|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #159
Ha ha ha that's funny cos I remember going to Ireland on my Bandit long before the roads were as good as they are now, rode over to Connemarra and spent a lot of the time riding on the pegs as it was a nightmare sitting down with the state the roads were in back then, I used to think all the Paddy road workers were over here and there own roads were shyte….no longer the case as I drive over twice a year these days and the roads are great...all with our money on the EU! 
|
|
|
|
Mates and I have been all over Europe and in the past it was always sports bikes but we were younger then and too daft to realise it would be more enjoyable on tourers and stopping every 90 to 100 miles for fuel adds huge amounts of time to journeys. Modern adventure bikes are as comfortable as tourers and with 150+ hp they are capable of keeping up with most sports bike riders over distance.
Some of the guys we ride with are in their seventies and been riding all their lives and are still capable of riding at a good pace for eight to ten hours a day so long as there a shower, a good meal and a few beers at the end of the day.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #160
Really sorry to hear that pal. I get your point though, dizzy spells and bikes are not ideal.
TBH l love bikes with a passion but they can be bloody dangerous, couple this with idiot car drivers and you are safer without one really  
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #157
Im hitting 52 this year Chris and live with with serious tinnitus no thanks to meningitis in my early 30s..I tried getting back on my Moto x bikes after coming out of hospital but it was no good..me mother told me sell or she would smash them up..after dark I even walk like I'm drunk..did think about a road legal quad bike but thought best not..going to treat myself to the quater race in march..the ball and chain has even agreed to come along..
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #158
Nice one pal
A lad who I work with now has just bought a blackbird in red, it’s is MINT too, stunning for the year.
Another one has just been round Ireland on his 600 bandit about 3 months ago, bullet proof, uses it for track days at Caldwell too 
Same lad also has a 1200 bandit with a turbo on, home made jobby, mental lol 
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #157
I rode to Switzerland on a 600 Bandit years ago, god knows what I was thinking but great memories none the less, got snowed in for three days in a place called Lauenen near Gstaad
Also rode a Blackbird down to the South of France, we went down on the A75, stunning rd in parts apart from it was while they were building the Millau viaduct so on that part the traffic was horrendous...even on a bike, other parts were like a race track and another obstacle were the nutty French yoofs in their zooped up motors wanting to race anything fast down the mountain parts of the roads, we were warned about them before we went and it was bang on, the temptation to race with them was strong though
I remember riding back up from Nice to Troyes about 420 miles in one day and thinking nothing of it back then but I bought another Blackbird in 2008 and went to Silverstone for the Moto GP race and on the ride home to south east London my knees were shot and that was only 120 miles, that was when I realised that my days of riding anything near to a sportsbike were well and truly over...sadly, i still miss those sort of trips to this day
A work colleague has bought himself a BMW GS and loves it but they're not cheap, especially if its kitted out, i was tempted but cant get it down my side alley to the back of the house and don't really want twelve grands worth of bike sitting out the front....poxy cylinder heads! 
Oh and i meant to add that i was one of the fizzy brigade, mine was a purple version crashed it after spunking my wages in a bookies! luckily i saw sense and that life is long in the past now...the dangers of gambling hey!. And back then another mate had an RD 250 which you could ride with L plates on a provisional licence....can you believe it?!!!!
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #156
The right bike you could do it mate easily
Some do it on sports bikes, absolutely crackers. I know a lad who I used to knock around with, passed away now bless him, he used to go to Spain on his with some of his mates
|
|
|
|
I spoke to several English guys who had rode from the uk to Italy for the Misano race. they said they had a right good ride down..would love to do it but sadly I cant ride roads.. bit to old and the ol balance isn't to good..
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #154
Might take you up on your offer then you would surprised 
Started a new job just over 12 months ago, the previous place there were a few lads with adventure bikes, me been a sports bike nob I didn’t go with them, they did Croatia, stunning ride, places and pictures etc. They did France and Belgium and the war stuff too, missed out on a couple of real life experiences there if I’m honest. I love my bike and bikes but like I say, if I get another next year it will be something along the lines of a sport tourer, just need to find one that I really like that’s all
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #153
The 500 goes through the Highlands, we did sky via the ferry as well. May go back again same time next year.
Looking at Istanbul in may via tunnel down to Ancona night ferry to split. Back up through Bosnia, Croatia, Switzerland and France.
Get a comfortable bike and come along.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #152
Dropped on with the weather then. Think I might do it myself next year or the Scottish highlands, sky etc. Beautiful country, used to go up the west coast for holidays a lot when I was a kid with my parents, simply stunning, on a bike, something else
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #151
We left on Saturday morning in sunshine and had good weather and only saw a shower on Wednesday and two Thursday but two more heavier ones Friday on way home and told it has been bad down south. The roads were great and very little traffic, the food was great and dirt cheap compared with the rip off south.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #150
Sounds like a great experience mate. Nice one
|
|
|
|
|
Well, back from the 500 Scotland, 2000 miles. If anybody here know any of the film crew making the crown program for Netflix please say a massive thanks from me. The hotel we stopped at a mile from John o'groats saw us in the bar and these people were in there on their last night and 2 were playing guitar's and harmonica and singing, mostly sixties to eighties stuff that none of them looked old enough to have known, the petite shy blond was fantastic, only wish I had taken my phone and video's it. Ramdom night added to a great trip I will never forget.
|
|
|
|
In reply to Post #148
I think Jorge will call it a day at the end of this season.and I wouldn't blame him. I always thought he shouldn't of moved from Ducati to join Honda,he had the bike sorted and would of been a big threat to Marquez.as much as I admire Marquez as a pilot I don't like the behind the scenes of Honda. I think, and its a big think, they threw **** loads of money at Lorenzo just to fck him up..id love for him to get fit, join Suzuki or even back to Yamaha then flick the middle finger up at honda. he was 45 seconds behind Marquez at argon riding with a broken back he has nothing to be ashamed of..his a class rider and id like to see him back on the grid when fit.
|
|
