Sofia

On 04/02/2023 at 19:20, Buckster said:

My incinerator did an excellent job today. All the stuff I needed to dispose of today is long gone.

You have an incinerator??? That's mega!!

On 26/02/2023 at 12:10, XTreme said:

Some changes for next month onwards so we can finally end the monthly soap opera surrounding this poll.

1. All photos must be in Landscape format because portrait shots mess up the front page view by lengthening the page to a ridiculous extent. And it makes mobile navigation hard going.
Plus, they're usually ridiculously small......we can display shots at 1500px yet Rich's is only 648px. That means there's huge gaps at either side....and it makes the place look very amateurish. If you want to see your bike on the front page then it's in your interest to get the best shot possible.

2. Any Photo manipulation will result in disqualification of the member for that respective month.

3. Any photos that are entered and found to be old photos will result in disqualification of the member for that respective month.

4. Only ONE pic can be posted.......you have the option to replace the pic if you change your mind later so you've got no need to post multiple ones.

5. @Buckster will be handling BOTM from March on......as he has the technical knowledge to pick up on any irregularities. It goes without saying that there's no point in expecting any flexibility from him.

We want the absolute best pic on the front page (irrespective of bike) to make this place look attractive to new members, So try and do your bit to make that happen.

Ok, noted.

But, and not wanting to sound macho-machistic or anti/in favour  anything and running the risk of offending someone, if you want to atract more members you need pictures of girls scantily dressed draped over motorcycles!! More of those and numbers will grow exponentially!!

On 26/02/2023 at 12:13, XTreme said:

Hi Steve......good to see you!

I'll tag the Triumph owners and see what they suggest: @Tango @MooN  @Sofia

I suggest never EVER put metal panniers on a Scrambler! Total outrageous idea!!! If one wants metal boxes, get a GS, don't ruin the look of a Scrambler 

On 25/02/2023 at 14:11, busabeast said:

Why are we all twats?

You were the one that posted 3 pics and dangled the Carrot saying you were undecided on which to post inviting people to decide for you and thus giving you a head start.

It's just not in keeping with the nature of the game.

It should be we all decide on the pic we post before we post it then once the vote goes live then other members can then unbiased vote on which one they perceived was the best

It says we can change the picture if we find a better one or we like more or just because we feel like it, something that I have done many times and once actually won, just once sadly... the best thing is to change at least 5 times!! I love change so from now on, if I actually have pictures... Will swop about like a floosy until the last minute! If all of you do it we get to see many more pictures of each other, win-win!!

And may the best man/woman/whatever win!! 

5 hours ago, Pedro said:

Yesterday's tagliatelle alla pizzaiolo. The pasta used for the sauce made by my neighbour next door, the olives , the decorative mint leave, and the rosemary used to fragrant the sauce all from my garden. I liked that.

 

This is a Sofia size portion, I eat very little. It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

4 hours ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Hmm That brassica’s not a cabbage in the uk. I’m thinking maybe it’s what we’d call Collard Greens. 

You are 100% correct! 

On 30/01/2023 at 19:28, Saul said:

Got home from work after a night shift this morning but wasn’t that tired so decided to make the most of the weather and go for a bit of a bimble.   
I traveled out through St Austell then Sticker to turn onto the Roseland.   
I tend not to go there that often and I can’t think of any good reason not to, Tis a beautiful place.   The first stunning village you come to is Tregony, I get dragged down there to their Heavy Horse show every year but I don’t mind at all, although I may protest.  
Out of Tregony takes you through several smaller villages with some cracking names like Reskivers and Ruan Lanihorne.  Onto St Just in Roseland not to be confused with St Just in Penwith where Jethro comes from, and past the sign post for the King Harry Ferry.  I was hoping to get a photo as it had been recently altered to the Spare Harry Ferry but some humourless soul had changed it back so I didn’t bother. 
Several more small villages and some really muddy salty roads brought me to the millionaires playground of St Mawes on the Carrick Rodes across from Falmouth.   A simply stunning little town as long as you don’t look at the property prices.  Went there pilot gig racing many times in my misspent youth.   Had the briefest look at the Castle then rode back to Portscatho.   Another beautiful place, I remembered singing there, probably 12 years ago, in a lovely little chapel right down by the sea.   I was sad to see it is being converted into another luxury residence, another community centre gone.  
After that is was time to travel home.  Did 45 miles and made a mental note to go back soon when the roads are clearer and get some better photos. 

Lovely!

2 hours ago, Six30 said:

well done @Saul...

