FoRTHcoMING EVENTS ISDE TIME AGAIN

FoRTHcoMING EVENTS
ocToBER 2015
There’s plenty to look forward to in the coming months.
Top of the list, it’s excellent news that the Witley 100 Long Distance
Trial is back, thanks largely to enthusiastic help from outside the Club,
notably from Roger Brown. Let’s hope that we can maintain the momentum
for this popular competition.
The H.C. “Charlie” Wake Trial will take place as usual on the Saturday of
Remembrance weekend, and as over the past several years will be based at Tickfold
Farm, Kingsfold. Why not volunteer to observe? Clerk of the Course Neil Bowker would
love to hear from you. Just be prepared for plenty of mud.
The Annual Bonfire Night fits neatly into mid-November on Saturday 14th, leaving
space for other bonfire events and the Charlie Wake. Check the website for details.
Then it’s not very long until December, and the Reg Bowker Trophy Trial, our TVTC
round on December 13th. The route at Warren Heath will be very similar to last year’s
event. Once again, Neil will be in the chair and waiting for your call offering to help.
Of course Christmas would not be quite the same without the BXDE. This year, as in
2014, the Enduro will take place on the Sunday, but it will be slightly nearer to Boxing
Day as Sunday is the 27th! The organising team are already at work on this and as
ever, your assistance would be welcome.
Looking still further ahead, The Classic Enduro is scheduled for February 21st at
Warren Heath, but this is still to be confirmed. Again, keep an eye on the website.
The 2016 Weston Trophy Trial arrangements
are also TBC, as an application has been
made to run this trial as a National/ British
Championship event as was the case this
year. However, this will depend on the
confirmation from the ACU and on the
availability of Butser Quarry as the location.
Once again the plan is that Hookwood Trials
Club would run the first round on the Saturday.
Tristan
Robinson at
the final
motocross
ISDE TIME AGAIN
Witley MCC once again entered the Club
Team competition at the International Six
Days Enduro, held in Slovakia this year.
Our team met with mixed fortunes. See inside for some more pictures and notes...
Visit our website for the latest news: www.witleymcc.org
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ISDE NoTES
Another year gone and ten years on from
the last visit, it was back to Slovakia for
the Witley contingent competing in the
2015 ISDE.
After months of uncertainty over the Witley
MCC team, our team consisting of
experienced ISDE veteran Rob Carey,
newcomer Tristan Robinson and substitute
Robin Scarry was finally ready to roll.
Initial thoughts on the layout of the facilities
were not altogether positive, with the
paddock and parc fermé being separated by
some distance and therefore a rather
fragmented feel to the preparations.
Day one was largely dry, with only a small
amount of rain falling during competition.
However, after the majority of the World
Trophy and Junior World Trophy team
riders returned their bikes to the Parc
Fermé, the heavens opened. Generally
considered to have been not too difficult,
things might well be very different on Day
two, which would take riders over the exact
same course and special tests as used on
Day one, but perhaps in more testing
conditions.
In fact, Tristan had found the first day hard
going in the very mountainous terrain with
long runs of rocky streams to contend with.
Very tight schedules throughout the event
would add to the seriousness of the
challenge.
It was not a good start for the rest of the
Witley team. Regrettably, Robin had twisted
his knee badly on the first day; it did not
improve overnight and he was forced to
retire. In a further setback, the stomach bug
with which Rob had been battling finally
defeated him.
Day three saw competitors tackle the rough
and bumpy tracks of days one and two in
the opposite direction to ensure another
physical and demanding day of racing in
the hills around Kosice.
At the mid-way point, the event hit
controversy as eight of the World's top
riders – including David Knight of Great
2
Britain – were
excluded for
missing a
stamp check.
The result
threw the
Trophy
leaderboard
into confusion
and immediately
drew protests.
The now tired riders tackled a new course
on Day four, which was be used for the next
two days and ahead of the final day
motocross.
On Day five - the final full day of
competition - the riders returned to the
same trails and special tests, which proved
rougher second time around.
