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First day of the trip to Texas and it's cold as Hell outside - woke up to 15F / -10C and light snow with lots of wind. Not ideal riding conditions. Decided to hang out in Black Hawk for a bit and wait for the temps to rise. Hit the local brekkie spot for some chow. I had the breakfast burrito , swimming in green chile while the wife had a more traditional Full American Breakfast...

We decided to stay the first night in Raton, New Mexico at the always luxurious Holiday Inn Sexpress. Bets hotel in town, which isn't saying a whole lot. No food around - at least in walking distance - so we had the second worst delivery pizza I've ever had. But it was delivery so I didn't have to go anywhere for food. That's a treat in itself for us as dinner at home involves a 45 minute drive each way....

By noon it was up to 22F / -6C and this was to be the high for the day - so it's time to get riding. Hopped on the scooter and headed due south to warmer climes. Made it to the first fuel stop in Pueblo, Colorado and teh temps were up to 45F / 7C - much better. But the winds had increased to about 45 mph with higher gusts. Blew the Wing all over the place. Getting some love in Pueblo....

Just cleaned up my rear caliper and give it a coating to fight the corrosion from road salt. The brake pads still seem like new thickness wise. Can't seem to wear them out. They have done about 14,000 miles since they went in. The first set that came with the bike were replaced, nearly worn out at 13k so it's all a bit odd. I'm still on the original front pads so they have done 29,000 miles. I have a new set ready to go in, but they still looked good a few weeks ago when I cleaned up the front brakes after the winter saltfest, so I never put them in. I swear I do use the brakes and they work fine so not sure what is going on. I also wire brushed and painted most of my centre stand. It was a rusty nightmare. I can't get used to not having chain oil all over that part of my bike, preserving it.

Today we are heading to Amarillo, Texas to meet up with riding friends Dave and Debbie from Indianapolis. They had to dodge torrential rain and tornadoes across the Midwest yesterday on their first day of riding. Hopefully better weather and temps for all today. More later.

Yes - remember that she bought the Goldwing late last year so that she could go on rides. She didn't like the fit of the ADV bikes in the past and wanted more comfort. So she'll be along on most Goldwing trips. She's 5'11" tall and doesn't really fit on an ADV behind my big ass - the bikes just aren't big enough for us both. We fit well enough on the Wing though. I'm still gonna do ADV rides though as I really like them.

At least on the BSA people won’t be trying to bum you.

Today really sucked balls. 40F was the high and again, had 40 mph crosswinds. But we made it to Amarillo and now having a beverage in my warm room Tonight is beers and food at the Big Texan. My bud from home sent his picture of his driveway today we dodged a bullet by getting outta town early.

My sister was concerned about getting to Denver for a concert tonight... but they were skiing 9" of powder at Copper Mountain this morning so there's that!

...says the man that probably eats that nasty blood pudding crap for breakfast. This is far superior; only stays in you for about 15 minutes and then out it comes,. No time for your body to absorb any of the nasty stuff inside of it.

I ruined a holiday in Florida because of sunburn, i was only out in it about 20 minutes. The sky was overcast so thought it would be ok, how wrong i was my legs were like a nougat bar spent a week unable to move and unable to put clothes on just lay in my room with the aircon on

Your wife's taste in breakfast is far superior to yours

It's further behind the bike than my trailer, it should have wheels and a parachute on it.

Not something I wanna do again anytime soon, Bob. It snowed 6" last night at home and they expect 10" more today - we escaped just in time. High in Amarillo, our next stop, are only expected to be around 6C over the next 2 days. Not ideal but better than snow!

You have a top box that is bigger than your bike.

thats the maximum tonnage he can tow

Yeah, his trail braking went bad

Couldn't get out today so hoping to grab a couple of hours tomorrow morning. BOTM is coming soon so I need to get a great top box shot!

No.....I can't either! I know Buck met him and then binned the bike that Dean let him use! When good trail braking goes bad!

I don't like any of their newer offerings , that's why I went for a Yamaha and then a Ducati.

Not a hope in hell!

From my 15 years experience of owning KTM's I'd say they're just as reliable as any Jap bikes. They just need more maintenance but on the upside genuine pares are often half the price of Jap parts ..............

Looking at the vid on reliability I can't help but notice there's no mentions for BMW, KTM, Ducati, Triumph, Harley, Chinese, or Indian motorcycles. Instead it's 5 bikes for Honda, 2 for Suzuki, 2 for Kawasaki, and 1 for Yamaha! What can we learn from this?

Pete is basically an English tory anyway.

See if you can find Dean when you get to Texas, last I heard he was in Austin. Although I did hear that they had their camper seized on South America at some point so maybe he is in jail in Venezuela.

Crap photo as it's in a frame but this is when Paolo met Bryn Terfel

https://shad.co.uk/products/shad-sh44-top-box-d0b44100

Mines a bit bastardised too.

what a twat , not farage

Finally someone has explained it to Pete.

You’re a closet Brit Pete……..don’t try and deny it.

Harleys have gone 12 volt now have they?

I never binned anything.

cant wait , i got the winner this month

I can't remember his handle on Max bikes ?

I'm with the misses on this one.

Bloody goes on a bit don't her? 3 minutes with Neevesy tell you everything you need to know.

I have never voted they are all twats

Mate of mine around my age was going to do a trip to Kazakhstan on his KTM 790.....but then Covid restrictions came into effect. Then he couldn't go cos he was waiting for a hip replacement. Eventually he got his hip replacement, went through all the recovery process, and finally last week he left. Unfortunately he only got as far as the M25 before the fucking thing expired! He's now waiting for an update from the KTM dealer!

That's a great photo mate. I don't know where Paolo's musical tastes lie but a great bass in hiding, almost, is John Bromley who is a folk singer with Kimbers Men. Hellofva Bass though and must have been classically trained. He is the only Bass of any fame that I have met. Mind you Basses are common down here, think of Welsh Tenors, the same is true of Basses in Cornwall. Especially if you listen to older recordings from choirs down here. Here's John,

Same here

Great stuff Eric.....I think it's the first time we've seen your wife with you?

Compare the CB500 to a Brit replica and it will fail miserably because its nothing like one and it was never designed to be like one, same as the BSA is not meant to be a cheap everyday bike for commuting or compete with any other bike, it stands alone so you cannot compare the BSA to anything else, it's something to ride and enjoy for the bike it is, it either floats your boat or it doesn't,

Nuffin’ wrong with a Himalayan. I’ve had two and I might buy a third just to spark some bitchin’