Kenilworth, 8th July 2009 Matt.

Hi and welcome to the start of the Barking Biker's blog, a story of two fairly ordinary people.
We are Anita and Matt. Early 50's, 6 grown-up children from previous marriages, living in the Midlands, England. We got together through a love of motorcycling, music and dancing and have been together for 9 years.

Ideas have been rolling around in our heads for a few years as to what to do once all the children have left home. Life hasn't always been kind to us and has taught us how short and tenuous our stay on this planet is. Our conclusion has been that we should get out and have a look around at what other parts of the world and other peoples are like.
How to do it? Holidays? Too boring. A long break - a year or so. Much better. How to travel? No competition.

By motorcycle.

The decision to take the trip that we are about to take came as a 'lightning bolt' moment a couple of months ago. I called Anita and said (apparently) - 'I'm doing a long road trip on a bike. I'm definitely doing it. Oh, and you can come too if you want.' Since then the plan has evolved and grown. Plans are loose but the house will be rented out and we'll head off on 2 bikes. Provisionally Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, Asia, Southern Asia, Malaysia, Australia, USA and back.

Where then? Depends on finances but I may try to work for a while abroad/in the UK or we'll head off again.

Spring 2010 seems as good a time as any to go. Hang about Europe for the summer then head down into India when the weather cools. It's going to be a matter of following the weather and avoiding monsoons and cold winters.

After a lot of painting and swearing, the house is almost ready to rent. The next major thing to do is the bikes.

We've got a pair of low mileage 8-9 year old Honda 650 Transalps. The age will help with cheaper Carnets hopefully. To make them more useful, I'm adding panniers, loud horns, spotlights, crashbars, power sockets etc.. To try to save money, I'm also making the panniers and racks myself. They'll be more functional than pretty! The crashbars are proving a pain. The best ones can only be ordered direct from the Czeck Republic but take a lot of persistence to actually get. I've not succeeded yet.

I'm not sure yet about using SatNav but probably will end up taking one.
I'm also not sure about taking a netbook to use for the blog, but again probably will. Space and weight are tight!