Ace Cafe - meetup week 33

Wohoo! I managed to rearrange my RoSPA lesson so I'll have time to ride down. I'll have a sore arse by the time I get there, that's for sure, I'm coming from Nottingham. See you all there!

Excellent news Basil.

So I think we have:

Dext137
Stormbringer 
Badseeds
Muttley1
Sullivj (+1)
Teamster1975
BasilMoss

It's turning into quite a decent gathering. Any more takers?

I'd love to come, but living in Sheffield and not having many miles under my bikeing belt , I fear its much to far for this old codger.
hope you guys have a great day...

I'll be there at about 5:30ish. Don't finish work til about 5pm.

Scooter Sunday is kinda like bikers night on Friday, but with some scooters doing random stunts on the road. Shouldn't be that busy really.

3pm might be really busy if it is nice weather. 4pm could be a better time.

Hopefully see some of you there. Would be nice to put faces to names.

So, I've now come to the UK. Nearly a thousand miles in one go. From Denmark via Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France, through the eurotunnel, past London to Stradbroke in Suffolk.

What a trip.

Today I'll try to get my bearings, sorting out which is where and what to do next. I've been recommended to start out at The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation museum by our all-knowing Badseeds, and it seems to be a brilliant choice.

The place closes at 5pm, and admission is free. Anyone else interested?

Nice. I should be able to make it too. Count me in.

I might be able to make the Ace depending on how I feel after working the night before.  

Would be a shame to miss it since I'm fairly localish.

stormbringer wrote:
....our all-knowing Badseeds.....

Ha ha! I know how to be an idiot!

Right - I *can* make it, but not on my CB. The cam chain tensioner snapped and Dave Wilkins needs to wait for parts so he can fix it.

If I do turn up, it will be on foot.

Dex.

Dext37 wrote:Right - I *can* make it, but not on my CB. The cam chain tensioner snapped and Dave Wilkins needs to wait for parts so he can fix it.

If I do turn up, it will be on foot.

Dex.

At first glance I thought that read 'cam chain snapped' and the internal horror story scenario ran through my mind! At least the tensioner isn't an expensive or complicated fix.

badseeds wrote:Ha ha! I know how to be an idiot!

We all do. I for one went to Flixton and spent the afternoon at the museum. Got to talk with the volunteers running the place and found them to be nothing short of experts on their subjects. Eg. one of the lads turned out to have been involved in some analog computing machinery and before i knew what happened, we were talking vacuum tubes, early semiconductors, airspeed measurement and whatnot. He had all the right bits to show, including a rare magnetron thing and a working (analog) instrument flight simulator. Valves, tubes, bellows, dials; pre-digital era. Very ingenious!
These people are a brilliant demonstration of the difference between enthusiasts and hired help.

Riding home to Stradbroke, I decided to take my cheapo actioncam for a spin. So, I fixed it to the left-hand-side of the rad (thread+bolt) and took off, following directions from the GPS while caning the bike as best I could.
Airtime! Mind you, this is utterly unknown territory, I carry a large tankbag and struggle with the reversed-side-of-the-road-riding. But still, I managed to get airborne Almost solely tiny, wobbly potholed backroads littered with hay, gravel and even a horse! What fun. How's that for being an idiot?
Tomorrow: IWM Duxford.

stormbringer wrote:We all do. I for one went to Flixton and spent the afternoon at the museum. Got to talk with the volunteers running the place and found them to be nothing short of experts on their subjects. Eg. one of the lads turned out to have been involved in some analog computing machinery and before i knew what happened, we were talking vacuum tubes, early semiconductors, airspeed measurement and whatnot. He had all the right bits to show, including a rare magnetron thing and a working (analog) instrument flight simulator. Valves, tubes, bellows, dials; pre-digital era. Very ingenious!
These people are a brilliant demonstration of the difference between enthusiasts and hired help.

Riding home to Stradbroke, I decided to take my cheapo actioncam for a spin. So, I fixed it to the left-hand-side of the rad (thread+bolt) and took off, following directions from the GPS while caning the bike as best I could.
Airtime! Mind you, this is utterly unknown territory, I carry a large tankbag and struggle with the reversed-side-of-the-road-riding. But still, I managed to get airborne Almost solely tiny, wobbly potholed backroads littered with hay, gravel and even a horse! What fun. How's that for being an idiot?
Tomorrow: IWM Duxford.

Blimey! Did you talk to everyone there!? Sounds like you enjoyed yourself. I loved it when I visited the museum a couple of years ago, they even let me bring my dog (the black Greyhound, Beanie) and were quite amused when I bought her a sausage roll from the cafe.

As we discussed earlier, the roads here a quite awful. They don't really improve anywhere else in the country. I always feel sorry for foreign drivers as they disembark from the ferry/train only to be greeted by our shitty black-top (brown-top! Ha ha!).

Have a good time tomorrow, take lots of pictures and spare a thought for those of us having to work; you lucky sod  

Sounds like a good day out. Glad you're having fun.

Think you'll have to count me out from the meet. My bikes gonna be off the road & I've no idea how my knee's gonna be feeling.

I can come at about 5:30pm. Managed to bag a NEW CB500F from work for a bit. My god it is amazing, Ten times better than my 2003 Cb500S!

Look forward to seeing that (and you)Dex. 

To be 10 times better, it must be quite some machine!

Dext37 wrote:I can come at about 5:30pm. Managed to bag a NEW CB500F from work for a bit. My god it is amazing, Ten times better than my 2003 Cb500S!

Glad you can make it

Claiming the brand new CB is ten times better is what I'd call 'a good conversation starter'. The specs indicate less power, less torque and more weight, so it's not likely to be those traits you would point out as being better. Something to do with the ride itself? Smoothness of the gearbox, distribution of power, come on - give us a hint...

Damn straight! Perhaps he should let us all have a go of it.

The weather's looking ok for tomorrow chaps. See you there from 3pm.

Ha, maybe a slight exaggeration from myself.

I think the low down grunt is miles better, the gearbox is better too. The seating/height position is also very positive. Fuel economy is very efficient.

Too many things to mention.

Just started to rain here, but I'm determined to come anyway. 

Are we all still up for it?

Yes I'll be there, I cleaned the bike yesterday which is probably why it's raining!

I'm still coming for 5:30pm on the 2014 model. See you guys there.

Despite a very wet start, and a congested ride into London, Dan did an excellent job of navigating me up to the Ace Cafe.

It was great to meet you guys and admire your machines.  Of course, I need to clean mine now   

sullivj wrote:.......It was great to meet you guys and admire your machines.  Of course, I need to clean mine now   

Yeah. Fuggin' filthy innit......