My motorcycle batteries tend to suffer over the winter. I'm an all-weather rider, but this year has been busy and there have been long periods of a month or more when the bike has been left idle. When it came time for a trip a fortnight ago, she simply wouldn't start. A night left on the battery ten...
Much as I enjoy our two-up trips, I've been yearning to return to the Alps single-handed since our first tour down to Rome. The time came this year when a couple of friends invited me down to visit them in Milan.
This year's trip was slightly further afield, to Norway. We didn't quite make it to Nordkapp, but well inside the Arctic Circle. This one was a bit of a logistical nightmare, as there are no longer any direct ferries from the UK.
So this one was a little ambitious, but I was sure it could be done. Some friends of mine were having a party down at their villa in Tuscany to celebrate 20 years of Marriage. A great place to holiday, even better to bike. So I decided to make a long weekend of it, from the Friday evening through Monday. I'd have to get myself through the tunnel on the Thursday evening, find a hotel I could work from on the Friday, then take a days holiday on Monday. Tough going, but doable and tremendous fun.
We stayed in the UK again for this year's bike trip, going West to Wales. One of my first ever bike trips was to Wales, cutting directly across the middle on the road to Aberystwyth, and I had fond memories. This time we went on a tour of the coast road starting in the South, Pembrokeshire then up through Aber to Snowdonia and Anglesey.
For this year's bike ride we stayed in the UK and headed North to Scotland. We wanted to see as much as possible so decided to tour the whole country, starting in the East at Dunnottar Castle. From there we cut across Cairngorms National Park and headed to one of the northernmost points at Smoo Cave, then down the whole West Coast.
We finally did it and went motorcycle touring through Europe. Not one to just dip my toe in the water, I decided we'd kill two birds with one stone and visit some friends who live in Rome, almost 2,000km each way.
So the GFs keen to come on a road trip with me, but not so keen on the Ducati. To be fair, the blazing hot exhausts directly under the passenger seat don't make for comfort. And while she's a lovely bike, she's a torture machine for the rider after anything more than a couple of hours. So I've decided I need a different bike if I'm seriously considering touring.
First long ride of the season and it snows! Right after this it started settling on the road which made things a bit hairy... I'm starting to seriously consider fitting that slightly slippier clutch the dealer suggested.
Traded in my CBR600 for a Ducati 848. I've had a lot of fun with the CBR, but just look at the Duke...