Wales Motorcycle Tour 2024 Snowdonia to Devils Bridge. Our best riding day ever?

[@Banditmanuk]

Sorry the audio quality isn't to the usual standard on this tour. Thanks for watching, Richard & Carol.

[@bolton737]

Sounded good to me

[@RichardASK]

No probs..

[@LordBilious]

An awesome days riding. I've never been to South Wales on a bike, I must do it when they stop the silly 20mph everywhere. Devil's Bridge is on my list of places to go. The Gower Peninsula is lovely- Rhossili Bay is worth the trek down to the beach.

[@Banditmanuk]

@LordBilious Some of the restrictions in the villages are slow at 20, but honestly, it didn't spoil our day. I haven't looked at the next videos footage yet but we did walk down to Rhossilli Bay from our next overnight stay. Loads of surfers. Carol flew the drone. Hopefully have some footage

[@davidlutton4560]

One of the very best videos you've uploaded this year. Fabulous scenery and great weather. Interesting roads even with that heart-stopping moment on the gravel verge😂. A great way to wrap up, what has been, a great summer of riding for you both and plenty of entertainment for us viewers. Take care for now.

[@Banditmanuk]

@davidlutton4560 what a great comment. We just film what we love doing. Riding, touring and exploring new places. The edit on this was a nightmare, so I'm pleased you've enjoyed it.

[@KidCurry666]

You can't beat Wales in the sunshine, it looked a great trip. Thanks for posting 👍

[@Banditmanuk]

Yep, it's beautiful there. We had a great day, and we appreciate you watching

[@RichardASK]

Really great video Rich and Carol. Living in Worcestershire, this is one of my favourite riding areas and only a couple of hours to get there. Richard, ABS saved you from either falling off or 'tail ending ' Carol. Either one would have bought tears to both your eyes!!!!

[@exeterrider]

Good job on this one, I thought you were heading for the puddle at one point! That would have been me haha. I enjoyed the production, it was a nice watch

[@Banditmanuk]

@exeterrider well I did sort of get stuck in that huge pothole puddle! Luckily I missed Carol. The production/edit was a bit of a nightmare, but hopefully, I salvaged it.

[@exeterrider]

@@Banditmanuk You did and seemed fine from here, lot of work there....The thought of editing this amount and way is daunting but the end product is great. Pat yourself on the back.

[@HippoDrones]

Wales is amazing on a bike. Hahaha... "gravel gravel gravel gravel..." 😀 So glad the sun shone for you both. The walk by the falls looked picturesque 🙂

[@Banditmanuk]

The sun does occasionally shine in Wales 🌞 There was a bit of butt clenching as I tried to pull up behind Carol! Missed her just 😂 Honestly, the walks around Devils Bridge Falls are stunning

[@NooBiker]

A close call there 😅 What a great day playing motorcycles 🏍️🏍️ Lovely roads and views in Wales. Great day, great video 👏

[@NooBiker]

The Hafod is a very nice hotel. That's where our group stayed during our tour 👍

[@Banditmanuk]

Yep the lay-by was only visible very last minute and then completely covered in gravel with a massive pothole. Carol stopped fine, me less so. Chalk up to experience! What a great day's riding. Absolutely love North Wales in the sun. We had done the Hafod once before and knew we liked the place. I saw you parked where we did in your video.

[@MrBeracah]

Carol I have to say every time you take a photo of your bikes together, imho the street triple looks stunning, enjoy. The scenery in wales is brilliant, thks for sharing.

[@Banditmanuk]

@MrBeracah But what about the MT10 😳 Seriously I just read your comment to Carol, it made her smile 😃 Wales was brilliant, thanks for watching 👍

[@crumblymal8479]

Awesome roads and scenery guy just fabulous much enjoyed looking forward to the next instalment Wales is such great place to travel through and around .👌👍

[@Banditmanuk]

@crumblymal8479 Glad you enjoyed it. We had a great time and are pleased it came across well in the video. Wales in the sun is beautiful

[@wraggy_moto]

Great video and brought back memories of a lovely time we spent there.

