Gerontious

At age 44 I wouldn't even bother with a 125. Chinese or otherwise.

here is an example label from an approved helmet.. one that can be worn 'both ways' when riding. the code to look for is P-J (or J-P) contrast that label with one from a helmet thats approved only as a 'full face'. it will only have the letter P.

Its perfectly fine to use my helmet with the flip up... Because it can be locked in place. This means it has dual EC homologation as both a full-face helmet with the flip-up closed and as a 'jet' helmet with the flip-up raised. (And locked) Unlike some flips... Which do not lock.. And so could drop and the chin part block your view... Say if you went over a bump or a road hump. I usually save riding with the flip up... For more sedate (bimble mode) riding and stop/start in high temperatures, using the drop down sun shade as protection. Not ideal... But very comfortable. Pick up the pace and I close the helmet, drop the flip and lock it shut. And that's really because of insects... I don't want some huge bug hitting my face at speed. I would never wear the helmet with the flip up while riding at speeds over 30mph... When opening the visor a little instead has much the same effect.

They only interview you in daylight and part of that process is an examination of your teeth and checking your reflection in a mirror. more seriously - well done.

Be interesting to see the publicity material produced for this particular run of bikes. for instance.. were they advertised as being lighter. with the engine casing being some 'all new' alloy that offered significant weight savings. and it turned out that this alloy was 'moving' too much during repeated hot/cold cycles. or maybe it didn't.. that this procedure was deemed unnecessary and dropped from following years manuals. an abundance of caution to begin with.. that turned out to be a waste of time.

I see it would have been Aarons 25th birthday today.. so thinking about him and his family for whom today must be very painful

They should be congratulated for using a certain word so many times in such a short piece. Need to be sure potential participants know exactly what they're getting in to.

That website is blocked by virgin media. click on it and I get this:

If its simply UK that you want it for.. then i would go for this: http://tinyurl.com/kjr8lmq seems to have all the features one needs for ordinary driving. you can spend more and add further features like Europe maps.. a dashcam.. etc. but if you dont need any of that.. keep it basic and simple without a shedload of gimmicks and gizmos. just switch it on and enter a postcode.. house number and go. a step up from that.. is probably this one. http://tinyurl.com/lp7mozq

meanwhile Im trying to decide whether i should ride the bike to Stoke tomorrow.. or get the train. I've not managed to find out what condition my mate is in.. all i know is that he had surgery today.

Oh Dear... I have to go to Stoke tomorrow.. a mate of mine made BBC news for all the wrong reasons. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-39609703 he had a pretty crap holiday too...

Might be better to do it through a training school.. perhaps include a few lessons to get rid of any bad habits you've developed. all schools have a fleet of bikes for their trainees and the tests. I would suggest you approach a local training school and ask.. see how much it will cost. all-in.

The address is wrong.. the only Beechdale Avenue local is in Sutton. Actual address is 437 Beechdale Road. NG8 3LF

I've had a Garmin Zumo for over 6 years. Great pieces of kit even if the initial outlay is high... they're really well built. over-engineered. As an example.. First year I didnt lock it into its mount properly and it flew off at 60mph+ and was promptly run over by a TRX850. the only damage was a bit of rubbing to the plastic case!! I use mine completely silently.. that suits me. I neither want music or a voice. They all come with Lifetime maps now... and western european mapping. and are way ahead of my antique in terms of 'user friendliness' improved functionality. Second hand.. best to watch ebay. people buy new bikes and sometimes they come with a GPS.. so they sell it, or their old unit. But.. I would suggest you bite the bullet and buy a current one... oldest is now the 345 which you can get for under £300 from Amazon. obviously it will come with all the fittings... in the RAM standard.. so tweaking it for your bike is a breeze. you'll also get a warranty. Important if theres a problem with it before you go. you can get a replacement. (unlikely.. but worth having) top of the ranges is the 595.. £499 on Amazon. This would be my choice. you could also set up a search on eBay and wait and see what appears

If it were me.. after Pamplona.. i would have the greatest pleasure in crossing the mountains from south to North.. and as its my first ever tour. (ok it isnt.. but lets pretend). I would prefer to stay at an english owned place. you maybe pay a little extra.. but theres local knowledge which is always worth a lot. maybe more if you dont speak much french. (or spanish) as an example.. This place. http://www.fontaines-escot.com is 110 miles from Pamplona.. but you can easily double that by taking a scenic route. They mention bikers.. which is always a good thing. A quick check and they have their cheapest room available.. arr: 17/8 dep: 20/8 will set you back £128 so.. £42 per night. double bed and breakfast. a day out begins with this view: https://goo.gl/maps/Xp6dmwDf3Z72 up that little lane from the hotel... then 'which way today?

