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Royal Enfield Himalayanists

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Thanks for that 👍🏻

I think tolerable rather than comfy describes mine still 🤣 👢

One buckle must be too tight as it always hurts my little toe but only on one foot.

Rode across the plain on the way there, then did 50 odd miles of GWT from Sherborne to where we started at Zubbs the other week and then carried on to that hill above (one I was moaning about my tyre pressures on 🤣 )

Cracking day to be out ☀️ but bloody freezing this AM 🥶


 
Posted : 23/09/2023 11:57 pm
kayak23 reacted
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Yeah, it's defo starting to get chilly in the AM. Puts a new slant on things.

Still not fitting heated grips though.
😊

I've got myself a free pair of children's crutches from Marketplace so the next job is to get rid of the centre stand and make myself an adjustable trail stand 👍

Should save a bit of weight. Won't be long I'll be able to lift the bike on my shoulder over fallen trees etc 😂


 
Posted : 24/09/2023 8:24 am
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Ha cool 🤣👍🏻

My Himmy had them (🔥👋🏻) already but I’ve not decided whether to whack some on this yet.
James has just fitted some Oxford ones to his along with a cool ignition-switched Ali express distribution box with five ports. He’s also fitted a tyre pressure sensor which I’d never even thought of but actually I suppose makes a lot of sense for avoiding catastrophic failure on the motorway 🤔


 
Posted : 24/09/2023 9:44 am
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Second day of mountainbiking then motorbiking with a great little spin this morning on the hardtail, then this afternoon on the Himalayan.

No plan in direction when I went out but managed to do a few more little lanes I hadn't done before by stopping and checking what I was near on the TRF map.

I passed what must have been a Red Kite feeding station on the edge of the Cotswold. Bazillions of them above me in the blue sky.
Amazing 😍


 
Posted : 24/09/2023 8:37 pm
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Lovely 🤩

I wish I had your motivation for the bicycle. I spent most of the morning editing my video from yesterday and then washed the Voge again. My MTB is sat there with a puncture from months ago and the road bike is plastered in road crap 🤣
The weather was just annoying enough to keep me procrastinating rather than taking action.

Been texting a mate who I met for coffee at Sherborne yesterday on his Speed Triple about coming to the dark side and getting a trail bike.

He openly admitted that he'd rather spend £4.5k on a 2016 CRF than go for a Himmy or Voge 🤯
Seems totally bonkers to me. Especially for something that may get drowned in a puddle.

He's even contemplating an Africa Twin which seems stupid-big for UK off roading.

It's quite funny how the snobbery that used to put people off of 'Jap-Crap' has now come full circle to China and India 🤣


 
Posted : 24/09/2023 10:36 pm
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He openly admitted that he’d rather spend £4.5k on a 2016 CRF than go for a Himmy or Voge 🤯
Seems totally bonkers to me.

Sounds a bit like my brother in law. He was a schoolboy Motocrosser and is often sending me clips of various bikes, usually very expensive ones.

I keep saying, do your test and get a frikkin bike already! Then we can go out and have fun.

Just sends me more clips saying he can dream. Stop dreaming and get one! 😂
His mate has got him looking at that Kove. I told him about the Voge too but got no comment back.

He's more interested in looking than getting I think. 🤔

Rights of way are so strange sometimes.
Yesterday I rode a section of green lane that was lovely but stopped being a green lane for about 100 yards and became a bridleway (on the map) before changing back to a green lane.
I rode it to have a look to see if it might be just a bit of gravel track or something that I could cheekily go through, but yeah, it crossed a field etc before becoming a green lane again so I turned around and left it.

Another section nearby I noticed on the TRF map was several green dots, instead of a continuous green line (indicating that it's legal to ride)
What do I do? Hop? 😂

Yeah, rights of way huh?...


 
Posted : 25/09/2023 7:20 am
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Yeah the Kove is smart but it’s used T7 money so needs to be! And better than new T7 money for a race spec one 😎 It’s also serious overkill and the THREE fuel tanks and 310 mile range may be a bit excessive for anything other than motorwaying it to Scotland 🤣

They do seem to be doing a better job of beating the stigma but I guess they had to send actual bike to the Dakar to do it.

