Mesh jackets are great. But if you're not taking a second jacket on your tour you'll need a waterproof jacket to go over it, and probably a windstopper layer, that is breathable but not waterproof (eg pertex) to go with it. That should cover all conditions. Sorry if that's obvious.

I've only just found this thread, Noggin - I don't come to General much. Sorry to hear all this. You've had some pretty bad luck with injuries, it seems. And having been ill for a few months myself, with Lyme disease, I know how it feels to have hobbies/passions that depend on being physically fit ...

I'd recommend not doing the journey, unless you absolutely have to. It'll be a furnace.

Have a good read of this. You might also need to brace yourself for going to appeal after they make their initial decision:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benef ... arers/pip/

Perhaps someone could invent a paint for cars that changed shade according to the background?
No royalties required, just a mention, please

A good lock, like Litelok, is only part of the equation.
Ask yourself, how desirable to thieves is my bike? Where am I parking it? For how long? As well as how securely locked is it.

An attractive enough bike left in a dodgy enough area for long enough WILL be stolen, no matter how securely locked.

Some years ago there was a brief moment when the government wanted to 'mainstream motorcycling':
"in February 2005 the Department for Transport published
The Government’s Motorcycling Strategy.
The principal aim of the strategy is to
‘mainstream’ motorcycling". https://publications.parliament.uk/pa ...

I'll try to help. I think it was the Splugen Pass, heading south towards Lake Como. It had rained continuously for a couple of hours before we got there, and our ride leader showed no sign of wanting to stop. So I sort of forced a stop, during which I removed my gloves and couldn't get them back on ...

Great supplementary write-up. Thanks.
I used to ride maxi scoots, hence the username. The Burgman 400 and TMax mk 1 that I had were competent machines, and underrated by most bikers, but the XADV sounds like a step-change. And that's very much underlined by your view of it, in the context of your ...

I'm interested by how impressed you were with the XADV. I think I'd be seriously considering one if I didn't live in central London with the theft risk / insurance cost that goes with that.

I, too, went for a gold, but somehow managed to plan a route that qualified (I think!) but only required 185 ...

And the flip side is, don't bother buying a lottery ticket, except on the day your number's going to come up. I'd like that information too, please.

Looks like a pic from the good ol' days of photography, when you got specks of dirt on transparencies.

About 570 miles to, around and from North Wales (to London) for the Welsh National Road Rally last weekend. It really got me back into the pleasure of riding again, after feeling a bit unmotivated to do it for a while.

On a trip to the Dolomites a few years ago, a fellow rider had an encounter with Italian white van man, on the road around Lake Como.
The outer, denim, layer of his armoured jeans was ripped open, but the kevlar inside had held. He got away with painful bruising, but reckoned that without the ...

I did the Welsh National Rally in 2007, you want a bike that's all day comfortable, has a good fuel range that's happy on small roads - not a stupid Husqvarna supermoto, the only thing good about was the happy on small roads bit, I spent most of the day finding petrol.


The V85TT fitted the bill ...

What ever that road is that runs North/South up the middle used to be hooligan central back in the day. Wasn't so much a ride as a qualifying session.


A483, iirc. Brilliant road.
If you fancy a much smaller, twisty, and challenging in places road, Tregaron to Beulah is a good 'un.

Welsh ...

£300-400, depending on parts needed, every 6k miles on the V85TT. Valves need checking/adjusting every time. Central London rates. I could probably do some of it, but don't fancy it and don't have a garage. And the £200 labour saved isn't hugely significant out of a c.£2.5 k cost pa of running the ...

I think there is still a lot of enthusiasts out there... however I know that I'm not going out every weekend to the gathering places (Boxhill, Loomies etc etc) and seeing it, and so I'm not getting involved any more. But there's still a lot that do.


Mole Valley council has just slapped a PSPO ...

I've signed up too. Staying near Welshpool, the traditional start point, although you can start anywhere, of course. I'll probably go north and west this time, subject to how the checkpoint layout looks when I receive it.

No ducking out is allowed, once you've signed up :D

Will you do it on the ...

Update. I'm signed up for the SWPSR. Two routes planned, both bronze. The first is my preferred route, for good weather. It involves going west across Exmoor to Ilfracombe, then back on a parallel route along the coast. Should be scenic. The second is a contingency plan, in case I feel sub-par or ...