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Not much of a ride report, just a stop at Torres Vedras and decided to go up to see the Castle. Torres Vedras of “Lines of Torres” fame played an important part in Portugal’s defense from the French invasion. This castle, however, is way older than that. I liked learning about the roman water reservoirs, but I won’t bore you, you can read the signs on the pictures if you want. Ignored the signs as surely they didn’t mean to forbid motorcycle parking by the main door. Inside there’s quite a pleasant space with some nice trees. The Roman water cisterns, clever people those romans You guys, helping out: Quite the history: Shortly after I met up with Sofia, who made her big “I’m having a huge pastry for lunch” smile And we went to look at Hondas

Today i had a few things to test out on the XR, one was to see if i fixed a small oil leak on the rocker shafts and the other was the gearing, i wasn't happy with the gearing on my ride last weekend, on a few lanes i was giving my new clutch more abuse than i liked as the gearing was too high. So before my ride today i needed to change the rear sprocket from the 40 tooth i have fitted to the standard 45 tooth. First sprocket bolt i tried to remove i rounded the Allen key head of the bolt because i got carried away with the lock tight when fitting them last time, i had it all up the shaft as well as the threads Anyhow after trying to bang a torx bit into the bolt head and failing i remembered the easy out set i have and it worked a treat all i needed it to do was to hold the bolt and undo the nut the other side After fitting the 45 tooth sprocket i found the chain was too short so i got pissed off and ended up fitting the off road wheel instead which has a 42 tooth sprocket fitted, after heading up over my mountain i decided the gearing was far better and will be fitting this sprocket to the road wheel and getting a larger one for this wheel. The lane up over to the wylie was nice i hadn't really noticed until today how green everything is and it is bloody hot as well. The woodland over the wall on the right is a carpet of Bluebells. The familiar smells of dope and cow shit as you ride through the countryside are replaced this time of the year with flowers and blossom Considering how hot it is this lane was still quite slippery as were others with a lot of water on some. I have passed this old mill hundreds of times and didn't realised until today it has a bit of fame attached to it When i took this photo i noticed the plaque above the door When i had a closer look it said this this is his story if you want to be edumacated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Moore On the way to the next lane you have the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread as you pass the Braces Bread Bakery in Oakdale It's getting hot so i stop to take the chin piece off my helmet to go open face from here and these guys come over to see what i'm up to Poor buggers were covered with fly's Glad i went down the next lane from manmoel as the storms has washed it out a bit and had me in a bit of a sweat will have to revisit on the X trainer i think There was a nice stream to cool of in at the bottom, it's all slippery rock in there and a horrible crossing After i took this photo someone dropped out of the woods on the left a bit further down on a bike took me by surprise, we had a little chat and went on our way he was living not far from me and was on his way home from work now thats a ride home from work LOL I wanted to have a look in the old railway tunnel from here to see how it's getting on but there's a tree down blocking the entrance so i just headed home via a couple more lanes. When i got in i ordered front and rear sprockets and a new rear tyre for the road wheel. I also ordered new sprocket bolts which cost £8 for the bolts washers and nuts on line, from Honda they would cost £120 Couldn't see no oil misting on the rocker cover so hoping my fix has worked hopefully.

Went to the MCN bike show at the East of England Show Ground near Peterborough. Last show there, the place is being turned into a housing estate soon. I'd like to say that it ended on a high, but it actually ended on a whimper, had done nearly all of it in an hour.

You knuckle dragging Brit

Never mind your gay assed Hardly Davidsons, look at this beauty. It looks a dream and it's a Honda as well .................

I don't find it more difficult as such, i'm a lot slower and just plod along now enjoying the countryside instead of zooming through it, i also find the tall seat height on the XR makes things seem more intimidating than it used to be plus i'm not as bike fit as i was due to lack of saddle time. The washed out lane i'll be back to ride on the X trainer as it gives you so much confidence i think it takes 20 years off your age when you ride it as i'm willing to attempt things i used to be comfortable doing many years ago

Went on a bimble to Colin Flashman Motorcycles near Gunnislake in the Tamar Valley this afternoon. Stunning day to be out there. I went to Flashmans on the recommendation of a work mate who praises them very highly. Came across as bleddy nice people, very busy to which is normally a good sign. Proper old school bike shop, I loved it. Several bikes caught my eye but didn’t take to many photos but did find out that the owners cousin married my cousin thirty years ago . There is a reason we all have webbed feet . I left Flashmans and ventured across the Tamar into Devonshire and rode on to Tavistock, a lovely scenic old market town. Should have stopped and took some photos I thought after I was 10 miles down the road After I left Tavistock I popped over to Kitt Hill which was near for a mooch. Today you could see Plymouth Sound, Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and miles of stunning countryside. Great place. On the way back I popped into Trago Mills Liskeard to get some summer gloves. Some where during the day I managed to knock one of my panniers lose. Reckon I kicked it and it sagged onto the exhaust. FFS it’s fucked. Anyway pissed off and made the decision I can either look at it and be sad or buy a new one and move on Expensive lesson. New one winging its way from Germany as I write this. Filled up on the way back today and saw I did the whole trip in less than a gallon of fuel. .

