Once Round The Block…..

The countdown module is showing 1 more sleep till its go go go

Everything is packed and ready and if its not packed then hey its going to be left behind.  It always amazes me how much a few t-shirts and stuff weigh.  My roll bag is coming in at about 10kg

Bit of an early start in the morning so we can take the first day nice and steady up the A1, A66, M6 and A75 - suprise suprise rain is forecast

Think Im gonna take it all very easy this evening and chill with a pizza and a glass of red.

Yipeeeeeeeee! Picked my bike up today from Manhattans with a nice new clutch thingie fitted.

Gotta say thanks to the guys at Manhattans who never showed signs of panic when parts didnt turn up on time etc.  http://www.manhattan-motorcycles.co.uk/ Thanks for getting it all sorted and leaving the panicing to me

Right well - its nearly time to go, so today is final shopping day for anything Ive totally forgotten about and the first and probably only test pack before we go.  Thinking about it Ive still gotta pack let alone test pack the bike.

Better get on with it really - but first need to nip to Morrisons to do a spot of normal shopping Cos man cannot live on bread alone - but Ill give it a good try!

Well there is suddenly less than a week to go and its all slowly going stressful.  Ive been up in Scotty land this last week chilling and getting some good hill time in.

A couple of weeks ago now I took my bike in to have the drip looked at and got them to order the parts required………………. at this point it all goes a tad scary………. Got back from my first scotty trip and gave them a call to see if the part had arrived and……. NOPE!!!!! After a frantic phone call from the owner to the distributor it turns out it left Italy five days ago and has not beed seen since This is the amazing Aprilia parts system in full flow!

So now with like 6 days to go before we set off Ive still got a dripping bike and no idea about where the part is between Italy and here.

Im also leaving it to the last min, but im thinking of changing my tent to a slightly larger one with a nice big porch.  Last year when I was up to Scotland the tent I normally use was fine, but the bloody midges we out in force and it would  have been so nice to be able to sit in a porch away from the bloody things

:-(  over the last few rides out ive noticed a drip under the bike when i stop.  Now you might not be bothered too much about that, but i am! Traced it down to a slightly leaking clutch gasket.  So until the 19 whan it goes to be sorted ive gotta keep an eye on the old DOT4 for the clutch.

Could live with it - but id rather have a nice dry engine and know im not dripping and slowly loosing cluch fluid.  A leak usually only means one thing - its gonna get worse

So we went out for a blast on sunday as it was forecast a good day (see robs post below).  Then on Tuesday we were back out up semi closed road to the top of Howden Dam in the Peak District (where the RAF tested the bouncing bomb for the dambuster raids).  Such a cracking road - single track for the most part and the views are spot on with the water and the trees and the hills.  Good practise for Scotland.

The weather has been so good this week that we managed another run out today (thurs).  This time out to Holmfirth and then off over the moors to Glossop and onto the snake pass.  The road we took from the Woodhead pass to Glossop was such a cracking ride.

Then if was off to Tideswell for a famous pork pie and coffee before the run back.

Ill try and post a few pics tomorrow of the last few days.

Well Well today was what biking is all about, Fantastic weather, superb conditions and 2 mates having a blast around the Peak district. Having had a run around we stopped off on the Snake Pass for a coffee overlooking Ladybower reserviour and watched the world go by, It was a little warm so we had a look at the thermometer on the bike which was showing 100 degress in direct sunshine, never thought I would see a day like that in mid May, also a good test for my new touring screen and Caberg V2r helmet, which combined together as helped cut down the battering I have been taking at high speed, More to come over the next few weeks as we prepare for the Scotland trip, and I get my fitness levels back up after the operation, Scotty  here we come!!!!!

Rob is out of hospital now and has a cracking ‘well ard’ looking 6″ scar that any bro in the hood would be showing off with pride!

Its been decided that France might be pushing things, soooooo to give him some milestones to help get to fitness again (which aint that fit really) the trip has been changed to a tour of Scotland.

So its a tartan tastic trip prob kicking off sometime June/July.  A new trip outline will be posted asap, but the first stop will be Dumfries.

The trip has had to go on hold Rob has gone into hospital for an operation (I just think he wants a bit of a rest surrounded by nurses!!!!)

Anyhow it turns out its quite a major op so he could be out of the mix for a few months - Soooooooo  lookin at delaying it to maybe September if hes up for it.  If not France it might be a tour of Scotland/Ireland

Now there is a post title that could mean so many different things - but it actually is about what it says - a little bag!

On my last trip round Europe one of the things that started to bug me was the fact that every time I stopped and either wanted a drink or look at the map I had to open up the panniers.  Now I do hear you saying ‘and the problem with that is???’  But when there is a roll bag just going over the top of them, it makes opening a tad tricky.