Yeah rights of way are like every microcosm of local council politics wrapped into one aren’t they 🤣

We have it here at work where you can’t follow the Byway signs without coming out on a Bridleway the other end. And a few dead ends that turn to footpaths!

Obvs following the TET means it’s all pretty well up together but I did ride a footpath to dodge roadworks in the South Downs the other week 😱 🤣


 
Posted : 25/09/2023 8:24 am
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Uh oh! I am now an influencer 🤣 Some guy commented on my video and said he bought a Voge because he enjoyed my Vlogs!!!! That's frankly barmy but quite nice. Especially as I was gutted the last video didn't upload in 4k for some reason so looks shit on YouTube whilst it's amazing on my laptop 🤣

Maybe MotoGB can send me one of their other models to try 😇🤣


 
Posted : 26/09/2023 2:17 pm
kayak23 reacted
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In case anyone didn’t get it, obviously that ^^ above was a joke- I’m not really that arrogant 🤣🤣

I’m thinking this weekend may be my last chance to do ‘fresh TET’ this year now, so I either have to penetrate deep into Dorset/Somerset/Devon- which I’m not overly fussed about (I think I’d rather ride that next year when I can make a weekend of it) or trickle over the bridge and try the GCT and the steep steps at Tintern that entails 😱

I reckon I’ll set work up so so I don’t need to be back in the evening to do anything and maybe set off a little later. I don’t mind travelling back in the dark, so in theory I can have a good 5 hours on the trails I reckon. I almost need to backtrack some of the Wye valley and get a warm up, as when I first transition from road to off road- my riding is shockingly bad 🤣


 
Posted : 27/09/2023 6:37 pm
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Especially as I was gutted the last video didn’t upload in 4k for some reason so looks shit on YouTube whilst it’s amazing on my laptop

Isn't it something to do with the foliage/trees?

I remember seeing something once about how YouTube compresses foliage-heavy footage somehow so mtb videos and these types suffer a fair bit.

When I watch yours, any bits with heavy foliage (most of it) becomes quite pixelated and mushy.

Sounds a bit like my brother in law. He was a schoolboy Motocrosser and is often sending me clips of various bikes, usually very expensive ones.

I keep saying, do your test and get a frikkin bike already! Then we can go out and have fun.

Well, amazingly, my bro in law has booked a CBT and a DAS course and is saying he's going to buy a Tenere. 😂
I must have finally gotten to him.


 
Posted : 27/09/2023 6:44 pm
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Yeah, I think so. But I found a secret settings button that had been switched on too that meant it would only upload in 1080. Which was odd as the previous one was 4k.

I lost my hero 8 on Salisbury Plain on Saturday 😭 It fell out of the screen mount that I use for charging. Annoyingly I realised about 3 miles later but couldn't find it in the 45 mins I spent looking.

Needless to say I've bought some lanyards and pad-eyes to dot around the bike 🤣

I had watched a MTB video about the best settings for the old one but haven't gotten around to tweaking the Hero 10 off of Auto yet.

I need to save up for a couple of weeks before I can even think about replacing the old one 🙄
I had taken a mini tripod for some ride-by shots on Saturday and everything but was so cross I couldn't be arsed to keep moving the Hero 10 about 🤣


 
Posted : 27/09/2023 7:34 pm
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First post on this thread - long time lurker. 🙂

The discussion on here coincided with me deciding it was time to change bike, and reminded me that I quite liked the Himi when I sat on one at the NEC a few years ago... The upshot is that I picked up a 2yo one in Hereford this time last month, and have nearly doubled the mileage on it already.  I've done a bit of tinkering (seat height, etc), but thought there might be some interest here in my luggage arrangements. I've butchered a pair of damaged 'low rider' pannier racks I had in my bits box and attached their top rails to the tank bars on the Himi.  They happily take a pair of 15l Ortlieb cycle panniers:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V1essir3phwbb-iJx5CCDLvwzEzvodN2/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V0AStozW4KGOHlzbYdRzANKCeh2y2zl8/view?usp=drive_link

[Hmmm... Tried to embed the photos, but no joy. Hope the links work!]

No rough stuff yet, but I'm certainly intending to do a little - albeit nothing too hard core!


 
Posted : 28/09/2023 9:58 am
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Nice one, welcome to the club. Where are you based?

