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Just after I bought my bike last February I had made my mind up to ride it back to the UK, another Adventure for the old man! I was going to use the trip to coincide with a race meeting at Santa Pod one of the biggest of the year "Dragstalgia" where I was going to race my slingshot dragster. by March I had booked the crossing tot he UK via the Chunnel on one of those open ended expensive bookings just in case, and I was coming back on the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe I left home nice and early all packed up, well over packed actually as usual, I had remembered to re-set the suspension settings and checked my tyre pressures again something I am very slack about as a rule. I set off along the coast up to Valencia then across to Zaragoza and up to Huesca which ended the really boring part of the trip, the next part was the bit I was really looking forward to, over the Pyrenees via the N330 the only problem was that particular area had just got over the wettest period on record and I caught the tail end of it where I found out that my "shower proof" riding gear wasn't!! but the roads were great and in between showers the views were still incredible. My destination for the night was a budget Ibis Hotel in Pau just over into the French side of the Pyrenees a distance of around 400 miles. the budget hotels are great for stop overs cheap with car parking as a rule, I wouldn't want to spend any time in one though,they had a small bar which I made use of later in the evening but they don't do food only breakfast so after unpacking and a quick shower I hung my stuff up to dry and went for a walk into town for something to eat, I didn't have to go far as the first roundabout from my hotel had the usual food outlets burger joints, pizza etc. After the usual continental breakfast it was pack the bike up time and leave via the nearest petrol station, I am now heading for a small Hamlet north of Limoges near the town of Bethines called Les Brouillons to a bikers B&B called Belonga Mick it's on Google just type it in. I was riding up to Bordeaux via the national park The Landes De Gascogne which is very pretty where you will see familiar names of villages on sign posts such as Cadillac and Bergerac. Then round Bordeaux up to Limoges and then Belonga Mick along the lovely D179 The small hamlet of Les Brouillons was just about deserted when mick an old friend bought his first house there he has renovated the inside and made it a very comfortable B&B he now has a Gites and is working on another house he has bought, a very relaxing place with great food, the are is often over looked by tourists but its a motorcycling dream. This part of the trip was the shortest only 300 miles After a lovely evening of drinking too much beer and catching up as we hadn't seen each other for three years I went to bed, Up early for a full English breakfast pack the bike up and....wouldn't start, battery was flat. I had fitted a set of auxiliary lights which didn't run through the ignition so I think I must have accidentally switched them on while walking the bike into the barn when I arrived, A two hour wait for the battery to charge up enough to start . I was now leaving a lot later than I had wanted to, good job I had an open ended crossing, So now it was a dash up to Tours and then Le Mans and Rouen along the coast to Calais well the Tunnel. The only problem I had was if I would make it in time to be let into he race facility. The race meeting was from the Friday to the Sunday but the gates were open from 2pm to 8 pm on Thursday to let racers in to set up. I was pusing it a bit but got on the train around 8pm European time 7pm UK time had a great chat with a fellow traveller on a BMW adventure bike. Got off the train then another dash up the motorways to Wellingborough I got to the gates at gone 9pm but luckily the security guards knew me and let me in, it had been a long day and boy did I sleep well that night 420 miles to Calais and and a further 160 once I got of the train. Friday downed and it was time to sort the car out after it had been fitted with a new cam shaft, My race team "Slimline Racing" consists of myself owner and driver and my eldest son who is my crew chief and my Brother Dave and my BUG (Back Up Girl) Dianna who works a photographer and reporter for eurodragster.com. How it works is my son keeps my Dodge ram at his home and on race day he drives it from Swindon to Luton to pick my brother up then to the storage depot where the trailer is kept with the race car inside the hook up the trailer and drag the whole thing to the track. The car is called "Tight Fit" and is rather rapid with its race desiigned V8 injected running on Methanol. We had a great weekend racing and drinking far too much alcohol while listening to live music on the premises. I had an 11pm ferry booked for Sunday evening so had to leave the Pod at around 7pm after I had helped the team pack everything away, I managed to get a couple hours sleep on the ferry then it was time to unload at Dieppe in the dark and make my way back to Belonga Mick where i was going to spend a couple of days so Mick could show me around this beautiful part of France. A short vid of the ride around Belong Mick Two days went far too fast and it was time to leave again my route back home was the same as my route to the UK stopping at Pau on the way back I was glad to get home. In total I was away for 10 days I had ridden around 2600 miles and the bike had returned just short of 55 mpg I love this bike.

