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Dewi Sant said:

BMWs still break though, John. My fuel gauge has just developed the ubiquitous problem of showing permanently empty so the low fuel light stays on - it's like a super trooper, especially at night. I'd fix it but the new ones fail as well in a short time so little point spending £140 on a new sender unit. The bike has done just short of 7k miles! I'll eventually "fix" it by using a resistor to fool the light into thinking there's a full tank and it 'll go out. Then I can carry on doing what I've always done since the days that bikes didn't have fuel gauges .... i.e zero the trip at fill up time and count the miles on the oddo. This is my 4th BMW and every one has been an unreliable heap of crap - but I love riding them. The Hondas were ultra reliable but just a little too bland and I love twins.

You're a motorcycle travel writer? wow! My dream job. Any links?

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Yeah, I can't really comment on the ownership of BMWs. I just get press bikes, which are maintained impeccably before I abuse them for a handful of days.

Here's the mag that I write for: RoadRUNNER Magazine | July/August 2021

And here's are the moto-related posts on my blog: What Blog is This?

It really is a lot of fun, and I've managed to see so many places on two wheels. I like the challenge of trying to get unique and interesting photos and writing a good story.

Found a few yesterday while walking

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/donscreation/13149231525/]
motos by 2Deye, on Flickr[/URL]

Out and about around the lakes and passes today. Sunny and warm. Lovely.

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Stonkin' looking bike, Garry. Great shots.

Yesterday we (my son Ben and me) took a run into Wales, did the Horseshoe Pass then Bala Lake and came home via the Welsh borders and a little place called Ellesmere, a round trip of about 210 miles. Pic quality's not brilliant I'm afraid as I only had my ancient Canon compact with me which has a few colour balance / exposure issues. I should bin it really but it's good enough for rattling about in the bike's top box.

210 miles and you brought the top box?

Yep - need all my pills, and you can get a puncture 5 miles from home Mr.K. Also don't forget this is England, we need to carry waterproof gear at all times.

There's stuff I always carry. Toolbox, duck tape, extra clothes, etc. Of course, the Road KIng has hard bags. I actually had a top box attached to my old Sportster.

I guess I almost never take my side boxes off (givi E-21's).

Kyle, I was out with my lad for a ride last year when we saw an old guy who's bike had broken down at the side of the road. We stopped to help him but the bike - an old Honda VF 750 - refused to start and it was beyond what tools we had with us to fix it. We decided the best thing to do was get him home and he could fetch a truck to pick the bike up, so I offered to take him the 20 miles back to where he lived. We secured his bike in a nearby hotel car park, he climbed on the back of my bike and off we went. He was honestly the worst passenger I've taken on the back of any bike. Nervous?? He was terrified, and I don't think I went over 40mph! It was one of the times I never had the topbox on the bike and he said he felt like he was going to fall off the back. I tend to keep the topbox on the bike now - just in case!

KillRamsey said:

210 miles and you brought the top box?

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I guess I'm showing my age but hard bags rule!

The lede photo

Ontario_RoadRUNNER_Jun14.pdf by john m flores, on Flickr

The story (an excerpt, anyway)
RoadRUNNER Magazine | Ontario, Canada: O Canada? Fugghedaboutit!

Dewi Sant said:

Kyle, I was out with my lad for a ride last year when we saw an old guy who's bike had broken down at the side of the road. We stopped to help him but the bike - an old Honda VF 750 - refused to start and it was beyond what tools we had with us to fix it. We decided the best thing to do was get him home and he could fetch a truck to pick the bike up, so I offered to take him the 20 miles back to where he lived. We secured his bike in a nearby hotel car park, he climbed on the back of my bike and off we went. He was honestly the worst passenger I've taken on the back of any bike. Nervous?? He was terrified, and I don't think I went over 40mph! It was one of the times I never had the topbox on the bike and he said he felt like he was going to fall off the back. I tend to keep the topbox on the bike now - just in case!

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Scratching my head trying to figure that one out. He's clearly ABLE to ride, so the general process of going forward on a motorbike cannot be too terrifying for him. Something about being higher up back there, and not being in control, I guess? Either way, hold still you nitwit.

I've both given and received rides like that. My first bike was an 82 Suzi GS300L with what turned out to be a bad regulator. So RPMs = voltage... going fast down a hill often popped dash bulbs. One day it popped a main fuse I didn't know I even had, buried under the seat in a bird's nest of neglected circuitry. I started walking to the nearest town (New Glarus, WI), and a Harley Electra Glide pulled alongside me after half an hour and offered me a ride into town, which I gladly accepted. It was like a La-Z-Boy back there. I thanked him profusely, and he just said something like "bikers take care of each other." I didn't know that, I was new to it. From then on, I followed suit, and always stop when I see a disabled bike unless they wave me off.

Also gave a hiker a ride in the White Mountains in New Hampshire one day. He had his thumb out, and I thought "sure why not, if he takes me up on it." And he did. So I rode him about 10 miles gently (no helmet for him / no helmet law in NH) and dropped him off at the group's car lot so he could go back and pick up his buddies. Said it was the most fun he'd had in ages. And another guy on a broken-down Honda VFR around Concord Mass, on my way home from work one night. I just took him to his house so he could get his truck and trailer and go back for it. Both those guys knew how to sit still, so even at my size (5'5" and 115 pounds) I had no issue shuttling them around.

KillRamsey said:

Scratching my head trying to figure that one out. He's clearly ABLE to ride, so the general process of going forward on a motorbike cannot be too terrifying for him. Something about being higher up back there, and not being in control, I guess? Either way, hold still you nitwit.

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I totally understand as I hate being a passenger. I've had passengers of both sorts—those that were good and leaned with me and the bike and those that were bad and lean against the turn. Oh, then there was my cousin, a dancer, who would look ahead and start leaning a hundred yards before the next turn. LOL

I usually tell my passengers to do their best luggage impression.

I removed the rear pegs from my hypermotard . It's hard enough keeping the front wheel on the ground with my light weight

Out riding again today, brand new tyres fitted yesterday - Michelin PR4s. Excellent tyres, I can highly recommend them - very very grippy! All pics shot on my Olympus E-PL5 with 17mm Oly lens

Me with my bike pics again

This is my son Ben's Fireblade which I've just finished working on for the past couple of months. It's a 1999 Honda Fireblade that he picked up last year as a tatty but low mileage example. Mechanically the bike is very sound but cosmetically it was lookng its age so I've had the wheels re-painted, I sent them off to have that done as they've been done in a hard enamel and new tyres were fitted when they came back. I repaired the tailpiece which had some cracks in it and resprayed that for him. Mechanically I stripped out the front forks and fitted new oil seals and new oil, fitted a new rear shock unit, new chain and sprockets and a Scottoiler (automatic chain oiler) plus a few other bits and pieces and tidied the whole thing up.

Today we took it out for a road test and it's rides fine (I was on the BMW Ben was on the 'Blade, I've not ridden it yet) When we got back we did a quick "photocall" in the back garden.







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Finally go 'round to washing the toy…

"Cicciolina" after a bath by john m flores, on Flickr