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Gonna try to get out again tomorrow and head to the southern part of the state....

The Wang is filthy from sitting in the garage all winter and I haven't washed it yet this Spring. There's just so much slop on the roads from snowmelt - hardly worth washing it. Maybe tomorrow...

Being a weekday, there was little traffic and the summer tourists aren't quite here yet in numbers. Pretty empty roads...

And then on the road...

It’s like Pete is still in the room

Got 10 miles inland and all was dry. Covered about 125 miles and only stopped as I'm a sucker for a poppy pic. And petrol at the beccles roundabout, £1.71 for for 99 octane now.

Just finished fitting some brake pads and swopped the bikes round ready for an afternoon ride and,

Riding season kicking off for you? Makes me feel cold looking at all that snow.

Not sure about the vigor but if it's genuine mileage and been kept out of the weather i cant see why it wouldn't be a good bike. Something to look out for are parts they are getting harder to find now, for example i just rebuilt the rear suspension on my Dominator and found most of the bearing collars for the suspension linkage are no longer available and i ended up having to make one myself so check for play on the suspension and wheel bearings when your there. Not sure if the Swingarm pivot bolt is a problem with these bikes the XR has a habit of seizing in there but the setup is different between the two bikes. Splines can wear on the front sprocket drive shaft but again shouldn't be an issue on a low mileage bike Something you wont be able to check is the 650 engine had a problem with the cylinder heads cracking between the valve seat and spark plug hole which can let the valve seat drop out when they get hot. Another issue because of their age is the flexible part of the oil feed pipe from the frame to the engine can collapse internally and starve the engine of oil and you won't know about it until it happens shouldn't be a problem on a low mileage bike though. Read up on how to check the oil level as its a dry sump and a pain to check sometimes. Ask the owner to explain to you how to check the oil level and see if he knows how to do it correctly that should give you an idea if he is mechanically sympathetic or not.

Portugal is one of the world's biggest consumers of salted codfish. There's 1000 recipes to cook codfish in Portugal, supposedly. This is amongst my top 10. Take it out of the coal a little bit before you would if it was to be eaten straight from the coals. You can still see moisture boiling out of it, though, don't let it get dry and overcooked. The charred skin adds to the flavor. Debone it, breaking into chunks, and into a clay pot it goes, amongst a few smashed garlic cloves and plenty of olive oil. Nothing else. Back into the coals it goes, give it a stir to coat everything with the olive oil, and forget about it. According to the heat, you place it closer or farther away, it's supposed to boil gently. This coal was quickly disappearing so straight onto the coals it went. Onto the table, after a while...: And served with boiled or baked potatoes, and the optional thinly sliced raw onions to offset the sweetness and comforting olive oil and confit codfish. It's yummy. I advise a very cold and very crisp white wine to go along with it.

Only 98% now.

Got out on the GoldWang today for a ride in the hills. But first - fill up both the bike and myself at a fuel station...

Now, THAT's a bike show!!

I agree but that is assuming the fuel was fresh when his bike broke down originally. Apparently 850 Commandos are fussy when it comes to octane, according to Bob. I wouldn't claim to know but he has been riding the bike for a long time so I am guessing he knows it's quirkes.

Nah , you’re so obviously 5’5’’ with size 4 boots

If I wasn’t in Spain , I could be in Canada and found @Marcel le Moose Fondler house ..

Nice one Eric, good to see you out riding again. I'm certain Pete would have enjoyed seeing your reports again.

It probably is a shit motorcycle film, but Tom Hardy and Elvis will make it a fun thing to watch.

From the more scenic side of OR....

'85 San Jose mile action....

