In less than 10 days I'll be setting off on this Lambretta on a massive adventure, riding as far as Ukraine to deliver photos from one twin town to the next. Details of the daft plan are here.

This image was taken on the Lambretta Club of Great Britain's recent Coast to Coast ride, climbing Buttertubs in Yorkshire which was a stage of last year's Tour De France opener. I'm glad I had an engine.

The scooter performed admirably over 540 miles in two days but there is still plenty of work to do on it before next week's send off at 9am on Friday 1st May from Nuneaton Town Hall.

Everything is going swimmingly for the Twin Town Courier Tour, apart from the fact that my fuel tank has split, I'm waiting on new piston rings, my exhaust has only arrived today, my clutch plates need changing etc etc.

Thanks though to the following for pulling out the stops:

• Mr Bee @ MB Scooters
• Andy Francis Scooters
• Range
• Paul @ Oiltek

I could go on much longer with that list, but that's just this week's one...

Hopefully I'll get it all back together, but only after this weekend's knees-up at the RLC open day.

Extremely saddened by the passing of one of the greatest scooter racers in British history after a long battle with cancer. R.I.P Dave Webster.

Seeking some inspiration to ride beyond your current boundaries? You might consider a visit to Overland Magazine's weekend camping Event in June.

It takes place at:
The Black Horse, Aylesbury Road, Great Missenden, HP16 9AX

Over the weekend many top adventure authors will be providing audio-visual presentations on their previous journeys using everything from BMWs (yawn) to Honda C90s. Amongst the machines on display will be a certain DRZ-powered Maicoletta scooter ridden by Tracy in Frankenstein Scooters to Dracula's Castle.

With all the best will in the world I should be freshly returned from my Twin Town Courier ride to Ukraine by Lambretta. Obviously what I'll be most looking forward to after 8,000 miles of spine-pounding, arse-mangling scootering will be to spend a couple of nights under canvass on an air matress...

Here's an example of the work of other authors who will be presenting at the event. Austin Vince's excellent video proves that you don't need to be mauled by Mothra in Mongolia to have an adventure...

Thanks to Sam Manicom for the suggestion, I contacted my local radio station - BBC Coventry and Warks - about my forthcoming Twin Town Courier trip.

I'm scheduled for a noon interview with scooter fan Vic (Victoria) Minett on 29th of April. You will be able to listen via the internet to her show on this link: BBC Cov & Warks.

Yes, I know the top box is fugly, but I need good, lockable and removable storage so the fully loaded Givi will serve a purpose. Same goes for the hideous seat - function over form.

Continental Tyres have kindly offered to support this jaunt, along with Putoline Oil. I'm also testing a TSR Evo pipe - not bad power and lovely sound but not sure about the unsupported rear muffler.

Eastern Europe beckons so further updates will follow as I get the spec sorted for the trip...

Details here.