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Trip to Pyrenees


Motoadventure

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Day 5 Perpignan through Andorra to the Bardenas Realas. through wind rain snow icy roads with a 10.30 am start we went back through the Andorra roads on the N116 this time to  Park National, Puigcerda, Huesca and through Tudela landing in the Bardenal at 8.30 in the evening. pitch black icy mountain roads  where helped by the Michelin's and the awesome standard lights lit the road up better then any bike I have ever had.

Thanks to advice from the forum from you all the heated grips where a bit warmer keeping warm down to about 5 deg but not good at -2 deg. the standard seat is still comfortable after a full days riding. We camped the night in freezing temperatures after a mug of tea each.             

IMG_5975.jpg

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Thursday evening camping in sub-zero temperatures is not recommended at the best of times the T7 was covered in ice but started first go. Then off we go for our first off road day so far.  

Edited by Motoadventure
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Mick all I can say is thas a braver man than me for riding in those condition and I’m sure it would have taken more than heated grip to make me feel comfy and on top of that camping in freezing temperatures. As you can tell from the above comment I prefer warmer conditions for my trips. Well done to you guys and ride safe and I hope the current bun shines on you tomorrow

Cheers Steve 

 

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Picture above from the Bardenas trail riding 80 miles  shows what this bike is meant for 100 mph + off road and steady as a rock, with plush suspension and fantastic handling, Very similar power to my GS 800 Adventurer but fantastic suspension makes the bike egg you on to push it further.  I have had a lot of bikes both off and on road but this bike does absolutely everything well. one of if not the best all round bike i have ever ridden. You can keep the big stuff and the unreliable bikes for me. 

 

Mick (Now with warm hands Thanks all for the advise chaps)   

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8 minutes ago, Stephen H said:

Mick all I can say is thas a braver man than me for riding in those condition and I’m sure it would have taken more than heated grip to make me feel comfy and on top of that camping in freezing temperatures. As you can tell from the above comment I prefer warmer conditions for my trips. Well done to you guys and ride safe and I hope the current bun shines on you tomorrow

Cheers Steve 

 

Lets hope  so Steve, We have done a couple of hotels as well just to get out of the cold for a night, but it feels like cheating to me.  

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It is in no way cheating in my eyes and the main thing is your on an adventure whilst the bulk of us are tucked up in our centrally heated houses. 
Your defiantly having more fun I can assure you. 

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Going to have a mess about with the suspension tomorrow as it still seams a bit harsh. Anyone got any suggestions? 

 

Mick 

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12 minutes ago, Stephen H said:

It is in no way cheating in my eyes and the main thing is your on an adventure whilst the bulk of us are tucked up in our centrally heated houses. 
Your defiantly having more fun I can assure you. 

Cheers Steve, 

if fun is freezing all day and your hands in pain we are having a lot of it. We have now dropped lower down near Pamplona  so its about 10 deg in the daytime so not so bad. 

 

Mick 

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Mick,

I'm no expert, but I've read a lot from folks on heated gear for the hands.

What I determined is that to a point, heated grips only heat a portion of your hands

and I was concerned.

 

For that reason I went with 'heated glove liners' and XXX large gloves - a duplicate of my summer gloves.

 

I was out today 33 degrees F,  70 mph,  hands were toasty.

That's not to say that at I would guarantee that at -2 your hands would be toasty, however I believe the addition of the liners to your existing heated grips would solve the issue or at least help significantly.

Just make sure go up a couple sizes in the gloves to acomodate the liners.

 

Hope that helps.

 

safe travels.

Edited by ADVUSA
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12 hours ago, Motoadventure said:

Going to have a mess about with the suspension tomorrow as it still seams a bit harsh. Anyone got any suggestions? 

 

Mick 

I actually stiffened mine up when I was in the Pyrenees as it was bottoming out on the whoops. I dialed in around 20 click of rear preload (max is 24 turns fully in I seem to remember) and 2 extra clicks of compression and rebound front and rear. That made it much better, but it's what you prefer that counts. I'm 6 3 and 14 stone without riding gear.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

IMG-20191002-WA0149.jpg

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22 hours ago, ADVUSA said:

Hi Mick - how is the pannier luggage, do you like it?

