Looking across to the snow capped alpine mountains seen from the back seat of a motorcycle

Welcome To Bikes And Travels...

...It's about bikes... and travels... mostly on bikes!

2 motorcycles with luggage with stunning Welsh mountains in the background

Spring has sprung, now we have a few months of warm pleasant rain to enjoy after the cold and miserable rain of winter. What excitement and adventures will this year bring?

What's New?

Etsuko Sharon is enjoying her Z400 on a fulfilling and exciting level. Things don't always go the way you might hope though.
Excellence In Its Own Way More Mountains! The Serra da Estrela provides a wiggly squiggly experience that's similar yet different to many other mountainous regions. The Dynamic Muppets get to ride and relish around.
Bogger's Delirium Tour Would you travel 365 miles for a beer? Not many folks would but Bogger and his friend will. Ypres suffered terribly during The Great War - it suffers some more by enduring such visitations as this.
Lots Of Fun And Lots Of Sun Upt' is enjoying the weather but keeps on asking "what could go wrong?". There's a sense of foreshadowing, or is he leading us a merry dance?
Street Fighter To Laid Back Tourer Sharon continues the transformation of her sporty Z400 into a hobbit sized touring machine. Not everything goes perfectly but there's a happy ending.
Dull Roads And Strange Accommodation There's plenty of scenery but the ride is not so interesting today. The accommodation is unexpected in both good and bad ways.
Wurz Ren Bin Oh no! It's one of them excuse posts as Ren tries to wriggle his way out of his responsibilities. Actually it's been rather hectic at BAT Towers.
There's Drivers From Hell And Doggy Smell More random notes from Upt's road trip through Italy. There's a brief romance of the Canine kind and an opinion piece covering Italian driving. Suffice to say Upt's opinion ain't favourable.
Same Peninsula Different Language It's time to leave the beauty of Riano and head into the "Yellow Country". There's potholes and Ren making an ass of himself. Nothing new then.
Feeling Lucky In Riano Gird your loins dear readers - Sharon and Ren are accidentally having another "really good day". There's a glitch in The Matrix, buy a lottery ticket, this is a one time only special deal. Normal misery will return soon surely.
See More What's New

Latest Posts

12 Months From New 2019 Honda CB125F Review ROD¹ said :-
I have been around motorcycles for long enough to know that everyone has different opinions on tyres. I had pirelli city angels on my 125 and found them very grippy wet or dry and in general a very good tyre. I did not keep the bike long enough to report how the tyres last.
05/02/2025 18:38:37 UTC
12 Months From New 2019 Honda CB125F Review Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Tyres are a problem. With SO MANY sizes to choose from it seems some sizes are rare if not non existent. The options for the incredibly popular CBF125 were limited, particularly if you want a matching pair. When I last had the bike the only branded option was the Pirelli Angel City.

My CB500X uses the very popular 120-70-17 and 160-60-17 fitments, thus allowing quite a range of options. The newer CB500X and now NX500 has a 19 inch front wheel and that would concern me regarding tyre options and indeed costs.

Sharon's Z400 has 110-70-17 and 150-60-17. We had a fair old time finding suitable matching pairs but they are out there.

I'm sure Ian has a few tales of discontinued sizes. I hear tell that you can fit this instead of that, something close enough will do the trick I'm sure. Buuuuuuuut... would it, could it affect an insurance claim? "Your client crashed into my bike" - "Yes but you had incorrect tyre sizes fitted, it adversely affected the handling" - "The bike was in the car park, I was sat in the cafe" - "Yes, but still..."
05/02/2025 16:00:49 UTC
12 Months From New 2019 Honda CB125F Review nab301 said :-
I meant to mention while fitting the tyres I took the opportunity to do some routine maintenance , changing the fork oil and replacing the cheap aftermarket gaiters which had perished.
The oil quantity/ level listed for the CB125F in the Haynes manual is 145cc / 187mm
I checked the level before draining and it was low, I then drained out approx 100cc from each leg admittedly without dismantling.
Adding fresh oil required 145cc to make the level correct , so I'm not sure what's going on there , fork seals were fine and currently there appears to be less dive under braking ..
I had intended greasing the head bearings too but just getting to the top yoke clamp bolt to enable fork oil draining requires a fair bit of stripping and the head bearings seemed fine , it'll be something to look forward to at the next tyre change!
Nigel


05/02/2025 13:57:56 UTC
12 Months From New 2019 Honda CB125F Review nab301 said :-
So after considering The Kenda tyres from M&P (and not wanting to struggle like Ian with fitting) it appears from the drop down delivery menus ( although I didn't make an enquiry) that they don't deliver to Southern Ireland.
Eventually in the new year I found a helpful local dealer who located and special ordered some Heidenau K80 tyres .
I fitted these without any problems and looking at the side wall, unusually they appear to be manufactured in Germany .
They seemed to work well immediately after fitting in typical slippery winter conditions even generating some temperature after a short motorway " thrash" !
Time will tell how long they last ...
05/02/2025 13:38:10 UTC
Excellence In Its Own Way Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Bogger - I was very careful to ensure I DID NOT imply the lack of performance was due to Sharon's additional mass. You are just being annoying. I would never suggest Sharon is overweight because I value my wellbeing.

