alfalfa

yessir. present i bought myself when i turned 40. Bike vibrated so much that the air cleaner screw backed out while salesman was showing me the bike. Had one hell of a motor! Would break the rear tire loose in second gear, while moving.

I find my R18B very comfortable with the feet where they are. The feet-forward position on my Road King and GroundPounder always were weird. The Groundpounder would throw you off the back of the bike under full acceleration

In Invergarry, we turned off A82, onto A87, running alongside Loch Garry for a bit. A87 turned out to be a nice, little race track running alongside Loch Cluanie! We pulled over at the Cluanie Inn for lunch. After lunch, it was time for qualies as we continued down A87, stopping at the Eilean Donan Castle, near Dornie Gary and Chris were our top to qualifiers for the afternoon. They look happy with their time:

So, finally dusting the cobwebs out of the old grey matter, i recalled that iphone photos are geotagged. Found a quick little routine to plot them in Google Earth and finally figured out where the heck we went The BnB above was on A84, north of Loch Lubnaig. We came into the Green Welly from the south and then headed out A82 afterwards. We pulled over at the Three Sisters Viewpoint to get a great look at the valley, and listen to bag pipe music! Still continuing along A82, amazed at the beauty, we pulled over again at the Commando Memorial. There is an additional little garden with memorials to recently fallen soldiers Looking at some of the ages just reinforced my belief that wars should be fought by the old fucks that send the young into battle.

sooo, back to the England trip... pics from the BnB: Salmon scrambled eggs!! Kids on their fones Everyone have their own tea cup? Let's ride! Found this biker hangout: Then, up into the mtns: Riding in Scotland is incredible! you might recognize this one from Skyfall?

working has interfered with my retirement and completion of this RR, which I will correct soon. Then, there is writing up the trip just finished -

On the second day of the real trip, we kept heading north into Scotland. First stop was Hadrian's Wall: Coming from a relatively young country, it has always been exciting to me to see all those places only read about in school. Its even more interesting to hear the true story from the locals to see how it jives with our school books. One thing the books dont mention is that the wall keeps all the midges in the north . I have to say, I loved the English countryside and back roads, but it was Scotland that has really stuck in my mind. I've always liked places that are sparsely populated as the people tend to be friendlier and the scenery more intense. Scotland didnt disappoint (England really didnt either) Crossing into Scotland: Coffee stop: Got to talking to a lady rider in the plaza. Bikes have a tendency to break down communication barriers. You get to find out those great motorcycle roads! Some other travelers we crossed paths on: Our buddy, Chris, kept the wick turned up so there arent many pics along the way, just when we stopped for coffee or the night. This night's BnB: As you can tell, the weather continued to stay nice! (i'm going to have to pick his brain to get the route info and which towns we stayed in. will update these when i get that)

By the end of the day, we had made it to Hagg's Bank Bunkhouse, where we met Danny Taylor, the owner. Great guy, for an Irishman! The man rides the hell out of a GoldWing, too! Danny runs a great biker friendly hostel/campground. The last couple of years he has also been hosting March Moto Madness for those brave and willing enough to chance snow. His place is an ol mill that he has remodeled into a multi-room bunkhouse, with kitchen and shower rooms. His pride in his own handiwork shows the quality of the place. While we were there, he was busy fighting city hall to come back and fix their shoddy road works. Great man, Danny! We cant wait to go back and see him again, or get him to the US. The meals were on another level, too:

We paid extra to have sun on our trip! I would like to apologize for that whole 104F/40C thing we brought with us, tho.

After picking up the bikes, we headed out of town. At our very first roundabout, I was quickly reminded why we were glad Chris was there to lead the group. We have some here but have been trained to look left as we enter them, not right. . (I'm happy to report that in 9 days or so of riding all over England and Scotland, we maybe only had one or two "incidents" with traffic circles. And our whole time there, we only heard two car horns. Once at us, and once at someone else.) The first part of the day was on the motorway, thru Birmingham, as we had to get to Hagg's Bank that evening. Living in a desert area, it was really nice to ride thru all the green countryside, with large rolling fields. Stopping for drinks in the heat was an eye opener as most places claimed their ice machines werent working. And, what cold drinks we got were slightly chilled at best. Probably due to the huge demand by everyone, vendors couldnt keep the drinks chilled long enough to get cold. A little north of Birmingham, we finally got off the motorway and onto the fun roads. It was quickly apparent why European riders enjoy races like the Isle of Man and the Northwest TT. The secondary roads are narrow, curvy and have no sight lines! However, they have excellent tarmac and very well trained drivers. We quickly got comfortable enough to maintain our speed around basically blind corners, reminding ourselves to stay LEFT! I just love the fact that you all just paved whatever cart path served the little villages we rode thru, with no attempt to widen or straighten them. Definitely my type of riding! After our indoctrination to TT riding style, we finally stopped to do some touristy stuff: After stretching our legs, it was time to head up further into the hills to the site of the highest pub in England (I'm told). We then headed back down off the mountain, finishing the first day at the Haggs Bank Bunk House. It was a great first full day in England. Weather was very warm, but nothing we dont have back home. The scenery was incredible! The cold drinks werent , and we made all the roundabouts ok!