[@Banditmanuk]

@wraggy_moto Much of that ride was a first for us. We were blown away how nice it was. Thanks for watching

[@johnbellamy6449]

Richard and Carol , really enjoyed this , have always liked North Wales since my 1st Dragon Rally as a 17 year old with a friend in LLanberis that year . 1966 i think . the backing music i liked . good to see you both having a laugh when you nearly collided . for me you are now number 1 KZbinrs ,if thats the correct term . see you again soon .

[@Banditmanuk]

Blimey John, I was two when you did your first Dragon Rally! It's still a beautiful area. A miss is a miss and I didn't hit Carol! So glad you enjoyed the vid. It's been a nightmare to edit and try and clean up dodgy audio.

[@johnbellamy6449]

@@Banditmanuk i thought the audio was fine , and as the saying goes . a miss is as good as a mile .

[@midlifemotorcyclediaries]

Thanks Richard and Carol - that was an epic days riding! That’s the beauty of being spontaneous in your planning - we used to be able to do that before we had the boy Harley 🐕‍🦺😂 - Snowdonia is a beautiful place to ride in any weather but it’s hard to beat with the weather you had! Also liked the look of your hotel 👍 - great work! 😀

[@Banditmanuk]

Thanks. It was one of our best days riding in a very long time. Snowdonia is stunning and we will definitely be back. I think you two would like that hotel. They have some amazing individually styled rooms overlooking the front.

[@Ormsmoto]

Absolutely stunning and an opportunity well taken! That sunshine really popped and you grabbed it. A great route that I shall enjoy when the time comes. Take care both 🫶

[@Banditmanuk]

Videos look so much better in full sunlight. It certainly helped showcase how beautiful Snowdonia is. Yes last minute dot com booking works. Thanks again for watching

[@jimbalshaw7347]

Great video as usual never been Devils Bridge must put it on list Thanks for sharing Take Care 👍👍

[@Banditmanuk]

Devils Bridge is a cracking destination. Not only the falls, the railway station. There's great riding roads out of there, including one where you can park next to the Haford Arch just up the road from the hotel.

[@paullee6663]

It must be great to be able to book some holiday so late to be able to follow the weather. (Thought you would be super busy this time of year especially with all the rain we've had) Our holidays have to be booked months in advance (a year to be sure of certain popular dates) I'm hoping to retire at the end of May, so, I'm really hoping for a better summer next year! A bit surprised you hadn't done Snowdonia, it's one of my 'go to' destinations if the weather is fine. You can't go wrong all around there. Couple of 'hairy' moments for you on that ride, everyone made it back safely, so all is well (I ran into the back of my mate at a T Junction about 48 years ago....We had stopped at the T, then he set off, I went to follow and he jammed the brakes on.....no damage, no one fell, 'He yelled something like 'What the F' I shouted back ' I was thinking exactly the F same' (4 of us used to do a round trip of 60 odd miles for him to see his girlfriend after work on country roads with nothing more than 'Cat's Eyes' Headlights on small capacity bikes were not the best back then..... Great video, photography and music. You rescued the audio a treat. Stop worrying ...👍 ''It's free we don't charge for this' 🤣

[@Banditmanuk]

@paullee6663 I've told Carol it was pure skill I missed hitting her 😆 We've always bypassed Wales and headed Northumbria or Scotland. No real excuses for having never ridden Snowdonia. Trouble is it's just a bit far for a day ride, but if we're stopping over, we head further. I'm as busy as I want to be. Like you, I'm considering retirement, so cutting back some of my more difficult jobs in the summer to give me more flexibility every other week. I take most of November to end of February off. Carol, being 6 years younger, is still working full time, but she's responsibly senior in her position, so he is given good flexibility on holidays We loved the area and will definitely be back. As for the vid quality. I just want to make it as good as possible with dedicating days to it. After all, we do effectively 'give it away'

[@bankruptpensioner]

great video, stunning view and photography. Audio is just fine 😆.

[@Banditmanuk]

Awesome, thank you!

