A mate of mine is a bit of a nutter!

[BigBod]

At the moment he is 17 days into riding his 1800 Wing to Bangladesh. He has holed the front of his engine and is waiting for parts, broken down in Afganistan of all places.

He is the most unorganised bloke I know, god knows how he has made it that far! He is a muslim undertaker by trade and he is half muslim and half welsh, now there's a mixture. He's a great guy and if you want to see what he is up to, follow this thread here

http://www.gwocgb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5033&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I'm kind of envious really, what a trip.

[Freak]

I'm fecked if I'm joining the Goldwing Owners Club Forum :rolleyes:

[Juke]

H.O.N.D.A........
HAD.ONE.NEVER.DID.AGAIN..........

I wish him luck..he's gonna need it....... :D

[Worjorj]

Nice choice. GoldWing/Blackpool tram to ride to Bangladesh. I wonder why it got holed, all that clearance and lovely smooth roads. :confused: :rolleyes:

[BigBod]

I expected the usual droll Goldwing piss takes, but read the thread (you don't have to join the forum to read it) the guy is trying to raise money for NABD and a childrens hospice while he's at it.

Credit where credits due I reckon, and I thought it was quite an interesting read.

Never mind, praps I was wrong. :mad:

[Worjorj]

A worthy cause no doubt. I just wonder why the hell he is doing it on a wing (and a prayer). :confused:

[Yoda]

it certainly is a good read

good luck to that fellow

Yoda

[bunbag]

At the moment he is 17 days into riding his 1800 Wing to Bangladesh. He has holed the front of his engine and is waiting for parts, broken down in Afganistan of all places.

He is the most unorganised bloke I know, god knows how he has made it that far! He is a muslim undertaker by trade and he is half muslim and half welsh, now there's a mixture. He's a great guy and if you want to see what he is up to, follow this thread here

http://www.gwocgb.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5033&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I'm kind of envious really, what a trip.
alla ach ba . yaki da :D

[Jay]

alla ach ba . yaki da :D
Bless You :D

[BigBod]

Nice choice. GoldWing/Blackpool tram to ride to Bangladesh. I wonder why it got holed, all that clearance and lovely smooth roads. :confused: :rolleyes:

He has family down there and did the trip about 20 years ago in an old Transit van. It's just one of those things he has to get out of his system and he has promised himself for years that he was going to do it on his Wing.

He is a bit of a nutter and not very well organised, when we go to rallies in Europe, we will already be there and he will phone us from Calais to find out where the rally is. One of lifes 'characters' :D

[critch]

just read the thread

your mate really is a nutter ..........


that is just the wrong bike to do that on............ :eek:

best of luck to him ;)

[Grav]

Yep, defo a loony. Best of luck to him for the rest of his amazing journey. :D

[Dougie]

Sounds like the kind of loony the RAF and the mountain rescue are forever carrying off the hills..... :rolleyes:

[Bosun]

shame i cant get in to the forum

sounds an adventure and a half

[Grav]

Try this link Fayji.
http://www.gwocgb.co.uk/pages/news.htm

[BigBod]

Latest update: in his own words....

Day 18

More bad news. Even after the bombing today.
We had to load the bike on top of a coach. (I have pictures) to transport it they hoisted it up with a mobile crane. It is now sharing the roof of a Merc coach with a Toyota estate car and 500 cartons. In the process of lifting it we severed an electric wire 4 colours going to a metal cup. Similar to a cream carton for coffee in size that you get at cafes . Can anyone tell me if it will stop the bike from running?
Steven Edglar says it may be a sensor for the crankshaft, and sends pulses. If it is I will have to fit another one.
Love Taz
Herat War Zone
Afghanistan

[Grav]

Blimey! :eek: Afghanistan is proving to be a nightmare for the poor sod.

[iomrob]

bloomin good luck to the guy, he is keeping a very brave face on things , thats a great read. good one bob :)

[BigBod]

Well I haven't reported anything since day 18. It's taken all this time for Taz to get back on the road. The bike survived the journey on top of the coach!

No one would deliver the spares he needed to Afganistan so Steve eventually found someone in Kabul who would do ally welding.

Here is a report from yesterday written by Yetti who is in constant contact:

Day 24

I spoke to Taz, all is well the bike runs ok, but no reverse or cruise control. I don’t think he needed the cruise control to day! He covered 120 miles from Kabul to the mouth of the Khyber Pass………in 9 hours??

