Gerontious

indeed. Neither of my bikes have it.. and Im rather pleased about that. People generally rave about it until it goes wrong.. and then they get a quote and fall to the floor and foam at the mouth (a bit) particularly if they don't have a warranty.. from new or extended.

ESA Electronic Suspension Adjustment. (obviously)

Given the fairly unique circumstances of your holiday.. It doesn't matter. You're not competing for luggage space with a pillion or dividing what you have between clothes. Necessities and camping gear. I would just try to be logical.. Have what you need for the boat easily to hand. As well as clothes for the period both on the bike and on foot. (Shoes) Space to carry water.. Plus a small med kit. With a mind to insect bites in particular.. Wet wipes. I always take a small bottle of eye wash... As getting something in your eye... Especially if it's a bug can rapidly turn from a minor irritant to a major disaster. Wilko is definitely your friend for these. And if you come back with clothes unworn... Med kit unused. Etc. So what. Who cares. Rather too much than too little. Rather items as an insurance policy than something going horribly wrong and no easy cure or fix so you can carry on without drama. If you want to borrow a puncture kit.. Let me know. Just bring it back... Same goes for a pump. If if you don't have an electric one... Take something else... Even a foot pump. Hidden away at the bottom of your panniers. Again.. Insurance. I generally tour with friends and carry all these so most problems can be sorted quickly and with the minimum of fuss... I would rather be on my way than have to wait around for international rescue or waste time hunting for a pharmacy and then (in Spain) be told I need a prescription for aspirin.

So nice I posted twice... So deleted.

It makes its own sauce . . . if you add water.

from that page. Description Bob Farnham Tuning Limited was incorporated on 15 Mar 2000 and is located in Kent. The company's status is listed as "Dissolved". The company's first director was Robert James Farnham. Bob Farnham Tuning Limited does not have any subsidiaries. so.. dissolved? The building that was occupied by BFT is now occupied by Spirit Motorcycles. a bike builder. http://www.spirit-mc.uk/index.html Perhaps he has moved into building rather than just tuning.. seems he is still involved as (interestingly) the phone number is unchanged.

The mistake people make with auxiliary lights.. is pointing them at drivers faces rather than at the tarmac. I have these on the GS... fitted 6 years ago maybe. wired to the 'dip' and so are always on. and properly aimed. Ive never had a problem.. or observed an irate reaction. and im fairly sure that even if i missed such a reaction... any one of my friends following behind would take great pleasure in describing it to me - in detail. cause they like to be helpful like that. But.. i do see a lot of these lights on.. and aimed with the intention of scaring away errant water buffalo. not usually a problem in central southern France. adult kids and their toys eh. to be honest.. i think its about time these were part of the MOT. and either wired to the main beam or dip and aimed accordingly... and said aim, checked by a 3rd party. (at MOT)

I'd put tape on mine if it was a daytime headlight, just to stop pissing people off like. Oh... definitely. If there had ever been the slightest evidence that my lights irritated oncoming drivers I would do the same. in a flash (so to speak)

Its fairly likely that they will try somewhere easier.. thank your dogs for that. give them a treat.

I would only touch the headlamp if i was certain that a lot of riding after dark was on the cards.. mid august.... thats well after 9pm

Dont any of your local training schools provide bikes for training and the test?

i would be calling motorworks on monday... see if they have a working used one from a broken donor bike. expect to pay £40 including a key. (if they have one) you could also try James Sherlock they also break BMWs

there was an often mentioned mystery socket.. that produced a strange voltage with the ignition ON... something like 6v. it might be that.. the thought was it was for some gadget that was never actually fitted to the production bikes. I would stick a tester on it.. if by chance its 12v then that might be very useful.. if not. then.. just forget about it.

