life's problems. - Homer Simpson
Poor circulation HQ has been the usual hive of inactivity until now. This week we received many deliveries from 'Parcel Marceau' some attempted, some successful and some left with neighbours. We now have most of the things we need, mostly due to the generosity of Frank and Liz at http://www.triumph-online.co.uk/,Graham at http://www.bykebitz.co.uk/,
David at http://www.motohaus.com/ and http://www.wemoto.com/.
Talk about Christmas come early! They have all saved us a small fortune on spares and accessories for the bikes and their help will go a long way in helping our journey succeed. The further we get the more publicity we can get for them and raise awareness for the Hospices. Every one's a winner!
Geoff is currently pulling his hair out trying to secure the Russian visas, flapping around and cursing like Icarus....while I'm sorting through the boxes of equipment wondering how we can fit it all on the bikes....
We can't carry everything we want on a bike, but we can carry everything we need. That's one of the many reasons why I chose a Triumph Tiger. Not a 1970's Tiger Cub like Ted Simon rode around the world on (read Jupiter's travels) but a 2006 Tiger 955i. It has an excellent carrying capacity, a 24lt fuel tank, over 50mpg and most importantly can accommodate a man of my stature. Few people even realise Triumph are still being manufactured, after being bought by a successful property developer John Bloor in the late 80's, they have been completely re-designed and built in a new state-of -the-art factory in Hinckley, Leicesterchire. That was, until it burnt down. Now after a rebuild, it's the most modern motorcycle factory in the world. 40.000 bikes a year are made, and they are deliberately 'over engineered' to ensure they never leak oil, unlike the original bikes' reputation. The fuel injected triple engine is more reliable than most of the Japanese competition, and even BMW. (more Tigers are sold in Germany than the equivalent BMW) The Tiger is a 'dual purpose' bike, but the later models such as ours, are almost totally road biased. Just like us then. But we can ride off the beaten track if we have to, ideal to recce campsites in the purest 'poorcirculation' style, and that will be a 'trial' in itself. This will prove to be entertaining as we have precious little 'off road' experience. My idea of a dual purpose bike is 'go & stop.'
As for European language barriers, we considered an electronic 'speaking' translator, but over the last few months we have been learning the subtle differences between Geordie and Estuary and seem to be communicating much better now. This is by no means easy, for example Geoff aired his concerns for the environment and concluded he was gangrene due to global warming. Also at the pub known as 'The Lercal' some confusion arose when he asked for 'Two eels, eye.' Then he announced he was losing his sense of humour by saying he was giving up smirking. Small problems, but often overcome by the simple use of universal hand signals which I'm sure, will bode us well across Europe. Russian checkpoints and border crossings may prove more difficult, even if the guards speak English. I doubt they could understand Geoff's pronunciation, and given his penchant for army surplus equipment, drastically increases the likelihood of him being shot on sight. Especially as I've put an MI5 sticker on his back.
However, a picture says a thousand words, so I shall be purchasing a universal picture dictionary. I won't tell Geoff, so he will be suitably impressed at my language prowess. Let the gesticulation commence!
No comments:
Post a Comment