The Powerpark centre stand

Powerpark is a wonderfully misleading name. In one sense it is accurate, but in another quite wrong. There is no power (unlike the BMW K1200LT) other than using the bike`s reverse gear. The stand is nothing more than a shorter than standard centre stand which is the right height to allow the rear wheel to remain in contact with the ground when the bike is on the stand.

I wanted it because I had strained my back during one of my off-road exploits and I just could not find a non-painful way of lifting the Goldwing onto the centre stand, plus I figured that as I am not getting any younger, it would become increasingly attractive as old age wreaked its havoc on my muscles.

It does take a little practise to get comfortable with using it but I have to say it`s very nice in use and getting the bike on the stand is now a doddle - plus it`s a ride-on/ride-off stand and that is nice too.

The only drawback is when wanting to turn the wheels, front or back, for e.g. cleaning. As both are in solid contact with the ground, you need to insert a couple of bits of one inch thick wood under each leg of the centre stand - accomplished by rocking the bike from side to side and kicking the wood as you do. The first rock is the easiest but with one leg on a piece of wood, the second is a lot harder and the bike needs a really good shove. I think a couple of suitably tapered wedges might make this job a lot easier

Progressive Springs and other things

I had just one day at home when I got back from Ireland (just enough to dry out a very wet tent) before I took myself up to Rotherham so that Ian Cardwell could do some work on my bike. I had a number of relatively minor things to do - mostly I wanted attention for my fog lights that had stopped working (turned out to be only a fuse!! But I had looked at the thing and it seemed OK, honest) but then I added a few more "nice to haves" including Progressive fork springs and a "Powerpark" centre stand.

Ian quickly diagnosed the fuse problem with his continuity tester (note to self, must get one of those..) and having fixed the fog lights in short order, turned his attention to the centre stand. It`s an easy enough thing to do in principle but in practice it is quite difficult owng to the restricted access to the holding bolts - I am frankly glad I didn't try it myself.

With that installed, the fork springs were next. Once I saw how these were done, I realised I could easily have done this job myself but as usual, it`s the old adage of knowing "where to hit it."

One thing I had wanted Ian to fix was my cruise control that had stopped working a while back. The main light, indicating it was active would come on but I simply couldn't set it. Apparently there are four microswitches (front brake, clutch, rear brake and gear shift) that can be the culprit for this problem. Ian reckons it's the rear brake that is mostly the one to blame. However, in all the Irish rain, mine had started working again, so I can only conclude that perhaps some dirt had been washed away from a switch and that allowed it to operate again. I am glad to say that it is still working after my return home.

Ian finished up at about midday and after refusing his kind offer of lunch, I set off home. I noticed the difference the fork springs made in the first hundred yards - they are truly a fantastic improvement over the originals. No longer is a minor roughness in the road surface a cause of irritation - the Progressives simply iron it out. Equally I can ride harder into the corners than I ever felt comfortable doing before, the front seems so planted. I shall definitely go for the Progressive rear spring (and probably shock) if Honda don`t introduce a Japanese `09 model of the Wing - in which case, I could be tempted to go for that.. :)

Tent Freer If Wish (- or in English, Wet Irish Treffen)

I wish my tent had been freer - freer of water basically. Instead it looked like this - with a swamp at the entrance.

Fortunately we had an answer - the mighty mop demonstrated here by Theresa

Luckily, we did get a little sun and that saw us over at Giant`s Causeway

The weather had an undoubted effect on attendance but I think most people had a good time despite the rain. Ireland, or at least the parts I saw is very beautiful with large areas of unspoilt countryside and very friendly people. The roads are not especially good and I would love to go back with the F800GS under me as it would cope much better with the potholes I encountered.

This is Doe castle - I think the tide is out!

This is somewhere along "Atlantic Drive", on Ros Guill adjacent to Mulroy Bay

It was a hell of a long ride to Donegal where the Treffen was held. We rode to Holyhead, ferried across to Dublin and carried on to Stranorlar where the event was held - 500 miles in total and the ferry was a 3 and a half hour trip. We arrived on site at about 9pm, having left the house at 04:30 that morning. Needless to say, putting the tent up in the rain after such along day was not an experience I would like to repeat!

Ireland here I come!

Tomorrow I am off to the Irish Treffen on the Goldwing. I have never been to Ireland before so it''s a real first for me. There is one fly in the ointment however, the ferry tickets were booked by fellow Kent Winger Vern and the timing is such that we have to leave at 04:30 tomorrow morning to get to Holyhead in time. This doesn''t sound like awhole lot of fun to me.. Added to which there is an uncertain outlook re weather. Well, to be honest it looks like a dead certainty that we shall have rain and plenty of it in the next week so quite how much of Ireland I''ll be able to see is questionable.

Packing the trailer, it''s clear that Parkinson is alive and well. The thing is already full and I still have a few clothes to fit in somewhere. I know I shall only use half the stuff - only thing is, I don''t know which half.

The GPS is loaded with MP3s, and various touristy sites to see (it''s a bit disconcerting to find that both Mapsource and my 2820 are not that clever when it comes to Irish place names - they seem to have trouble finding many of them) so I hope not to get lost and to have some amusement on the way. I must remember to get my Ipod wired into the bike''s supply at present I rely on its battery and when that is flat, I am out of music.

Fantastic Wiltshire Ride

A member of the UKGers forum had laid on an invitation ride for big trailies and novices over some of Salisbury plain and anxious to try out some new territory and also to see how my Metal Mules performed on the rough stuff, I was keen to sign up. I became rather less keen as I traveled down yesterday to the meeting place in pouring rain and at one point, practically no visibility. I stopped at a Little Chef about 20 miles from my destination for a warming cup of coffee and dithered about whether I should turn back or not. I am so very glad I didn't because I had a wonderful day. The rain eased considerably and for the rest of the morning it was intermittent showers and grey clouds but in the afternoon, the sun came out and we had a lovely wamr bright day - as one should at this tie of year I feel!

Our guides were all local to the area and knew the plains like the backs of their hands, including the ranges and when it`s safe to cross them!

The rain ensured we had some nice puddles to play in..

We also forded one river that was quite deep and I wondered if the panniers would lifet the rear of the bike high enough to reduce traction! Evidently not enough to prevent me getting through and the panniers stayed totally dry inside. However, the topbox was a different story. I had put a full bottle of water in it and all the bouncing around destroyed it and all the stuff I had really wanted to keep dry and had therefore carefully put in the topbox, was suddenly not so dry! A valuable learning experience. Another was the fact that a road atlas made with a spiral binding can become a loose collection of pages as the spiral unscrews when subjected to a lot of bouncing around!