I'm considering it.

 

11 hours ago, Rich TT said:

I actually stiffened mine up when I was in the Pyrenees as it was bottoming out on the whoops. I dialed in around 20 click of rear preload (max is 24 turns fully in I seem to remember) and 2 extra clicks of compression and rebound front and rear. That made it much better, but it's what you prefer that counts. I'm 6 3 and 14 stone without riding gear.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

IMG-20191002-WA0149.jpg

 

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On 11/16/2019 at 11:04 PM, ADVUSA said:

Mick - how is the pannier luggage, do you like it?

I'm considering it.

Hi Sorry missed your question yes the Yamaha luggage is great the rack for the rear that takes the top-box is quite heavy but build to last and has handles either site for dragging it about. The only thing i find annoying is the lid stays, they hold the lids up at 90* so keep dropping on your hands. I have solved the problem by removing them and will look at making some when I get home. I have also messed them up by using the new Muck off which has stained the aluminium so not chuffed at all with Muck Off (Do not use the new stuff) 

 

Cheers Mick    

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On 11/16/2019 at 11:04 PM, ADVUSA said:

Mick - how is the pannier luggage, do you like it?

I'm considering it.

Hi Sorry missed your question yes the Yamaha luggage is great the rack for the rear that takes the top-box is quite heavy but build to last and has handles either site for dragging it about. The only thing i find annoying is the lid stays, they hold the lids up at 90* so keep dropping on your hands. I have solved the problem by removing them and will look at making some when I get home. I have also messed them up by using the new Muck off which has stained the aluminium so not chuffed at all with Muck Off (Do not use the new stuff) 

 

Cheers Mick    

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Day 7 We rode the trails in the Pyrenees somewhere lower done from Pamplona we did about 160 KM in total with the T7's second proper trip on the trails. We traversed tracks over the mountains for several hours. This is where the T7  is at home steady as a rock but a bit bumpy.I lowed the Tyre pressure to 16 psi front and 20 psi at the back. this gave the bike a totally different feel. finding grip everywhere and less bumpy in most conditions.

The ride back to Villafranca saw us on some typical twisty mountain roads scraping the side-stand on a couple of corners confirmed how good the Michelin Anakkee Wild tires are the correct tires for the job in hand. See photo below of bike after the event. I am trying to put some video on YouTube st the moment. Wish me luck  

 

Mick / Al                    

IMG_6008.jpg

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Hi Mike

                 Weathers looking better for you guys which I bet your pleased about. I was thinking of swapping out the tyres my bike came with for Tkc 80 as I’ve had them on my old Super Tenere and I like the way they behaved both on and off road. You seem quite a fan of Michelin Anakee Wild which I’ve never used. Have you any experience of Tkc 80 so you can give me a comparison with the Michelin’s. 

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Hi Stephen, 

I am a great fan of both they are very similar. I think the TKC's are a bit quieter on tarmac and also think the Michelin's are a bit better in the rain. Both are very good off road in sand mud and general trail riding. I get 3 back tires to one front with both makes. 

 

With a trip to the Pyrenees we usually cover 3500 miles and the back tires are on the way out when we get home so always start with a new one. 

 

Hope this is of some use 

 

Mick     

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Hi Mick 

                  Thanks for that info very useful. Hope your ride today is good. 
Cheers Steve. 

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Hi Steve

Yes the sun is out and we are off to the Bardenas Realas desert for the rest of the day. will post some photos later

 

Cheers Mick  

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Day 8 of Mick and Al's Bogus journey, dumped the T7 trying to spin it round on the back brake. got half way round and catapulted me off  

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IMG_6062.jpg

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Just to remind everyone, you can click on "promote" up at the top of any page of this thread to be sent notifications whenever this ride report is updated.  A box pops up asking  how often you want to be notified of updates. 

 

Following threads like this is a great way to stay up to date! 

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