Following the decision by the FIM’s
International Disciplinary Court, which saw
the provisional reinstatement of the eight
riders originally disqualified on day three,
France moved into the lead of the World
Trophy team competition
With only one relatively short section to ride
ahead of the final day’s motocross, the end
of the Slovakian ISDE was in sight for the
400-plus weary competitors still left in the
event.
France secured their fourth consecutive
World Trophy win. Despite winning Day six,
Australia was unable to gain enough of an
advantage on their French rivals and
claimed the runner-up position. Repeating
their podium result of 2014, Spain ended
third overall; with Italy fourth, Great Britain
completed the top five.
The best news for the Witley MCC effort
was that in the C2 class, despite the loss of
both his teammates, Tristan Robinson
finished 75th with a Bronze medal on his
debut – many congratulations Tristan!
With the ninetieth ISDE over, Spain will be
the hosts for the 2016 FIM International Six
Days Enduro – in less than a year’s time.
And many thanks to Tristan for the photos.
Ed.
ISDE ScRAPBooK
3
A VoyAGE oF
REDIScoVERy
The trouble with using your bike to
commute to work is that by using the
same route day in and day out you learn
the road really well.
This may sound like a plus, but when you
know the tarmac strip as well as a racer
knows their home circuit it takes the edge
off. When you know which bends to go in
tight and which to enter wide and cut to the
apex, the order of the traffic lights so you
know how much time you have to filter to
the front and so you can drop the clutch
when the others go red knowing yours are
the next green, where all the drains are,
where the water collects etc. it all can
become a behaviour rather than an action,
an unconscious unreeling of programmed
reactions to the established pattern.
One can be glad of any changes to break
the monotony of the known highway. Then
there are the other road users. Being
unaware of the sameness of road, the ride
then becomes a ride of you versus the
traffic (or the weather) rather than you, the
bike and the road. Once again this may
seem like the interesting bit and sometimes
it us but in general, though individual
drivers have their unique habits and styles
when grouped together in a traffic flow the
behaviour of the group becomes
predictable. Again, not consciously. It all
becomes second nature your brain learns
to process without any intervention how the
flow is going – there are a huge number of
discrete scenarios that are repeated with
very little variation in any commute. Ride
the same flow of traffic for enough
repetitions and you once again unreel
programmed reactions to what effectively
becomes a repeated established pattern.
Once again one can be glad of changes –
the odd boy racer, ambulance, fire engine –
but over the years this can also have a
predicted outcome to the pattern of the
traffic and the choices are predetermined.
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You develop habits good and bad and can
become lazy, cruising in autopilot. You can
get to work and not remember the journey.
As well as boring this becomes dangerous.
Since I have been riding from the age of 16
in 1971, that is 44 years of regular daily
bike commuting my unfortunate experience
is that twice, 38 years apart something
completely unexpected and unseen –
though unfortunately not unbelievable – had
happened. On both occasions a car pulled
out in front of me having not seen or
ignored me, writing-off the bike and putting
me in hospital.
The National Road Rally changes all that. It
takes you back to first principles – takes
you to strange places on roads that you
would never dream of riding if it were not for
the rally. It restarts your biking brain into a
fresh, alert, multi-tasking level of
responsibility. It gives you a new
awareness and brings the reward of the
exposure to reality that you get on a bike.
You learn things about your bike and
yourself – you can re-discover the living
connection between you and the road, how
the unit of you+bike responds to the
unexpected, when you need to react like
lighting to change curse and when the bike
can be trusted to look after itself.
The National Road Rally is for me an
annual refresher course in being alive,
riding a bike. A challenging and therefore a
rewarding experience. If you gain an award
for completing the course in the allotted
time and distance and answer questions for
the Platinum award (or whatever) then this
is a bonus – the icing on the cake – the real
prize is the experience.
For me the change from a 4 cylinder 1200
Bandit that I had ridden for over 10 years to
a twin, briefly a Kawasaki W800 and now a
Bonneville 865 had brought about a new
set of expectations and a whole new way of
riding.
The National Rally re-calibration made me
realise that the style I had developed while
commuting was not getting the best from
the bike and was de-valuing the
experience. This has changed. The
National Rally refresher course has
reminded me of the basic, obvious truism’s
of motorcycling.
