Neighbour bought some snug leathers (he's a big bloke), and a Ducati (small bike aren't they).
RRRRRip.
Can you still get neatsfoot oil? It used to make leather very supple.
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Ho Ho Ho sorry about that Westpig. Your literary style similar to Jerome K Jerome. Has made my day. Have a good trip.
just looked him up, which shows my ignorance, although 'er indoors knew who he was.......so i'll take it as a compliment.......thankyou
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Just read this - brilliant. You should start a blog ! Last time I needed a front tyre I took the wheel off and slung it in the boot of the car thus avoiding falling off in the rain. A creature that eats snails, must be a gallic mousette, in fact I sentir une embrouille !
You just have to keepus updated on this one.
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what a difference a day makes........the sun is shining, the birds are singing and hopefully 'le rat' is now choking on the sand and cement mix i've just poured down the 'ole....explains why the dogs kept going mad around the shed..... we thought it was foxes
next job is a 3 hour clean of the bike...which provides more enjoyment than you'd imagine...
next dilemma is whether or not to replace the waterproofs. They work perfectly well, but it's just the look of the things. I've never ever been a follower of fashion...but..... they do look bad. You see i bought a set of all-in-ones and took the advice to get them big, so that they'd easily fit over the leathers, without help....so far so good......but the only trouble with that, on a French Autoroute, i worked out they were so big that at a certain speed they'd start flapping and acting like 'le parachute' ...which although humorous to the others, was frightening for me.....so the fix was to borrow a mate's duck tape and tape around the arms and legs about every 6 inches. They look hideous.... i've seen kids laughing in cars..... Up until now i've worked on the principle that no one can see me under the helmet, but apparently i look like a big red and grey Michelin Man when i'm going along, so maybe they'll have to go.
after that there's the do i take the Satnav or not (Tomtom Go500)...my mate reckons he can wire up a 12v cigarette type socket straight to the battery, so that the satnav can sit in the tankbag under the clear plastic bit, but i'm worried i'll forget to unplug the sodding thing when we stop and flatten the battery...not sure how much juice they use up....i know there's a motorcycle satnav, but that's more money....as would wiring the thing up properly so it only comes on with the ignition, maybe a good map and the mobile phone is the best option.
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Just got an up date on the runners and riders. The following bikes are going:
Triumph Daytona, Triumph ST1050, Honda ST1300, Honda ST1100, Honda Blackbird, 2 x Honda VFR800, Honda CBR600, BMW R1200GS, Kawasaki ZX6R, Kawasaki GT550
and i slipped it past SWMBO that some of the lads that are going are in fact ladettes!
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Really enjoying this thread. Do let us know how you get on. Suggest you get new waterproofs and cut up the old ones to make a bike cover. Have a good trip.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Have a stonking good trip.
A shame it looks like the one I've organised (14-19 June, Calais-Millau-Montpellier-Millau-Calais) will miss yours by a few days or we could have had the first BR bike meeting in France! We will have two Beemer GSs, a Blackbird, a FZ6 Fazer, and my Hornet 600, so quite a wide choice of machinery to compare. At least the Blackbird and two GSs each have three piece drum kit on the back so can take the bulk of the camping clobber!
The ease with which we all got passouts from our Dearly Beloveds makes me wonder what the collective price is though!
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I now have a battery dilemma........the Optimiser is telling me it has a low charge.......which concerns me, because i really don't want to be trying to bump start a lump like that in deepest darkest France....but...the battery isn't that old (just over a year), albeit i had it disconnected for 4 months over the winter.
do i risk it or cough for yet another new battery....(the previous year, in the winter months i left it on the Optimiser and the battery really didn't like that, hence last year's replacement)
bike started fine on the battery, beginning of May, first time in 4 months.......and then 2 weeks later (both occasions hadn't gone anywhere near it with the Optimiser)
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I'd risk it. New batteries are the wrong side of £60, and yours is still starting up fine. If you're going to be on the road with the bike it'll keep the charge up and you shouldn't have any problems. Just keep it on the Optimiser until you leave.
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You'll be talking yourself into a new bike shortly. Optimiser shmoptimiser. Look at the evidence; the bike started, didn't it?. Keep the battery. Keep the posts coming also...
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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Can you jump-start a bike if the worst comes to the worst?
Hope it's a good trip. Don't frighten the natives.
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Have you taken the blinking thing for a blast. My Optimiser says that now and again, it should be ok.
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Can you jump-start a bike if the worst comes to the worst?
don't know.........will take jump leads anyway
you can certainly bump start it........had my b-i-l pushing me madly through a French supermarket car park 4 years ago on a previous battery escapade..........poor sod looked knackered, as it took a bit of experimentation with the gears as to which one was suitable
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Have you checked t'water level or is it one of these Gel ones ?
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tis a sealed one.......have taken bike for blast, since taking it out of mothballs.........so what with at least one other person (PU) having the odd dodgy Optimiser reading.......... i'm going to risk it for a biscuit and leave the one on there as it is
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It's unlikely to fail whilst in regular use, if it charging ok. Presumably batteries are cheaper in France anyway if you find it become a bit mollasson whilst there you can always get a new pile from somewhere.
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mate reckons you can jump start bikes........but it is a damned site easier bumping them...(police bikes regularly flatten their batteries with the blue lights when they're stationary) and with 10 hairy copper/copperettes as well as me present it shouldn't be a problem
so i'll take the leads as a fall back and rely on brute force if necessary
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with 10 hairy copper/copperettes as well as me present it shouldn't be a problem rely on brute force if necessary
! I say again: don't frighten the natives
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thanks for the vote of confidence Lud.....i'll be trying my best Franglais and smiling a lot...:-)
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mate reckons you can jump start bikes........but it is a damned site easier bumping them...(police bikes regularly flatten their batteries with the blue lights when they're stationary) and with 10 hairy copper/copperettes as well as me present it shouldn't be a problem
Can we all go s p e e d i n g when you lot are away then?
