XTreme Posted September 20, 2021 Share Posted September 20, 2021 25 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: A new pain has developed, being bikeless in the sun surrounded by empty roads and tarmac is very painful. It started last week and I can stand it no more. I told you it would happen! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 20/09/2021 at 10:51, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Update- A new pain has developed, being bikeless in the sun surrounded by empty roads and tarmac is very painful. It started last week and I can stand it no more. I’m going home to get a bike then I can take my sweet time dithering and researching what bike I’m going to get. Flight booked for Thursday. So I’ll either be a bit absent from here or on here all the time avoiding sorting stuff, always hard to predict when procrastination will strike What bike you bringing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swagman Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 54 minutes ago, XTreme said: What bike you bringing? Noddy bike. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboneleg Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 I think she's going to borrow @Six30 bike....................... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six30 Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 34 minutes ago, boboneleg said: I think she's going to borrow @Six30 bike....................... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 6 hours ago, XTreme said: What bike you bringing? Definitely the Himalayan. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 7 hours ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Definitely the Himalayan. Is Mr Slowly getting a bike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 1 hour ago, XTreme said: Is Mr Slowly getting a bike? Yep I spied something on auto trader I think he might like a lot but I don't want to say anything about it yet until Ive seen it in the flesh! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 53 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Yep I spied something on auto trader I think he might like a lot but I don't want to say anything about it yet until Ive seen it in the flesh! So you're going to buy one there and then ride it back? Are you doing the ferry to Santander/Bilbao? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 51 minutes ago, XTreme said: So you're going to buy one there and then ride it back? Are you doing the ferry to Santander/Bilbao? If I can get a decent price ticket it’ll be Santander/Bilbao. But they relaxed the Covid rules and bookings immediately shot up by 200% Everything is petty booked up so it might be a much longer route via the chunnel or a case of waiting until after half term. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 1 minute ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: If I can get a decent price ticket it’ll be Santander/Bilbao. But they relaxed the Covid rules and bookings immediately shot up by 200% Everything is petty booked up so it might be a much longer route via the chunnel or a case of waiting until after half term. After half term the weather could be getting a bit rough though going through France! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 1 minute ago, XTreme said: After half term the weather could be getting a bit rough though going through France! Yep that’s crossed my mind. The sooner the better. But always good to have a back up plan. I spend the majority of the year riding in the cold and wet so it’s all manageable… with the right gear. I wouldn’t take the scenic route in miserable weather, it’d be get to the sun by the fastest route type of thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 15 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Yep that’s crossed my mind. The sooner the better. But always good to have a back up plan. I spend the majority of the year riding in the cold and wet so it’s all manageable… with the right gear. I wouldn’t take the scenic route in miserable weather, it’d be get to the sun by the fastest route type of thing! October here will be nice.......but I don't think France will be too clever! If you're going to get another bike for Mr Slowly surely it would make more sense to get it here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yen_powell Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Top to bottom of Spain is very easy, I had an approximate 50mph top speed when I did it due to unsuitable tyres, they scared me over 55mph until they were nearly worn out when 70 was fine. Even at 50 though it was easy going. We took 3 days but only because Charlie held us up for most of a day getting new tyres for his bike and the fact we got lost afterwards and made him pay for a hotel for the night as punishment. That was April time, like UK weather in Bilbao, cool and drizzly the first day. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 2 minutes ago, yen_powell said: I had an approximate 50mph top speed when I did it due to unsuitable tyres, they scared me over 55mph until they were nearly worn out when 70 was fine. Why did you ride through Europe on unstable tyres Yen? Didn't you know they were unstable when you left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tym Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 Bon voyage @Slowlycatchymonkey!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 11 hours ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Definitely the Himalayan. Great choice, there’s a good Spanish Facebook page (queue the FB-haters ) and of course the UK version too which is run by a mate of mine. Always worth a look to see what’s going on or if you need technical help etc. Whereabouts are you based in Spain? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tym Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 10 minutes ago, Skippy said: (queue the FB-haters ) I do quite well on Facebutt. My wall is a work of digital tymmy. All Tymmy all the tyme, facebutt rocks for the photogenic. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yen_powell Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 16 minutes ago, XTreme said: Why did you ride through Europe on unstable tyres Yen? Didn't you know they were unstable when you left? I was using my bike for day to day travel to work. My original plan was to carry the tyres and fit them after crossing Spain, but they took up too much room so me I decided to fit them the day before leaving. The rear Desert was fine. The front , which despite being road legal was quite aggressive looking had two problems. First was the very unstable feeling at speed on a tarmac surface. The second was at higher speeds they would not let the bike follow a curve, they wanted to carry on straight. I rode about 30 motorway miles to Strange Dave's house to find that out. If I did it again I would put an MT21 or similar front on. Having said all that, they tyres were very very good off road and tough as anything. Even with only 12-15psi in them they still didn't flatten out on a loaded Africa Twin. In fact, unknown to me, I had gotten a puncture when I got home, I think when I went over a burnt out pallet on a local green lane just before getting back. Wanted to use the bike with knobbly tyres one last time. Next morning I put my son on the back to take him to school and we got three streets away before I realised I had a flat tyre! They are in my garage rafters now, can't bring myself to throw them away. I might get them down and take a picture later. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 27 minutes ago, XTreme said: October here will be nice.......but I don't think France will be too clever! If you're going to get another bike for Mr Slowly surely it would make more sense to get it here? Because what he fancies isn’t practical for here and that’s ok, I think sometimes people should just have what their heart desires but I suspect it will be back in the garage after a short time. Im not influencing his decision, but I’m just ensuring I’m not lumbered with a bike to flog over here before we move on. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 20 minutes ago, yen_powell said: I was using my bike for day to day travel to work. My original plan was to carry the tyres and fit them after crossing Spain, but they took up too much room so me I decided to fit them the day before leaving. The rear Desert was fine. The front , which despite being road legal was quite aggressive looking had two problems. First was the very unstable feeling at speed on a tarmac surface. The second was at higher speeds they would not let the bike follow a curve, they wanted to carry on straight. I rode about 30 motorway miles to Strange Dave's house to find that out. If I did it again I would put an MT21 or similar front on. Having said all that, they tyres were very very good off road and tough as anything. Even with only 12-15psi in them they still didn't flatten out on a loaded Africa Twin. In fact, unknown to me, I had gotten a puncture when I got home, I think when I went over a burnt out pallet on a local green lane just before getting back. Wanted to use the bike with knobbly tyres one last time. Next morning I put my son on the back to take him to school and we got three streets away before I realised I had a flat tyre! They are in my garage rafters now, can't bring myself to throw them away. I might get them down and take a picture later. So you keep your old rubbers for years after using them Yen? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTreme Posted September 22, 2021 Share Posted September 22, 2021 21 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said: Because what he fancies isn’t practical for here What does he fancy then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 5 minutes ago, XTreme said: What does he fancy then? If he buys it on Friday I’ll post some pics 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 5 hours ago, Skippy said: Great choice, there’s a good Spanish Facebook page (queue the FB-haters ) and of course the UK version too which is run by a mate of mine. Always worth a look to see what’s going on or if you need technical help etc. Whereabouts are you based in Spain? Salobrena. I think I joined the UK version but I can’t be arsed with Facebook. Oh that reminds me I have to go on Facebook to wish a couple of people happy birthday 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowlycatchymonkey Posted September 22, 2021 Author Share Posted September 22, 2021 What is Mosquito spit made of in Spain? These bites are mahoosive 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now