Tim’s Motorcycle Diaries – Page 34

Replacing Triumph Tiger fuel tank couplings

According to Haynes, the Tiger’s gas
lines will automatically close when you
unplug them, except when they don’t
and make a mess.

I’ve owned the Triumph Tiger for a season now and intend to do some maintenance on it while the snow if flying. Pretty much everything you need to get to is under the gas tank, which is a pain in the ass to remove. More so in my case because the lower fuel line doesn’t self seal like it’s supposed to.

Last summer I had the tank off for the first time and it poured gas everywhere. I ended up sticking a pencil in it to slow down the flow. A gas leak isn’t a big deal on a warm summer day, but it’s -20°C outside at the moment and heating the garage with a gas leak is problematic (I use a propane heater).

By the time I found that I couldn’t get the valve to seal there was a lot of gas about. I ended up washing the bike and floor clean with the water hose, but doing that in a cold snap is pretty miserable. It’s turned the driveway into a skating rink.

With the gas line back on I decided to have a look online and see what people say about early two thousand Triumph gas lines. It turns out they don’t say nice things about them. Rather than using more durable metal fittings for the gas line releases, Triumph saved some money and put on problematic plastic ones. They evidently did a recall but they only ever replaced the leaking ones so some bikes have half metal half plastic. In my case they’re all original plastic ones. I eventually came across this video which led me to a site with a detailed fix.

If you join tigertriple.com (free) you get a detailed how-to on fixing the under-engineered fuel fittings on a Triumph thanks to Evilbetty.

I bounced over to quickcouplings.net and ordered the needed bits:

They’ve got a good reputation so I should have the parts next week. Some people had issues with the smaller sized end so I got a couple of the larger ones. It was $18 extra but it means I’ll be able to do this once and be done. I’ve probably already lost ten bucks in gas on this. Next up will be draining the gas tank which I topped up for winter storage. With the tank empty I’ll be ready to go with the fitting change. I’ll post on that when it happens.

Front wheel up and ready for
some fork attention – eventually

I was removing the tank to start the fork oil change. That’s been a pain in the neck as well. I went down to Two Wheel on January 2nd only to discover that they were closed. I figured I was already half way to Guelph so went over to Royal Distributing to get the fork oil. With two bottles of the stuff in hand (not on sale) I headed over to the register to discover a forty minute line up to get out the door. It’s this kind of thing that prompts me to buy things online. I ended up walking out the door without the oil.

At my local Canadian Tire I had a nice chat with a former student now taking welding in college and he rainchecked me some quality synthetic fork oil that was on sale for much less than Royal Distributing was charging anyway. No line up, no shipping costs and the oil will be here in two days. Because of the gas tank fittings it all ended up being not time sensitive anyway, so a two day wait and some money saved is all good.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. The drained tank first and then install the upgraded fittings, then on to fork oil and a coolant flush (that also requires gas tank removal). Considering the majority of maintenance on the Tiger (even changing the air filter) requires gas tank removal, using dodgy plastic fittings (replaced in later models) wasn’t a great idea. Failing to get them all replaced in a recall was another dropped ball. I knew that running a thirteen year old European bike as my daily rider would be a challenge. If I can get these oversights sorted, hopefully I can get another good season out of it.

Washed clean and with a minus twenty windchill blowing in under the garage door. Not the best time of year to mess around with a gas leak, but I’ve found a fix.

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The 2017 MotoGP rider of the year?

With the 2017 MotoGP season behind us I’ve been thinking about who I’d vote for rider of the year. I tend to steer clear of the factory riders because when you have truckloads of people getting you around the track as quickly as humanly possible you should be at the sharp end of the championship. There are exceptions to that, like Marc Marquez in 2014, when a rider seems to be in a class of one, but this year that didn’t happen.

It was a scrappy season with many leaders in the championship. What first looked like a runaway by Yamaha’s new rider Maverick Viñales turned into a season long fight between Marquez on an ever improving Honda that only he seemed able to ride and Andrea Dovizioso on a Ducati he has stuck with and helped develop into a race winning weapon. At various points in the season Yamaha, Honda and Ducati all led the championship.

As exciting as all that was the rider of the year for me was Johann Zarco. In his first MotoGP race he leapt into the lead and although he didn’t last there very long it made a huge splash. While the top riders are making big bucks and have dozens of support people, Zarco, a rookie in a small, private team using last year’s bike and making a fraction of the money ended up being the only Yamaha rider fighting for wins by the end of the season. Marquez’ mum wasn’t begging anyone else to not do to her son what he does to everyone else.

