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Post by steve63 on Jun 17, 2022 17:05:50 GMT 1
The first part has gone without a hitch although they reckon I've booked myself on the ferry twice and not booked the Mrs. Which is odd but sounds like a good idea thinking about it
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Post by steve63 on Jun 19, 2022 15:04:58 GMT 1
Repsol Honda 😁
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Post by steve63 on Jun 19, 2022 15:06:58 GMT 1
Ice lolly and a glass of orange each.
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Post by steve63 on Jun 20, 2022 7:13:31 GMT 1
First overnight stop. There's a lovely old church with four stork nests on the top of the tower. At work be blocked a doorway to stop Swifts nesting "because they make a mess".
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Post by steve63 on Jun 20, 2022 17:25:15 GMT 1
The Honda has been running like a dream.....mmm 😀. Never have road signs been so pointless: No Overtaking. Overtaking what? 😃. Can be doing 75 for ten minutes and not see anything to overtake. There was a tree across the road at about 45°. We had to duck under it. The Police were taking care of it. I may have a fine to come for riding into the town centre and a camera controlled zone but tis too late now 😂
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Post by veg on Jun 21, 2022 10:25:35 GMT 1
Loving the pictures looks a beautiful place to be.want to do the Camino de Santiago with my lad, enjoy the break.
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Post by steve63 on Jun 21, 2022 21:47:55 GMT 1
Loving the pictures looks a beautiful place to be.want to do the Camino de Santiago with my lad, enjoy the break. We went through or just around Burgos on the First day on the way to Soria for our first stop. It is really beautiful. We walked all over today and keep finding great new views. Reminds me a bit of The Shambles in York but try getting a picture there with no one in it 🙂 I went back to the bike and someone had squeezed their car onto a no parking area between my bike and the barrier to the paid parking area. I took a photo in case I came back and found the bike laid on its side or damaged. Had to be a Volvo.
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Post by billbott on Jun 22, 2022 7:19:44 GMT 1
Great pictures, cant wait to head south myself in a fortnight. Dare i ask the price of fuel over there?
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Post by steve63 on Jun 22, 2022 7:46:31 GMT 1
Great pictures, cant wait to head south myself in a fortnight. Dare i ask the price of fuel over there? It's around €2 but then they take off a discount which drops it to about €1.80. I don't know what it's all about but every garage so far has done it. It might be something like road tax on the petrol and foreign vehicles not paying for it? The bike's doing pretty good sticking to a max of around 5,000rpm/77mph. We get overtaken a lot! I'm still on mph 🙂
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Post by billbott on Jun 22, 2022 8:42:27 GMT 1
Great pictures, cant wait to head south myself in a fortnight. Dare i ask the price of fuel over there? It's around €2 but then they take off a discount which drops it to about €1.80. I don't know what it's all about but every garage so far has done it. It might be something like road tax on the petrol and foreign vehicles not paying for it? The bike's doing pretty good sticking to a max of around 5,000rpm/77mph. We get overtaken a lot! I'm still on mph 🙂 Thanks Steve, I still reckon I'll be into at least £450 for fuel alone!
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Post by steve63 on Jun 22, 2022 14:43:58 GMT 1
It's around €2 but then they take off a discount which drops it to about €1.80. I don't know what it's all about but every garage so far has done it. It might be something like road tax on the petrol and foreign vehicles not paying for it? The bike's doing pretty good sticking to a max of around 5,000rpm/77mph. We get overtaken a lot! I'm still on mph 🙂 Thanks Steve, I still reckon I'll be into at least £450 for fuel alone! I've done about 700 miles so far. Whatever it's doing to a gallon it's more than it's ever done before. I couldn't ride it any gentler. Not accelerating hard through the gears and just winding it on and off in top. Partly to do with making the best of the tank range and partly not to stress the motor. We intend to enjoy the views as well.
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Post by geoffers997 on Jun 22, 2022 15:26:13 GMT 1
Super unleaded is around €2.35ish a litre in Andalusia.