Mud roads and closed roads that he went down didn’t help. The closed road that he didn’t know was closed lead to a bridge that was not there? With help he managed to get Tango 1 along a path to the other side? The pass closes at night so he is on his way tomorrow morning into Pakistan. Then he will email all the gory details and hopefully some pictures.

He is defiantly cracking up! He told me himself! He kept apologising to Tango 1 for the bad roads and all the mud?? And saying sorry for bringing her to this nasty place?

Only another 2000 odd miles to go.

Go on my son we know you can do it

[Crofty]

good luck chief

[STEViE]

Excellent read Bigbod. I wish him well. That trip makes my trip next year to Estonia look like a pop down the shops.

[kitkatman]

alla ach ba . yaki da :D
first case of bird flu on the forum....quarentine him :D

[BigBod]

Here is the latest from Taz:

Day 24


Dear wingers one and all.



Thank you for hanging on in here with me. I left Kabul. I headed towards Pakistan Thinking I would get there 4 hours tops, but it took me 9 hours non stop. Barely at walking pace for half an hour at a time Got blisters on my left hand. The road is not for any thing bar 4-wheel drive, or Honda Motocross XT500.

To say it was difficult is an understatement.

As there is so much dust THEY REGULARLY spray water from big tankers on the road to keep the visibility going and as it is the main road East going out of Afghanistan.

Its chaos, people overtaking, big craters in the road and mud and more mud, Tango (bless her) doesn’t like mud. She does the hippy shake as she fights for traction. If you try to go up an incline she barely made it, as she couldn’t get grip.

All this at never more than 20 mph at the best. The engine seems ok no oil drips I think out of the 150 + miles today, 10 were tarmac. Honest, anyway I got to Torkham (Border town with Pakistan)



Its was getting dark, where is Passport control?



Gone home is the reply. “Its only 4.45pm” says I “you are supposed to be open till 6pm?”

He replies "I know there is nothing you can do come back tomorrow"

So I am in a little grotty place, no hotels or anything.

Everywhere I go I am followed by a small crowd, so I go into this little office and I asked to see the manager, to cut a long story short.

He shows me where to put the bike somewhere safe and gives me his bed and gives me supper.

We are right next to the mountains that the allied bombed looking for Osama Bin Laden with the B52 bombers. What Kind people.



Day 25


Next morning 7 am, I cross into Pakistan, it takes 2 hours. I am the told by a Guard “to go into the next town you must take a guard” (on the bike). Me “Well he cant sit on me bike I have no room”………. Guard ”Put it on a truck”,……Me ”No it weighs 450 kgs not possible……. Guard “well you cant go” ………Me “I haven’t come 5000 miles for you to tell me I cant carry on.” In the end they relent.

The roads are good Tango is happy. And she is singing as she whispers along.

Back to civilization. Hoora!!

The Khyber Pass is Awesome.

I am in Islamabad going to the Indian crossing in 2 Days time. I have nothing but admiration for Tango she put up with a lot of sh*t but made it.

How she didn’t fall apart with hours of severe vibes is testament to a good bike.

But Afghanistan is not ready for travellers yet.



REport soon Love Taz

[BigBod]

He's still going!!!

Nearly there now........

Day 39 & 40



Dear wingers and friends it’s me again.



I left Varanarsi (the holiest of Hindu places) I rode for 13 and half hours and covered 540 miles, my arse was tender.

Tango has been happy, as some of the roads have been tarmac. We still cannot get used to people coming the wrong way on a duel carriageway especially at nights with no lights on and no street lighting.

We are now in Calcutta. for 2 days, Tango is locked away resting, as we still have to get to Bangladesh. I believe the border has closed, because of bombing. We will see.

There is petrol strike here at the moment. I have sent the disc, which have 148 photos, if it doesn’t send you to sleep.

If Honda wanted to use them, they can for promotional purposes so long as they give something to charity. I leave it to the club.

I have done 7300 miles not counting the Channel crossing and 650 Tango spent on the top of an Afghani coach getting past the Taliban. (BASTARDS)

Any way hope to do the last 500 odd miles soon and get home for Chrissy



Love Taz







I spoke to Taz today; he is not getting a signal all the time on his phone and the Internet is very slow when he can find a place that has it that is.