That’s another reason why I like Zarco, he’s an odd duck. He doesn’t play the whining in the media game many of the top riders do, he just gets on with the job without the retinues, fancy sunglasses and stylists. He’s known for spending his time in the pits with his crew and sleeping in the truck. At each race he sorted out the bike and then got into the mix. While riders like Marquez (with a long history of crashing and general nonsense) whined about Zarco’s ‘aggressive riding style’, Zarco just shrugged and did the business, on a year old bike, for a fraction of the money, with a fraction of the support. That’s why he’s my rider of 2017. I look forward to him giving the big money riders some more grief in 2018. Hopefully they won’t whine about it quite so much, but I wouldn’t count on it.

I went looking for some TechTrois / Zarco kit, but it’s sadly lacking. There is a photo of Johann at full lean on the Tech3 bike – I’ve pulled the colours out of it so it could go on any coloured shirt as an outline. Between that and his logo, you’d have a nice bit of custom shirtery that celebrates the warrior monk of MotoGP.

Here’s the link to it on Zazzle. Below is the image and the graphic I pulled out of it if you want to DIY up something.

The photo simplified into a coloured graphic…

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Box Hill On a Sunny Sunday Morning

If you’re ever in the southern end of the London suburbs, Box Hill is a local meeting place for motorcyclists. On the sunny, August, Sunday morning I was there it was already busy at 9am and had thousands pass by over the day. If you get a chance to go see it you’ll get a good sense of just how diverse and how different UK motorcycling culture is from North American cruiser biased riding culture. It’s little wonder that there are multiple British riders in MotoGP, but North Americans are thin on the ground.

From 50cc classics to 2300cc modern monster bikes, Box Hill had it all on a Sunday morning. It’s a strange thing seeing British imagery substituted for the Stars and Stripes when you’re used to seeing Americana everywhere.

Inside Ryka’s, the restaurant/coffee shop in the parking lot at Box Hill, there is a lot of British motorcycling memorabilia.

My cousin Jeff (who has done hundreds of thousands of miles on two wheels) looking over his dream machine.

On the back of one old timer’s jacket – what you’d expect to find in the UK.

Lots of customization on hand. UK riders seem particularly drawn to farkling their bikes.

A local dealer on hand to show of the latest Hondas.

A hand stitched webby seat on a very customized machine.

Just in case you felt your Triumph wasn’t British enough.

There were more Indians than Harleys in the lot.

Well marked territory.

The lot was already over half full when we got there and just got busier and busier by the time we left just past 10am.

Lots of Triumph on display.

After weeks only glimpsing motorcycles on the road, this was a good fill up. I only wish I’d had the Tiger there – it would have been the only 955i Tiger in the lot.

Tim’s happy bike face.

They ride everything, but if there is a single type of bike that typifies the British biker, it’s still the sports bike, at least on Box Hill.

A small contingent of what would be the dominant form of riding in North America proudly showing of patches with such wisdom as ‘loud pipes save lives’.

An hour of wandering around was nice, but when you show up in shorts and get out of a car you’re only half there. I never missed the Tiger more than that morning at Box Hill.

What do you do after you’ve gone up to Box Hill, had breakfast at Ryka’s and chatted with other riders? You open it up going down the hill like this guy did.

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Your Typical Sunday Ride Isn’t My Typical Sunday Ride

a 260km amble around
theNiagara Escarpment.

I cranked out some miles on the Tiger this weekend. On Saturday it was a 160km round trip down to Ancaster for a conference, on Sunday I left with a buddy from work along with his wife and son on a big 260km loop out to the Niagara Escarpment and back.

Jeff was two up on his new-to-him Goldwing and he son was on his dad’s Super Ténéré. We left Fergus following the Grand River and immediately came upon two cruisers burbling down the road next to each other. Any questions I had about passing etiquette on other bikers were quickly put aside when Jeff dropped a gear and blew by the two of them without a second glance. They (politely) went into single file so that we could catch the fleeing Goldwing without crossing a solid line.

Chasing the Noisy River into
Creemore is always a nice ride.

Elora to Creemore happened in a snap and the Tiger was becoming more and more familiar with each mile traveled. Chasing the Noisy River into Creemore was well timed on empty roads and the Tiger and I had no trouble keeping up with the more experienced riders around me.

