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Good afternoon everyone, It's coming close too 1 year since my dad passed, time has flown by very quickly. I thought it'd be good to quickly reply to some questions i've gotten either through here or on FB / Whatsapp. 1) The funeral was small, it was only myself and Ali in the end, due to Spain typically having a funeral with-in 2 days of the passing it was all done very quick and suddenly. 2) I got to see Pete in hospital the day before he passed, he seemed to be recovering well, so it was indeed a shock that he passed the following morning as i was arriving to visit him again. 3) I've taken over his business and also the forum for the time being, so things will still continue to be online for the foreseeable future. 4) Ali is doing as well as could be expected, she's still living in Spain but it's going alright. 5) I'm not planning any public service or remberance for Pete this coming year, there's still a lot on-going, but i appreciate all the love / support from everyone. Please do continue to take care of the forum and yourselves, i do come to check-in on things from time to time. Best regards, Scott - Petes youngest Son (Living in The Netherlands)

Just got notified yesterday that I'm gonna be a Great Grandparent this coming October... here's my oldest Grandson's 1st view of his future riding partner...that he already has a bike in the waiting for the little guy...

We were sleeping near Albufeira, which is the most benidorm style place in Portugal, all sorts of Thai massage parlors, Curry restaurants, Irish pubs advertising premier league matches on the TV, all day long full English and "big boy full English breakfast", the pits! Gammons (Pete mode: on!) were dragging their knuckles crossing the street, etc I took Sofia around these roads, not really motorcycling greatness, but still interesting to see if you're from Portugal and don´t know this region. Albufeira, viewed from a not very flattering viewing point : Stopped by Alfufeira's Marina, and was surprised to see all the new houses, all these with bright colors were built after the last time I was here, back then (almost 20 years ago) it was just a proper Marina with almost nothing built near it. Now it's ugly as hell: Sofia was pillion on the GS today, not too keen on riding the Speed Triple on boring slow streets and almost urban style traffic. Another small beach, Olhos de Água: And another, access to these beaches is very crowded in the summer, can't park anywhere and it's an absolute chore to get here, unless you really are sleeping within walking distance or have a motorcycle: To end her exposure to the most british oriented part of Portuguese tourism, we ended the morning with a spot of lunch in Vilamoura's Marina. I enjoy a walk around a proper marina, although I do prefer a smaller one with a diverse more authentic sailboats from all around the world, the marina in Vilamoura is where I remember my parents sometimes bringing me and my brother for a walk after dinner when holidaying in the cheaper places around, we'd come here to posh things up Now it is less fancy and most of the shops and establishments have lost some class, but it's still a nice place to visit in the off season. The sun made an appearance so all was instantly looking better too. Getting in the spirit of it, we had lunch in Pizza Hut: After a little shopping for Sofia's birthday present, we carried on heading to a supermarket in search of supplies for the next few days, and in the spirit of the area I took her to Food & Co, which is a British enclave sort of supermarket . Everything inside is from the UK, all the staff is primarily an English speaker, and the groceries and food is completely not what you find in a Portuguese shop. The prices are adequately increased too, to make up for feeling at home while living away. We ended up buying almost nothing there, and moved on, back at home and had a quiet dinner by ourselves. Next morning, breakfast was had enjoying the great weather we were now having, still too cold to go in the swimming pool but it was very nice outside for the time of year. The morning was dispatched with no hurries, proper lazy style living. It was a saturday so I had no calls or work, and eventually we made it to Faro to meet a friend for a snack and talk, about 45 minutes away. Both him and Sofia are members of the Triumph Owners Club in Portugal so there was lots of talking about Triumphs and meetings and stuff. I used to spend a lot of time in the beach in Faro, and love coming here. It was an uneventful day, nice to just relax and sit down talking. Next day we went and met another friend of Sofia's, she lives in a very posh area near Faro, Vale do Lobo. Vale do Lobo is mostly villas with manicured gardens and quiet streets, it's more or less detached from reality and a retreat for people with money, property values there are quite expensive but end up being closed and empty for most of the year. We had a little snack with a view to the ocean, and Sofia and Sharon were very happy to spend time with each other. The next day, we set of to Tavira region, East of Faro, hoped on the motorway to get there in time for a late morning espresso, but first stopping in Santa Luzia. We stopped by a 2000 year old olive tree, it's quite impressive to think the same tree was alive though the Romans and Arabs. The weather was amazing. A brief stop by the sea, and someone went to some efforts for a BOTM attempt: Stop in Santa Luzia for a coffee and a little walk by the sea and to enjoy the great sunshine, even though it wasn't that warm. After a light snack in Cabanas de Tavira, we headed back home. Returning home was done the long way around via one of the nicest roads in Portugal. We crossed paths a herd of new Transalps and NC750, both groups coming the other way in quite tight formation. They were clearly journalists, and indeed I now heard they are launching these two new bikes here, if you check MCN or similar channels on YouTube you'll surely see these bikes being ridden there. The Algarve is being discovered by the motorcycling industry as having nice roads and nice weather most of the time. I will keep an eye out to see if we appear on any of these videos We stopped briefly, to enjoy the view from top of the hills. We stopped by the supermarket to buy some fish, and made it back home during an amazing sunset. Just in time for a shower and for our friend João to arrive with some nice wine in time for dinner.

