Chris Donaldson who recently wrote down his memoirs of his trip from Ireland to Cape Town and beyond asked me to join him for part of his trip to Australia, as I had been with him for a small part of his original trip. With Mandello being postponed, and work being reluctant to allow me time away, I decided to just join him at the Overland event in Oxford, London and the Brighton Burnout. I recently asked a few daft questions as a new owner of an older Guzzi I had recently bought.it needed a fair amount of fettling but within a couple of weeks I’d rebuilt the seat and replaced many of the original bits to make it more comfy for a trip.
From Moray in Scotland I made it to Oxford in time to erect a tent before darkness and have four pints before bed. What a friendly bunch of people at the well organised event!
The next day was a non travelling day spent looking around the exhibits of world travelled bikes and speaking to their owners. Also listening to the talks of travels. Chris had known me as Jeff 42 years ago as I never liked Godfrey in my youth and Jeff was what all my friends called me.
The next morning was off to London to the Ace Cafe and then off to Brighton for the Burnout. The following morning saw the longest stretch going home to Moray in the NE of Scotland.
The bike had one glitch where I had to bump start it, but otherwise didn’t miss a beat. Where roadworks and average speed cameras were absent she was more than happy at 85, and she got a harder workout over a quieter section over an hour at maybe 10 mph quicker. Not knowing what 10% ethanol would do to the engine I paid through the nose for premium fuel at motorway prices. The G5 was an easy companion and with new hips I found no sore arse issues with long distance travel.