I was keen to try Michelin Anakee 3s for their ridiculous tread depth but, in the end, went for Bridgestone Battlewings (USD100 cheaper). Two new tyres at the same time in our household usually means we bought a new bike.

Summer riding gloves from Teknic finally fell to bits. They survived Thailand and Germany before this trip and had become so lived-in as to actually look a bit macabre. Replacements are a bit more Marlborough Man.

Lumpy tickover for a while and the odd backfire through the airbox. Sounded like a failed vacuum hose and indeed it was. I fashioned a repair by stealing a bit of the coolant reservoir overflow hose. Hardening and perishing of hoses is to be expected on a 12 year old bike.

Strange that people can spend their working lives fitting tyres and never wonder what the dot on the sidewall is there for.

And that is what the inside of a Metzeler Tourance looks like. For the second time in 31 years of motorcycling, I have had a tyre completely deflate while riding. I strongly suspect this tyre was old stock.

Four of these men are straining to lift a heavy motorbike onto a pickup.  The fifth man is pretending.

Later

Thinking about it, the tyre was not old stock at all; we ordered it in California.  The max load is 325kg; we must be close to this.  What has destroyed the tyre is the regular crashing through pot holes that has gone on since we left the USA.

Obviously, we slow down and avoid pot holes whenever possible but, sometimes, we see them too late and have no choice but to take them head-on. I stand on the pegs and shout yee haw.  Helen just has to sit there.

We’ve hit pot holes hard enough for me to worry about bending the bike and I’ve regularly been thankful for our steel frame welded to our steel subframe.  Also, we keep the tyres inflated hard because a shredded tyre is a breeze compared to a shattered wheel.

The last time we hit a pot hole really hard was the morning this happened.

Oh the indignity

Quite how that third bolt got away, I’ll never know; it should have been held captive by the backbox. The bike now has a total of six cable ties enhancing its structural integrity.

I always carry cable ties because you never know how a date will end.

Bike is dusty as hell mere days after I spent US$2 having it cleaned

Hugger demonstrates indifference to conventional fixings

Side panels. Who needs bolts?

Six countries’ worth of grime being removed for US$2.00. I tipped well.