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just some pics from the 3 hours i was out for today. weather is, as usual this time of year, wonderful. Blue skies. 25deg and a light breeze. I followed a route I had not really planned some tie ago but had forgotten to tick the box "avoid gravel" on the gps route planner...

Weather is slowly changing so are the leafs....had a few mornings with frost on the car windows already....temp is OK around noon but you have to plan to be back 5 or 6 o'clock. Few pics from today. the third pic is the town of campbellton in the distance....where my Aberdeen princess was born in 1970..

Best idea you stay in your gay area.

Today's bodge i am really pleased with. As you know I fitted some LED lights to the Beta, they have three functions, full power, reduced power and flashing which cycle in that order every time you switch them on and off. I thought i could live with it but it's bugged me the few times I've used them. After some research on line i find some info about disabling the flash function by soldering a 10k resistor across the C2 capacitor, resistors are cheep so i ordered some and they arrived today. I took the lights apart and the C2 capacitor is clearly marked It was a tricky job as everything is so small but i got the resistor soldered on And it bloody works every time i switch them on and off they come on at full power now but the three mode option is still available if you toggle the switch quicker than a second at a time which is also good because the Beta's charging circuit can't handle full power all the time but it ok at the lower power setting. Why the fuck these manufacturers think you need a strobe setting on lights is beyond me whats it for

Gave the bike a wash, then another one, then another one. It's looking oldish now, the mix of british wet roads and spanish motorway bugs was disgusting. Then washed the luggage, and the jacket is in the washer. A friend of Sofia gave us a little bit of a spice mix they use in Jordan, and now my rain overalls smell very exotic! Where is the "Pete washing machine" smilie when you need it?

I'm certainly not offended by anything you've written , I want to hear what someone from another country thinks of GB, (sorry we've got to call it UK now and must change the stickers on out bikes). There are many things going to the dogs in UK right now but overall I wouldn't want to live anywhere else (except perhaps France) , I could go and live in Italy tomorrow if I wanted but I've seen how that country works (and others) and it's definitely not better than UK. I thank you for your report and your observations

I think Sophia is bang on, too many cameras, too much woke bollocks. It’s all causing a state of tension where people are suspicious of everyone, that comes across as intolerance but it is a symptom of stress. As for the Leatherman incident, it may be because when @Pedro smiles he looks like a serial killer. Pity you two didn’t get up to Scotland, it’s a different world.

I may upset the apple cart next month.

what an improvement BOTM is now , a brief description of each picture , no silly rules , how it should be , , good job

Don’t be difficult, she might be the daughter of the king of Aberdeen! That looks so nice, like the nature documentaries about eagles and wolves. I really like the pictures you post from where you live. Also, you put that bike through proper mileage on it’s first summer.

Fucking amateur.

I have to agree with @Buckster about Scotland, I enjoyed the trips when delivering there, never had a problem with travelling around, or with any of the people, and some stunning scenery to go with it. I was delivering to place in Banchory, had a devil of a job finding it, as it was on Forestry Commission land down a track in a forest. Finally found it, and the guy who was to receive what I was deliver was wearing a kilt, hat and had a huge ginger beard, he greeted me in the broadest Yorkshire accent I have heard for years.

Delete the report!...that would be a great shame......Best thing I have read since I have been (back ) here.

I wish to seriously apologise for all this altercation, because the issue was with what I wrote and not Pedro. It was my post that seemed to have trigger Caroline. In my line of work I always think first for the Why, so I dont tend to assume or judge situations on face value. I confess I have no clue why it triggered her to go down the road of "bollocks" and a defensive attitude, but its not important at all! I am super happy for her and everyone, seeing them super content with their lives and enviournment and how things work around them! That is amazing!! There is nothing wrong with thinking different and having different views at all, healthy debate is most welcomed and important to bring people together. But semantics matter and In this situation there is a stark difference between the very nice way Fred expressed his feelings and Caroline's. For sure there are no bad intentions on her part, that's what we believe. On the other hand if someone throws "bollocks" in the air, in a written form where its not possible to understand if its banter or not, one just desingages and moves on. Life is too short. It's a great shame, I am very sorry I caused all this and I hope you can forgive my intromission. 90% of what I wrote is about love, unfortunately the 10% triggered a big reaction.

It’s not the end of the month weekend, it’s the beginning of the month weekend you ginger twat.

You cunt

After a surprising flood of amazing pictures from adventurers worldwide, we are here to celebrate motorcycling in ... well, to pick a picture for the banner during September. Choose and vote in one from the below, voting will end on Monday at 21:00: @boboneleg's Suzuki DR650, on green lush fields @Buckster's low and long, stylish Harley Davidson FLHX Street Glide: @Marcel's sleek Indian Challenger, enjoying the end of a Canadian afternoon: @MooN's red Triumph Tiger 800 XC, arguably Europe's prettiest Tiger, exploring romantic previously war torn France: @Pedro's BMW R1200GSA resting amongst New Forrest's horses: @Saul's specced up Honda CB500F, having a break from challenging England's toughest conditions: @Six30's ultra shiny and fast BMW S1000R, next to a set of MiniCooper wheels and a Simoncelli picture: @Skippy's revvy and eager Yamaha FZ6N, in a lost Andalusian village: @Sofia's trusty Triumph Speed Triple R, resting on the legendary IOM Mountain Course: @XTreme's ultra reliable, clean Honda CB500X, resting under the shade of Andalusian forrests: Let's make BOTM great again...

