Steve_M

We’ve pottered around the alps several times in September, and will be heading that way again at the same time this year. You’re spot on about the ski resorts - they’re like ghost towns at that time; I recall stopping for coffee and cake in Val d’Isere and the only people we saw were some Brummie builders working nearby. However, accommodation is generally easy to find, even for someone as selective as my good lady, and there are always plenty of cafes and boulengeries even in small towns and villages. Waterprrofs are essential - it’s bound to rain if you don’t carry them.

In the day I used to,commute all year on the bike I had a one piece boil in the bag oversuit. it was fine for commuting 30 minutes. Now I don’t commute this has been replaced by Berghaus walking trousers which have a zip down the full length of each leg which makes them easy to put on and remove. Combined with a waterproof over jacket from Infinity motorcycles. This works well for touring duties in those circumstances where weather can change quickly.

Because they’d discover just how slow they are, and how quickly they’d get black flagged riding like idiots?

This?

We were in the region in September last year. Day 5’s weather was appalling so we made the decision to hurtle across to France to ride the Route Des Cols (Pyrenees) a day earlier than originally intended, disappointingly missing out that area. I’m not sure where people are staying to spend £3k per person, though. Our entire budget for two of us was around £3,500. It was slightly more last year due to the bike breaking down and we ended up spending an extra couple of nights in and around Toulouse/Carcassone.

Weather and “interesting” incidents aside, that sounds like a great trip. We do spend around £3k on our tour but that’s for two of us for two weeks, and we don’t deny ourselves treats (cake stops being our major downfall). Interesting to see you use the roads around Vega De Pas - an area I have good memories of from my first tour with my good lady.

The oldest registration number I can remember. My VFR750, I sold in 2002 as P/X for my VFR800. Still going strong as you would expect. I also checked the VFR800 reg. it’s MoT expired in May last year. My 2012 Triumph Tiger 1050’s MoT expired in 2021.

Nice one.

Off road training… I’ve had a couple of weekends with Trail Ride Wales on their Honda CRF250’s. I initially had a day just with Marriane teaching me basics then joined groups to explore further afield. Great fun and helped improve my general riding confidence.

I’m looking for opinions about the Route Napoléon. Good, bad, ugly?

Mid 60’s. Old? Get away with you. I’m 72 and still enjoying riding my GS and expect to continue for a few years yet.

Living in the sticks away from major conurbations for the last 35 years, driving through the West Midlands is sometimes a bit of a culture shock. Not least when stuck in traffic at road works I note a car driving at speed along the pavement to get around someone turning right (off the Chester Road just by the Yenton, Erdington for those who know that part of Brum).

I must make the effort to find my way up to that corner of Scotland. It’s just a little too far for a day out from home unless I use motorway or couch surf at my step-daughter’s place (by the Irskine Bridge

A mate has them on his GS and rates them highly.

I think I’d prefer a hotel in Poland.

Good morning from a hotel in Walsall.

From a GS owner of six years standing. The bike is a 2015 and has now done 45,000 miles Replaced rear ESA suspension (under warranty). Parts <> £1500 plus labour four years ago. Replaced Front Suspension and LH switch gear. £1800 last year Replaced RH throttle body (in France). £400 last year. The original throttle body equivalent part number couldn’t be sourced even from the factory. The one fitted is a different part number but, as far as the Motorrad fitter was able to tell, is (probably) the same - I think it’s off an RT. It runs fine but be aware that parts may sometimes be an issue. That said, the GS is the second best all round biking experience of those I’ve owned (the VFR800 edging it - just) and the best bike for touring two up.

I “retired” nearly twelve years ago. I did some paid gardening work for pin money (basically to pay to run the motorbike and tours). That was when I first encountered snowberry plants. I has to remove a great swathe of the damn stuff from one customer’s garden. I feel tired just from the memory.

Toss a coin for each bike. Every time the coin ends up on its edge, sell that bike. The bottom line on this is that only you can answer the question. You do make a good point about touring with the Viffer. A great bike, perfectly capable of touring on but not the best platform for the pillion (though my good lady did enjoy some weekends away on my 1998 VFR800, she prefers a higher seat and more leg room afforded by the Tiger and GS I’ve subsequently owned).

Good evening.. When I say “good”, I mean “knackered but pleased with my efforts over that last few days”. The garden to the South West of the house has a steep slope and had been left to its own devices for twenty years by the previous owners. It was occupied by nettles, brambles, snowberry bushes and a whole host of other vegetation. Also pretty inaccessible without a machete (ok, I exaggerate. Slightly ). Today, after four years of prevarication, we completed building the steps down to this part of the garden - now labelled “The Dell”. We still have to level the area at the bottom of the steps and install seating - I’m repurposing an old swing seat for this purpose. At last, no more carrying wood, type 1, and hoggin 25 yards and then down the steps. I think I’ll treat myself to a beer.

Good afternoon. I’ve been absent for a while. Did I miss anything? I took the bike off the road last November, put it on SORN and got my head down to some serious DIY, both our house and the kids houses. I did carry out some basic plotting of our tour in September and booked ferries in spare moments. Otherwise I had little to do with riding. I taxed the bike at the start of March and had one little spin out on it. A most unsatisfactory ride which i didn’t enjoy. I didn’t manage to get out in the bike until earlier this week. To be honest, after not enjoying my previous run out, I really wasn’t looking forward to it. I had a potter around the Scottish Borders, which left me unmoved. My riding, for want of a better term, was shite, and my confidence gone. Then on Friday I bit the bullet - I really didn’t ant to ride but I knew I needed to get over myself. I headed to the Lake District via some back roads. Still not feeling the love, I pressed on from Penrith down along Ullswater, through Glenridding and up and over the Kirkstone Pass. I stopped for lunch at the Old Post Office tea rooms in Troutbeck (recommended) where I took time out to review the ride so far. I had thoroughly enjoyed myself. Heading home, it all seemed to work for me. A much better ride. This is the first time in 34 years of riding I haven’t ridden all year and I found it difficult to get back into it. To the point where I thought I ought to flog the bike and stop riding. The bad news for you lot is you’re going to have to put up with my nonsense for even longer.

I found that, too, with my Neotec so I removed it. Then last year we had a day of truly horrendous wet weather heading across from near Santander to the start of the Pyrenees Route Des Cols (recommended route). I swapped visors with my pillion, who also has a Neotec, with pinlock fitted. It worked fine - I could actually see where I was riding. I await my first wet day’s riding with my new lid to see how it goes (I’ve retained the visor off my previous Neotec as back up).

A friend had a Triumph America (?). I took it for a short spin and felt the same. My description was that, though I’d never experienced it, it felt like I was sitting in a birthing chair.

I really dislike loud pipes. They don’t seem to be such an issue here - the occasional 125 with a dodgy exhaust having the nuts revved off it to climb up the nearby hill. That’s it. My dislike stems from when I lived in Acle in Norfolk. Some of you may know the A47 from Acle to Gt Yarmouth - the “Acle straight”. 7 miles of near straight road. Sitting enjoying a peaceful beer in my garden on a still evening, ruined by the frequent sound of loud exhausts. Some so loud I could hear them roll off the throttle for the slight bend at the Stracey* Arms 3 miles from my garden. *No longer a pub, it seems.

I used to camp when attending BSB /WSB/Bulldog Bash but the mere thought of camping when touring would put me off going. Too much hassle, the middle of the night loo walk and, as mentioned previously, the tent entrance shrinking and getting lower vs a hotel with restaurant and en-suite. Or am I just getting old and lazy? (Don’t answer that! )