Steve_M

I sat on an RT (£21k ) at Lloyds Motorrad the other day. Not really my taste, though it does probably tick many of the boxes. £21k, actually, even half that now may be a stretch. A two fold impact in the last year or so, being massive price increases on materials for the house renovation, and the damage to pension pots in the Truss budget has set us back quite hard.

I’ve had chain driven bikes. I really don’t miss cleaning, oiling, refilling Scottoilers, cleaning the fling off the wheels, exhaust swing arm, rear suspension, panniers.

The French motorists are remarkably supportive I found. Heading out of Thonon-Les-Bains every motorist for about a mile were flashing their lights at the oncoming traffic. Sure enough, a mobile camera.

I wouldn’t notice ‘cos, as a GS Rider, I’m far too above that sort of thing. . The GS was far too rich for me for many years and, now I’m a poor pensioner replacing it with another one is way out of my budget.

I couldn’t trust my good lady not to spot a nice roadside cafe and suggest coffee and cake. When I say “suggest”…

Excellent point. I have had funds “retained” a couple of times. I now, as far as possible, avoid unmanned stations. my approach to fuel is to fill up as early as possible once the displayed range is down to 100 miles, and as close to and before arriving at the evening’s overnight location. This eases the following day’s start.

Sod it. Here’s my checklist. Passport Driving Licence GHC Health Insurance Loaded FX Card Credit Card Insurance Certificate + contact number Registration Document Breakdown / Recovery Policy documentation. + Contact number European Accident Statement Ferry tickets Cash (not a lot) Maps GPS loaded with initial couple of day’s routes (ie. to get to where we intend to tour) and POI’s. Route planning is done on a day by day basis. Vignettes (Crit’air, Switzerland and Austria motorway). Autoroute tag (yes, it’s expensive but damn, it saves a lot of fecking around at Autoroute tolls Tour notebook. With addresses at the back in case we send postcards (it has happened). UK sticker Mobile phone Camera(s) iPad Kindle Chargers + overseas adaptors Medication Spare glasss 1st aid kit (basically once of those little travel packs full of plasters. I think. I haven’t had cause to open it. Anything more would be a waste ‘Cos I can’t remember my first aid from when I was in the scouts 54 years ago). Puncture repair Spare bulb (I’ve kept that in even though the Beemer has multiple LED lights which, I hope, makes it redundant) Small bottle of oil. We’ll be doing 3,500 miles on our tour this year. The GS has got through about a litre of oil in three and a half years and 24,000 miles. Better than having to buy a litre in Switzerland? Small head torch. Never had to use it but… Disc lock Hi Vis jackets Choice of biking clothing is personal but our list. Several berghaus / Rohan / whatever walking tee shirts and long sleeved tops, worn as layers. Normal riding kit - we have textiles. Wolf for me and Frank Thomas for my good lady. Waterproofs Earplugs

Some years ago I went to Andorra with a group of guys, a couple of who I knew through work. This is their checklist which I used for a basis* for my own. It’s probably a bit out of date now but it’s a good starting point. Checklist *I will emphasis that I have refined this list for my own purposes, both adding and removing stuff from it. One notable item that appears to be missing is the European Accident Statement forms (What are they about?) which I found here Forms Addendum. EHIC or GHC …

Life is a compromise. Goldwing . I tried it. Didn’t like it, though that was the first 1800cc model. A mate had a demo ‘wing as a loaner last week and was impressed. But he’s an old 52yrs and rides an RT so readily ignored. As for the GS… I’ve used mine to tour lumpy bits of Europe - two up and luggage, leisure rides, completed my RoSPA training on it. It’s done around 40-50 laps on track at Cadwell Park, and a Motogymkhana tryout day at Bruntingthorpe. While I don’t have the same emotional link to it as I had for my CX500 and VFR800, and not as capable a tourer, in my view, as the ST1100 , it is a fabulously competent bike. Given my list, and today’s visit to Lloyds Honda / Motorrad in Carlisle, there is nothing in their ranges that comes close with the exception of the GS and (at a push, RT which, at £21k is a bit rich for me and really doesn’t float my boat. The Honda NT1100 had potential but those panniers… just not a practical shape.

Given my fondness for my old CX500 ES, it’s not much of a leap, and probably ticks many of the boxes. Age (mine, also) might be a bit of an issue.. What concerned me as I knocked out the wish list was that I may have been describing a Honda Deauville… which, in fairness, is a worthy and capable bike and may be a good fit for my needs. I would rather go without cruise control than use any mechanical throttle lock. I once had to do an emergency stop and my throttle was a bit sticky and didn’t close on its own. Locked front wheel, bike staring to go down, sheer terror made me let go of the brake and the bike recovered. Fortunately, this was only an exercise on a machine controls course, in the real world it would have been a different outcome.

I wasn’t sure whether t9 put this under Advanced Training since I’ve stolen it from the Zen School of Motorcycling Facebook page, put it here, put it as worst joke. Admin please recategorise as appropriate.