When pulling away I have a tendency to get
up through the gears quickly keeping the
revs down. This works well as the torque
available means there is no real need to rev
the engine – but now I have been made
aware of
how much
more the
bike has to
give in terms
of handling
and smooth
response if
the engine is
encouraged
to rev a bit
more.
Changing
down a
couple of
gears earlier
and having
a couple of thousand more revs there when
coming into a corner or roundabout really
does make a difference – the transition
from overrun to drive is clean and
exhilarating. If the revs are down too low it
is jerky and thrilling in the wrong way, like a
fairground ride with nervousness in the
backside. Some say the ride of the
Bonneville is harsh – I will not dispute this.
Due to the very short suspension travel
dictated by the small front wheel and low
ride height, the springs are set stiff and the
damping does not have any of the subtlety
of more sophisticated (expensive)
machines. When commuting, that does
encourage learning where the ruts, raised
drains and potholes are – they can hurt
your teeth!
There is an element of the old-fashioned
about the set-up. I had considered fitting
upgraded rear shocks, progressive fork
springs and playing with oil weight but no.
Riding with a higher speed (when you can)
and more power wound on at lower speed
(when you can’t) allows the bike to skip
over these irregularities. Basic really; when
in doubt, more power, what feels harsh
when pottering becomes taught and
responsive when riding with some pace.
The bike likes to have the rider’s weight
forward when coming into a bend and
responds well to elbows-up and pushing
down into the bend, turning late and
squaring off, rather than swooping
gracefully in – again some aggression and
pace brings out the best in the machine.
As I said, this is all pretty basic stuff but it all
gets lost in the daily grind – I am so pleased
the National Rally helped me re-discover
the pleasures awaiting me every morning
on the way to work. My Bonneville is not as
fast as a sports bike, nor does it have the
sharp handling, but ridden on urban and
country roads at legal speeds it can give
back a great deal of exhilaration and
pleasure – as long as you know how to
encourage it to do so.
Gordon Ayshford
5
BIKE TEST
oVERLoAD
As I said in the last edition, it all started
with the Ducati Scrambler. A bike that
looks like bikes are supposed to look...
Having stuck with the old 550 Zephyr for
something like 17 years, I felt that it was
time for a change. A middleweight twin/triple
perhaps. The Yamaha MT-07 initially
appealed on paper but, having called into
Woking Yamaha for a look, strangely not in
the metal. Not convinced by the styling...
Build quality not terrific.
V-Strom Verdict: For: A
very pleasant ride, and
very comfortable by
comparison with the
Kawasaki. Ideal riding
position and better engine
characteristics. Against: Unexciting
experience. Still a bit tall (yes I know you
can get a lower seat).
However, despite not trying out the Yamaha
twin, I managed to ride 12 different
machines between 7th and 20th March this
year. Not really having much of a clue what
I wanted gave me both a problem and an
opportunity, which I was rather pleased to
grasp.
So it was off to P&H Motorcycles of Crawley
for the first test rides: the Kawasaki Versys
650 – new model – and the Suzuki V-Strom
650, on which I had had an eye vaguely for
some time. In the end neither seemed to me
to be £6,000 better than what I’d arrived on.
Verdict: The Versys had looked like the
ideal machine, but I was somewhat
disappointed. For: It looked good in yellow
and certainly had the best handling of any
tall bike I’ve ever ridden. Against: Apart
from the seat height being slightly
excessive (why?) I found the motor lacking
in flexibility and the ride not great. Jane
condemned the pillion experience outright.
6
What was to follow? A trip to Vines of
Guildford to try out the BMW F800R. I had
only become aware of this model at the
Open Evening event and thought it looked
worth a test...
Verdict: For: A very engaging ride, and of
all the machines I rode it was the one I least
wanted to give back, after a very enjoyable
2-hour run around the highways and lanes
of Surrey. Comfortable seat. Punchy twin
performance and the traction control proved
itself on some farm gateway mud! Against:
Didn’t much like the gearchange – a bit
BMW-clunky and lever too long – and the
bars seemed a bit far away, for my
preference. Not totally in love with the new
look of the front lights etc. Not the best
sounds. Expensive.
