Return from Ripley

by Neil on 21/06/2009
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Hi hi! I’m back from the Horizons Unlimited Travellers meeting 2009 (as it says on the wrist tag we had to wear). It was an amazing weekend even if it did start on Wednesday. I met some amazing people and listened to some great people speak and above all, I learnt a whole lot.

The HU (Horizons Unlimited) community are such friendly people and the authors of whom I spoke with were just down to earth people, who just as easily will muck in and help everyone else out just as anyone else there would.

I made some really good friends that I’d happily meet again, in fact probably will when I get back after Andorra. Ed and Dan were pitched next to me along with Chris and we practically did everything else together.Unbeknown to me they were presenters at the show talking about their amazing trip from Brighton to Capetown.

On Thursday I got chatting to some old geezer setting up a tee-pee style tent and that too turned out to be Simon Gandolfi from “Old Man on a Bike”. His lectures had the audiences in fits of laughter. Along with that, everyone else there seemed to have written a volume of books or have been world travellers of sorts.  Sam Manicom, rode round the world for years on end or Sjaak Lucassen who too has done the round the world trip .. but with a difference… on an R1.

It was an amazing time, and I’m so glad I went alone. The bike lived up to expectations on the journey there and exceeded my expectations there by having people stop and stare at my bike for 5 minutes at a time throughout the whole weekend.

I also managed to finally empty the Aqualine tank… 456 miles before reserve. I was however a little frustrated that despite there being over 2 litres left in the tank, only about 300ml was usable owing to the dips/troughs and the fuel tap well was the smallest reserve of fuel. I’ll have to work something out regarding this. :D

Here’s some pictures:

One last thing, Alec from Core Racing…. what a diamond guy! He drove down from York with my missing parts from my Aqualine tank and  fitted it for me. The world is full of good people!

Neil wrote this whilst on the Summer 2009 adventure.

There are 5 comments in this article:

  1. 21/06/2009Daniel Steward says:

    I will come with you next year – it sounds interesting. Were there no 600 KTMs ready to tour? Any other bikes like yours?

  2. 22/06/2009Neil says:

    There were some of the 660 adventures and the smaller 450? but they all look much of a muchness, and no SM models. It seems like everyone gets Zega/MetalMule hard luggage with touratech bottle holders and every other gadget imaginable. You see one, you’ve seen them all.

    My DRz was 1 in 3 and the only one prepared to do distance.

  3. 25/06/2009Alec Brocklehurst says:

    The reason you are not managing to empty the tank is because it was designed for ‘off road’ use. You get more sloshing when you are off the ashphalt and all but a drop will end up in the fuel sump. If you are deseperate try laying it down to get the last bits of fuel out of the wings, its an ‘uber-reserve’. I managed to empty mine on the road back to Malaga after Morocco! :)

  4. 25/06/2009Neil says:

    There’s the man!

    I was laying the bike on its side about 200m away from the Blackwall tunnel on a bus stop layby. I just had these visions of being the reason hundreds of people didn’t get home on time because a crazy motorcyclist ran out of fuel in the tunnel.

    I’m sure that if I was desperate enough I’d turn the bike upside down to get the last drain of fuel to the carb. ;)

  5. 29/06/2009em0ly says:

    I’m glad that you were able to learn things, it’s a nice feeling to take something away from a good experience like that.

    & good show on making some new friends <3

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