Steve_M

The mowers don’t do the mileage the BMW does so I can afford to treat them to the posh stuff.

E10 in the bike, E5 in the mowers. Mostly

It appears that a decision has been made. The tour will be initially heading west from Santander, then eastwards across the north of Spain, joining dots. We’ll avoid the Potes triangle and the N260 as much as possible as we’ve done those twice now.. The return to Santander will be via the Route Des Cols de Pyrenees, taking time out to visit a uni friend of my good lady who lives not too far from Pau. Ferry to be booked in the next few weeks once we have house sitters* arranged. * offspring use our place as a cheap holiday location.

I feel your pain. I’ve taken part numerous times - into double figures - and it was reasonably accessible from Norwich as I could usually ride home afterwards. Now living in Cumbria I have at least two overnight stays. I’m considering camping at Cadwell for next July to reduce costs.

I did say in isolation. I’m of the view that anything that improves skill levels is positive. i2i and Hopp Rider Training (Hopp are the same personell who do the Firebikes) are primarily around improving road riding in a safe (relatively) environment. Each focus on skills improvement without you needing to be concerned about gravel / oil spills / other vehicles / street furniture etc. Trials riding (as against trail riding which I’ve done) is on my bucket list but I may be getting too old for that malarky.

It sounds to me like a call to the insurers is in order to clarify the situation instead of asking people who don’t have knowledge of the particular insurance contract.

That’s probably true in isolation but anything that facilitates skills improvement shouldn’t be discounted out of hand. For example, after passing IAM, my riding has subsequently benefitted from a whole variety of other training and activities among which has been Motogymkhana, i2i, trail riding, and HRT (Hopp Rider Training - same instructors as Firebikes) at Cadwell Park. I would recommend all of these in addition to advanced training which doesn’t need to be IAM/RoSPA (could be Rapid Training or Zen school of motorcycling…) Edit: HRT - a super and relatively safe day of learning.

Whatever.

50% of my parents are dead but I’m sure 100% would be. In the mean while, reading the documentation at renewal means there are no surprises. It’s long been insurance practice to have separate no claims for each vehicle / policy. It’s not a con, it’s not even slightly shady business practice… it’s a contract that we, as policyholders, sign up to. Some with their eyes open, some with a jaundiced perspective.

Which is why, on every renewal or new policy, I read the documentation which, I suspect you didn’t.

Yesterday I took the bike in for service and MoT and got this little item as a loaner to get me home. My first ride since our tour due to the bike being overdue it’s service and MoT, I’d forgotten how much I enjoy being on a bike.

I have a small area at home for practicing judo drills (Uchi Komi) using equipment designed for that purpose. I also have a few bits of kit to give me a decent exercise routine. I’ve used it a fair bit but I’m usually too knackered in the evening from working on the house and lack the discipline to get up early to use them.

As a former IAM observer, I would advise not to “push it” or ride at a speed which is causing you to need to react to situations. You need spare capacity in your head to take in and practice those elements you’ve discussed and agreed with at feedback stops. Edit: Keith Code sums up the situation in his book “Twist of the Wrist” (well worth a read even if it is track biased) - see photo.

As one of those lucky sods who hold a constant weight (75 - 76 kg or just under 12st for those who work in imperial) regardless of diet or exercise regime, I will relay my good lady’s approach when she lost around 11kg (2st) over a 3 month period following a keto diet. She occasionally felt tired and hungry over the first couple of weeks but then was fine. The only time there was any physical impact was when we took on a steep walk in the Lake District which exhausted her. The keto approach is worth considering as a one-off project only, though. I understand it’s used for newly diagnosed and overweight diabetics to get their weight off quickly.

The observer should look over your bike, not to see if it’s clean or shiny new, but to check obvious safety considerations such as tyre wear and chain adjustment. They may ask about POWDERS checks (I did, others didn’t). As for your kit… they may comment if you turn up in totally inappropriate stuff but they will be more interested in how safe your riding is. I would suggest to ride your normal ride, do not alter it. Even the filtering (obviously, wait for the observer if you lose them as a result of traffic - following and watching has its own challenges).

Some groups offer a trial ride with an observer / tutor (IAM / RoSPA, respectively). Give it a go. No harm in looking…

I had Givi panniers on my VFR750 and I swear they made the bike wider than my car due to being mounted a distance out from the bike. Luckily I never needed to filter with them on. The Vario panniers on the GS are a bit wider than the handlebars when expanded -they slim down by about three inches either side when not expanded - but not much of an issue when riding. The right hand pannier, though! How much space is wasted due to the cutout?

Thanks for the info’. The ones you’ve chosen are about the same capacity as those on my GS and would probably be my choice, too. Shame they’re different capacities, mind. A consequence of the idiot high exhaust, no doubt.

All part of the “I” in IPSGA…

The guy two cars in front of me jumping a red traffic light at roadworks on the Brampton Road in Carlisle. Mostly because there had been a police car immediately behind him for at least two miles prior to the incident. Yes, the copper followed him through and pulled him at the first safe opportunity. Remember , folks, checking your mirrors keeps you safe.

What capacity are those panniers? The question of what to buy to replace my current bike pops up in my mind from time to time* and luggage capacity is a significant factor. * translation. Frequently.

I had a little meander around central France for my first excursion abroad solo. My good lady had been despatched to India as part of her job so I took myself off on the bike with no plan, just my passport, some clothes and a credit card. Yes, yes, I know, I should have taken documents but it was a spur of the moment decision and, naively, I hadn’t done any research. As I was on my own I tended to stop in towns and have a little walk around the area. I spent one evening meandering around Epernay. It’s a somewhat distant memory now but I seem to recall finding an interesting place with a shabby chic appeal.

Just the reason we tend to determine the following day’s route each evening then book the hotels as we go along. It does make for some strange tour routes - 2022 in particular. This year saw us in the champagne region briefly in temperatures well into the 30’s C. Even when we reached the French Alps it was very sauna like.

I’m not convinced listening to Enya will be any help when I tax my bike at the end of the month.

This weekend we are mostly hosting members of the family who own dogs. Yes, it’s Diwali and Guy Fawkes time. Lots of fireworks which the hounds find distressing so they visit us to escape the noise.