I haven't been out for 2 weeks now. Last weekend we were visited upon by the in-laws and this weekend we're off to Newcastle. I'm starting to miss it and it's just getting colder and darker every day.

I am thinking about modding my seat. I've decided that it's way too low and soft for me. It's comfortable enough but after a couple of hours my bum is dead and my hips start cramping up. I know I'll be in agony if I commit to any long journeys and going exploring is one of the reasons I bought the thing so I don't want to spend the whole time suffering.

SAS Autotrim get unanimously good reviews from the FB group so I might contact him when I've got some cash and have my seat made higher and firmer.


 
Posted : 28/09/2023 10:39 am
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I'm just outside Newport, South Wales.

I had a stroke of luck with the seat - I'd carved a block of foam to fit the previous bike (a 2005 F650GS), held in place with a sheepskin rug.  To my surprise, it was a near perfect fit on the Enfield!  I trimmed the sheepskin down to fit over the front seat only, and the whole lot is held in place by paracord lacing under the seat. I might yet add a thin layer of softer foam (or memory foam) between the firmer block and the sheepskin.

The only downside is that my head now sits further into the turbulent zone above the screen. I reckon I'll remove the screen during the summer, but with winter coming up earplugs will be the thing. But it's not too bad at lower speeds and I've never averaged much above 30 mph on my rides (lots of back lanes!)


 
Posted : 28/09/2023 10:51 am
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I think I'll be trimming my screen down also. It was much nicer to ride with the screen removed but I don't want to run without one. I'm going to wait until I decide what combination of gadgets and navigation I run on my accessory bar, then I'll trim it down and leave enough protection for those.

Which reminds me... Do I want a Quadlock, or a cheap rip-off of a Quadlock? And I also need to check how difficult it is to mount some kind of USB power source behind the cluster somewhere.


 
Posted : 28/09/2023 11:10 am
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I had something similar to this:

MMOBIEL Universal Waterproof Motorcycle Cigarette Lighter 12V-24V 240W Power Plug Socket with Handlebar for Motocycle 22-30MM (0.87"-1.18") and Mounting Bracket incl 60 cm wiring connection Kit : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo 

...on the handlebars of my Beemer, and am planning on getting another (provided I don't run out of handlebar space).  You can get USB ones, but the 12v socket makes plugging in a battery charger or running heated clothing a lot simpler.


 
Posted : 28/09/2023 11:31 am
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Nice one PhilO 😎

I had one of those waterproof USB outlets on the Himmy just tucked in the cable holder hook thing.

Voge comes with one built in it’s so posh 🤣🤣


 
Posted : 29/09/2023 1:13 pm
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Hey guys, Chris Froome here!
(is what my mate says to me every time he sees my quadlock 🤨)
I love quadlock stuff. I have a sucker mount in my tractor, one in my car, one in my Landy, one in my buggy, a stem mount on my mtb, one on my turbo bike, one on my road bike, used to have one on my gravel bike and obvs have one with a vibration mount on my Voge 🤣

Please don’t add up how much I’ve spent on them 🙈

The copies look identical but given how much an iPhone is actually costing these days- I’m happy to pay for the piece of mind 😬 🤣


 
Posted : 29/09/2023 10:19 pm
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First post on this thread – long time lurker. 🙂....… The upshot is that I picked up a 2yo one in Hereford

Brilliant PhilO. Great to have another member of the [s]cult[/s] club 😊👍

It's nice that so many people come from having big bikes and just appreciate the simplicity and back to basics fun of the Himalayan.

Look forward to seeing your adventures 🙏

Not on the bike today sadly. Going up in a glider 😳


 
Posted : 30/09/2023 10:00 am
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This place looks familiar 🤣

Made a start on the GCT yesterday. The first trail is the dreaded Tintern steps!

I was already in my head about them but cruised up the initial rocky climb no trouble.

The bike was the highest it’s  ever been off the ground in this pic as I timed a jump well over a water channel.  Not that the GoPro shows it 🤣

The main step was another story and took half an hour of failing before I finally did it on the attempt I swore was my last.
I was panicking about dropping and damaging the bike, getting trapped or hurt and even getting out at all so I didn’t even take a mildly arty photo!