@Six30, this is looking a lot like Eurovision to me.... 

2 hours ago, Six30 said:

well done @Saul...

Well spotted

Just because it has snow is not a reasonable factor for winning. Mine was rubbish, and art is subjective, fair enough, but the BMW advert was miles better.  And well done Clive, lovely to go out for the picture!

 congrats to the winner, not easy to ride in such harsh conditions!!

1 hour ago, Buckster said:

Has to be either Sofia or Saul. 

Love you!! Although really, as pictures go, the best one is Pedro's 

4 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Just to add confusion, I’m not submitting this but if you want to take that gay guy with the Triumph  out of the banner:

I'm pretty sure he is not gay.

To get this thread back on topic, even if hopelessly... 

And today we had 4.2 kgs of cuteness!! 

23 hours ago, yen_powell said:

They don't know they are smaller than most other dogs, hence the confidence when reacting to any attempt at bullying.

.

They have the heart of a big dog, in a small body! 

2 minutes ago, Six30 said:

this is a lie i reckon ... proof needed

It is, Pete spotted it!

2 hours ago, Pedro said:

No worries, I'm happy to keep the january one if everyone prefers that way.

Does it matter the month?? You always get THE winner picture!! 

But its very sportsman like to offer this, true, decent stuff.

2 hours ago, XTreme said:

I forgot that we decided that Dec and Jan would be in this 

I'm feeling very touchy about this... and I'm normally not competitive!! 

2 hours ago, busabeast said:

Definitely didn't.....ffs hand it to him why don't you we don't have a fucking chance with his Morocco trip pics

My feeling exactly...

 How cute is this little guy?! 2.4 kgs, around 5 lb in english "money".  Jack Russell puppy, already up to no good on a continuous basis!! 

2 hours ago, Pedro said:

After a light breakfast, I headed out on a really cold sunny morning. By 10 it was only just 3,5ºC, but felt fine because these are country roads so speeds were kept low and I had all my available layers under my new jacket. 

 

I was great being in the Alentejo though, pictures don't show how green it was. This place was loving the abundance of water after almost getting used to extreme dryness.

 

I had been warned about not being able to ride over that bridge on the hotel, but decided to check it out anyway. That road is a main road, trucks cross that bridge every day, they put some concrete and then tarmac on top of a Roman bridge and it has been handling traffic for quite some time. However, this year the water level got so high and the current so violent that it went over the bridge and washed away some of it. It's quite something to see what it took for that to happen. 

Also, the Romans really knew how to make a proper bridge. Hope they can fix it.

 

 

At 10:15 there was still frost, I'm not used to this:

 

Rode past Estremoz and took a picture of a sign warning of deer with skinny necks for @yen_powell

 

I had a couple of work calls to make and emails to answer, so stopped on the entry to Monsaraz, overlooking the biggest manmade lake in Europe, and sat down to do 10 minutes of work. Not a bad office view:

 

 

My plan was to have a snack for lunch at the marina by the lake but it was closed for boat maintenance, how boat maintenance interferes with a cafe I do not know, but it turned out for the best because as I was going back to the road I decided to use my newly found time and go explore a little dirt road. This turned out to be very scenic and pretty great, it's a shame it only went about 10 or 12km and ended up in a small village right where I would have gone past if on the road.

The track is perfectly maintained and services a few small patches of land used for farming, and the pastures are perfectly green, the water is as high as ever, it's great.

 

Toast was an example of cheesy goodness, it was just the thing. The locals were inside the cafe and only came out for smoking, you can't see the cold wind in the pictures.

 

And off I went:

 

The GSs odometer gained another digit in the middle of some rolling hills:

 

I had planned on staying very close by for the night, but it was still early. The place I planned on staying has use of an observatory, and this is one of the best places in Europe for sky watching, so I have been looking forward to it. Nobody was at the reception, and it was still 15:30, no way I felt like hanging around for hours waiting for night time, jumped back on the bike and headed towards some of my favourite twisty roads in Portugal. Through Mertola without stopping, and into the Algarve on the opposite direction I was headed because there's these bits of road I just can't say no to. Eventually got on the right road heading the right direction and stopped to make a call and arrange a place to sleep, this time a small mountain rural restaurant with a few rooms attached to it, as long as they're clean you can't go far wrong for 35€ a night right next to my favourite stretch of the N2.

