Gerontious

No she’s not coming to Germany. Thing is she’s been listening to my stories for years and now has the touring bug. Last year she was afraid of bikes and her new fella was heading to Italy on his bike (Tiger) so she flew to Italy and met him at Garda. And he persuaded her to get on the back after buying her some kit in a local bike shop. And that was it. She went to Croatia last Autumn. Spain in Feb this year. Got back bought a 125. And is now prepping for the test. I told her she should do an advanced course after she passes. And later this year… she’s going to Morocco and Sardinia then back to Croatia. Ferries mostly. in less than a year she has been further afield than I have. It’s quite sickening. Furthest east I’ve been is Slovenia. Furthest south. Toe of Italy. I’ve never fancied Spain. Really… I’m a simple soul and just like being in the Alps or close by. and I really enjoy the week in the Eifel of course. But that’s as much about the company than anything else.

I’m guessing heads are exploding world wide. Given the amount of mockery and derision heaped on Hondas DCT from BMW owners over the years. It’ll be interesting watching the hate piled on it (if it happens) but also the take up. If it’s anything like DCT which is now far more popular than standard manuals.

My baby sister (the wealthy one) has bought herself a new toy. For after her test. she’s a bit like me. Cares nothing for the usual advice. Though she did listen to one thing I said and has been chatting to people from her local RoSPA group. my eyes popped. I had to go and lie down in a darkened room.

You have to wonder about the Decision Maker at KTM who turned down the chance for their bikes to be used in that same TV series.

It doesn’t matter anymore. But before about 2001. BMWs were mostly classed as “Old Men’s Bikes” - especially if it had a Boxer engine. That stereotype was beginning to slip with bikes like the Funduro. But that was definitely an odd one out. There was nothing even remotely cool about the brand. Slow. Uninspiring. Expensive. Were the usual terms used. With the ‘so called’ sports bikes being viewed mostly as an underpowered heavy joke. I doubt that anyone. No owner. Nobody inside of BMW even. Would ever have thought even for a moment that a Bike like the GS might ever be popular or that they would ever produce something like the S1000R. And then a TV series was broadcast and everything changed. Almost overnight.

Its certainly come a log way from my original Speed Triple 900. That I had in 1995. it was £7,500. forgive the brochure photo. its all I have left of that bike, the original brochure. I loved that bike, until that black day in 1997 when I took it in for a service and needed a courtesy bike and the evil and rather cunning dealer gave me a BMW R1100GS for the day. The Speed triple was traded in a week later. and I was on a BMW, even though I was far too young to be riding one at just 35 years of age. unwritten rules - see.

I should have copyrighted my trips. I feel like I’ve been plagiarised. Copied. Aped. Cut to the quick I am. Cut.

I guess there’s a reason Apple never used an OLED screen on any of their MacBooks. And it has nothing to do with cost, which has never been a factor especially for their top of the line MacBook Pro. The failure rate in production. ie the number of screens that fail to meet the specs in final QC before shipping to the final manufacturer is huge 60-70% though I don’t know if that little nugget has any bearing on long term reliability, there are rumours of OLED screens arriving on MacBooks in 2026, but it’s been a constant rumour since they first appeared. Apple has consistently said no thanks. And there has to be a reason for this. I’m betting it’s reliability. i can’t say anything about any windows laptop as I wouldn’t buy one and have no need of a MacBook either. But if for some bizarre reason I did… well that’s a hypothetical I don’t need to waste much time over.

It had 60cm of snow dumped on it this weekend. they're in a big rush to clear it right now

I can be quite measured when it comes to pickles. Straight from the jar - but not an entire jar. Or more than a few. I know my limits. my mantra has always been. ”If I say no - my fat will go. If I say yes - I will look a mess.” I remember when colonic irrigation was the next big thing. The idea of DIY’ing it by overindulging a natural laxative is enough to put me right off my spam egg chips and spam.

They look like pickled peppers (of Peter Pecker fame) sweet and sour with just a hint of heat and uttterly gorgeous if you like that sort of thing. I’ve been known to eat them straight out of the jar.

