An evening ride

[Boffin]

Today I fitted a new pair of Conti-Force tyres using my new UFO tyre changer and in a moment of weakness I then washed my bike...

 

 

Needing to recover from the shock I sat down and watched the Jerez Moto GP race

Rossi seems to do better when he qualifies slower than his teammate. Loved the visit to the porta-potty at the end

 

 

After that excitement I had to finish off a few chores to allow me to take tomorrows holiday as a riding day.

 

Now, it was early evening and I thought it would be a good idea to scrub in the new rubber.

 

I just took random turns, looking for the twisty lanes on my Zumo. Passing through the village of Packington I spotted this lockup - notice the shiney bike

 

 

The gift of a Lady;

 

From there and a dozen or more miles further on I stopped at the Moira Furnace.

 

 

This is an almost complete early 19th century blast furnace producing iron. It was built alongside the Ashby canal by the Earl of Moira (he had help ) to make delivery of raw materials and removal of the iron ingots easier.

 

There are a couple of more pictures to be seen here.

 

Andy

[David]

Andy, I'd love to get inside that blast furnace for some art print stuff. I'll bet it's very interesting.

 

So sorry to hear about your clean bike. That's really above you, and you shouldn't be involved in those activities.

[azkaisr]

I can't get my eyes around that clean bike amigo.

 

But worthy tale

[lvnvbiker]

Whats up with the rusting Guzzi?

[Boffin]

Andy, I'd love to get inside that blast furnace for some art print stuff. I'll bet it's very interesting.

 

 

Me too, I am going to go back one weekend when it is open for visitors.

 

Andy

[Boffin]

Whats up with the rusting Guzzi?

 

Alas my poor Imola II. The rust is not as bad as it looks - those Iron discs turn that rusty in a couple of days. The mufflers are shot though and I may soon get new ones. The reason I say "may" is that it ate an inlet valve a week or two back. The four-valve small-block Guzzi's have a habit of doing that.

 

I am probably off to France next weekend to pick up a V50 engine to replace the 350. Watch "other topics" for news of the trip.

 

Andy

[Bruce H]

Nice to see other places, Thanks. How did you like the tyre changer?

[Boffin]

The tyre changer worked very well. The stock unit is designed for spoked wheels and it needs an adaptor for alloys. I made my own adaptors by cutting discs of 12mm plywood.

I changed the front first, which took about 20 minutes, then the rear which took about ten.

 

The changer holds the wheel securely at a good working height. The bead-breaker is effective and also serves to push the tyre off of the bottom of the wheel on removal and to hold the tyre in the well of the rim whilst re-fitting. £170 well spent.

 

Andy