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I was never one for chopping and changing bikes, a few, a very few I only kept for a year or two - mostly because buying it turned out to be a mistake. But, there was one that I regretted selling and even today, 27 years later, I still miss. Sadly it was destroyed by its buyer, which just makes my regret a little more poignant. I bought one of these in 1988, one of the very last Meriden Triumphs. A 1982 Triumph T140TSS and for me it was the bees knees. Sold it in 1994 because I wanted one of the first Hinckley machines, which was a bike I really liked. But, it wasn't the same. My dad used to make money on the side by refinishing Triumphs and he did his magic with mine and so it was completely solid and never leaked. I never had a single problem with it. not once. It looked almost exactly like this.

Another link from my favourites folder, this bloke cracks me up.

Tidying up my favourites folder last night and found this one. I knew I kept it for a reason, cracks me up. Guess my favourite two people out of the whole collection.

The whole lot of them, the video is a perfect example of why people shouldn't be allowed anywhere near guns.............. Except Tym

Some days I wish I hadn't sold this bike. I owned it for 17 years and put about 7500 miles on it. It was the worst streetbike I've ever owned but when the time was right it was awesome. I sold it and kept my 851, some days I think I sold the wrong bike.

Same here.... It was a bicycle wipe out going down a big hill. The gravel bits in the hands was not fun. Besides that, I just don't like the feel of no gloves. I always thought driving gloves were cool, for any vehicle.....lol

So, one of our favourite people in the World was over for a visit and we were treated to great food and great company as always! I did not take many photos, thank God cause I am rubbish at it (!), but here are some of Pedro's food, very good indeed! A little starter prepared with care to eat while seating on the balcony enjoying the end of the day with a glass of wine Followed by spaghetti with a type of mackerel, a very subtle and truly delicious pasta! Another end of the day, another starter! This time goat's cheese with pumpkin jam I made and, I have to say, turned out very delicious! The combination of these two things is a very traditional Portuguese affair and works marvellously! The doggies agreed!! Day off equals pic-nic! So we went to a nice spot with 100% Pedro's choice of delights! Northern Portugal pork smoked sausage, ewe's milk cheese, local bead and Vinho Verde! Could not be more typical of Portugal!! One doggie already positioned in the drop zone... One never knows what can fall from the Human hand! Although they were catered for by the thinnest and cutest slices of carrot Pedro prepared for them, they loved it! The following day, on returning from a morning of surgeries, lunch was waiting in the form of a carefully selected group of dishes: dahl, fried rice, salted cod in olive oil and garlic and a southern style tomato salad, followed by a desert of strawberries in chocolate sauce!! delicious at the best of times, but on the back of a busy morning it was even better!

Ah...so that's where that photo was taken.............Cockermouth!.

We need to put me and Pete side by side and have a conversation. We come from places that are only about 50 miles apart but if you hear us talk you'd think we lived on opposite sides of the moon

No, this is gay.

Oddly enough so do I, it has 'up' and 'down' buttons on the left handlebar - ideally placed for the thumb and index finger. push a button and it drops (or ups) a gear. click. I like it mostly because its impossible to stall on highly technical mountain roads. which is very handy indeed. Gear changes are so incredibly smooth.. almost unnoticeable. No lurching back and forth which is great for a pillion. no chance at all of helmet tapping. And all this means that the clutches and chain have a very easy life. The switches are marked + and - in the photos. These instead of a gear lever.

Who knows how his mind works. I don't exactly make a secret of it and even, rather mockingly call it a scooter myself. It isn't - because most scooters don't have a traditional gear box. I guess its more that I ride my bike rather than transport it in a van for a photo opportunity. The levels of insecurity are really quite amazing. You might have noticed, his tendency to simply copy what is said about him and then repeat it back. That speaks volumes.

I came from the respectable side of the pool though, Pete!

Yeah, my mum lives not far from the crossing and it's regularly gridlocked around her place. I had a zoom call arranged with one of my mates last Friday evening, but I got a message to postpone it until the weekend as he was stuck trying to get back from Kent! It's a nightmare!

Dartford, if anyone even just looks at the bridge or tunnels in a funny way then the whole area comes to a grinding halt. I was supposed to drive to Aveley last week just north of the bridge and just before I was due to leave I checked google maps for the traffic situation. Everywhere around there was black with standstill traffic (might have been dark red, but colour blind and all that). I had to grab all my stuff out of the car and start strapping it to my bike at the last minute.

