Gerontious

Excellent. If the weather doesn't play ball then we may well relocate to Slovenia and wait it out. lovely place.

Just 28 days to go. everything booked and 3 of us going. Overnight hotel near the channel tunnel, then an early crossing. getting down to Austria over 2 days.. toll free motorway for the most part. with some normal roads thrown in at the end of each day. The Saturday heading for the German Pfalz, not far from the Rhine. France, Belgium, Luxembourg then into Germany and staying near a little town called Dahn. Sunday over the Rhine then heading south - see how much enthusiasm there is on the day for where we actually head for. We'll be based in Austria as the petrol prices are much lower and from there exploring the Italian alps and Dolomites, with hopefully a day out to the Mangart in Slovenia. Grossglockner is a must and our base camp is just 20 miles from its southern end. (handy) Looking forward to showing my mates my favourite places and roads... like this: And then at the end of our fortnight away.. heading west for home via the Black Forest. before crossing France back to the Tunnel. As per usual, timings are to coincide with it being a normal working week.. so few if any tourists to spoil the fun. tick tock.

I don't care about that. seems to me the UK is doomed anyway... will at some point just be England and Wales. so... im prepared for that. of course if Scotland does go its merry way then the Union Jack will have to change too.. interesting times ahead!!

New number plate arrived today and it looks just like this... though a different number (obviously) slightly illegal.. font and size. just a tad smaller. 8x6 (ill keep the original for over zealous MOTs)

10 hours to charge and only 30 minutes talk time. It’ll never catch on.

nothing much, just sorting out the bikes toolkit and puncture kit for the trip in 4 weeks. also ordered a new front tyre as the current one is only good for less than a 1000 miles, which won't do at all!!

Good idea in my opinion, there are now far more stupidly loud cars about than bikes and far too many MOT testers turning a blind eye. Better this than random areas gaining 'no motorbike" signs.. which are cropping up in parts of Germany. Because the locals have had enough. Loud exhausts are a choice. Nobody is forcing you to fit one. Though in my experience the biggest culprits are a certain demographic within the HD (type) brigade.. and some, but not all. summer only weekend warriors who seem to think the more noise they make the better and bring down these kinds of measures on us all. Don't just fine them. force them to comply with the law and give the rest of us a fighting chance of being left alone.

Which seems odd, but it is after all a CVT scooter with belt drive. so far more forgiving.

The only "road legal' helmets that have peaks are manufactured for the popular Adventure segment.. and are more road (and off road) oriented than the motocross helmets they evolved from. with the safety features necessary to be road legal. As well as the ergonomic feature riders expect. Flip (modular) and peaked helmets are available as the demand exists.. here is one example from HJC And another, A Caberg Tourmax Its just a matter of a bit of google searching and tracking down helmets that you like, or can adjust your tastes to. There is very likely to be some on sale where the chin piece can be fully removed, so you have an open face, with a full width visor, drop down sun visor and a peak. just a matter of searching and reading descriptions. Then hopefully find one that suits your head shape.

nodded off at 8pm and here I am up and about at almost 4am. excited about something or other that's going to happen in 30 days. watch this space!!

I'd laugh if they brought out a DCT version.. the sight (and sound) of peoples heads exploding is always amusing.

No. It’s an abomination. but, you would be surprised how many owners seem to think it “completes” the bike. I say nothing. Because how do you reply to people like that!!

Mine is one of the very few, beakless adv bikes.

You might get that, one day. But with a battery remaining countdown below it.

He should do a post about them. As well as other Aldi (or Lidl) specials. They do sell some great stuff. If it’s worth proudly wielding. Then it’s worth talking about.

Back on shift tonight and then every night until Monday. ho hum. But, the weeks are slipping by which is good. tick tock. tick tock.

Gold wing. It’s just a shame the DCT versions are too new. Too expensive.

Probably not. I would suggest you opt for a good set of textiles instead.