Further afield for the next couple of tests.
CMW of Chichester was a shop I had
passed on many occasions but never
visited until very recently. It was time to take
a close look at the Moto Guzzi V7 (new
model). Fairly compact and light with a lot
of character, it looked promising...
Guzzi Verdict: For: looks interesting,
handles nicely, right size and weight, ideal
B-road machine over about 45mph. Lovely
tinkling metal sounds from cooling engine.
Against: When I rode it away from the
shop I thought I’d been given a John Deere
by mistake. Not at all pleasant to ride
around town – felt snatchy, crude and
uncomfortable.
wheels) and found this example to be very
much more attractive than the one I had
tried at P&H...
Suzuki Verdict: For: Much better than the
previous example. After a short ride I was
very nearly getting the cheque book out.
Much more pleasant in all respects. Looks
better in electric blue. Against: Still an inch
too tall for me. And still not the prettiest
machine in the world.
It’s many years since I owned a British
motorcycle, and since Destination Triumph
of Bramley is one of my nearest dealers, it
seemed churlish not to try some of their
offerings. The new Tiger 800XRx was my
first target; while also not the prettiest of
modern motorcycles, it certainly has an
impressive specification...
Tiger Verdict: For: Sounds good, goes like
stink, handles very impressively, well
equipped, very comfortable. Against: For
me, feels tall and heavy – to the point
where I found it intimidating (and this is only
the 800) though this admittedly with pillion –
and bear in mind that I have been used to
something very much lower for a very long
time! Catching my right knee on a seat rail
while climbing aboard didn’t endear it to
me. Messy, bitty styling. Costly.
I then also rode the new XT version of the
V-Strom (the one with the beak and wire
Following this with a ride on a Bonneville
was a fairly considerable contrast. Tiny by
comparison, making a very different but
equally engaging sound, and a bundle of
fun to ride, it joined the Guzzi in being less
inviting as a prospect for extended
distances...
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Bonneville Verdict: For: Compact and
light, sounds brilliant, looks like a proper
motorcycle, great fun to ride – as far as
Dunsfold. Against: uncomfortable seat and
suspension. Didn’t feel it was altogether
practical for my purposes – but I did like it.
Next on the list were a couple of machines
at Farnham Honda. The NC750X, while not
generally well reckoned, seemed to me like
quite a good idea...
750 Verdict: For: I like the look of these.
Great riding position, clever design with
storage where the tank isn’t. Good
on the F model, the one with the fairing,
more than anything to check out the engine
characteristics...
CB500 Verdict: For: A well-built and
enjoyable bike with a surprising good
engine. Very good value. Against: Couldn’t
really tell what a CB500X would be like, but
certainly couldn’t live with the riding position
of the test bike. Thought maybe I’d go back
to something like this if I wanted something
smaller in future.
One machine that I have liked the look of for
many years is the Kawasaki ER-6. Again
ticking the size, weight and cost boxes, I
couldn’t exclude it from my list. Since
Portman’s are no longer a main dealer, I had
to visit Alf’s Motorcycles of Worthing (looks a
really good outfit by the way) for a ride. I took
their ER-6F demonstrator for a run...
Verdict: For: spritely performance and
good handling. Looks good and I love the
rear monoshock. Good value. Against: like
the Versys, the ride quality was not great,
and horrible, wrist-breaking front
performance despite low-tech engine. Good
low speed handling. Good value. Against:
Above about 30mph seemed to build up
understeer and needed to be dragged into
corners. Didn’t like the LCD dash display.
I was also taken with the CB500, the
smallest of the machines I was to try. It was
the X model (slightly adventure style) that
appealed most, especially with £800 worth
of luggage thrown in. However as there was
no demonstrator, I made do with a run out
8
suspension over transverse bumps and
road joints. Very bad engine vibes at critical
road speeds in some gears. Very
disappointing.
I’d decided to avoid 4-cylinder machines for
a change, and another triple seemed like a
good wheeze. I hadn’t been that impressed
with the look of it, but on reflection the
Yamaha MT-09 Tracer beckoned. I
arranged a ride at The Motorbike Shop at
North Camp, and this time was not
generally disappointed.
