Did You Buy Yourself a Biking Christmas Present?

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***?*** HAPPY CHRISTMAS ***?***
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I wish you a great time and an even better 2013.

This year’s Christmas present to myself.

Roll on the 2013 riding season! I am planning a road trip here....

Video Competition - Win A GoPro Camera!

Some of you will remember the ABCD photograph competition I ran some time ago. It is time to have another competition, but this time even bigger and better!

The new competition is for motorcycle videos. They can be filmed from on-board a motorcycle, they can be about anything to do with motorcycles, they can be old or they can be new.

The last competition had a short time-frame, but this one doesn’t. You have until 31st October 2013 to enter your video, so there is plenty of time. There are three categories...

1. On-board motorcycle videos. Amateur videos that include a considerable amount of material shot from on-board cameras mounted on your bike, helmet etc.
2. General motorcycle videos. Amateur videos about any aspect of motorcycles or motorcycling.
3. Professional motorcycle videos. These are made by professional film makers or videographers.

For the full rules and details on how to enter, see this page on my website

Wooley has already pointed out that entering this competition means that you have to already have a video camera, in order to win a video camera. He of course is quite right, but look at it this way – it is a chance to win ANOTHER video camera.

So, if you have a video you are already proud of, you can submit it now. If you haven’t, then start planning now to film something brilliant!

Please feel free to re-post this on your own blog, or website.

My son Charlie in HOG Magazine

Some of my readers may remember seeing this picture of my eldest son, Charlie, that I included in an earlier posting about the trip we did on our motorcycle to Portugal.

The Harley Owners Group (HOG) magazine wrote an article about young riders, especially Charlie, and he appears in the Winter 2012 edition of the magazine.

Well done Charlie, Jackie and I are very proud of you!

Here is the article...

For those with eyes that were once young, try this link.... bit.ly/12vKBHU

How to fix luggage to a custom motorcycle

When designing my custom motorcycle Amelia, I knew two things for sure.

1. I would be touring long distances on this motorcycle.
2. I needed to be able to fix luggage to the bike, but I didn't want an ugly rack to spoil the look of the bike.

Good looks and practicality don't always go well together, so, it became clear that we needed to be quite innovative in devising a solution for fixing luggage to the bike.

This is what we did.... it works a treat....

Guide to Planning a Motorcycle Road Trip in the USA

Planning to a motorcycle road trip in the US? Then you might want to read this guide.

As a Englishman who planned and then rode 21,000 miles in America on a road trip, I learnt a lot about what to consider if planning a motorcycle road trip in the US for the first time. Thinking it would be useful to others doing the same thing, I wrote about my views on this. If you are planning to visit the US from a different country and are going to ride a motorcycle while there, you might want to read my free guide giving tips and advice about planning such a trip.

Americans might find it useful as well, or you could let me know if I have missed anything.

The free guide is available here http://bit.ly/RodhRW

France In America - Free Book!

At the end of my 21,475 mile motorcycle tour of the USA, I made a promise on my blog that I intend to keep. I said anyone that commented on my blog before the last day of the trip, would receive a free copy of my book about the tour.

That promise will be kept.

With a few things still to do, the book will be published early next year. To show my gratitude to those that encouraged me to keep writing on my blog by making comments on it, I would like to send you your free copy.

So, if you commented on my blog before the last day of my tour, sometime between now and 14th January, please let me have a postal address where I can send the book to. All you need to do is to send it to me in an email to the address in the 'Contact / Social' part of the panel on the right.

By the way, Blogger lets me know who commented, so no cheaters please!

Book Update - France In America

My regular readers already know I went on a pretty long ride on my motorcycle across America. It was 21,475 glorious miles of getting to know the country and its people. The journey was a tremendous experience, as I visited 27 different states and witnessed many of the great places America has to offer.

