Where have I been on my Fazer...

[Hedgetrimmer]

...since I bought it 
Sorry, just bored 


Luke delivered it all modded up, and I took it for a first spin up onto Uffington Hill, above the iron age fort:





Carbon-dip panels caught in the summer evening light:





Next place it went was just up the road to the Cassington Bike Night. Always well attended, this is just part of the main parking field:





And a couple of interesting bikes seen there, used to have one of these:





Two cylinders from a radial aero engine:




5cyl KH Kwak by the same builder:





Nice example of one that used to be a favourite of mine, very rare these days:





A LOFOs ride around Oxfordshire and Wiltshire:





And another ride when we finally actually made it to Sammy Miller's    :





A visit to Pendine Sands on the 95th anniversary of Sir Malcolm Campbell's 150mph record setting run in Bluebird:















Also ran, 1933 Napier Railton Special, a Brooklands lap record holder:





Brief break on Uffington Hill on the way home:





Enjoying summer evening light on the "Charlbury TT" course:










3 go nuts in Wales:





Always liked to visit interesting historical sights. Raglan Castle:





Stokesay Castle:





Did quite a few rides to Wales for great biking roads and scenery:















Went to Cornwall for a few days. At Rame Head:





Somewhere on Dartmoor:





In front of Truro Cathedral:





Obligatory:





Saw this on one of those Welsh trips, another rare one these days:





And this on a last Sunday run to H's cafe:





Visiting old haunts shortly before moving oop north:





One last visit to High beach, Epping Forest:





Loads more to come! 

[Hedgetrimmer]

Came time to shove the bike and all my worldly possessions in a rented van and move north. Soon out exploring. Somewhere in the Scottish Southern Uplands:





Had a nice sized shed built in the garden, and the Fazer soon had company:





Furthest I went on the Street Triple was about a 180 mile ride around the Yorkshire Dales, but more often just went hooning in the Lake District on it:





On a longer exploration of the Southern Uplands in better weather:















First proper Scotland tour:

























First Euro tour. Sisteron on the Route Napoleon:





Route Napoleon:





Crossing the Apennines from Florence to Bologna:





On a ride out from a base near Lake Garda:





Riva del Garda:





Grossglockner Pass, Austria:

[Hedgetrimmer]

2nd Scotland tour:




















Obligatory 2:





Obligatory 3:





Cairngorm backdrop:







Off to Europe again. Picos de Europa:








































Pyrenees:






























On to the French Alps, Route des Grandes Alpes:





Col de la Bonette:





Which is the highest point I've ever reached on a motorcycle:





Fun roads:





With view after stunning view:





Favourite point on the route, Col du Galibier:





For these reasons:

[robbo]

Excellent pics Nick. Thanks for posting. Happy days eh.

[Hedgetrimmer]

One month later, craving mountains again! Headed for Switzerland.
At a memorial to General Patton at Ettelbruck:






B500, Black Forest:













And into Switzerland:





Based myself on the Grimsel/Furka/Susten Pass loop:




















With a couple of rides elsewhere, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald etc:










Jungfrau:





And Nufenen Pass;





And home via the Route des Cretes:










Since then, mostly just pottered about the Lake District.
Fazers always know the best places to go:



Usually stop at the Filling Station cafe for a bacon roll and cuppa on the way in.
Birds of a feather:





Occasionally see something interesting parked up there:





A few shots of the bike that took me more places than any other in 34 years of riding:

[Hedgetrimmer]

Excellent pics Nick. Thanks for posting. Happy days eh.

Thanks robbo. The happiest 

[VNA - BMW Wank]

Been gettin aboot then.
The one taken at 12.21 looks suspiciously like the Talla reservoir.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Not sure which one you're referring to VNA?


Oh, and this is probably a suitable place to once again say a huge thanks to Luke and Mike for putting together for me the best bike I've ever owned, which made all this travel so much more enjoyable than it might otherwise have been, a big contribution for sure 

[VNA - BMW Wank]

On a longer exploration of the Southern Uplands in better weather:

And the clock on yer bike shows 12.21

[ogri48]

great photos mate, and inspiring stuff

[Hedgetrimmer]

On a longer exploration of the Southern Uplands in better weather:

And the clock on yer bike shows 12.21

Oh right, got ya.
I don't know the names of all the places I've posted, but you might well be right. On that trip, I got my map out, looked for a loop that would take me through all the places that showed highest elevation roads and hills, reservoirs and lochs, squiggliest roads, and wherever I thought was likely to be most scenic and fun to ride. Worked out pretty well 

[Hedgetrimmer]

great photos mate, and inspiring stuff

Cheers Paul.
Now you know why I'm skint now 

[ogri48]

lol yes I do! bloody worth it though mate. Btw when I say "inspiring" I also secretly mean "depressing". all ive done on mine is bloody commute. its got hard luggage too, ive got no excuse whatsoever...

[YamFazFan]

Wow you have been about on the bike a bit . Fantastic photo's and that's the best looking model Fazer in the best looking colour scheme IMHO. I want one of them

[Hedgetrimmer]

Wow you have been about on the bike a bit . Fantastic photo's and that's the best looking model Fazer in the best looking colour scheme IMHO. I want one of them

34 years riding, and all that ^^ in the last 3-and-a-bit years 


Of course it's the best one, I chose it 

[Fazerider]

That’s a great collection of memories. 