Soooooooo Ive been on the lookout for a small tail pack.  I knew Touratechs Zega case was spot on for the job in size and shape - but was ruled out instantly as I aint paying £120 for a bag thats 35cmx18cmx15cm - Just re-checked and now its £123.35 before delivery!  If Touratech were to donate one, then that would be different - oh thats right Im not called Charley or Ewan!!!!

 

The hunt was on! :-) 

Next I went to Kriega and looked at the US-10 tail pack.  Its a cracking piece of kit and at £35 its more in my budget  Fully water proof and the dimensions are spot on, cant fault it at all……….. The only issue was that it was actually a small 10l roll bag and I wanted more of a tail bag..

Next out came Google….. I stumbled on an American company called RKA luggage based in Windsor California - http://www.rka-luggage.com They do a piece of kit that is just what i wanted and at a price that well was a bit expensive, but I could handle it - if I closed one eye…….

The problem came with getting it shipped to the UK from the good ‘ol US of A.  The bag would cost $120 which with the crappy weak £ at the moment is about £80.  Steep I know.  Then the crunch……. Postage would have been £60!!!! (according to the web site)

Its a shame they are not represented in the UK as I think there would be a market for their kit

Well many more hours were spent with our friend Google Looked at stuff from Oxford, Hepco & Becker, Buffalo, and loads more and nothing was near what I needed. This has been going on now for about 6/8 weeks, but finally…..

Tada………

Ive had to mod it a tad and replace some velcro with proper compression straps, but it works.  Its got straps on all four corners and they now fit nice and snug So finally I have a little bag.

The back straps are held in place with 6 industrial staples on each - so hoping they wont fall off.  For 12 quid I dont mind doing a bit of modding to make it work :-) 

Phew thats been a bit of an epic, but its hard finding a small tail pack thats just right and dont cost 120 quit This is still not perfect but its the closest Ive got.

We must be mad but on came the summer suits and another quick blast to clear the winter cobwebs, this time off  to Hathersage, Castleton and then back to Jans van courtesy of SMC for a sausage bacon and egg sarni (diet starts tommorow)  and a nice cuppa to warm us up. Both bikes performed well after the long winter lay off just had to adjust the clutch on mine coz it was abit keen, hopefully off for another blast tommorow.

Finally after waiting nearly 2 weeks my new Kappa 49L top Box as arrived, well pleased with it, so after digging my way through the snow to get to my bike garage popped it on the bike and it looks good not too top heavy, and then i had one of those moments and decided all the little jobs ive been putting off were going to get done even though it was -2 in the garage But  out came my new little heater courtesy of go outdoors well worth the £14.99 I can go in there now and escape ‘Er indoors, So in went the new lighting for the garage, Off came the fairing and all the bulbs were checked to make up a new spare bulb kit, Chain waxed again, I was going to rewire the indicators and fix a new 12v take off but I thought i’d save that so mawse can help me.

Thought id get the bike out today and do the really exciting job of cleaning the chain and putting new chain wax on in -3 deg (not a good idea), then to keep on the right side of mister French plod put my new GB/Euro sticker on the reg plate (after a bit of cutting ) and then to top my wonderful sunday off i thought id run the bike up and down the icy decking and yes you guessed it off i came, So 2000 mile round trip and i drop my bike on my back yard, better make sure my medical insurance is up to date

As Im so chuffed with my new spatula (now thats something I never thought Id say ) I thought it had to have a photo taken of it If anyone is interested, it came from CCC (or Go Outdoors as it likes to be known these days).  So now Im hoping the weather is going to be good so it can be long lazy cooked breakfast tastic

On my last trip rouund Europe I chanced things and didnt have any waterproof legs - as luck would have it I only encounted rain once for about about 10mins just north of Alicante - Spain and as it was soooooo hot I was totally dry in a few mins :-)  As we are staying in northern France this time (close to soggy England) thought I better have some on this trip

Not a great deal has happened these last few days towards the trip for me.  Rob has been busy getting bits and bobs.

Something thats been bugging me for ages though is not having a small plastic spatula when im camping.  I always remember as im scraping a metal knife in my non-stick fry pan in my trangia.  So the other day I finally did summat about it!  Behold I got a nice small plastic spatula from a local camping shop.  So now while we are on the trip its bacon, sausage and egg for breakfast

Well what would the point of a travel blog be without any nice piccies?  So with the wonders of modern technology we have started adding some pics.  They can be viewed individually, within a slideshow and should also be compatible with cooliris if you wanna use that viewer instead  See we try to think of everything.

Wow thats what I call service! Only ordered the new bracket on Saturday and this morning (after chasing after the postman as he just pushed a card through without seeing if anyone was in!) I had it in my hands - Nice one.

So this evening just had to fit it.  Still not sure why the original one fractured, but anyway new one all fitted and looking good

My original GPS bracket for the bike has strangely snapped round the back, so today Ive had to order a new one Not too happy about it breaking, but not much I can do really.