Bye Bye

After a fair amount of work to get it ready my old MZ Skorpion Sport went to its new home about a week ago. I was sorry to see it go, but it was doing no one any good sitting at the back of my shed.

Two Decades Apart

BMW R100RS (1993)

Triumph Tiger 955i (2014)

Two trips, two decades apart, to Applecross in Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands. 

The roadsign shown is at the foot of the infamous Bealach-na-ba the former drover's road over the pass to the village of Applecross.

Sepia

MZ ES250/2

Weekend Roundup

Longship

Viking ship spotted on a trip to Ireland

Brolly Dolly

Uncle Norman, owner of youcan'ttouronasingle, fitting a set of aftermarket indicators to my Dnepr MT11 on the campsite at Applecross, Wester Ross about 1992. We would have been there for the MZ Riders Club Scottish Rally.

The photo may be in greyscale, but there is a distinct lack of grey hair in evidence!

Good Morning From Norway

On the Eagle Road, Norway 2011

Dark Star

My old sidecar outfit. The only MZ Dark Star in existence.

This started life as an MZ Silver Star, which had a 500cc Rotax engine mounted in an ETZ chassis with the frame being used as the oil-tank. Single disc brake on the front and a drum on the back. Adequate, but could have done with a bit more bite. It was hitched to a Watsonian Stratford sidecar. 

It would cruise along between 65mph - 70 mph all day. Fuel economy wasn’t too bad for an outfit, but if that is something that concerns you then maybe you shouldn’t be riding a sidecar outfit in the first place.

Loads of small modifications, as well as car wheels and a bigger fuel tank. All the silver stuff was eventually replaced with black, although I notice that the visible side-panel is still original equipment at this point. As everyone kept commenting on how little of the bike was actually silver I had some decals made up which read ‘Dark Star’ after the film of the same name 

It was eventually broken up for spares after losing an argument with a bus about who had right of way.

 

Running Up That Hill

Oh, dear. Was I ever that young?

Dnepr MT11 'Roadster'

Some pictures from the autumn of 1992. 

Camping at King's House Hotel, in Glencoe, in the shadow of Buachaille Eite Mòr.

Not Just Any Old Nail

I came across this rather poor quality photo of one of my old bikes. This was a Honda H100S II A, to give it its complete designation. It was a 100cc two-stroke single on which I ventured far and wide.

It saw me through uni, and two different jobs in two different cities. It was used for commuting, for holidays and for going to rallies. It must have covered an enormous mileage for a humble commuter machine. I even moved house on it. Twice!

Satellite

Trabant emblem