BMW F900 XR The Old Stores motor bike cafe & Horseshoe Pass.
The recent upturn in the weather has meant that in the last couple of weeks I have been able to get out on each of my bikes. A few days earlier I had headed to Cheshire on the Moto Guzzi V7 and stopped for coffee in the pleasant village of Bunbury and the very decent coffee shop called Tilly’s.
Previous to that it had been the turn of the BMW RnineT, but for this ride I headed out on the F900 XR.
Familiar route and roads
I headed out via Alderley Edge, Holmes Chapel, and on towards Whitchurch before turning for Broxton and then, initially for Llangollen. After stopping for a few pictures (some of which are in the first picture gallery below) I decided that I would head to a cafe that I had read about recently called The Old Stores Motorbike Cafe in Mold. To be honest I can’t think why I haven’t been there before.
I’ve been this way before
As I approached the location I had that feeling of familiarity with the roads and realised that it’s a location that I have been passed a good number of times – I just don’t know why I wasn’t aware of it. Having ‘found’ it – then I can say it’s a safe assumption that I’ll be back there at some point (soon). There’s a few words and plenty of pictures from my stop there in the second of the three picture galleries in this post.
A decent day on the bike
I wasn’t out all day – probably only for about six hours, but it was a really enjoyable ride. After leaving the cafe I headed in the direction of Corwen before turning to take the A542 Horseshoe Pass to Llangollen before heading towards Whitchurch and home and all in all did around 160 miles or so in fine weather and for the most part on decent roads.
Picture Gallery One – F900XR
Clicking on any image will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through. Picture in this set are taken mainly in Cheshire and then on the Horseshoe Pass
The Old Stores – Picture Gallery Two
Plenty of pictures here from The Old Stores cafe in Mold. To be honest it’s almost like a visit to a museum – there is so much bike memorabilia to see. There’s a dedicated car park which is a decent size but a degree of care needs to be taken as it’s on a bit of a slope – but there are wooden off cuts for the side stands and to help leave your bike secure.
More vintage pieces than you can shake a stick at
Remarkably there are even crash helmets from Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts! There really are more vintage bits and pieces here than you can shake a stick at and items include: helmets, vintage petrol pumps, full bikes, pieces of bikes, oil cans etc.
I gather The Old Stores is a family run business and I suspect it’s a pretty unique one. The menu looked good and prices seemed reasonable – which all in all means you’re heading to that question of who could ask for more?
And here’s the address
I only had a coffee and chocolate chip shortbread but the food that I saw some folk having looked well prepared and plentiful. Honestly if you are ever up that way I’d say it’s well worth calling in – you can obviously find more information in the web, but if you’re just looking for the address here it is: Pontblyddn, Mold, CH7 4HR.
Clicking on any image will open a picture gallery that can be clicked or scrolled through
Picture Gallery Three – Brian and his Vulcan S
The place was fairly quiet when I was there (a midweek morning) but as I left I struck up a conversation with a biker called Brian and for the most part we chatted about his Kawasaki Vulcan S.
The Vulcan S is a bike I have owned and toured on, and in fact the article on the motorbikes.blog that continuously see the most interest (click and page views) is a piece I wrote about touring on the Vulcan.
You can see that article which refers to a fabulous trip my wife and I made in Spain and Portugal at this link. The Vulcan is one of those bikes that I found to be way more capable than I ever would have expected and I write in detail about my touring experience on it at that link.
Clicking on the images will open a couple of pictures of Brian and his Kawasaki.(Brian if you’re reading this it was nice to chat and best wishes to you and your wife)
I’m looking forward to visiting this place.