Tried camping mats and sleeping mats and finally settled on a good old fashioned airbed.

It goes down small, I use a cheap bellows footpump, it also sucks air out when putting it away so it goes really small. Together they are smaller than a mat, but guarantee a good sleep.

La Rochelle to Royan and take the ferry from Royan across the bay to the other side of the river, and come down the west bank of the Garronne through the lovely villages to Bordeaux. Bordeaux has a fantastic ring road and the city itself is worth a trip. Its got a decent tram network and the Holiday...

I think the helmet must have to do with the fit. I find the helmet very quiet and don't use earplugs. I tried a few others and it felt better. The textile gear I could not fault and pockets are in the right place for me. Sizes are optimistic, at 5' 8" I had to go XL to get a proper fit. I use a...

Its a lovely trip but might be hard on a naked bike unless you keep the daily mileage low and keep to the back roads. Average speed lower, enjoyment factor high....

Not a good detail. Aluminium is quite soft and rivets generally pull through it. I would not trust that detail to last too long. It might sound ugly but when confronted with a detail like that changing the rivets to small pan or dome head stainless through bolts and locknuts with a decent washer and...

I have a Hepco & Becker topbox which I moved from one bike to another and is still great if a little worn. It does have rivets but has a reinforcing plate on both sides, they still look right. Rivets direct to plastic are not good as plastic is not very strong, just wondering if yours has the re...

Bought a full set of gear one time. My comments: The good: helmet [very good value and CE marked], textile jacket [excellent removable thermal fleece liner], textile trousers [removable thermal liner], socks [don't last that well though but price is right], one piece rain suit. Price right on all. T...

Bernard I had not read that but was aware of the tank slappers. Interestingly all models now are getting the steering damper. Maybe there was an issue. What does interest me, although I know little about the accident, is that a mere slide rarely kills a motorcyclist. You can get abrasions, a broken ...

The thing about journalists is that sometimes they do flush out things that are in the common interest. Most of us heard of the elk test that sunk the Mercedes A class....so they spend millions modifying them to make them pass. But suppose that had not happened, how many overturned A class cars woul...

What kind of surface was he riding on? Was it a case of being thrown or the bike getting a tank slapper? I am not in the market for those GS, not my cup of tea and I often wonder about the stability of some bikes at speed. I have once had a tank slapper, long time ago but the feeling will never lea...