On Monday, November 22, 2021 at 6:20:40 PM UTC-5, wessie wrote:
> Ben Blaney <benb...@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:ef30f070-793b-4c5c...@googlegroups.com:

> > Yes, I think that's key. I've mentioned it a few times here, but I am
> > currently spending a lot of time thinking about getting a touring bike
> > to ride coast-to-coast on. Partly that's probably because of the
> > enforced home-time during the pandemic, etc. And in a way, it's more
> > a ride I want to ride than a bike I want to ride. But it'll get me
> > out, clock up a bunch of miles, and perhaps will reinforce
> > motorcycling a a key part of who I am.
> >
> get an FJR1300 like Turby & Mike have - much better than the Honda you have
> mentioned

I will certainly take a look. I hoping it's something that would do the journey admirably, but also be something I'd fall in love with on the way, and then keep for future trips.

> are your kids old enough & interested to be involved? Would their mother
> permit such shenanigans?

They're 10. Hard to take two kids on one motorbike.

Ben Blaney <benblaney@gmail.com> wrote:

> Bikes are a six month a year hobby here in Upstate NY! My friend
> George counts down to "the first day of motorcycle season" when thing
> are gloomy during the winter.

Tell me all about it...

I agree with Turby- there's a wide spectrum of bikes that can be
sensible tourers. The FJR isn't the worst choice by a long shot,
but as I get older, I sometimes wish it had a reverse gear.

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

Ben Blaney <benblaney@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Monday, November 22, 2021 at 6:20:40 PM UTC-5, wessie wrote:

>> are your kids old enough & interested to be involved? Would their mother
>> permit such shenanigans?
>
> They're 10. Hard to take two kids on one motorbike.

Ural outfit.

Or, https://i.imgur.com/K5Nxkd1.png

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

On 11/22/2021 4:11 PM, Ben Blaney wrote:
> On Monday, November 22, 2021 at 6:20:40 PM UTC-5, wessie wrote:
>>
>>>
>> get an FJR1300 like Turby & Mike have - much better than the Honda you have
>> mentioned
>
> I will certainly take a look. I hoping it's something that would do the journey admirably, but also be something I'd fall in love with on the way, and then keep for future trips.
>
The FJR is an excellent all around bike. OK, so it's not a dirt bike,
and it prolly won't give you orgasms, but there's very little to dislike.

--
The erstwhile Thomas
FJR1300, R1200GS, ST1100 (in memoriam)

On 23/11/2021 00:11, Ben Blaney wrote:
> On Monday, November 22, 2021 at 6:20:40 PM UTC-5, wessie wrote:
>> Ben Blaney <benb...@gmail.com> wrote in
>> news:ef30f070-793b-4c5c...@googlegroups.com:
>
>>> Yes, I think that's key. I've mentioned it a few times here, but I am
>>> currently spending a lot of time thinking about getting a touring bike
>>> to ride coast-to-coast on. Partly that's probably because of the
>>> enforced home-time during the pandemic, etc. And in a way, it's more
>>> a ride I want to ride than a bike I want to ride. But it'll get me
>>> out, clock up a bunch of miles, and perhaps will reinforce
>>> motorcycling a a key part of who I am.
>>>
>> get an FJR1300 like Turby & Mike have - much better than the Honda you have
>> mentioned
>
> I will certainly take a look. I hoping it's something that would do the journey admirably, but also be something I'd fall in love with on the way, and then keep for future trips.
>
>> are your kids old enough & interested to be involved? Would their mother
>> permit such shenanigans?
>
> They're 10. Hard to take two kids on one motorbike.
>

Sidecar outfit. One on the pillion and one in the chair.

Don't knock it until you have tried it.

--
Moto Morini 2C/375, Moto Morini 2C/350
Gilera 175 Sport, Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen
1937 Sunbeam Model 14 250 Sports
"Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in the reality"

On 23/11/2021 00:28 wessie penned these words:
> Get a bike you want to ride and don't care if it gets manky or worn out
> rather than building a museum to rival Jay Leno.

This ^^ I was quite cross when a bloody monkey bit a hole in the added comfort
seat. Should have left the original on for day2day.

