Pretty much the same down here in 'rural' Oxfordshire - virtually nobody wearing masks unless they're forced to (on buses for example). Tuesday is market day here and more or less consists of people in their 50's and 60's selling stuff to people in their 70's and 80's. All in the high or very high risk category but when I went past the market last week the number of people wearing masks was - none. Not one single person. Be interesting to see if that changes when masks in shops becomes compulsory - do market stalls count as shops? My local barber (I really need a haircut!) was wearing one when I went to check out the queue in the shop, but covering his chin only.

I've been building (rebuilding really) a bike for the last 9 months for a travel project that in the innocent pre Covid days of last autumn was meant to start on 1st August - 10 days time. The effect of the virus has been to knock that on the head but its effect on some of the businesses I've had to use during the rebuild has been quite striking - some have been swamped with work from people on furlough while some others have been kicking their heels. Three months to get a rebore done vs vapour blasting 'while you wait' for example. Still others have just packed up. Just as well the 1st Aug departure date has been binned as the bike is still in bits but I've rescheduled a shorter trip (to the French HU event) in mid Sept. Whether that goes ahead is anyone's guess.

That must be wild. I can almost smell the adrenaline!

Care to share the details of the bike and the destination?

My Central European jaunt is still on track for now. Fingers-crossed....

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Oh yes, it's certainly (g)rave culture on a Tuesday morning round here!
I tend to stay well away from the market - the out of control mobility scooter drivers are far more dangerous than the roads.


The bike is an old 250 Yamaha two stroke - just like this one in fact:



That picture was taken in Morocco in 1970 and what I wanted to do was redo that trip on the same (model) bike 50yrs later and write a book about how things have moved on - or not, whether 50yrs has given me any more insight into how the world works, that kind of thing. I made a start on the book last year but the virus has affected every aspect of the original idea to the point where even if the bike was running and it was possible to actually ride the route, it wouldn't be the same. So far just about the only thing that seems to be directly comparable seems to be the length of my hair. Then it was out of hippy ideals choice, now it's because all the barbers are shut. So the trip, like everything else, is postponed to next year.

Part one of the book in its work in progress form:



A year back I did work through a 'risk assessment' of what could possibly go wrong with this idea. A global plague decimating, if not populations, certainly economies, and closing down borders that had taken the last 50yrs to open was not even on the long list. I think nuclear war came higher up.

We're only half way through 2020...

Either way, great idea, albeit mad! I hope to get to read a copy once written!

(And keep the hair! It'll give the Tuesday market crowd something to grumble about)

__________________
Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

With the uncertainty of Covid etc is it worth travelling the world without locking into one bike, but buy and sell bikes as you go and also use other forms of transport where more appropriate?

You seem to be in no hurry which means you could spend a heap of time in one country getting to see it and using the mode of transport that best suits.

Just before Covid we were about to head OS with the family for an extended period using airbnb’s and buying cars when needed.

Covid stopped it but I couldn’t imagine the hassle if we were OS with camper and had to leave it to come home in a hurry.

At least when its just you that headache is out of the picture. Just a thought.



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I have considered this option, but no longer mainly due to technical issues. It would be too difficult to build what I'm building, then mod it for each use....I'm not just going on a motorcycle trip - nor am I just going around the world....I am filming, recording, creating VR - and all of this will be modded into the bike - and it will be a motorcycle cause there is NO other way to experience the world that interests me....Having said this, time will tell how much I am going to be forced to alter plans due to Covid....and that remains a fact for all of us.

Thanks for the thoughtful post.

Here is my bike KRTW, it's taken 6 years to build with work and family being priorities put before it. Built from scratch using a super smooth K75 engine.
I'm interested to know what bike you would build and what priorities/ necessaries would dictate the build...???

I only ask because I feel I have learnt many things about a build project including the pitfalls which I would gladly pass on.....

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Someone mentioned picking up the bike and I think that was a very good point. My back still hurts 15 years later from all the times I had to pickup a 2003 F650 that I took to Argentina. Maybe going with a friend is a good idea because of the save your back aspect.

I recently bought a DRZ400 and was thinking about using it for an around the world trip. I found out that I do not really have the patience for doing any highway riding on anything smaller than a 650.

The DR650 sounds like a good choice, but I think a KLR650 or F650 dakar would also be good choices. I think having a sub $5k bike is a good idea, because if it gets stolen, has a serious break down, has a bad crash, etc you are just out of the $5k. Sometimes you will have to leave the bike in an unsecure location and it is going to be a whole lot less stressful if it is a sub $5k bike.

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http://www.journeyrider.net Latin America blog (07-8)

That bike has a lot of very intentional features: the front end assembly, the panelling down by the sump, the design of the side boxes, even the engine.

Would you mind talking us through the choices and reasons?

I’m guessing each one has a story or purpose!

__________________
Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Absolutely beautiful bike......I have to go to work, but later today will post a list of my wishes for a bike - and would love to hear the pitfalls and lessons leaned from your build.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

Have a goosey gander on here, my build thread.. .

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Last night I went to a concert in Nottingham, UK. The concert was really good. It was sooo good to see live music again - not my preferred genre - but so good to see music being made again. SWMBO was in the orchestra and they were all buzzing afterwards. Apparently it was the first live music event in the region for months - everyone was very sensible, keeping their distance and virtually everyone was wearing a mask throughout (except the players when playing).

It can be done, its not the same, but it is a start - and I think that that is going to be true for many aspects of life going forward for some time - we will do things differently, but we will still do them, albeit differently, taking into account the new circumstances. One step at a time.

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.

In my area we are on a second lock-down due to massive increase in Covid cases and deaths.....Happy for your concert...and what this says to me is that things will change, but not in the same way, at the same pace, around the world...

I have started wondering what my own band will be doing for the next while. There are no gigs. And LOTS of venue's for bands have closed, and more are dying....Even after this, it will take YEARS for this industry to recover....

I'll be on the road by then.

Lot of other industries in a similar situation. I’m currently on my first out of area trip since March (UK to France) and it’s shocking how few people are travelling. I doubt there were 50 people on the Dover ferry - probably closer to 1000 in a normal summer. The hotel I’ve just arrived at - 3 guests out of about 100 capacity. Even on the main routes all you see are local cars. I’ve been travelling this route for 15yrs and never seen it like this

Wow, your bike is really underpowered - you could have walked it in that time

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.