Ireland with a healthy dose of FAIL

[Poseidon]

Well, last Wednesday morning me and a friend set off for Dublin, both of us on his dinky CBR600. 218miles, two up with luggage meant some very numb bums going out there. Made even worse by the fact we left at 2am on the Wednesday morning to get to Holyhead for 07:30. Bonus was the fact that it was a 4 hour journey and we had 5hours to do it in... That meant 4 fifteen minute cig breaks on the way down there to reawaken those tingly buttocks. By about 4:30am the omens were good for a bright sunny day and by the time we arrived in Anglesey, we were feeling the sun's penetrating rays through our gear.

We made Holyhead with stacks of time and we were duly boarded. Great thing was, where we were told to park on the boat (lower deck, stena nordica) meant we went up the stairs and found it took us straight into the onboard cafe... Nearly 5 hours of travelling through the wee small hours on nothing but some Sainsbury's own brand wheat bisks... I don't think the words "full english with toast and a tea" have ever been uttered quite so enthusiastically at the poor cafe girl. Anyway, breakfast done, time for an outer deck ciggy and a chance to watch Wales disappear into the horizon.

Whilst on the ferry, I was explaining the route to my Dad's house where we would be staying and Chris said he'd prefer it if I could ride the last little bit. No probs I said... Despite having never ridden a CBR6 before and completely neglecting to mention I'd never carried a pillion before, let alone 2up with a shed load of luggage... I mean, how difficult can it be? Thankfully, not very. The little CBR handled the weight well, and within a couple of stop starts, I had the clutch control down and turning was a doddle. Through the docks and over the Ringsend toll bridge (free for bikers, use the push bike lane), through to Sandymount and onto my Dad's drive... Easy as you like.

Arriving at my Dad's about 12noon-ish, we decided to get our heads down on the sofa for a while, as I wouldn't be picking up my steed until the following day. After much dozing, the pub seemed like the only place to be. So a couple of beers later, short wander home and we get our heads down. Chris in the spare room, me in the living room on the (incredibly comfy) sofa bed. Having an 8month old at home has got my body conditioned to waking at all sorts of miserable hours, so at 6:30am, I'm the only one awake. My Dad is next up, flys through the living room, into the kitchen for a coffee, a quick cig together and he's gone with the promise he'll return in a couple of hours to take me to his mate's house to collect the bike I'll be using. Next up is my Dad's missus. She grabs some toast and is on her way. I got bored of waiting for Chris, so I popped down to the Spar shop at Sandymount, bought a Daily Express and a bottle of coke and headed back. I sat outside reading the news and looked at the form for the horses at Ascot. Chris gets up and fancies breakfast, so we head to the cafe and call in at the bookies on the way back. I have a sly 20each way on Dettori in the Gold Cup race, along with a lucky31 on all but the 4.25race.

Anyway, finally the call comes through and my Dad is on his way to collect me to pick up my bike for the weekend. We get to a rather upmarket apartment block and go through the gates into the underground parking area where stood in the corner is my dad's friend next to two bikes tucked up under dust covers. I get both shown to me... I make my decision, get given the briefest of briefings on how to start it etc and then allowed to get myself back to the apartment. Which bike? Well, there was a

I'd decided that the Wicklow mountains were the best place to have our first little blast, so with a quick stop on the n11 for some fuel, we were on the coast road past Dun Laoghaire, through Bray, along to Greystones and up into the Wicklow Gap via Glendalough. I have to admit that the sound of the monster did something to me. The bike was so stable and easy to throw into a corner, I found I was leaving Chris way behind. The front wheel was a little eager to lift, especially when going over little crests on the mountain road straights... Yet despite the front end going light at the drop of a hat, there was absolutely no sign of tankslappers (possible because I dropped my elbows to take the weight off the bars when pushing the bike to the limits of my confidence). The roads were absolutely stunning!!! Weaving chicanes, tight hair-pins, sweeping curves and endless straights! This was biking heaven. The roads were really quiet and the scenery was simply stunning! Here's me at the Wicklow ]
On we went to the Sally Gap (R115) and I was absolutely on fire. Every 30minutes or so, I'd pull in for a quick smoke to let Chris catch up with me. For someone who claims he used to race bikes, he aint half slow on the twisties! One last cig break before the last leg all the way back into Dublin and we took the opportunity for some more photo whoring:
[
And this is where it all goes very pear shaped. I round a sweeping right hander and notice a bit of bad camber. No sweat, bike went a little wide, dug in deeper, got round and decided to pull over on a large field access road. Next thing I see is a black CBR600 flying into a ditch and Chris bouncing along the road about 8foot away from the bike. Both came to a stop in a ditch all of 10feet away from me. I immediately ran over and was reassured by a yell of "WTF was that!". I laughed and said it was a corner with a bad camber! After checking he was okay, we went over to the bike to see what the damage was. The right hand fairing was missing and the rear light/number plate were smashed to pieces. My first thought was low-side. He's been pushed wide by the camber, panicked and hit the brakes hard, locked up and the bike's slid out from under him. There was a divot in the verge where the tail had dug in too.