My wife woke up with a huge grin on her face this morning I just love permanent markers ?

I had a wee at the next urinal with him last year I think it was. He was riding a super long chopper (a motorcycle, not his todger) around a speedway track against a load of other stretched out bikes. I have also raced against Chris Walker and James Toesland in a fun Enduro run by a friend of mine. The idea was you shared a bike with another person and took turns riding and could swap at any time, they were a team together. I only came 10 places behind them, which sounds good but I should point out there were only 11 teams. I was on my DR350, my mate did the first lap, came back all purple faced and breathless then when I jumped on and tried to ride off I discovered the gear lever was all curly shaped. He insisted he hadn't fell off.

I had this bum working on my pit crew at Barber a few years back.?

Found the first problem the main jet is almost all clogged up, the inside looks brilliant however....not a spec in the float bowl, no signs of varnish, just waiting on parts and i need cleaner...nice seeing an obvious problem however!

Thought that might get a response.

The face of a happy camper!

My mate had one many years ago. A group of us were out riding and stopped for a chat, after a while my mate with the DT50 said there's something wrong with my bike have a go see what you think, he said you will have to give it some welly to pull off as there's not much go in it so never ridden a 50 before i gave it a handful and dumped the clutch unknown to me he had bump started it backwards and when i dumped the clutch it nearly turned me into a eunuch we were all laughing about it for days ??

the Honda dealer where I once bought my Transalp told me they got a few bikes with problems coming from Honda's assembling plant in Italy, most notably was a small utilitarian bike, CBF125?, they got one with absolutely no stickers, and another with no piston and conrod, took them a while to understand why it would not start but would crank like fuck ?

What's wrong with it Tym, is it worn or just gummed up with all the shit they put in the fuel now. If it just needs a refurb then see if you can find someone who's got an Ultrasonic cleaner. We have one in work and they're ace, strip the carb, bung it in the cleaner overnight. Flush it clean in the morning and then reassemble with new jets and you won't believe the difference ?

Petes wife does...lol

Having left Skye we headed south down towards Fort William, then Loch Lommond. I seem to have lost a few photos! This was the Drover's Inn just north of Loch Lommond. Have stayed here a couple of times. They had an extensive range of whiskey. I don't really like the stuff but tried hard to find one that was ok. We stopped overnight at Dumphries. Dreadful ride there as the roads were shut and the diversions were a nightmare. I blame the GPS. Of course we went to the pub. I'm mystified why I didn't have any photos. @Sir Fallsalot The following morning we rode south down the M6 for convenience, and then headed to Patterdale where we found a decent campsite that had a pub restaurant. I was concerned that this thing was a tick, but it seems that it's a shield bug nymph. A couple of yurts that were in use. Pub. We sort of took over this table. The following day I was feeling a bit rough so we had a quick ride to Windermere, busy, and then returned to the pub for lunch. Just too late so we had a couple of beers anyway to help with a siesta. What siesta? Several hours later having had a meal when they started serving food again, we ended up being the last two to stagger out. Excellent day. We were determined to make the most of the following day so Fred led on a route that took in most of the high passes. Really excellent, and I would happily ride there again. Not Scotland. Back to the pub, as you do. Packing ready for the off home. Roadworks, accidents, diversions and a long day riding we were home. Great week or so and great company. Thanks @Sir Fallsalot. My liver however said otherwise.

