Gerontious

Ethanol doesn't produce soot when burnt. it's a very simple molecule. Carbon Dioxide and Water is all you get. This is a long standing myth that's been put about by supporters (usually paid) by the oil industry.. especially in America.

Apparently Andorra is horribly expensive too. And it's a HUGE mistake using it on quite a few of the ferries. I am with 3 and they do charge for roaming. £2 per 24hr period. I tended to keep data turned off when I was away in June. only turning it back on, for a few odd days. (otherwise I was using wifi) My additional cost when I got back was £12 can't say that really ruined my day. Though for some people on the FB touring groups. a charge like this is like the end of the world (as we know it) Brexit benefits.

First day of winter* and it shows. it's very white outside at 03:45. but, ever the optimist. its just 3 more weeks and the days will start to get longer again and just 13 weeks. or 91 days until the first day of spring. Pretty horrible and it's one of those times when I'm really glad I can walk to work as it's just over 1 mile away. Bike is at home under its cover and in a deep freeze. well, maybe not that deep as its just -1. 5th anniversary of buying the Africa Twin just slipped by, unnoticed. seems like a different lifetime. Before Covid. the new BC. and we were still in the single market. with freedom of movement. (our freedom of movement) but all change, and as far as I can see none of it for the better. but hey ho. I can see those sunlit uplands ahead. It's always this time of year. the doldrums of winter that thoughts turn to the Summer. When even sheltering in a bus stop due to a sudden sharp shower was no big deal. because it never got cold and I could see the blue sky approaching. Or there was that relief from the heat, finding a boulangerie with tables in the shade for a baguette. cold water and a wonderful cake. (with fresh raspberries) won't be long. *meteorological winter.

This is probably the single most common thing people say. especially on the touring groups. I had a Zumo long before I had a smart phone and Ive kept with it. The idea of placing a high value phone in a mount on the bike fills me with dread. especially as I bought it outright. I would particularly worry about the camera - obviously - I bought the phone mostly because of the camera. There are other reasons. most notably is the idea of having all my eggs in one basket. I lose the phone - because (for whatever reason) it flies off.. or breaks. That would be a major disaster. affecting my work-life most of all. I would have to replace it immediately. regardless of whether that's financially convenient or not. I said this once and the suggestion from someone was to buy a second phone and use that as a sat nav.. I thought to myself: "is that your best idea?" No, my phone is either in my inside jacket pocket. or its in the handlebar bag being charged. A high value phone or a low value satnav that will probably last me more than 10 years. if it bricks and cash is tight then I can pick up a second hand one for much less. no big deal. (and no rush either) But we are all different with different priorities. if you are happy to use your phone. or a phone. then that's fine, you are definitely not unusual in that decision. in fact, its possibly the majority decision these days. its a comparatively small market with just two 'known' manufacturers. I do see people joining the zumo group I'm in and they more often than not say that they used to use their phone. that's very common. (almost everyone has a smart phone) and it was great.. until something happened.

Ive watched being done from start to finish on a tubeless tyre. 1. the tyre is removed. 2. the puncture is located and any offending articles removed. 3. the hole is made a little bigger and made smooth. 4. around the hole, on the inside. the rubber is wiped with alcohol. as a precautionary clean. 5. glue. the smell reminded me of araldite, but I dont remember it being mixed. is applied around the hole.. over a fairly wide area. a few inches per side. in a circle. 6. the patch. which is circular and flat and has a mushroom-like stalk is applied to the inside - with the stalk filling the hole. The patch is rubbed with a bit of clean rag to remove any air bubbles. And allowed to set. this is fast. The circle of glue was a little larger than the patch. 7. the tyre is then put back on the bike and inflated. I watched this a few years ago. and obviously it might not be the only method used for a 'garage' repair.

