Gerontious

no.

If Linklyfe or its modern equivalents were suitable for O ring chains do you not think it would be in their best interests, to boost sales, to mention that on the can?

The Schmoelling era, starting with Tangram.

Im so excited Im going to rush to the kitchen and make horlicks.. take that suckers!!

Its not merely an. issue of distance, its also timing. This is something I have wrestled with on virtually every trip Ive ever organised for myself and others. If you want to ride the B500 for its entire length, Then you really need a full day for that. If you split the ride from calais into two parts then that will mean a much earlier arrival at Baden Baden, which for me would be a problem. Say for instance you ride halfway across France and then stop. That would mean the next day you might arrive at BB at lunchtime and that would then waste another half day.. if you decide to stay there. Though of course there is nothing stopping you from just carrying on and stopping at a pension further south in the Black Forest. I wouldn't want to do that because I think its important, for full enjoyment to begin the quite epic ride south after a good nights sleep. you can start after Breakfast and be at the Rhine at the south end by tea time.. Its 118 miles from BB to the Rhine at Waldshut, which may not seem much.. you can do it in about 3 hours at legal speeds. But, that would be a mistake.. this is a route to be savoured, not one to be rushed. Bear in mind that the B500 is in two parts, with a fairly big gap... and how you cross that gap just adds to the overall experience. Its fantastic. When we did this ride across France to the Black Forest several years ago, I explained to the guys that it would be a slog. no two ways about it. It would be hard work.. but the reward would be more time there. 5 days instead of 4. which was important for that particular trip. However its not something I ever want to do again. I just wont. I have an idea for our next big trip which is appropriate for us. But.. we don't have your first issue. We dont have to ride more that 330 miles just to get from home to our first stop near the tunnel. For you that would be 330 miles or so on day one and then another 410 miles on day two... that is a major slog. A lot depends on the bike you're riding. But.. even so. its a massive undertaking on a bike. in North Western Europe, even in summer. Hell.. if you are unlucky enough to encounter heavy rain. One alternative, though it would really have a heavy cost in money, would be to use a ferry from further north. Newcastle perhaps? and then ride to Dusseldorf and put the bike and yourself on the sleeper train to either Innsbruck Austria. Or Verona in Italy. Either would put you pretty much on the doorstep of Garda.. an easy days ride. And then do the other routes you've mentioned on your way home... This will cost though.. whether you can justify that is up to you. It also depends on whether the motorails are running this summer which at the moment is very much an open question. in fact.. its an open question whether there will be a summer this year. we can be optimistic, but right now everything is uncertain. Just looking at the motorail map puts in mind yet another option. Baden Baden is 370 toll free miles from the ferry terminal near Amsterdam. 3/4 of which will be on the Autobahn, that would save you a lot of time. and UK motorway riding, the ferry is 30 miles from Stanley. balance the cost of the ferry and time saved, against the other costs and that might be your best option. perhaps..

its a 6+hr ride.. its doable, but very tiring. bear in mind that you must stick to the speed limits on the toll autoroute through France or you may be fined at a toll booth. 6hrs non-stop that is. I would suggest budgeting 8hrs for the ride. 2 half hour stops and an hour for lunch, for a proper break. stay close to the tunnel and get an early crossing, to arrive on the French side by 10am... that would mean an arrival at BB at around 6. if you can be disciplined. the ride down the B500 can be done in a day. Switzerland is slow if you use normal roads. very slow. don't risk a fine there!! stick to speed limits like your life depends on it. massive fines and/or prison and/or a ban await. and you don't want a ban, or prison. or a £3000+ fine!! its all doable.. but depends a lot on how much time you have to play with between crossing to France and arrival at Garda. Ive done all of that.. but it would be my personal choice to avoid Switzerland. and go via Germany and Austria. I wouldn't bother with Como either. but thats just me.

Your best bet is eBay.. or the specialist enduro retailers. I doubt you would get much luck on this forum where the vast majority never go.. or have never gone off road. also search for MX and Motorcross gear, which is the same thing. The biggest difference between MX gear and standard motorcycle gear is that 'Tarmac' is never involved, so no need for the kind of protection you might need sliding down a road at road speeds. You are more likely to come off and land in mud. sand. vegetation... or grass at a much lower speed. So, the fabrics tend to be less tough and armour is really about impacting things like a tree, which will cause less damage than hitting a brick wall or lamppost. found this site with a few seconds of searching. https://tinyurl.com/y5fc3tr9

Don’t blame it on sunshine, don’t blame it on the moonlight. Don’t blame it on the good time. Blame it on the lack of investment and computers running windows 3.1 (beta) as well as the lager lurgy.

