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The Strom is now on Death Row.....so for it's swansong I took it to Las Santas. No Dark Motorcycling on this one.......let's just remember him as he was!

I agree butt, it just shows ya how freaking old we are.

Strange how things turn out! I went out this morning (only for an hour) and the Strom just didn't click with me. Didn't feel natural......bit like I was riding someone else's bike. And the bloody dead weight of it is killing my knackered knees when I need to manoeuvre it about. I've felt like this for a few weeks now but it was definitely more pronounced today because I was on smaller roads. Sometimes you just gotta go with your gut instinct on bikes......it's served me well enough since 1971. The two bike thing is an option.......but not in my case! Everybody's circumstances are different and I think mine are pretty well documented: My eldest boy walking out on the business 4 years ago and dumping everything in my lap.......and just keep in mind the Internet doesn't close so I'm always on call. There is no cop-out in that area! Then there's the wife's arthritis condition which is progressively deteriorating.......she now has limited mobility and no longer drives. So with no family here that responsibility falls on me as well. All this plus the fact that I'm not as young as I was.......and of course there's always the ominous thought of hitting 70 in just over 3 years time in the back of my mind. Of course I still want to ride bikes.....the break between the last XT and the Strom drove me crazy! Not to mention the 9 week lockdown. But I've got to be realistic......I'm old now, and I need to get something that'll be enjoyable to ride and also make my life easier. @Lone Amigo knows where I'm coming from on this! So Monday morning I'll be phoning Towca Honda in Granada....... ......and seeing if we can put a deal together for a new one of these! As @Tym knows.......I've been on about getting one of these for years. I was just about to pull the trigger on one early last year but then the Strom turned up! So all I can say is watch this space!

After all is said and done, repeatedly, you’ll realise you need two bikes. The strom will keep it’s value so buy another bike and get rid of the one you end up not using after three months.

Well you know...I was lucky and found love when I was young and it just worked from day one! I'm not a spring chicken or an old hen, just one of those middle aged chickens that has lots of fun.... ??

So you had 'one in the departure lounge ' then Fred

So you've spent a lot of time in Carediff then Fred? But now there's another twist.......so for the benefit of Fred here's another fucking link! ANOTHER FUCKING LINK!

Congrats! Have fun. ? . I never married, didn't see the need for more paperwork in life ? ...but my guy and me will be together 30 years in 2024....?

It’ll be hardcore to be dark aboard a gay honda

Sad day for dark motorcycling When you take pictures of a creek

We're 34 and 38. 7 and 10 with her predecessor.

Your right @Tym i re read the lockdown rules and all it stipulates is you do not leave or enter RCT without a valid reason so i took the bike to the local jet wash to get it clean and then dragged the XR out to get it dirty staying inside the county of RCT feeling much happier now

Go get it Pete You don't go on trips abroad or to the other side of Spain so it will do you fine. I've been to France twice on my 250 and as long as you leave motorways out it's absolutely fine, just tune yourself in to the slightly slower speeds, you see more of the countryside anyway. I'll probably be in your position before long (dodgy right knee and hip) but I know that I'll be able to carry on riding on the 250

No bikes for me this weekend. It is our 30th wedding anniversary so we are off to a posh hotel in the Cotswolds for a weekend of realxation and stuffing our faces ? It must be posh as I've even washed my car today as I didn't want to turn up with it covered in dust ? https://www.lordsofthemanor.com/

Rule #1 when riding in the American West; get fuel when you can, not when you have to....

Onward....

50 miles long, great scenery (when the smoke isn't in the air) and a road as smooth as can be...

Just trying to motivate myself to wash this after last weekend but this lockdown shit has me feeling depressed

Almost ran down a flock of thankgiving dinners too

.........so there's hope it may last until Xmas! I just saw this on FB......2004 V-Strom 650. That's in kms so that's about 125K miles. No engine work needed and he has only replaced the clutch fairly recently.......as a precaution. He bought it in 2012 with 30K kms on it......and he's never even checked the valves! In fact, I've seen 650's with even higher miles with no engine work done. As for the 1000's I've seen one over 400K kms......over 250K miles. They're bloated, ugly, budget parts bin specials......but the motors are as tough as it gets!

Checked out some petroglyphs - made somewhere between 6,000-1,000 B.C. (quite a range) by the ancient Indians of the area. Amazing that they still survive....

Almost into Moab now - saw a few cars and bicyclists so time to slow down....

Zoom zoom...

Welcome to Planet Mars. They could have made the road pretty straight, but looks as if they went outta their way to make it curvy. So thanks for that...

..and then we drop into the canyons of my all time favorite road in the USA. No one really uses this road as it doesn't go anywhere - I think it's cool enough top be come a National Park. If people knew it was here , they'd flock to it...

The cool part about Utah is that there is absolutely no one out here - barren landscape with lots of nothing for miles and miles. Lots of wild fire smoke though...

Got out in the boonies and the real fun began...

This.

If I got another bike it would be a CRF250L.......different type of bike obviously, and used for a different purpose.

Incredible! Dilemma for me is that I fancy changing the Strom........but I've got this nagging doubt in the back of my mind that I'll be making the same mistake that I did with my two previous Stroms. After both of them went I kept thinking it was a bad decision.

Nuber 1 did me in, editing...

Sterling Noren is great. He has made some really nice motorcycle films. I think I have shared a few in the Motorcycle Videos section. He has some good advice.

What a fantastic ride report and the photos of the scenery is spectacular. This shot is a bit spooky for me......... I don't know if we had some sort of telepathic thing going on but yesterday I took this photo ?

If you dint notice i finally learned how to trim parts of a vid from a vid, what decade is this again? This is cutting edge chit for me you tellum @XTreme Maybe if i got off my ass id learn how to make one vid out of these three...

I wanted to see how my chain with 20 thousand miles is doing while moving so i made this vid today, fridays are my weekends.

Wife announced she wants to go to the shops tomorrow!

Hope ya like rock pics....

North end of the canyon opens up a bit to wider views...

The canyon is about 50 miles long with a river and road at the bottom and several hundred foot tall walls at the sides....

This road is so much fun that I rode it 3 times today. Once at speed as curves are so much fun and then back down and back for pictures. Love this place!

And now off to the canyons...

The wooden structure you can see on the side of the canyon is a hanging flume - a waterway to transport water to a mine. Probably from the 1880's......

And on to Gateway - the real reason I wanted to head over to this part of the state in the first place. Desert road with bends, drop offs and walls. There are a few cars at the bottom of the cliff, just below the turn of the road - hard to see the bends at night...

Downtown Durango...

There used to be three towns located where the water is now. The dam that was built in the 1920's submerged the towns....