When I went to see Snoddy, on Sunday we discussed this very subject. Obviously there is no way I could ever convince him to pay for the ferry. And that's OK. Im not bothered either way. our back of an envelope plan is to spend 4/5 days getting there. 4/5 days 'there' and then 4/5 days getting back to the tunnel. no rush. no motorways. no tolls. A non motorway direct route from the tunnel to Pau is 630 miles. so divide that by 4 = 157 miles. not exactly long days in the saddle, but our route won't be quite so direct and rather more picturesque so it will be upped to around +/- 230 miles per day. again not exactly onerous. And will allow me to visit parts of France Ive never seen, as well as some that I have but could bear a second look. different roads. different landscape. new. (to me) And of course it might not even happen. I like to be completely flexible France remains, mostly just a plan B. I have two folders on the desktop. German Tour and French Tour. both slowly filling with set piece routes and it will be a case of joining them together 'on the fly' wandering from the end of one to the start of the next. I have a few days worth of Spain in there too. Because: why not? Jack remains keen on visiting the Harz. to begin with. but he knows it might not happen. he knows that none of this might happen and we might end up somewhere else entirely. To my mind there's little point in getting all excited about a specific place. Earlier this year I read a lot of really dreadful (to me, anyway) trip reports where people had not factored in any kind of flexibility. They had pre-booked everything. spent the winter with a laser eye focus on this area or that. And then arrived to rain. a lot of rain. and had nothing to fall back on. Its supposed to be a holiday - not a test of endurance. I was reading these reports and looking at the dull as dishwater photos. and wondering to myself. "why the hell are you there?" - who wants a holiday like that?? - well.. it was because they were stuck. They had no plan B to fall back on. They had invested too much into THE PLAN. and look where it got them. As of today... I really have no idea what will happen in June. All I have is the outward crossing and the return. and 15 days to play with. This is of course, completely normal. wow.. look at the time. onwards and upwards.

I couldn't tell you the reg number of any bike I owned before the BMW. to be honest I can't even remember the plate numbers of the couple of bikes I owned as second bikes during that time. Once the bike is sold. I forget about them On my 10th bike since my very first in 1980 and I can only remember the current and previous. W182 YPX and the current one FJ68 WWsomething or other. In 1985 I had a Triumph T160 1975 P reg. I know what bikes I had and when.. but plate numbers? not a chance.

I don't doubt it. price is pretty much dictated by where you are relative to the local storage depot and/or refinery.

I went to Wales last weekend and I saw no difference. 20mph signs in the villages. but there's nothing new about that, well not for me anyway. they have been totally normal In Das Eifel for a number of years. Speed limits were unchanged otherwise. much ado about nothing.

E10. I don't worry about petrol. aside from the price of course. but there's nothing I can do about that. Was using E10 long before it became ubiquitous in this country on tour in France, as once you're away from civilisation that's mostly all you can buy. There was and still is so much paranoia about it, but I don't subscribe to any of that. Actually the level of paranoia was even worse just a few short years ago. Its died down quite a bit, but hasn't completely gone away. Every few months I seek out a SHELL as they sell seashells by the seashore... erm... I'll try again. Every few months I go to a Shell station and brim the tank with their E10. The call it fuel save and (I'm reliably informed) it contains a very good package of additives that will clean out the injection system and so on. It might cost me a £1 or 2 more for the full tank. but it makes me feel good inside and that's all that matters, makes me feel like Ive done something positive. Other than that I use whatever petrol I happen to be close to when the amber light comes on. If possible I will check on petrol prices and see if I can tie in one of the cheaper fuels with another errand. I tend to do this more when it's a proper refill rather than just a top-up. Today the cheapest is £141.7 - though a better choice for me is £141.9 as its next to the big Aldi.

Just be sure you’re sitting down when you start looking at the ferry costs. Some of the prices I’ve seen quoted lately for Santander and Bilbao have been staggering. I’ve seen mention though that some people have found it cheaper to cross to Ireland and travel south to Rosslare and catch the ferry from there.

it’ll be track only. And I would think that quite a few tracks wouldn’t allow it. Some have noise level constraints in place.

