Steve_M

My cousin’s lad has just gone through this pain. We went through this process and came up with a short list. He then went and bought a bike that missed at least two of his original criteria. I will add that he’s a mature, intelligent 37yr old. He saw the bike, and got it new at a good price. Sometimes your heart (wallet?) rules.

My cousin’s lad has just gone through this pain. We went through this process and came up with a short list. He then went and bought a bike that missed at least two of his original criteria. I will add that he’s a mature, intelligent 37yr old. He saw the bike, and got it new at a good price. Sometimes your heart (wallet?) rules.

My cousin’s lad has just gone through this pain. We went through this process and came up with a short list. He then went and bought a bike that missed at least two of his original criteria. I will add that he’s a mature, intelligent 37yr old. He saw the bike, and got it new at a good price. Sometimes your heart (wallet?) rules.

I want to keep the crap (literal and metaphorical) off it. It’s amazing how much dust is created by a mitre saw, circular saw, or angle grinder (the messiest tools, though the drill and jigsaw add to it). Then there’s the fact that the building is a 400 yr old barn which has accumulated 400 yrs of detritus in its roof space much of which seems to land on the bike. Then there are the birds that fly through the barn, and sit above the bike and defecate on it...

There y’go. The answer I wouldn’t have thought of. Breathability. Which is daft ‘cos I’m renovating a 400+ yr old stone farmhouse and the first thing we did was to ensure the walls can breath. D’oh. I’ll see if we have an old duvet cover (as in, ask my good lady). cheers.

I keep my bike indoors in a building I also use as a workshop while we’re renovating our house. The building is used for a variety of projects, most of which cause a fair amount of dust in variety. Birds also fly through it and occasionally leave deposits . The bike needs a cover of some sort. Any cover I use does not need to be waterproof as it will never be stored outside, nor does it need to be secured particularly well. Is there any good reason* not to go with throwing a cheap polythene decorator’s dust sheet such as sold at screwfix for £2.99? * yes, other than keep it away from hot components.

I’ll have another look.

Spot on. I like the perspective you’ve brought to the conversation. I’ll pass that on...

I thought the story line was rubbish, no plot, no characterisation and no flow. However, having persevered, my riding is somewhat improved. I must be the idiot that it was written for. PS. You’ve obviously not read any Prince 2 project management manuals, or SSADM, come to that. Someone mentioned “Not the Blue book” earlier. I lent my copy to someone years ago and can’t remember who. I’ve tried to find a copy but so far failed. If anyone has one they’d like to sell...

After retirement I started a small gardening business. I bought a job lot of tools, including a small Echo chainsaw. I realised that I wasn’t trained in its use so couldn’t use it in a customer’s garden due to public liability etc. so I sold it. I now need a small chainsaw to use in our garden (includes about 3/4 acre wooded). For the gardening work I used Stihl battery powered kit, which has proven to be, light, robust, easy to handle and reliable. Looking at the Stihl range their chainsaw appears to use a different battery. Which brings me onto my point. Battery powered stuff is fine but there’s little or no standardisation on design even within a single manufacturer (Ryobi, possibly, excepted) which means multiple batteries and multiple chargers should you want to extend your range of tools.

Thanks for the warm greeting.

That was my good lady pillion holding a Canon compact digital camera. She takes most of the shots from pillion, very few videos. I have slideshows on my YouTube channel. Boring but handy to share with family.

Ahem!

He’s about 6’ and has a wicked right cross from playing racket sports at regional level.

I was, of course, referring to the days we describe as “transition days”. Getting from Hook of Holland, say, to the Black Forest so you can spend more time enjoying the twisty, scenic, roads.

You can, indeed, do it on a naked bike. Each to their own... For preference, though, I wouldn’t. As for woosy? You called? I speak from seeing a mate being absolutely knackered after a day’s motorway riding a naked Hornet 900 on a trip to France. He changed to a VFR800 for the next trip (to Andorra) and was fine.

I’m new to the forum and possibly a bit late to this party. Hopefully my 2 penny worth will help rather than hinder, though. You can tour on any size bike. Though if you’re on limited time to get to, say, Austria, I’d discount anything that can’t cruise all day at 130kph (so a minimum 509cc, I guess). If you do need to cruise at 130kph all day, don’t do it with a naked bike. Get one with a half decent fairing or else you’re going to be a bit battered at the end of each day. Pillions are great (is mine watching me type this, I ask). Really handy for paying tolls, saving you having the hassle of taking gloves off, digging the money out, paying, etc. etc. Also, sitting in a bar or eating your evening meal alone is boring after a few days. We’re not “credit card and a change of underpants” tourers, so we tend to carry a lot of kit. Make sure your luggage capacity is adequate (what to take is a whole different topic). We have around 100 litres of luggage, a mate manages with a tank bag. I always ride upwind of him after a few days on the road. A personal preference is for a bike with a low CoG and hides its weight well at slow speeds and on the move. The ST1100 was good in those terms, the FJR1300 less so. My current bike, the BMW R1200 GS is also good at that. As mentioned before, try a few bike. Do not ignore bikes like the 500CC or NC750 Hondas, they are remarkably competent.