Alps Biker 2016
I'm riding light for a week on the mountain roads of the Alps. No laptop, although I do have my SLR camera but photos will have to wait till I'm back in Marseille..
I left Marseille for a long ride north via the Col de la Croix Haute (1179 m.) to Saint-Gervais under Mont Blanc. A bit of rain towards the end of the day which cleaned the Provence dust off my white leathers and boots but didn't soak me through.