We stopped for lunch in Creemore and then helped a Harley rider try and jump start his dead, brand new bike (his typical Sunday ride, but I like my dependable, thirteen year old Triumph). He eventually found a local who offered to jump start the bike from a truck. After working up a sweat pushing a Harley up and down Main Street for a several minutes in our modern, textile body armor (while being watched by groups of leather clad bikers who I’m sure felt great kinship with the old fella whose bike wouldn’t start, but not so much that they wanted to help), we headed south toward River Road.

In addition to being a windy road in a
place that doesn’t have many, River
Road also has the benefit of taking
longer than five minutes to complete.

The River Road was a twisty delight. Riding a bike is a fine thing, but the moment I’m off the crown of the tire I feel like I’m earning bonus points. At my first training course towards the end of day two they set up cones and we were allowed to weave through them at speed and then ride a decreasing radius circle. I stopped at one point and said to the instructor, “I could do this all day!” The lean of a bike is nothing short of fighter-pilot magical (even Top Gear digs it).

River Road was a rollercoaster ride until we once again arrived on the tailpipe of a cruiser. On any straight this guy would gun it, making a pass impractical (200km/hr passes, while possible, aren’t wise on twisty country roads). We spent the last bit taking the corners at floor board friendly speeds.

The action cam was clipped to a front
fairing for the twisty bits.

In Shelbourne there was a big, new sign advertising the Veteran’s Highway pointing south, so rather than go over to the overcrowded Highway 10 I thought we should try it. The moment we were past the last factory two hundred yards down the road the “Veteran’s Highway” turned to dirt. The Tiger seemed frisky and excited to be on the loose stuff, feeling very sure footed for such a big bike. Behind me the Super10 was also rolicking in the gravel, but the two-up Goldwing? When we stopped Jeff referred to it as an adventure two-up mobility scooter. We turned left toward the highway at the first paved intersection.

The wave on River Road

Back at Highway 10 I once again suggested we push onto unknown roads in northern Mono Hills. This road also quickly turned to gravel, but this time loose, twitchy gravel. I’m bad at picking roads. We ended up turning around and heading back to 10 before burning south and enjoying some time in Mono Hills and Hockley Valley.

We wrapped up the ride with a quick blast down the Forks of the Credit, which had the road closed into Belfountain, before heading back to Elora in lengthening shadows.

I got home sun and wind burned and wonderfully exhausted. Can’t wait to do it again!

Dropping into Hockley Valley.

That ‘Lucifer Orange’ paint just pops!

Working the corners of the Forks

Jeff making a three point turn on a Goldwing 2-up look easy.

Forks of the Credit: the road into Belfountain was closed, so a bevy of sports bikes were parked on the road.

The artful exhaust pipes on the Tiger.

Stopping for a break in Hockley Valley before heading down to the Forks of the Credit

Moments From My First Season On Two Wheels

From a new (to me) Ninja with 8100 miles to 11,410 miles by the end of my first season, April to October, 3,310 miles, … 5296kms.

2013: Out and about on 2 wheels!

The first time I looked at that map I wondered why I didn’t go further afield, but I did make some longer sorties. Next year I’ll make a point of doing some overnight riding trips

Here are some moments from my first year in the saddle:

The first time I changed gears without consciously thinking about it was probably about a month into riding. I then immediately became aware of the fact that I’d just changed gears without thinking it all through and had to focus on the road again before I rode off it.

In that first month I kept pushing further away from home. The first time I went on our local (rural) highway I had a lot on my mind. I found a left hand turn and got myself into the turning lane. In a gap in traffic I began to make the turn and gave it (way) too much throttle, my first wheelie while turning left on my first ride on a highway! I leaned into the bike and got the front wheel down in time to make the corner. The kid in the Cavalier waiting to pull on to the highway got all excited by my wheelie and did a huge burnout onto the highway. I had to laugh, I’d scared the shit out of myself and he thought I was showing off.

First time I was on a major (ie: limited access) highway, I’m riding up toward Waterloo through Kitchener and the new slab of tarmac I’m on begins to taper out. It’s the kind of thing you wouldn’t think twice about in a car, but I couldn’t cut across this. The new pavement began to peter out and I ended up slipping three inches down onto the old pavement, sideways, doing about 90km/hr. The clench factor was high, it felt like the bike just fell out from under me. That was the first time I really realized how little is around me on a bike, and the first time I had trouble understanding what it was doing under me.