It's just so obvious to me, who actively enjoys riding in the rain? or worse.. camping in the rain. putting up tents and then taking them down, while it's raining, on what is supposed to be a holiday. Not me!! And Im not going to put anyone through that if it can be avoided. That year the rain was due to start on day two, the Sunday and continue till the Wednesday morning. err... no. In the last few days before the off it became increasingly clear that we would have to change plan. And so we did. with a lot of regret. There was no way to make it work. The guys already knew about our Plan B. and what was happening with the weather, so it didn't come as a last minute surprise and it turned out alright. But, it has to be said that it wasn't as great as Austria. We didn't get our full day on the Grossglockner or the Nockalm. Or get to ride over the Stelvio, Umbrail and Timmelsjoch pass or "terrifying" Giau, or have the opportunity for a 'Taster' day in the Dolomites. which was a great personal disappointment. As I knew.. once the guys experience that region, they would want to go back. And go that extra mile to spend more time there another time. but what can you do. Sometimes a decision has to be made.

My own strategy for the trips I organise is really quite simple. I basically say... Im going to 'such and such' does anyone want to tag along. we will be doing XYZ. Dates are such and such. Times for the crossing are these.. And, to break up the journey we will stay overnight at (usually) Ashford the night before, so we can have a nice early and yet relaxed start. Thats generally written in stone fairly quickly. After that I ask for suggestions, sometimes I get some, but mostly I get none at all. Aside from requests of things or places to avoid.. this generally due to bad previous experiences. Or, I might ask if anyone wants to go to the Nurburgring and if they do.. then we will fit that in. Going there is always very easy as its open at a very convenient time for us, towards the end of the day. and then its a great ride back to our base.. which is easy to follow. no sat nav required. and the guys can ride it at their own pace. And thats really all there is to it. I do the daily ride routes months in advance. this, mainly because I don't like to think about them, in fact I want to forget all about them so when it actually comes to the day.. I only have a vague idea of where we are going and its as much of a surprise to me as it is for everyone else. as far as routes go, nothing is written in stone they are adjusted on the fly. If I see an interesting sign I might follow it, just to see what's there. and so on. This happens a lot. The only parts of the trip thats quite rigid is the ride across... when we go to the Eifel, we know the route well and our stops. we have plenty of time to do it.. we don't 'go for it'. as there is no point. the longest leg of the entire 255 miles is 65 miles. other than that its usual about 40 and then a pause for 15 minutes. I like to do it that way so anyone with a smaller tank range doesn't need to fret about running out. we always stop for at least an hour for lunch. when we have our off year, then we go camping as its something I enjoy and its super convenient for my purposes. as for where we are going, I will always have a plan A, B and C. because with camping we want great weather.. and so, if at the last minute the forecast is bad, then we simply go with another plan. This happened a few years ago. All set to go down to Black Forest/Austria and possibly the Dolomites but the forecast was rain, rain, rain for the first 3/4 days once we crossed the Rhine and into the Black Forest. And I can't tolerate that, so we went with plan B instead and went to the Vercors in the south of France.. we followed the sun and warmth. And just had a bit of rain on our return home, which didn't matter. fwiw. Ive always said to people that if they don't want to camp then thats fine.. they can go find a room and we will adjust things to make that work. its no big deal. but.. thats never happened so far. and thats about it. Its my holiday and I ask or invite people to come along. it seems to work well 99% of the time. I make a point of getting no cash benefit. for me, thats just wrong. I'm not going to profiteer from this. We all pay exactly the same more or less. depending on beer consumption and individual bar bills.

Such a sensible idea and something I really miss after moving over to Honda from my old BMW. It took some time getting re-used to a single switch. Though I believe these are now standard on more modern BMWs. The self cancellers on my bike are quite clever though, they are linked to the 'lean' detector and don't switch off until the bike is upright after turns. and has been that way for, I believe 10 seconds, or a set distance, or both. Though I'm more likely to cancel them myself before this happens.

uncovered it and checked the chain. no sign of any rust but I gave it a paint of oil and recovered it. then it began to snow....

And once you are there.. it puts so much literally on the doorstep. Italy is 80 miles away... and my calendar photo. This is a little under 80 miles south from Fussen. Though my plan is to follow the Alpine road east and then turn south for the GrossGlockner. and if we do cross into italy use the Staller pass. https://goo.gl/maps/eGbyrNUXALnLczfZ8

575 toll free miles from the Channel tunnel. a little further if you want to take in some of the attractions en route. like the aforementioned Black Forest.

Its very real.. though as with any publicity photo, its possibly been colour enhanced. which you would expect. The lake is the Foggensee and the road that curves is the B16, I can also make out Schloss Neuschwanstein, which you will have seen on TV, its the castle used in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with the town of Fussen, hidden by a hill at the head of the lake. Ive always planned to stop at a campsite thats right on the lake with that view. Heres another.. but from above and behind the castle... looking west at another, smaller lake nestled in the hills, the Alpsee. the smaller castle to the right is Schloss Hohenschwangau. This is almost right on the border with Austria, the mountains you see are in Austria, it's that close. The lake I stopped by on my tour, the Plansee is just a few miles away. Following the border all the way to Berchtesgaden is the 280 mile German Alpine Road.. a truly glorious scenic ride. but definitely one for 'off season'. during a normal working week.

oooh... I do like Bahco. But, if In saw a full set of Wera Joker wrenches... I might. I just might be tempted.