Combe Laval.. the D76 was definitely one of the highlights of the week... and speaking purely for myself.. it has to be one of the highlights of my entire riding career. Any photos you might look at cannot do it justice... awesome is a word thats horribly overused on biker forums.. but this place truly was/is awesome... like a giant took a cleaver to a mountain and split it in two like a log... looking over the wall straight down a 1,200 foot clif to the valley below and then down the valley where it opened out to the landscape beyond. Its another place i would suggest be on your bucket list... even if you dont want to ride along it... just ride to the sign and park your bike or car there and have a stroll along the road. If you're as lucky as we were that day.. you'll have it all to yourself. as Rob says there was just a lone german biker and a couple of cyclists... a car pulled over at the far end and that was it. A great start to a fantastic day... later in the Afternoon we climbed the Jura mountains on the french side.. just west of Geneva. so high it got very cold and it was obviously ski country... but again this was a great ride.. mile after mile of deserted roads with only the odd car here and there.. and then nothing at all. later another highlight for me.. riding into the "Watch valley"... Vallée de Joux past the most incredible watch makers. Patek Philippe, Blancpain, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet and my own personal favourite Breguet. And as if that wasn't glamour enough... we ended the day ogling bottles of champagne €400 a bottle. (sigh) The whole 9 days was pure pleasure.. I got a good look at areas of France that I had never seen... nor even really thought about to be honest. But.. they are all bookmarked as places to revisit.. or take my friends to as and when we want a change from the usual week in the Eifel. In fact.. theres a slight chance we will be back down that way in another 4 weeks. As of now the plan is to go to the Austrian Tyrol. But.. if the weather doesnt play ball.. then central southern france is our plan B... and having sampled it. I would have no hesitation in going there again if push came to shove. What Ive learnt is that getting there is easy enough.. day one to Avallon in Burgundy and then day two through the Morvan and across to the Auvergne is easily done... or further south to the Languedoc... maybe try a different campsite.. some research needed for that... one with a decent supermarket close by for cheap beer!!! And those gorges to ride... and mountains to climb... and Moolies to eat. And roads from hell to avoid I spent about the same as Rob... it was actually a fairly expensive 9 days but that was mainly due to the abysmal post brexit value of the pound.. as well as the pretty much standard €5 for a beer. we likes our beers at the end of a hard days riding. Austria should be cheaper. beer is generally €3 and of course petrol.. is much cheaper. today the equivalent - £1 a litre so.. France was great... really fantastic. next.. Austria and the Alps 31 days to go. mmmm... and maybe... just maybe... THIS!!! just to scare them witless. (cause im nice like that!!)

never forget... The White Zone is for loading and unloading only If you gotta load or unload, go to the White Zone You'll love it It's a way of life

sadly.. triumph used to be on the site thats now occupied by the KFC on Woodborough road... so you'll have to go to Long Eaton to get the computer reset. ask nicely and they might do it gratis. They close at 5.30 during the week.. so if you want to go on saturday... then you best phone. as the workshop might be shut.. even if the showroom is open.

the thing has a built in fuse and turns itself off.

there you go.. how to make it complicated when you're a complete novice with electrics. and nervous about causing an issue. easy.

Black to negative.. red to positive. on the battery.. its not complicated.. and theres no reason to make it so.

If theres one region every biker should visit at least once... its the Dolomites. "Stunning" is an understatement... there is nowhere else quite like it. The pale mountains... massive fossilised coral reefs, unique in the world. Passo Sella.. one of my favourite places. five weeks. tick tock.

Some bikes have sideways valves as standard.. I'm surprised more wheel makers dont employ them. http://i.imgur.com/JmilfoAl.jpg

Speeding or riding like a twat in a tiny place like Singapore is never going to end well..

