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Steve_M

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Everything posted by Steve_M

  1. They shrink over time apparently. Or so Kate from Hideout told me. To go with your original question, I rarely wear my leathers since I discovered how versatile textiles are. I stopped wearing them for touring about 9 years ago, I may wear them on dry spring or autumn days. I think the last time I wore them was n June last year.
  2. Original plan. The good lady helps her daughter who’s ill, I go out on bike. Fog and freezing weather put the kibosh on that so I’ll be doing some odd jobs around the house and tidying up the out buildings. Oh joy! This is the longest period of time I haven’t ridden a motorbike in over thirty year of bike ownership. Really and truly pissed off….
  3. I was on the M6, heading south, that day. It’s fine until you get to about Preston then all hell breaks loose. Lane hoggers - nervous drivers who are afraid they’ll get trapped behind slower moving traffic, those who think anything other then the outside two lanes are “slow lanes”, others who are too dozy to notice there’s a clear lane to the inside of them, and the simply pig headed who just can’t be arsed to change lane. Then there’s the Max Verstappen wannabes who weave across all lanes at speed, or the tailgaters. My favourite (?) are those who closes up the gap to the car in front when you put your right hand indicator on signalling you want to move out to overtake thus preventing you from changing lanes. They gain a whole car length which they’d have gained anyway once you’ve moved back to the inside lane.
  4. I think you’re overthinking it… However, it could be that the IAM qualification infers that you’re an enthusiast who rides more miles (assuming not a limited mileage policy) than average therefore putting yourself at risk for longer periods. Yes, I’ve had that conversation with an underwriter.
  5. I find that highly unlikely. Even insurance companies don’t expect you to be clairvoyant. I speak as a former IAM member who did have an own fault minor spill at one point while an IAM member. My insurer, Aviva, sorted it all out with no hassle. Incidentally, Aviva, formerly Norwich Union, no longer underwrite motorbike insurance - it just isn’t worth the trouble for such a niche product.
  6. Never mind running into a Ferrari, injury claims, which are more likely, can run into huge figures. Fraud and uninsured drivers / riders adds considerably, too. Insurers can only guess at the fraud figures - whatever the figure is, you pay through your premiums. Oh, and if you’ve been declined insurance you can apply to see your information on the M.I.D (Motor Insurance Database - Link) which I would anticipate holding a flag showing the reason. You can have the data corrected if found to be inaccurate.
  7. You’re only missing out if you fail to bite the bullet and JFDI. No tour is perfect, not everything will be 100%. Things go wrong - they’re the incidents that make for the most interesting and humorous tales (with hindsight). Particularly the daft things.
  8. Unless you’re “into” aliens…
  9. I would suggest that “ride light” translates as “ only carry essentials and required items”. What fits that criteria differs from rider to rider and tour location to tour location. I will emphasise that, in my opinion, flexibility around choosing your route is required rather than a fixed plan A, B, C or Z… Planning options - sights, places, road sections, in advance is not wasted effort even if you don’t get to them We’ve never had a significant issue with getting a signal to book hotels, though it has occasionally - rarely- meant stopping for coffee to use a cafe’s Wi-Fi.
  10. Plans are useless, planning is essential. We book ferries, so setting start and end dates. We designate an approximate area for the tour and head that way, the tour route from that point gets determined by the weather. For example, in 2022 we booked ferries to and from Rotterdam, intending to head down to around Grenoble, across Switzerland and on to the Dolomites before returning via Austria and Germany. An exceptional early cold snap caused numerous passes to be closed so we spent time across the south of the French Alps where the weather was more clement. Following our usual practice of determining the following day’s Route each evening and, around 3pm each day using booking.com to find a hotel somewhere around our expected destination. Our eventual route which I would never plan as a route in advance. As @Gerontious pointed out, there are too many things that can disrupt a detailed plan so, for us, flexibility is the key.
  11. That was one of my favourite “escape routes” when I lived in Norwich. I lived 2 miles away from Long John Hill, just around the ring road, so it was quite convenient for me.
  12. Let us not forget the B1108 to Watton, the B1145 Banningham to Mundesley… The unclassified road from Long John Hill to Hempnall and then on to Starston (takes you on into some grand Suffolk Roads). Then there’s the road from Aylsham past Blickling then join the B1354.And, errr, that’s about all I can remember. Suddenly feeling spoilt having moved away from Norwich… I will add that your local RoSPA group has a library of routes based on Route 11 and Swaffham… but you’d have to join them
  13. Steve_M

    Newbie helloing

    Welcome. Good choice of bike.
  14. Is there a place for a link or updates for this site? FEMA recalls I noticed the Dunlop Sportmax is on the list…
  15. I would hazard a guess that a MRA flip wing would add little or no benefit even if it could be attached to the double bubble. Probably a waste of money to try. There are a variety of screen options that are likely a better option than the double bubble for touring. BikeHPS sell a MRA spoiler screen for around £65 which might be an improvement - “might” is doing a lot of work in that comment.
  16. That’s a double bubble. More form than function unless you ride with your head on the tank.
  17. “The rubber plant upstairs would fit nicely in the hall” she said. Now, said rubber plant is probably 4’ tall and in a hefty pot and I’d just watered it. ”OK”, I said. I picked it up, heavy-ish, the weight wasn’t too much of an issue, though a bit awkward. I slowly backed down the stairs, one step at a time. Our stairs go down eight steps to a small landing, turn 180 degrees then continue down a further five steps. On the first section I lost count of how many steps I’d taken and thought my next step was onto the small landing. I had quite a collision with the wall. Somehow I managed to cling on to the plant and not drop it. I now have a graze and huge bruise on my right elbow. Note to self. Learn to count up to eight.
  18. I’ve only ever seen one… in St Jean-de-Sixt in, I think, 2018. Looks a good bike for touring… @Al Gear congrats on the pass. That’s an interesting choice of bike (that’s not a criticism) as it’s a bit left-field / niche. It’ll probably turn heads as a result of being a bit different.
  19. I got (all figures approximate) 45mpg from my VFR800, 50mpg from my ST1100, 45mpg from my FJR1300, and get around 55mpg from my R1200GS. I suspect the latter is because of the nature of the riding I do now and ride, shall we say, less “enthusiastically”, than previously.
  20. Buy cheap, buy twice… I know this truism well after buying cheap woodworking tools and having to replace them with decent kit. Currently saving for a decent table saw!
  21. Spot on. My two penny worth… I had a double bubble on my VFR800 and it made barely a jot of difference - you had to tuck down into a racing crouch to feel any effect. I did have the MRA aerofoil type thing on my Tiger 1050 and it made a significant difference, particularly on long motorway / autoroute / autobahn runs. Tested, according to my satnav, up to 127mph. It was also easy to adjust down to allow extra airflow over my lid, particularly useful touring in warm climates.
  22. Or “barn”? No, it wasn’t on my search, but it came with the house.
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