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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.

Well I've finally figured out how to use this site properly It does surprise me as I'm so good at technology.....yeh right Anyway now I have half a clue what I'm doing you may get sick of my posted shite

With the fifth horseman of the apocalypse here ( mother in law) I’m having to run the bloody heating 24/7 and the log burner all day. She’s always bloody cold. I didn’t look at the meter for the first 6 weeks but the utility company have kindly emailed me to tell me my direct debit which used to cover the gas and power is now woefully behind. By the time she clears off I will probably have been able to buy another bike with the heat Ive wasted warming the place up.

F*ck me , doesn't the twat of a mechanic know how much work you put into painting those wheels ........

I think i might be making a U turn on that decision and giving up drinking all together not good this morning

Fortunately, he's a tough kid...built like his Dad. He's got a coupla broken ribs & a fractured collar bone. So grateful he's fixable. Looking forward to seeing him next week.

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.

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.

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.

Had a little potter about today to see if the air filter cage made any difference and to check the local lanes are still clear. Went up Darren Ddu haven't ridden it since it was officially re opened and its nice to see that regular use has made it a lot easier than when we first cleared it although it was still hard and i was puffing at the top after paddling all the way up. I then went to the ynysybwl ford the path i cleared to the side is still there but still needs a bit of shoring up on the narrow bit looks like someones rear wheel has almost slipped off and wont be long before its unusable again. From there down the Abercynon lane where i tested the Silky folding saw again, it works really well and far better than my Aldi special. I then headed up the cynon Valley over to Heolygerrig from there i headed home along the Merthyr Byway my path rebuild and shoring up is still looking good from last summer. And i got to use the Silky again. The cut trees are the ones i cleared over Christmas. from there i went up the Cymro my old high school running track in the background and last lane before home. A good workout and i'm ready for bed but the wife is trying to drag me out tonight god will i ever have rest LOL

We sort of get fresh air through part of the bungalow, patio door seals have been knackered for a couple of years, bathroom & bedroom windows will not close fully because the tilt mechanisms are bent, and the windows mist up inside of the double glazing. The mould guy is coming in early February. PS. On the bathroom door there is a aluminium vent near the bottom, I took it off to paint the door, and guess what?, there is no hole through the door behind it.

Finally got the lead out my arse and dragged a bike out first time since the 28th of September i'm ashamed to say. It was the XR's turn i wanted to check out a road before i start the process of messaging the council to see if it still has vehicle rights on it, and a plod around some of the local lanes to check for fallen trees that may need clearing The road i was checking out is only a few miles from my home and is called black road the bit i was going to look at was abandoned years ago when they diverted the route it was good on the bike as half way along was always mucky as hell. Considering its been abandoned for so long the tarmac surface is better than the roads still in service although the leaf mulch made it all slippery as hell Unfortunately the mucky bit is now a lake and in passible by bike The road is to the right of this tree and the bank i shall return on the Beta to see if i can pick a route through in the woods on the right From here i had a run through he lanes around Pentyrch which were all cleared by the TRF over the last few weeks and then onto Merthyr where i stopped to clear a spindly branch A few hundred yards on i encountered this a little too large for my folding saw but cleared the thin branches to make it easier to squeeze between them, i shall return with the chainsaw for this one And then there was this i could get around but where the bike tracks are the ground is starting to break away and its a big drop off to the right So my trusty hand saw made short work of it Another few hundred yards and there was another branch down so out with the trusty saw and disaster i snapped the handle That saw has been in my service for many years and seen some action i shall be having a short memorial service for it later in the week LOL After oiking the bike over the log i then came to this lot, its getting dark and i have no saw so had no choice but to turn around and will revisit with the chainsaw another day to clear it. There's a gully after this tree where i repaired the path down to it in the summer it's what i wanted to see after all the rain we've had.

Jealous ?