I've used peaked helmets for over 20 years, in fact I don't use anything else. My favourite is the Arai Tour Cross, I've had four of them all told and I never have any vibration problems but I'm a shortarse (5' 8 '') and I think that helps. Last year I bought a Klim Krios Karbon which as it suggests is mainly carbon, it is superbly light but the peak is rubbish for hiding the glare of the sun. The Arai wins everytime on that score. https://www.motardinn.com/motorcycle-equipment/klim-krios-karbon-adventure/137537290/p?utm_source=google_products&utm_medium=merchant&id_producte=10604620&country=uk&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6oO96Ob86AIVgevtCh3jewQAEAQYBSABEgLSF_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Helmet vibration (oo err) was a big problem with mine on the Africa Twin i found it was caused by air coming up the fork tunnel i put my hand there while riding one day and it disappeared I made this out of a bit of perspex i had lying about problem solved this was the prototype

My next helmet will definitely have a peak. In these northern latitudes the sun is very low in the sky in the winter and a couple of times I've been completely blinded and had to pull over quick. I'm not bothered about the aerodynamics as I rarely go over 60 mpg.

I forgot about that pub on the campsite i really liked that place. Excellent trip ? i think if i done it again on the bike i'd spend less time in a tent and go more for hostels/bunk houses i really don't like putting a tent up and down ?

I have to admit to being a fair weather wuss. My brother's been all over Scotland and told me it's great, almost as pretty as Norway (which we've toured on car several times), but the idea of riding a bike on my holidays for several rainy days kind of takes care of the enthusiasm to do it.

I could get an add on to the bike's screen or a bigger screen, but I love not having a big piece of plastic in front of me.

Well, my bike has a smaller than stock screen, so there is more air all over, I am not sure about more turbulence at motorway speeds but a lot more bugs hit my helmet than with the standard helmet. My problem with the Schuberth that I tried was that it shaked a lot more than my motocross helmet, which is a Shoei. The motocross helmet hasn't got that vibration, but is obviously a lot worse at catching air, not to mention there is no shield so there is a big hole catching air right there. I understand that a beak is never going to be ideal, but my question was about if there is any experience with one that is not so bad. I love a modular helmet, because I ride with it open on slow speeds and love the feeling of opening it up right before arriving somewhere on a hot day. I would get an open face but the idea of getting a stone right in my face on the motorway doesn't appeal. But the beak appeals for touring...

I just farted and he caught whiff of it lol

I was posing. I'm usually grumpier.

Is that Kevin Schwantz? You can't start a thread like this and slap Kevin Schwantz on the first post! I know Andy Carlile, of Nordschleife fame. I think he might only be famous to me around here, though. He's a mate, and is the fastest guy on a bike around the Nordschleife. I met Paulo Gonçalves once as well, a portuguese star who lost his life on the last Dakar.

I've been very lucky and have met some greats. Mainly due to being friends with Danny Walker. He has invited me to 7 different American Supercamp, Road race Factory, flat track and supermoto schools over the years. I've been lucky to have ridden with or had as instructors Josh Hayes, Chris Carr, Nicky Hayden, JD Beach and Eric Bostrom. JD Beach was only 12 years old the first time i rode with him on a track. The kid was just an amazing natural rider. He left all of us in his dust. he was so small he had to use a step stool to get on his bike. The kid was unbelievable.

He needs a nice new motorcyle he does!

In my opinion, this is the most scenic part of Portugal, I rather ride the plains of the deep Alentejo and the hills of Algarve, but there is something special about the Atlantic Coast of Algarve and Alentejo. If you're feeling romantic, you'll think of the old time explorers being trained in sea craft in this area, and the views over a wide open ocean make some Portuguese people feel very patriotic and adventurous. Vila do Bispo: And Sagres:

Think you said it started and stopped? Still think its worth draining the float bowl as the water content in ethanol fuels always ends up and the bottom of the tank and bowl. Having said that if that carb hasn't had a service in a long while best have it off and a good muck out.

Whoop, happy to have arrived ?

thanks all! let's get this party started! stay tuned for some riding stories.

We had a break in the weather for a couple of hours so while Alan was catching up on some sleep (i think) i had a little walk along the coastal path i didn't go far as i could feel the pub calling ? looking back to the campsite I did see a couple of seals popping their heads up at a distance why i was excited i don't know ?