[@tojj29]

Paper thin hotel walls eh? I do hope you didn't hear and sweet nothings being grunted from next door!😉😉 The weather was spot on for you riding there, it's amazing when it's like that as it really shows it all off in all its glory. I'm intrigued as to why your audio has been playing up, it was always fantastic, probably the best of any motovlogging channel. I still chuckle when I see people coming down/going up Llanberis pass as I remember my mate The Yeti burying his Z750 into a dry stone wall there. Luckily just his pride hurt and damage to the bike. % of us had been through that corner ahead of him, but his wheel hit something and down he went. Lucky boy. You did a lot of the roads we found there, superb biking roads and great scenery. Love the drone footage, always looks spectacular form the air. Oops, Carol nearly got more than she bargained for in that layby🤣🤣 A bit of green laning thrown in too.👏👏 Lovely hotel at the end, and that bridge is amazing from any angle with the different ones all on top of each other. Great vid as always. Stay safe

[@Banditmanuk]

Yep, you could definitely hear everything next door. It was actually two women but the main issue was their terrible choice of TV channels up to midnight. We replaced the Rode wireless stuff but made the mistake of using the Rode Lavalier microphones supplied with them in the helmets. We've now refitted the cheap Hamo laptop microphones that slightly hum when it's really quiet but don't get blown out when things get loud. Yep beautiful area and we try our best to keep out of the walls 😂 Great area there for Drones but you have to keep them away from the mach loop area for obvious reasons Missed her just ! One of our best days out on the bikes. Devils Bridge is a highly recommended stop

[@tojj29]

@@Banditmanuk Meant to ask, what gloves is that you wear Rich?

[@Banditmanuk]

@@tojj29 They are Alpinestar Copper gloves. shortie vented summer gloves. I've got a brown and black pair. comfortable, knuckle protection and CE rated. Perfect summer riding, probably protective enough should the worst happen

[@tojj29]

@@Banditmanuk cheers

[@GSHants]

Oh boy…really enjoyed that one, you two are great you tubers, you’re never trying to plug gadgets and gizmos, no big reveal new bike reviews, just honest every day enjoyable biking - day trips, weekends away and a European tour thrown in once in a while, just exactly what most of us do…..close one with Carol that was though, happy you could both get the giggles after it

[@Banditmanuk]

Thank you so much. You know it's very tempting to take all the free stuff offered in return for a review. Be in no doubt, all the slightly successful channels get offered stuff. Free stuff in exchange for the channel pushing that product to their subscribers. The bigger the channel numbers, the bigger and more expensive the free stuff gets including trips and loan bikes. So far we are holding out. We do it for fun only and just take the Google ad sense money from the advertising they would still run if we didn't join their program. We are very cynical when we hear so called influencers pushing a product or bike. Sorry if this is a bit of a long reply but few recognise our unwillingness to participate in the 'please sub, please send money, please buy this product' thing that saturates KZbin and the net. Anyway at least I didn't run into Carol. Thanks for the kind words

[@GSHants]

@@Banditmanuk and once more thank you both, I admire your integrity both and enjoy what you do.

[@bolton737]

Another great video guys, with a sweet soundtrack. production great as usual.

[@Banditmanuk]

We really appreciate your support and thanks for the recent kind words on Facebook. A great riding day and I know you know how beautiful that area is

[@twotriumphs7398]

A lot of the roads you was on are my Sunday ride , excellent roads

[@Banditmanuk]

@@twotriumphs7398 You must live in a great area. It's just a bit far for a day ride for us. Stunning area, we had a great day.

[@fuglbird]

What a beautiful ride. Please don't apologize for your equipment. What matters is our experience. We see your ride and even read the road signs so we know where we are all the time. We share the sights. It's the same when you have cooked an excellent meal. Don't say: "It's not quite like I wanted it. It could have been better if ....". We are enjoying what we see and hear. Thank you for sharing.

[@Banditmanuk]

You are very kind. I (Richard) am probably over critical of my own work when putting these vids together. Hopefully, it still gave everyone an impression of what was an excellent day on the bikes in Wales

[@RichardASK]

@@Banditmanuk Rich, you and Carol make great vids. Don't put yourself down, as there's absolutely no need.