Been working overnight Friday and Saturday plus again tonight Sunday, not moaning but it does make getting out on the bike more difficult as I do have to sleep at some point. Anyway finished work at 8:00 am in Launceston getting it home, changed and my bike out and up at 4 Turnings garage for 9:00 am to meet up and go to Kit Hill this morning. Bit of a rush but made it. 6 of us today, me and Hornet, Steve and Super Meteor, Martyn and V85s, Gary one and 1974 Bonnie, Bob and 1975 Commando, Gary two and 1200 Sportster, Chris and 900 Triumph Scrambler. We made 3 miles and Bob’s Commando died, made another mile and it died again then again but started the fourth time. This time after an Italian tune up it ran fine for the rest of the trip up the Kit Hill. Don’t know about the trip back as I headed home before the rest to sleep at midday. Much as I think his Commando is the mutts nuts that there is why I haven’t got one. Fuck that. It’s around 30 miles to Kit Hill, it was a great run in beautiful weather. Loads of bikes out and about. Bimbletastic It seemed to be Commando and Brit bike in general day today. Some really nice stuff there, loads of UJMs, Harleys, Indians and even a couple of Himalayan’s. Not one chinky bike though Bob’s ‘Bastard Commando’ his term not mine The sound this made was awesome I know they aren’t a thing any more but I like the look of that Victory Overflow parking Triple Brick, I nearly bought one of those back in the day, in fact still have a hankering. I always thought they were small back in then but I suppose my perspective has changed Old a new Bonnie’s side by side, old Bonnie for looks for me. If it were my money it would be the newer bike don’t want the vibes Lovely old Honda Yes please Bantam D1, belongs to a friend’s brother.

Took my bike for a service at the Indian dealership in Wokingham, never been there before but really mice place/ people. They had the bike in there that Guy Martin used for his wall of death thing, looked lovely ... not for sale tho...

£1.71 … what a piss take

Octanes are measured differently in the US and here.

You are a cock

Red hot here suckers

Nice report Eric, good to see someone actually riding, this bunch of losers need to take a leaf out of your book.

Live just now: It's cool stuff!

Closer to 1400lbs when you are on it you fat cunt.

6 weeks isn't a lot of time for fuel to go bad, though.

I see the Glowing is growing on you, taking for a solo ride instead of the Super Tenere? I saw snow even last month, and I'm in Portugal

As an after note, had a chance meeting and chat with Bob yesterday. He's been right through the Commando again, he has owned it 38 years, so it has been apart many times. Bob is a 60 year old mechanic, who's brain we all pick at times. He is one of those adenoidal clever fuckers, he is convinced it was fuel that had gone off during the six weeks his Commando was off the road. Makes sense as it got better after an Italian tune up and some fresh fuel on the day.

@Six30 calls that lube.

Sounds Legit

A young Mr. Rainey showing Scott Parker how it's done....

Wife has turned the heating on (18c) this morning. The bike meet in Matlock is off for me, not setting off in the rain. In other news, the strong wind has nearly blown down our 6ft fence, only the Honeysuckle keeping it upright. Oh to be in England in the summertime

cheek … the shades was 6 euro I’m not a cheapskate

Buck's new DualSport?....

A C & J framed TT....

Cunt sold me dodgy tyres. I know only the long stayers will get that.

I’ve been trying to think of what I want to say but the words don’t seem to want to form so forgive the mishmash of thoughts, if I leave it any longer I won’t say anything and that just doesn’t seem right. He was as everyone’s pointed out already a good guy. He went out of his way to help people and not in some sort of desperate way where he wanted the accolades, in a behind the scenes way. Not just impractical “there there” type help either, genuinely helpful in real ways. When I first came to Spain he gave me invaluable advice and that is something I’ll forever appreciate. We shared the same sort of politics and I followed him here from the other place because I enjoyed that and his piss taking sense of humour. He had a large personality and never tried to make himself small to fit in with other peoples expectations and that boldness of character is something I admire. You know you’d never see him kowtowing to anyone even when he was administering his balm to bonkers folk. I also appreciated that he didn’t mind saying if he didn’t know something which a lot of peoples egos prevent them from doing, many people would rather make something up than say “I don’t know” and for that reason he was a reliable person to ask about a lot things, apart from bike maintenance His fears that I would do my own often led him to tell me to leave it to the experts. Sometimes I found that frustrating but I knew it came from a place of real care. He had a kind and turns out faulty heart and while he enjoyed a bit of shit stirring he always smoothed things over when things got fractious in a way so skilled that I’ve rarely seen it in anyone else. I’m sure if they’d put him on a UN peace keeping force the war between the Ukraine and Russia would have finished with a nice cup of tea by now, he probably had enough teabags to make the entire population a cup. Some rare people look for the good things, the things to like in another person, he was one of those. I’m surprised by just how miserable this has made me, because I think perhaps when your friends with people on the internet you put them in a separate box to the one where real life friends exist but this really has already shown me that friendship with people as good as Pete matter just as much.

The ginger cunt enriched our lives, he better not be alive, I don’t want him to see me say this.