What started out as a simple blog journal of the ride eventually led to the decision to write a book about the road trip and I am pleased to report that book is almost complete. To give you an update, about a month ago, the writing was finished, the photos to be included were chosen, the maps were all drawn and editing was completed.

I then travelled to Thailand to undertake the next stage in the evolution of the book – to create the layout of the book by deciding exactly what goes on each page. Sizing and locating each of the many hundreds of pictures in the best place within the text isn’t easy, so I needed the help of people with considerable experience in this.

My brother Tim lives in Thailand and it was to him I turned for help. He runs a communications company, Inis Communications, that writes, edits and publishes documents to help global health and development organisations achieve greater impact through high quality publications. Tim had helped me with guidance and advice about writing the book and I now needed his help again. Here are the two of us, working on the book....

Tim and his team made the task of creating the book layout very easy and it was a pleasure to watch experienced people at work. At four hundred pages this is a big book, and they worked their way through it with the ease that only experts can. The main graphic designer, Benya, did a terrific job and produced a layout I am very happy with. This is Benya discussing the cover of the book with me....

Many, many thanks go to Tim and his whole team for turning my words and pictures into a fantastic-looking book. I am thrilled with the end results.

You can find out more about the book here.

More updates will follow. The next stage is another area of complete mystery for me - choosing the right printer. Now, just how do you go about that.....?

Next week, I will tell you about fulfilling a promise I made......

My New Motorcycling Website!

Today, my new motorcycling website www.garysfrance.com was launched.

Containing information about different aspects of motorcycling, the site has sections about my forthcoming book, touring guides, my videos, a competition (win the latest GoPro camera), a bit about me, reviews of motorcycling books, other people videos I like, plus a whole load more.

I hope you find just a little bit of time to go take a peek.

Biker get away to the sun?

Now is the time of year that most bikers in the northern hemisphere don’t like. The warm days of summer have passed, the grey and rain of autumn have made their unwelcome appearance. Getting out on our motorcycles just isn’t as much fun as it was in the summer. As a biker living in London, England, as yet another riding season draws to a close, it’s all pretty depressing to me.

There is only one thing for it – head south to the sun. For most people in Europe, you have to go a pretty long way south before the temperatures begin to climb, but in the US, that isn’t the case if you live in the more southerly states.

Take Texas for example. Motorcycle rallies are over for most of us, but not so in Galveston, Texas. The ‘Lone Star Rally’ runs from 1st until 4th November this year. Located on the Gulf of Mexico near Houston, Galveston is on the same latitude as... the Sahara Desert. The average daily high for Galveston on 1st November is 75F / 24C with the record high being 82F / 28C, and thats plenty warm enough for most of us.

Photo courtesy of Galveston.com

Claimed by the organisers to be the largest four-day rally in North America, this year’s event features concerts, a custom bike show, hundreds of vendors and even an appearance from Charlie Hunnam who plays ‘Jax’ in the TV series ‘Sons of Anarchy’.

Not able to attend this November, I am determined to go to the rally one year.

Here is the “official teaser video” from the rally organisers website....



If you do manage a autumn get away to the sun somewhere, have fun and post something about it!

Long Live The Kings

Don’t you just love inspirational videos?

This one is about a group of guys doing something as simple as riding motorcycles together.  It is very cool. 

It makes me want to go out and ride.

Achieving dreams.

Five old men from Taiwan, average age 81, set out on their motorcycles for 13 days, for one simple reason – to achieve their dreams.

Dreaming is important.  Achieving those dreams more so.

I hope I can still ride a motorcycle with my friends when I am eighty-one years old.

Trip to the Champagne Region, northern France

What better way to spend three gloriously sunny days than to jump on your motorbikes, take the Channel Tunnel train to France, ride to the Champagne region and drink fantastic bubbly with some friends?

That is precisely what seven of us did last weekend.

05:30 and the alarm shook to life, but as before many long riding trips, I was already awake.  30 minutes later I was loading my new custom bike, Amelia and trying very hard to ride it down my street as quietly as possible, in order not to wake the neighbours.  I probably failed. 

