Pedro

Sand paper! Also useful for "for competition use only" markers Having said that, I am envious of how clean that bike looks.

A nice scooter is a nice thing, but I would think someone with back back would struggle on one on medium to long rides?

You got some black marker to paint over those white letters on your tires, Pete? They take away from how clean the bike is, they're all I can see!

When the economy starts putting small businesses out of work people start starving a losing homes. I have a few clients very much afraid and not sleeping because of this, because a few of their clients are a few weeks away from being broke, and by broke I mean not having money to eat and pay for anything.

It was supposed to be an easy morning for me, followed by picking up my shocks at the shop for them spaniards to collect them from my place tomorrow for testing and fixing, with a brief stop by the office for picking up some boxes of samples to be distributed by most of my clients tomorrow. Thing is, my spanish plant is stoping for two weeks and they were meant to have everything on stock for all deliveries for these two weeks, today they realize there is only enough for two or three days. As always, they had a month to plan it and still turn it into a complete fucking shit show, as they say in Spain, un merdero! Now I've been on the laptop and phone stressed as fuck, but the rest is still going to happen. I'm just posting to make myself seem as busy as @yen_powell

I should say, on the way to the restaurant with a smile on my face I give this nod to a cop that is looking at me riding past him like saying: I see you, and I respect cops, have a nice evening

June 2019, I'm in the Algarve and it's a warm night. I need groceries so decide to take the bike and my backpack, go have a pizza and then to the supermarket. As I am leaving I remember I forgot the backpack and go back inside for it, then on the way to the restaurant riding down an avenue on shorts and tshirt at 21:00 I am thinking: "man, summer evenings here sure are great, such warm air all over your body, I can't even tell I'm wearing my helmet" and as I am parking the bike and walking to the pizza place I go to take the helmet strap off and there you go, forgot my helmet at home. I was sober! I would need to ride past a police station to go home, which I don't have the nerve to do as riding with no helmet gets your license taken away, so after dinner I walk back to get the helmet like a twat.

Don't drink and drive? You're not Fangio? Buy old cars since you can't drive?

It's not a matter of liking bikes or not, it's pure marketing. Can they tax a small economy car with 100 quid a year of tax and get away with it politically? No. Can they heavily tax a bike that is owned by a minority of voters with no political weight who are also bike enthusiasts and are willing to suffer for their hobby / lifestyle? Yes.

How do you change gear, Bob?

Spaniards' spending power is a lot more than Portuguese, but they are also used to spending more when eating out or having drinks, all that stuff is quite more expensive than in Portugal. However, I wouldn't say Portuguese live worse than Spaniards, we eat as well as Spaniards but cheaper, and drink far better than Spaniards for cheaper as well. Some things are historically a lot cheaper in Spain though, like fuel, cigarettes, cars, etc But, it's a given that a factory worker in Spain can indulge in a better life than the guy doing the same job in Portugal. I think we are better educated and for sure a lot better at speaking foreign languages, that's why a lot of back office work is coming to Portugal, because they save 30% pay for a workforce that can compete with any european country.

Not so long ago it was a little over 500, currently 635€ and a large part of the population is earning that. Average wage is probably around 900.

We got some good things in Portugal, though, good wine is the cheapest in Europe Helps you forget about the costs of driving ?

Even more so when you consider that someone on minimum wage would be working a full month to pay for my car's road tax.

Is that when the first members start getting our monthly 50€?

getting where?

Agreed, it's pretty universal nowadays, the specific point of each tax has lost it's meaning and it's all been merged into a huge bowl of sucking money from the tax payer. They'll just say vehicle tax is to pay for the roads and shit like that while fuel tax is to pay for environmental policy changes, while in reality they'll just make reasons to try and increase each part of the government's earning bowl any way they can make believable. I have a 3 liter diesel car from 2001, paying over 600€ tax, and around 120 for the bike. Yet Portugal is by far the country with less minimum wage between all mentioned here. We have most motorways as toll paying roads as well.