Thursday was an interesting day.. it was also by turns utterly terrifying and fantastic... tedious and a joy. we had it all. Leaving Millau.. i took a wrong turn and almost immediately realised i had gone wrong.. this was hammered home when the sat nav kept on nagging me to do a U-turn... despite the fact I had told it not to do U-Turns.. avoid them. So... I knew we were heading in the wrong direction.. about as wrong as it was possible to be.. but, it wasnt a total loss.. we climbed a mountain we hadnt touched and had a great view from the top.. and again as we came back down.. another road to add to the list of 'must do again someday' (its a long list). As luck would have it the first part of our journey.. it was supposed to be about 180 miles.. was along the Gorges du Tarn.. again. But.. as it turned out it was the opposite direction to the first time.. so we saw it from a different angle so to speak.. and it wasnt long before we turned off and were climbing up onto the plateau and heading north east... down the other side and the terrain changed.. it became very hilly.. and as a side effect the roads became very twisty... very. and this for mile after glorious mile. I dont like to think about the lorry that nearly took me out.. it happened so fast and was over before it really sank in what had happened.. but afterwards I was thinking.. that was my death back there... had I not stopped exactly where I did.. just carried on a few feet more... or been riding just a few mph faster it would all have been over. ooerr. anyway.. it wasnt and so. before long we passed a sign that welcomed us to the Ardeche and the Monts d'Ardeche national park.. so what was that? our 3rd national park? and we were on our way to the 4th. Map says yes!! The entire journey aside from the near death experience was a joy... and it became stunning when we began our descent to the Rhone valley and there spread across the horizon was the Rhone Alps.. looking really quite picturesque with snow on the peaks and everything... so after lunch it was down into the valley and then a shock to the system.. traffic. cars.. lots of cars. and trucks and other inconveniences... we were crossing a main artery from the med.. from marseilles etc north.. and it was really tedious until we were across the river and back to normal.. hardly any cars at all. Then came a dash across the flood plain heading for the hills. it had been a pretty gorgeous day weather wise.. but in the afternoon it got very hot.. so, it was quite a relief to be climbing into the hills again and then it got better... it must have been raining a little earlier.. there was signs of rain everywhere.. though the roads were largely dry. but.. it was cool. fantastically cool after such a hot day... and it stayed cool all the way to our destination.... have to admit it was quite bizarre to be in this particular village.. a place i had been looking at only a few weeks before when i did my 'a road in france' post... and then as we approached the campsite there was a sign saying Combe Laval. The campsite was great... a mid range municipal. not the height of luxury.. but passable.. and very very quiet. The walk up into the village later.. the same. it was all so quiet. found the restaurant and it was really nice. beer - horribly expensive.. but we were by this time used to that and past caring. A great end to a really good day.. we were now in the Vercors. Another stunning region of France.. not so well known.. but.. oh my, so lovely.

Sitting on the verandah of a french bar drinking Pastis and watching the world go by. I wasnt disappointed about losing a day.. it did look crap that morning and by the second.. or was it the 4th Pastis? I was past caring. Watching the 100s of Mountain Bikers coming and going I began to wonder what impact this would have on the area the next few days.. and when Rob suggested moving on. It seemed the right thing to do. We had had a great taste of that part of the Languedoc... the Grands Causses as well as the Haut languedoc. The mountain range we had crossed on our day out to the seaside all of it - spectacular and well worth a revisit. Easy enough to get to over a couple of days. Just a little more care taken choosing the campsite there which is easy enough given the time to suss various places out. I was wondering where to go, which direction. rob had mentioned in passing on one of the days that he would have liked to have at least seen the Alps.. and to be honest we weren't all that far from them.. so looking at the maps I thought if we kinda head roughly north east... say in the general direction of Geneva. Then we should get an eyeful. I wanted to revisit the Jura... an area I passed through several years ago and the thought was from there head north towards the Southern Vosges.. perhaps the weather would be kind? otherwise we could head north and east and spend some time wending our way across france in the general direction of Calais. we had 3 days of pure pleasure riding left. with the final sunday being the usual motorway dash to the Tunnel. So... looking at the map and wondering where to go... I had a campsite aimed specifically at bikers saved on my sat nav. https://www.lecampingmoto.net/index_EN.html which came highly recommended.. not just because it was aimed at bikers.. but also for its position. It was a bit too far south for my taste though...but. It gave me an idea... hmmmm. Theres a road in France I did a little post about a few months ago... and guess what? its only 200 miles away and in the right direction too. (how spooky is that?) I looked at a rather drunk rob... sat there with a glazed... "Who cares Im drunk" look on his face and announced. lets go to Combe Laval. cheers... More Pastis ??

Not a stick of rock to be seen anwywhere... these frenchies dont know how to do seaside. neither.