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Steve, do you know that the BMW warranty can be extended on an annual basis through BMW themselves, and is very comprehensive?

I still have my 2010 K1300GT under warranty, including recovery to the dealer and delivery afterward if required. The dealer takes care of everything, I only need to let them know of the problem. If it is covered (there seem to be few exclusions) even "wear and tear" is included, if a part fails prematurely!

I've had new throttle bodies fitted, handlebar switchgear both sides, coil packs and more with no quibble. The only refusal to date was for a fractured weld on an exhaust header pipe, at around 45,000 miles.

There is, I believe a limit of 80,000 miles when taking out the warranty, and 100,000 miles in total.

Whilst not cheap, compared with extending the warranty on any quality car, it is, to my mind a real bargain.

A close riding friend of mine bought the Z900RS when it was first launched in 2018.

He previously owned a Honda CB1100 (twin silencer model) and finds the Z lighter, faster and generally it suits him better. He has covered around 9000 miles on it so far, including a couple of very wet holiday trips.

There have been no problems with the bike, although it did not arrive with a main stand and he has paid for that as an extra, together with a luggage rack and top box.

It is VERY small however, and comfort is less than the Honda for a long journey. There is also little room for a passenger.

Steve, I fitted PR5 GT's to the K1300GT around a year ago, to replace the PR4 GT's that were on when I bought it.

They do seem to be very good and suit the bike well, however I don't suppose that there are any deals to be had on price as the GT's particularly always seem to be short supply. Having said that, I'm about to buy a rear tyre for the old Honda CB750 ready to fit at the end of the summer, as tyres for classics have been difficult to obtain for a couple of years now. I know many that have bought any tyre in the correct size, simply to keep riding!

The PR5 GT's for the BMW came out at £430.00 dealer fitted, so not cheap but about the average now, I think. So far I've covered some 4,500 miles with them, and there is little sign of wear as yet.

I've not heard of any issues through the BMW Club, where in our section quite a few ride 800's in GS or GT version.

The only negative comment that does seem to be mentioned at times is the cost of changing the belt on those equipped with it, so perhaps if buying a bike that is close to this work it might be a very strong negotiating point?

Incidentally, most of the owners that I know have come from an R1200 RT or GS and often ride two - up and loaded to tour, however no - one has complained of the loss in performance that I am aware of.

Steve, I've used the bikes quite a few times to pick up things that we need. Yesterday I saw someone towing a dinghy, presumably bound for the coast, as well as a lot of bikes, quite a number of which were riding in groups. I was turning left at a roundabout and pulled up next to a police car that was going straight ahead and, as expected he was not interested in me. The picnic areas in The forest were busy too.

I had the same noise on my GTR a few years ago, although wheel rotated by hand only. The dealer said that the drive shaft splines needed lubricating (7,500 miles from new) however, on dismantling it was found that the bearings within the drive shaft were spinning in their housing and a new shaft was needed.

Fortunately it was replaced under warranty, as even then (2014) the assembly cost some £2,200 plus fitting.

The dealer did say that Kawasaki had only reported two similar failures in the European market in the past, so quite rare at least!

Nor would I, Rog. I start to panic when I see street lights these days, as I realise that I am approaching a more densely populated area!

It is perhaps strange to think that as we age, we value seclusion and privacy evermore, in contrast to the Japanese (for instance) who tend to move to ever more populous areas in their later years.

Currently my wife's sister and her husband, who have always lived in a small hamlet some 60 miles from Tokyo, are looking for an apartment in the city, as they have now retired. They will keep their present house for weekends away, I am told.

Equally, I remember when my father - in -  bought the land for a holiday home in the 1980's, no - one had bought the plots nearby in over a year, so he bought two more and offered them free to anyone who would build there  so that they had neighbours!

I suppose that close to home will depend on where services are situated in your "local" area.

Here in rural Norfolk it is 17 miles to the doctor's surgery, supermarkets are eight and 12 miles distant, whilst trips to the physiotherapist for my wife involve a round trip of 64 miles.