He certainly has caused any moistness for years - if ever.

Me and Mandi would find ourselves doing that. Pack of biscuits, bread rolls with some sliced ham lobbed in. Whatever they were selling.

I don't think Pete has seen anything moist for a few years ........... What say you @Six30 ?

You never heard of the French invasion? Napoleon? Wellesley? The Brits used us as an excuse to kill some French and help ruin their plans, and we took that help gladly. The Lines of Torres were built with colaboration and direction of the British and were two rows of fortifications north of Lisbon, they were able to transmit messages from one end to the other in minutes, it was very cool.

I do carry a folding saw but this was no good for these trees LOL. i will return to the tunnel with a chainsaw in the near future though

Doesn't look like it would get you to the end of the road let alone bummed.

That would definitely get you bummed.

I don't have the will power to stop at one beer once I've started. So have to leave those until evening.

My staple lunch diet when travelling across France is a baguette, packet of Comte cheese and a bottle of beer

Yep, you really don't want dog entanglement with your spokes

Dunno but she holds onto the perch pretty well.

Not like me … where ever I go it’s wetter than Stevie wonders toilet seat

He's thick as shit isn't he?

What about his mange?

Um ! even though some of them may not like it I think the Welsh are included when you mention Brits

Is it moist then, Pete?

Oh no not.. puddles

Any excuse to bash the French

Rained overnight......due to start again soon! Just hoping that it's clear by tomorrow!

I suppose you could carry your own food if it was that important to you. I just don't really care much what or if I eat on bike trips. Especially when I'm by myself - just eat quick and get it over with.

It's just fuel - not really food. There are no restaurants out here so you end up eating crap out of fuel stations. It's that or nothing. Can't beat standing by your bike and eating

This I really like!

I dropped off of this mountain into some serious heat. It was getting late in the day and it was time to make up some miles, so I hopped onto Interstate 15 for the 3 hour slog south to Vegas. Temps were now 95F / 35C and traffic was thick. Apparently they don't teach people to get outta the left passing lane in driving schools here, either. Pity. I feel bad passing them on the right and on the berm. But I made it to Vegas after a long day and enjoyed a few beers for dinner, Life is good....

One last mountain area to cross before descending into Arizona and it's cold as fook - about 33F / 1C ...

You can see why it's a fun road to ride. No run off room though and the drop is rather severe - bad place to crash...

Back up to 10,000' over the Escalante - Grand Staircase area of Route 12 south of Torrey, Utah. My favorite road in Utah...

Dropped out of the mountains for a bit into another basin area ....

Surprised at how well the Wing handles these roads at a fair pace. It's not fast but does well once it gets up to speed. Wind has a real effect on it at times, but other than that it does well...

Whole lot of nothing out here - no houses, no animals, nothing. But a great road to ride - high speed touring at it's finest ....

This area is high desert, so despite looking warm - it wasn't. Temps were about 45F / 7C. Then headed up over thew mountains to about 9,500' and it got colder. Down to around 38-40F / 4.5C and windy. Was hoping this sign was true or I'd have to back track 100 miles.....

Just been reading up on Artie Moore and i'm quite impressed, he built a radio transmitter/receiver that picked up the Titanic's distress call 3000 miles away from the attic of the Mill in my photos when he told the police they didn't believe him and it was two days later when the official word confirmed his story, that was over 110 years ago when i had my CB radio in my 4x4 to talk to my mate in his it only worked line of sight for about quarter mile and that was only about 20 years ago

A man with a plan. Excellent.

I half expect you to carry a chainsaw in a rucksack, nothings gonna get in your way

Works for me! Some places do have some sandwiches of some type but most just have dry crackers, chips, etc. I'm okay with that.

Have they lost their 'H'

Long day yesterday - 660 miles across Utah, Arizona and Nevada. Gonna call this the Truck Stop Tour as that's where I spent a lot of time yesterday.....

The Hornet is now a 750 twin which completely outperforms this one......and at a much lower price. So no idea how they think this one will sell.