Skippy

Cheers mate, much appreciated ??

Pete, is it permitted to post up details of a trail riding outfit local to me? I help out from time to time as a favour but there is absolutely nothing in it for me other than having a day out.

Not if I get it done before the end of this year which hopefully I will. However, I will have to still pay registration tax and that is included in the 600.

About 600 euros

Well the TL is coming along now with the help of a couple of very good mates. Thread repair done, standard pipes prepped and painted and ready to install. Suspension set up correctly by someone who knows what they’re doing (clearly not me ?) and front brake refurbished. I’m just waiting for a few odds and sods and it’ll be off to the ITV station to start the matriculation process.

Thanks for clarifying the rules. Note to self, must try harder ?

I managed to catch my flip flop on the rear seat as I got off the bike thereby pulling it over on top of me and trapping my right leg under the bike. No photos I’m afraid so I guess it only counts as gossip? ?

I might push the envelope and try polishing too ?

Nor me

I know how to do it but I’m getting a proper bike guru to do it as I really don’t want to balls it up. ?

I must have the only compass that works! It’s still shite but it definitely works! ??

Well, the mystery has been solved. It’s been helicoiled before with a metric insert as you would expect but it seems the sump plug is an imperial sized one. That was bound to give way at some point so just glad I got it home. Repair in hand along with preparation for matriculation onto Spanish plates.

Yes mate, that’s the plan. I’ve got standard cans for it and it’s an ex-German bike so lights et cetera are fine. It runs really well. Unfortunately, I need to do a thread repair on the sump drain hole has the sump plug won’t tighten enough to stop a small drip of oil and I don’t fancy that hitting the rear tyre with 125bhp going through it. ?

Well it was an adventure getting this beast back to Spain from the UK. Hemel Hempstead to Plymouth is well over 200 miles in biblical rain and there was so much water ingress that it limped the last 15 miles on one cylinder. Dried out on the 24 hours ferry crossing in some of the roughest sea conditions I’ve ever experienced but luckily I don’t get seasick. Docked in Bilbao 3 hours late so had a 325klm ‘sprint’ to the overnight hotel in Soria followed by a 622klm ‘dash’ the next day to get home. Just over 800 miles in all and man, that bike flies! Only took me 2 days to recover. ???

Pete, sounds to me that the CRF is the way to go for your biking needs. A mate of mine has one here and another mate has one in the UK. They are as capable as you’ll need off road and the bloke in the UK did a weeks road trip with a collection of 600cc dirt bikes and wasn’t embarrassed. Great bikes. You could always push the boat out and go for the Rally version?

Brit ghetto? Bloody cheek, there’s more Spanish here than anything. How dare they! ??

Better get a hurry up then, don’t think I’ve taken any this month!

I had one and loved it. Solid bike and capable as a distance tool or thrashing around the Derbyshire trails.

Damn had too much fun to take photos ?

Well it’s stopped raining here and the sun is out but haven’t got enough time to get out today so tomorrow it is then! No specific plans but having just cleaned the Himalayan after it’s last foray into the dusty countryside I think it deserves a relatively clean ride around the local twisty roads. I’ll meet up with the rest of the old farts and see where the mood takes us!

Yes mate, I saw one locally a couple of years ago on UK plates, a 58 reg so the same as my old one but with 50,000miles on I think and they still wanted £3,800. I ain’t paying that.

Shame as I loved my old Tenere, shown here at the top of Mount Jafferau.

I can’t even see any movement, perhaps I’m so used to my Himalayan shaking around ??. If you’re really worried mate take some fucking man-up pills. Worked wonders for me. ??

Funnily enough...........no.