I was too angry to take it back. Bike has always been my sole transport. so no bike, its either Taxi, Bus or walk. and the local Halfords wasn't exactly local. I vented my anger doing some research and settled on a 1/2" Bahco full set, which I stlll have. and is (amazingly) still complete... no missing 10mm here!! The Africa twin, has 3 places to store tools, so I'm spoilt for space. My pannier rack also has an optional tool box that I got at the time. so.. my rule of thumb was only to get bits that would fit in these spaces. and Ive managed that. so.. I have 2 tool kits. The Bahco. for home. The Wera for on the bike. the Honda, which went for recycling. (aside from the JIS screwdriver) Im the same, I don't like mixing brands.. bits of this and that. Pliers and so on, I use Knipex. I have a Wera Torque wrench, Wera used to have them made by Norbar, but switched to a Taiwanese manufacturer. Its a fantastic gadget, beautifully made and a pleasure to use. For screwdrivers for home, I went for Wera, Though it could just as easily been Wiha. had I money to burn, then it would have been PB Swiss. Ive never liked Snap-On. no real reason for that aside from price. They are top-flight and the prices show. But, I like to be different.. and if I had Snap-On money to spend. I would go for either Hazet or Stahlwille. Top flight German brands. I tend to wait for offers.. and very conveniently eBay gave me a voucher which meant my recent buys have been almost VAT free. Amazon occasionally do the same, but don't announce it.

On my phone, I touch the 3 dots at the bottom of the page (labelled "more") A new page then slides from the right and I click on the envelope in the top right hand corner and that takes me to the recents, with recent messages received in descending order, by date. it actually shows the most recent 4. to see them all click on "go to inbox'. on the computer its the speech bubbles at the top right of the page.

I buy tools for the application at hand, I don't have any rusty bolts and my bike is a 2018. In all my time, Ive only managed to break 1 socket and that was a Halfords Professional, that I needed in a hurry and bought as a 'one off' single. The outer wall of the socket (a 1/2" 24mm) shattered. and it didn't take much force. shocking. Wera seem to aim their tools at various markets.. so yes, I can see where you're coming from with electrical panels and such. But, I doubt there are many electrical panels that would require a 27mm socket. or torque of 100nm (or even 300nm) So, this set and the other bits are very much aimed at the automotive segment. and as heavy duty as its possible for a 3/8" set to be. If I were to need tougher, then I would use my 1/2" set. But, 1/2" inch isn't really suitable for carrying around on the bike. (aside from one particular application when overseas) I've a little trip coming up and part of this is about being prepared for that.. and theoretically being able to fix minor issues on the bikes that will be accompanying me. upgrading and expanding somewhat the OEM toolkit, As we will be somewhere that mobile signals are spotty at best and I would rather not have to wait around for hours for assistance for something that can be fixed in minutes. I will be taking the 1/2" 27mm and breaker bar, as they can live for the duration at the bottom of my pannier. I usually rely on "sods law" if you have tools with you - you will never need them. works every time. Unless your name is smallfrowne. (obviously) Though he's learnt all about sods law, the hard way.

Probably not, I only tend to buy what I genuinely need for specific jobs. Bought this little socket set mostly because I've been drooling over the ratchet. (a thing of beauty) and I wanted a small set for on the bike as well as some extra drivers. in addition to that I bought 2 larger size sockets that aren't in this set but I will definitely need. a 22 and 27mm. I have a Wera torque wrench that gets used a fair bit (and is bloody lovely). Everything else Ive got is Bahco. Never been keen on Snap On. Though as my mate loves to remind me, Snap On own Bahco, so, maybe I do. What I really do Like is Hazet and Stahlwille, But I can't justify the cost. "Made in Germany" doesn't come cheap. I should add, eBay had a promotion on which helped and meant these bits were nearly VAT free. Which makes things like this so much easier to justify to oneself. Anyway, my updated tool kit for travel is now complete. Only item from the toolkit Im keeping is the screwdriver as its a JIS.

oops. (I really need to stop doing overtime)

Thats because they are not made in the Far East. Haix either make them in Bavaria or their other factory in Croatia. I would have them in a flash, but sadly the last time I could wear size 11s was sometime in the 1970s.

If you're the type that likes having a tool kit on your bike, especially one that ideally has sockets. But, don't have space for a ratchet. You might find this really useful. It converts a ratchet spanner into a ratchet for sockets. 3/8" Not exactly expensive for a German Tool either... be aware though the ratchet spanner needs to be 13mm and reasonably thin at the closed end. https://tinyurl.com/ydxx6t9x Also.. and slightly different. is this 10mm which may not look like much, but is a very clever bit of design. and inexpensive. https://tinyurl.com/3b7nyt77