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No.....not the bike! Obviously I have no idea how to do shit like that. I'm talking about the reservoirs, because we've had years of very little rain. And there's now a serious drought situation. Now I'm not one who normally looks for more rain, but every year the price of straw for the horses has been going up. We used to pay around €400 for a year's worth......but last it was €1200 and we had to have it brought in from Albacete. Which is about 150 miles away. So an increase in rainfall and the filling of the reservoirs is critical.....not just here, but throughout Spain. So off I went to check the current situation. Luckily, the weather was great......around 20c! So it was perfect conditions! The approached into Castril.......and the wall of the Dam. This is The Style! I was amazed when I saw the levels in Castril because when I came here last Summer it was very low indeed. This is probably the highest I've seen it in 5 years! It's nowhere near it's highest, but the water line has gone up a lot. Two car loads of a Spanish family then turned up......three generations of them. So I ended up having to take a load of group photos of them. They weren't from Andalucia because they were speaking Spanish in a grammatically correct way rather than slurring words and leaving out letters in words. Lovely people......couple of hot girls in their 20's with them. I wanted to get a photo with those two, but I couldn't very well tell the rest of the family to get out of the way! Then it was on to San Clemente.......the levels there had risen a bit but nothing like the scale it had in Castril. Most of the land you see here was underwater when I came here in 2005...... Had to get the obligatory shot on the bridge.....obviously destined to be BOTM for April. Bike ran great as usual.......these rural roads are the perfect place for it. And it actually made me think......"Why am I considering selling it?" Well there we are! I got out and did something......and in doing so, I made a positive contribution to the forum! Some of you lot should try it sometime!

I’m in .

I set off this morning on my usual route north of Narbonne and across past the Abbaye Fontfroide. Like last week the wind was howling again. It was partly sunny, but the wind also had a pretty keen edge to it, keeping the temperature in single figures (C) on the way up there. I'd decided to head through Termenes Villerouge and on to the Château d'Arques, which is on the same road. It is an interesting road, winding though the western edge of the Corbieres, but as the road climbed the temperature dropped a bit, showing 7C at one point, but not really getting above 8.5C. The wind wasn't helping either. Fortunately, before I'd set off I had opted to put my winter jacket on, but only had bike jeans and summer gloves to go with it. Anyway, some of the views towards the Pyrénées were stunning. Unfortunately there wasn't really anywhere to stop on that road to get any pictures. Coming out of Arques village I spotted the Château. I went along to the carpark, but the Château was shielded from view by trees, so I headed back towards the village to get a shot of it across the fields. I decided to carry on a bit further along that road, as I'd seen on the map that the D14 was on the left only a few more km's along the road and that road went through an old Roman Spa place and then through to more recent spa town of Rennes-les-Bains. It's quite a picturesque town, in a valley between some pretty high cliffs, but there wasn't really anywhere decent to stop, so I pressed on. The D14 loops back around and would take me past the Château Peyrepertuse and Château Quéribus, which is a interesting road. So, as I made my way along there I came to the village of Cubières-sur-Cinoble. Just before getting into the village I spotted a signpost for a road off to my right, which said Gorges-de-Galamus 2km. The gorge was already on my radar as somewhere I wanted to visit and, being this close, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss! Unfortunately, the photos that I got really don't do the place justice! A lot of the road there is pretty much single track, which has been carved into the cliff face! It twists and turns, following the face of the cliff, with occasional passing places. The wind was howling down the gorge, which made the drops over the low wall alongside the road pretty interesting! There was a café and parking area where the gorge opened out a bit, so I thought that I'd take the opportunity to stretch my legs and have a look back along the gorge. After my short stop I put home into the sat-nav, but the routes shown were dropping down to Perpignan and back to Narbonne via the motorway or the RN, neither of which appealed. So I decided to head back up the gorge and get back onto the D14, which was the route that is had originally planned on using. The trip back up the gorge was equally as exciting as the trip down, with gusts of wind really moving the bike around! Back on the D14 the road was really nice, winding its way through the hills and villages. I stopped for a pee and a coffee from my flask just under the Château Peyrepertuse. A small group of bikes came past and slowed to make sure that I was OK. So I gave them the thumbs up. The rest of the journey back went pretty well, but the wind was still taking some of the pleasure out of the ride, and I'd realised that I was feeling pretty cold in my hands and feet, so it was definitely time to get back and warm up. I don't know the distance, but I'd estimate it was around 220-230km and I was out for just short of 5 hours.

