Tango

HOMERS!

When I did my apprenticeship and afterwards whilst working in the factory I'd go to one of the shops to get something done. There were machine shops, fitting shops, carpentry shops, electrical wiring shops and even a perspex moulding shop. So, I'd go in and say that I needed something done:

"Sorry son, we're flat out busy at the moment. It'll be at least a month before we can take a look at it"

"Ah, ok lads. Just let me know when you can sort it for me please?"

"No problems son. Anyway, what's it for?"

"It's a bit on my motorbike that's broken"

"What? Why didn't you say that it's a Homer? Come back in half an hour and we'll have it ready for ya"

In the factory, homers were top priority!

36 minutes ago, XTreme said:

I'd never been abroad Bob.......coming here was the first time.

16 years now and never regretted it!

Strange how some Brits resent people like us though?

I know people and even have relatives that have never been out of the country! One girl I worked with many years ago had never been outside the town she was born in!

Yeah, some people don't want to travel and that's fine by me, but then they want to stop or make it difficult for those who do want to! I just don't get that mentality. 

5 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Think back to when we were young Bob.......we never ever imagined we'd end up living abroad did we?

It just didn't happen then.......and it looks like it's going to go back to that.

True, Pete. I'd only been abroad once by the time I was 22. It was only when I was in my 30's that I really started travelling a lot more and probably only in the last 10 years that I actually gave living abroad any thought at all!

I wish I still had my Speed Triple, but there was no way that I could get it registered here, so I had to sell it. TBH it probably wouldn't have liked the hot weather and would likely have got me into trouble with the gendarmes!

Have any of you parted with a bike for any reason that you wished you hadn't?

55 minutes ago, yen_powell said:

Today's article, one of my favourite types, just an ordinary person's life. I've worked out what road he lives in so will keep my eye out to see if I can spot it.

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/08/25/stan-jones-of-mile-end-x/

I had a colleague at my last job who still lives in the house he was born in Finchley, he's 65 now. I once asked him if he'd ever move and he said probably not. I'm guessing that his house is worth a small fortune now!

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Back down to 16 in the town!

However, the fifth wave of coronavirus in Spain registered it's highest daily fatality rate so far yesterday with 201 deaths.

I'd like to know how many of these were fully vaccinated though.....but they're not giving that info out.

From the stats here, it looks like unvaccinated are around 10 times more at risk of ending up in ICU than vaccinated. Likewise here, the number of deaths divided into vaccinated or not are not published.

35 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Wow! You've known some interesting people Yen.

I was only thinking recently how there are so few "characters" left these days.

Just fucking boring bastards!

When I did my apprenticeship and worked in the factory there were some real characters around, but where have they gone? I guess that some of the stuff we used to do or have done to us would get people sacked these days. 

My third bike.......must have been around 1977.

I went there a number of years back with a Canadian colleague who stopped over in London for the weekend on his way to Germany.  It's definitely very interesting, a good day out. 

Shells on the beach at low tide.

Has there ever been a bike that's been offered to you or you've seen for sale that you regretted not buying?

One of my mates had a Honda CBX1000 in the mid 1980's and, to save the temptation of riding it whilst he was on a ban, he entrusted it to me to look after for him. Anyway, after a while he needed some money and asked if I wanted to buy it off him. I was skint at the time, so I turned it down and he sold it to another mate for a song! I later wished that I had scraped the money together to buy it. 

Anyone else?

It's a shame that Covid-19 isn't weeding these fuckers out!

Depends on the rider. I had a couple of mates who I completely trusted and went pillion on their bikes many times quite happily.

But then I had another mate who was nearly blind in one eye. He should have worn his glasses when riding, but he couldn't get them on with his lid on. So, his 3D vision was a bit impaired and, coupled with his failure to take into account the extra weight on the bike when taking a pillion, we ended up overshooting several junctions. How we didn't get killed I don't know, but I only went pillion with him the once!

7 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Yeh......but you're in a different environment now Bob.

