Skippy

Here you go folks, my poor effort.

I am a firm believer in that you can ride big distances on any bike as long as it can cruise at about 65 mph. Along with some mates we did a tour from the UK right across to the old east Germany, down through the Czech Republic, northern Italy and back home through France. 3000 miles in eight days. All on XR650’s and not a problem. Adjust your mindset and all is well. ?

The problem is that although it has a European Type Approval Number on the frame that same number doesn’t appear on the UK logbook and DVLA are not willing to issue a new logbook with it on. The ITV station here won’t accept it and carry out the relevant inspection until the logbook has the number on. Basically, the only way to do it is get an engineer’s report saying the bike is fine for import but that’s going to cost about 1,200 euros, plus all the Gestoria fees and the ITV inspection fee. It all adds up to more than the bike is worth! ?

I think I’ll be keeping the Himalayan for a while longer now; it’s great around here on both tarmac and trail at a sedate pace and oh-so-cheap to run. Once the TL is running properly I’ll have a bit of fun with it but in the end it’s got to go back to the UK as I just can’t get it onto Spanish plates due to the DVLA being less than helpful.

To be honest it’s absolutely fine at 100klm plus but of course at slower speeds and through towns it’s unpleasant for long periods. However, I can overlook that because I’m very shallow and easily impressed ? I tell you something, the seat is so much better than the monstrosity on the Himalayan ?

This is precisely why I bought the TL1000S over to Spain to give me an alternative biking experience to the Himalayan. There are times when all common sense needs to be ignored and you need to go with your heart. However, it’s not always plain sailing ?, it’s currently having its fueling sorted, the water pump completely overhauled, the front brake fixed and that’s before I start to sort out the compression on the rear! ............but it’s fucking mental to ride ???

Does forcing my wife to clean my wheels count or is that just top delegation? ?

Enjoy mate! ??

Cheers mate, we are restricted to the municipality which is only 120 sq miles but it’s very varied.

They’re quite something, they’ve shrunk a bit over the years but still pretty impressive. We’ve had a great winter so far; mild, dry and sunny with very little rain. Sounds like you’ve had a shit one on the other hand!

Hardly a ride report but thought I’d better put these in here. Out running some errands today and stopped down the beach at Bolnuevo where the wind and salty air have created these sandstone sculptures. Until very recently you could walk up to the cliffs behind and dangle your legs over the edge. Bollox to that! ?

No salt needed on that mate ?

Only on the chips mate ?

Best ever laugh in British comedy ?

Great name.........Vic Flange ???

‘Kin ‘ell, I only mentioned fried egg crisps ???????

Proper stinking but once you get past that they are lovely ?

If you’re looking for unusual crisps how about these........fried egg flavour from the local supermarket. Open the packet and dive straight in. ?

The Brits have always been troublemakers ?

I do like a Brazilian ?

Yes mate but it just goes to show how volatile the situation is.

We’re restricted to the Mazarron municipality from tomorrow once again as the numbers across the Murcia region are rising sharply even though locally it’s not bad (yet). Can’t complain as within the 123sq miles there’s beaches, mountains, twisty tarmac and a good network of trails.......yeehar! ???????

That’s true, mine stays at the back of the house under a cover and the car port. Mind you, the weather here allows it. ?

Just after I took the photo a couple of cyclists came the other way and the first one hit his leg and went straight over the edge. Good fucking effort. ?