Everything is green there now, Pete! I saw no coal dust.

what do you call a ginger in a wheelchair... virgin mobile

What do you call a ginger in a porn movie the cameraman

what does a ginger do when he high fives a friend .... claps his hands

Thanks Caroline, I'm definitely getting the impression that he doesn't actually give a shit unless he makes money, I'll definitely be having it out with him tomorrow when I see him

@busabeast you avoided a head on collision and serious injury. That’s pretty cool driving. Yes stopping completely puts the law in your hands but sometimes you have to do the best with wot u got. And you did. Nice moves. Glad your ok. Your boss can do one!

I can’t hold my enthusiasm with expectations about what great pictures are going to be submitted in the next few hours!

No he just carried on, by looking on the bus tracker app it shows he was behind schedule so was obviously trying to make up some time ad driving like a cunt in the process I don't even do them kinds of speeds in the car let alone the truck

Dacia Logans and scooters.... im never coming to your town

wanker bus drivers fault , if you had to swerve.

Indeed it was a pity as I would certainly enjoy it, but originally this was Sofia's trip and for her to spend some time with her friends over there. We just didn't have time to do both. I did like a lot of things in the parts I did visit though, and overall had a great experience.

Dereliction of duty Dave , you must do better

Technically not taken by me but by a mate yesterday at a cider festival in Hertfordshire. I knew I was a man of many talents.

An old friend of mine used to have a mini and when his missus was driving he used to annoy her by pulling the handbrake up for some reason and then he got brand new Skoda Favorit and done the same handbrake thing, except the handbrake worked as it should in the Skoda the back wheels locked and his missus lost control of the car and spun into the crash barrier, they ended up in hospital luckily no one else was involved and they just had some minor cuts and bruises he never done that again

You have nothing to apologise for you just wrote what your honest experience was. I think there is some lost in translation moments here that are being taken to heart and their not intended that way, or i might be talking total bollocks as usual

Swimming might be a bit too much cardio for someone who isn't used to it, too, you'll be finished in 5 minutes. Looking forward to the walk/cycle reports

Boomshakala ........................

We had Skoda Octavias as Doctors cars, now we have Kodiacs. Bloody good cars. Not without fault but our Octavias were hammered and not really serviced properly. Even so 10 cars over 5 years around 150000 miles each I think we only had 3 breakdowns and one burnt to the ground but that was user error.

I'm not going to make any comment on Pedro and Sofia's opinions......other than to say they have every right to express them within the context of their trip, as others have the right to dispute them. But bear in mind their views come from the perspective of a foreigner visiting the place........and yours come from the perspective of a native who's lived there all their lives. They are two polar opposite standpoints. Nobody's right and nobody's wrong......it's just different perspectives. The same applies to me living here.....I can't see Spain the way Spaniards do, and they can't see Spain the way I do. So can we move on from this aspect and focus on the motorcycling element.

As usual I've been watching tele most of the night. Kind of waiting for the MotoGP to come on I fell asleep and 5 and woke at 7.15ish so watched the last 8 laps of the sprint race. Shopping today along with painting the back gate/door. Tomorrow there's a vintage car event on Gorleston sea front,

Slightly? Part of VW for over 25 years and probably the best value for money cars on the market. Besides a Jap they'd be my first choice.

Mary Siever died yesterday. She was cool as f*ck and gave freely to other womany motorcyclists her whole life. This is a pic of her a few weeks ago released from hospital to a nursing home where she knew exactly what was about to happen. She totally rocks.

My car is fitted with a anti theft device on the front and back No self respecting crim would be seen dead in it!

Hmm another confirmed nut job joins the affray. Zzzak.. paging Zzzak, your people are assembling.

Still hoping for an enhanced sunset to bring this back to the golden days before all this negativity arrived.

Stop asking questions and just go take one of your 15 bikes out for a tide and take a picture. 1 picture!

Sorry master, it was ok

My youngest's 21st birthday so I'll be rolling down to Mugshots for a little bit of the secret library and some fine steak. You press a buzzer on a lamp post in the centre of Brizzle and get let into a tiny library shop front with a secret shelf/door. They appear from thin air and take you to their lovely hidden speakeasy. After some fine mixology you move two doors down to the restaurant where they take steak seriously. Looking forward to it. I found the worse pic of my son in his primary school rain coat with a tiny tiny rain hood that fitted no-one ever which I've had made into a stamp to adorn everything he touches. He looks proper mad.

Walking?