Pics

By the way, I also finally uploaded some more pics of Maroc '08 - I was looking through Aperture and I noticed that I had a whole 2Gb of photos which had never made it to the web.  There are some lovely scenic ones, and some of the souk in Marrakech.  Some wallpaper-friendly ones too. 

Paintscheme

As well as painting the wheels of my R1100S I've been having some bodywork painted. This was necessary because of some damage (my fault), and I decided to use the opportunity to make the bike a little more unique.

I went with the bellypan as a colour-match, but with Boxer Cup Replika (BCR) official decals added. For the top half of the bike I went with a white "GT Stripe". Actually the BMW bodywork lends itself well to this, because the centre headlight panel is separate, as is the centre panel on the tank. The single-seat cowl and tail-light surround were masked and sprayed. Hopefully all will look good. A bit more sporty without being too overt.

Next time I ride the bike will be the first time I've used the HID lights, the MASSIVE truck horn and the new and improved bodywork.

Weather

Loving the weather, loving my bike wheels, can't wait to get everything back together and cruise to Istanbul... although I'll really miss home.

My Misfortune (again!)

The other day I was following an outside-lane-policeman* and there was a large tick.  Once my surprise had subsided I noticed a large star-shaped chip in the middle of my windscreen.  Grrr.  

This was all the more unfortunate because it is slowly making friends with the other chip, in the top left of the same windscreen.  I was getting away with chip 1 because it's outside the wipered area, but chip 2 was right between the eyes.  I am a pretty unlucky driver.  In the first couple of weeks of being on the road I managed to do a 180 in my car, change all the tyres, get a slow puncture (in a new tyre, natch) and now this.  Sheesh.

* Outside-lane-policepeople decide, on your behalf, that 65mph is plenty (thankyouverymuch) and that they are going fast enough.  It gives them great pleasure to engage in a slow-traffic crusade by seeing you in their mirror, yet refusing to use the entirely empty middle / inside lane, thereby trapping you in outside-lane exile.  The only solutions are 1) be on a motorbike so you can rapidly undertake them and be on your way or 2) to press the hidden "laser" switch on your dashboard, vapourising their car in a flash and a puff of smoke.  A quick squirt of the windscreen washers should clear any residue.