The boys first shopping trip to tesco. His sister is infatuated with him, never wanting to leave his side and always the 1st to want to help feed or change him. He's also gluttonous, he's now drinking his milk like it's going out of fashion

enjoy

This is the style …

It’s time to cast off next stop Cherbourg see you losers next weekend

No, a kit car built by a GP in his garage. I had to resolve a load of idiosyncrasies on it when I bought it from him 12 years ago. Still not fixed, I looked at it, got head down in the footwell to work out how to get the dash off, decided my back hurt then went out on my Indian instead. Maybe next w/end …

Today may well have been the last ride of my Sixties as rain is forecast for the weekend. Incredible that I've ridden through my Teens, Twenties, Thirties, Forties, Fifties, and Sixties without suffering Death and Dismemberment! In fact, I've never even managed to break a bone or get laid up in Hospital. And I've never totaled any of the 67 bikes, or made an Insurance claim. It seems that nothing went according to the script......I'll have to try harder I suppose! Anyway, this run was to Juan Cortes in Baza to get my centre stand fitted! So here's some stuff from the showroom.......and I have to say that the Rieju Aventura was spectacular! It really ticked all the boxes........except for one! The engine! In case you weren't aware, Rieju are a long established Spanish company who in the past had mainly used Yamaha engines! Now they're using fucking Chinkies! So they've got this stunning looking machine......and then they fuck it all up by sticking a POS Chinkie motor in it! And here's the end result of the trip......centre stand fitted! And it was fitted for free as a birthday present! I also got hugs and kisses from the young lady in the office as well. Passed hundreds of bikes going in the opposite direction on the way back.....all headed to the MotoGP in Jerez! Much as I'd love to be living the dream back there with you guys......I think I'll keep suffering it out over here!

look at that bob.... you have walked further to take pic of your bike than @XTreme rides his

Bloody freezing when I left at 07.30, been spitting most of the day as well but great to get out . Still in Wales at the moment and I didn’t bring my passport

It’s a cycle and it has a motor, you Mexicans and your overbearing rules.

This is the only one he's got , lazy f8cker is about number 8 in that queue

Still sulking?

To keep up the tediousity, if that is even a word, I have been tarting up my 45 year old picknick bench. I should have binned it years ago but my Dad made it so I keep repairing it because it reminds me of him. Bit like Triggers broom it will last forever. Oh and painted the gate as well, much to the youngest disgust, who demanded to know why I painted it orange then stormed off before I could answer. Fucking psycho.

Class! I like the picture with the hill behind the bike, spoiled by the topbox but there you go.

That's great Phil how old is the newborn now? I'm bringing the mrs and the boy home after 8.25pm tonight, given the epilepsy meds hazell is on he needed observations for 48 hrs to make sure he wasn't getting any withdrawal symptoms but all is good.

yeh , i can see the likeness...

After recharging the battery, decided to have another go up Clark Cr. rd this morning. It was great to find that the road got a lot closer to the creek as I went along. The weather was just about perfect....& I knew we were due for a bit of rain tomorrow, so I'm glad I chose today for this exploration. As I was looking for photo op's, I passed through a coupla farms where there was cattle in fenced fields on both sides of the road....& of course there was a few strays that were feeding on vegetation on the edge of the road....didn't stop for them, but they were sure checking this oddball dude passing by on 2-wheels....lol I was feeling pretty stoked & blessed, the farther I went, that I picked such a beautiful place to move to almost 5 yrs. ago now. I ended up riding about 6+ miles out before my lame-ass feet started giving me some grief....(MRSA is such a Bitch)....so a return ensued. After all, I still had the never-ending yard work & back yard to mow before the liquid sunshine shows up. Did almost 15 miles & felt pretty good overall.