After hosting our British buddy, Chris Jones in the US several times now, we thought it was time to return the favor and head over to Merry Ol and see what was so horrible about it that our forefathers snuck out a couple of years ago. First, it was time for language lessons, but the only ones offered seemed to be in English. We were confused as to how it was going to work out but soldiered on anyways. First order of preparation was to get some fancy stickers done up, memorializing the trip: These were especially designed by a buddy of ours so as not to irritate anyone still harboring hard feelings about that whole tea thing in Boston. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the English have airports and roads and things. However, we arent too sure why their cars appear to be manufactured backwards: (how do you all not run into each other!!) We arrived in London the day before the hottest temps ever recorded, 104 F, which is something like 40, or 50, or who knows in that whole C thing. Bet you now wish you were as addicted to ice in your drinks like we are! . It was interesting to see how everyone was reacting to the heat like we do when it finally rains in Southern California - no one knew what to do. The guy in the backwards driving van took us to Woking, where we were going to pick up the rental bikes from RoadTrip Motorcycle, UK. As that wasnt going to happen until the next day, we had booked rooms at The Station hotel and pub, our first time at a real pub. (couldnt find the air conditioner, unfortunately) Our buddy, Chris, who had ridden down from the Lake District. They dont look that heavy, even wrapped in plastic. Was sure glad you laminate your bills, especially when it was as hot as it was! small cars, small streets, buildings close together. it was time to find some countryside!

possibly, but none of my BMWs have been in for electronics. Three of my friend's KTMs have. This isnt bashing of KTM, as they had it right with their bikes before the e-wars.

i could never figure out why they want to chase BMW with all that computer stuff. BMW at least has a multi-billion dollar car company behind its electrics. KTM just has/had solid dirt bikes.

hopefully, KTM can find someone to help them with their electronics. excellent dirt bikes, but they are trying to keep up with BMW on the keyless and screens and other crap that doesnt belong on a bike. Two friends have been fighting with theirs for some time now. One ended up selling their 790 due to gremlins. The other has his bike in every couple of months because of computers

The main complaint heard prior to the Pan Ams release was the headlight nacelle. It works in person, but pictures dont like it. And, it is a corporate look as all their rolling barcaloungers have the same massive light complex. I forgot to mention that the HD motor should be rated A+!! it was a beast on the road, once they finally allowed us to turn off rain mode.

also, the offroad ABS is excellent!

have ridden the Pan American twice now. once offroad (sort of). I would say that HD has a great bike there. Not at the level of the GS, but they dont have 40 years of experience with that type of bike. My own dislikes (too strong a word) is that the screen font is too small and there are too many buttons on the grips. ie - too much electronic gizmos. Fortunately, they have a macro-style button that lets you cycle the screen thru the normal - fuel, mileage, range, etc. The self lowering suspension is nice, but not needed for non-short types. I would give HD an A- on this bike. Still trying to decide when/if i get one. Funny thing is that the orange color was my least favorite until i saw it in person.

the hardest thing about being a BMW owner is tolerating the lack of performance and driving skills of the lower classes.....

we are saying the same thing here in Kalifornia! he bought a place in Vermont and is looking to making it a motorcycle destination - yurts, camping, rides, etc.

does it matter?

Any ride home must include Pacific Coast Highway Eye candy at the Rock Store

The culprit, as well as the plastic surgeon: He used to manage one of Max's BMW stores in Connecticut. Tire test on South Divide Trail Hard core bikers, roughing it before the movie

Yeah, it really is. This guy is an incredible painter!

it has 130,000 miles on it, runs well and now has rebuilt suspension, redone wiring, and some other cosmetic work done. It ran well before he shipped it east to go thru it. He just thought there could be issues from the mileage and abuse. This bike was upside down in Baja in 2016, again at a rally in Calif. It gets used. Pete, the painter, said it warmed his heart that the bike has actually been used.

In the US, there is a group, Backcountry Discovery Routes, that has been creating offroad routes on a state by state basis. The latest is the Wyoming BDR, which had a movie premiere on Saturday evening. These BDR routes are similar to the TET, for you yurupeens. This weekend was also the day my 08 GSA was returned to me after 1 year of rehab. My buddy had ridden it last march in baja (see ride reports) and beat it up a little, so he took it home for fixins. A small group of us headed to Temecula for the showing and some offroad fun. My baby is back! Flames was painted for a TV show that Jesse James did in 2009, riding the bike on the Ice Road in Canada. The painter who did the custom work is Pete Finlan, of Hotdog Kustoms. Since his place is in TEmecula, we figured he might want to see how she looks today Pete standing next to his work Pete is well known in the custom paint world, especially in SoCal All hand painted. His style of flames is unique. Here is one he has done recently.