The lightning is to remind 348
drivers that it’s fast… for a car

Early on I was out on local back roads getting used to the Ninja. I pulled up to a light and a red Ferrari 348 pulled up next to me with a very smug looking boomer at the wheel. He started blipping the throttle. I’d never really even gone into the top half of the rev range on the Ninja, I only knew what it might be capable of from stories online. The light changed and I twisted the throttle harder than I ever had before (which probably meant about 75% rather than 50%). I didn’t know where the Ferrari was but it wasn’t next to me. The Ninja is quick in the lower part of its rev range, more than able to stay ahead of the traffic around it. In the upper half of its rev range something entirely different happens… it lunges. I made a clean shift into second even while registering astonishment at what my little 649cc parallel twin could do when that second cam came on. Second gear lasted for about a second before I had to do it again for third. I eased off and sat up to look over my shoulder, the Ferrari was many car lengths back. My little thirty five hundred dollar mid-sized Ninja could eat Ferraris for breakfast. I’ve owned some fast cars in my time, this thing was something else entirely.

On the long ride back from Bobcaygeon I was within half an hour of home when I was trundling along behind a greige (grey/beige – featureless and soulless) mini-van at 75km/hr. By this point I’m getting comfortable on the bike and have a sense of how it can pass and brake (astonishingly well!). In my helmet I suddenly ask myself, “why are you following this clown? If you had bought a Lamborghini would you be driving along in the row behind this P.O.S.?” I passed the mini-van on the next broken line (easily) and, in that moment, adjusted my riding style to suit the vehicle I’m on. Everything is still by the book (indicators, shoulder checks, passing on broken lines), but I don’t wait for BDCs to begin paying attention to what they are doing, I just put them behind me.

Speaking of which, I’m riding in Guelph in the summer on the Hanlon highway and the old guy in a Toyota appliance (it was even the same colour as a fridge) pulls right into where I was, no indicator, no shoulder check… at least he wasn’t on a phone. I had the radar on and could see what he was going to do before he did it. Being on a bike I was able to brake and swing over onto the curb in order to avoid getting mashed; my first experience of being invisible on a bike. I had to look down to find the horn, I’d never used it before. He studiously ignored me. What is it about people in cars not feeling responsible for what they are doing?

The commute to Milton and back was a big part of my first season. It began after I got back from my longest trip to Bobcaygeon over the Canada Day weekend. I quickly had to get rain gear sorted out after deciding to take the bike every day rain or shine. In those three weeks I rode 400 series highways, big city streets and miles of country road. Temperatures ranged from 8 degree fog to 36 degree sun beating down.

One morning I left torrential rain and rode the whole way through fog, rain and spray. Another day coming home the sky in front of me turned green and purple, real end of the world stuff. I stopped and got the rain gear on and rode into what felt like a solid curtain of water only thirty seconds later. As the wind came up and the rain went sideways I remember thinking, “OK, if you see a funnel cloud just hang on to the bike, you’re heavier with it than without.” The bike’s narrow tires cut down to the pavement even as the wind was trying to send me into the trees. I eventually rode out of that darkness and decided that if a bike can track through that it can handle any rain. The commute also contained the first time I didn’t think twice about riding through a busy city. Riding day in and day out on the bike gets you comfortable with it quickly.

My first tentative steps onto the 401 (staying in the inside lane for the whole 13kms) quickly turned into opening up the bike and syncing with traffic in the left hand lane. I think a lot of that had to do with coming to trust what the bike can do, and what it can do is quite astonishing.

River Road out of Horning’s Mills

My last big fall ride before the end of the season had me doing one of my biggest rides down some of the best roads within a hundred kilometres of where I live. The bike was humming, it was cold until the sun came out, then it was perfect. A last perfect ride before the snow fell.

It was a great first season, and I got some miles in and really enjoyed the bike. I’m now torn whether to get rid of it an get something else, or stick with it for another season. Either way, first time we see the sun and some clear pavement again I’ll be out.

My Ninja and I in the fall on the Forks of the Credit

Motorbike Wants

I’ve been re-watching Jo Sinnott’s Wild Camping. That Roof Helmet she wears looks fantastic. It’s a French designed, multiple function helmet with a fighter pilot vibe. The Desmo Flash in Orange and black gets itself on my want list.

