Gerontious

Saw one in the flesh.. 5 years ago at the Kaiser Franz-Josefs Höhe when I went away with [mention]Snod Blatter[/mention] That rarest of Ducatis. out, on the road when there was snow about and most remarkably... absolutely filthy. which gave it instant kudos.

Not really a fan of soft luggage. I like to know thats its properly fixed to my bike! Also i have two high exhausts on each side. They get warm but not hot. The panniers from SW Motech ARE properly fixed to the bike. they are secured onto the rack, the one you would have to buy for the Givi cases. And also the rack ensures there is a gap. seen here:

He's gone.

Have you considered soft panniers? like these from SW-Motech https://tinyurl.com/y2a7vsle Available from Amazon. https://tinyurl.com/y65ngxs3 or these... https://tinyurl.com/y2mfqwvh https://tinyurl.com/y4ghtbbp Not as secure as hard lockables.. but then, there are times when these can be appropriate. And soft panniers are seen as the best alternative to aluminium crates by a lot of ADV bikers, particularly those who don't fall to the ground and begin foaming at the mouth in an ecstasy of paranoia, whenever unsecured luggage is mentioned. Certainly very popular in America.

They are small.. designed really for cruisers. but fine if you're happy with that. one nice touch is they are interchangeable. so you can have them on either side of the bike and see which way round looks best. Givi is a good brand, there is a slightly cheaper version made under the Kappa brand in the same factory, But at this price point the difference is very slight. They do make a good basis though. for one-up trips, you could still fit a dry-bag and use the entire width. seat+panniers as a platform for a bigger bag. Keeping 'valuables' in the panniers where they are secure and other bits and pieces you might not have room for in the bag. like a pair of shoes for instance. Those extras that make the time when not riding less of a grind. You'll need to test how waterproof they are. not the end of the world if they leak slightly... mine do and so everything goes in plastic bags. and then its not a problem. probably the best thing about panniers of this size is you wont need to think about them when filtering as its highly likely they will be less wide overall than the mirrors. On your particular bike.. maybe the same width or a little under the width of the bars. which is ideal. And makes them far less prone to scrapes, so if at some future point you decide to go larger.. you will be able to get a bit more of your money back. I would probably order them from somewhere like 'sportsbikeshop' that has a simple/no fuss returns policy. seeing them in the flesh is important, how they look on the bike and the reality of a 22L space. may be fine in theory, but the reality somewhat different.

Water in the tank is easily cured.. as a matter of habit at the end of every winter I dose my GS with Wynns Dry Fuel.. which when added to a full tank of fuel allows any water that has settled at the bottom of the tank to be homogenised and 'burnt off'.. it also cleans injectors.

Leathers, you're very likely going to go down the made to measure route, and that's not going to be cheap. Textiles, quite easy to find in sizes to fit.. But you're probably going to need to go up market to get a longer leg and the level of fit and quality you're looking for to improve on what you already have. And that's not going to be cheap either, but rather simpler than bespoke leathers.

you're right of course. Ive never really paid much attention to forks after so long on a bike that didn't have them (in the traditional sense) It was only after buying the Africa Twin that it actually sunk in that it had them.. so I did a quick search on reliability and was almost immediately satisfied that I wasn't buying a pig in a poke. what gets me most is just how complicated they are.. reading about adjustment leaves me right outside my comfort zone. Im considering payng to have them 'properly' set up together with the rear shock.

If you mean the Givi.. you cant really go wrong with that brand.

The dates are the years international treaties became part of the Geneva convention and there are 3 of them. 3 because some countries haven't ratified the latest one and so still require the 1949, a few countries still use the one from 1926 ie Brazil. However it could quite easily be the case that we have IDPs that cover all of these. so.. for a real international traveller.. one document covers all 3 treaties. At one time these were issued by either the RAC or the AA and sold via post offices and I think the DL96 was the RAC one and the DL94 the AA. I would assume that the numbers relate to the year 1994/96 and as these signifiers no longer exist on the .gov website, perhaps they have changed again especially with the run up to Brexit where its possible these might be required for all UK drivers leaving for the EU and beyond. Its also the case that the latest 1968 was updated in 2011 once the new categories appeared. A and A1 for instance. probably will need updating again with the advent of the A2 license. but these things seem to take a very long time.

The result will be far more women are killed than men. due to the disparity between the sexes of any burden of proof. A woman who is raped is essentially worthless and can very easily be accused of adultery often by her own family.

Or maybe problems are rare and when they do occur, in this age of social media the people with problems scream the loudest and so people think a rare problem isn't so rare.

I thought they were practically normal nowadays on bikes over a certain price point.. my Africa Twin has them. I could care less so long as they do their job reliably.

