Britbike forum Forums General discussion The Rod and Tappet T'other weekend....

It was the MTO Rally over there in Belgium, so as Cochise was once again dripping fuel onto the cylinder head, I rolled out the FORTY INCHER, while the Por15 did it's duty fixing the leak....





Met up with the lads....





And then it was off to Dover to catch the ferry....





Sadly the coffee shop wasn't there any more so we just hung around till the Penguin in his HiViz flapped his arms, and onboard we got....





Dover to Dunkerque takes nearly 2hrs, so breakfast and a chat before we got ready for the short motorway ride along the roads of French France before crossing the boarder into Belgium, and the lovely town of Veurne, where of course we had these....




Belly full we hit the canal road and meandered our way towards Oostende, and our brick built tent. BUT, and you'll notice that's a big but there, about 2 miles from our destination, I could feel the clutch lever going slack, thinking the cable was about to snap. I tightened up the adjuster on the bars, but it still got worse, then as an Olde Woman crossed the road in front of me, I pulled the clutch lever in, and nothing happend...? The lever was smooth so I didn't think the cable was broken, it must be something more sinister, so I did the last bit of mileage with not clutch. VERY interesting in heavy town traffic...!


At the brick built tent I chucked the bike in their garage, and went for a few beers with the lads...





Always best to sort a bike out next morning after a good drinking session I feel....

And so next morning and after a 'Eat as much as you can breakfast' I minced over to the garage to get me fettling irons out, next thing I know there's a whole bunch of lads around me, and I got pushed out of the way, with a lad fixing the clutch basket nut, which had decided to jump ship...




Once all that was nice and tight, we hit the lanes of Belgium to take some of the new lads to the War sights around Ypres....








A fine day out and the FORTY INCHER was working as it should, once back and with the Sun out in force I had me a look see at the beach along Oostende's sea front....





We then had a full night out on the town, bedding down in the wee small hours, then it was another 'Eat as much as you can' breakfast, before going to sign into the Rally proper, and once there I had me a little mooch...

Just a few people there this year....



























We hit the lanes following the MTO Yellow signs, dead easy and you ride at your own pace, usually about 100 miles with a couple of stops for beer and food, lovely end to the riding year, well USUALLY it is but I'll be doing a bit more yet. Anyway out into the Belgium lanes we did go.....


















A glance at a very happy Baza57....








Eventually we pulled into the lunch stop, and had sausage & chips along with a beer, the Sun was baking hot, then I spied our plumber mate Andy, getting out of the van of shame, seems his Tap washer special had broken down, turned out that the magneto shaft had broken. So that'll be at least two more old lady tap washer jobs to do to pay for the repair, his bike was on the trailer of shame....

That must've been the most photographed Brough in Europe....


A bit more mooching, I LOVED this little thing....




















Got back, had a few beers, a nice shower, then hit the town. And I'm ashamed to admit, I MUST be getting old, I just couldn't finish this off, actually left four ribs full of meat and a pile of chips too, just could NOT eat it.... It had defeated me....







A fantastic four days with a bunch of great lads, perfect weather too, what more could you ask for....

Delirium Tremens.
Mmmm.

Oh, my.

Great pix, and yarn.

I'd have to be fasted for a day, to take in a rack of ribs like that (not to mention trimmings and bevvies)

wow wee what is first OD one and tracked tricycle like thing? you'uns eat a lot o vittles bet yer bowels is jist as reg'lar as kin be sheesh

its a Kittinkrad (sp?). Germans used them in WW 2.

Ed from NJ

ach-tongue

Great trip and yarn as always, and you did wisely to leave the excess ribs behind, exploring the Impacted Bowel Recovery methods of the Belgians is no way to end a nice journey.

Is the Brough the bike with the busted magneto drive....?

Lannis

Or, Delirium Red....the best of the best!!!

I'll bet those were very useful things back in the day......

I've only ever seen one, and that was in the Musée des Blindés,Saumur in the Loire Valley,France.

Yes Lannis lad it WAS indeed the Brough with the broken Magneto shaft, he didn't ride the bike to the event, simply chucked it in a van.IF he had ridden it he could've found the problem sooner, swapped it out for his Vincent, and used that instead. Now we can poke fun at him till next year, as being good chums, we should do as it's only right and proper...

If he's riding a Brough with a Vincent as a backup bike, he NEEDS a bit of fun poked at him to keep his head from getting too big....I know I'D need it.....

Lannis

Wow what a great weekend of motorcycling fun- looks like the whole world came out too, loads of fun and we KNOW you guys eat well!

Hi Shaun; great places and motorcycles. That mini tank is incredible.
I think you experienced kind of food that is not possible to find in UK. I love to go to a restaurant or food place and the portions are big. Most places in most Countries have small portions. I do not like to pay and finish with a non complete stomach.

Incredible how near UK are those places.
-Still I do not get it why modern bikes (birds style) are too tall; year by year are taller. In that photo before to take the ferry the comparison with the older bikes is remarkably.

I had to read that section twice but I thought you have those fantastic looking mussels for breakfast on the ferry .... Wow what a trip that is fantastic !! So jealous as always !!