ROOF Desmo Flash from Canada’s Motorcycle: $550

I’ve heard a lot about Aerostich. It started when I read Melissa Holbrook Pierson‘s The Man Who Would Stop At Nothing. For serious long distance riders, the Aerostich is pretty much the only choice. Armoured, weatherproof and virtually bullet proof, it’d be nice to have the last word in motorbiking overalls, but they don’t come cheap.

Aerostich Roadcrafter Classic: $1014

(Black Friday deal! usually $1127!)

I’m hanging in for a fix on the oil cooler on my new-to-me, found-in-a-field Kawasaki Concours, but what I’d really like is a new one. They aren’t cheap, I’m looking at about $500 with shipping and customs costs – which is only a couple of hundred less than I bought the bike for. I could pick one up from ebay used for about sixty bucks delivered, but it might not be much better than the one I have.

$500 new – not going to happen. Han would never by a new part for the ‘Falcon. I’m going to aim for the $70 delivered used bit and see how it goes.

’98 Fireblade Winter Project: Wiring & Petcocks

With the carbs sorted I’m chasing down anything else that could have caused the fuel leak into the engine on the Fireblade. Yesterday I had the petcock out of the gas tank again and tested it over a catch basin. Fuel flows fine when it’s on, but it continues to drip when it’s supposed to be closed, so a new petcock is in order. Fortunately they seem to be a regularly replaced maintenance item because you can buy them on Amazon for not much money.

The neutral light wasn’t working, so I got some LED replacements – they’re super bright. The wiring to the neutral sensor was stripped down by the drive sprocket, so I cleaned it up, reattached it and taped it up. Voila, working neutral light again.

There were also a set of wires coming out of the drive sprocket housing that look like they go to a speed sensor which were resting on the exhaust pipe and had melted. These too got sorted and re-wrapped. I’m also going to fasten that loom so that it can’t touch the exhaust again.

There are still lots of little details to sort, but the Honda is coming together nicely. I’ll aim to have it safetied in the spring and then run it for a few months and see if having a second bike in the garage is worth hanging on to, or it might just be sold on to fund the next project. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to running my first true sport bike.

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2020 Moto Wishlist

Next season is a long, cold winter away, but I’m already daydreaming about what might be…

TomTom Rider 550 Moto-GPS: I’ve always made do with my phone, but Google Maps is kinda crap when it comes to navigating on a bike. Whenever you reach a way point it wants input, which isn’t easy when you’re flying through the air at 60mph with gloves on. The TomTom not only is glove friendly, but the software is moto-specific, so no pointless inputs. It even has a twisty-roads function! $370CAN

A New Roof: I’m partial to Roof Helmets. To date I’ve owned a first generation Desmo and a Boxxer. The Boxxer is a simple thing and I miss the plush, quieter and more substantial Desmo I had before. Roof has actually come out with a new Desmo, the RO32, and I’m partial to the new flat dark blue lid they’ve just done. Roofs are hard to find in North America, but Chromeburner has the new lid on for about $500CAN.

Racing Kit! A one piece racing suit for the other thing below. Now that I’m with sports bike, perhaps I could take it out to track days. To do that I’d need the proper racing kit. To get the right spec helmet, boots, gloves and racing suit, I’m at about $2200. Fortnine has the bits I’d need.

A long time ago I did a car performance driving school at Shannonville Race Track and really enjoyed it. Taking the Fireblade out on track would be a brilliant way to get to know this athletic machine. Riderschoice.ca has track days. I just need to get the bike sorted and have the kit necessary to do the business.

Starting at about $170.

Of course, if you’re doing track days and need to prep a bike for the track, you need to drain coolant and all sorts of other stuff. What you really need is a way to get it there. The new Transit Connect is super fuel efficient for a van and would carry my stuff and people when needed. About $37k.

Van’s got a tow hitch, so trailer, obviously… $1600 at Canadian tire for this one. Maybe trailers don’t matter, but I’d like to colour match this one to the van. With that and a fitted cover, it could take one or two bikes to wherever the snow ends in the winter and trackdays in the summer.

BIKE WISHLIST:

A next level off-roader. I’ve done a few rounds of off-road training and dig the experience. I’d like to race enduro and need something dependable and big enough to carry me. There was a Suzuki DR650 I looked at in the summer for a very reasonable $4000. It was five years old but basically brand new due to some back luck by its owner. I wish I could go back in time, get that bike, sort it out for enduro racing and then do it!

