MooN

you can if you like but that's not the picture I took.

this is why I kept the transalp for so long ( partly) cos it cost me fuck all to insure and run and was worth fuck all if sold. further down the line and I have the house is paid for... and I have the triumph... and i,ve just got a new car... those will have to last till the twins have pretty much finished education I guess, then we'll start again if I'm still in a fit state.

I miss being outside and I miss playing with boats but the rest... not so much. The environment here is healthier both physically and psychologically, I should have got out years ago but stayed untill forced by health. I spoke yesterday on the phone to one of my ex colleagues and he reckos the'll manage another season and then fold so it looks like I got out just in time anyway.

And a Chrisrmas present from the boss to the mechanics… theyre getting a brand new workshop with all new kit. ( the box on the right will be my new office… probably…

One of the protos weve been playing with recently

I hope you get paid extra for working those days Saul? I remember working at centre parcs back in the day we would fight to work the holidays cos christmas day and new years eve wer paid triple with bixing day and new years day paid double, though I expect that doesnt happen any more. I haven't booked any time off over the festive period cos we're not going anywhere except Lyon for the day on the Sunday 24th so I'll have sat, sun &monday off next weekend, then again the following wekend but that's all.

I'm not sure they are looking for long term sales. Maybe some of them are, after all ts a fucking HUUUUGE place and mentalities obviously differ across such a vast country. We have maybe 2 or 3 of our suppliers who actually seem serious about improving quality and service, the rest... not so much. If I go back through the qualityreports sent to certain suppliers I will find identical reports about the same items going back 5 or more years related directly to the quality of build and of materiels used, with a similar reply " Oh we velly velly solly, that made by bad people in ploduction line, we fix plobrem, chop chop..!" ( if you don't find that offensively racist then you're probably over 50 ) and this has been going on for years, to the point that we struggle to find dealers for these machines cos most competant mechanics won't touch them. my boss reckons that another 4 or 5 years will see that particular supplier dissappear ( he's seen it before) and is already diminishing business with them so that we have as few machines as possible still under warranty when they do go pop. To be fair we have some prototupe machines from another supplier that ARE improved and do show signs of actually wanting to increase quality so just maybe...

They already have most of central africa financially over a barrel cos they've been heavily investing in infrastructure there for the last 10 years or so and that comes at a price that hasn't yet been disclosed but that I suspect will be a commercial monopoly of some description. They have now started trying to invest in eurpean infrastructure as this will allow them financial control there too. I'm starting to sound like that other conspiracy wanker, so I'll stop drinking.

yep. That's EU law and they will abide by that for exactly as long as they want to. they know as well, if not better than, anyone that there is no way in hell any eu law could be enforced in china, who would impose whatever sanction was applied? you could sue the dealer, the importer, whoever but try and sue a chinese company with an EU law... their govt does not recognise Eu law. They conform to safety norms to be able to sell their vehicles within the EU, that's as far as it goes. This is, of course just my opinion.

The law is the same, big or small bikes. The number of small bikes sold is massive compared to the number of big bikes. Why would they treat big bikes differently ? re the smaller european brands, its a VERY different mentality. You have some hope of compensation if you get sold a lemon by a european brand. The Chinese say « good luck with that » as they do not recognise international law and, as yet, have no need to.

I agree with Bob and Pedro, (but don't tell them that...)

everybody who I would consider nominating ( all two of them) have already been nominated so I wont muddy the waters further...

specifically wait a couple of yeasrs and see what happens when they need replacement parts. We have had to dismantle 6 brand new bikes into component parts in order to supply replacement parts to dealers of one of our chinese manufacturers as they are incapable of providing any parts. so we have one part of the assembly workshop putting shipped bikes together to be sent to the dealers, and the othe rhalf dismantling completely same model bikes so that we have some spare parts... Madness I tell you! when you order parts for a quad that's maybe 5 years old and they reply we dont make that part anymore. Um... the law requires the constructor to supply replacement parts for 10 years... " Not chinese law." is the standard reply. i can only imagine what is gong to happen in a couple of years when all the new MG and Volvo suv's start needing replacement parts... I hope I am wrong, but I see a shit storm on the horizon.

