Gerontious

It’s a bike that was only produced for a year, I think. And that 8 years ago or so. As with any bike of that kind of age - condition is everything. It’s not the type of bike that will have been abused. And it’s definitely the kind of bike that will have been serviced religiously and to the letter. Any issues fixed years ago. They were built with customisation specifically in mind so any ergonomic issues should be easy enough to fix. The trick is finding one - especially one that you can test ride and is reasonably standard. You might have to travel outside your area. I’ve studiously avoided them for fear that a test ride would convince me it’s a must-have. I’ve been caught out by BMW that way before.

Ortlieb are the originals and Lomo are effectively copies, though significantly cheaper which is the primary reason they are so popular. But when you put them side by side there really is no comparison.

Spoken English has evolved in the UK, whereas in America it hasn't so much in the past 400 years. what seems odd to us would have been completely normal in the 1600s Its been said that modern English is just French with a funny accent. The word Route is a perfect example of this. we use the French pronunciation. The Americans do not. I think there's only a few words that have kept the old pronunciation for example - Blouse. If that had followed the way of Route, we would be saying "Blooze". In many ways the Americans speak a very similar form of English to the original settlers, many of whom injected their own dialects into the language and these apparent oddities are a result of that. Our language has been corrupted. And then we think its the Americans who are in the wrong. most odd.

It will at the very least be picturesque - but also very cold. The road is normally open by the 1st of May - dug out by snow ploughs. Its a hike to get there though and not something to be done in a day. fastest route is a little over 700 miles from the tunnel. One of the great things about the road is you can look at the live webcams and make a decision on whether to go up. you can also look back in time and get an idea of what it might be like at various times of the year. Here for example is an image that was taken by the webcam on Friday 5th May 2023 at 16:30. air temperature was 6.9c and, incidentally that was one of only a couple of days where a view like this was even possible due to low cloud. (aka heavy fog) To be honest I don't really think its a good idea to go there with just a week to play with, the main problem being you could arrive there and not want to go up because of low cloud, or heavy rain or even late snow or sleet. Its always a good idea to have a few days nearby and then choose the best. either a blue sky day or very high cloud. And dont even think about doing it at the weekend as its always absolutely rammed with tourists. I would head for another Alpine region, if the Mountains are what you want. or a region Ive never visited before. chase the sun and the warmth moving north from the Med.

Before Forums and back in the day when the GS was a very rare bike and 'adventure' as a word was more associated with Enid Blyton than motorbikes I joined a BMW-GS group that was based in America. I was the only UK member. (I think) This would have been around 1997/98 - probably. I lasted about two months before being banned. The reason given was as a result of my response to a discussion about riding history. How long have I been riding and what bikes Ive owned and so on. I got such a shocking response to that post it went absolutely ballistic and I was called all sorts. I can remember almost verbatim what I wrote. "Started riding on my 18th birthday on a jap 250. then after I passed my test moved on to Brit Triumphs. a T160 then a T140TSS followed by 3 modern Triumphs and now on a R1100GS - which was lent to me as a curtesy bike and I just had to buy one." Thats what I wrote and that is what caused all the problems which soon escalated out of hand.. I made just one reply in the ensuing mayhem, but it was completely drowned out and I got kicked off. No great loss.

There is only one reason I would claim (in this kind of situation) and that's if the bike has gone.

4 nights from tonight with the rampaging schizophrenics. finish Tuesday morning. deep joy. in theory Im on holiday from the 17th. in theory.

that’s of no import. De-catting a bike is quite normal. Not part of the MOT and nobodies business but your own.

Don’t tell em. Specs should tell you if it’s road legal.

Tucked it up for a couple of months. Priorities can be tough. (Especially self imposed ones) MOT expired yesterday. Too bad. So sad. insurance expires next week. Ditto.

They were expensive at the time. But, exclusively produced in this country and it was another 7 years before Triumph made a profit. In 2020 manufacturing ended at Hinckley - aside from assembly of factory specials and prototypes. One factory in 1993. Six in 2024. The more bikes you can produce the lower the cost. Is almost £12,000 actually high for a 750cc Bike made in the UK? It’s impossible to know. Because none are.

