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I left home to go and meet up with Sofia to help guide one of her motorcycle tours. Meeting in Tras os Montes, near the inner North Portuguese border, where we'd meet her client the next day. Hardly no stops this day as I left later than planned. Did take back roads to get there though, before meeting with Sofia at Pocinho, by the Douro river. A stop on the way over to take a look at an access road to a farmhouse where we'd stop a few days later. It's quite steeper than it looks on pictures, surface not maintained as it's basically a work service road for vineyards. It's really the sort of stuff I love to ride on but not to everyone's taste. We had been enjoying almost summer like weather during the previous 2 or 3 weeks, but the forecast was changing and I rode through a few showers on the way there. Spirits were high and I was met with a ham sandwich upon arrival. Sofia had two british friends riding down as well, doing the north of Portugal in dirt roads and mostly off tarmac tracks, we were to meet them for a coffee since we had now time to spare before our destination for the night. Met up in a little village, and I took a few pictures while we waited. We ended up waiting more than anticipated because it turns out they were coping with a rear tire puncture. Eventually they arrived, their bung didn't do it repairing the puncture and it had a slow leak. Considering this a saturday afternoon in the middle of nowhere, and that most shops around would be closed on sunday, I gave it a go using my trusty repair kit. It worked like a charm, they carried on with the trip and it's still going strong today. While all this went on, the weather changed again and a heavy rain arrived. We waited a little while having a coffee. We made it home for our room for the night later than scheduled and after the last bit of the ride being in cold rain. Went to have dinner at my favourite restaurant, a proper beef rib perfectly cooked on coal. Happy times! That night we stayed in an old lady's little air b n b style place in a farm house, the bikes enjoyed the night inside the farm size garage, most garages in this area are big enough for full size tractors to drive in and our with trailers, so the GS could barely fit in. Contrary to previous weeks, this night temperatures were already quite low with a minimum of 0ºC. We rode off at around 4º or 5º in search of a cafe to have breakfast in, we weren't in a hurry because we were only expecting to meet up with Sofia's client by mid afternoon. Didn't make it 3 or 4 km down the road when we came upon a french guy with a fallen down Transalp 750. He dropped it parking on the side of the road, and couldn't get it back up. After lifting the bike, I managed to put his sidecase back on, it had both broke the lid and the mechanism that locks it onto the bike. Sofia had a strap that was used to then hold it all together, can't say I rate Honda's luggage very high after that incident. We did spend some time having coffee, then going to fuel up the bikes, and then already in the afternoon went to visit a village right near the border waiting for time to pass. Weather was cold and rainy. Eventually we found this warm little place for a snack and to get away from the cold. Will post almost no pictures of the tour itself as most of them feature a person that doesn't deserve to be shown in this forum , however, the next couple of days were blessed with big clouds and the odd threat of rain but overall really nice conditions to be out on bikes, if it had been in January. First day Our stop for a picnic lunch: And final stop point for the night, right before the hotel and dinner: Next day, we made it up to Portugal's highest point, only a brief rain shower on the way there, but overall great conditions. Even had lunch by a lake under glorious sun. The road up the mountain: Up there the temperatures were around 0º when we got there at around 14:30 to 15:00, pretty cold but the big clouds and brisk air made for great views. Up there it's often foggy and you can't see anything. Going down the mountain the other side, we took a little dirtroad. I went ahead to check if it was muddy, it wasn't. I wasn't happy to have this face off with a local cow, who wasn't happy to face a noisy bike either. We spent that night at an amazing place with a couple of horses. They're friendly enough but are of a wild breed, not really for riding, and like to take nibbles at your hands. Will continue later on or tomorrow, don't have that many pictures to post but there will be something.

@XTreme anybody you know Pete?

Well I got up bright and early to take the test ride and got to Thor Motorcycles around 8:45 as the ride was booked for 9:00 am. All still unpacking when I got there so I sat down and had a cuppa whilst they got their shit together, no problem. Anyway I got out for a lead ride, which was not advertised, at 9:30. The youngest was disappointed as no pillions on test rides apparently, bit short sighted I would say as any bike I get I would want to ride with a pillion given that I rarely ride alone nowadays. I bribed her with a cheeseburger and Fanta for her breakfast from the burger wagon, which also was not free as advertised. Don't really care about that but I can see someone will moan and it pays to do as you say in the long run IMHO. Anyway back to the ride out, the owner of Thor came out on his BSA and lead me out through the lanes to Cardinham then out on the A30 for a blast down to Innis Downs junction. Off there through Bugle to Roche then out to Victoria Interchange and the old A30 to Lanivet and back to Thor. A good 45 minute ride were the owner of Thor (Colin) rode like a fuck wit the whole way, weaving all over the shop to keep his tyres warm (Twat), blasting through speed limits and riding really aggressively around motorists. Certainly didn't endear himself to several cars he was tailgating. Anyway to the BSA, pleasant enough to ride, but couldn't get away from the fact it felt flat. To be fair it only had 100 miles on it so must have been tight and did loosen up as it warmed up and the ride went on. Around the back lanes across Bodmin Moor it felt great with plenty of torque and a nice positive gearbox, never going past 50mph. Gauges were small and hard to read but good enough and did look pretty. Ergonomically, nice sit up riding position, comfy seat and I could flat foot it easily. Once we were out on the A30, a fast dual carriageway, the BSA sat at 70mph quite comfortably, a few vibes crept in at 75 but went again at 80, never ventured past 85 as the bike just did not really want to. Colin was off in the distance so must have travelling a fair bit quicker. I guess his 22 plate bike was well run in. No wind protection was really noticeable at 70 plus and would get tiring quickly, or would for me. Passing cars on the A30 was a bit risky as the mirrors were blurred and the right hand side one had vibrated out or adjustment and was pointing skyward. I corrected it but it soon moved again. I got the impression that the bike would sit at 70mph all day if you wanted to but that is not where you would necessarily want to ride it for comfort. Now to be fair to Colin he took me on a good route of varying conditions which did highlight the bikes strengths. He went much further and faster than I would have done on my own so appreciate being lead. Would I buy one, definitely not. I can see it would be nice to bimble around on, round the lanes on a sunny Sunday afternoon but just didn't feel like serious transport to me, I certainly wouldn't consider commuting or travelling on it. Although of course it could do both these things but there are bikes much better suited to those tasks out there. The BSA looked lovely to my eye and did seem quite well finished. I think I liked looking at it more than I did riding it. For £6k I think it is probably good value if you want what it does well. Not for me even as a second bike. On a side note riding the BSA, made me appreciate how much I like my Hornet.