Over the past month, Special Services investigators, with assistance from the Canadian Police Technological Crimes Unit, examined graphic images and videos extracted from cellular devices seized during a previous drug-related investigation. The material depicted various sexual acts involving a Moose, investigations have lead to this artists sketch to help identification of the suspect.

Well the deed is done I’m a married man ..

I saw a few of Fred's girlfriends, it is lambing season to if Fred had been here he would have gone full nonce. I then headed to Talla Reservoir, as usual the scenery was okay. Going off the side of the road would give you a bad day here. I eventually rejoined the main road and headed back to Edinburgh.

I also wanna build a tiny cabin or two for visiting bike riders. Plenty of room behind the garages for them and I've always wanted to build one. Something like these:

Got the electronic Bat Signal to meet with the Distinguished Senior Gentleman of Fowey (Combined age 250) for a ride out Down West at 10:30 am. Given that I had just finished a night shift I figured why not? Didn’t want to miss out, youm a long time dead. We headed out through St Austell down the A390 to Truro. Then down to Falmouth and along the South Coast to Helston, Marazion, Long Rock and Penzance. Bleddy stunning weather but chilly. Not that it bothered me behind the CBF’s touring screen. Told the others I was actually a bit stuffy and two warm behind the screen, which they were delighted to hear in their cool looking but cold leathers . Just before we got to St Just we stopped at Boscawen Ur Stone Circle for a bit of Paganism but collectively decided it was to fucking cold to dance around the stones naked. Also with our years of experience we all pissed with the constant wind rather than against it, luckily just after we saw a hunt. Again after some discussion we decided not to lick the stones, every though one was solid quartz, as they were probably contaminated with Pagan DNA. We headed on down past Lands End airport to St Just in Penwith for a pasty dinner, met the local village idiot who wanted to sell us a Big Issue. I said ok only to hear he didn’t have any. . Fucking numpty shuffled off after that, don’t think he had a scenario worked out for that turn of events. Resident Idiot, parents were obviously two closely related With a healthy dose of heartburn we then St Just left for Godrevy onto St Ives, Hayle, the Towans finally stopping at Pentreath for a posh coffee. During which we discussed how many vertically challenged gentleman we saw riding Wank Panzers today. The Gamma ripped nicely up Pentreath hill with the Greeeves bogging behind in a plume of blue smoke. We were also a little derisory about a chap on his 24 plate Harley who went past with AC/DC blasting out of his radio for everyone’s enjoyment. Coffee and second piss done we headed home via the quick route back up the A30. Well I say quick we did have to ancient rattle machines with us who riders openly admit the vision blurs over 70 mph. Of course none of that non sense on the CBF. Left the A30 at Innis Downs then Lanivet, Lanhydrock, Fowey Cross and home in time for the rugby. Which I managed to sleep through. Good day and 130 miles with laughs, coffee and heartburn. Hoping for a summer of this