Worse still, I missed the actual scramble up the rock step on camera- not that it looked remotely better than the failed attempts 🤣

And then the rest of the lane passed in a panicky adrenaline fuelled haze 😵‍💫😵‍💫

Anyone big-ADV-biking that feature solo is a chuffing hero in my eyes 🤩 🤣

I carried on to Newport and there were several more fairly extreme descents. I’m not afraid to say I switched off, put out both feet and rolled it down a few of them on the levers.  They would be almost impossible for me to climb I’d say although I’m sure folks do. If you met 4x4’s on them I have no idea how everyone would pass each other

Anyway- I survived around 25 miles but I have to say, I’m not super keen on going back without a group 🤣


 
Posted : 01/10/2023 8:17 am
kilo and kayak23 reacted
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Sounds pretty full on. I think I saw a video of that Tintern step and yeah, looked pretty stout. 😳

Is it in this video?

Well done for stepping things up on your tod. Sounds hard.


 
Posted : 01/10/2023 8:22 am
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Yeah that’s the one (towards the end). Although the hard one at the start look like one I rode down rather than up 🤔


 
Posted : 01/10/2023 10:48 am
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Nice little Sunday afternoon razz.
I wanted to explore some more green lanes in a direction from home I'd not been in (North of Rugby) but the TRF Green Road Map was down today so not easy to put a route together.

Instead I knocked off a couple of images from a Himalayan Facebook group photo challenge I'm part of. Bit of fun and gets you out exploring

Screenshot_20231001-183908

PXL_20231001_161036268-01PXL_20231001_134442860-01

I found a few really nice lanes still though just by OS map

And then, I was just riding along, when this happened...

PXL_20231001_150723070-01

And then I was just riding along a bit more, when this also happened...

PXL_20231001_151429830-01

Very narrow, muddy ruts are the hardest 😂

It was ok though, because this also happened.

PXL_20231001_152354888-01

And this...

PXL_20231001_163851569-01


 
Posted : 01/10/2023 7:43 pm
kilo reacted
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Ha that looks awesome 🤣 Game seems fun too!

Yeah, I'm still convinced ruts are largely luck (although mounting my GoPro near my chin at least makes me look a little faster than the head mount did 🤣).

Almost every YouTube video where someone is bossing a rut, no matter how good the rider seems, they smash down at some point 🤣

Which is even more barmy seeing as they could edit it out!! 🤣

I think I must have joined the wrong Himmy group on FB 🤔🤣


 
Posted : 01/10/2023 8:04 pm
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Some of the hills actually look steep in this one 🤣

They overlap our day in the Wye valley with my day on the GCT 👍🏻


 
Posted : 01/10/2023 10:51 pm
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Some of the hills actually look steep in this one 🤣

They gave up on the Tintern step. Shows how well you did to get through it 👏


 
Posted : 02/10/2023 9:53 am
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They’d have been alright on a kiddies moped like mine 😉 🤣


 
Posted : 02/10/2023 1:09 pm
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Bagged a couple more in the photo challenge I'm doing.

No.15 - Rude Street Sign

PXL_20231004_172935669-01

No. 11 - Mural

PXL_20231004_174854792-01


 
Posted : 04/10/2023 8:20 pm
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Awesome! You’re gonna win for sure 😎


 
Posted : 04/10/2023 10:32 pm
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Good ride out today from Carsington Water in Derbyshire with the Himalayan group.

6 Himalayans, 1 Yamaha and a big old GS.

Two or three Himalayans spotted in the wild too.

Lots of nice lanes, though not nearly enough stopping for photo opportunities for my liking! The downside with riding with a group 😁

PXL_20231007_092233503-01PXL_20231007_092702966-01PXL_20231007_094646827-01PXL_20231007_095116525-01PXL_20231007_140826503-01PXL_20231007_140549927-01


 
Posted : 07/10/2023 8:00 pm
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PXL_20231007_095116525-01PXL_20231007_094646827-01PXL_20231007_082504696-01PXL_20231007_093724752-01PXL_20231007_092741516-01PXL_20231007_095407957-01


 
Posted : 07/10/2023 8:02 pm
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Nice one 🤩 Looks fun 👍🏻

No riding here. Getting withdrawal symptoms 🤣

Hopefully life will be realigned by next week 🤞🏻


 
Posted : 08/10/2023 10:33 pm
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Nice pics all!  Will have to get out and take a few myself...

