Treffen

No longer a Treffen virgin, I spent 4 days in glorious sunshine at Carmarthen where the 2007 British Treffen was held. Considering the dire weather we have had for most of the summer, the sunshine would have been enough to make me enjoy it but as a bonus, the event itself was great fun. Seeing all the different bikes in a multitude of configurations (trikes, add-ons, paint jobs and so forth) was quite a feast for someone newly enamoured of the Goldwing and needless to say, it has inspired me to think of the sorts of things I might yet do for my bike. I did get a couple of things whilst there, notably a CB radio, yet to be installed, and a J&M headset which is now in my Arai Quantum - I couldn't see how to fit it to my currently preferred helmet - a BMW system 5, although I may be encouraged into radical surgery of the helmet if I like it enough. A quick test this morning suggests it will work very well.

I used my new tent which provided ample accommodationand although it looks a little lonely here, it was soon surrounded by others as more people including my new buddies in Kent Wings, arrived. There were close on 800 inscriptions for the event and although I have no idea hw many of these were foreign, there were certainly enough to make one realise the international nature of a Treffen. Some of the vistors provided considerable entertainment in the form of spectacular bikes - not always the prettiest for sure!

On getting back home on Monday afternoon, I found myself in considerable trouble. A hip that had been slightly sore for a couple of days had become so painful, I could hardly get off my bike and walking was a nightmare. I slept not a wink that night and on Tuesday morning took myself off the doctor's who promptly sent me to A&E on the basis that I might have septic arthritis - a potentially fatal condition. After not too long waiting around, I was seen by a doctor who diagnosed severe bursitis of the hip, possibly brought on by my unsatisfactory sleeping arrangements at the Treffen - basically an inferior lilo that left my hip in hard contact with the ground, I think a camp bed is next on my list of must haves! Anyway, now a couple of days later and having popped a few pills, I am feeling somewhat more human and thankful to both the gods for sparing me septic arthritis and the NHS for sorting me out.

Treffen

No longer a Treffen virgin, I spent 4 days in glorious sunshine at Carmarthen where the 2007 British Treffen was held. Considering the dire weather we have had for most of the summer, the sunshine would have been enough to make me enjoy it but as a bonus, the event itself was great fun. Seeing all the different bikes in a multitude of configurations (trikes, add-ons, paint jobs and so forth) was quite a feast for someone newly enamoured of the Goldwing and needless to say, it has inspired me to think of the sorts of things I might yet do for my bike. I did get a couple of things whilst there, notably a CB radio, yet to be installed, and a J&M headset which is now in my Arai Quantum - I couldn't see how to fit it to my currently preferred helmet - a BMW system 5, although I may be encouraged into radical surgery of the helmet if I like it enough. A quick test this morning suggests it will work very well.

I used my new tent which provided ample accommodationand although it looks a little lonely here, it was soon surrounded by others as more people including my new buddies in Kent Wings, arrived. There were close on 800 inscriptions for the event and although I have no idea hw many of these were foreign, there were certainly enough to make one realise the international nature of a Treffen. Some of the vistors provided considerable entertainment in the form of spectacular bikes - not always the prettiest for sure!

On getting back home on Monday afternoon, I found myself in considerable trouble. A hip that had been slightly sore for a couple of days had become so painful, I could hardly get off my bike and walking was a nightmare. I slept not a wink that night and on Tuesday morning took myself off the doctor's who promptly sent me to A&E on the basis that I might have septic arthritis - a potentially fatal condition. After not too long waiting around, I was seen by a doctor who diagnosed severe bursitis of the hip, possibly brought on by my unsatisfactory sleeping arrangements at the Treffen - basically an inferior lilo that left my hip in hard contact with the ground, I think a camp bed is next on my list of must haves! Anyway, now a couple of days later and having popped a few pills, I am feeling somewhat more human and thankful to both the gods for sparing me septic arthritis and the NHS for sorting me out.

4000 Mile Service

I was early this morning at 21st Moto in Swanley to get this service done - a couple of hundred miles over the 4000 mark but not too bad - it's basically an oil and filter change plus inspection of brake pads etc. but I wanted to ensure the warranty was not compromised. If it weren't for this, I would have done it myself. In any event I am now in good shape to head off to the British Treffen in Carmarthen on Thursday and after that for Yorkshire where I have an appointment to get fog lights, rear lights and a GPS wired in to the bike's electrics - this is a job I definitely would not attempt myself! The problem being that as a UK spec bike with airbag, none of the USA stuff fits and it all has to be spliced into the bike''s harness using made up sub-harnesses. I continue to feel aggrieved that Honda have short-changed the UK market so badly compared with the USA.

Re the GPS, I have decided to get a Garmin 2820 unit fitted as I really do want the ability to pre-program routes etc. on the PC. It is not impossible that some future update of the bike's system may allow that but neither Garmin nor Honda have promised or said anything at all on that score, meanwhile the bike system is great for simple point to point navigation.

4000 Mile Service

I was early this morning at 21st Moto in Swanley to get this service done - a couple of hundred miles over the 4000 mark but not too bad - it's basically an oil and filter change plus inspection of brake pads etc. but I wanted to ensure the warranty was not compromised. If it weren't for this, I would have done it myself. In any event I am now in good shape to head off to the British Treffen in Carmarthen on Thursday and after that for Yorkshire where I have an appointment to get fog lights, rear lights and a GPS wired in to the bike's electrics - this is a job I definitely would not attempt myself! The problem being that as a UK spec bike with airbag, none of the USA stuff fits and it all has to be spliced into the bike''s harness using made up sub-harnesses. I continue to feel aggrieved that Honda have short-changed the UK market so badly compared with the USA.

Re the GPS, I have decided to get a Garmin 2820 unit fitted as I really do want the ability to pre-program routes etc. on the PC. It is not impossible that some future update of the bike's system may allow that but neither Garmin nor Honda have promised or said anything at all on that score, meanwhile the bike system is great for simple point to point navigation.

Yet another Google map test

This time I have included the track as well as some photos. Pretty easy in fact. I used RoboGeo (running under Parallels as I use a Mac) to produce the code and simply put it on my server. It sits here in the blog in an iframe.

Yet another Google map test

This time I have included the track as well as some photos. Pretty easy in fact. I used RoboGeo (running under Parallels as I use a Mac) to produce the code and simply put it on my server. It sits here in the blog in an iframe.

Servicing

I have a 4000 mile service due. Basically it's just an oil and filter change and I had intended to do it myself but other Goldwing owners have warned me that I risk my warranty unless a dealer does it and stamps the service book. I really wouldn't want to compromise the warranty so I am going to get it done by 21st Moto in Swanley - it's ten days away and I will have rather more than 4k on the clock by then! 21st Moto are a dealer new to me and I shall be interested to see what sort of job they do.

Before I learnt of the potential warranty issue, I had a look at what it involved by removing the lower front cowl. There I discovered that on the 2007 models there is an unhandily placed Bowden cable running right in front of the oil filter (the cable operates the foot warmer vents) and it would need to be (re)moved to have enough room to remove the oil filter. I stopped at this point but it seems a bit daft to route the cable like this.

Mapping Tool

I am trying this neat tool to put maps into the blog (click on the box in the map entitled "Build Your Own Map" to go to the site that does it. Basically it lets you incorporate a live map from the "My maps" bit of Google maps, so it can include markers and data like photos, tracks etc etc.