There is a 20 eurocent per litre government subsidy that they take off when you go to pay (make sure they do this - it’s everyone’s right).
Unlike the UK, petrol prices are reasonably similar between local stations and motorways so you don’t feel skinned if you have to gas up on the motorway.
Two tips:
1. If you are buying Super, try to do so at a busy looking garage as it goes off quite quickly - one place I went to in the middle of nowhere had the pump padlocked and they had to scrabble around to find the key.
2. If it’s mega hot - over 40 degrees they don’t ship Super so stations can run out.
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Post by steve63 on Jun 22, 2022 16:24:13 GMT 1
Super unleaded is around €2.35ish a litre in Andalusia. There is a 20 eurocent per litre government subsidy that they take off when you go to pay (make sure they do this - it’s everyone’s right). Unlike the UK, petrol prices are reasonably similar between local stations and motorways so you don’t feel skinned if you have to gas up on the motorway. Two tips: 1. If you are buying Super, try to do so at a busy looking garage as it goes off quite quickly - one place I went to in the middle of nowhere had the pump padlocked and they had to scrabble around to find the key. 2. If it’s mega hot - over 40 degrees they don’t ship Super so stations can run out. I've seen 95 and 98 but it all says E5. Just been buying the basic cheapest. Pulled up at one station and filled up myself then went to pay and the door was locked. There was a machine and I thought it was odd that you could fill up and then pay. A guy came wandering over to open up and I had to tell him I've already filled up. I think he was in the bar across the road 😁
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Post by steve63 on Jun 23, 2022 20:29:37 GMT 1
Hard to find a parking spot. We haven't seen another bike from the UK yet.
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Post by steve63 on Jun 24, 2022 11:25:50 GMT 1
Moved room to a studio apartment about 100m away. Hardly the Grand Tour. I hope the neighbours dont have their fire on tonight 😀
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Post by steve63 on Jun 26, 2022 7:16:29 GMT 1
The company I work for went into receivership on Wednesday. Four days without me and look what happens! 😁. I was thinking I don't fancy getting off the ferry at 6pm, a 280 mile ride home and back to work the next day. Now I don't have to. Every cloud has a silver lining 😊.
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Post by Tobyjugs on Jun 26, 2022 9:31:23 GMT 1
Sorry to hear about you job loss. Steve
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Post by midlifecrisisrd on Jun 26, 2022 19:45:58 GMT 1
Nightmare
Hope you find something else
Steve
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Post by steve63 on Jun 26, 2022 20:53:59 GMT 1
I think what's actually happened is they have gone into administration. Basically the administrators run the place for a limit period and try to find a buyer. If no buyer is found we get made redundant. To be honest my life plan was ideally get another two years and then be made redundant. There's no way I want to work until 67 just because some t@sser decides we should all pay two years more tax and NI and they pay me two years less pension. It's just come a bit early. I'm sat outside a bar on a mountain about 90 miles north of Valencia. The only people here are the four staff, me and the Mrs. so I really don't care at the moment 😜
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Post by donkeychomp on Jun 26, 2022 22:01:22 GMT 1
That's the spirit! And there's nothing you can do about it so why worry and ruin your holiday? Enjoy it mate.
Alex
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Post by steve63 on Jun 27, 2022 7:18:51 GMT 1
That's the spirit! And there's nothing you can do about it so why worry and ruin your holiday? Enjoy it mate. Alex Was it the great Blackadder who said "as one door closes another slams in your face"? 😁 Oh and it's raining here. That was never in my plans.
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Post by donkeychomp on Jun 27, 2022 22:12:54 GMT 1
It was he. Also said 'needs must when the Devil vomits on your doorstep'. Bet it's stopped raining now.