You would be amazed how good their engineering is. Why are you posting pictures of Birmingham?

My something today started by fiddling with the XR's carb trying to get rid of a dead spot off idle i haven't noticed before, only thing different is i fitted the snorkel back on the air box and fitted a Vortip in the exhaust. Played about for an hour or so and i have decided to start with the stock jetting and go from there so ordered the stock pilot jet. Then i fired up the Beta to make sure everything is ok for a ride tomorrow which it was, so then i dragged the CRF1000 out to give it a run and a wash, the bloody thing was still covered in the flies from a rally i done around this time last year. Since i had dug that deep into the garage it exposed the old Africa Twin so just spent an hour riding that about it's such a nice bike to ride i seem to appreciate it more now my need for speed has almost gone.

Mmmmmmmm, yep probably. But I’d piss all over your barge & trailer on one ……

Get in

I think if we ever met … I would have to strangle you Clive .

1 just for Bob....

An oil seal went on the mouse, nothing that could be done

Going to be a strong year for sure, I’m just sad I can’t propose @Slowlycatchymonkey

yeh , you managed that on the track on your own

So you didn't prepare the bike, then you binned it, and now you've found that you couldn't even hit the Record button on the camera!

You're a piss taking bunch of fucks

You'd have confidence in a bike built by people in a country who have to live this?

Mate you have him sussed. He would bully you if he could, total twat in my opinion. I don't buy into it and will go to Thor whenever I like, but I have mates who won't go there. In fact one mate won't go there unless I go with him I get along with him up to a point but I would never buy a bike from him, I have seen how he treats people and what an awkward cunt he can be. Shame really because Thor could be the best dealership around if it wasn't for him.

Back from Albox!

off to mrs aunts tomorrow for a couple of nights she owns a pup , then back home Tuesday , then wednesday van action to peak district for 4 nights

No, that’s just riding to your bible class

It amazes me that you haven't won MOTY yet Fred! But then I remembered that you're a miserable cunt!

This is the second time we have had a made up crash report then.

It’s May, you’re overwhelmed by the efforts so far but there’s so much time for more.

A few weeks ago I'd have said that Marcel was odds-on for TOTY this year. Busa........

in case he nicks it ...

Stupid boy, this is Bradford. I’ve been there today

It was on record but the last play on the camera only shows me rejoining the circuit to go back to the pits, I've not had a look on the memory card yet as I can't get to my computer. It's on 3 minute clips so wether it only plays the last recorded 3 minutes on the camera and I've got to go on the computer to get the other footage. I'll have to have a look when I get a chance

Maybe the oil sprayed all over the lens?

Colin sounds like a billy big bollox twat, why would you lead a ride out like that with people you don’t know. Someone on the ride might have decided to take him on and then it could have got a bit dodgy

While up at Thor this morning had a bit of a mooch around the showroom. Lots of Indians, Morini’s and Benelli’s. Plus Norton, BSA, CCM, Kove, Voge, Beta, Reiju Mash, and who knows what else. Certainly no lack of choice. @Buckster good price for a Black Mash @Marcel le Moose Fondler suits you I like this Has a close look at this Reiju 500, very nicely finished bike. No price on it so probably expensive but looks really good.

Fucking Indian shed!

I must admit to looking at them with interest. Not for a few years yet I hope.

I will probably end up on a scooter , I like the Honda ADV scoots

There's a serious lack of photo evidence to back that up though

In a ideal world I would like a bike and a scoot, the scoot is convenient for short trips like nipping to the shops or into town with its good underseal storage, and also like to have a bike for the fun part of riding, the scoot is lacking in the fun side of riding....the handling gets exciting if I push it too hard through the bends.. But the scoot is very cheap to run, very good on fuel, servicing consists of 1 litre of oil, 1 spark plug and a air filter, and with so little power the tyres hardly wear, well mine don't, cos I don't go anywhere to wear them out . so it suits my pocket. So yes I would prefer a bike in a ideal world if I had the choice.

It would just be Pedro's personal section no one else tours

Most probably

Was hoping to get Mandis CBF and the tracer MOTed last week but didn't have the time. Pissing down with rain yesterday and had to collect a bike from Caister so I tool the dominator, left it there and rode back and serviced a 125cc Forza. Great weather protection so can see why people like the scooters but not yet thanks. Still came back the long way after taking it back. Mandis been in Copenhagen all week and was back late last night so have no idea what we're doing after a bit of shopping.

Totally agree Bob.... here's another...

Probably why its looking so nice and green, just waiting for Pete with his photoshop claims now

Wyll I got the skid plate off...here's a few pics at the arrow cat delete pipe...it's turning into a nice shade of bronze or copper...