MotorcycleTravelAndTouring.com

I just bought one of these as I need a helmet that I can use as open-face for riding in thec city in the heat, as well as something that can be closed so that if it rains, I don't get splattered! My GS doesn't have a large screen so the Roof seemed like a good option. The regular integral flip-front helmets are in my opinion, so good if you want to readily take photographs while wearing a helmet, so this was also a consideration.

First impressions are that the helmet is fiddly to operate for a newbie to this design but it does seem to work well once you familiarise yourself with how the front opens and closes properly, ( after a couple of attempts in a lay-by, I managed to work out that the easiest way to close the front seems to be to first open the visor then shut the front then re-close the visor)

I bought this stove about 2 years ago for a trip to Italy and it's pretty expensive (at around 135 Euros) but it's certainly an impressive (if somewhat dangerous!) piece of kit. It's very robust and folds up quite nicely into the bag that it's supplied with.

The stove is supplied with a fuel bottle and can be filled with many types of fuel to create heat for drinks, cooking and warming. It's very easy to use, lights very easily and really looks the part.

The bottle needs to be pressurized first in order to release the fuel into the stove base for burning. Once this is done, there is enough pressure for about 20mins of burning (using the standard fuel bottle provided) The pump can also fit on other larger bottles, but as I travel mostly with the bike, the small one is ideal for me.

If you're planning to take you bike to the UK and your not planning to use EuroTunnel, the following information might be useful:

Possible Ferry Routes:

Please feel free to add more if you know something! :-)

Over the last few weeks I have been comparing a newly acquired Garmin Zumo 500 with my old favourite, the 276C with the following comments:

Main Advantages of Zumo:
(The Zumo 500 and Zumo 550 are largely the same apart the text to speech, the in built in memory size and the car mount that comes in the box with the 550. The 500 I have, has a 2GB SD card with it)

BestBikingRoads.com is a website that is evolving almost continuously. The latest feature to be added to this growing site is 'Nearby Routes', a cool idea that allows the user to lookup up recommended roads that are near to the one currently being viewed, thus making trip planning even easier with the site.

See More Here

The Bakken Amusement Park Biker convoy has been a tradition in Denmark since the 60s. Twice a year (once when the park opens, and the second time when it closes), a large convoy of bikes (between 2 and 10 thousand depending on weather) gathers in the centre of Copenhagen and rides to the park to mark the occassion. The atmosphere at the event is great (as it is at most big biking events), with all kinds of bikes, old and new, rare and common gathering side by side for the ride.

The gathering of bikes took place in Nørrebrogade on Nørrebro. Starting 5.30 pm for the 7pm departure

Here are a couple of the highlights:

About 10 months ago my workhorse 1995 BMW R1100GS finally gave up the ghost and left me stranded on the side of the Brussels ring road in the middle of the night fully loaded.
Here is a brief description of the problem:

The bike is one of the last 1100s with a plastic tank, it's a 1995 with full options, i.e. ABS and heated grips.

The bike suddenly cut out when riding on the motorway at night in the cold weather. thus the lights were on and the heated grips so far as I can remember. Additionally, just before the bike cut out, I'm pretty sure I heard the starter motor kick for about a second or two before the bike gave up completely (I can't be absolutely certain about this as I was wearing earplugs at the time and rather distracted by the whole experience)

I purchased this jacket about a year ago and have used it for lots of riding and trips since then. My initial reasons for purchsing this jacket were that it should keep me cool in the hot weather, provide a decent level of protection and not fall to pieces if used a lot. (Previously I have tried Frank Thomas Jackets and Lookwell jackets but with a lot of use I had found both of these fell apart fairly quickly, i.e. in less than 12 months)
The Santiago jacket has a number of very clever design features that allow a lot of ventilation through the arms of the jacket, the main body of the jacket at the front and also at the rear.

This time sadly not with the bike but we visited friends in Ohio, California and Seattle. I managed also to get a ticket to the Red Bull US Grand Prix near to Monterey from EBay, as coincidentally (I didn't plan it, honest!) the GP covered some of the days we were in California. Weather was roasting hot and the atmosphere was great right up until the first corner where the two top American riders tried to take each other out, leaving them both badly behind the pack. Stoner eventually ran away with the victory and although he deserved the win, I found it a bit sad as a big Rossi fan. Vermeulen getting an excellent second place.

This was an interesting an informative DVD that consists of loads of good quality of 'on-bike' footage filmed from the instructor's motorcycle, hence it makes for a quite entertaining and educational viewing. Strong points were good commentary on the student's riding technique, great quality footage broken up into sections to help viewers understand the essential riding skills and a real feeling that you had participated in a riding lesson/assessment.