--
Ian

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of
the last priest"

On 23/11/2021 09:09 Mark Olson penned these words:
> Ben Blaney <benblaney@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Bikes are a six month a year hobby here in Upstate NY! My friend
>> George counts down to "the first day of motorcycle season" when thing
>> are gloomy during the winter.
>
> Tell me all about it...
>
> I agree with Turby- there's a wide spectrum of bikes that can be
> sensible tourers. The FJR isn't the worst choice by a long shot,
> but as I get older, I sometimes wish it had a reverse gear.
>
I try to remember to back into spaces as it's a damn sight easier with the BMW
powering out than paddling uphill. Not helped by much of the bike parking being
designed around small scooters/step-thru. Saw another line of dominoes when I
went to the national park last week, fortunately I parked opposite way to
everyone else and near to the attendant so mine didn't have a lie down this time.

--
Ian

"Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of
the last priest"

On 23/11/2021 07:02, Pete Fisher wrote:

> Sidecar outfit. One on the pillion and one in the chair.
>
> Don't knock it until you have tried it.

Then knock it

--
Gyp

On 23/11/2021 08:51, Gyp wrote:
> On 23/11/2021 07:02, Pete Fisher wrote:
>
>> Sidecar outfit. One on the pillion and one in the chair.
>>
>> Don't knock it until you have tried it.
>
> Then knock it
>

Sure. If it's a wheezy old wobbly Ural or similar.

A properly setup outfit with reasonable power, leading link forks and
decent rubber can be surprising fun.

Happy memories of taking the Mille GT/Squire to Pahnd Island. Overtaking
solos on the way up to the bungalow. Only the screams from the sidecar
slowing me down.

--
Moto Morini 2C/375, Moto Morini 2C/350
Gilera 175 Sport, Husqvarna 401 Svartpilen
1937 Sunbeam Model 14 250 Sports
"Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in the reality"

On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 12:49:18 +0100, Ace <Ace@ch.com> wrote:

>>The IMC course [1] says - if they are breathing ok, leave their helmet
>>on, as there's nothing to be gained, and serious potential downside,
>>to poor removal. BUT, if they are not breathing, they've got a minute
>>or two at best, so get the helmet off

>Trouble is, if they're unconscious you're not able to assess their
>airway and breathing, so the current advice, and indeed what I've been
>taught in the last decades, seems to make more sense.
>
>I suspect that your IMC course paraphrasing should have read "if they
>are conscious and breathing...".

Ah yes, I could well be misremembering. Which is the problem with
infrequent training - we need to renew every 3 years
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old

On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 10:55:25 +0100, Ace <Ace@ch.com> wrote:

>On Sun, 21 Nov 2021 19:01:46 +0000, Salad Dodger
><salad.dodger@idnet.com> wrote:
>
>>To calm the rider's wife (at home) don't open the conversation with
>>the news that "he's in a neck brace".

>Hah. Apparently my wife was informed by phone call, something like "We
>have your husband, he's going to live."
>
>Brutal.

Yes. Can see how that was tough to hear :-)
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old

On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 00:20:50 +0000, Mike Fleming <mike@tauzero.co.uk>
wrote:

>> As was ours. We were amused by the suggestion that, to calm the rider,
>> the first thing you should do is assure them that the bike's ok - even
>> if it isn't.

>"The bike's fine. Both parts."

Oh, you've seen my ZX10R after my Greeba crash, then?

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtbgbS_3FApLj-BsOp70XLTw2zMCaA
--
Champ
neal at champ dot org dot uk

I don't know, but I been told
You never slow down, you never grow old

On 22/11/2021 22:17, Ben Blaney wrote:
> On Monday, November 22, 2021 at 11:28:55 AM UTC-5, wessie wrote:
>
>> Get a bike you want to ride and don't care if it gets manky or worn out
>> rather than building a museum to rival Jay Leno.
>
> Yes, I think that's key. I've mentioned it a few times here, but I am currently spending a lot of time thinking about getting a touring bike to ride coast-to-coast on. Partly that's probably because of the enforced home-time during the pandemic, etc. And in a way, it's more a ride I want to ride than a bike I want to ride.

Which raises the question, what is wrong with doing it on the bike you
have?[1]

Isn't the answer to the question "What is the best bike for [insert own
need]?", usually "The one you have".

[1] Sorry, lost track of what you have.

--
Bruce Porter
"The internet is a huge and diverse community but mainly friendly"
http://ytc1.blogspot.co.uk/
There *is* an alternative! http://www.openoffice.org/

Ben Blaney wrote:

> but I am currently spending a lot of time thinking about getting a
> touring bike to ride coast-to-coast on.

