Posts by Three Dawg

Bike had one of those stupid Ventura upright racks Aussies love. Not much horizontal space on those things, guess the bag just worked its way off.

And yeah, I don't think zips have any place on serious luggage, although they can't really be avoided on tank bags.

When I travel I keep my document folder tied to a ring on my tank bag so I can pull it out quickly at checkpoints to show whatever the cops/soldiers want to see.

This arrangement came in handy when I did my Iron Butt Saddlesore 1000 a few years ago - I was well into the ride, having done Sneckie to Thurso, Durness then south to Sedbergh on the western side of the Yorkshire Dales and through the Dales to Richmond. Gassed up in Richmond and hit the A1 towards Edinburgh. Fanging along the A1 I nearly shat myself when suddenly I was slapped repeatedly on the shoulder. Bear in mind it's gone 10 and pitch black. Turned out it was my document wallet which had slipped out of its pocket and was flying around on the end of its string behind me. Fortunately I had zipped up the wallet or I could have lost all my receipts, which would have made the whole ride a waste of time. Saved by the string!

Yeah, the quality of so much gear today is incredible. But so are the prices! I used to travel with cheap bags held on with bungees, and bits of string, but then I lost a bag down a gulley in New Zealand. Wouldn't have mattered if it hadn't contained a load of our wedding photos (it was our honeymoon). Never found it. Been a bit funny about luggage ever since, and never lost anything else. Touch wood.

30 litre bag is about the same price as my Mosko Scout I bought last year so the discount is well worth having! Looks like quality kit, seems to have lasted well for Kinga 'On Her Bike' Tanejewska anyhow.

Gets a lot of positives in the MCN video, especially the engine. Those panniers look like junk though.

Last gasp, hopefully.

Funny how some bikes gain traction as serious ADV bikes, and some don't. The V Stroms seldom seem to be used for serious trips, and yet the 1000 that my mate rrides was a pretty convincing piece of kit, to look at anyway.

I see Noraly is off to Africa again, this time down the west side from Morocco and then (I think) crossing across to the east. She reckons it will be intense. So do I!

Interesting to see that she seems to have ditched the Garmin 700 and has gone with what looks like a Carpe Iter tablet. Very cool piece of nav kit, but way out of my price range.

Ta!

We've changed the name of our Faceberk page - how do I alter what appears in my sig line at the bottom of my posts? I tried editing on my profile page, but it's having none of it.

Decide how much of your budget is for fuel, ride until it's half gone then turn round and ride home.

Last time I went to a race meeting there was a big notice on the back of the ticket warning me that racing was dangerous and I was near where it was happening (ie stood by the side of a circuit) at my own risk. NI road racing has no tickets and very few defined spectator areas therefore opening themselves up to abuse not by the 'woke' but by ambulance chasers and fraudsters.

Price is in US dollars though, and that was pre Truss and Kwarteng.

That campsite would be a gread venue for one of the bigger ADV festivals. Would be nice to have one up here - they all seem to take place dahn sarf, and who wants to go there?

I've found the cover note for when we used IMG/Patriot travelling to Southern Africa in 2021 - cost us $311 with a $500 excess. Medical evac was not optioned. That was to cover 7 weeks or so and I don't think there was any compensation for permanent injury, basically medical expenses only.

I suspect that cover for 4 or 5 months for our next trip will be eye-watering, especially as we will end up in the US, which basicaly doubles the cost of most travel insurance.

Blimey! I haven't yet started to get quotes for our next trip, but with the length of time we plan to be travelling I guess I'm looking at a big excess.

I will dig out the quote we had though - will be interesting to compare.

Trouble is, no one (or very few people ) pay to see road racing in NI, so the clubs have no money. Mind you, even if there was a cost to spectators I doubt it would cover that hike.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64591498

Yeah, looked at that but IIRC wickedly expensive. Probably good cover for a quick spin around Helmand province though.

ACT in the Pyrenees looks good, as long as it isn't buried under the snow. There must be quite a lot of gravel riding following the TET as well. Shall we talk tyres?

Feel the fear and do it anyway. One of the good things about this package is that they cover much longer trips than regular holiday insurance. And of course the over 125cc thing.

I found even my plate with countersunk holes damaged my Wolfman bag -most likely the lip on the edge of the plate I suppose. It didn't go through anywhere, but it was heading that way. I glued a large piece of Tufftek material on to the bottom to stop further wear.