Well, 2025 hasn’t started particularly well. Having been over to the UK to visit my dad in hospital just before Xmas my cousin went to see him about four weeks ago and alerted me to his deterioration. Having seen a couple of photos it was obvious he was much worse than before Xmas, although the hospital kept telling me he was doing okay and was being considered for discharge! Went over to see him and it was quite obvious he was fading away and sadly he wasn’t communicating so all I could do was talk to him. He was transferred to a hospice last Wednesday but I had to fly back to Spain on Thursday morning so I said my goodbyes beforehand. My cousin went to see him on Friday lunchtime for a couple of hours and at 2.30pm UK time he passed away peacefully. He had just turned 88 years old so it’s fair to say he had a good innings but it doesn’t really make it any easier just yet. So, that’s that then; both parents gone, no siblings and no offspring of my own. When you consider how much useful and active time you may have left it makes you want to seize every opportunity, take every chance, be less risk adverse and just not worry about the small shite that seems to permeate our everyday lives. So, today instead of pondering about cremations, wakes and all of the fucking admin that needs to be done I’m out on my bike, enjoying the sun and the empty roads. …………….I just hope to God he doesn’t bump into the ginger Welsh twat

Cold morning, but only blue skies and the rains had all moved North, we headed South towards the Algarve hills, happy times! There, in the distance, it's the ocean sparking behind the hills. These are very nice motorcycling roads and usually deserted By the afternoon, we made it to Portimão, met up with our friends, looked around the pits and saw some people riding around. Scott Redding's training bike, pretty cool! He was obviously very fast, but the event was being used by a couple more racers for training, so the fastest guys in the faster group were really fast! Cool van We made it to our hotel, which had a nice view with the track in the distance: Someone had a blue cocktail, and spirits were high. Next day, and it was Sofia's birthday. We left the bikes in the garage, the plan was to walk to the track and hang out with Niel and Anne a little, walk around and then have dinner somewhere. Breakfast with the track in the distance, I like that! The dip at the end of the straight must be intense on a fast bike: There's a crest as you exit the last corner into the straight, faster bikes would float their front wheels for quite a distance after that: By mid afternoon it started to look like rain so most people cut their track time short. It was a three day event and nobody seemed like they wanted to ruin a nice experience by riding in the damp, it started to drizzle a little after that. I had a buzz around the pits in the Suzuki, it's incredible how easy and docile it is if you don´t poke many of the 200 horses. By the time we made it to the hotel the rain had officially arrived. We had a friendly van driver give us a lift to dinner, and much fun was had. The food was great and wine flowed merrily. It was a great evening filled with laughs and tales of motorcycling and life. In the morning the rain was all rained, we packed and left to visit Sagres before going to our home for a few days. Overlooking the beach and my favourite lighthouse in the distance, from the tip of Sagres: Stopped in Lagos for a bite to eat but got lost inside the old town. So parked the bikes and went on foot to find a snack. Just so you don´t think it's all scenic locations : Exiting Lagos we stopped for a while for some calls. After getting home I went to a local supermarket to fetch groceries for dinner, GS went into shopping trolley mode with the luggage stretched wider. Next few days, Algarve.

I’m going to show her now, except to wake up with a horses head in your bed

Some pictures in daylight and from a non-phone camera.

Had to go and get a replacement headlight bulb this morning for the Yamaha so turned up at an official Yamaha dealership, all swanky marketing stuff and a full range of new bikes. I thought to myself “I’m going to pay for all this bling”……….. but no, I spoke to the salesman in my bestest Spanish, he checked to see if they had any in stock and gave me one………for free! I thought he was joking at first but it seems he was happy that I’d made an effort to speak Spanish rather than just shout in English Happy days.

All four of them.

I set off in the dark and came home in the dark . Inbetween it was feckin cold and slippery as an eel on the trails but it was bl**dy great

Just to piss him off, since he never wanted to be MOTY, I'll nominate @XTreme Well, tough shit, Pete! You're nominated now. Nomination is not for passing away, it's for truly getting a kick out of providing a space for people to get together, he took great joy and pride in it.

@boboneleg... he comes across as a cunt all the time

So proud of her, She is a right little madam.

Paolo had gone to church and then a pic-nic with his Nonna we had a chance to get out today . We went to Alfred's Tower and an ice cream parlour (no Strawberry) on a farm near Nunney .

You look like an Eighty year old ..........

Went out for a ride this morning, went to Damerells then Padstow and then followed the A39 (Atlantic Highway FFS) to Camelford then onto Bodmin Moor at Davidstow. Just a stunning place to be. Got lost for 30 minutes or so but knew it was all good when I found St Breward. Onto Blisland then down the A30 to Bodmin.