Alex
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Post by JonW on Jun 28, 2022 3:03:23 GMT 1
It think it was 'eiderdown' Alex? Anyway, great pics Steve. Loving seeing the sights of this trip. Thanks for sharing. I had something similar happen to me when i went on holiday once, the company got sold and when i came back my pass, phone, laptop and everything else no longer worked. I'm sure you'll catch up with the lads on whats happening when you get back, no sense worrying about it now. Enjoy the hols
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Post by donkeychomp on Jun 28, 2022 21:20:36 GMT 1
Apologies. When the eiderdown vomits on your doorstep.
Alex
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Post by Esmerelda on Jun 30, 2022 7:23:31 GMT 1
Hi First post I have just returned from Spain on my 1975 850 Commando MK3. On previous trips I had always used various sat-navs and a wired or Bluetooth headset . I casually forgot to pack the mount not needing it to get to Portsmouth , Google Maps on my phone worked really well, I turned off motorways and toll roads in options found some great routes. The only issue was when the phone overheated on the mount and cut out once it cooled down I turned off the screen a left the phone in the tank bag, with the route selected I navigated on voice command only Via my Sena 20s. The Ventura luggage system is very good though a touch top heavy not helped by the addition of my golf club carrier and clubs. Have a great trip! Best regards Esme
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Post by steve63 on Jul 1, 2022 17:52:08 GMT 1
We spent four nights camping on the coast at Gandia. Now laid on a lovely bed in a lovely hotel in Ruidera about 50 miles west of Albecete. We're on our way to Guadalupe and then heading North to the Pico's. A mate of mine said the EX118 was the best road he's ever ridden. In a couple of days I should be able to confirm that. The Mrs needed to stop for a drink. In the background there is the hotel sign. We were 100m from the hotel.
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Post by steve63 on Jul 2, 2022 17:29:25 GMT 1
Hi First post I have just returned from Spain on my 1975 850 Commando MK3. On previous trips I had always used various sat-navs and a wired or Bluetooth headset . I casually forgot to pack the mount not needing it to get to Portsmouth , Google Maps on my phone worked really well, I turned off motorways and toll roads in options found some great routes. The only issue was when the phone overheated on the mount and cut out once it cooled down I turned off the screen a left the phone in the tank bag, with the route selected I navigated on voice command only Via my Sena 20s. The Ventura luggage system is very good though a touch top heavy not helped by the addition of my golf club carrier and clubs. Have a great trip! Best regards Esme I've been using the B-Line. It's pretty good but in the towns it's hard to look when your trying to negotiate the locals on round-abouts and when they are a foot off your back end but all in all it works well enough.
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Post by steve63 on Jul 13, 2022 19:03:37 GMT 1
Well we're back home safe and sound. No problems to report and probably the best holiday we've ever had (the Mrs. agrees).
One piece of advice for anyone thinking, even a tiny bit, of going to Spain for a holiday on a motorcycle is.....just do it, simple as that.
I have literally hundreds of photos. I've never taken so many. Not sure whether to post some or not, certainly not all of them 😀
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Post by veg on Jul 13, 2022 19:14:39 GMT 1
Post away, love the country sons in Barcelona at the moment combining study and bit of hols then we are off to menorca for a few weeks then to Seville. Lovely country and generally v nice people. 👍
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Post by steve63 on Jul 13, 2022 19:23:05 GMT 1
Post away, love the country sons in Barcelona at the moment combining study and bit of hols then we are off to menorca for a few weeks then to Seville. Lovely country and generally v nice people. 👍 Briefly considered Seville but a bit far off our path. That's one of the many positives, the people have been great. I think it helps that my Wife has been studying Spanish and has got a decent handle on it. Generally we stayed away from big towns/cities. We saw Valencia from a distance and thought, nah. Albarracin, probably the nicest place I've ever been. Avila, beautiful but never heard of it before. Guadalupe, Valencia de Don Juan, ditto. The Pico's de Europe, fantastic roads, corners etc, varying surfaces from perfect to moto-cross track (nearly). Mountside hairpin? Pha! nothing. Try it with a 500 foot drop and a bike with 200 extra kg on it.
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