oh they're fucking everywhere pete, I really do't worry about stuff like climate change any more, the the human race will have destroyed itself by reverse darwinian reproduction long before the next ice age, or heat increase or whatever the newest threat theory is.

it's 25 k lighter cos theyve used 25k less metal in the frame and swingarm.... put it under some stress, real conditions with a load not press release day controlled conditions, new and prepared ( doctored) by a dedicated team and you'll find out where they'vs shaved the weight from. To be fair I know nothing about this bike or this firm, but from what I know about chinese motorcycle production I am pretty confident that if it's cheaper its because the parts are mede cheaper ( low quality materials, unskilled workers, and a healty disregard for any and all western rules and regarding safety, or norms, or garantees, all driven by a totalitarian communist régime. I regularly see test rides of these bikes, or CF moto, in the motorcycling pess here and they rave about them ( well yeah, cos if they don't then they'll just not be invited to the next test day all expenses paid trip to Hawaii for the press trials on the dozen or so carefully prepared and doctored versions of the machine) you then never hear anything further. Why? Because 8 months and 5000km down the line the bikes are falling apart, or are terminally ill and there are no parts available, the dealershave stopped dealing in them cos they can't get any parts or tech support from the factory and are wrapped up in legal proceedings and the factory is pointing out that under chinese law, which is the only one they recognise, you, as the end user, can go fuck youself . Ok, I'm exagerating. But only just.

Had a big nostagia day yesterday the weather was so crap, 3c and thik unmoving fog lasting all day without lifting, that it was just like being back in England...

and it always incomprhensible

If you go to Jax shack in the dordogne, gimme a shout...

the problem with getting to Brittany from here is that the autoroute adds so many miles that any time benefit is completely lost. I go via autoroute in the car cos its just so easy, cruise control etc etc but its still around 7 hours. The non autoroute way by bike will be around the same time frame with less kilometers and not 45€ of péage...

Who's planning what for the coming summer riding wise? Any epic road trips in the planniing stages? I know Pedro was looking at a northern ride into Germany... The French, in their inimitable way, have maintained the practice of having what the uk call a bank holiday, on the actual day the date falls rather than on the nearest Monday. Though this sometimes give a random day off in the middle of the week, it will sometimes, when coupled with one of the "movable feasts" of the Christian calender, generate a ridiculously long wekend. It is then, a national sport, to spot these occurences and calculate how to get the most time off for the least number of days "paid Holiday". I have always said that you ca't get anything done in France in the month of may and 2024 is a blinder 1st of may ( labour day) is a wednesday so a day off mid week 8th of May ( V.E.Day) is rather obviously, a wednesday. 9th of May ( ascension) so another public holiday 11th and 12th are saturday and sunday, which means that if I book friday 10th May off from work I'll have 5 days off for a single day's leave from work. That's got to be bike time right? So, planning with a couple of mates,a Britanny trip for that looong weekend in May. Auxerre to probably St Brieuc on day 1 which will be bollox boring as far as Rennes but we can do without using the Autoroute. about 6 to 7 hrs riding I reckon. St Brieuc to Le Conquet along the coast on day 2 much less distance but very minor roads so much slower. Day 3 from Le Conquet to Lorient, along the coast but cutting across the odd peninsula to avoid the worst of the holiday traffic and pausing to visit the Standing stones at Carnac and the tomb of Bernard Moitessier at Le Bono on the way round. Day 4 from Lorient to somewhere like St Brévin les Pins again along the coast and day 5 from there home will be a simple but long days ride west via Nantes, Tours and Vierzon, crossing the Loire at Bonny sur Loire and thus home. should be about 2000km over the 5 days and I don't know if I'm physically capable of it. Gonna try tho cos its not going to get any easier with time First night is now sorted and the following are coming together, so... Bring it on!

yeah but there's 5 of us, which means two hotel rooms for 5 nights and car is still the cheapest way for us despite the bloody crossing costing 160€ each way. it,s also doable in a day's drive for us from here. less so from where you are.

Thats because a horse and cart has less to check…

I usually grt the info from one or other face book page or via a FFMC mailing.