Meanwhile, returning to the question of the screen, I've fitted a cheap adjustable extender from Ebay.  I've realised that the adjustment is quick enough that if you want to drop it down during a ride (say, for an off-road section) then you can do so in about 30 seconds.

Up: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XLNrkJJV_AgHwKVvrwuuDJcN0M8vcOC2/view?usp=sharing

Down:   https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XPOGsW67wdfqUTSEfXDGIBZ2-fSAaHVy/view?usp=sharing


 
Posted : 09/10/2023 10:50 am
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Neato. Looks like a good solution.
I've got one of the other types.

In place of the 4 little m6 grub screws used to attach it to the screen, I've fitted 4 m6 thumb screws, which means I can flip it upside down mostly out of the way such as yours, or remove it completely nice and quick without tools.

Removing it completely is my preferred option as off road, there is actually a fair bit of weight in the thing wanging about everywhere.

Really nice to have that extension on a long journey though 😊👍


 
Posted : 09/10/2023 11:54 am
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Noraly rides the incoming, pre production version 450 Himalayan in Ladakh.

Wow, I think that tank might just be the ugliest thing I've ever seen 🤮🤮🤮

Could have been a great upgrade but they've really ruined what was special about how the original bike looked.


 
Posted : 11/10/2023 6:44 pm
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Yeah, I said similar on Weeksy’s forum. Even if they’ve addressed the flaws with the original- it’s no longer got the classic British bike look 😞


 
Posted : 12/10/2023 2:38 pm
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the flaws with the original

Sorry, what flaws? 😉😂


 
Posted : 12/10/2023 2:40 pm
epicyclo reacted
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🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣


 
Posted : 12/10/2023 4:07 pm
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Well, it appears to go well & Nora Batty seems to like it, maybe they’ll give her one long-term when they start production? I imagine the only issue will be the price and how it compares to European offerings. Personally I couldn’t give a monkey’s about the looks, loaded up it’s fine.


 
Posted : 12/10/2023 4:43 pm
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Personally I couldn’t give a monkey’s about the looks, loaded up it’s fine

I do unfortunately. It's a cross I have to bear 😂
But yeah, part of the appeal of a bicycle, motorcycle or a lot of things, to me anyway, is how they look too.
I think that's true for a lot of people, whether they admit it or not.

The original is absolutely refreshing to me. Understated and looks like it's been designed with paper and pencil, rather than some cad programme that fits as many angles and facets in as possible until it looks like a Transformer.

If it was a completely new model I think I'd be less surprised, but looking at the design language of Royal Enfield across the range past and present, this one is something of an ugly duckling imho.

I'll look forward to seeing one in the flesh though. Despite all these teaser images, we've still not really seen a decent picture set of one, and so maybe it's not as fugly as it initially seems.


 
Posted : 12/10/2023 6:41 pm
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They have a bit of a pricing problem too. Triumph have come in hot with their new 400’s.
The Scrambler 400 X is going to be £5595 otr.
And the roadster sub £5k.

My hunch is that RE are going to have to knock a huge chunk off of their intended launch price to compete with that.


 
Posted : 12/10/2023 9:59 pm
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The Scrambler 400 X is going to be £5595 otr.

Not really the same sort of bike is it?
Road bike with an off road look, by the look of it.

Can't see the new Himalayan being more than that really. Guess we'll have to wait and see.


 
Posted : 12/10/2023 11:19 pm
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Gorgeous Sunday sunny blast this afternoon into the Cotswolds.

Weston Sub Edge

Pumpkin pie. Snowshill

Snowshill

Kineton

Guiting Power


 
Posted : 15/10/2023 9:05 pm
sharkattack, fasthaggis, sharkattack and 1 people reacted
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A gentle pootle north of here for me. Couple of photos taken on Manmoel Common:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z8aTh9nC_DxpXc1z5PXKj4CnDDDnTwVd/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZqzsK_zeNf4V9NkyS8oTNeybIG0IT_07/view?usp=drive_link


 
Posted : 16/10/2023 9:09 am
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PhilO

Noice 👍

What crash bar bags you got?

Screenshot_20231016-092828Screenshot_20231016-092810


 
Posted : 16/10/2023 10:29 am
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