Pedro

Not my intention, though, I did get how stressed of panicked you were from your account of it and do understand you were very scared. Sorry if it translated into unkind. I'm happy you didn't get run over. My written english seems to convey coldness and my humor is frequently missed.

Second season is the best one, out of all.

I will try to buy either from keihin or Honda. Most fuel I buy still is E5, though.

Someone hit you from behind and you started to brake hard after? That sounds more dangerous that walking out into the motorway.

When I was about 10 I put a thumb in a lamp socket at the end of an extension, just to see what happened. Think you can die from that, but it wasn't as bad as i had imagined. Probably the most stupid thing I ever did. Around 12 or 14 a friend lent me his bicycle, it was a road bike with skinny tires, back then kids usually didn't have those so I was very excited to go on a fast bicycle, he forgot to tell me the brakes weren't connected. I proceeded to go on on a very steep street and ramp that ended on a garage, didn't get what he was shouting about, rode straight into a concrete wall, over the handlebars and headlong into it. Proceeded to stumble home, made it to bed and passed out for a while, was dizzy for hours. Pretty sure you couldn't die from that but it really hurt. Nurburgring, Miss-Hit-Miss is a fast downhill section with three apexes that you miss, hit and miss and exit quite wide, very narrow and fastish. If done fast it's a little scary as you don't have much margin for error. On a very optimistic laptime chasing moment I entered it way too fast, backed it in through the miss and the hit and only managed to get it back properly together on the third apex. I remember thinking I would not do that again, but it was one of my calls to fame at the time as I had a GPS recorded minimum speed through there of 152kmh, which is very fast this side of a proper car with slicks. Coming down to Lisbon to meet my girlfriend for lunch on a friday, I was riding my current bike, new at the time. It had a fresh pair of Heidenau K60 and full sidecases, and I was on the motorway, some how got into evaluating how stable those tires were going fast, they were ok for 200, but started weaving at about 180. The weave was very controlable and felt predictable right until a truck started showing it's blinker to pass someone on a very fast topspeedish downhill long left-hander. On the brakes it wasn't as nice. Stupid moment, but not as stupid as clambering around a busy motorway picking up your stuff, you don't leave stuff like that and go (regardless of its it identifies you or not) because that's how other people get killed on motorcycles, but you sit back and call an emergency number that sends help to fetch your stuff.

I've working like a fucking phone and email ninja since 8:30. It'll be a lazy weekend. I'll see if there are places nearby with stock of Keihin parts, probably not. Will go for a short ride on saturday and on sunday. It'll get warm here so curious to see how my new "winter" jacket copes with that, it better do well because all the other stuff is 300km away then on monday will act as a guide on a trip north, with a female riding a Triumph following along nice twisty roads through center Portugal.

If it ends up running as good as that tastes, it's a result! Will look into buying a kit of the sealants for this before taking it apart. The point being that if I disassemble it, clean it and get it back together the next day it might stand a 50% change of working, if I disassemble it now and try in a month time to put it back together that 50% will drop significantly I wonder if it wouldn't make sense to get a Mikuni pump carb, are they easier to start? Is it a direct replacement?

That's cool, I'll do that. I'm ok with cooking so what can go wrong ...

What's up with punching teeth out? Punching teeth really hurts!

Yeah, seems I might as well order some rubber things for the carb and then take it sort of apart to clean. Ultrasonic bath? I know what that is but I think I'll have to travel to the future to find someone with that in my neighborhood.

I wonder if they asked @Sir Fallsalot for a little help with some filters to make it pop up.

I'll post a picture for reference later on in the summer if I pass the same spot. This is close to the ocean though, so it's normal for forests and farmed fields to remain green.

This is what everyone in Portugal sees in their minds when you hear of a house in London. Love the old cemetery with the trees, feels like a time bubble inside a city that grew modern around it.