Post 2016 Triumph Tiger 800

I know it's the usual recommend what you own but it's the best touring
bike I've ever had. I've done some touring here and there and it's a
very civilised machine, great engine, high spec suspension, it's good
on fuel and can carry a ton of stuff.

--
Simon

Ben Blaney wrote:

> I will confess to a curious set of emotions around the topic, which
> are pretty new to me. I find myself very very conscious of the
> danger inherent to riding motorcycles, which of course I always was -
> but apparently I used to be better at putting out of my mind. I
> wonder how that change is related to some of the following factors:
> - getting older - having children - having had a spell of riding
> very little (living in the Middle East, then having an inappropriate
> bike in Colorado, then having no time when the kids were tiny) -
> being aware that the KSI rate in the USA is substantially higher than
> in the UK - having an absolutely beautiful bike that I really don't
> want to damage (never the case before)
>
> Any help in getting my head straight would be gratefully received.

I'm not sure any of that applies. Although I was fairly young (23)
when I became a father so that getting old/having kids thing didn't
really apply.

I've not had a break from bikes or lived abroad.

However, I've always had inappropriate bikes for the job in hand, but I
managed some significant miles on two stroke MZs and went two up
touring on a 70s Suzuki GS550, thrapped around on an old Guzzi keeping
up with more modern bikes for years.

It's probably only in the last eight years I've had stuff more sensible
to tour on.

My experience is probably a bit different but I do slightly bristle
when people say they are moving away from riding because they are
having a mental tussle with the risks.

I find my reactions are not what they used to be, or my night vison,
and the roads are not as empty as I remember but I don't see any
greater risk overall - but that may be just me.

I'd imagine touring in the open expanses of the US to be something
pretty special.

Is it possible you're just making excuses?

--
Simon

On 23/11/2021 10:48, sweller wrote:

>
> Is it possible you're just making excuses?
>

I think he's just talking himself into buying more bikes

--
Gyp

On 23 Nov 2021 10:48:25 GMT, "sweller" <sweller@mztech.fsnet.co.uk>
wrote:

>My experience is probably a bit different but I do slightly bristle
>when people say they are moving away from riding because they are
>having a mental tussle with the risks.

As you get older the risks from dying of natural causes (heart attack,
cancer, and now covid etc) start to exceed the biking ones, so you
could argue it's probably OK to stay on two wheels. Certainly helps
mental health anyway.

--

Pete
Garage vacancy now filled, N+1 incremented accordingly
F800R

Boots <news@millhouse-communications.co.uk> wrote in
news:55ju6i-ket.ln1@bilbo.eternal-september.org:

> On 23/11/2021 00:28 wessie penned these words:
>> Get a bike you want to ride and don't care if it gets manky or worn
>> out rather than building a museum to rival Jay Leno.
>
> This ^^ I was quite cross when a bloody monkey bit a hole in the added
> comfort seat. Should have left the original on for day2day.
>

#344 in an infinite series of things you do not expect to read on a UK
board

wessie <willnotwork@tesco.net> wrote:
> Boots <news@millhouse-communications.co.uk> wrote in
> news:55ju6i-ket.ln1@bilbo.eternal-september.org:
>
>> On 23/11/2021 00:28 wessie penned these words:
>>> Get a bike you want to ride and don't care if it gets manky or worn
>>> out rather than building a museum to rival Jay Leno.
>>
>> This ^^ I was quite cross when a bloody monkey bit a hole in the added
>> comfort seat. Should have left the original on for day2day.
>>
>
> #344 in an infinite series of things you do not expect to read on a UK
> board

I've forwarded Ian's post to my lovely wife who has a (not entirely
irrational) fear of monkeys.

I try to send one monkey-related item per day, entitled "YDM".

--
FJR1300A, GL1000, KLR650A6F, EX250J9A, DR200SE, Vespa Ciao

On 23/11/2021 10:35, sweller wrote:
> Ben Blaney wrote:
>
>> but I am currently spending a lot of time thinking about getting a
>> touring bike to ride coast-to-coast on.
>
> Post 2016 Triumph Tiger 800
>
> I know it's the usual recommend what you own but it's the best touring
> bike I've ever had. I've done some touring here and there and it's a
> very civilised machine, great engine, high spec suspension, it's good
> on fuel and can carry a ton of stuff.