Just did an eight day trip on the TRK502X which took me from Murcia province, up to Segovia where I met five friends from the UK. From there we went west to Miranda do Duro which is on the border between Spain and Portugal. Further west to Chaves and then onto Porto for two nights following most of the Rota Norte which was fantastic. We headed east to Avila using as many twisty mountain roads we could find and then finally I had to head home to Murcia province. My mates went north via Leon and the mountains so they can get their ferry on Wednesday. Fantastic trip with only a little motorway to get around Murcia city. No rain, great roads, only stopped by the police once early on Sunday morning to carry out an alcohol test (no problem!) The TRK is a fantastic moto and wasn’t left behind by the larger bikes…….and of course, it cost much less to buy! ……..where to next?

So on Sunday afternoon I decided to take a run out as the temperature was up to a near Caribbean level of 12c. I headed south into the Scottish Borders to the popular spot of Moffat but other than a sprinkling of power rangers and a few born agains it was quiet. My new exhausts were attracting a lot of admiring looks from the ladies. From there I headed to St Mary's Loch for a bit of cottaging. I was alone in the toilets though so I just took a piss instead. Again there weren't a lot of bikes, I did speak to a Polish couple who were on a Harley Electra Glide and I had a cigar break. Then I headed back using a single track road I wanted to explore. This took me past Megget Reservoir.

After 5 yrs. of not seeing my son...(he's a PMC in Israel) I got wind that he's here in OR currently!....just talked to him for the 1st time in a coupla years...he's in Portland to get his beat-up shoulder operated on (injury from Iraq back in 2011) & process a load of paperwork to get his Top Secret security clearance for a new contract in Germany after he finishes the remaining contract in Israel. Gonna relieve my anxiety a bit as a parent to know he'll be moving up the food chain & outta the field....probably gonna go see him next week...pretty stoked about that!

Packing for the move that begins next week. Entire house contents are boxed up and ready for the movers. We'll be in for a culture shock; moving from one of the wealthiest areas of the USA to one of the poorest. But the riding in Appalachia is great and I'm looking forward to it....

It was a beautiful day today , still cold but no wind so perfect for a ride so I decided to head for a cafe that someone had told me about near Cirencester. I tried to get there by taking as many roads as I could that I haven't ridden before.............. It didn't look like much from the outside but inside the cafe area was very neat, I like the ceiling lights made from used tyres ............ Next to the cafe was the showroom with some really cool bikes , some of which are for sale............

Forecast is great so tomorrow i will be staring with some van action and then styling and profiling on the XR with one or two others from the TRF. Sunday will probably be a recovery day. Planned route

A bunch of Kawasaki's ............ Some old skool off roaders ........... You don't see many of these ..........

Nice day for it

Been up Davidstow again today teaching my new acolyte to ride her bike ready for her CBT. Tis a Honda CBR125R nice bike and a lot of fun for what it is. Shadow is very envious of it.

That's Pete!

But which one @Pedro you choose which one to put forward.

Just a 15 mile round trip, quite nice on the move, not too cold. Some van action for @Six30 The guy in the red coat a nosey highways department worker, he did say something to me, but i had Fuck all idea what he said though. Those buildings are where Crown Farm colliery was situated.

2024 was a hard year for us here, we lost the founder of motorcycleriders.net and of other forums from the past where many of us met, of course I'm talking about Pete, to this day I keep expecting to see his posts appear. People have come and gone, I'm sure we will see some people return as the weather improves but I would like to thank everyone who has stuck around, except for @Six30, I was hoping that fucktard would flounce. I especially want to thank @boboneleg and @Pedro for stepping up and undertaking the work of the forum with me, we would not have kept going without you two. When Pete passed I really didn't expect the forum to survive beyond a couple or so months but here we are. Pete wanted this place to be an alternative to social media and I think we have kept that ethos going, a sort of virtual riders club of like minded misfits which is really what riding motorcycles is about even if they never leave the van. So here is to 2025, lets make this our year, loads of ride reports, a few van reports and plenty more of the usual bollocks. As for me, I will be styling and profiling on the magnificent Harley that I know you all secretly lust after, my pictures and reports will no doubt have people, especially ladies, flocking to the forum. For me the highlights of the year have been keeping the place going as well as Marcels epic melt down and flounce, looking forward, I will be doing a lot of miles in the coming year to various rallies as well as manning a stand at the Scottish Motorcycle Show in March, so you lucky people are in for a treat with all my pictures and reports. So what are your memories from 2024 and what have you got planned for 2025?

