So here we are in Dubai
This was definitely not part of the plan. Due to not being granted a Pakistan Visa and my time rapidly depleting I was forced to ship the bike from India to Dubai and then get the ferry into Iran from there. This was expensive to say the least. The customs charges to leave India were around £500 and the actual shipping cost £51. That gives you yet another insight into Indian logic……you are detecting more of my cynical views/loathings of India.
I’m still trying to get some of my money back from the shipping agents but once it’s all settled, I’ll post my review in the ‘info pages’ which I’m going to set up on this site to help others.
I’m still holding out hope, there’s a chance it’s all just a missunderstanding or that I have been ripped off…..and as all the people concerned are Indian….I really don’t want this to be the final nail in the coffin for my views of that country.
Anyway, Dubai.
The country is a different league/planet to India. Everything is clean, everything works, public transport has notice boards and timetables and I didn’t see one peron going to the toilet in the street.
This is the Burj Kalifa which is the worlds tallest building. I still don’t fully understand this whole camera/picture taking business…but somehow I managed to get the building perfectly upright but the rest of the planet at an angle lol. I guess that’s what happens when you buy your first camera 2 weeks into this trip haha.
I played around in the city for a little bit but cities aren’t really for me. So I decided to go playing in the dessert.
The deserts really are fluid and when they want to travel somewhere, they just slowly drift there
This was where I discovered that thin round road tyres and my fat ass are not best suited for soft dry sand. Little 90 was fine as long as you kept her on full throttle but as soon as you let off, she sinks down to the engine sump. As you’ve seen in the video though, when a C90 gets stuck somewhere you just pick her up or turn around and go back the way you came.
Some more sand, lots of sand.
This is where as you saw in the video I discovered that I was in the desert at midday when it was 45oC with no sleves, or sun cream and any other clothes with me because my laundry was being done.
My solution was to construct a sleeve out of toilet paper. And it actually worked (for a while). I will accept my Nobel prize upon my return to the UK 😉
Duba’s motorways also have a minimum engine of 80cc. The C90 is 86cc……woohoo 🙂
This was a very ‘Dubai’ experience. This is the indoor skiing centre. You can do anything you want in Dubai….as long as you’re willing to pay for it. Going from 45oC to -5oC in 5 minutes is a pretty good way to cool off.
I decided to call in at the Honda dealership in Dubai to get an oil change (I try to choose Honda garages because they seem to really enjoy seeing where an old rusty C90 has travelled from)
This is one of the guys who works there. He really wanted to ride her so I let him ride her round the back to the workshop. A genuine smile appeared on his face as he ‘clunked’ her into first gear and pulled away and said he was reminded of his childhood.
They liked little 90 so much they changed the oil for free. They even changed it TWICE to make sure all the old oil was really drained! 🙂 I also got a free keyring and some cable ties (one of the cable ties is currently holding my rear suspension on actually)
So after being stuffed full of tea and coffee it was time to head off back to my Brother-in-law’s appartment to pack for getting the ferry to Iran the next day.
Dubai was awesome and was a very welcome change from India but it was overshadowed a bit by battling endlessly with customs/shippng.
This was the bike waiting to be taken onto the ferry. I met two Germans who were riding their Suzuki DR350s from Dubai back to Germany. It was very refreshing to see some adventure bikers who had picked a medium sized simple bike to travel on.
One of them was still travelling with large aluminium boxes that caused him to occasionally get stuck but as it wasn’t a 1200GS…..this time I would help him get passed….rather than just looking smug haha.
So yeah, see you in Iran
