More pics..

ABR Nature Rally photos from Exmoor & Dartmoor.

Had a great run out and was good test of man, woman and machine (mostly with good results!!). Was the first run out for the Klim trousers and Sidi boots for me. Besides being far too new and shiny looking the Klims were spot on, very comfy and wind proof. My only doubts on these is that there's a lot of velcro that might limit their lifespan and the waist adjusters aren't stitched as thoroughly as they might be, despite this am very pleased with them. Just need to get them a bit dirtier!

Sidi's were great, really comfy on the bike, but after wearing them for 11+ hours my feet were pretty relieved to get out of them. Will try a bit of leather stretching and get them all good before the tour that's for sure.

P is in love with her Rev-it jacket, their stuff always looks darn good quality for the price and getting it as-new for half the price on eBay was a proper result. Still waiting for the helmet though.. hopefully arrive next week.

Paulas BM panniers. Looking very nice and streamline (compared to big boxes stuck outside the exhausts). Looking forwards to using them in anger soon if the weather keeps it up.

Tweaking, fettling and solving. This was back when I fitted the Scottoiler etc. Was figuring out pannier attachments and brake light issues - which turned out to be some tiny connectors underneath the front brake lever!? Apparently if they come out both front and back brake lights connections fail! Fixed my heated grip problems too while I was there though, so double bonus.

Looked at getting the video camera rigged up too - really want to start playing with that and figure it all out in good time. Signed up to run the Wootten Bassett Afghan heroes run again in a couple of weeks, so want to try and get it running for that if I can. See if I can't blog some of it up here.

- Mark

Rally raid South West

Gave the bikes a nice hammering this weekend, 130 miles down the A4 to Reading and back to visit a friend on Sunday, then another sunny day Sunday for an epic 300 mile round trip to Dartmoor and back. Weather was spot on and met up with our friend Melvin on his TDM 900 at about 9am to cut down the A303 - A38 to Taunton, where - after a quick sat-nav induced blat up the M5 and back - we met up with a rabble of ABR forum members: Peejay (1200GSA), Lee (XT660), Kiteboy (F800) and VersysRider (Versys).

Peejay and co navigated us down some great roads, snapping photos for the rally at Dulverton and Princetown, Dartmoor. Was a great day, but I think we both had a creeping niggly feeling that we were now a long way from home with only two and a half hours daylight left.

Choosing not to just plough relentlessly up the motorway we conceded that we'll be riding after dark and proceeded to potter our way back to Exeter, stopping at a few scenic stop off points where I just ended up wishing I had my "proper" camera with me. We said goodbye to the wandering Melvin at this point and did a quick whiz up the M5 to Bridgewater was in order to get us feeling like we were making progress, but neither of us are big fans of big roads, so a quick service stop for overpriced drinks and we cut back up the A38, with the Sun setting as we passed Glastonbury Tor.

Arrived back home safe at about 8pm, after nigh on 700km in 2 days. Not bad!

Pic of us outside Reading on a sunny saturday.

Something old, something new..

Got my posh new Klim Dakar trousers sorted last week - thank you very much to Patsy Quick and her team at Desert Rose Racing! Turns out the size 38 are monstrous compared to the 36, which happily fit perfectly. The joys of buying over the internet.. but well worth it, for the price they look and feel fantastic.

My other kit success this week was the arrival of my eBay Sidi boots. Never thought I'd own a pair of Sidi's, but these were (yet another) eBay bargain, that fortunately turned out to fit great..

.. gradually getting our kit list ticked off. Looking forwards to piling it all on the bikes and putting some of it to the test over the summer now..

TOP AND TOE...

Well, I can honestly say that's me kitted!....Another fantastic e-bay win has secured my Daytona boots for 50 rather than the 300 you would usually have to pay and new held induro lid is also in the post :) wow........I'm a lucky girl for sure and all I have to do is save my socks of from here on in to ensure we make the 6 weeks as fantastic as possible....the closer it get the more excited we are feeling and I can't believe it's only 6 months to go, time has flown past and will continue to do so no doubt......

Racks on, racks off..

Finally fitted the bargain rack and panniers from last year to the BM at the weekend. Fitting was impressively simple, quick and looked pretty solid considering how minimal the rack is. Nice English instructions and parts that just slotted in and worked (take note Touratech!!).

The wrap-around style makes them relatively neat and compact and the lock and quick release mechanism is also envy-inducingly efficient.

Think P is a bit miffed after seeing my plans to bolt all manner of adventure touring gear to the outside of my solid ally tins, but I think both have their share of pros and cons. I'm sure 4000 miles to Morocco will be a decent test for both of them..

M&P - bodge fabrications Ltd has more work ahead now I have enough ally to finish my sump guard. I also grabbed this wheel arch dumped in a hedge near work. Nice black, curved and angled plastic, that is going to be perfect for some hand guard extensions.

I also drilled a few 25mm holes in the fuel can rack (see previous post) to make it look a bit more funky. Also glued some foam pads in to muffle vibrations. Just need to mount to the panniers via some rubber grommets and it'll be done.

Who knows.. if weather is decent again this weekend might even get to ride the bikes too!!

IT's Christmas!....

yes I know were way past that but feels like it this week in MandP land....My new Revit jacket has arrived and so did Marks new pants :) unfortunately they didn't fit and by the look of them were several sizes too big but ~I'm sure Marks mate Patsy Quick at desert rose racing will swap em out no problems...

The Alpha jacket I got for a total bargain at £129 brand new from ebay, everyone else is selling for £214 so Woohooo!!!, great comfort and really well made multi climate touring jacket with handy pockets at front just like my old camo jacket, many vents and adjustments to get it snug or as loose as you like, removable liner hi vis bits.....will give it a test run tomorrow but think I made the right choice, revit gear seems to be top draw for quality...

-Paula

M&P Fabrication LTD

Used some of my 3mm Aluminium sign to make a fuel can carrier last night. I thought it might be good practice to figure out what is possible before I start on my sump guard. So in my make-shift workshop (complete with improvised sheet metal bender - in left pic) I cobbled together something that, I think, looks pretty decent and the can sits tightly into.

I've still got to get hold of a hole cutter and attach it to the pannier, but pretty pleased with it.

Straps were off eBay for a couple of ££'s. Ally was free. Whole thing cost not much over £5 including the can! Sorted.

- Mark