Track-day bike: I’ve already got this one underway with the Fireblade project. Sorting out the CBR900rr in the garage and then making it track-day ready would be brilliant. The real block to entry is the cost of racing kit and the ability to transport the bike to the track. I think I’m some finishing up and detail work away from putting the Honda back on the road in the spring.

Top Speed Machine: I’ve always been partial to the Suzuki Hayabusa, and it would let me do a bucket list thing (200mph on a motorcycle) with only a few modifications. To stretch the bucket list wish, I’d take it out to speed week in Bonneville and do 200mph on the salt. If I wanted a leg up on this, someone has a modified turbo Hayabusa in Windsor.

A 2-up Touring specialist: The Tiger will do 2-up work, but it isn’t ideal for it. A bike that’s a 2-up specialist would be the ideal tool for the job. Out of all the big cruiser/touring bikes out there, I think the Goldwing is the best. I’ve ridden a friend’s. It’s surprisingly athletic, even with 2 people on it. Touring bikes don’t come cheap – the ‘Wing is a $30k thing.

Anime Dream Machine: The Kawasaki Z1000 has long been a favourite and its Sugomi designed look is pure anime awesomeness. I’ve got to admit that the Fireblade project sitting in my garage scratches many of the same itches though. There’s an orange Z1000 in Quebec going for about $10k. I think the Fireblade might have scratched this itch…

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A Week After New Years

Norman makes the PCH look pretty magical.
At nearly a thousand bucks a day for this Canadian,
it would have to be.

Strange timing means I’ve got the week off after New Year’s Day this year. That means flying is a less expensive possibility, so what motorcycling trip might I do with that time? Norman Reedus did the PCH last year, that’d be nice. If my son and I were to go what would that cost?

1) Drive to Detroit would be a bit of gas, border & hotel money, pack only bike gear and a single change of clothes. Parking in Detroit would cost about $170 for the week including a night in a hotel (the flight leaves at 6am).

$250 for the first day and night (trip, hotel & parking). And that’s just to stay in Detroit!

2) Flights from Detroit to LAX are going for about $675. Throw in another $50 to eat bad airport food.

Land in LAX, cab over to EagleRider (10 miles) $30. EagleRider renting a BMW sport tourer for a week costs over $1400US ($1900 Canadian) if you want decent insurance coverage in the liability driven US.

Figure $300US a day in food, gas and hotels (travelling fairly minimally), and our eight days and nine nights on ground should run us about $2400US ($3250 Canadian).

The flight back is another $574 plus expenses…

Once back it’s another four hour slog over the bridge and back into Ontario through potentially lousy winter weather. Figure in an extra $100 for gas, tolls and eating to get home.

A thousand miles up and down the Pacific Coast Highway
would be a nice way to end the holiday break, but
at seven grand it’s a salty trip.

I might have the time free, but this cheap-as-I’ll-go trip to California for just seven days (plus one in Detroit) would run to almost seven grand. It’s a nice bike, but the price difference between that and a smaller, less able bike to carry us and our stuff around isn’t that much (maybe thirty bucks a day less). This is assuming $100 a night-ish hotels, so nothing special and nothing near anything good. Other than the riding there isn’t much left to visit anything with either.

Renting a bike is expensive. Flying is expensive even if it isn’t a peak times and even if you drive to Detroit first. Hotels aren’t cheap, and the whole thing jumps up by 32% when I pay for it with the Canadian money I earn.

I guess I won’t be doing that the week after New Years.

Last Light of the Sun

Tuesday, November 26: I got outside after work and noted that the weather didn’t hurt. Could this be a chance for a final ride before the icy grip of old man winter chokes the life out of my riding season?

On our way home I saw a determined rider on a Harley with scarves tied around his face and that tipped it. It took me about 10 minutes to thermal up (this opportunity was still only a 5°C one) and wheel the Tiger out from under its blanket.

The 16 year old Triumph started at the touch of the button, though the battery didn’t sound happy after sitting in freezing temperatures for a month. As the bike warmed up I made sure no skin was showing and off I went.

I just did a 30km run down to the Westmontrose Covered Bridge and then back to Elora, but the chance to fly again before the winter closes in was priceless. There is nothing better than an unexpected ride when you think you’re months away from being out in the wind again.

A brief stop at the church in Westmontrose for some thematically relevent early November sunset shots in the graveyard before riding back upstream. I pulled into the gas station in Elora and was surprised to see four other bikers filling up before the long cold resumes.

The Tiger is now parked up with a full tank of gas, ready to slumber once again under its blanket until the distant spring approaches…

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