MooN

Jumpnstar it and go for a ride, happened to me from time to time in the tralp but it nearly alwys came good for another season or so…

“ I was brought here by my friend Sir Cumstance” and we met with Sir Tiff Hyde… and his daughter… Miss Tiff-Hyde… i could play this all day…

I messaged Tango this afternnoon and got a message back, he's fine, just busy with life n stuff, no worries, ( other than that the frogs are busy voting the national front into power and that we're laying money on which one of us will be escorted off the premesis first... )

We need before and after pics Yam, just so’s we can criticise you work

Too bleedin hot for cycling to wrok today, itd be ok this morning but forcast is 30 ish this evening with theeat of storms… so that’s a no!

I rode to work and back on a bicycle today!

I've got his phone number somewhere. try a PM first Bob, if that doesn' solicite a response I'll try by phone if you like. He might just be "doing other stuff"

it is the "fete de la Musique" this weekend in France, it happens every year on 21st June so loads of free concerts and bands all over the shop. a mate of mine was playing in a pub in auxerre with his group "The Biten Boys" ( which, when pronounced in French is "Les Bites en bois" which I will leave you to translate for yourselves... so Mrs Moon and N°1 daughter went there for the evening while I drove to Paris, wandered around the 12th arrondissement for a couple of hours and then slept for 2more ours in the car in an underground car park before driving home. I should maybe mention that, during this time, the twins were at a Doja Cat concert at the Accor Arena Bercy... I have gained do many hero points by driving them there and back and waiting around that it was worth it Also, everybody should drive to and from Paris for an evening from time to time, simply to remind them how lucky they are to NOT live there and have to deal with the fucking parisians on a regular basis. Yesterday I hid inside from the apalling weather, but today I will be out on the bike I reckon.

well I enjoy the competition...

I am obviously very out of touch with all this, but dabbled on the peripheries in my misspent youth. I was a member of an MCC in the east of England, ( still in touch and still an honorary member) not a back patch cub, not an MC. I would concur with all that Buck says here, but would maybe water down a little the MCC warnings, BUT my experience is 30yrs old so things may have changed.

s'funny, The best man out our wedding had been "master at arms" for the Satans Slaves back in the day. I knew him and still do) in a later reincarnation...

you lost me...

I came across DSUK almost as it was morphing into maximum bikes I think,back in 2005, having made my life in France I was looking for an English speaking bike forum and had signed up to about 8 I think with the intention of seeing what I liked or not. Max bikes felt so much more like what I was used to in a local bike club, I stayed. Over the years I have been more or less active according to personal circumstances and available time. People on here have offered support through some difficult times, and definately some huge laughs and fascinating conversations amongst the inane banter that is the backdrop to it all. Much as it pains me to admit it. Pete has been the motor in the machine, and though others have had a hand in steering, or oiling the wheels, or applying the brakes, or filling the tank, when the motor is no longer in the frame the rest will struggle to keep the machine alive, no matter how good they are. Thanks for the ride Pete. ( you spicky ginger welsh twat)

I was bringing a group ride back from the alps / vercors when i got Bucks message this morning. It took me a while to process. By the time i got halfway home it was pissing down with rain an thunder claps you could hear over the exhaust noise. It 30 odd years i have rarely ridden in such bad weather. Thanks Pete.

the stress of running this place finally got to you then Pete? Speedy recovery mate.

Hi Bob, I'm still alive but having a proper job has been playing havoc with my riding scheduleand as the kids get older they seem to need more of my time than when they were younger. I've been dong very little riding this winter but have a couple of trips planned for May which I might get some pics of. Apart from that, when I do come on here and catch up a bit, I find that I have nothing worthwhile to add to any of it.

Iuse anold bmw carjack that someone gave me, but I don't carry it on the bike. That would be lighter and easier to carry on long trips. Um... why do you have rigging U bolts screwed to your driveway?

fuckmine! thats less than half the price it would be here! i actually just started tigger, I went out to take the battery off, planning to take it in to work on monday and have our battery bod test it and charge it for me, and the baterry terminal connector bolts were finger tight or less... i tightened them and gave it a whirl and she started fine. I wasn't able to go ride it but run it up to temperature and then a bit longer at higher revs. it was charging at 14.3v, varying very slightly with revs. i checked it agin about 15 minutes after switching off and the battery was at 12.9v I'll check it again tomorrow, but even it it seems good I'll replace it ( it appers to be the original battery, ( fabrication date on the battery same year as the bike) so if that's the case it's 12 or 13 years old already.