Upt' - according to Google Maps the Fundão area is a little south of The Serra da Estrela, but only a little south. You've certainly been nearby if not through.

I took with me a tub packed solid with proper tea bags. With the "cups of tea per day" rate that I run at I planned to purchase more while on the road. However I failed to realise just how poor access to tea is in Portugal, I mistakenly presumed we were in a civilised country.

Portugal has laws and government, schools and colleges, industry and agriculture, and all the other trappings of contemporary first world life. To all external appearance it is a very good example of a modern and decent country, a country the Portuguese folks should be proud of. Despite all this they lack one thing. TEA. Real, decent, tasty, life enhancing, wonderful, civilised TEA.
05/02/2025 13:08:44 UTC
Excellence In Its Own Way Upt'North ¹ said :-
Bends you've gotta love em, until they drive you around the bend of course.
Or if you're diving and not riding.
Or.....
I was thinking, yes I know I shouldn't, that we may have been near there, but, then I thought again. I think we've probably been through Fundão enroute to Guadalajara on The BeaST.
I feel I must take issue with you pair, no tea! No blummin tea? Call ya'selves Englishmen...women abroad. What on earth do you carry in all them bags and pockets if not a few blummin tiny light tea bags. You've gone down in my estimation Ed me lad. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, don't ya know?
Pffffffftttttt.
Nice pictures, nice write up, nice shed, but........
This is how wars start, think back to Boston.
Upt.
05/02/2025 12:40:21 UTC
Excellence In Its Own Way Bogger said :-
Err, are you implying that the performance dropped because there was a lot of extra weight on the back?

How rude.

Bogger
05/02/2025 08:47:23 UTC
Excellence In Its Own Way Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I did not notice a drop in performance... Then I realised the bike wasn't quite as punchy out the corners, it felt just a tiny teeny bit sluggish. My initial thoughts were "oh crapola, something's wrong, bad fuel, failing coils" and all the usual panicking I'm so good at. Fortunately the panic only lasted a few moments then the penny dropped.

I stopped flapping and got on with the ride. I only noticed again once back out of the highest peaks that the performance had returned.

It wasn't huge, it wasn't all that noticeable but there's definitely a difference. Considering I was only at 1500m above sea level I can now easily appreciate that it could be a real problem if I were truly high up.

It wasn't my garden shed nab301, far too clean for me. It was my mate's shed. Sorry, it's all a lie.
04/02/2025 16:49:51 UTC
Excellence In Its Own Way nab301 said :-
The roads and scenery look great, did the altitude affect the performance of the bike ?.
Or ,were you really there Ren and did you just stay at home and fit some fancy curtains to the garden shed!
Nigel
04/02/2025 12:51:14 UTC
Street Fighter To Laid Back Tourer BrosSteve said :-
I too am particular where bikes are concerned but fortunate that I have one that is well serviced mechanically but has spent its life outside so tend to use that in bad weather.
03/02/2025 10:52:28 UTC
See More Comments

Latest Repair-Chat

Go To Repair-Chat Ian Soady¹ said :-
High seats - another fashion "statement". I fail to see why we need such a huge gap between the back wheel and the mudguard to cope with - on a road bike - 6" or so of travel. It just makes those of us who are less flexible walk straight past what otherwise may be decent bikes. Although I'm not and have never been in the market for a new machine.

And what's wrong with singles?
03/02/2025 16:01:55 UTC
Glyn said :-
I saw the 400x recently in a German dealers showroom. The bike looks great and at a very reasonable price too. Then I looked a little closer and was sorry to see a single cylinder although the engine actually looks like an early Triumph twin. The same old problem for me was the high seat. The salesman said it had put a lot of potential buyers off.
03/02/2025 12:12:52 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
The short answer is fashion. Like some sports bikes now have aerofoils / spoilers on the fairings. Totally pointless.
01/02/2025 10:28:23 UTC
KiwiJeff said :-
Just read a review of the latest Triumph Scrambler 400X, seems like a nice bike for dirty muddy gravel road work, however what is it with the "Upside down Big Piston forks? I'm aware it's something to do with less unsprung weight? But why put the fork slider tube down where all the dirt is! Having two bikes with "right way up" forks and both of these have rusty bits on the forks, the Inazuma because the chrome layer is too thin and the Bandit because its a bit old and used to live in a damp shed with the previous owner I can see that a properly used 400X is going to keep the Triumph dealers in business with fork repairs! I can get Inazuma fork tubes from China for £50 so not too worried about sorting the Inazuma. Most Inazumas in NZ suffer from fork rot to varying degrees but they are 6 to 11 years old now. I presume with your salted roads the problem would be worse there? I presume the 400X is just fashion over function?!
31/01/2025 23:02:00 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I do. But,
I think you get through more grinding discs than I.

