Any Motörbike riders here?

Dominic

I've done quite a lot of Euro touring on my own.....no fixed route or destination ,just pack a few clothes and set off ......wherever I stop is where I look to find a bed and if there isn't one I just move on to the next town or village . There's always somewhere .I like to stay in very cheap hostels or Band B s and then a nice hotel every 4th day for a total relax, freshen up and a bit of civilisation .
The last really long one I did started with a Ferry to Santander then down through Spain to Barcelona  ,up and across the South of France ,across Italy to Venice and then round to Trieste before going into Slovenia ,down through Croatia and Montenegro ,then down to Albania and on to Greece finally getting to Athens. I came off in Croatia because I ran over a wild Tortoise on a road in a forest near Krka on my way to see the waterfalls .....I was going slow so only minor damage and pain.
I have also ridden via Romania and Bulgaria to Istanbul and through Spain then via Ferry to Morocco and down to Marrakech and south to Agadir .
The saddest one I did was with a Club member who found out he was terminally ill after losing quite a lot of his life to prison time ( for something he took the rap for but didn't actually do ).....I was asked by Club members to take him on a Euro Tour which was his ultimate bucket list item and he had never been abroad in his life ;they knew that I had done a lot of Touring and knew my way round Europe fairly well ......I didn't want to do it , met the guy and he wasn't my idea of good company but I was pressurised and ended up thinking what the hell so I went .It was interesting because we spent many nights in various chapter Clubhouses as guests or put up by his 'brothers' especially in Germany and Austria and also some nice hotels.We ended up having so many adventures and laughs ....after an incident on the first night that revealed what a good bloke he was  I warmed to him . A 3 Week tour and some hilarious incidents including a Bear in a Slovenian Forest and He became my best friend . Unexpectedly he lived another 3 years during which time we got very close although he would often turn up at my house unexpectedly and drive my wife nuts (if I was out ) but always with toys and sweets for my kids .I made some good friends through him and he did numerous good deeds for me ...truest friend I ever had and I cried like a baby the day he passed. I rode with the Club at the head of the procession behind the hearse on the day of his last journey ..........that was exactly 10 years ago last March....there's never a time when I go out on the Harley that I don't think of him and I have his skull ring on my key fob. Two tours I did with him in the end while he was well enough and I've never been on a tour again since other than a few days to Devon because it doesn't feel the same .
 

sinbaadi

I've put a quieter, longer end can on.  Really enjoying a few short rides out since picking the bike up.  I've tidied loads of little issues up and done some basic servicing.  There is a timing advance mod which is very popular but to be honest I don't feel like it lacks anything at the moment.  It still needs the tail tidy repainting and a new number plate, the little ding in the tank bothers me more than it should, I also recently realised that the belly pan is missing!  So I've got a few alerts set for one of those coming up cheap. 

https://imgur.com/a/8pjRq6m

AK99

@Dominic  - that was a decent thing to do with your friend. Sad and heartwarming in equal measure. Fair dues.

robinbowes

Anyone in Margate today? Jeez, the place is full of bikes. Mostly all ok, but a few real idiots just making a lot of noise, esp a couple of dickheads on quads.

cruxiform

AK99 said:

@Dominic  - that was a decent thing to do with your friend. Sad and heartwarming in equal measure. Fair dues.

Agree, what a sad but uplifting story. I'm sure your friend appreciated what you did for him.

Dominic

 he wasn't my friend to begin with ......it was an obligation to pay back a favour that I was landed with but it turned into a great friendship although we came from very different backdrops ......I learnt a lot from him and he learnt a lot from me .
 We did have some real fun together .....He was so naive about travel when we first met ; We got a ferry to Calais on the first night at around 8pm . We were only 30 miles from Calais when I ran out of petrol on a country road at midnight in the middle of nowhere ( faulty fuel gauge as it turned out ) .....he was nervous to go anywhere without me so he gave me his bike to go get petrol while he kept watch over mine in the dark - I was gone ages but when I got back he had built a huge bonfire (it was middle of July and very hot ) ; I asked why he built a fire and he told me he heard noise in the woods and thought it would keep the Bears away ( 30 miles from Calais ) ! I wanted to laugh but bit my lip and for my own amusement used to spook him about bears whenever we stopped in a wooded area or at night . The last laugh was on me when we actually had to run away from one 2 weeks later whilst having a rest on a quiet forest road in Slovenia . Of course,he told me we should have built a fire !

cruxiform

robinbowes said:

Anyone in Margate today? Jeez, the place is full of bikes. Mostly all ok, but a few real idiots just making a lot of noise, esp a couple of dickheads on quads.

Margate Meltdown/Ace Cafe run. There's always idiots at those things, I  avoid them. I live about 2 miles from Boxhill, haven't been there for years at a weekend for that very reason.

ALR

Been out for a nice run to Sleap airfield in Shropshire, back just before the rain started. First ride with the new end cam on my monster. It’s not louder, but it sounds and looks better.

robinbowes

cruxiform said:

robinbowes said:

Anyone in Margate today? Jeez, the place is full of bikes. Mostly all ok, but a few real idiots just making a lot of noise, esp a couple of dickheads on quads.

Margate Meltdown/Ace Cafe run. There's always idiots at those things, I  avoid them. I live about 2 miles from Boxhill, haven't been there for years at a weekend for that very reason.

Don’t realise it was on. Am staying with my sister in Chestfield and we just popped to Margate for the afternoon.

Dominic

Margate Meltdown / Southend Shakedown / Brightona .......they're a bit strange those runs 
Hardly anybody actually starts from the Ace but on any of the ones that I've been on it seems very tame and well-behaved 

Dominic

I had a great ride on the Superduke R today .......approx 100 miles of pure hooliganism !

Haych

Ignore me, I'm an idiot!

manicguitarist

Went away on my Ducati last week - went on Thursday, back on Monday.
The rain was my fault.

The luggage isn't as precarious as it looks. That said I did change the mounting configuration on the Friday.

ALR

^lovely bike. I think the V2 Panigale is their best looking in the current range.

Kittyfrisk

Hope you had a great time on your unconventional tourer  
I see you managed to catch a Max Wall impressionist in the background of the luggage pic 

Koa

Lovely bike, great to see it being toured, lots of cleaning after that trip I guess!

Dominic

I do hate it when the line and look of a bike has to be spoilt by the practical and necessary change of clothes and clean pants
Any kind of top box etc is anathema to me especially on a sports bike 
Also, wherever you stop ,especially in some areas or countries it's so vulnerable that you dare not let the bike out of sight.
I sacrifice all practicality and wear a very small backpack with the bare minimum in it .
Nothing looks or feels worse than a tank bag tho

sinbaadi

As much as the riding, I am really enjoying having a bike to tinker with, in the garage.  Still lots of little jobs to do.  Rear brake assembly is off at the moment so that I can straighten the slightly (but obviously) bent part of the lever.  Then the next one will the tail tidy.  Few more service items, a replacement warning sticker on the tank because it appears a screwdriver was used to remove the original one, and perhaps an attempt to pull the dent out of the tank, and I might be finished.

gubble

@manicguitarist ; was that first picture Devils Bridge in Kirkby Lonsdale?

AK99

Koa said:

Lovely bike, great to see it being toured, lots of cleaning after that trip I guess!

It really is a great looking bike. Those Eye-talian chaps really do know a thing or two about vay-uh-hicular styling.