Its a Maypole. a big tradition in Germany but especially in Bavaria. part of a big festival that goes on for quite a time in May at the start of spring. turning their backs on the hardships of winter sort of thing. The Maypole stays up.. though I believe there is a law that dictates it must be replaced every 5 years. The hoop is I think where they attach ribbons when they perform a dance around it... wonderfully pagan. and probably a sight to behold as they will all be ratarsed on the special beer thats brewed for the festival.. them Germans dont need much of an excuse for a beer fuelled party!! every village has its own coat of arms. that's a big thing in Germany too. Some places don't have a pole.. but an actual tree that is 'dressed' for the occasion. I love the Algau region. one of my favourite parts of southern Germany. The building you can see might be the Ostlerhutte. and if it is then this is the view from there taken when it was less cloudy looking towards your lake. towards the the centre of the image with the larger Forggensee to its rear.

The RAC and particularly the AA do not have a great rep amongst euro travellers.

As far as I can tell - GEM is UK only. and if you want to add European to it then it has to be bought as an additional package. without going through the quote process - which only seems to be available once you have bought a GEM package its impossible to know if its cost effective. My Green Flag was £50 last year - bought via a comparison site. this year it has risen to £61. I looked at roadside quite carefully when I needed to buy it, due to a change in insurer. And green flag seemed to be the consensus choice for UK/EU. not a bad report on the touring groups. Its not available to everyone though as they have a maximum bike age in place. The best experience with roadside Ive ever has was when I had my old GS and broke down in Austria. the roadside was provided by Carole Nash and they care not about the bikes age. They went far beyond what I was expecting and tracked down a dealership that had a donor bike with the part I needed - so the bike was fixed same day. Obviously this was in their interest as the cost of repatriation and everything that goes along with that was quite high.

Its been going on for a few years now. when I was passing through Austria during Covid, en route to an overnight in Liechtenstein to keep on the right side of UK rules. I saw several signs about it. Mostly such as the below giving dates as well as the decibel value above which you are banned. If your bike is fully standard and 'modern' then you have nothing to fear. The 95DB limit has been the standard for donkeys years for bikes imported into the EU and UK. and any 3rd party exhaust marketed as 'road legal' will comply. The problem is with the German insistence on TUV testing... not all 3rd part exhausts have been TUV tested. so you might fall foul of that. But, the Polizei dont stop people for no reason so if you are stopped then you probably already know why. basically people living in idyllic villages have had enough... and I can't blame them, had enough of their weekends being ruined by noise. In Germany the Polizei now carry DB meters in their cars as part of their normal complement of equipment. if your bike fails then you are screwed. your bike is off the road. plus there's an on the spot fine. And the only way to carry on is either replace the baffle you thought was unnecessary or have the bike carried to a border. where you can legally ride it again.

you should never rely on the "book" torque when refitting a sump drain plug. "Book" torque values rely on the fixings being clean and DRY. and this is impossible to achieve with a sump drain plug. tightening to the "book" torque is a sure fire way to crack the sump - sooner or later. the recommended torque for the drain plug on my bike is 32nm. the basic rule of thumb is to reduce that by 1/3rd - so around 20nm. I dont have a torque wrench that goes so low so I tighten it until it 'grips' and then an extra 1/4 turn. I always change my oil overnight. so it doesn't really matter if the engine was warm at the start or cold. though when I say cold I don't mean winter temperatures. I put the bowl underneath let the oil out and then leave it until the next morning - by which time it will have long stopped even dripping. Anything to do with engine oil is always controversial. (this mystifies me) I guess its mostly because people tend to overthink it and it never ceases to amaze me how many people think they know better than the people who designed, built and tested our bikes. You only have to look at any Africa Twin group to see that. especially when it comes to what Honda has to say about filter changes. uproar!! end of the world as we know it!! Because Honda says to replace the Filter every second oil change. But what do they know?

Working until Wednesday morning. But thankfully only 2 of those nights with our most problematic resident. I’m hoping he has been stabilised. Countdown to the Eifel is now well under way, today it clicked over to 99 days and so if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel then that’s it. Hard to believe it’s almost June!!