31/01/2025 22:59:18 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
You might think your welding is bad. Here's my attempt. In its favour it is at least strong.


Posted Image
31/01/2025 15:57:35 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Glyn - NO!

Marine 2 stroke diesels as fitted in some large ships have
a) A very large turbo or supercharger. This keeps a positive pressure around the base of the cylinder where the inlet ports are - ensuring that the fresh air charge (no fuel, that is directly injected) comes into the cylinder and not returning exhaust gases.
b) The inlet ports are around the base of the cylinder - separate from the crankcase and underside of the piston allowing proper pressurised lubrication of the crank and small ends
c) An actual exhaust port much like a 4 stroke.
d) Direct injection rather than mixing fuel with air, lobbing it into the crankcase and seeing if any of it reaches the combustion chamber.

Now I seem to recall that someone like KTM did a direct injection motorcycle 2 stroke. Better, but not much. If that could be combined with a forced air intake like a blower then better... but ram-air pressures are at best just a marketing feature.
31/01/2025 15:04:33 UTC
Glyn said :-
Marine diesel two strokes, now that’s an interesting/boring subject depending on who you are. Does the Yamaha reverse cylinder 2 stroke engine cure any of those flow issues that you mention Ed?
31/01/2025 12:28:57 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I have no issues with the visuals of any 2 strokes as they look like, well, motorcycles. My problem lies is the vague hit and miss nature of the air-fuel mixture and exhaust gasses passage through the system. At least in a marine diesel 2 stroke engine the flows are properly managed, with a motorcycle 2 stroke it's more like "some of the gasses will do what they're supposed to do". Plus the lack of proper lubrication - again not a problem with marine 2 strokers.

Oh, and the noise!
31/01/2025 07:52:28 UTC
Glyn said :-
I think in Ed’s eyes this bike is fine but the main complaints come from his ears and nose. Don’t bring Brexit into this Ian, my sons live in Germany and think all non electric vehicles should be banished whilst their chosen country burns more coal than any other EU country to power their non polluting electric cars. They also seem to think it’s right to hold up the English (non Europeans ) as much as possible at passport control whilst the Americans and Chinese are welcome to use the digital passport readers. It appears to me that it’s only the English that have to pass through the “non European “ section. Still, as you say Up’t we’re as good as back in now but without any of the advantages.
29/01/2025 17:27:35 UTC

Latest Chit-Chat

Go To Chit-Chat Upt'North ¹ said :-
Drum roll, symbols!
27/01/2025 16:31:54 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
I thought you might.
27/01/2025 16:27:52 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I blame the EU.
27/01/2025 16:21:20 UTC
nab301 said :-
Not affected by power outages myself here in Ireland but at one stage there were apparently 750k homes/ businesses without power and many of those have estimated repair times of not before the first week of Feb..
Nigel
27/01/2025 16:15:57 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Alas and alack during the worst of the storm SOME of us were working. Here in Bolton it was pretty windy but seemingly nowhere near as rough as Ireland and Scotland suffered.

Yes I would have ventured out, but only if it was necessary. I'm stupid, not really stupid. Keep your thoughts to yourself regarding my stupidity, I'm too stupid to understand any comments anyhoo.
25/01/2025 19:49:33 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
A bit breezy here in sunny (yes it is!) Redditch but no apparent damage. Mind you I did hear chain saws going yesterday to may mosey out and see what's going on in the vicinity.
25/01/2025 12:59:12 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
Ooops, maybe leave the genny out a while. Blummin wind.
We topped out at 96 mph.
It was and still is wild.
But of course it won't stop The Leader of men.

24/01/2025 23:28:21 UTC
KiwiJeff said :-
Will this storm be enough to keep our heroic leader at home with the bike locked up! In the last storm he was riding around just to show you could and to show the rest of us "dandies" up! Stay safe up there, the pictures in the press of the storm damage are impressive.
24/01/2025 21:38:45 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
I hope you dudes and dudettes are coping in the weather.
The power's just come back on here after about 6 hours. Time to put the genny away......until next time.
Upt.
24/01/2025 15:46:47 UTC
Upt'North ¹ said :-
With regards the troosers I'm just hoping they are the answer to.
1. Stupidity.
2. Getting caught in the shower from hell.
3. Keeping armour in place.
4. Stupidity.
My own experience of goretex is not as simple as it does or doesn't work. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, but I don't expect to be at a constant temperature and comfort level whilst riding the bike. Are waterproofs any good in hot weather, no.
But modern garments with the venting etc are OK within realistic expectations. The troosers ordered do have zippy vents in them which should help in the heat.
I have no choice anyway as my 25 year old leathers are tired. It's time to move on. I tried a pair of Oxford Continental 2.0's, they're on ebay, nuff said.
Upt.
20/01/2025 12:47:01 UTC
Random Link - Short Update Review On Keeway RKS 125cc - April 2014

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