The wash
710kms today, between Erdine and Ankara. Temperatures between -2 degrees and + 8.

It is a riddle to me how salt can be as aggressive as it is. For all electrical connections salt is their worst enemy. Two light relays have quit because of salt in combination with extremely bad positioning (behind the grill in the worst salt display). My cable for the GPS has started playing up, but works, thanks to contact spray in the main connection. I feel a bit stupid for not having sprayed all connections before taking off. A hot tip for all of you taking to the roads in the winter.

After Istanbul I decided to get rid of the road grit and salt from the bike. It has been a pain to just look at the bike since Gävle in Sweden. It was pure ecstasy to put the high-pressure maschine in action.

Otherwise the motorway between Erdine and Ankara was really good, a mile-eating road. It is easy to ride too fast. If you care about your tyre, don’t ride faster than 110-115kph with spikes and a big bike. The rule calls for winter roads and their cooling effect: Today it was about +8 degrees during the day. This, in combination with an insensitive right hand, killed my rear tyre. From northern Germany to Turkey it functioned perfectly, but tomorrow it will be offered for sale as used: ”Almost new, spiked 17-inch, buyer picks it up ”.