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Tank museum then pool quay to see how my boat is coming along .. nearly ready .

So when you said you didn't take the van...

Rode north today, with the 3 hours motoway trip extended another hour or so for smaller roads long way alternatives

I'm back from the nerve agent capital of the UK, plus north Devon. I have a black eye and a gashed finger as a souvenir of my long weekend. I was also escorted of some National Trust premises at 7:30am by a nice man in a stab vest. Ride report will follow as some point.

Just renewed the insurance on the Beta, renewal had gone up this year from £128 to over £160, I had a word with them but they could only get it back down to £128 so done a on line jobbie and got a quote back for £86 with Hastings direct, just got to tell Swinton to shove their renewal quote where the sun don't shine now

When I got back I lifted the fence again and quickly showed my wristband to someone who looked even more hung over than me. By the time I got back to my tent my mate was stirring, well boiling really. He had a small gas cooker going with a collapsible lime green kettle on it. “Ooh how lovely”, I said, “It goes with our pretty wrist bands!” He proceeded to pour the hot water into a pot of porridge and then did some actual stirring, it didn’t make it look any more apetizing than it did dry. This posh tent had its own phone mast. It looked like it was going to rain. We decided to ride into town quickly before it did and have a look round, and in my case get some breakfastlunch. I swear the actual rain did not start until we rode through the ‘nongate’ and into the car park. My phone was nearly out of charge and I had it plugged into a car type USB thing on my dash. It was raining that heavily that I backed my bike under a tree, followed by my mate, I left the engine running to keep the charger going (it is only live with the ignition on) and we waited. I had to put my hand over the charge to stop the deluge filling it and shorting it out. After about 5 minutes the rain eased and we turned right out of the carpark and took the short ride to the town centre. On the way we passed a group of Hells Angels all gathered around that traditional bike club mode of transport they seem to like, a broken down van which was blocking half a mini roundabout. Naturally it started raining again, but then stopped as soon as we parked up in a car park. I swear, someone up above knew exactly when I was riding and when I was not riding and set the weather accordingly. Barbie was showing at the local flicks, but I was worried other bikers might see us going in. Thing like that can ruin you wiv the boyz. I found a place for my combined breakfastlunch and of course the rain stopped and the sun came out. Afterwards we stepped out and the rain started again. We had a look around the local army regimental museum. An old man in a wheel chair stopped me and asked if I had ever fought in a war, I said no, but I had run away from a few pub fights in my time. He didn’t seem to understand, I don’t think he was the full shilling. We saw him later on being pushed about by a younger companion and asking similar questions to passers by. I was stunned to see a display which appeared to be my infamous friend Strange Dave, it was eerily like him. I sent it to him straight away and got the following response. "They wanted a fearsome looking chap." Saw this name on a medal display, loved it, unfortunately it is a blurry pic. Solomon Slugg. I must look him up. Near to the museum was an old house with strange figures posed outside. There was no explanation for this, so I took a few pictures and moved on. After a walk around the local market we rode back to the rally site. The Hells Angels must have fixed their van as it was no longer on the mini roundabout. Probably being used for its primary purpose, allowing large American motorcycles to travel to camping events with just a rolled sleeping bag under the headlamp! We decide to walk back up to Old Sarum as there was a pub in a little lane next to it. We had a few drinks in there and then I raced my bladder back to the site for the afternoon and evening entertainment. The sign with the band list kept moving, so when I spotted it again, I squeezed between a couple of tattooed beasts next to it and took a picture in case I lost it again.

I must have missed that. I did take my own toilet roll into the rugby club on Sunday morning They had one of those toilet roll dispensers that only allows a single sheet out at a time. You could see it was full, but one over enthusiastic tug would have been disasterous if the paper broke. There was no teasing any more out without the key to open it. I wasn't prepared to take that chance.

It was then I noticed a man walking towards me. Another early riser I thought, but no, he was wearing a sort of security/doorman type get up. Apparently I wasn’t supposed to be in here, the footpaths were closed. I said I was leaving now anyway, but there were no closure signs, just some dodgy and vague paper notice. He said that was it. I said that one thing I know about is how to close a footpath properly and that wasn’t it, but he didn’t really pay attention as he walked me out of the main gate. More to follow.

At 16000km these are running out of thread, but amazingly very smooth and a delight to do corners as long as you remind yourself they’re not a sporty tire. I decided to see how far the would go because I’ve never had a worn tire that handles as nicely as this (no rain, though). I think there is no better tire for a big trip on a big trail bike. In a couple of days they’ll be replaced with some Continentals. The next pair of Mitas is already in the garage, but only to be fitted a few days before the next Morocco trip, which so far is very uncertain regarding dates.

I think there may have been some of the 'billy no mates' crew on the other table. I overheard a conversation about 'that Welsh/Ginger/Dago' twat. Might be just conincidence .............