MD
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The ease with which we all got passouts from our Dearly Beloveds makes me wonder what the collective price is though!
Tell 'em, don't ask 'em....................you know it makes sense!
vbr..................MD
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Never mind bump starting surely the can muster a charge between them ! :-)
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Sounds like either your Optimiser is not or, the original battery was duff.
I've got a ten year old CBR600 on it's original battery which gets looked after over winter by an Optimiser. Starts first time, every time.
Right, that's me practicing bump starts in the work car park tonight as I've just finished the battery off. :(
If your SatNav has fixed camera locations I'd leave it at home.
Your mates in France take a dim view of anything that shows camera (fixed or mobile) locations.
Don't worry about the leathers, they'll stretch and you'll shrink after three days in the bike.
I put half a stone on over the winter, that disappeared after two days riding from Scotland to northern Germany.
Have a good 'un and don't go too daft on the autoroutes.
Your mates hiding under the bridges with their Gatso's and the fast pursuit cars and bikes on the down ramps can make a sizeable hole in your bank balance.
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well, it's nearly time....and i feel like a 10 year old before the summer holidays....amazing what the anticipation of a good bike journey can do to you
decided against the Sat Nav.....A; couldn't read it properly without sticking it on a proper bracket (thanks PU for the photo....i need one like that).. and didn't want to be tempted to look at it and be distracted, B; er indoors wants it for Monday afternoon...so the map and mobile will suffice.
the recently fitted 12v lead will come in handy for re-charging the mobile phone, although these days with the length of time mobile phone batteries last, i might not even need that.
bike is absolutely gleaming, in the way that only a black vehicle can be ...after a 4 hour purge...... cue the shower on the motorway then, which will have it looking like the average despatch rider's hack.
battery seems o.k. so fingers crossed with that then......although have packed the jump leads
finally...have pity on me as i'm the only one out of 12 going who is not a traffic officer... :-)
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post trip update
indecently early start on the monday morning, very cautious pootle down to the Chunnel as it would be very embarrassing for 8 of the Met's finest (and one not so finest) to be stopped for speeding.
Bit concerned on the Chunnel train, as the bike rocked alarmingly and they don't provide securing straps.......I personally prefer the ferry, as you can grab some brekkies and have an hour's break before the next part of the journey
onto the Autoroute for about 90 miles, as there's no point trying A roads too close to Calais as you end up in towns too often. Sat waiting in the services for 1.5 hours as 2 of the group (girlies) were arriving via another route and didn't take into account the differece of an hour's time... a vicious rumour had it they stopped for shopping.
so then it's off to the 'twisties'. Had problems with the Peage machine, asked a mate to pay for me on his card, as he was stood at the machine.....only he didn't, so i drove through and set the alarms off..no one there to deal and i had no idea how to remedy it, so carried on (barrier was up).... felt a tad guilty, but our motorways are free are there's aren't so soon got over it.
there then followed 3 days worth of extremely agreeable fast flowing A roads, two night stops- one only acceptable, one very good......(will up date more after Grand Prix, as phone alarm has just reminded me).........
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to continue.......
it is an absolute pleasure to ride a bike on French A Roads......they are usually relatively well maintained, if not completely smooth..... other traffic positively helps you, some embarrassingly so... it wasn't uncommon for the driver to be completely on the verge in an effort to give you room to pass. I'd say a noticeable majority would move over to give you a decent amount of room to pass...and this was all types of vehicle/driver
compare that to here....coming back through Dartford Tunnel on M25, had two separate cars try to prevent me passing on the wide bit after the tolls into the 4 lanes into the tunnels...why?.. as soon as i'm through and beyond the double white lines, with rush hour traffic i'll be filtering anyway......why be so unpleasant and obstructive? It's this country all over now isn't it.
had a quick foray into Belgium....now their roads weren't very nice at all, more like ours. Needed a few bob spent on them.
Bike ran like a dream....had no problem whatsoever with the battery, so the Optimiser must be playing games. Managed to snap the top box key in half on the first day, not sure whether i've lost the end bit or it's still in the box, but the box still opened and released itself from the rack...but that was a minor panic, as i'd had visions of not being able to get into it ot breaking into it.....and then i'd be unable to close it again. Learnt a lesson, which ought to be obvious really. Take the spare keys.
Gendarmes were scarce....only saw two on the whole trip. One overtook us whilst i was near the back of our 11 bike 'snake' on the Autoroute. I was doing about ??mph and the lead bike of our group considerably more.......Gendarme on BMW bike went past us and gave us a friendly wave, not even a 'slow down'.
The second night's hotel, in a village nearish the Belgian border was superb...quirky, but pleasant accomodation in old hotel with hundred's of years of history..and gourmet food....for a similar price to the first nights Campagnile........absolutely no comparison....and really the way to do it.
The group are tempted to do another trip and various locations were discussed. Isn't it sad, that even a group of 11 police bikers instantly declined a bike holiday in the UK because of Gatsos. Not one of us wants to ride like a hooligan, but neither do we want to open it out a bit, when safe, on a road..... to find something sneaky lurking.......so the Westcountry, Wales, Lake District or Scotland won't be getting our custom........and will no doubt be denied shed loads of other people's as well.
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Nothing like French A roads Wp... What you call motoring. No need to hurry at all. You still make good time. Aaaah!
Could we please have a purge of po-faced er, what's the word, just as well I forget, in this country, the elements who try to hamper traffic flow everywhere?
Is it illegal to call for their, you know, violent death at a steady pace until the others see the point?
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