Pedro

This video shows a CF Moto 1000 teardown, I find it quite interesting and impressive regarding the developments over KTM's original. Voice over is annoying, but way better than my Chinese

It's a side business Sofia started, we do custom guided tours tailored to what people look for. We try to keep it simple and casual like if you were to go on a road trip with a friend showing you around, so no support vehicles or anything like that. We haven't done many, it's basically going from word of mouth. On this trip all bikes are rented from a partner here that has a nice fleet of bikes from scooters to R1300GSA, in this case they're going to be three different sizes of CF Moto, a Transalp and an Africa Twin. We've had people coming from the UK on their own bikes though, and we meet them on the border or exiting a motorway somewhere.

It's going to be 2200km in total, starting and ending in the same town in the Algarve because most are flying from Cork and the only direct flights are to Faro. 8 days riding so people arrive during the afternoon before and leave the day after, to them it's 10 days here. Faro is lovely because it pretty much guarantees nice weather for the start and end of the trip. Shorter distance planned for one day is 250km, longest is 360km, but I can improvise to get away from the weather or take them somewhere more challenging if we feel like, it's all away from bigger roads except one day we hop on a motorway for a couple of hours to go and visit the AJP factory, which is interesting to them as two or three have AJPs at home. We'll have two nights sleeping in the same place in the Douro valley so on that day it'll either be off the bikes or anything from 100 to 300km according to their desire to do more or less, being me and Sofia also means we can split the group if some want to ride and others want to go visit a vineyard, go on a boat ride or just hang around the pool. Older rider is almost 75, I think, and younger is into his 60s but I'm told they're bike fit. It's all inland, so far away from coastal towns and big cities except first and last night. We'll eat mostly in typical unpretentious places, so they'll get a taste of the food as well, including a night in which I might cook a nice beef BBQ on coals. I hope it's good weather, the forecast was gloomy a few days ago but now it's looking like it's improving day by day. It'll be the biggest tour Sofia has organized, with 7 bikes plus us 2, usually we do 1 to 3 and I prefer that but they're a close group of friends who usually wouldn't want a tour guide except they're treating this as a no planning week with their friends.

Stopping by my mechanic today to take off the current tires and put the gay dunlops back on. The current ones have a while to go yet but next week I'm going to be taking a group of Irish around the whole of Portugal, and I don't think there's enough life left in them for that. It'll be a very cool trip if the weather cooperates, but 2200km, plus getting to the Algarve and back as that's where we're starting and finishing.

You settled on a colour for the tank yet, @Nute?

Sad news, I thought he was older than he was when they did On Any Sunday, people looked older back then.

Epic dude. It is Lawwill, though.

Good stuff. Is there something inside the box?

Stickers going on it?

It prowls knights?

Agressive cams? It’ll become a torque monster!!!

I agree with her.

I love that in the picture there’s a white line clearly showing that most of it is tarmac.

What’s happening with you @Clive? Haven’t heard from you in a while.

Shouldn’t you do that with the engine closed? Or did you take the cylinders off?

He is a mixed breed, but definitely some Jack Russel in there, it’s quite obvious by looking at him but particularly when he gets scared or hurt and his response is to tear apart the next person’s neck and face

Tuna steak and spinach: Favas with chorizo: liver slices with onions: A tipical Ribatejo bifana, which is a pork sandwich Sofia’s delicious lamb croquetes Cabbage and chorizo rice, the best one I ever made because it was top season for cabbage during the coldest bit of the year.

An hour walk in the morning, takes two hours because we’re stopping to sniff and pee everywhere Today is a national holiday on top of being a saturday, so the village is going into full stupidity mode with all the Lisboners arriving and foreign girls parading everywhere with coffee cups in hand. Me and Luke will shelter from that until tomorrow. I barely managed to keep my sanity with a brief stop by the market.

The weekend is here, seems good weather all around so what are you lot doing? I’m probably not riding, taking care of Luke, so we’ll probably have a walk early in the morning and one late afternoon if it doesn’t get too hot for him. Go on, you all tell @boboneleg and @Bucksterhow you’ll be out on your bikes!

I can’t help but think you’re going to a lot of effort to get a bike you might not enjoy at all, considering your two other bikes.

How long will you be without being able to use the bike?

taken this weekend visiting a friend in the Algarve

Better to be safe than sorry. You wouldn’t want it to reject European ones.

After a hard night, got up at around 10 and made it out by 11, 600 km later and i’m in Faro. One stop for lunch, one for fuel and one to warn of my eta. 28 to 30° all day.