About 30 years ago I used to go over to Boston, MA to help the local engineer out. Nice guy and president of his local Harley chapter, but he had a really bad limp, which I assumed was the result of a bike accident. I was over one time and we got chatting about bikes and that and I asked if the limp was the result of a bike accident? He laughed and said no. He told me that he was on the gun boats that patrolled the rivers during the Vietnam War. One day they were out on patrol and came under fire from one bank. He was laid on the deck returning fire along with the bow gunner. They then came under fire from the other bank, so the bow gunner swung round to return fire, but didn't take his finger off the trigger, so he shot-up his own boat and the guy I knew had a big lump blasted out of his left leg by his own gunner! Still, that was the end of his war!

Farm's still going, do a nice set of market stalls on a Saturday now. I had to resurface the whole length of Stepney Way a few years ago and I offered to sort out their puddle filled crossover at the same time but they said they couldn't close it any day of the week to let me do the work so it got left. My resurface of Stepney Way was a second attempt due to snow a few weeks earlier. I didn't actually have a legal road closure the second time round but told everyone I did and got away with it. When I turned up on the morning before closing off the road what do I find? A car wrapped around a lamp post, a boy driver in custody and a ring of police vehicles at jaunty angles after a high speed chase. I asked the rozzer in charge if he was going to measure any skid marks because they wouldn't exist in an hour or so.

And you wonder why there are so many gun related deaths!..............Self inflicted!.

Three Mills. This is actually a few feet away from a massive Tesco car park and about 50 yards from the A12 Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road. Lots of artistic types running about outside as there is a film/tv studio attached. Lovely building on the river Lea. https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/08/26/at-the-house-mill-o/ Streetview so you can look around at the not so pretty surroundings. https://goo.gl/maps/chiGNHdbhiofyPoV7

How about traning some troops in using this. Wasting space with all those relics of poor construction techniques.

My bro in law had a 996, couldn't ride it for longer than an hour and got off like a cripple, he loved it though.

These two.

In the USA that's the only color they came in. It was also the reason I had Larry find me a yellow 996 instead of buying the red one they had in stock.

racing from ireland last night on itv4

had off road bikes when i was younger , not for a while now .... yeh like supermotos especially twins.

yes, though it will not allow a gear change if the engine is either too slow or too fast. occasions when a gear change would be silly. same on bends, if the bike is cranked over it will not allow a gear change, either by accident or on purpose as that would/could be dangerous, if not just plain daft. It has 6 gears and 2 clutches. one for evens and one for odds. when its in an even gear the other clutch is ready for an instant change. its very clever.

I wish i'd kept these longer than what i did...

That pairing of James Bond and Han Solo makes that film one of my favourites ever.

He’s doing that looking in the mirror bit again . But if he wants to be immature and use “Gay” as some kind of insult or slur then that’s just fine. I’m really quite secure in my sexuality. Whereas the types that go on and on about it, usually are not. In psychology these behaviours are pathological, so deserving only of pity. either that or he's just another sad troll. (with a van)

I thought it was The Garden of England Yen?

So you're saying that potentially you come from the same gene pool as Six then? Sorry to hear that Bob!

Originally from northwest Kent, Pete, but I moved to Cambridgeshire in the early 90's because of work. My mum used to ask when was I going to move back and I said never. She lives in Dartford and moans about it constantly.

Here's the HISTORY!

yes, you got one right. The one who blew his hat off.

Too many to name, the guy looking at the inside of the barrel, or the police guy showing off in a room full of kids, I don't know... If there ever was well timed advice was the one guy that told her to put her tongue inside her mouth, as he clearly knew what was going to happen

Excellent. I used to drive more or less past that when I was going into the Royal London Hospital. I'd come down the M11 and then onto the Blackwall tunnel approach, but I turned off just past Bromley-by-Bow underground station and then head across to Stepney High Street and then the back roads through to the hospital. Some interesting places along the way. There used to be a small farm not far from Stepney High Street, but I think it was getting closed down the last time I saw it.

Of course this is the one I've had in mind for 18 months! People are getting in......even though it's prohibited! Any idea where the access point is @Skippy?

But that massive gay scooter goes all over Europe and puts most of us here to shame considering the riding that we do.

Smart man.

https://the-race.com/motogp/itv-to-broadcast-silverstone-motogp-race-on-main-channel/.

you got no fans...

You see some interesting shit in the sewers, we were working on a pumping station in the St melons area of Cardiff years ago, i was there to isolate the pumps so the wet well could be cleaned out, they found an engine block in there it had been washed along the sewer and dropped into the sump how it got into the sewer only god knows. Also found someones glass eye in one of the micro screens

The extreme heat is basically gone now........only 28 today! Haven't even got the fans on at the moment.

You might have hit the jackpot finding that there's a real good chance you'll get bummed there, just remember to video it so @boboneleg can watch

I am sure he is a decent chappy, we just need confirmation by someone who's met him Till then, he's the resident annoying twat.

Now you would think the resident idiot would realise that quoting me not long after blocking me just means he lives up to his name. But it’s hard to resist taking about yourself while trying to insult someone else.