First post

Hi folks. My 2008 silver wing is arriving from the NE of England in the next 2 weeks.
John - Wales.

Hello John,

Welcome on the site. Hope you will enjoy it as much as I do. You will find here a lot of knowledge and good friends.


Michel
Granby, Quebec in Canada.

Welcome and good luck with the new ride.

Welcome, John, from the North-East!

And welcome from another North East member. What part of Wales are you John ? My daughter lives South Wales. We're planning to get down there in July, restrictions permitting.

Welcome to the forum John. I think you'll enjoy your SWing as much as the rest of us.

Terrier. I live to the west of Cardiff, not far from j34 M4.

John, welcome to the forum!

JM wrote:

Terrier. I live to the west of Cardiff, not far from j34 M4.

Ok JM, we'll be coming down to Nantyglo just a bit North East of you. Just out of interest (being nosey !) whereabouts in the North East is your Swing coming from ? I'm 12 miles North of Newcastle. Are you having it transported or riding it back ?

Riding it I hope. Other than about 40 miles of motorway it's glorious all the way 🤫

steve_h80 wrote:

Other than about 40 miles of motorway it's glorious all the way 🤫

I've driven down to my daughter's many times over the years and I can assure you there's a lot more than 40 miles of motorway unless you want to go the long way and use only A and B roads. It takes me around 6.5 hrs using the most direct route using A1M, M18, M1, M42, M40 and M50 then from the end of the M50 it's all A roads.

If I'm on a bike I usually do take the long way, but I've got the time and enjoy bimbling along the back roads.
So I'd go through the Dales and pick up the M6 at Lancaster, a bit of M56 and then off the motorways onto the A49. From there it depends on which bit of Wales I'm heading to.
It does take me fair bit more than 6.5 hours though

Out of interest, when you're leisurely bimbling along on back roads from County Durham to Wales, and it's taking you a fair bit more than 6.5 hours to get there. It's hardly somewhere you go to get a days riding in, then have a pot of tea and a slice of bara brith before heading back home again.

Apart from a couple of Dragon Rallies, a BMW Rally, and the odd ride over the border from a grotty campsite in Hay-on-Wye, Wales was always a bit too far for from Cumbria for a days ride.

Since moving to North Yorkshire, I've been to Wales once. That was to Powys, and stayed at a hotel overlooking Lake Vyrnwy ( roll the r's). Even occasional rides over to Cheshire are a drag, the M62 is boring and monotonous but at least it gets you over the Pennines without too much hassle.

Yes, it's hardly a days ride, usually it's for a few days meeting up with friends when I'm down thataway.
Lake Vyrnwy (and I wouldn't even try to pronounce it) is quite beautiful, every time I've been past it I've said to myself I should come back and stay nearby. Perhaps it'll happen this year, but it all depends on the ongoing Covid thing.
I'm also quite partial to Tal-y-Lynn Lake. We stayed at the hotel there once on the way back from some excursion. Bikes parked up, evening sunshine, sitting outside the pub with a beer or three, looking over the lake at the hills. Good food and rooms if I remember rightly too.

Welcome aboard the board John!

steve_h80 wrote:

(Snip) Lake Vyrnwy (and I wouldn't even try to pronounce it) is quite beautiful... (Snip)

 Vern-wee ?

Follow up after MikeO’s post below: Jeez was my guess wrong.

Who's been Googling the pronunciation, Tim?

https://www.google.com/search?q=vyrnwy+pronunciation&rlz=1C1EXJR_enGB876GB876&oq=Vyrnwy&aqs=chrome.7.0i355j46j0l2j46i175i199j0j46i175i199j0j46i175i199j46.4438j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Thanks for all your messages of support - I'm having it delivered. I'm not as young as I used to be, and 6hrs+ in the saddle doesn't appeal to me.
I have a question, can anyone suggest an appropriate outside cover for the Swing witha top box?
JM

Have a look here https://www.oxfordproducts.com/motorcycle/product_type/accessories/covers/

Oxford are good value products.

I used an Oxford Stormex cover on my Silver Wing for a few months while our house was being built. I think I bought a Large because XL was for Gold Wings and other land barges.

It fully covered my Silver Wing from the elements and the eyes of opportunistic scrotes, even with a Givi Airflow screen and a Givi E55 top box fitted.

Going completely against the Curmudgeon Code I've been into my garage and had a look at the cover to see if Oxford have printed the size on it. Unfortunately they haven't.

Thanks for the Oxford advice. I'm still a bit confused as the dimensions of the silver wing don't seem to fit any of the Oxford sizes. Furthermore - they sadly don't seem to make the Stormer any more. Ill keep looking
JM

There's also quite a few on Ebay that might be worth a look https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=motorcycle+covers&_sacat=0

Thanks Terrier

I have one of these; it fits well over the topbox but I've clipped up the front as it would cover a windscreen at least half as tall again as the Givi 214.

They are available elsewhere.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009AWOWUS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I went to my Honda dealership and we tried several covers until one covered everything without looking baggy. It is a Dowco Guardian XXL.  My top box is a GIVI E52 Monokey