Leaderboard

Stripped the disc pads out of the scoot......put a bit of Copper Slip on the back plates..........when slowing down to a stop the noise it made had dogs covering their ears.....

My son was complaining about being a poor student and how much of his money goes on food so I wrote a cheap eats menu for him that gives two weeks worth of main meals for £22 (£11 a week) but it involves a small amount of effort (chopping and cooking etc) so I didn’t hold out much hope for it. He just facetimed for the third day in a row to show me what he’s made and tell me how tasty it is. I’m very very happy

New town hall induction this morning. At 8am I pulled into our contractor's main yard and parked my bike in the cycle racks. The security bloke was new so demanded to know why I was there (there is a motorcycle workshop next door, so lots of bikes go in there by mistake). I patiently explained who I was, he didn't seem to grasp it, but when a big hairy Irishman walked past and shouted 'Hello Ian...Begorah Potato' to me, he cheered up and asked me to sign in. I was all set to walk to Bow Road station and go a few stops to Whitechapel Station, but then I spotted someone who is building the new footway outside and he was heading there in 10 minutes, so I cadged a lift. I got to Whitechapel, helped the bloke who gave me a lift to carry a load of barriers down the road then walked into the temporary entrance of what looks like a building site from the outside. At 9:15 a load of us trooped into the Council Chamber and we got a brief talk about the building works, some of which we missed as the speakers were playing up. Then got told there is no parking, but 2 bays for disabled residents to use if prebooked in advance for an appointment. We were supposed to be given new ID cards/key fobs, but these hadn't arrived, so all doors are unlocked for the next week. I managed to leave without any sort of key stopping me, so the general public could do the same in reverse. As the general public there has a large percentage of drug addicts and prostitutes, this does not bode well. With a final word that the Elephant Man's part of the building has been kept we then spent 10 minutes waiting for lifts to take us up to the 4th floor. With paper print outs of desk allocation not having any north point or road names on, confusion reigned for a while. I managed to log my lap top in and there was a request for me to print a plan for my boss when he came in. I sent it then found the single printer that the floor has as we are saving the planet. It didn't work, so it was a wander down to the 3rd floor to try and find their one. That worked but the print was not the best, so it was all the way back up and try again. From now on, the lap top travels with me to the printer! We had been told we had to unpack our crates asap, but on arrival no storage had been allocated to us, so they said to wait a few days. We just stuck a label on the nearest cupboards, whilst Environmental Health ran about shouting, this is mine, this is mine, this and this is mine etc. We had a suicide at work last year, someone jumped from a high floor into a public area, so I was shocked to see desks next to a low wall above a long drop in this new building (see pics) Upon leaving to head home I only walked into the same bloke who had given me a lift, jammy or what?. Unfortunately, he got nabbed to drive a large forklift around the block a few times to move pallets of setts to the main workers before we finally set off back to the yard to collect my bike. The general area, described as vibrant. This is where the drug addicts stand all day. They had all left for dinner in a local charity when I took this. Waiting to be inducted with no lube The Council Chamber before it filled up. One of the old hospital stair wells spruced up. The long drop next to the third floor desks. Looking out some of the windows whilst searching for a working printer.

more chance of getting a photo of skyrider's bike then that happening

if only someone had a van ... and could follow them as a support vehicle ....

Have you been getting English lessons from Marcel

You have a culture de sac?

I rode down our culture de sac, and back to our place, and my wife listened for the noise, she heard nothing.

Honest question, but how are you going to know if the noise is gone?

This would fit..might need a few mods.

When I first went to the Royal London Hospital, around 1990, it was in that old building. The pathology lab was on the first floor, directly above the old main entrance. I used to blag a parking spot on the ramp to the entrance. The medical school was spread across several old buildings in the surrounding roads. Most of that has now gone. Pathology moved to the new building a couple of streets back from the Whitechapel Road a good few years ago. Spent many an hour in there installing and repairing their chemistry analysers! Parking was always an issue around there!

This is an ongoinggrey legal grey area so us it to your advantage. In france, you are required to have a certain area of reflective surface on your helmet ie the stickers, BUT some helmet manufacturers have incorporated reflective panels on their lids so no stickers... AND your according to european law, your vehicle must conform to the regulations stipulated in it's country of registration ( otherwise, for example, I couldn't ride in the UK cos my numberplate is too small and my helmet doesnt have a kitemark and you're all going to have to buy new gloves with the euro norm label in them...) SO, the argument is that your veihicule and equipement complies to the legislation within its country of registration and your country of residence. The cops know that it's a legislative nightmareand will steer clear of it unless you give them reason to throw the book at you. I don't have stickers on my lid ( though everything else in in compliance) and in 30 years of riding here i've never had then checked despite having papers and insurance spot checks a couple or 3 times.