So it's a complete change for you as it has been for me.

True, I see a number of bigger bikes around, but a lot are GS' or Harleys, with plenty of small dirt bikes around too.

The Honda is ok, but I'd like just a few more BHP. Tiger 800 would do me nicely!

I think that 17 years ago I was on a Triumph Trophy 900, which was a bit of a bus TBH. Quite different to the CB500X. 

11 minutes ago, XTreme said:

She needs a different bike Bob!

She'll never get ride of the Bonnie, but a smaller bike may get her rolling again.

TBH, we went to Narbonne the other week with her driving the car, and, well, she got me put on the insurance so I could drive it! I'm not a good passenger at the best of times, but we had "words"!

On 21/08/2021 at 15:18, XTreme said:

Quiet here today......everybody out on their bikes then?

I don't get out on the bike at weekends at the moment, my OH has lost her biking mojo at the moment. Plus it's a bit warm to get out, unless we go out early, but weekend mornings are for drinking coffee and eating bacon rolls, so that rules out early starts!

52 minutes ago, yen_powell said:

I think I've mentioned this website before. A new article every day, he does repeat himself occasionally. 90% of them are fascinating, stories of ordinary people with extraordinary lives that no one knows about until they tell you. I've been to visit some of the places he mentions, others I already know about due to working in the area and being nosy.

Just some examples to start with

A place I am going to soon, hidden behind Kings Cross and St Pancras Station, just to see The Hardy Tree and the inspiration for the red London telephone box.

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2018/06/10/at-st-pancras-old-churchyard-x/

Find out who actually makes ballet shoes, you'll be surprised.

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/07/11/the-point-shoe-makers-of-hackney-x/

The story of where a famous saying comes from

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2021/07/31/the-foundling-of-shoreditch-x/

I might put a few more on here at a later date as I find them again. Ones such as the transvestite of Bethnal Green and his/her electric cooker collection, The tramp so stylish he is paid to model neckerchiefs, a small shop that still has stock from the 1700s and supplies spares for the Queen's coronation and other coaches, the Bangladeshi mechanics who inhabit the hundreds of railway arches hidden away from view, the old mechanic who used to work on souping up the Krays AND the Flying Squad's cars at the same time in the 50s, the day to day life of the Raven Keeper at the Tower etc.

.

 

They're awesome articles, really interesting.

1 hour ago, Buckster said:

It's a conspiracy. 

Another day, another shopping trip!

1 hour ago, XTreme said:

Apparently France has the most anti-vaxers in Europe.......which would back up the low vaccination statistics there.

Tell the French that they have to do something and they'll oppose it, tell them that they can't have something and they'll fight in the streets to get it.

8 hours ago, XTreme said:

I'm surprised to see Germany and France so low down!

Interesting, as the official Covid app has stats on the vaccinations and says that 69.1% of the population over 12 years old are fully vaccinated.  So, this chart is counting the entire population including kids. 

I think that the uptake of the vaccination amongst teenagers and 20-30 year olds is pretty poor, which is obviously affecting the figures too.

2 hours ago, Clive said:

There is one of those planes in Pollenca (Majorca) .....seemed to miss the hotel roof by just a few feet when coming into the bay to refill..

 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1477583795925862&id=413253402358912

38 minutes ago, Six30 said:

that was a bit close

Yeah, the guy on the boat had white knuckles trying to push the throttles further forwards!

27 minutes ago, Clive said:

True....they stopped the pleasure flights there and at Skeggy years ago.

I went up in one once......what's a bloody Heath Robinson contraption that was!!

 

 

 

 

I once flew between Jersey and Guernsey on one of those TriLander planes one evening in the middle of winter. Those things were like flying in a 1960's cortina! The pilot got in and turned round and asked if everyone was OK. The windows steamed up within minutes of take-off and, because of a cross wind, we flew the distance sideways. We were only a couple of hundred feet above the waves too! An experience that I never wanted to repeat!