In comparison, our daughter (who lives in Crawley) walks to the supermarket, doctors and so on.

I've been collecting shopping, prescriptions etc. on the bikes when the weather has been suitable. Last trip was a week ago yesterday, in 10c and sunshine. Most days have been 5 - 8c though.

I was caught by weather only the once, around 10 miles away on the BMW. A dry, bright day that saw the air suddenly turn damp, the roads become wet and salt that was probably applied weeks earlier come to the surface. The cleaning job was huge!

Though I have been out only on days when the car would otherwise have been pressed into service, traffic levels around here seem normal to me.

I've used Motobatt on the old bikes for years, with great success.

My renewal for the multi - bike policy (one modern bike, BMW K1300GT and a few classics) came through in September of last year, and was around £170.00 cheaper than for previous years. As it was with the same company that I have been with for very many years, I called the broker to confirm that there were no changes to the policy (there were not) and so I renewed immediately.

I've been looking at the new site format for a few days and, in my naivety of all things I.T. thought that it was still out of action due to the different presentation of the log - in page.

Anyway, I've now learned differently! 

Some years ago when I owned the GTR and my daughter rode with me for our overseas trips rather than on her own bike, I arranged as usual to collect her at Ashford Services for the Tunnel crossing (she was able to arrange a lift from friends to there from her London home - I would then drop her at Harlow railway station on the way home).

Unusually this time, she was rather late and I fell into conversation with a Gold Wing owner from the North, who was similarly waiting for his son to join him from Cornwall on his own Gold Wing for their crossing by sea. We found that we were staying at the same hotel in Reims that night and so arranged to meet for dinner at one of the nearby restaurants. Both his son and my daughter arrived at around the same time, and we headed off for our respective crossings.

It was quite a journey down to Reims with vicious crosswinds though as usual, thanks to the weight and stability of the GTR, we arrived in good shape. A while later, we walked out to look for the Gold Wing riders and their bikes, who were nowhere to be seen. We changed for dinner and set out for the short walk to the restaurant complex and, as we left the hotel car park saw both father and son lay on the grass bank that borders it groaning. Thinking that they might have had an accident, we went over to them whereupon they told us that they had boarded their ferry as normal, however the gales in Calais had prevented them from docking. For two hours they were stuck out at sea being violently sick the whole time and had just managed to make it to the hotel (using autoroute) before finally collapsing where we had found them.

They didn't want to join us for dinner, but did say that they were going back through the Tunnel!

Thanks for the tip.

We've used the Tunnel since it opened and, certainly in recent years it seems to operate erratically most of the while and, the flexibility that existed of old, where if you turned up and held a ticket valid within the next 24 hours they would load you onto the next train, is long gone.

The family record on seasickness is, however the stuff of legend and so anything that floats fills us with terror! Once years ago, my daughter and I hired a Pedalo for an hour on the beachfront and, after only ten minutes or so, the operator had to come and rescue his boat, we were face down on the beach eating sand. Even so, the family persuaded me to charter a boat for whale watching and lunch at sea. The charter was due to last four hours, however within the hour we were back in our hotel trying to stop the room from spinning around.

Therefore, I think that I'll book the Tunnel and, if things look difficult, hold the ferry as a fall - back position.

Finally, I don't think it is the crossing that presents the major challenge. This is reserved for any need to provided negative Covid tests within 72 hours between countries, should it still be the case, as I don't see it as being practical (maybe not even possible?) when transiting home and moving every day along the way.

We've arranged Switzerland (Grindelwald) for mid - August, routing either through Calais, Zeebrugge or Hook of Holland. I've left the choice of crossing for now, if Calais is problematic we'll use one of the others. Myself and wife will be on the K1300GT, our daughter on her NC700X.

I would much prefer the Tunnel though, as all of the family suffer sea sickness!

I'm also out solo to Dornoch (Scotland) in June to visit my brother and we hope to make our visit to Japan in September (postponed from last year).