It’s a risk. But the only way a copper will pull you is if you have a cop car behind you. And the ANPR flags you up. Other than that a mobile roadside ANPR camera spots you. (Unlikely at an early hour) and be careful not to have an accident!! if it was me then I would do what you’re planning. But then I’m a risk taker and sometimes - needs must.

Thought this might interest some of you. Having a root around I came across a price list dated 10th of May 1993!! A time when Triumph only made 8 bikes. 8!! All made in the original Hinkley factory. To make it easier - here are the models and prices (inc VAT) Trident 750 £5,499 Trident 900 £6,099 Sprint £6.699 Tiger £6,549 Trophy 900 £6,999 Trophy 1200 £7,599 Daytona 900 £7,449 Daytona 1200 £8,149 I bought the cheapest, a year later, my very first 'new' bike... kept it for a couple of years and it looked exactly like this. The List.

There aren’t many, in fact I can’t think of any offhand that come with a centre stand as original from the factory. It’s a real sign of the. Profound change in tastes in bikes that centre stands (or the lack of them) are an issue. When the world was sports bike mad - back in the day. There were all sorts of ingenious ways of oiling a chain easily. I liked the spinner! The move from shaft bike to chain in 2018 meant I had to get a centre stand. It’s ok - but definitely takes more effort to get the bike onto it than my much heavier BMW. And the balance is shocking by comparison. I could lift the front wheel of the BMW off the ground with one finger. It takes quite a bit of effort to do the same on the Honda. Cleaning the front wheel is an effort. It’s almost like the centre stand on the BMW was designed in from the start - whereas the Honda was almost an afterthought. I had to have one though. Fitted from the start.

you won’t notice unless you check. But they have to do it. There’s a reason they say you can take £100 of fuel. Because you’ve promised to pay up to that amount. The alternative just opens them up to people not paying. If your account only has £20 in it and you fill up and buy £50 of fuel - what’s going to happen? They don’t want the hassle of chasing customers for money owed. This way prevents that happening. It would be better if you could tell the machine how much fuel you want to buy. £20 they just take £20 and the pump shuts off at £20. But that’s not the way they do it - they take £100 and refund £80 so fast it doesn’t even register. Worst I had in France was money taken on the Saturday and only returning the following Tuesday.

its completely normal and has been for years. The money going out then returning is normally instant. It only becomes problematic when you go abroad - France in particular. The money goes out and can take a few days to return. This is of particular issue if you use one of those holiday cards and haven’t loaded them sufficiently to cope. @smallfrowne had this happen to him a few years ago. He had something like £70 on his card and the fuel refused to flow. So guess who paid for his fuel!! It could have been bad if he was on his own. In this country it might be an issue if you use a card with little cash in it and no overdraft. Even if the overdraft isn’t touched the system insists on a certain amount of guaranteed payment until the transaction is completed. It takes a £100. Subtracts the value of the fuel bought and returns the balance. This should all happen in seconds. It happens every time you use pay at the pump. Unnoticed. Usually.

If it’s a pay at the pump I sit on the bike and use something called “care and attention” and brim it as I don’t want fuel on my lovely paintwork!! if it’s pay indoors then I usually use the side stand unless I need to brim it and will pop it onto the centre stand. Tend to brim it when I need that 300 worry free miles. Never really measured how much extra fuel can be squeezed in. But it’s definitely enough to warrant the extra effort. Bemused by the paranoia. You should see the conditions people fill there tanks in, in Italy!! been doing it this way for quite some time. Nobody fried. Or died. Or… whatever. And my lovely paintwork is still lovely.