Verdict: For: a great spec, including
traction control, and a fantastic sound.
Superb performance at any engine speed.
Easy to get on with, certainly more so for
me than the Tiger. Against: the seat was
not for me – not sure who would like it apart
from a plank enthusiast (and that was
allegedly the comfort seat!); who designed
the fairing?; might not really need a 115bhp
motorcycle anyway... But I was tempted.
was going to do, was to visit Snell’s of Alton
to try out the Ducati Scrambler. It was
clearly not going to be the most practical,
but I couldn’t get over the appearance of
the thing. I tried the basic Icon model.
Verdict: For: the style, the sounds, the
handling. Generally OK on the open road.
Against: Not a practical year-round goanywhere machine. Horrible around town;
the heavy clutch combined with a very
twitchy quick-action throttle to make me
glad when it was all over.
Returning to my list, I managed to eliminate
all but the 2 Hondas, the BMW and the new
V-Strom...
What a shame that so many of my tested
machines were let down by relatively small
and totally unnecessary faults – of which
some could obviously be easily resolved,
but I’m not sure I’d want to start chopping
around a brand new bike because the
manufacturer hadn’t been able to get it
right.
And so in the end, although there were
areas in which many of the others might
have won out, it was the BMW that
carried the day, despite its faults –
because it was the bike with the test ride
I really didn’t want to end...
L.G.R
Last of all, and back to the beginning –
although I had more or less decided what I
9
NoSTALGIA coRNER – PRESIDENT’S RIDE oUT...
Some considerable time ago, Witley
MCC President Bill Glover lent me some
photos to include in the Newsflash.
What with one thing and another, the weeks
and months slipped past and so did the
photos. Sorry Bill...
However, I am pleased to say that they
have now re-emerged and here they are,
showing some of Bill’s off-road activities
and his participation in the 1956 Banbury
Run.
The largest gathering of pre-1931
motorcycles and three-wheelers in the
world, the VMCC Banbury Run is still going
strong and had its 67th outing back in June,
based at the Heritage Motor Centre,
Gaydon, when 500 machines and riders
took part.
10
11
ToURING NoTES
Just back from a lovely “get away from it
all” motorcycle tour of Spain (again).
No need for iPhones, iPads or anything
computer connected. No radio. No papers,
just my little old mobile phone...
A proper holiday.
We once again found some brilliant riding
roads, so if anyone wants any advice or
help on planning a Spanish trip, please ask.
Spain is nearly four times the size of our
country and has over 17 million less people.
No wonder we ride mile after mile on empty
‘N’ roads, achieving an average of 49.6 mph
over our 1239.9 miles. That’s with locating
overnight stops in 9 different towns.
Oh, and temperatures up to 36 degrees and
fuel at less than 98p per
litre.
You couldn’t get
anywhere near that on
UK roads.
The F800GT went very
well and is still achieving 64
mpg.
Managed to fit in a trip to Los Arcos to check
out the Circuit Navara, home for the 2016
ISDE. If anyone wants details of the area,
please ask.
Warning: there is very little in the way of
accommodation near the circuit. Possibly
Logrono (16 miles) or even Pamplona (26
miles) would be a better choice. The A12
Autoroute joins the two.
YouR ARTICLE /
PHoToS HERE?
Bernard Jay
Please think about a contribution
for the next edition...
Thanks to Bill, Gordon, Bernard and Tristan for theirs!
News or pictures (especially ENDURo!!) please to [email protected]
Witley Mcc contact Details:
Chairman: Barry Brockman
07779 134375 [email protected]
Secretary: Katherine Brockman 07896 016302 [email protected]
Newsletter: Laurie Richards
07789 506457 [email protected]
Clubroom: Compton Club, Spiceall, Compton, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1EQ
(just off B3000, by village green); Club night: Thursdays, from 8.00pm.
Visit our website: www.witleymcc.org or like us on Facebook
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A Company limited by guarantee. Registered at Cardiff. Company Registration No. 05654047