The main thing to bear in mind with a BMW is that they can be excruciatingly expensive if they go wrong. normal servicing is relatively cheap. but a fault can cost. a lot. If you were to go nearly new then if it has.. or you can add the extended warranty then its well worth it for peace of mind. Ideal would be an approved used from a BMW dealership. though this is always going to be an expensive purchase. When they made the change from dry to wet clutch - that was by far the best thing they ever did. ask anyone who needed a clutch replacing on the earlier bikes and they will give you chapter and verse on how painful it was to the wallet. In my early days I was a firm fan of Triumphs, but as has been noted they are.. and always have been top heavy. so they take some adjusting to. more care needed especially at a standstill as the 'point of no return' of a bike going over is not much. compared to a Boxer twin. This was one of the main reasons I switched from Triumph to BMW back in the 90s. as well as it being such a great fit. Im 6'7 in my boots. I dd make some changes to improve the fit. higher seat. handlebar risers. lower footpegs. not much. In 2018 I made the switch again to Honda as they had a bike that seemed on paper to be a great fit for my height. and its turned out to be. It was also quite strange, very different, weird. - and that suits me too. Buying a bike thats a good fit is paramount to me. other things come very much secondary to that. And there are quite a few that would fit the bill now that this style of bike is so common. What they now call adventure bikes, but to me are and always will be 'monster trailies'. I would start by working out a budget. and then narrow down the field by looking at the various models across the various makes. which bikes appeal based purely on looks and paper specs. Then start visiting dealerships etc - maybe try for test rides. even if you are going for a bike thats 5 years old. the latest model will at least give you an idea of what to expect. if you nail down a bike thats at the top of your short list. then do some research on the ups and downs of ownership before you commit.

There is an ancient Eskimo proverb, written on whatever it is they write on up there “Man with big feet have feet touching peddle get warped disc” Those eskimos know a thing or two. Mot passed. 1 advisory. Slight warp. So… need to move the peddle downward. As and when it’s not so wet. And it’s very wet. So wet it’s beyond moist. im actually happy about this. I was fearful of something nasty lurking ready to pounce and ruin my day. A big bill is not what I need right now. So. Insurance - check. MOT - check And in the nick of time too. Only 102 days till the Eifel. Not that I’m counting, though as everyone knows that equals 14 weeks and 4 days precisely. (Obviously)

Bike started immediately. Tyre pressures are fine. And made it here with barely a wobble

Last night. Nothing. I was intending to do quite a lot. As the bikes stood for 3 months. Check tyre pressures. Start the engine, fully warmed up. Pre MOT checks and so on. Instead I made the mistake of having a nap (after a difficult night shift) and next thing I knew it’s 02:30am. Oh well.. never mind. And of course it’s tipping it down with rain today - all day. So all I’m going to do is check the tyre pressures before attempting to set off for the MOT and trust to luck.

Even when they weren’t. I never bothered. The law in most EU countries is that you must show a light in daylight and the ‘Dip’ is more than enough, so are spots or driving lights’. I have never been flashed by oncoming traffic for riding with a left handed dip in daylight. It just doesn’t happen. modern headlights. Especially LED have a flat spread without any left or right bias so it’s ceased to be an issue. Though in reality it never was. for cars it was different. At night the dip could dazzle at night. And I guess that’s why it was never an issue for me as I so rarely rode the bike after dark while in Europe.

I’m now insured. How long has it been? 3 months, maybe. MOT tomorrow. And went with Bennett’s. funnily enough, when I lived in Brum in the early 9Os I insured with Bennett’s a few times and actually went to their office in Coventry. Little insurer… the office was upstairs above an Asian shop in a fairly ordinary terraced house near the cathedral - it stank of fag smoke. And only saw a receptionist, paid by the premium in cash. Something like £20 obviously it’s raining. But should dry later and I’ll get the cover off the bike and see if it starts!! im so excited I might eat some chocolate!! by the way. I was pleased they gave me the option of paying with PayPal. Handy as I can spread it over a few months 0%

Not really the weekend as my life is upside down and back to front. It’s almost 3am and I’ve 4 more hours to plough through with a badly hallucinating paranoid schizophrenic. (What a way to make a living!!) he’s currently in bed and I’m spending the night in his room with him as he tries to rest. He’s only attacked me once tonight. I let my guard down for a second and “Boom” got away with just a bit of a graze on my leg. Ho (bloody) hum. so my “weekend” starts tomorrow. Or today!! And I’ve got to sort bike insurance so I can legally ride (for the fist time in months) to get a new MOT on Wednesday. So looking forward to it as well as not being back here again until 10pm Saturday!! Best quote is Bennett’s so, probably a lot of time spent on the phone trying to beat that and also get the “extras” I need. Been a while since I’ve done this particular runaround. The things we do. The things we do.

nope. It’s not my money. I’ll continue to do what I do. Look after the chain in my bike and check it over every time I do so and hopefully not have any of the wholly avoidable problems I alluded to. I remember once. Maybe not on this forum a fella saying. I knew it had an oiler when I bought the bike, but didn’t know it needed refilling!!