Got to spend four days riding a low km Yamaha FZ8 in Spain so I want to talk a little about this motorbike. As usual with my motorcycle reviews I am not going to be talking about the specifications or history and the other press release type stocking filler that […]

I had the pleasure of being able to ride a near new 2015 Yamaha MT-09 Tracer around New Zealand for 9 days so it seems fitting I put a few words to paper. Ergonomics seemed to work well for me (I am 6’ tall) Seat to peg distance was excellent, […]

A brief comparison of sport touring tires fitted to my Yamaha FJR1300. I posted this because every tyre review says “I just put them on they feel great” which is useless. This is some feedback after the tyres have been used to end of their life. I have tried seven […]

I updated my previous cool to cold weather Alpinestars ST-5 Drystar pants to the new Andes Tourer drystar pants. So far however I have not found them very good. The pants have a permeant rain liner in adventure styling. Alpinestars use a material they call Drystar but in my experience […]

I had been ready to embark on a extended tour overseas (prior to breaking my collar bone) heading to cold and wet places like Scandinavia so decided to invest in a set of waterproof boots which I thought would also be pretty handy for tours here in Japan. Prior to […]

Earlier in the year I went looking for something suitable for 3 season touring for future ride plans and by chance I came across the Andes jacket from Alpinestars in my local store. Foreign brands are not common here and local jackets are too short in the arms so I […]

They say our hands are often the least well protected body part when riding. Not sure where they get their data from. I suppose that is referring to summer and riders with light weight gloves or no gloves, winter you would imagine that does not apply. Used to be difficult […]

I have now completed a few tours and (70,000km as of 2019) (110,000km 2021) on my 2014 FJR1300 and feel able to give a detailed view of the bike and talk about some its strengths and weaknesses. Please bear in mind my words relate to how the motorcycle fits my […]

Despite my previous poor results with a Vista cruise control for motorcycles (which was really throttle lock device same as this is) I have decided to try another design since I have a large Australian tour coming up soon. The Photon Cruise 2 is a small device that clips on […]

I have previously owned three dedicated summer jackets but never been really happy with any of them. The first jacket was made by Dryrider that I purchased 10+ years ago. This was a very light weight item with minimal protection but maximum cooling. I expected to use it for a limited […]