4. Dam she's dirty now....!

The weather here in Palma has been rather good for a couple of days so I decided to take Tina for a decent run out, time to find out how much I really like this machine, So I spent a few minutes deciding where I wanted to go and then loaded the route into the sat nav. I am not the biggest fan of gadgets on motor bikes but there are two must haves in my opinion, cruise control and a sat nav. Anyway I decided that Benidorm needed to be checked out. Only 49 miles from home if I don't take the AP-7 I don't want to pay any tolls LOL and besides it's ore scenic the other way and isn't that why we buy motorbikes?. First I somehow managed to pair the sat nav with my helmet without any instructions as I couldn't find them, still in an unopened box somewhere I bet. First of all I could not get over how many gorgeous young Eastern European prostitutes there were along the N332 sitting on their white plastic chairs waiting for the next punter. Before you ask no I didn't! After about 20 miles I started to get a numb bum I don't know whether this is because I haven't ridden for a while or my riding position is wrong but it is something I will look into and also it was a bit windy and the screen is far too low for me my head was getting buffeted a lot,  the next morning my neck was killing me, something else to look into, apart from that the bike is brilliant. The trip took just over an hour, I was taking it relatively easy.

I had heard a lot of things about Benidorm about how sleazy and dirty it is but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised the place was very clean there was a good vibe about the place and it was very busy which considering it's Winter was a bit of a shock. I have friends and family that go there on a regular basis now I know why, it's fun. It was strange though as you could tell the Brits they were the ones in shorts and flip flops and the locals were all wrapped up to keep warm. I wouldn't mind spending a few days there myself.

I spent a couple of hours looking around had a drink and something to eat and the made my way home, I stopped off just outside Benidorm for some more photos's it was just such a gorgeous day I couldn't resist.

All in all a great day now I am left with the problem of sorting out the screen height and maybe fitting and leaving the air cushions from my Harley on the bike, after I have tested them out to see if they work and solve the problem.

No bike is perfect so I will try and adapt to fit the bike along with a few mods to the bike and hopefully I will end up with a comfortable touring machine.

3. Time to take Tina home...

I was up early this morning, well early for me anyway, all excited as today is the day after a couple of false starts that I pick the bike up...Tina, I was told to come to the shop at 6pm so of course the day really dragged, 5pm came around eventually and we made our way into town the walk form the car park to the shop was miles long, or so it seemed, we waited for Adrian to finish with another customer then he came over to us and said, another hour the boxes only arrived at the shop the same time that we did...so Lorni and I went off for a cuppa in a local cafe, the longest hour of my life. 7pm and we walked back to the shop, We waited for a few minutes then I noticed Adrian pushing my bike from the workshop and into the show room....at last.

The ride home was interesting as I have never ridden a bike with the characteristics of the Super 10 I absolutely love it the next few years are going to be interesting I hope now to start planning my first big trip which I have a feeling will be back to the UK,

2. The hunt is over

Over the years I have found that without a doubt the best way to tour and see anything is on two wheels, you can smell everything and you are in the environment not hiding behind glass and a hunk of metal, you can stop just about anywhere and not be in anyone's way I just love it and as I've got older my passion for motorcycle touring has grown. I have been to France a few times and ridden down to Spain from Calais a couple of times once with my Brother on the back of my Glide we went to the Barcelona Harley Days a couple of years back. Five years ago ( I still cant believe it was that long ago) Myself and a friend Elaine mounted my Old Evo complete with overladen trailer and made our way through France over the Pyrenees down to the Costa Brava and back through France, great trip.

Yes I did take this road train all over Europe with no problems at all, never stopped never let me down in over 3000 miles and I still owned this great bike until December last year, 2018, broke my heart to let her go but at 21 years old she needed someone with a bit more time on their hands to bring her back to a decent state,

I have nothing against Harley's or Gold wings but with their every increasing  dependency on electronics and ever increasing prices not just purchase but service and parts I couldn't justify another big cruiser/ touring machine so! what to get? I have a natural dislike for BMW's not just because there are so many of them but the attitude of most of the owners put me off for life and of course we are back to big bucks again. After nearly a year of looking and I mean proper looking, which included reading hundreds of reviews watching tons of you-tube presentations and reading what owners are saying on forums I came up with the what I hope will be the perfect machine for me.

After sorting the car out here in Spain I then made my way to the local Yamaha dealers and ordered my bike, they tend to be a bit more expensive here is Spain  I could have gotten the "raid" edition in the UK for the price of the "e" edition that I have ordered, I'm never going to do the real "off road" thing yes we do have some dodgy roads here in Spain and yes there are some gravel roads but not doing the Amazon trail stuff more for touring on.

I had to go back into town a few days later to take in proof of house ownership and proof of being on the electoral register here in Spain to both the Dacia dealer for the car and the Yamaha dealer for the bike, at the Yamaha dealer the sales guy was all excited as the bike had just been delivered so we went round the back of the shop to have a look had to take the cardboard off but there she was.

OK so really excited now I was told she would be ready for the following Thursday, remember this is Spain, so on Thursday I got a call to tell me that the bike wouldn't be ready till the next day around 11ish so the following day I rang again this is last Friday 18th Jan when I was told I could take the bike but would have to bring her back as the boxes hadn't arrived yet. I decided that I can wait another day or two so now I am picking her up (Tina) on this coming Monday but after 6pm so I get to ride a new bike, one that I have never ridden before in the dark on the wrong side of the road (for me) should be interesting to say the least.

1.New bike

I have arrived at the incredible age of 60 I say incredible as both my parents didn't get this far, I have had an interesting life up to now and I really want to keep it going, Lorni and I recently made a huge lifestyle decision and we moved to Spain, we sold up a lot of stuff before the move including my bikes, so the deal was when we get to Spain I could have a new one. Where to start with this? I have had a passion  for bikes all my life and have been fortunate enough to do some travelling on two wheels and I want to do some more...a lot more. so what bike to get? If you look at my history of motorcycles over the last 30 years you will see there is a pattern emerging.

1991 Yamaha XJ600

!994 Yamaha XJ400 Fighting Spirit

!999 Harley Davidson Heritage Springer Softail (Evo)

1998 Honda GoldWing

1999 Honda Valkyrie Interstate

2002 Aprilia Mille

2009 Harley Davidson Road King

2014 Harley Davidson Elctra Glide Ultra (Rushmore)

1999 Yamaha XJ900 Diversion

Since I passed my test on my Honda CB125T, oh and before that I had a Suzuki GS 125 and a Honda CB 250 super Dream and even a CZ125, I have been a big bike fan I am over 6 foot tall and weigh the wrong side of 17 stone so as a rule I have had big Yamaha's or touring machines, I do love touring on two wheels. Once in Spain of course there is no 21 miles of water separating me from all the European Countries so the hunt was on.

I was looking for a bike with no chain, easy to maintain, reliable and big enough/tall enough for me and my wife and a bike that would effortlessly get me back and forth to the UK  economically if I so wished,. Seems like an impossible hunt or why not just go out and buy a BMW GS, well after a lot of looking and a lot of research I chose the Yamaha Super Tenere or S10.