It was chilly as I rode the almost 100 miles to the train terminal and I was glad to get there and warm up while waiting for the train.  Nick (HD Street Glide) and his wife Jane (HD Sportster 883 Superlow) were already there.  Sumit and Raj (HD Sportster) and Keith and Sue (HD Road King) all arrived soon and we were soon speeding through the tunnel on the train to France. After arriving at Calais, we then rode about 200 miles to get to our base, in Reims.

This is Sumit and Raj on some picturesque French country roads....

We spent Saturday riding around looking at the region, the centre of Champagne production.  Only wine produced in the region can be called Champagne, which has been produced here since 1531.  From everywhere else, it is called sparkling wine.  It was pointed out to me that each field is marked with stones, showing who the grapes belong to....

At one point, we saw a huge sign showing the maker of one of the most well known Champagne producers and of course, had to park the bikes right under it....

With the exception of a few crops, almost nothing else is grown or farmed here but grapes.  There are certainly a lot of grapes.....

Overlooking the fields is a strange sight.  At about 150 miles from the sea, stands a 200 foot tall lighthouse, built to celebrate and promote the champagne region.  We climbed its narrow steps and looked over the straight lines of grape vines....

We went to see the Abbey of Saint Hilaire, where Benedictine Monks made the first champagne.  Dom Perignon stayed at the Abbey and gave advice to the monks to improve the quality of the wine.  This is Nick and I, leaning against the wall of the Abbey....

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, we went to see the Cathedral in the centre of Reims.  Rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original building in AD 1211, the ‘new’ Cathedral is a marvel of design and construction....

At 455 ft long, 98 feet wide and about 125 feet high, the interior of the main Nave is huge.  Dark stained glass windows do not let in much light and so the Cathedral is dark and somewhat gloomy, but the side aisles are much brighter....

It was all too much for a couple of elderly oriental gentlemen, who made the most of the quiet and grabbed a quick nap....

Trams run on rails through large parts of the city.  Not good on a motorcycle on a wet day, as the rails become very slippery.  Thankfully it was a screaming hot day when we were there....

This is Nick, the guy who organised our short trip.  Here he is considering the purchase of a new bike....

A graffiti art competition was taking place in the centre of Reims....

We had great food....

.... and even better company....  Sumit, Sue, Raj, Keith, Nick, Jane and yours truly.....

Sunday saw us riding back through France on mainly quiet country roads, arriving back at the tunnel just in time to get the train back under the sea. 

A great trip all round.

Charlie riding back from Portugal

Earlier this year, I rode to Portugal with Ian Solley and my son Charlie.  We went to the HOG Euro Festival and each of us was on a custom motorcycle.  Bearing in mind Charlie had only passed his motorcycle test two months earlier, he did brilliantly well!

Each of us had an incident on the way down, with mechanical problems and one of our group dropped his bike on a very slippery roundabout.  Unperturbed by this, all three of us entered our motorcycles in the custom bike competition and each of us won our class.  From trouble to success in one step!

This is the HOG video about the custom bike show.  Charlie is at 1:15 and I am at 3:29......



Ian sadly had to leave before the prize giving, but you can see his bike at 0:36  Charlie went up to collect Ian's prize.

It was certainly a trip to remember and on the way back, I made a short video of my son Charlie on his 22 year old Sportster....



We are now looking forward to our next road trip!

London 2012 Olympic Games

I have been ridiculously busy recently and have not posted anything here on my blog for weeks.  I can see light at the end of the tunnel and so will try to catch up with some posts and what I have been doing.

The first of these is the London 2012 Olympic Games.  We were very lucky and managed to get some tickets which were much in demand.

Here is Jackie, with a few soldiers.  She can make friends with most people....

Entering the London Olympic Park....

The Olympic Stadium, just ahead of the Opening Ceremony....

