

The Adventure Bike Rider (ABR) festival in the UK is a great place to meet like-minded people, listen to presentations from those in the adventure riding community and enjoy a beer or two whilst listening to great bands.
Having owned my BMW R1200 GSA for around two and a half years and 15000 km, it was time for a change. My friends thought I was mad, to be getting rid of the bike I imported and loved riding, but I had my reasons.
Setting off to meet up with a group of strangers for a motorcycling weekend isn't on everyone's "To Do" list but it should be. I have to confess that I have been a member of Teapotone's Clan for a few years and had actually met a few of the members at another event in 2022 but the rest were new faces including the big man himself.
As most of my friends, family, and followers know, I am not great at off-road. Don't get me wrong I have done some over the years, my first bike being a Honda C50 field bike, which my brother and I used to use on a relative's farm, and later a CG125 that got very muddy on occasion, on the forest trails in North Yorkshire UK, but I never got into motocross or trail riding as a youngster. In later years I bought a BMW F650 and did a few gravel rides in Spain before selling it.
Owning three bikes is a luxury, I know that despite the N+1 formula bikers always roll out when discussing the optimum number of bikes they should own. Maybe I should sell one? The one I don’t use very often perhaps?
These questions have been floating around for a while, but they are difficult to answer. The one I don’t use often is easy, it’s my GSXR750Y, which I bought new in March 2000, its only covered 49,000km in those 21 years and has moved from only bike to second bike and now third s bike tatus. In the last few years, it has done around 1000km per year, not much really.
Should I sell it then?
On my birthday my wife suggested I took the bike away for a couple of days. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, the following morning I set off, for a weekend in the Valencian mountains. Unfortunately, the then-current Covid restrictions meant I couldn't leave the Communidad de Valenciana and cafe, bars etc closed early causing a few issues, more of that later.
What better way to spend a sunny Sunday morning than messing about on dirt bikes!
It's been a good few years since I have been off road in any capacity, the last time being on our old BMW F650, riding some tracks in the valley near my home. This would be different though, a two and a half hour training session with a flat track twist.
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