He did say he sent an email a few days ago but I never got it. It was about Varanarsi where he stayed; he said they do cremations by the river 24 hrs a day. He just cannot keep away from work can he?



I never know that he was born in Calcutta, he visited the place he was born (I think it was a hospital) and said it looked like a B&Q?

I said what with wire trolleys out side?



He was caught out by the petrol strike and had to buy some from a local to get him into Calcutta.

If the boarder is open he hopes to get to Dhaka in the next few days, about another 500 miles, then after Tango 1 is safely on her way home he will come home could be the 16,17 or 18th of December.

As soon as he reaches his goal I will let all you kind people that have pledged money where to send it.



Essex Wings gave me another £70-00 last night at our meeting, so that makes it £100-00 from the Essex squirrels. Also some of the Committe and the Treffen team raised £75-00 at the recent Treffen meeting, how they raised it will be told in the Wing Span, if they can print it that is !!Ta very much.



That brings the total now to £1848.50

I am waiting for Taz to ask me who gave the 50p ……………………..Answer……………… THEY ALL DID!!



Thanks everyone and after our Capital End of Year Dinner this weekend I am sure it will be up to the £2000.

[bunbag]

anyone who has done that gets my vote :confused:

[BigBod]

Day 41, 42 & 43



He’s done it.



The Road to Bangladesh has been completed.



I have still not got any emails from Taz but I spoke to him on Saturday and he was about 150 miles from Dhaka. He did say he was going to try and email me some of the nitty details of the journey from Calcutta to Dhaka but obviously no joy.

He did say that mileage to date was 7800 not including Tangos 650 coach ride and the ferry from Dover to Calais.



Tango had another run in with a man on a pushbike this time she lost a wing mirror? And after a row with the rider it was on the road again. What insurance details?

He hops to get Tango crated and flown back to the UK before he leaves Bangladesh but if he cannot sort this quickly she will be left there and he will go back in January to sort it then. I think he should get it painted like the three-wheeled taxis the run about out there?

He will be returning soon I will let you al know when and where.



I hope to get the CD that he sent soon and the picture will go onto the new Capital Web site at www.freewebs.com/capitalwings the full story is on there now.

The journey is coming to a close but the story will still continue, I am sure there were lots of other things that happened and he just didn’t write about them. (Keep your eye on Wing Span)



All in all I think that for a man that gets lost in England and Europe, (he even managed to go to the Dutch Treffen a week before it started, he looked at the year before Wing Span? Right venue wrong date?) He has done fantastic.



I wonder if he would do it again with another 5 or 6 wings with him, you have his phone number if you fancy it?



Well done Taz we are all looking forward to gathering round with a beer or two to hear about the stuff that we couldn’t print, if you know what I mean!





I wonder if he has planned any more trips?



Total pledged to date £1948.50 Thanks to all you kind Wingers and friends.

[critch]

hats off to the nutter :D

[BigBod]

Just one last post.....

Day 44 & 45



Dear wingers.



As you know I’ve made it. Thanks for all the Emails Texts and support. You all kept me buzzing. Thanks all of you, You are all very special Bikers and make me feel privileged to be associated with you all including the ladies that put up with you, and vice versa.

Tango now is going on a cruise to sunny Felixstowe and will be arriving back home in about 40 days. I couldn’t join her but she deserves a rest. Her speedo is past the 20 k. She has been bloody good to me. Hope to see you all in the new season.

Thanks for the donations and thanks to Ginny and Yetti for setting it up.

And all the other people in the background as well.

Have a truly great Xmas. I will post all the figures when I get back.



Love Taz (should be back by or before 18th Dec)







Total pledges and donations now is £1998.50 .................................................. ................ hold it just remembered that Capital is donating to the trip in stead of Xmas cards so add another £20 that makes it £2018.50 I know we could make it before Taz got home. We done everyone I wonder if we could get another £481.50p??



Don't forget to go to http://www.freewebs.com/capitalwings for the full story.

[BigBod]

OOoops...

This really is the last one.

I have received donations to my PayPal account as advertised and I have no idea where they came from, so if you were one of them, many thanks.

All the donations are going to the chartiy, Taz has paid all his own expenses without any sponsorship.

Thanks to you all, whoever you are.... :) :)