I'm home now, got home this afternoon just constantly eating and drinking it got tiresome after a few days but it didn't stop me

How is he a week old already....

The earth might turn backwards if one of those crashes going faster than that. It’s for humanity.

About the only noise you'll hear where I live is this mill that has sustained the town of Elgin for many years.... owned by Boise Cascade. Being the hooligan that I sometimes can be, I ripped through a school zone @ 26 mph on the way back home this morning....

Since Bagger Racing has become such a thing... Knowing how this mad world is evolving, probably won't be long before this will be the next genre of excitement...

Not me...

More younger members

Beautiful weather today....decided to ride BEFORE I handled some more yard work Rolled past the Cemetery rd. onto Clark creek rd. for a few miles.... it's a shame the road doesn't get too close to the creek, mainly cos it's fenced off due to mainly it being some farmer's property. I've learned that keeping it in PA level 1 or 2 conserves on battery life while still maintaining a consistent 15 mph w/o too much effort. I didn't quite make it to where it gets a bit steeper & climbs away from the creek more for better views....that'll be for another ride when I have more time & battery life. All in all, a good ride for some exercise in this glorious weather...away from all the BS I used to have to put up with on the left side of OR! Now to race home for a bit more yard work before the Mrs. & I cooled off @ the local watering hole only 3 blocks from home.

Spring sun seems to have arrived to my garden/wild meadow

Forget about using pumps for measuring or adjusting tire pressure if you want to be precise, particularly chinese crap like that. Get a good quality tire pressure gauge with a release valve, any motorsports online shop will sell them. Use any pump to overinflate the tires a little, then adjust using the quality tool made for that exact job. Something like this:

Poor kid has only been in the world a few hours and he is already being trolled by a Mexican.

i would have been but..... it was hospital time at 8pm and he was delivered at 8.25pm. Both of them are doing very well, we've named him Leo, now that's enough dustbin lids for us, hopefully we will take him home Sunday morning.

He's a feckless twat, he should have a Honda.

Rode north up to spend the week at my parents’, 250km on the motorway at perfect temperatures, 20/25°, just lovely. Didn’t feel like leaving my place, though. On the way here stopped at a gas station and went over to help a british couple that looked like were having trouble with a tire. Turns out they just didn’t know how to put in the coin into the tire compressor. They were very surprised to learn it was free They were also very displeased with all the bugs splattered on their otherwise shiny Kawasaki GTR 1400

So back in the garage to do a few things, now that I'm on top of the brakes I went and changed over the rusty fasteners on the engine for nice S/S ones, looks a lot better, when they package these kits they must throw in a handful of this and a handful of that as I have lots of extras, maybe as I progress I'll find places to put them but so far can't see where they may go, maybe as I get further into the engine spots will turn up especially when I pull off the EPA stuff, that's a whole bunch of plumbing that's in the way and is no longer needed. Removed the airfilter for the very first time in its life, only done 43,000 k but looks filthy with what I guess is oil from the crankcase breather, anyway the new one looks very nice and should enhance the new pipes performance, as well I have a jetting kit for the mods but don't know if I'll fit it, never done carbs before and don't want any mystery surprises, maybe get the local bike mechanic or someone to do them, so with pipes, carbs, hi flow air filter and new plugs it should be quite peppy, there are two removable triangular covers on the airbox (you can see one in the second photo) as well as the snorkel so that should enhance the induction roar, haha, that and the new cans, things are getting exciting. So at Marcels request here's a few photos of the bike in its house.

Get in , that’s just the entrees

I heard he is already taller than his dad.

Congratulations, your family is in my prayers, I’ll be back to ripping the piss out of you before you know it though.