I just started riding a couple of years ago, even though I have my bike license since 2002. I couldn't afford to own a motorcycle before so that's the reason I've only got the Honda CB500F. Other than that I had a chinese pocket bike . Thanks to my feather weight it could get to 50Kph!

The Arai XD-5 I bought last month finally showed up today at the shop. This thing is freakin' huge! Much more rounded looking than the previous XD-4. Guess we'll see if it's any better once riding season rolls around.....

Good health and a happy new year to you all.

…I’m on the edge of my seat … Actually in bed because I’m too old and can’t be arsed to stay up another 45 mins. I’ll get woken up in a couple of hrs anyway when my son staggers in and doesn’t turn the lights on as he tries not to wake us up and then falls over the dog toys scattered around everywhere.

Mother in law staying with us at the moment. She’s stepped on the puppy 3 bloody times so far. He’s laying in front of the fire minding his own business and she seems unable to get from one side of the room to the other without treading on the poor thing. Thankfully she’s back the US on Thursday. I should be more tolerant but it’s bloody hard at times.

Yes it is mine

I don’t often take photos whilst I’m out, this is the only reasonable one I could find, taken beside the river Test.

Knocked up a saw mount on the XR this morning Covered it with a plastic bag with a helmet bag on top for the trip up to Merthyr as it's bloody foggy as hell and a bit damp First tree cleared Rode around this one last time and thought since i'm here just cut it Forgot to take a before on this one it was overhead you had to duck under And the folding saw destroyer now destroyed Then onto this lot My little saw made short work of it all The gulley repairs i done back in the summer held up well to the storms we had. Those two rock in the middle of the stream have been washed there right in the path of the line you need to get up the bank, too bloody heavy for me to move shows the power a stream has in flood I wanted to check out a lane that runs from the end of this one over to Aberdare as i'd had reports of it being washed out, when i got to the top of the hill i was amazed how good the weather was the whole of the valleys were submerged in a thick fog all day but it was blue sky's and warm on the hills Photo taken about 15:30 as the sun was starting to go down Last one before heading down into it to go home

Out for a couple of hours this morning, principally a breakfast run. Some lovely scenery, cracking roads and hardly any traffic. What’s not to like eh? I’m very lucky to be living here.

13F again this morning...w/ a bit frozen fog...reminds me of a few times I slid around in similar condition on my Seca 550 back in the day. It cleared off nicely with plenty of blue sky...so I managed to get the Mullet out for a spin again. I checked out the Trail by the Rail to see if any more progress has been made on it....as they have received another grant towards the completion of it....but no joy yet, but it's always fun to blast down it on the eBike.... So since I had the camera with me, I got a pic of this straight old mid 60's GMC short-wide....I've had 2 of these in the past, but the short-wides are not too common. Blasted camera has some kind of muck on the lens that only shows up when the light is just right...

With no members talking about being unable to wank in the bathroom while his girlfriend is rejecting him in the bedroom, I don't know how this forum will survive.

Beautiful cold and clear weather here today so it seemed daft not to go out for a bimble while I had the chance. I first headed up to Damerells on the off chance they had one of the new Honda CB350’s in yet. No such luck but it was worth a look. I notice the new colour for the CB125F is black, they had 10 in the showroom spread around. Some new interesting stock in I do like this model Bonniville, not sure about the colour but a a nice bike nonetheless. Lovely VFR only done 12k Bandit After Damerells I headed off to the North coast. Stopped at Tregonetha to change my gloves and pod cast. Then on to Padstow for a mooch about. Very pretty village but full of tourists even in early December. Then headed off to Trevone for a look. No bugger there Decided to head home then, through Wadebridge, Bodmin, Lanivet, Bugle, Stenaless and St Austell. Stopped in St Blazey for fuel then back to Fowey. Main roads were fine but the more rural roads were slippery with all sorts of debris. More tip toeing around than bimbling but fine as long as I rode to the conditions. 61mpg when I filled up and that probably reflects the conditions, no blasting around, just not safe to do it. Great way to spend a few hours.

Is she the first in the family to go to school then?