rob m

Sidi Vertabrae boots will still be around after the end of the world. I had a pair for nearly 20 years and gave them away, probably still being used. Squeaky though, I used to squirt a bit of WD40 down the back from time to time. I’ve had my Alpinestars SMX 6 boots (no flaking) for 8 years now, love them but I’ve not worn them at all this year since buying a pair of Richa Slick ankle boots which I wear with armoured jeans.

Thanks, I love it. It’s my 3rd BMW K bike. For a big bike it does well on mpg, it’s reliable and has all the power anybody could need. It’s also really comfortable for a sports tourer. They have a bit of a cult following now with an active community on FB that have arranged national meets this year. There’s bikes on there that have gone past 200k miles now. Interesting fact, it has almost identical power and torque figures to the 1290 Superduke which is no mean feat as the K1300s is an inline 4 and the KTM is a v-twin.

I can’t seem to stay off the bike at the moment, loving it. It’s about 15c but the roads are still a bit greasy in places. Currently at Whiteways in West Sussex enjoying a latte and Halloween tart. It was so sweet my teeth have caved in. Back to work tomorrow EDIT: What started as a run out for a couple of hours ended up being a tour of East/West Sussex and Surrey. I just wanted to keep riding so that’s what I did. Stopped in Brighton for some sausage and chips. It was 17c and I was sat in a t-shirt looking out to sea. Eventually got in at 6pm. 176 miles later. Knackered.

@ChrisBiggsUK Well done and I share your excitement to get on your bike and start riding. Take it easy fella, it's the best feeling.

Got up early this morning,washed and ACF 50'd the bike. It looked great, if I do say so myself. Rode it down to Billy's near Billingshurst to meet a good friend of mine for a coffee and steak baguette. That old R90/6 isn't his bike but was lovely so had to take a picture. While there, 2 guys separately came up to me and asked if I would be interested in selling my bike, they were both K13S ex-owners and regretted selling theirs. I declined but it was pleasing to hear that people still consider it an awesome bike (which it is, obviously). It absolutely chucked it down before setting off for home so the ride back was on filthy roads. So the bike needs another wash but with the ACF 50 applied it shouldn't take too long.

Great pics and report. I love Spain, wanted to go again this year but didn't happen so maybe next year. It still have a booking with Brittany Ferries I haven't used...

Ah not in bed, I have a duvet I sit under when I watch TV because I'm too tight to turn on the heating

Went to see Paul Weller at Guildhall Portsmouth last night. As expected he was excellent, as was his band. Got Fu Manchu at the Electric Ballroom in Camden next week then Faithless, Prodigy and (hopefully) Sam Fender before the years out. Had one of those days today where the weather was crap so stayed under the duvet watching MotoGP, WSB and footy on the telly while having a few beers. If I see a break in the weather tomorrow then I'm giving the bike a good clean and ACF 50 smothering.

http://www.sjaaklucassen.nl/en/category/presentations-presentaties/fireblade-world-tour-presentation/

I’ve only ever ridden large sports bikes or sports tourers. Never considered anything else but that might change as I get older and less bendy

Spot on with the pictures, I do that too. I do all of my servicing as much as I can, I now have a lock up so I can have a ramp in there which helps a lot. I keep receipts for everything. Stamps are in the service book but I can show I have actually done the work through pics and receipts. I don't trust service histories 100%. I've been servicing and working on my bikes for 30+ years. One of the main reasons I do it myself is because I have a massive distrust (almost paranoia) about dealers not doing the work they have charged you for. This goes back many years (early 2000s) when I paid for a service on a bike, got the bike back, and after checking, realising that they had done nothing. Since then I have done it myself as much as I can. Even going to these lengths outside my house 10 years ago, to the delight of my ex-wife and neighbours: Fast forward to my current bike, a BMW K1300S. I bought it in June 2023 with a full service history including claiming that the valve clearances were done 10k miles ago. When I did a full check over earlier this year, it was obvious that they hadn't been done after examining the cam cover which looked like it had never been removed and the original gasket was still in place. The stamp in the owners manual was from a certified BMW Motorrad dealer that alleged that the valves had been checked in 2019. It was bollocks. FYI after I checked, they were all within spec. Also, the final drive was not filled to the 180ml level and the plugs were originals. I was little annoyed but not really surprised. Being honest, I love sorting these issues out but I shouldn't really have to. I have an OBD link cable and use Motoscan on my android tablet to cover the service resets and other bits and bobs. Other tools are pretty standard stuff. I love Bahco tools, my Halford Professional socket sets have been punted on now, although I still have a Halfords Torque wrench, I can't find better for the price. Unless I can stand there and observe them doing the work I will never trust another mechanic to do work on my bikes. However, there is one and I trust him to whatsapp me pictures and videos of the work but I will only use him when I can't do the work myself.

Just heard that P&H motorcycles in Crawley have gone under, not official yet. That one hurts, I've been going in there since the 90s. I drove past this morning and there were no bikes out front.

