For the first time in ages, the roads round here have been dry, and the temperature has been in the mid-teens. I have therefore taken every opportunity to get out on the XT and do a few errands: post a letter, buy a paper, post another letter, and so on.
On its newish Avon tyres, the XT is handling as well as it should, and carving through the town traffic was a real pleasure. Let's hope Summer this year isn't a barbecue summer (© Met Office) but is the Met Office's idea of a thoroughly miserable, damp and chilly one, and then we can really get some riding done.
I have already linked up with some Triumph riders from a web forum and we are organising some rideouts in mid-Wales when the weather becomes a bit more reliable. I did a rideout around Llyn Brianne reservoir a few years ago with a local IAM group, and there are some great roads up there.
Please, please, can we have some decent weather this year?
Let's hope so!
ReplyDeleteShould get some, at any rate - a group of my main customers are doing a trip out to the WSB at Monza in May and asked if I wanted to go along. 8 days total round trip, on as many scenic and mountain roads as possible.
Sounds too good to miss - just trying to decide which bike to take. I'm tempted to make it the Versys, just because it's comfortable and came with all the touring kit, but it depends on what everyone else is bringing to the party and how fast they intend to storm the route.
That aside, though, I'd like to have the chance to work the chicken strips off the RF here in the UK as well!
You lucky git.
ReplyDeleteTake the Versys. It's stood by you through a nasty, cold winter. Now's the time to repay it with a bit of lurve.
I thank you!
ReplyDeleteThe Versys it is - had to decide for the Eurostar booking. A mixed bag of others: Beemer, Guzzi, Bandit and a Freewind are the ones I know about. Not that the Kwak has a particular problem at spirited road speeds - it'll hold a ton all day long - but the presence of a rival 650 suggests we won't be all about speed. Probably would've been a different call if it was a fleet of ZZRs or similar.
Anyway, I'm betting that for most of the Alpine stuff the Versys'll be much more fun than the RF: hairpins and big horse aren't the ideal mix.
Cue frantic preparation and dusting-off of documents. I've driven in Europe (my camper-van credentials are immaculate - kinda wish I still had one) but never gotten around to taking a bike over. Hope it works out as good as your Denmark voyage did.
Good choice with the Versys. I quite agree about the 'competition'. Against some serious bahn-blasters you would have kept up with them (I would think) but at a cost in terms of fatigue and a general feeling of being unkind to the bike. A mixed bag like you describe sounds like it could be a fun trip - a bunch of laughs rather than 'did you see me pass that copper at 180 on one wheel?'
ReplyDeleteYou will love riding sur le Continong. Less traffic, better roads, and car drivers who seem to know what it's about. I can't wait to get back over there.