So, had a while to spare in the afternoon, and between calls went and took the drain plug from my XR400R's carb, to see the state of things inside. Nothing looks as dirt bike cool as a 80 or 90's Honda, I think. Looked like moss inside, the bottom was sort of crusty but the walls of it looked like the greenish yellow was a part of it. This is was was encrusted in the bottom. Looking more normal, but I ended up getting rid of the smaller bits of it still in this picture. Washed it using the petrol that I used to flush the carb and a toothbrush. The fuel coming out had a few particles but looked ok to me. Nothing that my phone might be able to pic up on pictures. I gave up kicking and kicking since it wasn't making any of the "about to start" sounds it usually makes. Then resorted to pushing it up my driveway, which is the same height as a full flight of stairs, and bump starting it down. The first time it started, in third gear with the tick over quite high and helped by the slippery ground and new front tire I almost ended up on the wall It manages to run for a while on choke, but can't get it off choke without stalling. I feel it's not running well either, sounds harsh and spluttery. A few more tries and I did get her to start on the kick a few times, but not for long. Pushed it up that drive more times than I feel comfortable counting I did think of getting it out on the street, there's a loooong way down from my door, ideal for bump starting it a few times and put some heat into the engine, but if it ends up not running I can never push it back up that far and steep. So, after a while I though that the little black adjuster that helps adjust tickover might have been too high, ended up on no adjust, so just put in 1 or 2 turns on that. Then foolishly tried to start her a few times with fuel on reserve, and fuel closed. Eventually it ran for maybe 30 seconds to a minute, on choke, but just dies like it runs out of fuel, accelerator does nothing to help it keep going. The phone started ringing and I came inside. Will try again tomorrow.

You still made the same comment as a joke to your daughter though, so surely you get how wadding about in mud up to your ankles under the rain looks like a weird kind of enjoyment.

I think we should have a section for bimble reports, found this interesting but it's really not worthy of a ride report, to me ride reports should be about more than just a few pictures of a location, but here you go anyway. Anyway, out for lunch at my favourite cafe for a burger, and I spotted an historic location on google maps right next a road I like going past. I had noticed the Portuguese flag marking the spot but never occurred to me to go see how to get there. Turns out it's Castro de Pragança, Pragança being the tiny place where it is. A Castro is something I can't really translate adequately but it's usually ruins of really old settlements or fortifications. After a little research this one was found in 1893, and dates back to end of the Neolithic. It was occupied or used through the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages, and then used by Romans. It amazes me how I never noticed this, although to be fair you do have to look for it and once there you're free to roam around but there's nothing more than a few ruins of really old rocks marking where building used to be. Still found it interesting, and it's always cool to stand on something so old. From the top looking at the hill, you can see my usual road to return home after a coffee. And the Castro itself: The place, being empty, I felt tempted to ride up the gravel path right to the top. Fortunately I didn't because I would have felt like a proper twat now at home finding out I had trampled over a place with 3 to 4000 years. This was right after lunch, after riding up there and taking a little dirt road shortcut to make things interesting, then down and went on a little longer detour via some very typical farmlands. The culture this area is mostly known for is Pears, home of the Pera Rocha which is Portugal's most known kind of Pear. Pear trees don't really grow to his form naturally but they are repeatedly trimmed for easier fruit picking and more productivity, ending up with an odd sort of look to them, now in bloom: Weather was perfect, 14º up in the hill, 17 to 19º at the bottom, just perfect. Coming back home I noticed there's a lot more animals in the fields, taking advantage of green grass that's about to start turn dry in a few weeks. Plenty of horses grazing and running around, a few herds of sheep and goats with some very happy to be out guard dogs taking in the afternoon sun almost like they know it's going to be too hot in 2 months time. I took no more pictures because all the yellow and blue flowers waving in the breeze meant I was maybe about to have a little bit of an allergy attack. Stopped by the supermarket for fruit and vegetables, and indeed started getting watery eyes but just in time to arrive home.

Nice signals for tourists, basically, you can choose between going left and going right, life is like a box of chocolates...

Farmlands north of Lisbon near the coast.

Sorry, I will correct my statement: that looks like a horrible time to me

Poor horse, that seems like a miserable time!

Safer that way

Sitting outside with a coffee and calling clients enjoying a chill morning with little wind. Will take the opportunity of little wind to treat my tree against aphids. This is a lovely work / countryside balance when it works. Then later will get on the bike and go out for lunch, this time in what looks like a success judging by the blue skies. It's going to get hot in the weekend, 31º isn't that normal for this time of year yet, 20º and perfect today so quite a big difference.

They used to say Chinese bike manufacturers copied Europeans and Japanese in styling, but look at this shit and tell me it doesn't look Chinese, in a bad way, like it's really trying to be something it doesn't know what it is.

That V shaped thing on the back where the light is looks kind of odd. It's a very cool bike though.

Pretty cool, look forward to see how they end up.