... Btw when I say "inspiring" I also secretly mean "depressing". all ive done on mine is bloody commute. its got hard luggage too, ive got no excuse whatsoever...

Aside from one trip to the Lake District and a couple to the West Country pretty much all mine’s done is 20 years of commuting too. Clocking up so many miles getting to and from work meant I didn’t have much of an urge to add more during time off.

[ogri48]

front end looks like a factory jobbie too. pukka bike mate. though im a black/silver man myself..

[Hedgetrimmer]

front end looks like a factory jobbie too. pukka bike mate. though im a black/silver man myself..

As I mentioned, that's down to Luke (and unseen bits by Mike). I don't take the credit for that.

[Frosties]

lol yes I do! bloody worth it though mate. Btw when I say "inspiring" I also secretly mean "depressing". all ive done on mine is bloody commute. its got hard luggage too, ive got no excuse whatsoever...

I share your pain fella - friggin London & back.....I wanna retire 

[coffee]

Very impressive   How many miles on it ?

[Hedgetrimmer]

Getting on for 40k. Think it had about 15k on the clock when I bought it in June 2015. So not a huge amount done in the grand scheme of things, but I've never had to commute on it, just all for fun and exploration 
Never missed a beat, never given me cause for concern, always reliable. Haven't ever crashed this one (oh well, that's buggered it!  ), but it fell off its stand once when I forgot to put it in gear when I parked it at a viewpoint in the Pyrenees. Minor scratches and scrapes and a slightly bent handlebar only thankfully.

[coffee]

Getting on for 40k. Think it had about 15k on the clock when I bought it in June 2015. So not a huge amount done in the grand scheme of things, but I've never had to commute on it, just all for fun and exploration 
Never missed a beat, never given me cause for concern, always reliable. Haven't ever crashed this one (oh well, that's buggered it!  ), but it fell off its stand once when I forgot to put it in gear when I parked it at a viewpoint in the Pyrenees. Minor scratches and scrapes and a slightly bent handlebar only thankfully.

I had a DEAUVILLE once, (yes,I know and the very afternoon I sold it I put it on the drive and manouvered it to make it look good and the camber on the drive made it come off the stand and fell into a wall ! you wouldn't believe the damage it did! only cosmetic but I had to knock £100 off the price and there wasn't a lot in it to start with.I just couldn't stand the thought of repairing it,I just wanted to see the back of it.

[Hedgetrimmer]

The light damage this bike received when it fell over didn't reduce my affection (affection? Yes, I think you'd have to call it that) for it any, and you hardly notice it when it's all polished and clean.
I once had an FZ750 that I crashed however, also only minor damage (although a bit worse than this) and I went off that bike quite quickly. It was a good bike - handled well, fast, comfortable, fun to ride - but I think something about the crash just took something away from how I saw it. I've never been able to explain that, as for a while, I still rode it happily enough.


Otoh, it didn't take me to all the great places this one did, nothing like. I think that's where the attachment to this one really comes from, although out of 5 that I've had now, it is the best, and I do think that for me at least, it is the best bike I've ever owned - perhaps for where I'm at with my riding these days.

[VNA - BMW Wank]

 

I don't know the names of all the places I've posted, but you might well be right. On that trip, I got my map out, looked for a loop that would take me through all the places that showed highest elevation roads and hills, reservoirs and lochs, squiggliest roads, and wherever I thought was likely to be most scenic and fun to ride. Worked out pretty well

I reckon that shot is here, about 1km past the Megget Stone just before the drop down to Talla Linnfoots.  https://binged.it/2RJwCxp  Recognise a few other places but I don’t think many folks explore that wee road. 



That’s about where I almost trashed my 4x4 Yeti last winter.  I was trying to get up that pass to the Megget Stone in order to park up for a wee winter hill walk, but I am now a little bit more knowledgeable on the capabilities, or rather the limits of an SUV 4x4 and summer tyres.  At one point realising I had made a bit of a c*** of myself and wasn’t going any further I got out to have a look.  The car was still moving and I jumped straight back in and checked the handbrake.  Got back out again, the car was still moving, I looked at the wheels and they were not turning.  I just managed to get it back down – thank – foc.


But yeah good policy, and you’ve not half been getting about.
 

[Hedgetrimmer]

I reckon that shot is here, about 1km past the Megget Stone just before the drop down to Talla Linnfoots.  https://binged.it/2RJwCxp  Recognise a few other places but I don’t think many folks explore that wee road.

I think you're right, I'm 99% certain that was part of the route I cobbled together.


Couple more pics from there:


 

That’s about where I almost trashed my 4x4 Yeti last winter.  I was trying to get up that pass to the Megget Stone in order to park up for a wee winter hill walk, but I am now a little bit more knowledgeable on the capabilities, or rather the limits of an SUV 4x4 and summer tyres.  At one point realising I had made a bit of a c*** of myself and wasn’t going any further I got out to have a look.  The car was still moving and I jumped straight back in and checked the handbrake.  Got back out again, the car was still moving, I looked at the wheels and they were not turning.  I just managed to get it back down – thank – foc.

 


Won't be going up there on the bike in winter!