Pedro

My goal would be to make it more comfortable during the summer, but that’s my predicament as well

You got bead locks on your rims? Air them down, a rear T63 should have adequate traction on loose surfaces.

I like Heidenau K60 on my heavy bike when on dirt and hard terrain. On road they are a bit shit but ok. They're very noisy at 50 to 60 mph, loud enough to get annoying, but they hare very hard and almost unpuncturable. Also, they last forever although the final 2 or 3k are deadly if you as much as look at a rain cloud in the distance. I am not skillful enough to ride my GS on soft sand so I don't even try it.

On the road I like Continental TKC70, they are smooth and quiet and go wonderfully on tarmac and are very safe in the wet. But obviously they're not very good offroad, they're competent enough in hard compacted dirt but then again most tires are, should be similar to Pete's Tourances.

Riding on soft terrain and sand, if you don't care a lot for longevity I would go for a Michelin Anakee Wild, as they are supposed to be competent on tarmac as well. Or Motoz Tractionator. Have no experience on any of these 

I love my bike, but it's main defect is on hot wether riding. I am slowly fixing it, I've put a small fairing on that alows air to the helmet, it's obviously worse on motorways but at significantly over 30ºC I was having trouble with no circulation to evaporate sweat inside the helmet, now I get a helmet full of bugs, which suits me better. It also means the view on top of the bike is better, which I really like.

I´ve ordered one of those chinese net seat covers, as I have sweaty bollocks. I wear jeans for touring so once it starts getting sweaty a little bit of airflow helps.

Now, this is my point. I would like to get rid of the heat that sometimes comes from the catalitic converter to my right foot. On certain combinations of ambient temperature above 30ºC, and sustained high revs at not very high speeds sometimes makes for quite a lot of heat there. Only way to solve it is fitting an exhaust manifold with no catalitic converter.

Now, obviously this is not legal. We're bound to start having bike MOT in Portugal in a couple of years, but that isn't much of a worry anyway, but my conumdrum is actually having my bike making more air emissions than it is currently.

I am aware this is a fallacy in itself, as if I'm that worried about it I could just not ride a motorcycle for leisure, but that's just not going to happen.

Thoughts?

This is a reflection on today's society, this is.

I ride my bike to a wonderful scenic location, stop a lot to take plenty of pictures, and get 3 replies from discerning people. Moon posts a picture of a map and all the streets erupt in public opinion.

7 minutes ago, BusBoy said:

Ditto, and Goldwings

I get that, but I loved riding a Goldwing a few years ago. It's a great engine and weirdly fun to ride, in a guilty pleasure sort of way.

Baby Jesus is crying looking down at this 

Nice stuff, it does look warm.

Get a proper summer jacket, makes all the difference in over 30°

And a white or silver helmet with dark visor

I am all for using stuff hard and pushing limits of cars and bikes, but abusing just for the sake of it is something I’ve never liked doing.

That’s bike that survived probably more than 30 years of use, and then some youtuber tries to kill it. To me, that just says he’s got no apreciation for things and as such doesn’t deserve to use them.

What kind of jacket do you wear, Pete?

I rode past that farm on friday, that it on the south bank near where I took the last picture on my post.

Went for a nice walk with Costa, now for the rest of the day I’ll do nothing except clean the cars windows, buy some tshirts and shorts online, and a deck chair as well so I can get mauled by mosquitoes next time I’m back home and decide to sit outside at sunset

I think any vehicle deserves more respect than that 

I love small train stations like those, it's a good thing they're restored. Here, there was a movement a while ago to renovate old train stations and make them nicer to use instead of just replacing the buildings with soulless modern affairs. Great idea it was, too. Some, not in use anymore, were even converted to restaurants and guesthouses, which I guess is great unless you're sleeping and a freight train passes at 3AM 

I thought of taking a few pictures of stuff like that yesterday, as the train tracks along the Douro are the most picturesque in Portugal, but couldn't be bothered 

Amazing stuff, thanks!

This might be a little repetitive, but if you like vineyard pictures this a good one.

Around 9AM left home, 20 minutes later I take the small road along the northern bank of the Douro river, the N108, moving inland away from Porto. It's a nice 20º and I'm glad I brought a long sleeve t-shirt as a mid layer.

First stop, to make a phone call, the river mist is starting to clear

 

A few meters ahead I realize there was a much nicer place to take the same picture, so I stop again feeling a little foolish to do so

This isn't amazing scenery yet, but what is so great is that it is a nice road to ride, and this place must be about 20km from the center of Porto, which is Portugal's second biggest city. No chance of enjoying the road like this on a weekend, though, as it's full of bikes and cars coming here to meet for a coffee, and that takes away from having the road to yourself.