The IDP you bought for your journey to Bulgaria is the same required (or not) for every EU state aside from Malta, Spain or Cyprus you will have a 1968. for those others you need a 1949 The main effect will be that there may come a time when you will need two if you intend to ride to Spain via France.

Ten Days.

I left it out as its irrelevant. The UK and French driving license cards are Identical. if a french policeman can understand a french card. then he can also understand a UK one as they are exactly the same aside from a few words. English: Driving License. French: Permis de Conduire. The Categories are identical. Even the Name and address are.. with each line numbered. so there can be no confusion about meaning. The only UK drivers who would need an IDP are those holdouts that do not have a card, just the old paper counterpart. Because to a French policeman that is going to be meaningless. And I suppose that it is those people who that final line is aimed at. Not those with the EU standard Modern photocard.

unless these tattoos portray a small baked unleavened cake, typically crisp, flat, and sweet. my nerves cant cope.

If reliability is everything then add lights. so of the main headlamp fails you have a back-up. https://www.bikevis.com/product/bikevis-bullets-v2-motorcycle-running-lights/ not expensive. not exactly a proper headlamp either.. but enough to be legal (after lighting up time) allowing you to carry on to your home. and the rest of the time make you a little more visible.

So.. just to make this simple. you only need to take two sentences from the French Government. 1. With withdrawal agreement. If you are a tourist in France, you can drive for the duration of your stay with your driver's license obtained by examination in the UK. 2. No withdrawal agreement. If you are a tourist in France, you can drive for the duration of your stay with your driver's license obtained by examination in the UK.

Apologies for my lack of precision.. shall i clarify? Two points. 1. I was answering Stu in particular and not talking about this "Bike Seal" stuff. 2. Not miraculous.. I was referring to loss of air "In addition" to the very slight air loss I experience over the weeks and months. The wheels on the GS are really quite well made. Tyres fitted properly with new valves every time. Ive had that bike so long I can predict the very slight loss the tyres have.. usually once every couple of months I might have to give the tyres an extra pound, though mostly I dont bother unless or until the pressure at the rear, in particular drops from 42 to 40. And that loss is mostly caused by the process of testing the pressure!! not because the tyre (or my repair) is leaking. I get a puncture, I plug it and there has been a consistent result. it has resulted in zero increase in air loss. which is what I expect... a plug isnt much good if it leaks. thats not really a repair is it? Thats a temporary "bodge". Because the repair system i use doesn't leak.. I treat it as permanent.

One former member (no names) used to get a bit overexcited when I mentioned that puncture repair system.. because Ive treated the repairs as 'permanent'. If after a month the tyre has lost zero air. then thats already 'permanent' six months? a year later? the remaining life of the tyre.. until its worn out? Ive been using that system for many years now and the repairs have all been permanent. Maybe Ive been lucky? but every time Ive plugged a hole. (nail or screw) its gone smoothly and despite regular pressure tests, didnt lose any air. One year, being mad-like. I plugged a hole and a few weeks later was galumphing round the Dolomites on the same tyre. And didn't even think about it. The only time a tyre had to be got rid of after a fix was by pure chance and bad luck, the second puncture was a little too close to the first one for my peace of mind. so.. I plugged it and then rode the bike to TMS and got a new one fitted.

I have two bikes.. the older one is "The Tractor" and the newer is The 'Sport. In every post i have made on the Africa Twin forum i have called it The 'Sport rather than the stupid acronym they all seem to be so keen on: sigh. Also being an old fart who has owned a GS since the class it belongs to were called "Monster" or occasionally "Giant trailies" Ive always had a bit of a hatred for the term "Aventure Bikes" mainly because I see (all the time) owners, usually middle aged men and wrinklies talking about their last "adventure" or next "adventure" which seems horribly infantile to me. I could punch them. The fact that I own a bike that has "ADVENTURE" printed on the side is too ironical for words. makes me laugh out loud. If I could find a matching font i would preface it with an S. and not give a damn.

I still maintain that i will never use this kind of product, because if a tyre gets a puncture I want to know about it and deal with it there and then and if by chance that means i have to call out rescue then so be it. Can the puncture be repaired or is it a "tear' which means that the tyre is compromised to the extent that it must be binned. I want to know.

The anti wheelie description for the Kawasaki the OP owns is as Ive described.. a side effect of the Traction control.. called Kawasaki TRaction Control or KTRC. nowhere near as sophsiticated as what you have on your bike. which itself is an enhanced form of Traction Control and about controlled wheelies. anyway.. this is the description of the 'anti wheelie' on the 2015 Kwak. The system on the Panigale and others will have as mentioned further sensors and software which allows the front wheel to leave the ground in a controlled manner. or rather, with an incremental decrease of control. as you get 'sportier'. so on the Panigale you have traction control that is not entirely dependent on matching wheel speed at the front and rear... which is very very clever.

It might be a scrambler.. but its definitely road only. unlike this from 51 years ago....