I can remember the first 3 but not the hand written one which you think i should considering it was on my birthday. A bit of info to bore you of my woes read it or skip it it's up to you. The first SP30 i was on my way to work and was always late so i'd had a final warning about it, that day i was even later than normal, so gets the bike out fits my brain under seat (wont be needing that) and off i zoom, Usual ridiculous speed though the country lanes to Beddau and came out of the mini roundabout in Beddau on the back wheel, not a showing off wheelie but a come on i'm fucking late throttle twist wheelie, while the front wheel was in there air i noticed a traffic cop passing me in the opposite direction, no problem loosing him here i thought, then i came up behind two cars a little bit further on and thought don't panic just take them after the bend on the down hill straight, i was just about to go when i spotted another traffic cop parked in the junction half way down so just decided to follow the cars in front. As i passed the copper sure enough he pulled out behind me and followed me for about a quarter of a mile before pulling me over. After i politely asked him what the problem was he replied with whats the speed limit along here, to which i replied 50 he said no its 30, after a little chat back and fore i asked why he had singled me out as the two cars in front of me were pulling away from me yet i was the one that got stopped just seems a bit unfair, his reply was, well Mr jones they didn't come out of Beddau roundabout like a fucking idiot did they, to which i replied ok what am i having, work was ok when i explained but i just said i got stopped and showed them the producer and not the fixed penalty LOL. The first SP50 was on the M5 heading to Bridgwater for work, different company though. They had a motor control center ready to leave the workshop and was missing a few door handles so they asked me to pick them up so they could be fitted before it left. A paid ride to Burnham on Sea and back seemed a good idea especially when i worked out i'd have around £45 expenses after paying for fuel. I set off along the the M4 from Cardiff only to join the motorway right behind two lorries with a police escort and they wouldn't let anyone pass, i was stuck at 50-60mph all the way to the M5 exit after the old Severn bridge. When i got on the M5 the road was clear so the brain went under the seat headlight on full beam and ran the bike through the gears like i was on a drag strip heading down the long hill before junction 20 i went through a fog bank and when i wiped my visor i could see what looked like a traffic car in the distance, looked at the speedo it was showing more than twice the speed limit so i though i'd better slow down and closed the throttle, it was a copper and i rolled past him about 75mph and was pulled in straight away. Sat in the traffic car i had to hide my giggling because it was a proper good cop bad cop routine, the one was saying your getting something you didn't even have the courtesy to slow down as you passed us and the other was saying you'll be alright he's having a bad day, this went on for a bit with the one pointing out everything i was doing wrong and the other reassuring me when his back was turned, then i thought i was in more trouble when he asked me what my reg was as he couldn't see it the number plate was so small, i thought he was being sarcastic but after i told him the reg nothing more was said about it. They booked me for 98mph. After being released i picked the handles up and had a gentle ride back. I was supposed to go to court but it was in Bristol so i just pleaded guilty through the post and got a £78 fine and the usual 3 points The second SP50 was on the M4, me and the wife were coming home from a rally i think it was the Crazy Buzzards beach party near Torquay and i was 3 figure cruising again all the way up the M5 and along the M4 when i passed under a bridge just before Newport tunnels i caught in the corner of my eye a traffic car tucked away on top of it so i slowed down to the speed limit fucker pulled me over by Cardiff gate which was about 10 miles from where i spotted him he then said i was going over 100 mph because he had to do over 120 to catch me up anyway after me explaining to him if i was doing over 100mph he would never had caught me up because i was turning off at the next Junction which i wish i had done now. Anyhow cant remember the speed we agreed on and left with my new fixed penalty which was a good job as my points had started to run out LOL All of the above was done on my VFR750 fantastic bike to ride made 120mph feel like 70mph needless to say i put it in for my first new bike the 93 Africa Twin to try and cut my speed and never thought about that type of bike again.

My worse nightmare She only has right to be here for 3 months, currently in month 2. On day 91 im going to be straight on to immigration to dob her in.

Fuck me a grown up post form you, thats rare. Seriously though thank you for the effort you put into this place, along with the Angry Pirate and Petulant Portuguese you are all doing Pete proud. I thought of several things to say about Pete, but in essence it is simply this, I found him interesting, liked him and genuinely miss his take on life. I wish the silly Welsh Twat didn't die. It must be some sort of self flagellation as to why I keep coming here but it is still the first site `i check. everyday. I have thought long and hard about why I like it here and it is obviously the savage humour and the irreverence for practically everything. Can't get that many places, we collectively just have to convince more people that they actually want that in their lives if we want the place to grow. Not entirely sure that is possible What I want to do biking wise. Don't want a third bike, would like something different to learn about and play with but can't bear the thought of parting with either of my bikes. Bit of a weird circular thought process that spins around in my head. I want to make some longer trips around the UK, perhaps even Ireland but wether I actually do it rather than pontificate about it will be seen. Collectively did 7500 miles last year, want to do more this. I want to do some longer ride reports and make a few Youtube video reports. I have another teenager who wants me to teach her to ride, so looking forward to doing that. I have got a lot of singing planned with my group and have plans to form a quartet. I am going to kick my choir into touch, to many wealthy retired blow ins wanting to sing Hamilton and Lion King songs for my liking. I have nothing in common with them. I don't know if I care enough to join another Choir, only couple that suit me and what I like are Mousehole Male Voice or Red River Singers but they are just to far west for regular practice/concerts for me. 50 and 40 miles each way. Much as I genuinely enjoy my job I am going to have to at least give up a few shifts or maybe find something else, working overnight is playing havoc with my health. Fuck knows what else I could do, I don't want to or can afford to retire . I know boring diatribe that probably no one will read but the question was asked

