Tested or reviewed

Just simple words about things I have purchased and bikes I have rented but honest reviews not fake bullshit that fills YouTube.

Two Books: All the gear no idea + Way to go.

Two more motorcycle travel books. With touring off due to the virus I am catching up on few things I had forgotten about like posting these two motorcycle adventure books. All the Gear, No Idea In 1997 Michele Harrison at age 33 quit her office job and purchased a Royal […]

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Two Books: Head Check + Far and Away.

Two motorcycle riding books. This lock down has achieved one thing, forced me to finish a bunch of stuff. That includes books that have been sitting in my Kindle library. I currently have six out of seven 100% read but I will try spread the posts out to not turn […]

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Small bike rentals. Honda XR150 Vs Yamaha XT125

If you do much riding in SE Asia beyond Thailand you will encounter countries with motorcycle engine capacity limits and find these two bikes in rental shops. I have completed two tours on each and kept a couple of notes. I first rode the XT125 in southern Vietnam from HCM […]

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Six days with the Honda CB650R

For this years ride in Northern Thailand I rented a CB650R and have a few notes on the bike. I like this class of motorcycle. Mid size naked. It doesn’t suit my current location but if I was back in my old stomping ground I’d probably own something in this […]

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Waypoints – short stories collection

I have a few motorcycle travel e-books I have been reading lately when flying and have become bogged down in about four of them. However Waypoints by Bud Miller I breezed through on my recent travels to Vietnam. Mostly because it’s not a very big volume, but also as it […]

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56 Design – Edwin rider jeans

Ahead of a trio of rides in SE Asia next year I decided to get a new pair of riding jeans. I’ve owned a couple pairs of rider jeans over the years. Alpinestar and Draggin items, neither of which I liked because they were not comfortable on the bike and […]

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Ten days with a Yamaha XT660R

I had never really noticed this motorcycle before, but after riding one in Turkey I now see quite a few people in those overlander groups on Facebook have them set up as ‘traveler’ bikes and along with the venerable KLR650 are a popular choice for riders on budget doing extended […]

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Motorcycle Messengers 2 – Short stories collection.

I always try to have a few books to read when I do one of my motorcycle tours. Being a cheap charlie I’m usually on LCC flights with no entertainment system, but even on regular airlines I can scroll through all the movies and not find anything I would watch. […]

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Alpinestars Atom gloves

I went looking for new summer gloves in Japan and despite 100’s on display in the motorcycle superstore Naps I came away with something from a familiar brand Alpinestars which I later regretted. In Japan there are loads of motorcycle accessory brands I am not familiar with. Some are reputable […]

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Five years with the Yamaha FJR1300

My neighbour always tells me I have seen so much of Japan, which is true, but there remains more here to explore on the remote back roads and so I am pausing to consider if I need to change motorcycles to reach these places and indeed if I want to […]

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Honda CB500X

I have completed three tours of Thailand on the CB500X yet never got around to writing a review of the bike. Honda builds the CB500X in Thailand and it is a common model in the rental fleets in Chiang Mai, often the cheapest option in a big bike which is […]

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Four days with the Yamaha MT-07

There has been much written about the Yamaha MT-07 already but having enjoyed four days touring on this bike I shall add a few thoughts all the same. What struck me first is how compact the bike is, it felt like a toy compared to my QE2 size touring bike. […]

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