Today, for the first time in more than 10 years, I think. I’m sitting downstairs on my couch listening to music and not over earphones. I pulled out my (spare) 2012 Mac mini and am using that as a source for now. The speakers look great - not overwhelming the eye. The little 30w amp is doing well. Though all the cabling is a bit of a dogs dinner. I’ve got a fortnight off from the 17th using up the last of my annual leave and plan to do some decorating so it’s all just temporary. And will do just fine until I get a proper CD player at the end of this month.

You’re probably right. I read something and got muddled. It happens. Still, I’ll stick with the plan anyway. It makes me feel exceptionally smug to have a mortgage and stop paying it for a year. I think back to the years of struggle. Hard times at times. A different world.

One of the benefits of a mortgage that's so close to being paid off.. I've stopped paying it for a year. apparently its generally a bad idea to not have a mortgage as your credit rating suffers. once its ceased to be. I owe (today) £213.56 and its not due until September next year. Though I might throw in a few quid here and there. Also I have nobody nagging at me. "you can't buy that!!". And sadly my outgoings have reduced somewhat with no 4 legged friend to feed anymore. anyway, speakers have arrived and are out of their box. looking very pretty and strange on my sideboard. Kef LS50. white so they will kinda disappear once set up. No council tax to pay either this month or next, so though Ive got them on 0% I'll likely pay them off next month. or near as dammit. Then start looking for a CD player or Transport. Im quite good at being patient. sometimes.

quite amused by the last few days antics with a couple of sellers on eBay. In my bid to put together a new hifi system, I was looking at two CD players second hand. both mint and fairly recent. The first I made a not unreasonable offer for. and added a message that if my offer was accepted I would be able to collect the player either yesterday or on Sunday. The seller rejected my offer. and then yesterday he messaged me to ask if I was still interested. He has now relisted the item and said that the buyer pulled out. he can sod off. The second was a really glamorous cd. made in Italy. and at a very good price. but the seller wanted to send it via Royal Mail!!! - I messaged them and said I was ready to do a buy it now, but I would rather collect it in person than risk it being dropped or thrown about in the post. the seller replied. "sorry I dont want anyone coming to my home." - no suggestion of any kind of an alternative, so I didn't bid. its still for sale. Plonker. Overwrought at all this plonkerishness. I decided to delay the CD until step 3, I got an amplifier last month and paid for it, and yesterday I ordered Speakers and Stands and they arrive today. and of course.. as luck will have it, another CD player thats at the top of my wish list appeared on eBay at a really, really good price. but, hey ho - the deed is done and I'll have to pass. until next month. step by step its coming together. Im going to have to start thinking about cleaning all my cds as they have been gathering dust - literally. mostly untouched for almost 10 years - probably. aside from those that were copied onto the computer. shame about the Italian. it was really lovely. with valves!!

Not really. what is important is that the helmet is genuine and has the ECE standard. this means that a helmet from every batch has to be tested to that standard. this is what matters also crucially that it fits properly. oddly, Arai helmets seem to have a fairly bad sharp rating for some of their helmets. but nobody could say that Arai don't know how to make safe crash helmets. same for Shoei and many other top flight brands. when I used to pay attention to such things I did think that some of the tests that Sharp used where, shall we say 'somewhat unrealistic". I gave up paying them any attention. My own helmet is 5* on sharp. and is in the budget class. whereas Schuberth average 3* and are considerably more expensive. it seems meaningless to me and just another added complication paying serious attention to what they say.

Ive more important things to concern myself with than the age of my crash helmet. I have two. one for general use and another that's only worn for touring. I tend to replace them when they no longer fit properly - this happens - usually if they deteriorate. - or are dropped badly.. I'm in no rush.

one of the best things about riding a bike that's impossible to stall* are hills.. or rather mountains where the roads have some really quite nasty sharp bends with cambers that are the stuff of nightmares. S2 and whoop. My mate is oblivious (obviously) he just takes it all in his stride on his barge (pretending to be a tractor) and whoops anyway. so irritating. *impossible to stall assuming its working properly. who woulda thought that maintenance was important.

Theres nothing to stop you importing anything. (within reason) but nowadays its largely pointless. as the added costs are (or can be) hefty.