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Did a big batch on Monday, chocolate chippers - the only kind I can make....

Went up to Las Santas.....bit nippy for me though! And I think I've got the Cam position about right now!

On today's visit to the BMW doctor I was advised to change the GS's engine weak point, the valve rocker arms. When inspected they showed signs of starting to loose their coating, so tomorrow the replacement ones are being bought and installed. Not wanting to hurry things up, I will show up in the morning with coffee or cookies, and proceed to watch things get done and help by asking questions about stuff. Part of me is annoyed about it, the other part is happy it's getting fixed and the issue eliminated. Pictures: R1100RT being washed RGV250, very cool: Bike ready for inspection Knowing about some engines collapsing prematurely, and what causes this to happen, every time we check the valves we also check the valve rockers. The valve rockers have a coating that can be brittle and sometimes fall apart and once it happens it spreads around the engine and shit happens. To prevent from shit happening they are checked, and turns out that they indeed were starting to go bad: There's a white spot that is actually a little bit of worn surface 1 rocker is starting to show signs of faillure, on each cylinder, so I'm having all 8 rockers replaced with the upgraded version. The updated version is significantly different and eliminates the issue, so I'll be sad to have to fix it but happy to have had it done and off my mind. The weakest point of the engine being the weakest no longer. Surely another one will show up in time, but that's for another time. Cozy and snug waiting for tomorrow: Updated plan for the weekend now includes preventive maintenance on the bike, and moving Saturday's ride to Sunday

Yeah but to be fair, you're unstable, Pete's just bizarre. around 8 to 10 c here this afternoon so I'm going riding.

Water temps are about 56f, shrinkage may be more of an issue.

. Nice recovery Jacques

Went to the supermarket and got new luggage for the Himalayan, wotcha fink? they also had a posh hacksaw, Im armed and ready to destroy a perfectly good lamb joint.. But discovered you can connect an amazon firestick to a mobile network so the hacksaw massacre can wait til after the rugby and a beer or two, one doesn’t want to be hasty

On the morning hike we came across this sleepy guy. He was curious of us but in no hurry to get going, so we let him sleep a bit longer.

equivalent of me finding 2 fivers

Payday, i just found two one hundred dollar bills on top of the fridge i forgot about. Cleaning greese infused dust bunnies pays people!

Very freaky but on this occasion quite useful A while back I found out that the assistants on phones like Google Assistant when enabled are constantly listening to what you say, it is computer analized and you are fed adverts based on what it decides you're currently interested in. Don't believe me then do what I did when I was curious, whilst driving around in my car I would talk out loud to myself saying lots of things about dogs, dog food dog's lead, dog collar etc etc (I don't have a dog). Get home open my browser and go to Facebook and like magic there were adverts for dog food on the right column, freaky. So, the last few days we've had an issue with our boiler, it's losing pressure and we have to keep topping it up, pain in the ass as when the pressure drops the boiler won't fire up on the timer. I haven't searched google or Youtube for anything about it and yet this morning I go onto Youtube and there are several videos right in front of me on how to deal with low pressure on a boiler It turned out to point me in the exact right direction to diagnose the problem Seriously activate the assistant on your phone and test it out, it's scary and freaky but sometimes useful

11c here at the moment hoping for a dryer ride tomorrow than i had today

I'll come and I'd fuck @Skippys 1st wife as well.

Top box.... thought it was a fucking wardrobe fell out an apartment window and just landed oh her bike

Looking good @Grasshopper's Ride! @MooN should love this, not happy with the seac acting like a tug, i strapped a boggie board to the bottom now shes twice as fast and can handle a wave or too! Bizarre and unstable whoo hoo! Dropped my camera in 20 feet of water, a quick recovery is a good recovery!

Thanks It helps that I leave home with a proper camera instead of just a cell phone these days. ahhhh....the lifestyle of the intrepid photographer.....

The Top Box haters are going to lose their shit now!

Indeed. I was told that BMW and KTM use the same part supplier with very identical problems on those bits, almost identical parts. The new updated ones are supposedly trouble free. Probably not, and that's great. That's why Japanese bikes rule. As I said, it's a weak point, and something that was being routinely checked for. Now it shouldn't happen again.

I can do both, hold my three plants.

0c here and im going swimming.

Doesn't surprise me one bit Terry. Google assistant is obviously much better than that useless twat 'Siri' , she doesn't understand the Bristol accent at all. In fact she's only any good when I ask her to make 'fart' noises

Not in a perfect world but all bikes have their weakpoints, the rockers were probably made by a contractor who cheaped out. The camshaft on my KTM had only done about 30,000 at the time it was replaced

Quite balmy here at 9c

Make sure to take your medicine before you leave the group home.

