A new direction

I am no longer adding to this blog, following the difficult decision to stop motorbiking. I had been suffering worsening genetic hip dysplasia for years and finally had to accept that it was no longer safe to use my affected leg to keep a heavy bike up when stopped. In January 2021 I had a total...

...continue reading

Christened!

It’s become tradition for my good friend Renate to have a photo taken on each new bike—and this one is no exception! However, I’m not sure it’s quite the right bike for her, as she struggles a bit to reach the ground... and—although she would never say it—as an Austrian, I think she secretly prefers...

...continue reading

Gear: Top 6 travel gadgets revisited

Three and a half years ago I posted an article about my top 6 picks for travel gadgets. A summary of my picks back then: 6. Bluetooth headset—Sena SMH5 5. Tablet—iPad mini (WiFi+3G) 4. Camera—Nikon D7000 3. Universal charger—TomTom High Speed Multi-Charger 2. GPS—BMW Navigator IV 1. Smartphone—iPhone...

...continue reading

Blog tidy-up

I did a bit of a tidy-up of my blog with a new, cleaner font—Roboto Condensed—and a few tweaks to the search, subscribe, worthwhile reads, latest comments, top posts and archive gadgets on the right. I also got rid of the Facebook ‘like’ and Google+ ‘+1’ buttons at the bottom of each post as this...

...continue reading

R1200GS Adventure 2016 first impressions

Now that I’ve had the chance to put on a couple hundred miles I thought it would be a good time to collect my thoughts on the R1200GS Adventure, having come from an F800GS and a standard R1200GS. Let me start by saying I am now certain I made the right choice with this bike as it just feels ‘right’....

...continue reading

Hello again!

After parting with my F800GS and R1200GS I’m back in action! I picked up my brand new R1200GS Adventure TE today in Ocean Blue matt. The TE comes with everything except the options of gear shift assist pro, factory alarm and keyless ride for around an extra £600, which I obviously had fitted. Accessories...

...continue reading

Saying goodbye (for now)

As I prepare to say goodbye to my beloved F800GS (which I own) and my R1200GS (which I lease) I thought it would be a good time to reflect. Like any models of bikes (or cars, televisions, anything) you’ll have ranters and ravers—have a read through the forums and you’d be put off from any bike...

...continue reading

Emergency stop signal lighting and bank-sensing ABS

Emergency stop signal (ESS) lighting systems have been around for a while on (generally luxury) cars in Europe for some time now—during emergency braking, equipped BMWs use flashing or ‘growing’ brake lights (displaying more LED segments) on their cars, Volvo uses brake lights which glow brighter,...

...continue reading

GS Survival Tool

Ok this one almost had me going—at least raised my eyebrows. Those Germans and their dry humour... BMW Motorrad presents the BMW GS Survival Tool. Ride on where others have long since given up. 1 Apr 2016 Press Release  Munich. All motorcyclist adventurers are familiar with the challenges:...

...continue reading

Wales... yet again!

It seems I can’t get away from Wales this year! When my best mate said he wanted to take a holiday away from the Italian summer heat we both agreed a five-day tour of Wales was just the ticket—two nights in Brecon and and two in Snowdonia in Northern Wales. Due to its aluminium panniers, greater payload...

...continue reading