A few pictures from the Opening Ceremony.  This was an amazing show about Great Britain’s past and looking ahead to what would follow in the next two weeks....

With my sons Jeremy, Charles and Richard, on our way to the men’s Basketball.  We watched France beat Argentina and the USA beat Tunisia....

The Olympic Stadium, from within the Park....

Inside the stadium, for an incredible night of Athletics.....

My cousins partner, Helen, enjoying the spirit of National pride....

Bottom right is my cousin Dean.  He doesn’t normally look that unhappy!....

Sanya Richards-Ross of the USA, who won the women’s 400metres....

Christine Ohuruogu, who was second in the women’s 400m....

Then we saw the main event, the Men’s 100m Final.  The excitement level was astounding as Usain Bolt retained his 100m Olympic title.  He is an amazing guy and most of the world wanted him to win again....

Overall, the London 2012 Olympic Games has been amazing.  I am looking forward to what remains this week.

Cool Picture from St Tropez

I was looking on the Harley-Davidson HOG website and found a cool picture of yours truly riding my Amelia bike in St Tropez.....

Also, in an e-mail HOG sent out to it's members, there is a video form the recent rally in St Tropez and somewhere near the beginning, is Amelia parked up in the marina....

Introducing Amelia, my new Harley-Davidson chopper

Many of you know a new custom bike has been built for me recently. I have posted a few pictures of the progress of the bike as it developed and of some of the details of the bike, but it is now time to reveal the completed motorcycle.

Called Amelia, the bike is based upon what old school choppers used to look like, with long forks and high bars. The bike looks amazing with its stunning engraving and paintwork. Here is the bike as it was rolled for the first time, ready for its first ride....

I didn’t post any pictures at the time as I didn’t want to give away the overall shape, but here is the bike a few weeks ago in its full mock-up form. Pictured by the bike is Charlie Stockwell, of Warrs Harley-Davidson, who built the bike. He did an amazing job and full marks must go to him for creating a wonderful motorcycle.  Some of the parts were made by Charlie....

Due to its unusual form, Charlie and I wanted to ride the bike as a mock up before it was painted in order to check out the handling. We needn’t have worried as Dave Batchelar of P&D Custom Bikes did a terrific job of modifying the frame. The bike rode like a dream and took the bends with ease. Yes, I know the bike looks odd and yes, that is tape holding on the temporary instrument panel, as yes, the seat isn’t covered yet....

Here is the bike being assembled after painting and engraving. The engine had stage 4 modifications to give it much more power....

The engraving and paint is simply incredible. Here are a few of the details of the front end....

A view looking up at the front brake pedal, reservoir and engine....

The paint was done by Keith of Classic Cycle Works and I have to say he did a fantastic job. The paint scheme just leaps out at you, with big metal flake, pinstriping and glorious colours....

The engraving just makes the whole bike gleam in a riot of chiselled metal. It is difficult to remember that this engraving was all cut by hand with a hammer and chisel. Remarkable!....

Here are a few shots from last weeks custom bike show at the HOG Rally in Grimaud in the south of France. Amelia was awarded second place in the Custom Bike category....

A few more shots from last weekend in St Tropez....

Wherever I parked the bike in St Tropez, it seemed to get quite a lot of people looking at it....

Finally, a couple of pictures of the guy that owns the bike. Most of the time, he has a big grin on his face....

Along with a few friends, Ian, Paul, Preben and Andy, I went riding to Cannes and then back to St Tropez. From the back of a bike, Ian used his phone to capture a short video of me riding Amelia.... its not a great quality video, but you will get the idea.... oh, and the sound of the bike is wonderful......




It is fair to say, I am deligyhted and very happy with the new bike. In just a few weeks time, I am going to ride it to Portugal on a 2,000 mile round trip. I can’t wait!

Thanks to everyone that helped to create such a fantastic motorcycle!

Expect more pictures soon......