This little bit of the 124, around 20 or 30km, is the best twisty road I know, this is how it looks on google maps when I stopped to see an ETA on the restaurant. That ETA was very pessimistic, even with photo stops 

 

I stopped for a moment to allow the sun to go a little lower and hide behind the trees as it was blinding me. Pretty road on magic hour.

 

And stayed out watching the sun go down before going the last 3km to the hotel.

 

The bike tucked in under the sky but away from prying eyes behind the restaurant, and I had a tempering hot shower, something about the entry to the place told me I'd like this dinner  

 

At dinner I had a Dutch couple for conversation about farming and the restaurant owner to talk wines, food was delicious, traditional and comforting.

 

During my meal a two girls walked in and sat for dinner too, they said they didn't eat meat to which the man kindly offered octopus rice commenting that "it's very nice", they were offended and rudely stated they ate NO MEAT. He was puzzled  at first but overcame it and said that he could bring them a vegetable soup, and after maybe some Algarvian salad and a cheese plater or sandwich, they simply stood up and walked out into the cold. I was amazed and the guy really didn't get what all the fuss was about. 

The chorizos for sale right by the door they walked through to the restaurant should have provided them with a clue 

 

I had a very nice night's sleep. Shutters closed 100% of light, I like that.

Very gorgeous all round!!! 

3 hours ago, XTreme said:

That's brilliant Pedro......pity you couldn't have got the bike and the train in the same shot.

And I think you got BOTM sewn up again!

No he doesn't! Wait for my picture!!

1 hour ago, Pedro said:

Picked a nice location too:

 

mega!!! lets get it 1.000.000!!!

On 18/01/2023 at 21:30, XTreme said:

Total of 66 since 1971

Lambretta (1)
TV175

Vespa (1)
SS180

Triumph (1)
3TA

BSA (2)
D7 Bantam 
B33  

BMW (3)
R1150GS
R1200GS
G650GS

Kawasaki (5)
S3400 
H1F500 
Z650 x 2
ZR7-S

Honda (14)
C90
SL125
CB250
CB400/4 x 2
CB500/4 x 2
CB750 K2
CB750 F1 x 3
CB750 KZ
XLV650 Transalp
CB500X

Suzuki (19)
T250J
TS185
GT380J x 2
GS750
GT550
GT750 x 2
SP370 x 2
GSF600 x 2
GS650 Katana
GSF1200
DL650 x 2
DL1000
DR650 x 2

Yamaha (20)
SR125
DT175
DT250
DT400
RD350B
XJ600 x 2
XJ900
FZS600 x 2
YZF600
TDM850
TDM900
TT-R250
XT350
XT600E x 3
XT660R
FZ6S Fazer

Even more then the other one??!!!! Not fair... so many kids without a motorcycle... 

On 18/01/2023 at 21:25, Skippy said:

I found a list I’d made a while ago of the bikes I’ve owned since I was 16 years old. It’s chronological but in some cases I’ve owned more than one at the same time.

Here’s mine, all 54 of them. What’s yours look like?

Yamaha FS1E

Suzuki GT250

Honda CB900F

Honda Africa Twin 750 RD04

Yamaha FJ1200 ABS

Yamaha 1000 EXUP

Yamaha TDM850

Honda CBR1000F

Suzuki GSXR750M

Kawasaki ZX9

Cagiva Elefant 750

Suzuki GSXR750

Suzuki GSX1400

Suzuki TL1000S

Suzuki Hayabusa

Yamaha R1

Kawasaki KLR650

Suzuki Hayabusa

Honda Africa Twin 750 RD04

Honda Hornet 600

Triumph 955i Daytona

Suzuki GSXR1000 K5

Honda Fireblade 954

Suzuki TL1000S

Suzuki Vstrom 1000

Honda CB1300

KTM 640 Supermoto

CCM R30 Supermoto

Kawasaki Z1000

Yamaha XTZ750 Super Tenere

Suzuki VStrom 1000

Ducati Multistrada DS1000

Kawasaki ZX9R

Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

KTM 990 Adventure

Yamaha WR250F

KTM 400 EXC

Kawasaki Versys 650

Suzuki GSX1400

Honda XR650L

Kawasaki Versys 1000

Scorpa 250

Suzuki DRZ400S

KTM 690 Enduro R

Honda Shadow 750

Suzuki V1800 Intruder (fucking horrible)

Royal Enfield Himalayan

BMW F800R

Royal Enfield Himalayan

Suzuki TL1000S

Honda CBR600F3

Suzuki DR600S - current

Kawasaki z750

Yamaha Tracer 700 - current

My God!!!!! Some dealers dont manage that much!