Well not problems – challenges rather. On the clothing front, I finally sprang for a BMW Rallye 2 Pro suit. No that’s not me modelling it! I shudder to think what my Goldwing buddies are going to say if they see me in it. However, it has good protection and if Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman can use them for their trips, I reckon it will do for mine! Rukka stuff may be better but the SRO really is unobtanium at present and costs the earth.
Boots are another story. I don’t want to use full motocross boots but I can’t find anything that looks really supportive, protective and waterproof compared with my present Daytona boots. These look as if they will protect against most things except a twisted ankle and I still recall how exactly such an injury cost me over $3000 in the USA in 1983 – quite apart from the fact I could only move around on crutches for a couple of weeks!
I have been putting many miles on the Wing going round various dealers in search of the ideal boot. It’s amazing just how many dealers have sales people who know zero about the stuff they sell. I hate it when they try and bullshit me – I am out of there like a dose of salts. It’s especially pleasing therefore when I find someone who knows and cares about their wares. I almost bought a pair of boots today just because the salesman was so pleasant and knowlegable – a girl who knew exactly what I wanted helped me find the nearest things to it but in the end agreed they weren’t quite right.
The clothing search has been mostly around London suburbs which has shown me that the bike is a heck of a lot easier to use in traffic than I ever dreamed possible, it also coped admirably with a torrential downpour on the M25 – I would have felt nervous even in a car but the bike seemed so solidly planted that I felt quite happy even though surrounded by trucks making bow waves.