Agreed it doesn’t exist. CoG… yes - my previous bike was an FJR1300. Big, top heavy sod of a bike. I tried a R1200RS before the salesman’s suggested I try the GS. I did like the RS but the GS floated my boat rather more despite the fact I really wanted to dislike it. I’d taken a couple for a test some years before and had memories of one being excellent and the other not so much. The R would be good fitted with luggage. I’ve seen a photo of one with panniers and they look like they would fit the bill, but then I’d have to fit a screen… I’m not a fan of riding naked bikes… they just feel odd… There’s also the issue of weight. I’ll just have to keep dreaming…

I went from a 100cc Yamaha to a 500cc Honda. But not one of those light, nimble things that are around now. No, it was a heavy old CX500 (fabulous bike, by the way. Don’t listen to the naysayers ). The bike felt substantial and gave the impression of having a far greater presence. The performance was surprising. My (then) wife took me to collect the bike and we had a bit of a rolling drag race on a nearby stretch of B road. The bloody thing walked away from the car. A Peugeot 205GTi… It was only at this point I really appreciated the performance of motorbikes ‘cos the CX was never rated a fast bike. However, don’t be intimidated by the performance potential. You’re the one in charge of the throttle. As an addendum. I would suggest doing a Police Bikesafe course as soon as possible after buying the bigger bike. Worth every penny.

Not sure I could cope with sitting on my ride on mower for any length of time. A friend has a Triumph America which I think is a similar bike form. I took it for a spin… it felt like riding what I imagine a birthing chair with wheels would be like.

Similar to my approach when I toured solo and lived in Norwich. The biggest advantage was that I could get quite a way through France by evening ‘cos I was closer to (spit) the awful M25 and could avoid the worst of the traffic.

I would notify them as a matter of course. Make it clear that it’s not an expensive, fancy custom job (it isn’t, is it?) because that would affect their risk and cost of repair.

And courtesy bike while it’s being sorted.

We’re using Harwich to Hook out, and Rotterdam to Hull in a couple of weeks. Booking well in advance, admittedly, our fare, rider, bike and pillion is around £540. I don’t know where you’re based but for us in Cumbria using the ferry saves one night of hotel each way, and avoids M-bloody-25 / M20 which you can probably tell that I’m not keen on riding. All the best with your trip.

Just thinking ahead about which bike to buy to replace the GS. While it’s going to be a while, I’m gett8ng to the point where I may need to start considering the weight of a bike and looking for something a bit more manageable. Here’s a brain dump message to the bike industry if they care to listen. I hold the right to add to this as those things come to mind. Feel free to contribute. I’ll be looking for a middleweight machine, say 750cc to 800cc, 200 - 220Kg. Producing, perhaps around 100PS and decent torque across the rev range - my old VFR800fi’s unit would hit this mark but I know emissions might be an issue. A comfortable, reasonably upright riding position with good legroom - the GS or my old Tiger1050SE fit that bill. Wind protection… yes please, and no buffeting for this 5’ 9 1/2” tall rider. Gizmos: Cruise control, TCS, ABS electrically adjustable screen. A USB type port so I can plug and play my own choice of GPS, and a RAM mount somewhere sensible to mount it. Shaft drive. Or belt at a push. Luggage needs to be panniers and top box. The panniers to be of equal sizes, so no high level exhaust reducing the capacity of one of them. Yes, that’s a key bugbear of mine with Adventure style of bikes. Edit. I knew I missed something important. A h pannier needs to be at least 35 litres with a usable internal shape. The top box, ideally, 52 litres (capable of holding two crash helmets) Under seat storage for those odds and sods you carry but only need occasionally. The Tiger1050SE had a lovely space for a disc lock, earplugs and tissues. I could fit a full on ABUS chain under the seat of my VFR , and a full set of waterproofs in a little compartment on my CX500… Small lockable (optional) cubby compartment neatly to hand. Big enough to fit a Medium Costa coffee cup in. Not that I’d be drinking while riding, I just struggled to express the size requirement in a visual manner. This for keys, Mars bars, small bottle of water. I found his really handy on my ST1100. Aesthetics. Not that bothered. I’m not looking at it while I’m riding it, though havin a pleasing looking bike in the garage is always nice. I’ll add more later but it seems the sunshine and lawn mowing* are calling me. *I quite enjoy mowing the lawns.

I passed through the Harz region in 2014. It seemed pleasant enough with a few twisty mountain roads to explore. If you do choose the Harz region, it might be worth looking at the hotel we stayed at, being aimed at bikers. Tonenburg

Kate, from Hideout leathers said that leathers tend to shrink for any over winter. After 40 winters it’s bound to happen, I rather like the look of the Royal Enfield. I had a gander at a Himalayan which was parked upon Craster last week. They seem to be getting popular. Much better looking in the flesh than photos.

My grandchildren will, henceforth, be known by this term.

We usually try to fit in one night at a high-end hotel as a treat (EG we stayed at the Cambrian hotel in Adelboden one night just so we could chill in their infinity pool). That’s off the agenda this year. The budget for this year (I have a spreadsheet) is way off the scale.

My youngest grandson is a serial infector*. Born 3 years ago during covid restrictions we wonder if the lack of exposure to bugs has left him susceptible to whatever’s going around at his nursery. We had a week’s holiday with them last week so I spent a great deal of time in his company. *Is “Infector” a word? If not then it should be.

It’s a direction the UK has been heading in for some while. I’m guessing that the biking community having an aging demographic, comfort starts becoming a factor. And how we use the bikes, too. I don’t think we’re quite into bike motorsport in the same way we’re we’re when Foggy was dominating WSB, Or am I not aware of that enthusiasm because I no longer read the biking press?