…On…

Yes, due to the lockdown relaxation in UK my ferry is now sailing on the 30th so that means less than a week to get myself organised.. eek!

So, that was a week ago and I have been non stop preparing with no time to blog.  I am catching the ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, Spain tomorrow and it looks like heavy rain in the Portsmouth area… what a surprise… what would a Pog Tour be without at least a couple of hurricanes and the occasional flood??

It’s been a busy week, getting the bike finished, fitting a tool box and spare petrol can plus sorting out one or two problems.  I bought two new tyres and had them put on today thanks to Zenith Motorcycles, although am not best pleased with the tyre seller.  I bought a set of Metzler Tourance dual sport tyres last tuesday on fleabay and it said 2 days postage, which would give me time to fit them, however they did not turn up until Saturday.. moan number 1!  Then I decide to get Zenith to fit them for me, trying to save time.  I put them on the bike to take over for fitting and spot that they have actually sent two different tyres, one is a Metzler Tourance but the rear is a Pirelli Trail.. grrr.. I don’t like mixing tyre brands and I definitely don’t appreciate not being told they were sending a different tyre… have complained of course, but no surprise they haven’t bothered to answer yet.  I don’t have time to return the Pirelli so have had to go ahead and have the mis-matched tyres fitted.

When I got home I began packing up the bike ready to go in the morning… OMG, I have so much stuff.  I have been very careful not to overpack clothing etc. but the camping gear is legion and soooo heavy.  Have had to cull a couple of times but still it is like having a small overweight pillion behind me.  I did buy quite a bit of freeze dried food to try to save money, but they are actually quite heavy.  Of course the weight will reduce as I eat them so that’s one positive.

As I am potentially going to be riding off road at some point on this journey, especially if I do decide to carry on into the ‘Stans’, I am taking more protective gear than I would normally wear/carry so again more bulk.  I don’t want to wear padded hips and armoured knee guards all the time, but I will be riding in Adventure boots, enduro helmet and armoured jacket most of the time so expect to be extremely hot.  Due to lack of space I’m not going to be able to carry alternative boots, leather chaps, a shortie helmet and lightweight jacket as I would normally do.

Also, because of where I might be going, I am carrying a pretty comprehensive tool kit, some spares – spark plug, brake pads, oil filter, inner tube – some electrical do-dads for any wiring repairs and, besides the usual sockets and spanners, some special tools for adjusting the tappets, a compact tyre changing kit an air pump and a winch.  A winch?? Yes, it is quite an amazing piece of kit and will even lift my 1800cc Harley; I haven’t tried it out yet, but it will come in handy if I do drop the bike in the middle of nowhere.

I best get myself off to bed as it’s almost 2am and I want to be leaving fairly early.  Will take a photo of the bike before I leave so you can see the small mountain I am carrying with me.

Ciao