[@Creativehealing444]

What a beautiful video and a wonderful channel. Thank you both for sharing the joy of adventuring on 2 wheels. 🥰

[@Banditmanuk]

@@Creativehealing444 Thank you so much for watching and for the kind comments

[@upnorthbiker]

another great video and inspiration for a trip to Wales. I wondered where the video was going in the bar scene as the music reminded me of a completely different genre of entertainment 🙂

[@Banditmanuk]

@upnorthbiker I was running out of musical inspiration at the end of this edit 😳 I can not possibly think what genre of entertainment you're thinking of 😆

[@user-rf9me7xm1w]

What a wonderful production, helped by weather, the likes of which, I've never experienced during my numerous visits to North Wales. I just love the way you just "bounce off" each other so naturally with comments directly relevant to the scenery etc. BTW, it was a treat to meet you both (although under very sad circumstances) today. I wish your channel all the success it deserves, I'm looking forward to seeing part 2. Keep up the good work, best wishes, Tony (MT03).

[@Banditmanuk]

Good to meet you today Tony. I'm glad we were able to all give Richard (Younger Oldie) a good send off. Yes we hit perfect weather for North Wales. Carol and I still manage great banter after 30+ years of marriage and a decade of riding together. Thanks for watching and love the MT03

[@keithwilliams8003]

Yet another great video guys, glad you had good weather for it. We are blessed with so many great biking roads here, that sometimes i feel we take it for granted, only sometimes though 😜👍 I just want to thank you both again for sharing the gpx files for your 2022 tour to the Picos. We got back a couple of weeks ago and have to say we had a great week on some of the best roads we've ever ridden. Such a beautiful place, great roads, lovely people and hardly any traffic. We cant wait to return and explore more of Spain, a bikers paradise for sure, thanks again guys and keep the videos coming please 👍👍

[@Banditmanuk]

@keithwilliams8003 we're so glad to hear your Picos tour went well. It's amazing out there, great roads and the Spanish appear to like bikers. We did this trip very much last minute looking at the weather forecast. It did work out well as the weather has been grim since we got home. Thanks for getting back to us and of course for watching the videos

[@paulstorer6937]

I remember the Old Marina Richard. If we make it to Scotland before you do you must pay us a visit Ayrshire. 👍

[@Banditmanuk]

Are you moving then Paul?

[@paulstorer6937]

@@Banditmanuk yes House on the market in the next month down sizing to a bungalow to be near our Simon Emma & little Lucy I’ve got no family here now not in the best of health as well so looking forward to it.

[@Banditmanuk]

@@paulstorer6937 I completely understand. Let us know your details when you move and we'll keep in touch. Good luck to you and your family

[@blitzer109]

Excellent video, brought back good memories of the last couple of trips around that area with my lad

[@Banditmanuk]

@@blitzer109 Thanks. It is a really beautiful area. Seeing it in the sunshine was even better.

[@Saddlebags73]

I proper enjoyed this video. Love riding in Wales. The laughter at the sketchy lay-by was contagious and had me chuckling. At first the “studio” voice was a bit odd, but I came to like it a lot 🙂

[@Banditmanuk]

North Wales was brilliant. Truly beautiful and breathtaking. We had a brilliant time on this ride. Unfortunately, when I got home and listened to the audio, it was properly awful. Blown out. I dissected every bit of audio away from the film and passed it all through some A.I. software to remove the background noise and leave the speech. Then put it all back together. An utter nightmare. It sort of works, but in a slightly robotic way. The rest of this tour footage is the same 😳

[@aeron-mw7ofs]

Great stuff 👍

[@Banditmanuk]

@@aeron-mw7ofs Thank you

[@IanTed]

Morning both, lovely country for biking if you get the weather. Great video to watch on a freezing Northumberland morning🥶. Know the gravel in a lay-by panic moment😆. PS. Nice hotel, I’ve added it to Google Maps.

[@Banditmanuk]

@IanTed The lay-by was definitely a butt clinching moment! Gravel, gravel, gravel! We've been at the Stafford Classic Show this morning and the weather has been grim here. It's definitely worth checking out the Hafod Hotel. Brilliant area to explore and an interesting hotel

[@IanTed]

@@Banditmanuk Grim here yesterday, bright and cold today so the Multi is getting a deep clean as it’s filthy after my lovely Scotland trip, enjoy the rest of the weekend.