My ride today didn't go as planned. I started off by going to get fuel and while there a copper pulled in which immediately reminded me i hadn't taxed the bike so went home to do it on but it just wouldn't let me do it. No problem i thought i'll just nip down the post office only to find out not every post office will do vehicle tax anymore. Took me over an hour to get it sorted and ended up riding to Builth Wells on the A470 to make up time instead of all the back roads i'd planned to do and it rained most of the way there. I Started the trails at Builth wells quarry this and the two lanes after they were all quite sloppy my worn out C02 rear tyre was letting me know every inch it travelled how worn it was, but at least the rain had stopped Don't look too bad here but the fields were wetter than an otters pocket Looking back from these lanes i headed to one that follows the A470 from Newbridge on Wye towards Rhayader which was nice and easy its been graded to suit pushbikes as its part of a cycle route now after this had a look at a lane i haven't done in years just outside Rhayader it's only short but after travelling up it a bit i stopped because it was too deeply rutted for the 650's fat ass and the rear tyre had no grip to stay on the sides of the ruts. I walked up to see how far the ruts went and for once listened to my own advise and turned back next was the lane i know as Piano keys it heads up to the top end of the Elan valley and its a cracking lane for the bigger bikes at least it would be if it hadn't started blowing a gale and raining this was the last time i got the camera out, my waterproofs had starting giving up at this time water getting through to my arms by the time i got to Claerwen Res after riding down the Elan Valley i could feel the wet getting to my body. Riding the track let me experience a strong head, tail and side wind as its snaked its way around the res, at the end of the track i decided to call it a day and headed home the quickest way possible which was the road to Tregaron, Lampeter, Llandovery and then back down the A470 over the beacons. even with shit tyres and the wet these roads were a dream to ride on the dog ran when i got home i was drenched only thing that was dry was my head It was the wettest 187 miles I've done in a long time The dog ran great right up until i got back to Merthyr where it coughed and died but started back up again straight away wondering if it sucked some shit through the carb i'll check it tomorrow

You better put your air conditioning on

you ungrateful cunt , all the effort i put in this year with my trips to keep this place going .... unbelievable !!

and mine... not even a mention of my van action

Might get down to 5 or 4c here...... Just hope it stays dry tomorrow (11c) so I can get out for a hour or two.

Lol, mine says 'no activity '

BIG Batch is right.....that is a lot of cookies. They look yummy!

Blimey Pete, where do I start. Chocolate cams on Honda's, rotting brake calipers on Hondas and Kawasaki's , neutral switches falling part inside Suzuki engines (destroying them ), unreliable starter motors on Yamaha's . Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.

Siri just ignores me. I've tried but it doesn't react to my voice. probably just as well cos I struggle managing myself, let alone a virtuel assistant

Same time Id have two dots, here, and the local ER.

Siri thinks im rude.

I'll be out today......waiting for it to warm up though as it's only 7C.

Not really a joke, but a description of our glorious leader as a third prize entry in a “let’s build a Winston Churchill from marshmallows competition”. For some reason that had me laughing at 4am this morning to the extent I had to leave the room in case I woke up the agency worker!!

She ain heavy, those are my ankle weights... i;ll get me coat

This is where I've been

No......he just told him to get out and never come back. Then told everybody in the town what had happened!

If we don't here from you ever again we will know they are too heavy

People fucking other peoples wives is a worldwide phenomenon old as time Often used as a bargaining chip. Andrew tried to sell me to another farmer once for a bag of potatoes. He declined, said he was only prepared to run to carrots

I think thats a common worldwide phenomenon.

This afternoon I'll take my bike for a service. It's got 81000km, time for spark plugs, air filter, all fluids plus taking the valve covers off and check valve clearance and overall wear on the camshafts. Being this engine's most known weak spot my dude is going to have a proper look around, I will take pictures and think the bike is falling apart while he tells me everything is ok, that's our routine Will also fit a borrowed center stand while mine goes to be stripped and painted. If everything is normal, tomorrow I'll pack up and go for a ride, taking some small and pretty roads all the way home, again turning what could be a 2,5 hour commute on a motorway into a day's ride, might make it home instead of sleeping away this time. It's really cold but nice clear skies, hopefully it'll be a nice day's riding without too much weekend traffic or too many bikes out.

That is very much an occupational hazard and not a nationality thing

Perusing old travel photos today