Nobody died did they? If I watched that video, my first thought wouldn't be to register on a motorcycle forum and for my first post ask for people's opinions about it. I'd probably get on with my day and forget about it.

Saw them at the Jazz Cafe in Camden in the summer, superb musicians.

Yeah, I saw that. One of the many sad consequences of a business going under.

There's more to come. The industry is on it's arse despite what social media and youtubers present to the rest of us. One of my close friends worked at Saltire Motorcycles in Edinburgh which closed business recently. KTM's demands on them were unsustainable and quite frankly taking the piss. Their business model is f***ked. Second hand prices are ridiculous, very few young people coming into the scene because of the costs of taking the tests, insurance and the upkeep of owning a bike. Older riders becoming...older. There's the 'touring by numbers' crowd who buy the £20k adventure bike, Rukka suit, get action cameras fitted, then add all the accessories and do a tour once a year but that can't sustain the industry. I hope I'm proved wrong though.

Kawasaki ER5 carbs aren’t they?

I like the R1200RS, it’s right up there on my ‘possible next bike’ list.

Going to a nice restaurant tomorrow for all 4 course dinner. In the past 3 years I’ve been introduced to the pleasures of fine dining by my lad who’s an assistant restaurant manager at a wine estate. His job’s also his passion so since he started working there we have gone to a restaurant every month for a treat, taking turns to pay. We went halves at a Michelin star, that was only fair I suppose. My personal favourite is Fallow in central London. Love it there. After our meal tomorrow, we’re off to the cinema to see the 20th anniversary of Shaun of the Dead. How’s that for a slice of fried gold?

Only one band I’m listening to today. Tickets secured for 28th June next year

Interesting point about the startup. If I don’t wait for my K13S to go through its startup procedure and hit the starter button, I get the EWS flash up too.

Francesco Loreti is famous among the BMW K bike community. He has travelled far and wide on his K1200S, surpassing 500,000km on the original engine. To be fair, his bike had an engine rebuild at 320,000km I don't worry about mileage too much. Bikes don't suddenly explode when they reach a certain age. My 2011 K1300S is at 48k and runs like a dream. That said, I am on top of the maintenance. Motorcycle engines are engineered to far tighter tolerances and use far higher spec components than cars so should last longer. As mentioned earlier, it is far more important how the bike has been treated during it's lifetime. Bikes at 25k and below will break down if they've been treated like crap in my experience. A controversial view, but I think the worst thing for a bike is lack of use. Things seize up if not used. It was a classic cause of ABS failures on BMWs in the early/mid 2000s. I know, I had two K1200S bikes that had the servos removed. BMW cottoned onto this and removed the servos from 2008 onwards. The Bosch servos were crap to start with but lack of use made the matter worse. Bikes sitting in garages are not always a good thing. There are moving parts that need to be...moving. Anyway, apart from my annoyance with BMW, I'd go for low mileage bikes if I was looking for one to buy but wouldn't be too bothered if it were around 50k or above as long I felt confident it had been looked after. As with everything, it's a gamble. The bike you have mentioned has done an average of 1,800 miles a years since 2013. Very low mileage.

I hope @Gerontious and the other guys doesn't mind me gatecrashing this thread, but I still have lots of pictures of the first Eifel trip in September 2012. I was sorting through a hard drive yesterday looking for pictures of my boy's 7th birthday party and they were in the same folder. This was the original group outside the Schloss in 2012. There was only five of us actually, the two fellas stood behind Jack were on their own tour, I think as one guy was called Martin, and they left that morning to head for the Black Forest. I'm the bloke on the right wearing a white t shirt. It was a great trip, my first ride into Europe and I loved every minute of it. I was on my Honda 929 Fireblade. It's great to see that others are still having that experience and I'm sure they're now excited for their next trip. There's something magical about the Eifel.

I commuted for years back in the late 1990s and early 2000s in all weathers, all year round because my bike was my only mode of transport. I was at Uni at the time and made regular trips into London and also down to the coast when I was on placements. Did it on a 1993 Honda Fireblade. Full leathers with a scarf, a couple of extra t-shirts if needed and bright yellow waterproofs that were donated from my mate who was a postie at the time. Carrier bags over gloves and boots if needed. In the dark when it was raining and cold was the worst. It wasn't always grim though, some of my most memorable rides were while commuting to Uni or to placements. I've posted this picture before but this bike was my lifeline during that time (picture taken in 1999). It also did Sunday rides, going to WSB/MotoGP races among other things. These days, I tend to put the bike under cover and leave between November-March but this year I'm going to ride over that period when I can. Just received an Oxford Solariser to help keep the battery topped up. We tend to get milder winters these days so I'm thinking why not. I have the luxury of having the choice of when to ride so will pick and choose when I do it. If it's a washout (like last year) then the bike will stay under it's cover. Then I'll be whacking the heaters up and blasting the tunes out in the car.