[@UneasyRider]

Fantastic weather and a great route 👍

[@Banditmanuk]

@UneasyRider We had brilliant weather. Its hard to believe we left it so long to ride Snowdonia

[@kevinspalding5470]

I want say thank you both very much !......you have brightened up my Friday night . Brilliant .....Love Wales .Actually Abergele did have a Triumph motorcycle dealership ....is it still there I wonder . Really enjoy your channel btw.....you two don't tear around every bend like some .

[@Banditmanuk]

@@kevinspalding5470 Thanks Kevin. So many nice comments on this video, we really appreciate it. I do know the dealer in Abergele which was part of the Completely Motorcycle group has sadly closed along with several others around the country. Carol & I ride at a pace we're comfortable with. We want to enjoy the scenery, enjoy the riding but not take unnecessary risks. These tour vids take an enormous amount of work in the edit, but the next episode is in progress. Thanks for watching 👍

[@trevorphillips3055]

Can you pick a bad route in Wales? I did a one nighter in late August with two mates. We had great weather and covered just over 600 miles. No wonder it's such a popular destination, being within relatively easy reach for most. 😊

[@Banditmanuk]

As we live in the Midlands, it's hard to believe we waited so long to explore Snowdonia! We were blown away by its beauty and amazing roads. I don't think you can pick a bad road. Thanks for watching 👍

[@trevorphillips3055]

@Banditmanuk I live 90 mins from Chepstow, so that's the best route in for me. We rode up through Snowdonia to the north coast and stayed nr Rhyl. Thanks for sharing another adventure, I always enjoy watching. 👍🏻

[@mum-0217]

Well the audio might have been a little under par but the scenery certainly made up for it. Big thank you to Richard and Carol, it was a pleasure to watch. 🙂👍

[@Banditmanuk]

@mum-0217 I had a slightly depressed feeling on first listening to the original recorded footage, knowing the whole tour would sound like it. Hopefully, I've salvaged something watchable in the magic of the editing. Glad you enjoyed watching.

[@suesue5694]

Have you guys not been to Beddgelert? It's not far from Llanberis and is beautiful. Lots of bikers go there. There's Glaslyn Ices there and they do the most amazing ice cream. If you've not been definitely go to Beddgelert. Lovely video you two

[@Banditmanuk]

No, we've not visited. It's our first ride through this beautiful area. It's hard to believe we left it so long. We will definitely be back, and we act on your suggestion. Many thanks for watching

[@waughy52]

Another great video but couldn't help noticing all the chemtrails

[@Banditmanuk]

We've got East Midlands airport, Birmingham airport nearby but are also on the European transatlantic route. Check out flight radar, it's scary how much traffic is up there. Seeing all those flights over us yet most of the engines you see in the bikes in the show are outlawed for sale new now because of their emissions

[@flatcapcaferacer]

Besides the roads the sky looked great too. You looked like spent most the day in the saddle what would the mileage be on a ride like that? I like the fireplace in the room.Very well put together.

[@Banditmanuk]

@flatcapcaferacer I think it was about a 200 mile day, but it may be slightly more as we got slightly lost towards the end. We had blue sky's like we see in your videos. Very unusual here in the UK and especially Wales. The whole Hotel is quite unusual but yes the room was very nice.

[@mrcintheuk4641]

Each to their own, but are you saying this year you've had better riding in Wales than the Pyrenees?

[@Banditmanuk]

@mrcintheuk4641 Yes. But it's totally down to the weather. In the Pyrenees, it rained most days, was cold, and loads of the passes were closed. Saw some amazing things in Spain, but this day was probably our single most enjoyable full days ride this year.

[@mrcintheuk4641]

​@@Banditmanuk Yes, the weather is fundamental as far as I'm concerned. I've tried twice in the past to tour the Picos but abandoned on both occasions and headed further south towards the sun and warmth. It was 3rd time lucky this year! 😁👍