bippo

Had a laugh with him at last years Wales YOC - he’s a great guy [emoji106]

Hope you enjoy it! I’ve only seen one on the road, but the owner had nothing but glowing admiration for it.

I don’t think I’ll be able to make a meet-up that weekend. Really sorry. Good luck in trying to find some accommodation - tourist hotspots are just manic right now. I have managed to find a campsite in Devon for a week mid-August, but I think it was just pure luck. Places were becoming unavailable as I was searching. I know it’s going to be mental down that way (typically I would holiday there during school time), but I’m just desperate for a change of scenery.

I’ve been using PR’s on all my bikes, from the 3 to the latest 5. Great mileage out of them (I can get up to 12,000 out of a set). They stick well in the wet too which is my main reason for buying them. I’m waiting for when my stock tyres need replacing on my Tiger so I can get some PR’s on. I’ve never gelled with the current tyres as they can twitch about in wet conditions which isn’t something I worry about with the PR’s.

I’m still up for a trip - would be good to do something this year if we can.

Buy a cheap role of that anti slip matting (often used for keeping a sat nav from rolling on a car dash). Put a piece of that between pannier and bike contact points to help reduce marking. If the straps on the pannier bags don’t fit under your pillion seat then I would just get creative with my own straps to make sure they are secure.

Another vote for hard luggage. I fill the panniers and aim to keep the top box near empty for any bike gear I want to leave on the bike when walking around. Hard luggage makes great tables and chairs if you’re camping too. I had soft luggage on a previous bike and used to hate leaving my bike alone for even a quick toilet break during a fuel stop.

The more the merrier! It’s a small, but fun group. I’ve not made it to all of them (like Cynic) but did last years which was in Wales. Amazing weather and great roads. I was the “tail-end Charlie” on the rides and captured some footage - Anyway we camp (though a nearby B&B is always an option), ride, eat, drink and have a good old laugh.

Yes, somewhere north works for me too. We might even be able to get Jimmy to join us along with John [emoji846] My only bike related jaunt in the Lakes was a leisurely ride up to Scotland for some wild camping. It was a very foggy and cold October on my Street Triple and I spent most of the time trying to find a suitable roadside wall I could jump behind for a wee haha [emoji23] it was an agonising ride over every bump. You men don’t realise how good you’ve got it!

We’re always going to have the issue of people being able to travel, but a couple of suggestions: Lake District Kielder Forest

I had a blast - even though it seems like a lifetime ago now! Haha

I had such enthusiasm for biking all year round when I first started on a bike... My L plate days saw me riding my 125 at 5am over the Pennines for 50 non-motorway miles. I remember always passing a Bland European rider most mornings who gave me the most excited wave. For 50 miles in winter it was always just him I saw on two wheels. He always helped to spur me along. Aside from that though the commute in winter was tough - the headlight was pants, cars used to sit up my arse, sheep and ducks could be found around most bends and I was generally clueless on 2 wheels! Fast forward and I found myself leaving home even earlier to trek 200 miles into central London on my Street Triple. That bike had zero weather / wind protection, and being honest I was a little too tall for it on such a long trek (sore knees). That bike was twitchy as feck on the throttle, but I still managed to ride it in snow and ice. I used to arrive in London with a blue face and even popped round to Airheads home once with my jacket covered in ice [emoji23] What has happened to me now I don’t know... I’ll still commute in poor weather if I need, but my car is the preference (I’ve always favoured the car on a short trip anything less than 300 miles, haha). But I’ve gone from doing all the above in nothing more than Kevlar jeans and a £100 jacket to riding about on a bike with hand guards, heated seats and grips, electronically adjustable screen whilst wearing base layers, heated jacket and a Rukka suit haha! Bottom line... I’ve been there, done it. Will do it again if needed, but will happily sit in my warm car during winter [emoji41]

You need to pass another theory for any licence over and above the CBT, even if you’ve already done the theory for your car licence. Anyway, it’s great to hear you are building up a family of bikers!

I’ve got the mini sound bomb and it’s plug and play. It was only with my BMW that I had to buy an additional wire for it to work with their canbus.

Indeed - that’s what the Tiger 1200 forum tries to achieve. They just want the forum to serve as a valuable resource for people, and then the FB page to be more of a social “look where I went today” community.