Usually on this day I am mourning the passing of summer. I’m okay with September, it’s a beautiful month, but I am a summer person and I know this is the downhill run to the cold dark days of winter. However, this summer hasn’t been too good. Apart from the dismal weather, two bouts of bad news meant it was pretty shit frankly. Mrs L is undergoing chemotherapy and seems to be managing okay, but we will see how it all pans out. The loss of My R1200RT was another blow. Today, however, it has been replaced.
Interestingly, having spent the summer riding the F800GT, the weight of the RT was apparent in a way it wasn’t before. Not that it’s a problem, I just have to readjust. They have made a few tweaks since the 2014 model, too. The indicator repeaters are much more clear – this was one of my minor niggles. This bike has the quick shift as standard. While I do occasionally carry out clutch-less gear-changes, this takes a little getting used to. Usually, I adjust the throttle – on this one, you don’t or you screw up the gear-change. My immediate thoughts are that I can do a better job with manual changes using the clutch. But, I’ll persevere and see.
Overall, though, I’m pleased to be back on an RT as they are lovely machines and my long distance work is more comfortable on this than the F800. The latter bike will be used primarily for training work.
Happy for you about the bike: could I just presume to send my best wishes to Mrs L and yourself?
Thanks for that.
Good luck with the new machine. It looks nice and cosy. My Triumph Sprint is off the road and I’ve treated myself to a brand new scooter, the Suzuki Address. It’s got great suspension and brakes but the legshield design sends a cold blast to the parts most private. The promise of 120ish mpg and 60-65mph on the flat is compelling, after I run it in at sub-50mph.
Ouch! You would have thought they would have thought about that…
The RT is a subtle improvement on the old one and I loved that. The F800 is also a delight, so bikewise, I’m content.
It’s made in Malaysia mostly for the Asian market so most of it’s owners probably like a bit of dehumidification. Not so good of an Irish autumn morning but it’s a cracking little scoot nevertheless.
It’s one of those ‘motorcycle’ thingys? At least the two wheels lead me to believe it might be. Good luck to Mrs Longrider.
It has indeed been a dodgy but not untypical British summer. Plenty of nice weather but I don’t think that it ever managed more than three days without raining. Despite this I have managed to take part in numerous running and triathlon events and only got rained on once and that was in February. I have also done a great deal of cycling and have been rained on gently from time to time and totally soaked just once.
I tend to view the coming of winter with pragmatism. It is an unavoidable part of life so we are stuck with it. I try to keep cycling as long as I can before surrendering myself to the turbo trainer. I then spend the rest of the winter trying to improve my swimming.
Best wishes to Mrs. L, hope that she responds well to her treatment and recovers.
I’m a summer person for biking so out here in Western Canada I get to bike comfortably from late May through early September. I have ridden all 12 months here but sometimes looked like the Michelin man I was so heavily dressed.
Which is why I have so far taken two biking vacations in Mexico. Harleys both times, which was amusingly different from my Honda, but Mexico is a marvelous place to ride. The coastal highway from Puerto Vallarta to Mazatlan is a newly paved dream, and the side trip to Guadalajara up and over the Sierra Madres likewise. The former twisty, and a bit slow, the latter straight, often straight up and down, but a full high speed motorway.
My Harley guy has retired, but a young German couple have set up down there with BMW 800s and I’ll try them this January.
Can you Brits do a worthwhile winter bike trips to Spain or Italy?
My very best wishes to you and your wife. Mine is going through the same thing.
I suppose we could. I tend to leave it until the summer months. The mountain passes will be blocked during the winter months.
Thanks for the kind words. Things haven’t been as bad as I thought they might, but they do seem to have developed the treatment to make it less awful. Presumably your wife has found the same.