Also possibly the 2020-on Tiger 900 - I found the vibration from the
T-crank a bit annoying when I took one for a test ride (I've already got
a T120 which can supply me with adequate vibration), others don't mind it.

On 23/11/2021 09:30, Champ wrote:
> On Mon, 22 Nov 2021 00:20:50 +0000, Mike Fleming <mike@tauzero.co.uk>
> wrote:
>
>>> As was ours. We were amused by the suggestion that, to calm the rider,
>>> the first thing you should do is assure them that the bike's ok - even
>>> if it isn't.
>
>> "The bike's fine. Both parts."
>
> Oh, you've seen my ZX10R after my Greeba crash, then?
>
> https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtbgbS_3FApLj-BsOp70XLTw2zMCaA

Yes, that was what sprang to mind.

On Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 5:00:30 AM UTC-5, YTC#1 wrote:

> Which raises the question, what is wrong with doing it on the bike you
> have?[1]
>
> Isn't the answer to the question "What is the best bike for [insert own
> need]?", usually "The one you have".
>
> [1] Sorry, lost track of what you have.

It's a valid point. The only functioning bike I have is the ex-TOG, ex-Ace 1976 Honda CB400f. Probably not ideal for a 3,200 mile ride.

The other bike I own is the ex-Champ, ex-DrWill, ex-sweller 750 Turbo that is in my dad's garage in Essex, awaiting a restoration by the guy who did my Honda. At this point it hasn't moved under its own power in a decade.

On Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 5:48:28 AM UTC-5, sweller wrote:

> Is it possible you're just making excuses?

That is possible. I think there are a couple of elements. I do find it hard to find time to go for a ride. With young kids, I'm conscious that at some point they'll be teenagers and they won't want to spend time with me at all, so I try to maximize that. And I travel a bit during the week, so I do prioritize whole-family activities at weekend (which biking certainly isn't of course). There is a persistent, nagging worry about the safety of it - but I wonder if that's just me conscious that I'm rusty, and therefore not at peak me.

I'm not giving up biking, no way. And I fully expect for it to be a much greater part of my life when the kids are older. Sometime soon I really would like to do a long ride, alone; perhaps that would recalibrate my brain.

On 23/11/2021 07:50, Boots wrote:
> On 23/11/2021 09:09 Mark Olson penned these words:
>> Ben Blaney <benblaney@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Bikes are a six month a year hobby here in Upstate NY! My friend
>>> George counts down to "the first day of motorcycle season" when thing
>>> are gloomy during the winter.
>>
>> Tell me all about it...
>>
>> I agree with Turby- there's a wide spectrum of bikes that can be
>> sensible tourers. The FJR isn't the worst choice by a long shot,
>> but as I get older, I sometimes wish it had a reverse gear.
>>
> I try to remember to back into spaces as it's a damn sight easier with the BMW
> powering out than paddling uphill. Not helped by much of the bike parking being
> designed around small scooters/step-thru. Saw another line of dominoes when I
> went to the national park last week, fortunately I parked opposite way to
> everyone else and near to the attendant so mine didn't have a lie down this time.

I park with the front uphill if there's any slope - I've seen a bike
roll forwards off the sidestand and don't want to emulate that.

I'd quite fancy a Rocket 3 but at 300kg+ wet weight, I'd need a servant
to get it in and out of the garage, and possibly to lift it off the
sidestand too.

On Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 7:45:04 AM UTC-5, Mark Olson wrote:
> wessie <willn...@tesco.net> wrote:
> > Boots <ne...@millhouse-communications.co.uk> wrote in
> > news:55ju6i-...@bilbo.eternal-september.org:
> >
> >> On 23/11/2021 00:28 wessie penned these words:
> >>> Get a bike you want to ride and don't care if it gets manky or worn
> >>> out rather than building a museum to rival Jay Leno.
> >>
> >> This ^^ I was quite cross when a bloody monkey bit a hole in the added
> >> comfort seat. Should have left the original on for day2day.
> >>
> >
> > #344 in an infinite series of things you do not expect to read on a UK
> > board
> I've forwarded Ian's post to my lovely wife who has a (not entirely
> irrational) fear of monkeys.
>
> I try to send one monkey-related item per day, entitled "YDM".

Did you ever listen to the Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant podcast from about 2006? There was a feature called "Monkey News". Very funny. Think that podcast has been animated and put on youtube, but I think it's funnier audio-only. I had them downloaded somewhere, but I don't know where they are since itunes split into music and podcasts and whatever else.