I haven't had an English card for over 25 years, so I'm not going to be much help on this one, I really don't know, sorry. worth noting that there are fewer and fewer pumps available where you can pay cash. On the autoroutes sure, but elsewhere... not easy, doubly so if you're travelling on a weekend. I have previously come across a number of foreign drivers stuck at a pump cos their card won't work and there's no way to pay in cash. have you a planned route yet?

Same with my boy said he had to go when the wife was on the phone to him because he was cooking meals for the week and the washing machine had just finished a load, couldn't get him to swill his breakfast bowl when he was home

Where we are going is fine end April beginning of May. One of the women lives there and know the good roads. Tbh the roads were ridiculously clear end of January

There are not many certainty’s in life but one thing is for sure, you’re never ever ever going to see a thread started by @XTreme in the motorcycle workshop section

Rover goes everywhere with me.

Because he can see if the dog in his handlebar basket is putting his paws over his ears or not every time he brakes silly

where you going ,what you doing , who you going with , can i come ..are we there yet...

Forgot this picture. A result of not dusting or cleaning the work top I expect.

To be fair, it is a lovely building, but for me it's in the wrong location. All of my mob are required to bring a vehicle to work every day, one of the reasons I have to be careful speeding, I can get the sack if I lose my licence. We keep getting told that it is an ideal location because of the public transport links. There is no parking in the surrounding area, it is rammed, so if I go by car I have to park about 15 minutes away, then 10-15 minutes to get to a desk and log in, or leave and log out. A few trips out to site in a day and you've lost a few hours. If I use my bike I would not leave it out on the streets around there. When the hoardings are finally down I may find somewhere to put it where I consider it safe, but at the moment that is not an option. I do feel sorry for the people who have mobility issues or are in wheelchairs, they used to be allocated a space in the underground parking area and then take a lift to their desk. There are no such facilities here and even if dropped off by a cab, it's a long way from the nearest carriageway through the building to the work areas. My mate with one non working leg despite numerous operations who uses crutches will probably leave and find an alternative job.

You thinking of this. ?

Don’t you just put your feet down and drag em to stop on one of them

I try to make food pretty on the plate

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.

We will be using some motorway and from what I’ve read the ferry ports and autoroutes is where taking the full preauthorised amount happens. Good to hear you use a debit card and it’s not a problem. Thanks.

I've lost count of the number of times I've filled up in France during the last 15 years using my debit card and that has never happened to me (I don't have a credit card). I check my bank statement when I get back and you get a small surcharge on each purchase for converting sterling to euros but it's pennies . Like @Tango says , you rarely find a garage where you actually pay someone, it's all done at the pump. They only thing I will say is that for the past 10 years I have never filled up on the Autoroute so that may be different, I never use the Autoroute in France.

@skyrider..You seen this Bollox

But I look mighty fine doing those miles

Still obsessing over bikes seat heights just like a shorty would.

The Port du Soleil End of April for a dap about the Alps and a toe dip into Switzerland with a bunch of women (who rode Himalayans in the Himalayas but are wise enough to buy something else ) so there are no dicks on this trip

I’m the only one who has a Himalayan and I’ll be going on the Bandit

My understanding is that this only applies to new helmets, but I could be wrong. I got stickers with my new lid, which I've stuck onto it, but I've never put stickers on my old lid that I brought with me from the UK. I think that it's something that isn't rigorously enforced, but if you get pulled over by a couple of bored Gendarmes they could start looking for stuff. The same goes for CE marked gloves.

Gay.

That must be a Potuguese sized portion , it's certainly not an Italian sized portion

It was like being back in the days of Triumph Heralds & Dolomites, they were infamous for brakes squealing.

The shop can do it!

Will you fit it? .... the tool guy.?....or the bike shop. ?

Got to take the wife to Baza one day this week so I'm going to call in Juan Cortes and order a top box and rack!

There was one new face this weekend and twenty old ones. This was our first proper bunkhouse meet since covid, it was really great to see everyone again without any restrictions. We did a couple of camping meets inbetween lockdowns but this was a great new venue. https://stokesbarn.co.uk/

I wore it especially to wind up the Honda haters

Balls. Theres no way a couple of them can afford that. If we’re riding everyday for over a week in France this could be potentially disastrous for breaking bank accounts. The only way around it I can see is if people don’t have a credit card or can’t pay in cash then one person pays for approx 3 peeps fuel and they reimburse them with cash. That way at least the money out of the account will have actually been spent and the person paying (that’ll probably land on me) will get the cash for it.

Gimp appreciation society. He’s back in the cellar now.

Fusilli Brocolli, made including all the leaves and stalks, quite spicy too using a whole chili. More green and cabbagy than normal italian but I liked it, healthier. Leftover codfish and potatoes with boiled eggs, pepper and olives from my tree. This was quite great, really. Original codfish and potatoes, lots of onion and semi caramelized garlic, comfort food if you're Portuguese.