They really suit some people.. but tend to be very expensive. Its the sort of thing one might do as an 'introduction' to touring, if you don't have the confidence to DIY. Everything is taken care of for you and you have knowledgeable guides who have done all the research in advance, so you can have a lot of confidence in getting your moneys worth. They are very popular with people who want a stress free bike trip. The only possible downside is that everything is 'written in stone" so there is little or no flexibility if the weather is a bit off. They can't simply change plans at the last minute and head in a different direction to 'follow the sun' as it were. But, generally they are a great idea for some people. Think of it in terms of a package deal, where everything is included in the price. you get a nice brochure that lays out exactly what you can expect and all you have to do is pay for petrol and any snacks, drinks at rest stops. Hotels and restaurants are all arranged and are worry free. You should have no nasty surprises. and you generally have a guide who speaks the language so there is no worry on that score either if its something that concerns you. I would guess there are people who do something like this year after year.. or as and when. And there are also people who might do it once and then think... well that didn't seem to complicated. maybe I'll DIY next time. Im only talking about relatively local.. Western Europe. starting and ending at a port or the tunnel. Though there are some that also include bike hire.. so you might fly first and get a lot further. for instance to Naples and then spend a week or so riding around the foot of italy and across to Sicily. on a hire bike with all the above benefits of convenience.

Thats the plan.. that's always been the plan. 2022, third time lucky. However.. over the Alps means NO to Switzerland. and YES to the Allgau. aah... the Allgau. and the Deutsche Alpenstrasse

Available from Rally Raid UK. https://tinyurl.com/y4p3fwlw

Indeed.. but aside from Spain/Portugal by ferry.... who would want to tour at the fag end of winter anyway? especially if you want to go to the Alps.. where winter isn't over until late May or into June.

Ive done that with Rob M. we made a conscious decision NOT to ride over the Millau... we went under it. we also had a really epic day... one of the best ever when we went to see the sea. the Med. and had a fabulous meal. Following the Tarn is a fantastic ride.. highly recommended. in fact that region around Milau and south to the Verdon. is truly stunning. Another time.. I took Snoddy.. for his dream ride. he wanted to do the Monaco Grand Prix.. and I made that happen for him. he also wanted to see the med as he never had in his life. Stop dreaming.. and start DOING!!!!

This isn't really a fantasy. This is what we do.. as he well knows. We normally go away for a week to the Eifel/Luxembourg. and then every 2/3 years go somewhere else as an alternative, somewhere different so that the Eifel doesn't become stale through constant repetition So, thus far we have been to the Black Forest and the far south of France. The Vercors... because of a 'dream road' Combe Laval.. as well as other reasons. Sadly Combe Laval was closed due to a major rock fall. We went to the south of France that year because the original plan - going to Austria/Italy with a quick foray into Slovenia had to be scrapped at virtually the last minute due to weather. So.. the plan was to try again, last September. But this year... that went to pot due to Covid and in the event I went alone. Ending up in the Dolomites. (and Liechtenstein) via the Eifel and Black Forest. This year we will be going back to the Eifel and then next year we will try for Austria again. 14 nights away.. no more than 7.5hrs on the bike is actually a big constraint.. especially if you don't want to spend much time on Motorways. (and who does?) aside from stretches to munch the miles.. I generally aim for that to be only on the first and last day. Mostly because I view these necessary 'drudge' rides as pretty much unavoidable if you want to get to somewhere like the Alps in the minimum time. But its mainly.. actually about getting past the dull parts of France.. or Belgium. I don't "do" fantasy.. what's the point? if you cannot make it happen then it seems a little odd to waste time dreaming. I do enough of that when Im asleep. The only trip that can only be a fantasy at the moment is Norway. I can make that happen if they ever reinstate the Newcastle-Bergen ferry. And that might happen post Brexit, but I'm not holding my breath. Motorail has all but disappeared... and Covid might be the end of it.. but. Im hoping that that might be an option for us in the Future. Motorail to the Balkans and if the route I have in mind still exists.. ride over the Bosphorus and into Turkey. Thats actually doable given Bonios "rules" But.. aside from that. I have two 'back of an envelope' plans for the future. Slovakia and then into the Carpathians and follow them as far round the arc as possible in the time allowed hopefully at least as far as Transylvania. Or... south east via the Alps and then the Ferry across the Adriatic to Montenegro. But.. in either case that 7.5hrs on the bike.. as well as my own intense dislike for wasting time.. wasting prime riding time, on motorways means that these are unlikely. because it's too much of a slog on what is always meant to be a holiday. I would never suggest something that was not doable and a 95% a pleasure ride.. once that first motorway leg is done.

I wouldn’t worry so much about the present under capacity of electricity. When the inevitable tipping point arrives I reckon it will be the big oil companies that will fill the void by diversifying into production and supply. So you might have a petrol station owned by Shell for instance. With a single petrol and diesel pump and numerous fast charging points with the electricity produced by dedicated generating plants. If we are on the cusp of 5 minute full charging. Where might we be in another 5/10 years?

Or.. even less 'gaudy' the original concept from BMW.

There has been a few of these R18 specials. Im not sure about "Art Deco" bikes to be honest.. especially when its 'overcooked' but this one is a little less offensive on the eye.