New desktop is now set-up and completely familiar as almost everything that was on the old is now on the new. Im not one for change so they even look identical... with only some slight differences in appearance. Top is a 2023 M2 pro and for now its sitting on top of my ancient 2012 2.6ghz i7 (originally a server - which I modified - bought it broken "spares or repairs" they said, in 2014, it was dirty. fan was in a right state, just needed cleaning!!) I tend to keep things for a very long time. very long. So this one should last while I'm waiting for the worms. Main differences. its lightning fast. cold to the touch - the old one never got hot, but it did always feel warm to the touch. silent (no change there) and did I mention it was fast? its not fast - its instant. Boot times on the old was 40 seconds, which I thought was quick for such an old device. The new one does the same in <10 seconds. Dual SSD and 16GB Applications open instantly. Good to have the latest OS. with all its attendant security. I can finally use the computer for banking and other highly sensitive stuff and not rely completely on my phone. a big plus. hooj. Anyway. not much left to set up on it. just need to find some rather more modern versions of some of the applications that it couldn't transfer. I'll do that tomorrow. day off. Now, about to get ready for a fun packed night with the rampaging schizophrenics. (bless em)

There’s really no need to buy the latest and greatest. Garmin support their products for years only dropping them when they become obsolete and that’s usually because they run out of storage space. I had a 660 from 2009. It still works just fine. Still updatable. Gave it to one of my friends so it continues to be used. personally I wouldn’t recommend an early TomTom with the same enthusiasm, as they drop support for them. Also early ones weren’t built too well. The copper contacts for power were kinda printed on and vibrations could wear these away. Not good. if you change your mind and want a bike specific sat nav. And they do have many distinct advantages. And you look on eBay, for example - look for any with LM in the description - it may be written as Lifetime Maps too. nowadays I reckon a sat nav is extremely handy for touring in Europe in conjunction with a phone, with data roaming. Then you’re basically fully covered. Sat nav’s aren’t always perfect. I learnt this year that sometimes they mess up. Though it wasn’t actually the units fault or its mapping/routing - it was 3rd party software that Garmin includes. i was running out of fuel and the poi software was wrong about the nearest fuel stop. So I looked at my phone - google maps - found one that was nearby and the Zumo guided me there. Sorted. No drama.

nothing would sway me to buy anything from TT. Nothing. Especially their luggage - which is always silly money.

I’ve read more than once in reviews that good quality muff used in addition with heated grips mean you can wear gloves that are just a step up from full-on vented summer gloves. So gloves with fairly minimal insulation. Never tried them myself. One summer I got carried away in the sales and bought some rather glamorous winter gloves. With a very clever design feature, it has two ways of putting hands in. One you get maximum insulation. The other has almost all the insulation on the back of your hands and only a little in the palm - so you get more warmth from the grips. In the sale they were a tad under £200. I did slap myself (metaphorically) for spending so much on something I wouldn’t wear for months. But i am apt to such moments of madness. Sales. Keep me away from sales!!

Pulled the trigger last night on a new desktop computer, to replace the one Im using right now, which is 10 years old. First the website said it would be delivered on Wednesday. Then once I completed the payment it said it would be delivered on Tuesday. And then just now a text message from DPD - your package will be delivered today between 1 and 2. Unexpected. I should really go to bed. Work tonight. (sigh) Awful rain last night - all night. and its going to rain almost all day. however forecast says it will stop when im walking. so there's that. if good luck runs in 3s I might be tempted to buy a lottery ticket mañana. though I say that a lot and always forget. (sigh)

Today I have started the bike. allowed it to warm up and while that was going on checked the tyre pressures. And once it was up to 3 bars on the engine temperature doodad. I checked the oil level. and the state of the chain. nice and oily. And once Snod Blatter finally replies to my text message I'm off to see him in his funny little house oop norf. He lives in Nottinghamshire but (being special) has a Sheffield post code. wipe the cobwebs off. Ive put the thermal liners into my trousers as its just a tad chilly. The bike tells me its 2c. Bracing or what?