Two hours out on the mountain bike to collect a lottery ticket fer fucks sake. It was hot as hell and had to get home for 1030 as I couldn’t stand it anymore. Lovely views though. Took some video footage and had a scary descent right at the end, back wheel locked up and skidded most of the 150m to the bottom……..steep and very, very loose but watching the video it looks a piece of piss. Have to see if I can load it up.

I was doing a double visit last weekend, Friday, Saturday at The Wiltshire Motorcycle Rally at Salisbury Rugby Club, followed by riding to north Devon on Sunday morning to visit my son and his family. I packed light (for me) and tried to cram everything into a top box, roll bag and tank bag. I was determined not to use panniers. I seem always hit super rush hour traffic whenever I have panniers and I was determined not to be stuck and unable to squeeze through gaps due to being wider than usual. I made the right decision. I left home and an hour later I arrived at my mate’s house to find that upon hearing that I was staying narrow, he was going to do the same so he could follow me through those same gaps in the traffic. He was right to copy me! We set off, first thing we crossed the Thames on the Dartford bridge straight into our first queue. The bridge has a 50mph average speed camera zone on it. As we were filtering between very slow moving lorries, 50 was not an option anyway, so not having to try and maintain a slower speed than you want to travel. The motorway opened up and after about a mile we hit the first 70mph section and it had just normal traffic in it. It was a warm day so this at least meant we could cool off a bit now. Anyone who uses the M25 will know it is filled with speed cameras on the overhead gantries and the ones that don’t still have the road markings as if they have to fool people into sticking to the limit. Very soon we saw a reduction on the overhead limits, a sign that there is a queue ahead and sure enough we were back to squeezing between vehicles for mile after mile. I made use of personality, hooter and headlights and most drivers moved over when they saw us coming through. When we finally got off the motorway we hit some beautiful and deserted country roads. I had only had my breakfast so far and I wanted to get some food in me before we pitched tents at the rally. I’d had a look before leaving and knew there were a few roadside cafes on the A30 near the rally site and we pulled into one. My mate ordered a bacon, egg and black pudding baguette, no style or finesse. His arrived instantly, my all day breakfast took ages, I suppose the clue was in the name. A man, who may or may not have been the cook stood telling us that Wednesdays was bike night. He said this while standing next to the sign that said the very same thing, so he was probably right. The site was in a rugby club field within walking distance of Old Sarum, the iron age hillfort that went on to become a Roman camp, a castle, a town complete with cathedral and finally deserted when everyone pissed off and built Salisbury instead. Some sort of argument with the castle guards I read somewhere. I said to my mate that when he saw a green volcano in the distance we would almost be there. The site is right on the edge of Salisbury, housing estate on one side, countryside on the other. We gained entry after me not finding the entrance gate first go and riding round the block. This was because they didn’t have a gate, just a section of fence they removed when they noticed you pull up. I just said our name and numbers, no paper tickets, a large man put a lime green paper wrist band on us both. One each I mean, not the same one like Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtiss in The Defiant Ones. We then had to ride through the stalls around to the other side of the marquee where another large man was waiting, camping was where they told you, no free-for-all as they were worried about how much room they had. I pulled up next to the man and I swear he pointed at the lines of tents and asked if I could see the bike. I replied, with, ‘What, the bike next to that other bike by the bikes?’. This went right over his head, so I asked which one and he named a colour this time which narrowed it down to 3 or 4. We parked up and I started putting my tent up, slowed by the fact my mate pinched my mallet when I wasn’t looking and used it himself for his own tent. I noticed that we seemed to be the only people in the whole place not wearing a leather waist coat covered in top and bottom rockers, must be a local fashion in Wiltshire. My mate's latest main bike, some sort of Triumph. We headed over to the rugby club and got some drinks, I was melting from trying to push pegs into tock hard ground with my bare hands and needed the fluid. My Guinness looked a bit off, but perhaps they use different water here. They had those special glasses that flex when you are carrying them. I don’t think I got back to my table with full drinks once over the weekend. Then we heard the first bit of music, so headed over to the marquee, we got the table right at the front. Everyone else seemed to have to sit together based on club membership and bicep size. I have to say there wasn’t one bad band, they were all cracking. I did worry about all the houses surrounding us, but not to worry, all music stopped at 10pm which was weird but understandable. I had a wander off between drinks into the car park to look at Old Sarum as the sun was going down. I decided I was going to walk up to it in the morning and have a wander around. The next morning I was awoken about 6:30am by the firing up of an open Harley pipe a few inches from one of my ears. Fuck it I thought, I didn’t want a lie in anyway. I got up and walked to the coffee stall and bought a cup of coffee and chatted to the stall owner. I asked if he was local and was he there when the Russians left the nerve agent lying about (Novichok). He said he had been, they had all had to be lined up and be tested by men in hazmat suits and then wash all clothes and bedding a few times before they got the all clear. I wasn’t worried about any left over nerve agent though, my pants would protect me! I drained my coffee add walked up to the ‘non-gate’. Someone on the front tent shouted at me to just lift it out of the base and put it back afterwards. I walked up the road towards Old Sarum, it is small looking when you have no scale to judge it by, there are no people, vehicles or houses nearby as you walk towards it. My tents is somewhere there near the caravans. I soon got to the main entrance and started walking around the outer rampart. I met quite a few dog walkers, so watched where I stepped. Soon I realised this thing was bigger than I thought and walking right round the outside was beyond my hung over but beautifully marked body. I got to the back entrance bridge and decide to cut across the inner part of the fort and the castle and go back out at the main entrance. There was a paper sign saying some rights of way weren’t available due to an event, but I figured that they would be marked up or taped off and headed in anyway. Once inside I saw how big the place was. The foundation stones of the old demolished cathedral are showing in the turf, and the Norman castle mound dominates the centre of the iron age hill fort. I walked around it and found a few white tents for the event which turned out to be some sot of jousting shindig. No one was up though, so I quietly took a few pictures.