I want to thank the three Stooges... ehhhmm Kings, I mean Kings @Buckster, @boboneleg and @Pedro for all their work of keeping the doors of this place open! I still have a lot to learn to get at y'all twatness level but I might get there once I get used to your constant insults to each other . For 2025 I hope I'll be able to ride more and further and share with you the experience (I'll need to get used to stop every 10/20km to take some pictures ). But then again, almost no one likes Hondas around here so I might not need to stop to take pictures. (This is my way of complaining that no one votes on my pictures on the BOTM). In more seriousness, I've been thinking of upgrading, but I need to see and try some bikes that I like. I'll also need to see the running costs of these options before I take the step forward. Regarding Pete, I can't say much because I barely knew him, but he was always nice to me.

BOTM is a focus for all sorts of banter and whinging, I think you are doing a good job with it. Some people enjoy the moaning and negativity, it's their form of entertainment, don't hand them a victory that will diminish the forum as a whole. British humour can be dark and destructive.

Happy New Year

Happy New year everyone!

Happy New Year

yep Happy new year people and ride safe

Been out on the Beta all afternoon doing the local lanes photos you've all seen before but i'll put them up anyway, it was a bit windy on the hills hard enough to ride the ruts without the wind blowing me off course I came down here on the XR with the chainsaw yesterday clearing some fallen trees only right i go up it today, i'm so unfit at the moment when i got to the end which is only about 200 yards i was breathing like a guy who smokes 40 a day with one lung went down a lane to Stanley town and onto Penrhys golf course lane Further along looking towards Porth Short Video from here looking into the Rhondda Fawr Valley I switched valleys to go up to Miriam's bench haven't been here for a while and it hasn't improved, the golf course lane i came from is the other side of the valley Another short video from here looking into the Rhondda Fach Valley and blowing a Hooley had a play through the forestry at the end of the lane Onto the ford in Ynysybwl i decided not to go through and went this way and over the foot bridge i think it would have been easier to go through the ford took the lane from the Jampot down and had the opportunity to try out the new silky saw It worked much better than i thought a hand saw should but bloody hard work with all the bike gear on some of those branches were more like trunks from here i headed home via Eglwysilan mountain. I'm aching like hell now really need to work on my fitness Route map

This is why you need to clean your bike thoroughly if you've been messing about in mud. My bike was jet washed on the way home from Saturdays ride but I got it up on the bench yesterday and found all this living behind the front sprocket ..........

Ah fuck it I can’t be bothered. I’ve used my weekly quota of brain power today just trying to fathom out what it is I’ve done wrong to piss my missus off. I have the feeling it was breathing.

pulling crackers earlier... i read out one of the jokes but made my own up.. whats the difference between a ferrari and a dead prostitute ? theres no ferrari in my garage. shes's still going on to the mrs that she should take the unpulled crackers back to the shop and complain

I just had 15 minutes of the mother in law trying to tell me jokes she had printed out from somewhere the wife and kids abandoned me and i had to fend for myself feeling

You twats!

Alright I will attempt to explain in simple terms, although I doubt you will read it. Most choirs sing in harmony, in simple terms they all sing the same song to a slightly different set of notes or tune. Normally 4 parts/groups/gangs/ collections of voices in a male voice choir. Basses, Baritones, 2nd Tenors and Top Tenors. They mostly sing different notes in the same song mostly together, although they often start and stop singing at different times in the same song to create harmony/dynamics and range. The bod waving his hands at the front is controlling this, as well as the dynamics (volume) and Tempo (speed). It's a very difficult thing to do. Now are you any the wiser?

My Grandad hanged himself on Christmas day ... but out of respect for tradition , we didn't take him down until the 6th of January.

He definitely could have gotten TOTY as well for sure. Showing his groin, and dying? come on!

only two people nominated and one of them is going to lose to a dead guy