I have never used any helmet speakers before last year, but as I was missing too many calls from clients while riding when they expected me to be working, I thought it would be a good thing to have. Otherwise, I would stop somewhere and have calls to make and that would ruin my stop. So now, I find it much more relaxing to have the phone on the handlebars, I see who is calling and if it is worth it to pick up or not, and hav gotten used to a little music on longer journeys. I like it. I always ride alone, and am always stopping in places where I am alone as well, most of the time I want to be alone but when I don't a little music while riding is a good thing.

In the Algarve, when southern winds bring dust from Africa you can sometimes smell a little bit of it. It's a great thing that smells like you're in an Indiana Jones movie

I've got a few moments that are deeply memorable, but most memorable are two: 2014, first trip to Morocco on the 1150GS with my girlfriend, we arrive at Tangier on mid afternoon and spend an hour or two on customs, sort of lost and not really understanding what we were doing on each paperwork booth, I remember not being in a rush and sort of savoring the moment because it felt like all the adventure books and reports I had read. Then, as they slowly opened the harbor customs' gates we roll onto the seafront avenue in search of our hotel that was on the same avenue. It was quite warm and late afternoon by then, riding slowly with my jacket open, going past the bad fish smell that used to be in front of the old docks (now it looks like a nice european city), I remember the first roundabout and the first moments in morrocan city traffic, the usual gathering of guys at the end of the afternoon, what I remember as most memorable is the feeling of adventure and literally smelling Africa as we roll out of customs. It's maybe too romantic, but I do remember that I would never feel like that again, and I was right an the next few times that feeling got replaced by familiarity. This is on video, but for some reason both my external hard drives have not been cooperating and I am waiting for my brother to help me out with them, it'll take a while as he's in Croacia. 2017, the fourth trip to Morocco, second trip on the current 1200GSA, we get out of home at around 9AM on a saturday on late September, weather is nice but morning chilly, we get onto the motorway heading south and cross the Tejo river north of Lisbon and the bike feels specially smooth while we cruise at 120 or 130kmh, I remember thinking that we had a whole trip and adventure ahead of us, I remember the light, asking Maria if she was comfy. I appreciated that moment as it happened and would have been happy if that was the last moment in my life, the feeling of enjoyment of a whole trip ahead. The plan was to ride straight to Morocco that day, but the weather was so nice that when we got to the Algarve we decided to cut the day short, have a nice grilled fish lunch, and go have a swim in the ocean in the afternoon. Then a nice dinner and too much wine, it was one of the best days of my life. I remember the before was a saturday because on the next day, a sunday at around 07:00AM we are leaving home to heading to Tarifa and I remember to casually check my insurance papers to find that Morocco wasn't in my policy, and all insurance offices would be closed because it was a sunday ?. My mate Paulo, who does my insurances handled it at 8:00AM when I woke him up with a call, and that's why I will always have my bike's insurance with him. Another one, long time ago, I think maybe 2006, I was on a ride on my Transalp to the Serra da Estrela, got off the road onto a dirt road for 100 or 200 meters, and stopped for a piss. Parked the bike and left the helmet on top. As I finish and turn back to the bike I notice a dog is sniffing it, I assume it's a curious shepherd's dog but as it round the bike I see it's a little big for a dog, with a long snout, it's an Iberian wolf, which is quite smaller and thinner than north american wolves but still I was shitting myself. It moved 1 or 2 meters from the bike towards me, and I'm frozen with fear. It just quietly sniffed the air, and walked away. It was scary as hell.

Loved it

So did I when i posted it, some things never change

I think so too, it sure looked like it from when I watched a few episodes of "The Son", really looked like parts of southern Portugal.

I think it's a pretty balanced bike, it's sort of lightweight as it is because of not having a battery and starter. Plus it suit's it's unbreakable personality because this way it's always ready to go without worries of a flat battery, it is very easy to start as it is, unless you're picking it up after dropping it on a warm day.

Yes, they're road legal here. Although I don't think I've ever seen a XR400 with the stock blinkers on.