The Chip Shop Run, June 2012
"Fancy a bag of chips ?" asked Tim. And so was born the first in an occasional series of impromptu Diff'rent Strokers events.
Darin was the only one who was feeling hungry it seemed, and turned up with his GSX-R750R-Ltd. So Tim fired up his GSX-R750RK and they headed out in the half-hearted sun, hoping for nothing more than some dry roads and a portion of deep-fried potato-based fast-food. After only 15 minutes they called in to see Simon Francis, notorious local Suzuki-molester, who lined his Schwantz-replica 7/11 up for a couple of photos along with a customer's 750 Slingshot that he had in for some work. He couldn't refuse the offer of a quick spin on the Ltd, so Darin took the RK, Tim took the 7/11 and they all headed out for a fast lap of the village.
Bidding Simon farewell, they headed out to the coast and towards some ominous black clouds. Getting away with only a 30-second light rain shower, they arrived at Bridlington where the sun burst out again and a chip shop duly appeared right on cue. Dubious-looking battered sausages and greasy chips later, it was back on the bikes, threading their way quickly through the town (the Ltd sulks a bit in traffic) and heading further north.
Tim's plan had always been to head up to Scarborough and do a lap of Olivers Mount. A narrow winding tree-lined road perched high on a hill, for most of the year it is a picnic spot and somewhere to get a nice view out over the town. For a tiny handful of days it becomes a racetrack, with hardcore TT-riders touching 180mph on a strip of tarmac only 6 feet wide. Despite the paddock filling up with racers preparing for the meeting the next day, the circuit was open to the public as usual, so a quick lap was put in and some photos taken on the start-line in front of the memorial to Barry Sheene.
Swapping bikes, they headed back inland, via Staxton Hill, Driffield and Wetwang (to Darin's childish amusement) and arriving at local bikers haunt Seaways cafe. Often rammed with bikes, it was very quiet so after a quick cup of tea it was time to go. Despite more black clouds and a bloke on a GSX-R1000 pulling in and complaining about the rain further west, they decided to risk it and aim for another popular bikers destination, Squires cafe. The roads were very wet but the rain had finished, and again there was a depressingly small attendance. With yet another tea consumed, they swapped bikes again and headed home. Calling in for some quick photos in front of the Humber Bridge, they arrived back home having done exactly 280kms.
Despite aching wrists from the flatslide carbs and dry-clutch, they decided to make the most of the unexpectedly nice weather and pulled out another couple of bikes. Darin fired up his ZXR750R-M and Tim borrowed (yes, he did ask) his wife's 250 Hornet. Another 30kms were polished off on a mix of local country roads, with a chance to sample each other's bikes again. Some flooded roads brought a premature end to the fun though.
This was a brilliant day out and we're definitely going to do it again sometime. The theme might be homologation-specials again, or maybe Gag bikes, or 2-strokes or grey-imports. Where ? Don't know yet. It'll definitely be chips again though. Keep an eye on the forum for details of Chip Shop Run #2...