Tiger won't start this morning. I'm not really surprised, the battery was showing signs of weakness earlier on in the winter but I though I'd managed to ride enough to recharge it. To be fair this is probably the longest I have ever left a bike unused ( apart from 2016 following an op on my back) and I obviously havent disconnected it or used a charger or anything intelligent like that. The battery shows 12.5v on a digital multimeter, so i'll probably hack it off and take it into work on monday, nail a charger to it for 24 hours and then hammer it back into the bike and see if that sorts it, at least temporarily. The battery is at least 8 years old, so it may just be time to replace it anyway, but batteries are fookin expensive here ( i'm looking at 150 to 170€ for a decent quality one. I could get one from work MUCH cheaper but it would be cheap chinese rubbishand I want something reliable. I know that all my ex client boat-owners brought batteries out from the uk as they were far cheaper, what does a bike batterie cost in the uk nowadays? ( i'll be over in the car next month). the original is a YTX-16BS 14Ah job. any thoughts?

Rant... I was supposed to be going to Lyon today, they have moved bro in law's care home to a new location to the east of the city and it's been a complete clusterfuck from beginning to end, so bad that of the 65 staff, only 3 haven't left, including the director, so everybody there is an interim worker, paid by the day and has no clue about the patients or their needs. Bro in law has, as far as we can make out, been parked in his new room. we have no further nformation since wednesday and can contact no one, except an interim "director" who is not on site, knows nothing and cares even less. The French bloody peasant farmers have come out on strike and are blocking all autoroute access from Nemours down as far as Chalon sur saone or Tournus which makes the road trip to Lyon 5h each way ( under normal traffic conditions, and as all the trucks are off the autoroutes, it is currently FAR from normal trafic conditions) I am now trying to wind myself up to make the 5 h drive overnight, be there in the morning to find out WTF is going on and drive 5 hours home sunday pm... or to take a day off work and try going on wednesday, in the hope that the fucking peasants have moved their shit north to Paris where the fucking politicians are rather than wrecking the lives of the entire population who have nothing to do with their problem. Rant over...

well i've pretty much finished the planning for this trip, two dasys travelling ( one up & one back) and two days doing some museums and memorials, starting on the right at the german batteryr at Merville and moving west via pegasus bridge, the bunker at Ouistreham, , the British memorial at Ver sur Mer and Arromanches and SWORD beach. Then a US day taking in Colville cemetry, OMAHA beach, le point du Hoc, Utah and st Mere église. If I get enough time i'll try and sneak a quick peek at the bayeux tapestry ( wich is neither a tapestry nor from Bayeux...) but that's secondary. I have contacted a couple of B & B's in the area but I think I'll probably use the municipal camping in Bayeux as a base. 1120 odd km trip in theory. I now just need to persuade people that they really won't be interested in what i'm visiting so they really don't want to come...

I would guess either somebody told him all about you and this site and all of what gets got up to on here... or he was just one of those people who simply cannot be doing with the incessant flow of utter bollox that this forum seems to specialise in. If nobody called him a twat or a cunt or told him to fuck off within the first half hour or so following his first post then maybe he just didn't like the tone of the place...

Yeah, I saw that.

anything where people are not telling me how i should be doing it ( which means VERY little these days)

-6c tis morning so probably won't be getting the bike out this weekend... The wife is away for the weekend so I'll be pretending to be a fully functional and responsable adult, cooking for me and the animals ( sorry, children) and doing some decorating in the girls room as they're going to be out all afternoon at some party. I also have to book the crossing for our february foray to the septique isle. That's going to set me back 300+€ which I can't afford. for the last few years eah trip is probably the last time I'll see Mum ( 93 and fading fast into alzheimers fog) so I can't really not go, but the cost wipes us out every time what with the crossing + accomodation+ fuel + autoroute.