After several futile attempts to remove the bike from the ditch, we decide that the only thing for it was for Chris to ride on the back of the duke and for us to come back with a van to tow the bike out and carry it back to my Dads. Which is exactly what we did. We finally got Chris's bike back to my Dad's by about 10pm-ish, bearing in mind he came off the bike around 6:15pm. It was a long day... And one that ended any chances of touring the rest of Ireland on bikes (since Chris had a bruised knee+elbow and said the duke was the least comfy pillion bike in the world). Although, after having a beer or two, I remembered that I had put some bets on, checked teletext and found I'd picked 4/5 winners on the lucky 31 (50cents each way=31euro bet), turns out I'd won 2624euros and 40cents!!! So the trip wasn't a complete waste!

The remainder of our time in Dublin was spent drinking, smoking and gambling, until we had to get the ferry home on the Sunday. As Chris' bike was staying in Dublin until an insurance investigator came to it... Our journey home involved 4 trains from Holyhead to York... Oh the joy!

That's pretty much all there is to say about the trip. The Duke was simply amazing! I really really want one! The roads were pretty much perfect, although occasionally you come across some questionable surfaces. The views were breath taking, the people were as lovely as always and the guinness was so much better than over here.

Hope I didn't bore you too much with this little write up. Not that it's worth noting, but this entire thing has been typed on my new MacBook Pro (thank you Ladbrokes!!!)

Cheers

Drew
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Nai]

Nice pics and write up, even if your adventure was a bit brief. Sounds like you had a good holiday all the same.

Much damage done to the bike?

[Poseidon]

Yeah I was really gutted I only got to spend 1 full day with the monster. I ended up running errands for everyone all over Dublin, just for an excuse to ride it!

The CBR was in a pretty bad way. No fairings on the right side, both off-side indicators snapped off, rear light cluster and number plate snapped off, forks bent, tank dented, brake levers bent... Couldn't see if the frame was bent though. It was just about rideable though... I had to move it down the drive, so started it up and it ran fine. Clutch worked, selected gears fine and rode a few yards without too much bother.

The left side barely has a mark on it! Wish I'd got some pictures of it... especially when it was in the ditch... Something to bring up time and time again when he says I'm too much of a noob for a big V-Twin!
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Shame your holiday was cut short.
Ta for sharing

Pat
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Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Phoenix]

To be honest I'm not sure which is worse, crashing into a ditch or wearing a superman shirt

[Nai]

Ooof well at least it was a proper crash then! Not some poncey cracked fairing that cut your holidays riding short.

[Grimnir]

https://i842.photobucket.com/albums/zz345/Grimnir_photos/b9b2o5.gif

[pepperami]

good write-up

crash = one of those things that happen in life!
injuries =minor =result, everybody walked away in one piece
4 trains home
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[oriel dave]

Interesting trip. Shame about the crash.
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Europe Trip 2009

[Poseidon]

I learnt a lot in nights in a pub

Secondly, the taught me a lot about bike handling. I've only had my licence about 18 months and the only bike I've ridden since passing my test has been my old slow triumph from april until september last year, total mileage of around 3,000 miles, so I class myself as a novice rider. When we were in the mountains, I put a lot of effort into reading the roads, looking for the vanishing point and gauging my speed for the corner... It's the first time I've really focussed on this technique and it allowed me to really extend the limits of my capabilities. I was counter steering in the same way I'd taught myself on my own bike, but this time I was shifting my weight over into the lean, which meant that the bike felt more stable through the bend, which meant I felt more confident and pushed that little bit more.

Thirdly, I have a whole new respect for large capacity bikes. The monster was a .. Much bigger and faster than anything else I've ridden. Thankfully I'm a very grounded person so I took it real steady to begin with, gradually using more of the duke's power as I became more comfortable. As the day went on, I was on the power more and more to the point I was getting roll-on wheelies when coming out of corners into long straights. At no point did I feel out of control on the bike... Because I had allowed myself to get used to the power rather than going full pelt straight away, everything happened in a calm, controlled and predictable way. I didn't have the constant urge to ride like my hair was on fire either. There was plenty of times when I could see the road surface may be a bit questionable, or that the road may be heavy with traffic, so I slowed down for the conditions and enjoyed the views. I would have no qualms about buying a bike like this with my limited experience, as I have now proven to myself that I can be sensible (i.e, only giving it the beans when the conditions are just right and I feel I have the confidence that I handle it).

It was a shame about the crash, but at least wasn't seriously injured. And 4 trains to York nearly killed me. At least all my gear was in a ruck-sack (as I was a pillion). Chris had to carry his panniers, tank bag and leathers separately all the way home. Poor lad looked like he was struggling!
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[chris-red]

I'd be suprised if the Duc has much more power than the Trident, I know the 916 monster is only about 70/80bhp.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[Poseidon]

[ms51ves3]

[Poseidon]

Fair point... The ducati was very easy to move around, whereas the trident takes a team of three men, a small crane and a banksman to move it around.
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[Klause]

[Poseidon]

Sicne riding the monster, I've thought about little else by way of bikes. I severely tempted to buy one when I get some cash at the end of August. Consequently, I've been doing a fair bit of reading up on them (specifically the S4 like the one I used over in Dublin). According to the bumph Ducati claim 101hp from the 916 motor, and for me to insure it fully comp it's only £230!!! (finally a perk to getting old!).
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1977 Honda CG125
2002 Ducati Monster S4 (currently restoring)

[mattgirv]

[Flip]

[Grazoid]