 

Further inland, in Baião, we start to reach the Douro wine region:

 

Mesão Frio, and there is nothing but vines all over the place. The Douro is the first demarcated wine region in the world, they´ve been making wine here since before the Romans arrived.

 

Around 10km to Régua, maybe, the main town in this area.

 

Didn't take any pictures of Régua, but you're not missing much, it's a nice enough place but not really photogenic from this side of the river.

After, between Régua and Pinhão, my goal for lunch, if you take the nacional road on the south bank it'll take you 20 minutes but I decide to take the really small roads on the northern bank even though I have to move a little away from the river. It was a nice choice as those were my favourite roads of the day, really enjoyed my bike there.

 

The Chapel of São Leonardo da Bafaruda, nice and small, surrounded by trees and cool shade in a place that is unbelievably hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Hence the nice grapes.

 

It's got some view behind it:

This is a nice enough place, deserving of bringing lunch from home just for a picnic. Maybe an idea for the autumn with some chorizo and cheese.

Made my way to Pinhão, amazingly fun roads, very narrow but with good tarmac, although with enough dusty and gravelly corners to make it interesting. Went past a few of the vineyards from the best wine makers, extremely well maintained and pretty. Apart from producing wine they use the farms as luxury restaurants and hotels so they should keep them looking pristine. No pictures of any of that, this detour took a little longer than expected and I was hungry 

 

When I get to Pinhão it's getting warm enough, at around 30º. I'm proper hungry and hot, and I forgot my mask so as I'm rolling into town wondering if I'll find a nice place to sit on some shade, I take the first chance I get:

 

Daily specials were perch or mutton stew, given my effort to slim down and how hot it was, I went for the grilled perch with some fresh salad instead of potatoes, not the most amazing fish as daily specials are usually made to a budget, but it was grilled to perfection and juicy, and suited the ride perfectly. 

 

I couldn't say no to their polite offer of some cold white wine, but instead of a small jar I asked for just a glass.

 

After eating, I lingered for a while, enjoying a second small glass  because after riding through one of the world's best wine regions, it would be just rude not to. Try to take a picture of the eagle that had just catch a fish, and failed miserably, you get the scenery though.

 

Riding back I am feeling sorry for having brought my gore tex jacket. It's not a proper warm jacket but only good up to around 25º. This is the first time I use it in warm weather so now I know. My summer jacket is 300km away at home. On the way back I stop at a hotel I stayed once before, but that time in a cold February drive with Maria, and wished I had brought a change of clothes and shorts as what I really felt like was checking into somewhere with a swimming pool and stay there. 

 

On the way back I returned by the south bank of the river. This is meant to be Portugal's best driving and riding road, but I fail to see why. Also, I start getting a LOT of polen alergies, sneezing horribly, congested sinus, the works. Having no mask I choose not to be a twat and avoid going to a pharmacy and freak everyone out by sneezing uncontrollably with no mask  , but there are no pictures of the return ride either. Getting home, after a shower I start writing this and fall asleep on the sofa, to be waken by a call from my mate David who has already gotten some nice steaks for the grill and asking if I'll take long, so I am quick to get there and only return home by  3AM 

It was a nice day.

I have spent the day riding, and got pretty affected by polen clergies now at the end of the day, so am resting a little bit before going to dinner at a friend's house.

On the weekend I think I will do very little, it's getting warmer and I don't like warm riding around here, plus my summer jacket is home, 300km away 

I think it'll be a weekend of playing with Costa and little else.

Good stuff @Tym, I am very curious as to american home made food, most Europeans think it’s shit but my theory is that good home cooked food is good anywhere

Mac and cheese is plain wrong! I assume you’re talking macaroni.

 

Meatloaf, then, if forced to choose with a gun to my head

Am I seeing the original news post after our conversation?

I want to be able to do that, Pete, coment before someone makes a post. Or are you god?

 

"No time to die" is also a great name describe the time you spend it an portuguese Triumph dealership waiting for an "expert"'s opinion on what's wrong with your bike and a justification on why they won't proceed with your warranty claim.

If I were to buy a Japanese bike today to have along with the GS, it would either be a Kawasaki GTR, a Yamaha T700, or a Kawasaki Z900.

 I mean the pretty Z900 with the nice paint and cushy seat, not the Z900 that looks like it was taken out of an apocalypse zombie movie.

Let's not start to post the undercacks picture again, it's taken a decade for the internet to forget it!

I've never been to wales, but "hard blokes" could have two meanings!