This is a bit picture heavy but anything to keep Brian happy...
Went to the NEC last week on the Tuesday. It was a bit parky on the way up, mostly below 5C all the way and flirting with 0C in places. I stopped at Gloucester services for fuel and a warm up, and was accosted by someone who wanted a K12 or similar as he was getting too creaky for his GSX-R and really liked the look of mine. Did the normal thing and said how mine was still going well at 90 odd thou but the K13 was generally acknowledged as a better bike.
Was able to leave my EnduroGuard jacket and my lid in the cloakroom at the NEC and was pleasantly surprised to find the trousers and my Daytona boots were comfy enough to walk around in all afternoon. Was impressed with the amount of race bikes on show, MotoGP, BSB, WSB. Yamaha put all three in a row which was great for a little bit of anorak detail spotting
A little further along and with very few viewers were some historic Paris Dakar bikes. Built like tractors, 2 wheel drive, monsters. Paper road maps. Even the FZ750 engined one off was there.
I wandered along to the BMW stand and saw the electric proposal but not particularly interested, that style is not my taste. Most of the bikes there I had already seen at Ocean here in Falmouth and even ridden most. A bit later when it was quieter I went back and sat on the new F900XR which felt quite comfortable, and also the 1000XR which still feels like being wedged in a bucket seat.
Unfortunately when I got to the KTM stand I was able to sit on the 1290GT and found I could now get both feet on the ground. Going to have to go for a test ride and put myself off, its no good.
Kawasaki and Suzuki also had plenty of race tackle on display, and there were a load of BSB bike there too
Overall I would say it was a better show than the last few times I've been, but that was partially due to the fact in mid week it wasn't mobbed - retirement benefits
Kipped at Meriden that evening and the next morning had time to kill so put "no motorways" in the Tomtom and was rewarded with a mostly traffic free trip down to Motolegends in Guildford. Hit 95000 as I was crossing the Oxfordshire border. Cold grey greasy day but I quite enjoyed it.
After trying on a large number of gloves with the main problem being fighting the cuff on the EnduroGuard jacket I settled on a pair of Richa Ghent GTX size 3XL gloves, and a new visor and Pinlock, the latter pair being horribly expensive. Having checked on the net, what the hell has happened to visor prices jeez! My Merlin Titan gloves that I bought in July 2017 have now been pensioned off after 30,000miles. They have lasted pretty well, way too hot in the summer but good for the other 3 seasons. They look a bit tatty now but will do as a spare pair of dry gloves in the bag.
After a night on the piss in Paddington I again put no motorways in the Tomtom and, after a very long trip out of south London, but had a pleasant if damp thus feeling very cold spin across the A31 to Winchester before the long stretch of the A303 and A30. It absolutely pissed down from Exeter with the roads awash on the A30. I turned my heated grips off as I opted for cold and dry over warm and wet, but by the time I got home I couldn't tell either way (they were dry, tick in the box for Richa). The rain had got into my collar so I had got quite cold, confirming that as they say textiles are waterproof but not warm. The Enduroguard suit had kept me completely dry. The top windproof EDZ layer, which I added after the first day, makes a significant difference to the warmth inside. I'm still too fat to fit a down jacket inside, but I'm working on that.
SWMBO has allowed me to spend on a Bikertidy to hang all the clothing on so that's coming next week. I'm off up to Shropshire and back via South Wales so another milestone may roll around. Hopefully if the weather is OK I can take the slower road up the A49. Get the coffee on Brian....
