Gerontious

So incredible that its not even in the Alps. its in the Carpathians. (maybe next time) I wouldn't mind.. as they start in Slovakia and then its just a matter of following them until time runs out or you reach the Black Sea. still.. there are a lot of fairly savage hairpins that we will have to deal with.. so the point still stands. I was going to post this as an example.. in the Dolomites. But.. Ive learnt its been shut to vehicles aside from bicycles.

My breath is suitably bated. pro-tip.. try for a bike with a tight turning circle as we are bound to encounter hairpins poised to make your hair curl. like this only worserer...

Makes perfect sense to me. Get more in a trailer and remove any need for panniers and the usual struggle to fit everything in for 2-up touring with a tent. Allows you those little luxuries that would normally be impossible especially with a pillion to cater for. A single wheel trailer will be effectively invisible when riding. I would rather tow a single wheeler than have a sidecar, at least once you reach a destination the trailer can be unhitched and the fun riding can begin.

Highest paved road in Switzerland. 8,200 feet at the top. its actually 8,205 My bad for relying on memory and not rushing to google.

Highest paved road in Switzerland. 8,200 feet at the top.

And.. with a paltry 6 months and 2 days to go, Ive booked the outward tunnel crossing. The return can wait until nearer the time as there is no worry about that. Booked it now so its "written in stone" and the guys can book as and when it suits them. The crossing is quite late for us.. Have to be at the tunnel by 11:21 to check-in. This is because our first day is going to be very relaxed. We have to get across France.. almost 430 miles and though we have done this in the past.. its a huge slog, very tiring. And so, the idea this time is to split the journey almost in 2. We have just 180 miles to ride on the Saturday afternoon. From the Tunnel to Epernay in Champagne. A place we have stayed at before, so its familiar. A very nice :municipal campsite just on the edge of town next to the river. We should arrive late afternoon and then have plenty of time to get set up and then a walk into the town to a bar and then a kebab. Next morning, once ready to depart.. we will stop off at the Macdonalds, for coffee and a light breakfast and then its another 250 miles to our first proper campsite. in the southern Black Forest. And take it from there. Depending on progress made.. we can either go over the Vosges Mountains, or under them. before crossing the Rhine into Germany. See how the weather is on the day. do we stay in the B.F. for a day or two.. or head directly via Switzerland and Liechtenstein to our first base in western Austria. (for the Stelvio/Umbrail and Timmesljoch passes) or avoiding the awful B31 that follows the north shore of Lake Constance, pick up the "German Alpine road" and over two days head for Zell am See and the Grossglockner. have to see. I can almost smell them.

The wishbone is still visible... But the forks have parted company. Not something that should happen, first time I've ever seen it. But apparently yes. It didn't happen when I had my head on crash.. I needed a new wishbone and the forks needed straightening. But the bike was still just about rideable, from the Black Forest to home. The front wheel was about 2" closer to the front of the bike than it should've been. Cost £900 to fix. I did 10,000 euros worth of damage to the car mind.

Working at a different service, which actually gives me the opportunity to do that rarest of things. Ride the Africa Twin to work. I'm 12 miles from home, watching over 3 severely autistic individuals and finish at 7am. Same again tomorrow night. Luckily I have this to keep me busy after the various tasks are done. And in between the hourly checks. So cool..... https://www.honda.com/collection-hall-gallery#

For an alternative to these oilers that are a constant drip drip drip, either while the engine is running or when the bike is moving. Have a squint at this page. https://www.cobrra.sk/en/nemo-2-device-lubrication-motorbike-and-quad-chains You can then search for GIDIBI and enjoy a moral dilemma. £90 for the Slovak made Cobrra. Or £23 for the exact same thing made in China by GIDIBI. I like the idea of these things as they give a measured dose of gear oil.. Usually over about 3 minutes, as and when the rider decides. Which has certain advantages over the others assuming you don't have memory problems and can remember to actually use it. Obviously this will be useless for some people as there isn't an app to do the hard work for you. You have to actually do something with your fingers. Turn a lid on the reservoir. Not difficult.. But highly technical. For the smart phone afflicted.

Yep ! Did you sell the ER5?

Have to admit i was totally confused by the title of this thread. I mean.. doesn't he live under a bridge somewhere? or in a closet? Its got to be one or the other, Shirley.

your next step should be to phone them for a further reduction.

I spy a lot of non standard upgrades on that bike... It's always nice to get them and have a previous owner the one to pay full price.