Apparently. speed Cameras in France cannot - theoretically - detect speeds higher that 250kph (155mph) A camera clocked a car driver doing 275kph (170mph) and because the speed was higher than the camera was rated for, it couldn't be regarded as reliable and so he was acquitted. https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/No-penalty-for-driver-caught-at-275-km-h-on-French-motorway?fbclid=IwAR3YCVPyW7CzToadRu7A9Ss35npB1xxjw_0Zj0T2iMHLQO90pSCeZl5x8Ko

My walk home this morning was bracing. cold. well yes, its the end of November. This is to be expected. I wore my special hat. And kept my hands in my pocketses. Its not so cold that I need to wear gloves. I spent the night.. aside from gibbering. and eeking. thinking not of the cold.. but mid 30s heatwaves and how to deal with them. I have a cunning plan, but can't put it into action until Monday. Its no good buying something on PayPal credit and then them wanting payment two days before payday. No, that won't do at all. Someone mentioned a 20% discount at sportsbikeshop and this successfully ruined my night. I was kinda poised to buy something I don't really need and now I'm being forced to buy something I probably will. In seven months. seven short months. Its cold out.. but it won't last. In fact, its only 27 days until the solstice and the days getting longer again. 27 days. and coincidentally. its only 200 days until I'll be off in search of mid 30s heatwaves. endless blue skies. and roads that twist hither and yon and up and down. Baking in the heat and looking at the mountains and those last dregs of snow that still remain in them sheltered spots and thinking just how wonderfully cool it must be up there. I might even think about this here post. and smile all whimsical-like. thinking about how cold it was back on that Saturday morning in late November.

I don’t do this often, but as I’m at work with the rampaging schizophrenics. Nobody will either notice. Or care. £1,800 for insurance deserves a loud “EEK!!” I thought. What are you? 19?? But clearly you’re not a new rider. What’s going on? first year my insurance for the AT was £270. Now, 5 years later it’s £110. No garage. No security. City centre postcode. £1,800!!! I’m tempted to gibber for dramatic effect.

I don’t bother with ACF. Utterly pointless on my bike. I don’t even bother for that “feel good factor” as throwing my money away on something that’s a waste of time doesn’t exactly encourage my feeling good. It’s a modern bike. Has no naked mild steel. So nothing to rust, aside from the brake disks and something tells me that nothing will help with them if they start to rust, aside from riding the bike and using the brakes. Friction (ooh mrs) if we have a cold snap and the roads are gritted. Well, I’m not going to be rushing to ride the bike anyway. Usually I will wait until it rains. Washes the salt and grit away. And then go for a ride if so motivated. been doing this for 5 winters now. No rust. Bike lives outside under an Oxford cover. i fail miserably at exuberant paranoia. i blame my mother.

in a way…. Syphilis.

They are. However an old man once showed me a secret book wherein it was written.. in tiny curly writing. "Whomsoever shalt carry a puncture kit on their adventures shalt be proof of punctures. but anything sticky shalt perish. glue shalt go hard in ye tubes and rendered useless just when thou art in need of them. but mushrooms are forever and a day." he later died. I shed a little tear. true story.

Its easy to become infatuated with the XT2 as being the latest and greatest. But, it hasn't rendered the original XT obsolete. Far from it. What do you get extra? A screen that is 1/2" larger. (5.5" becomes 6") and new software. I'm definitely not the type that ignores new tech if I think its going to make a tangible improvement. Im not exactly broke, so buying the XT2 wouldn't crush me. But.. I just don't think its enough of an upgrade to warrant going for. The XT will be supported by Garmin for donkeys years. They still support the Zumo 660 from 2009!! so that's not an issue. Prices have really come down.. as per usual with a new device being launched. And obviously if you go for second hand the price will be even lower. there are a lot of people who don't have my restraint and will sell their XT and buy the XT2. just because its new and they can. I enjoyed your review. (aside from the funny seat) I can relate to everything you say. I bought mine without a test ride. zero regrets. Its the best bike I have ever owned. There is nothing on sale at the moment that I find even remotely tempting. Mostly due to the unlikely seat height (on mine). Its tank range... I did. Ashford to the last petrol station before Germany - in Luxembourg on a single tank, with miles to spare. And.. the DCT transmission.