Tango

I'm exactly the same. I like to travel to see new things, to experience different things and to meet different people. I'm still me, but I like to feel that I grow from these experiences, that it enriches my outlook on life. I know that Pete jokes about lazy dagos, but who's got it right? One of my old colleagues used to moan all the time about one of the other guys, calling him a lazy git, etc. "I'm out there working my arse off for 10-12 hours a day and I know that lazy git is back home by 4pm with his feet up!" So I asked him how many hours we were paid for? "37.5 hrs a week" How many hours does Frank work? " Well.......no more than 37.5 hrs!" So, who's wrong? Just because Frank works the hours that he's paid and little more, but you work 20+hrs a week unpaid overtime, who's the mug? Lazy dago will probably live to 100 years old.

I think that Spain, and to an extent France, made it too easy for people to fly below the radar, but they're really tightening up on it now, which is catching the grifters out. But many are living here legitimately, so have no issues. Realistic expectations are key to making a go of it.

We often see on some of the Facebook groups those that are always looking for loopholes to get out of paying their way. Fortunately they tend to get short shrift from the people on there!

I don't know about Spain, but here you can apply for a 1 year visa as long as you meet certain criteria, ie, income to support yourself and private medical insurance. So, it may be the same or similar in Spain, if you decide to make things a bit more permanent. and not all expats are a pain in the arse!

Congratulations on your new adventure. You'll have days when the doubts will arise, but a quick look at the UK news usually dispels any doubts!

Certainly bikes like the MT07, MT09, Z750, Z900, etc are not holding their resale value as much as, say, the 650 Strom or the Tiger 800.

I also reckon that, as people start to feel the impending Financial squeeze and fuel prices rise, there will be a shift to smaller capacity, more economical bikes or to all electric. I think that the big capacity bikes are now facing their final years.

The same here.

When I used to go to motorcycle meets or shows the usual demographic was on the older side! Maybe the change in the motorbike tests all those years back is really starting to bite now? Not that I advocate that 17 year olds should still be able to stick a set of L-plates on a 250cc bike and set off on it with no training, etc. I'm speaking purely of the UK system here of course. But there is definitely fewer kids getting into biking in the UK these days.

Seven years ago my missus and I were returning from a holiday in one of the Greek Islands. At the airport back in the UK, whilst we were waiting at the baggage reclaim, I had the sudden urge to phone my dad. I dismissed it as a silly idea and just collected our bags and got back home late afternoon. To round off our holiday we decided to go to our local for dinner and a couple of pints in the early evening. Whilst waiting for our dinner to come out I had a call on my mobile from my sisters phone, but it was my brother-in-law. He broke the news that my dad had died suddenly that afternoon. So we bailed out of the pub and headed down to my mum and dad's house in Dartford. My dad had been down in his shed playing on his ham radio gear when he suffered a massive heart attack and dropped dead. At his post mortem they estimated his time of death and it pretty much coincided with when I had the urge to phone him from the airport.

I don't doubt you, Pete. When I was about 8 or 9 I went on holiday with my mum and dad and younger brother and sisters to an old farmhouse in Somerset. There was a definite atmosphere in the house that, even as a youngster, I could feel. On the first night there I woke in the middle of the night and there was a woman all in white stood looking at me in the room. I nearly shat myself and buried myself under the bed covers until the morning. At breakfast I told my parents about it and my mother said that she had seen the same woman in their room that night too! My mum wouldn't stay in that house any longer, so we packed everything back into the car and went home!

Wow, that is weird.

For the connoisseurs on here!

Back in the early 90's the company I worked for had a small blood test Analyser that was used mainly in vet surgeries. The company decided that, for a small Analyser, it tied up too much of our engineering resources, so they decided to bring in a guy as a subcontractor to look after these analysers and I was tasked with training him up. He was a Yorkshire chap named Rodney, very affable and capable. The plan worked out pretty well and Rodney did a good job. The company eventually sold all their medical business off and I was made redundant. Fast forward to a few years ago and my last company brought in a new UK service manager from outside. In the bar, after one of the first service engineer meetings with the new service manager, I was chatting with him and discovered that he knew Rodney. It then transpired that Rodney had trained him on some medical diagnostic analysers when he first got into this field. So, in a roundabout way, I was responsible for him being where he was to a certain extent! He actually said that Rodney had told him about an engineer called Bob teaching him about the analysers and the theory behind how they worked, but, until that conversation he didn't know that it was me.

That looked pretty challenging in parts there. How far do you reckon it was?

28th September. https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/gb-car-sticker-to-be-replaced-by-new-uk-version/

In France motorcycle gloves must be CE marked and worn at all times on the bike. UK sticker I think is mandatory from 1st September? I'll have to check that one.

Always choose your tattooist carefully!

Seeing Tony's photos in this thread, I know when I'm beaten!

I'll not be bothering to enter Bike of the Month this month!