Toll from Calais to Limoges.. Or vice versa is €25.30 according to Michelin. You can likely do it cheaper than that... And not pay too much of a time penalty. Ferry is cheaper than the tunnel... I would probably want to break the journey with an overnight stay.. So, for instance going: you have a 200 mile ride to the port. And then on the other side another 400+ so, maybe a cheap room near Dover... Early start, crossing, then all day to get to Limoges. 600 miles is by any measure a slog... Not something I would want to do in a single day. You might like to look at motorail rather than the spanish ferry... Paris to Biarritz, Toulouse or narbonne. Weigh up the pros and cons compared to the ferry. I'm not up on how it compares price wise. In France it's called Autotrain. Your bike is loaded on a transport train in Paris... And you travel on a standard train - this means you could travel with your wife. I know of people who prefer this way of covering fairly large distances with spouses.. though the rail network that carries bikes is steadily shrinking. I have route maps for the Pyrenees. French and Spanish sides.

now get a new tube of adhesive.. once its been opened its almost certain to set hard in the tube over time... weeks, months or years. so.. a fresh tube ready for the next time. theres nothing worse than getting a puncture only to find your repair kit is useless because the glues gone off. I moved over to glue-less plugs after a while because of this.. the adhesive tubes are really single use. use once and replace.

people have been using 'smoothrite' for years on bike parts that don't get excessively hot.. for years and with little complaint.

I would... but only from North to South. if a car is coming from the other direction then I would much rather be pushed up against the cliff face than against that little wall. makes me want to lie down in a dark room and do breathing exercises just thinking about it. Theres another very similar road not far from there.. that was finally closed in 2005 after the number of deaths got totally out of hand (and a bypass tunnel had been built) With many more 'cave - tunnels/overhangs' and due to its orientation.. in places it hardly ever got any direct sunlight.. so was almost permanently damp and an ideal environment for algae and moss on the road surface. lethal. Read about it here: http://tinyurl.com/mh6shun

Its funny how things turn up. Ive been looking at a map of the Rhone Alps... This area of France. https://goo.gl/maps/1d2DgTS27XB2 and on on of my route maps came across this place.. marked, but I had never heard of it before.. sheltered life and that. Combe Laval... So.. obviously i looked it up with the google machine and voila (as they say) Its a 'Balcony road".. carved into the cliff side.. with in places a 40 metre drop. (1,200ft+) and all thats between you and the drop is a little wall thats not much more than knee high. in some places its so narrow only one car can pass at a time. Wunderbar (as they say) read about it here with more nerve racking photos: http://tinyurl.com/k56k4pv Just thought i would share this in case anyone is heading for that area of France and wants some extra excitement.

My guess. Last season. Ex display. Overstocks. Returns.... Eg: mail order returns with tags missing/damaged packaging. Slight seconds. And so on... Gathered from all their various shops into one place and sold off. This will probably include footwear too. But it seems unlikely to me from their description that it's a normal table top/indoor boot sale. Or that it's exclusively footwear. Maybe they just need to make room and don't want to wait for the more usual events where they can have a stall. Easy enough to find out.... Pick up the phone and ask.

I wouldn't make it that far.. i would get the irresistible urge to turn off and go buy sausages.

If you can justify the cost, it might be worth your while looking at Altberg for your boots. They do all sizes and various widths. They are also repairable... So should last you decades. http://www.altberg.co.uk/category/motorcycle-boots/

At one end there are signs saying its pedestrian only... at the other there is a sign which talks about a 24hr bus lane.. its that sign people were driving past.. over a year more than 11,000 drove past it and were given a £60 fine for this. these are the offending signs. one is clear.. the other is clear as mud.