Spend more get more. Stands to reason. Or so the manufacturers would have you believe. It's all just a conspiracy to extract cash from your wallet. I read that in Reddit so it must be true. I tried the expensive stuff.. And got rust. I then went back to using gear oil.. I still get rust. But for some reason it doesn't drive me up the wall so much due to the feeling I've been ripped off by false promises and an unlikely and wholly incongruous fruity smell or a lube that will glow under UV.. Or play bloody abba. Obviously when I say rust I only mean the slightest ruddy discolouration as I'm no fool.. I put a stop to it immediately. Firm but fair. No stiff links ere missus. "Keep it greasy" as the late Frank Zappa used to say. (Or sing)

Put the kettle on.. and settle back. https://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=71416

I've never had a puncture that was so bad the tyre needs to be replaced. I spent £28', maybe 8 years ago on a decent (I think) repair kit and have used it 4 or 5 times on my own bike. A neighbours bike. A neighbours car and twice on random bikers at the roadside. Punctures on my own bike have in every case been permanently repaired... And it wouldn't surprise me at all if some of the other repairs have turned out to be permanent too. Insurance for what? Replacement after a simple (screw/nail) type of puncture is a daft idea unless the manufacturer stipulates this must happen. Do any of them? I'm not sure about track day bikes, maybe it's a good idea for them due to the excess stresses put on the tyres. Just seems to me, if you want to throw away a tyre after a simple puncture then that's fine. But it's not necessary. It's not normal. It just tells me you have a very nice disposable income. Might pay for itself if the puncture was beyond repair. But I've never experienced that.. A tear, A hole very close to the sidewall or on the sidewall. I always tell the guys I tour with, if you get a puncture I will fix it so you can finish the holiday and then get home, but always have access to a bit of cash if the worst happens and you need a new tyre. 11 years 6 - 10 bikes every year and it's never happened to anyone.

Use them in my city where a sign say NO and you're going to get a ticket sooner or later. They are currently running an experiment to allow bikes, but only in a very few bus lanes. the rest? its a definite no-no. but every city/town is different and its possible that in some places its ignored.. unless or until something goes horribly wrong.

They are a waste of time... only "invented' to pass some German TUV regulation or other that mandates a minimum of tyre must be covered. Been around since at least 1993. Biggest problem was they were never intended for some tyres.. off-road style 'blocky' ones had a nasty habit of ripping them off. BMW knew they were useless so they even went so far as to produce a little fitting to cover the bolt holes when it was removed. On my GS and the later 1150.. it was very common to replace it with a hugger which actually achieved something - protecting the rear spring. when the 1200 came along the 'must have' was something called a 'Mudsling' to fit in addition or replace it. For a long time BMW were hanging a sheet of rubber behind the spring in an attempt to keep the mud off... mud that this "mudguard" had zero effect on. Now.. they are seen as 'normal' to the extents that GIVI produces a cheap replacement. still pointless though. except perhaps as somewhere to put a GB sticker for going abroad. BMW part - £117 Givi part - £41

Sounds to me like it's some auto generated garbage. Especially as they are asking for the same thing twice - NCB One thing to bear in mind.. You will be insured tomorrow and, if your insurer fails to give you a good answer, By law, all bike insurance policies have a minimum 14-day cooling-off period. During this time, you can cancel the policy for any reason. ... If you cancel, you should get a refund of any premiums you've already paid, but the insurer can charge to cover days when the policy was in force, plus an admin fee.

Just passed the 200 day mark.. Which doesn't mean much to be honest, but we're coming to the end of winter now and so time to get things nailed down. Stop talking and start doing. First step for me.. I've booked a room for the Friday night, 12 miles from the tunnel. So that will mean an easy ride down to the coast on the Friday... Stay overnight. And then next morning a lie-in, late breakfast and set off to the tunnel at about 11:15 There's never any need to rush to book the tunnel.. So that can wait until later, we'll be getting the 12:20 crossing. Which means a 2pm (local) arrival time and then a nice and easy afternoons ride to our first stop. No stress, no hurry. To give everyone an easy time as they get back into the swing of camping.

What?

They have copied the Africa twin and given the bike a 270 degree crank so has that 90 degree V-twin sound.. just add an AC Schnitzer exhaust as soon as they release one.

Im not going to judge his actions as i have no idea about the local circumstances.. nobody deliberately rides the wrong way down a road like that for trivial reasons.

Monolock has always been aimed at scooters for the most part as they usually have underseat storage, 125cc bikes etc. Monokey is more 'proper' luggage for touring. Often looking and acting like suitcases when off the bike and can generally take 1 or 2 full face helmets regardless of size with space for gloves and so on to spare. It's been a common complaint for years, people with big bikes who want a small top box can't get them easily with the proper mount, instead having to go for the generic universal mount which isn't as satisfactory.