Just Ride.

DISTINGUSHED GENTLEMENS RIDE

I have registered for the above Cardiff event which takes place tomorrow (Sunday) weather permitting.
Its a charitable ride for a good cause. Hope to get photos on the day Taffy gets the nod for this.
This is a worlwide event see link below

https://gentlemansride.com/about/dapper-guide

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How was the ride Adam? This was me yesterday in Victoria BC. We had 149 riders and raised just under $46,000! My second year, and a beauty sunny day.
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Thanks guys - lots of fun. Lots of Triumphs (newer) a few Nortons and Vincents, and just one other XS650 and a W800. Surprising very few old classic Japanese bikes. I didn't take enough pictures. The older building is the rear steps of the BC Legislature.

Il say it again: I can't say enough great things about Jim's rewound rotor. Best thing I done to this bike since the top end rebuild years ago. (Which also followed his directions). Thanks Jim!

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How was the ride Adam? This was me yesterday in Victoria BC. We had 149 riders and raised just under $46,000! My second year, and a beauty sunny day.
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What a great presentation of man and machine!

On the morning of the ride the weather was fine and I was excited to attend my first DGR ride.
Unfortunately my body was not so inclined as I awoke with a serious bought of Gastro-enteritis and could not get off the 'dunny' :poo:/🤮 all day!
A shame as I was looking forward to showing Taffy off to an appreciating and like minded crowd.

Roll on next year.
 
What a great presentation of man and machine!

On the morning of the ride the weather was fine and I was excited to attend my first DGR ride.
Unfortunately my body was not so inclined as I awoke with a serious bought of Gastro-enteritis and could not get off the 'dunny' :poo:/🤮 all day!
A shame as I was looking forward to showing Taffy off to an appreciating and like minded crowd.

Roll on next year.
That's a shame, I was looking forward to pics of her.
 
What a great presentation of man and machine!

On the morning of the ride the weather was fine and I was excited to attend my first DGR ride.
Unfortunately my body was not so inclined as I awoke with a serious bought of Gastro-enteritis and could not get off the 'dunny' :poo:/🤮 all day!
A shame as I was looking forward to showing Taffy off to an appreciating and like minded crowd.

Roll on next year.
Here is a short video of what I missed in Cardiff :rolleyes:

 
Bought a new to me 2019 Multistrada, put it on a trailer and went from Boise to Indy. Met a good friend, went to Indy Grand Prix and IMS museum - both of which were great. Met up with a group (we’ve been doing this for now 20 years every May). Met some new friends, saw some old friends. Rode together for a week through KY, TN, NC, VA, IN (a bit over 1700 miles on the bike)! Some of the best roads in the U.S. Just pulled back in driveway in ID! Great trip!!
 
Bought a new to me 2019 Multistrada, put it on a trailer and went from Boise to Indy. Met a good friend, went to Indy Grand Prix and IMS museum - both of which were great. Met up with a group (we’ve been doing this for now 20 years every May). Met some new friends, saw some old friends. Rode together for a week through KY, TN, NC, VA, IN (a bit over 1700 miles on the bike)! Some of the best roads in the U.S. Just pulled back in driveway in ID! Great trip!!
Piccies or it never happened 😂
 

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Great response. We love piccies here; especially in the ‘Just Ride’ thread. Nice one.
My apologies if this doesn’t belong in this thread but part of the trip - head out from Rock Springs, WY after a fuel up and truck starts hard missing up a hill. For those of you familiar with Wyoming you know but for others, there’s not a lot out there. When one cylinder on a 2.7L 4cly isn’t working it’s noticeable. Two choices: turn around and go 30 miles back or try to 90-ish miles to next dealer. I turn around. Go to Chevy dealer - they look at it and figure it out. Cost me three hours. Could have been on side of the road overnight easliy out there. Exceptional customer service (somewhat rare nowadays).
 

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Great weather today. Warm at 7.00am this morning so I decided to to take Taffy to work. Drive to lockup 3 miles from home. Pull Taffy from slumber; fill tank with fresh E5 and fire up first press. Tog up for the ride.

20 miles to work along the coastal road, through arable farmland. Sun is warm and fly rise is already hitting my face.
Taffy is running nicely, and all is well with the world from my saddle. I arrive at work early with a big smile on my face.

I took a new rider on an accompanied test ride today. Outbound I ride the 2026 Tiger 900 Alpine; such an efficient and accomplished bike; it’s a real step up from The Brat my R1200GS. Inbound I rode the new Bonneville 1200 T120. The T120 is a grunty bike and similar in feel to my XS650 Taffy, but slower steering and less characterful. Its efficient water cooled, fuel injected engine makes it an easy ride. On Taffy I have to work harder for the thrills, but the rewards are much better; noise, feel and thrill's aplenty. All at lower speeds.

The ride home on Taffy was just as lovely in the evening sunshine.

The newbie rider? He loved both bikes but preferred the Bonneville T120.
 
On Taffy I have to work harder for the thrills, but the rewards are much better; noise, feel and thrill's aplenty. All at lower speeds.

From Cycle World. A '79F.

It’s the sound, as much as anything. Hit the starter button and the engine growls to life with a subdued roar, then settles into the loping gait of a large vertical Twin, the sound of an even series of cylinder explosions separated by flashes of silence.

It doesn’t purr or whine or mumble. It idles, the handlebars and front end moving with the engine pulsations, trembling in anticipation of the ride to come. It sounds like a motorcycle, not a two-wheeled Porsche; and feels like a motorcycle, not an electric golf cart. You can hear and feel the source of power, gasoline explosions encased in iron and aluminum and steel. The rider, like it or not, is involved in the reality of the machinery.
https://www.xs650.com/threads/xs650-road-test.56415/post-626395
 
Great weather today. Warm at 7.00am this morning so I decided to to take Taffy to work. Drive to lockup 3 miles from home. Pull Taffy from slumber; fill tank with fresh E5 and fire up first press. Tog up for the ride.

20 miles to work along the coastal road, through arable farmland. Sun is warm and fly rise is already hitting my face.
Taffy is running nicely, and all is well with the world from my saddle. I arrive at work early with a big smile on my face.

I took a new rider on an accompanied test ride today. Outbound I ride the 2026 Tiger 900 Alpine; such an efficient and accomplished bike; it’s a real step up from The Brat my R1200GS. Inbound I rode the new Bonneville 1200 T120. The T120 is a grunty bike and similar in feel to my XS650 Taffy, but slower steering and less characterful. Its efficient water cooled, fuel injected engine makes it an easy ride. On Taffy I have to work harder for the thrills, but the rewards are much better; noise, feel and thrill's aplenty. All at lower speeds.

The ride home on Taffy was just as lovely in the evening sunshine.

The newbie rider? He loved both bikes but preferred the Bonneville T120.
Wtf man, I'm still waiting on pictures. :laughing:
 
From Cycle World. A '79F.

It’s the sound, as much as anything.

Exactly! I can still see and hear it in my mind, the first time I ever heard one. I was a sixteen year old kid working my first real job bussing tables at a restaurant. One of the cooks had just bought a ‘72 XS2, I remember standing in the parking lot admiring that bike when he came out to leave. I just stood there watching and listening as he thundered off down the street……I was absolutely smitten! A few short years later I was riding my own ‘76 model. But little did I know that a mere 45 years later…….TA DA! :geek:
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