2009 motorcycling highs and lows

Working fine.

<Penny drops>

Ah! Pint of Hen, please )

 

Lol, busted...

 

Still enjoying the galleon in full sail.
Acquiring the Pegaso.

Getting a NIP within a week of acquiring the Peg.
Realising I'm not brave enough, or quick enough, to join the big boys on
a continental fun run.


--
R100RT
Aprilia Pegaso 650 IE "The Flying Mythos"
Formerly: James Captain, A10, C15, B25, Dnepr M16 solo, R80/7, R100RT
(green!)
www.davidhowardjeweller.co.uk

 

The 'Lite' version was shit when I tried it.

 

Building a sidecar for going to the Elefant (OK a lot of that work was
in 2008).

The Elefant, it was far better in 2009 than 8, because the snow was
there when we arrived rather than chucking it down on the last day.

Slovenia- about 2000 miles to spend two evenings in a field:
http://www.sairach-club.si/fotogalerije/sairach_motozbor/sairach2009/
To be returned to. Hopefully soon.

Buying a litre bike again.

Chimay; aerosol cans on fires. Whoops.

Alps run; everyone else has said it but oh-my-fucking-god. In my case
about 3000 miles including my sojourn in France before. Busted in
France, Switzerland and Germany, road blocks, points on licenses,
threatening letters in German on my return. Wonderful.

And, I guess, looking forwards to next year; Elefant, IOM, Chimay and
maybe other stuff depending on work.

Oh, and since it's kindof biking related, stopping the condensation
problem in my garage. Hoo bloody rah.

Stopping the winter commute for the first time in about 8 years due to
my job moving to London and the train being so damn convenient (and
relatively cheap- 40 quid return vs about 25 quid in fuel and a load of
hassle).

Not riding the ZXR750 for another year. Just long enough to get it MOTd
and taxed.

 

I take it from the time this was posted, that it wasn't your Speed
Trip parked outside our office this lunchtime.

CB1300: every time I get on it, I enjoy it.

Pithiviers. Pip's joy at simply being there was most uplifting.

Scotland on the Wing. Especially Dornoch to Wick and back.

100% allrounder's on the RBR (again)<smug>

Getting the Wing sorted in double quick time in France.

The day out on the CBX.

Bouncing down the A13 in January.

The speed and efficiency of the MIB.

Discovering a deformed front Michelin on the Wing, in Tours. On a
Friday night.

 

Depends which type of fun run, but I've never let being slower than
Ginge on Prozac stop me from going along.

Neither has Spete.

 

<Heh!> Nearly happened to my father once, when his flensing knife
got caught up in a piece of blubber he was feeding into the intake hole
down to the boilers. ISTR he ended up holding himself up by his elbows
until his workmates rescued him. They used to use spikes in their Wellingtons
to try to keep balance in the slippery whale-blood. And milk -- which they
explained to the tourists as whales having white blood...

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Nope, but you must HAGM.

 

<Heh!> Did that to a large group of Hells Angels once (had to cut
in halfway through for a car coming the other way). The ones on their
42WLAs couldn't do much, but all the CB/CL350s gave chase; I outran them
into Newcastle, doubling the recommended corner speeds -- on a Suzuki A100!

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

Highs:
- Quick bike trip to my mum's at Easter
- Buying another Morini, even if it is in bits now

Lows:
- Having to drop out of the French Run due to plumbing issues at home
- No proper biking holiday this year

 

ITYF you've got 'dash' 'dash' 'space' 'space'. Not that it matters to
decent newsreaders (apart from google who don't follow RFC's).

 

Selling my bikes.

Dunno what I'll do in 2010.

 

The French Run, as always; stretching the legs on the
748 for the first time in ages.
Leaving my job and spending lots of time on bike stuff.
A couple of track days on the 748 and the race bike.
Riding the Hypermotard: it's still bonkers.
Buying another bike; that makes it 4 now.

Not too many really. Weather has been a bit shit sometimes
but other than that (oh, and a bust indicator on the 'Tard)
it was all gravy.

 

(The Older Gentleman) spewed forth:

My highs

Getting another bike and paying two-thirds of **** all for it.

Discovering a comfy bike that isn't a big trailie, full-on tourer or
retro-style...

The lows

Not putting enough miles under the tyres.

The bloody relentless rain.

 

and you should be very afraid. We're not all like the genial giants of the
expeditionary bodies.

 

Thank you sir for the cross-post. I enjoyed the read and all the
comments.

Me? No "big ride" this year. The tires wore out early and I didn't
have the $ to replace them and carry on.

I had a few good commutes though.

Hoping for a better year in 2010 and meeting up again with my friends
from reeky (rec.motorcycles / actualriders) in New Mexico next year.
I won't seek out speeding tickets, but if I get one, so what? ****
the coppers.

Cheers.

 

really go gay.

 

Owning a Sprint.
Riding round west Scotland (and some islands) in the pouring rain.

My youngest girl turning into a bloody teenager

 

Also did that, but not on a bike.

Did that too, but no bears. Did see bears, including one that was way
too close and get caught in a bison road block in Yellowstone though.