With your 10 mile round trips

You might be ok as you have a cylinder in front of each foot keeping them dry LOL

15.000.000km Don’t polute my brain with doubts! I tended to this engine’s main failure point, which is the rocker arms, appart from that there are no real known failure areas for my generation engine. I’ll deal with symptoms as they appear and try to do as much preventive maintenance as is practical to do so and advised by my mechanic, then it’s up to luck.

So i moved on up to the A40 at Bwlch and turned off towards Llangorse but then took a small road to go around the south of the lake towards a village called llangasty-Tal-llyn. The church was down a lane off this road and ends a the lake, there is only a derelict farm and a house directly by the church so god knows (see what I did there ) where the congregation come from............ The round trip was about 145 miles and it wasn't that warm for the middle of August but at least it wasn't raining today.

Today I've fitted an awkward basted part to a pug engined mini, have I mentioned I hate French cars, and it looks like I'll be removing it again tomorrow as I've been supplied the wrong one. Looks identical to the original but different sensor plugs. Round 2 tomorrow. Roasting blood hot here today too

Llangorse lake is the largest natural lake in South Wales. When I was about 14 I used to go on holiday there in a caravan with a mate and his mum. We spent most of our time fishing, either in the river that feeds it or if we had some money we'd hire a rowing boat and row around the lake to various fishing spots. At the far end of the lake was a bay where we'd fish for Perch, Roach and Rudd and on the shore you could see an old church. I had been thinking about how to get to the church recently and today I decided to go and find it. It was supposed to be dry today but it looked a bit threatening when I left and headed over the Severn bridge but the rain held off. First stop was for a coffee at the Baffle Haus near Penperlleni............ There was bit of banter with the Police motorcyclists who were there in force. Two unmarked bikes with blue lights and two sports bikes with no lights or markings that I could see.............. and then some more turned up in full regalia.............. Just as I was leaving two riders turned up both on new Transalps. I would have liked to chat to them about their bikes but by then I was kitted up ready to go.......... I headed over towards Crickhowell and then on the back road to Llangynidr where I stopped to take photos of the bridge , the Usk was running fast and brown where we've had so much rain .............

They can camp out in Bobs garage with him and sit around his Royal Naval divers issue knife telling scary stories

More than you … it’s only me and @Pedro that are l keeping this place going with trips and ride reports , rest of you twats need to step up

Good old road side burger van … breakfast bap , loads of red sauce .

Did you see the ancient boghouse, that should be right up your street (as it were)

I stopped for a bite to eat at your favourite establishment

@yen_powell spotted this morning?

I'm sure somebody will show him what it's all about. I think we better start listing places not to visit if he wants to return home with his bike.......I'll throw Swansea in obviously.

A cruel one, as crossing the moss would give you a better view

We pack a lot of action into those 10 miles!

I remember September 76.......after 3 months of scorching heat and drought the fucking heavens opened up. And it didn't stop till about April!

In Portugal they might not have been drinking coffee (not tea either ), and after would be hanging around the exit of the next 60kph motorway exit with a speed gun waiting for me.

It's like a game of jeopardy

Yup they are different their sarcastic smug cunts here.

I love the moss in the middle, but it's frightening not to see around bends. That looks like riding on a narrow tunnel.

They have these blue arrows so you know which direction to ride. We have a similar thing in east London but no one seems to know how it works there.

Go to love a road with moss growing down the middle ................

109000km today

I did I change tires when they feel bad to ride on, and amazingly these never did so far.

Yes but nowhere near enough LOL

Where did you get my footage from? Thanks bob

You wanna check out before the bit where you can do whatever you like (money dependant of course)?!!

I hope she prepared food and drink before she left.

No-one needs stuff rotting in them for that long.

May 2025 so not long. If things go well, I might even be divorced by then so I can spend it all on me.