Muddy

When I think back on some of the cruel things I said at school, I cringe. There were always targets of abuse, that's how kids form their hierarchies. That said, there were limits. If the decent alpha lads caught you bullying too often or being too nasty, you'd get a talking to. There were codes of conduct that we don't see so much today, if at all. You solved your disputes after school and they were fair fights. No kicking and certainly no weapons. I remember being shamed for wanting to hit a kid with a piece of metal conduit. Never made that mistake again. We also had a boxing club in a mate's garage. He was one of the best fighters in the school and so it was prestigious to do well and anyone who competed got respect. I was small for my age, but I could box well and that message got out, so I was rarely picked on. Now you get knifed if you diss the wrong kid. No sense of honour or fair play. Social media is a curse for kids and adults alike. It's turns boys into bitches and bitches into evil c#nts.

Nah, it's nowhere near a migraine yet, but the thing is definitely a headache that's not going away. And the lower population density of 1968 coupled with a million deaths, means deaths per 10k were much higher than CV19. As for your firm and the multi-nationals, good for you. We haven't even scraped the surface of the damage this has wrought on small businesses, the little guy and all those workers who depend on everyday commerce staying open for business. Right back t'puddle.

The winter of 1968 I remember well. There were some great songs in the charts, Eloise, Light My Fire, Hey Jude, Those Were the Days, All Along the Watchtower, Sabre Dance. It was a good year for tunes. I have only good memories of that Christmas, certainly there was no dark shadow hanging over it from some kind of crisis happening. But by the following spring a million people worldwide had died from the Hong Kong flu. That's x3 the of the current Covid19 outbreak. Since then the world has changed a lot and all we seem to do is become hysterical over a never ending procession of crises presented before us that we're all meant, on the pain of social exclusion, to take very seriously. What we once took in our stride as part and parcel of life, have now become monumental obstacles to overcome. With increasingly draconian rules and regulations from our government, we meekly comply, without question and without reflection. We've given up any stoicism that was once our national virtue, for a collective neuroticism bordering on insanity. You can't say this or do that, without someone coming along to correct you and pull you back onto the plantation. It's tragic.

Strom schlom, what I don't have is a T700. Nah, I'm resigned to the fact that once I can't get my leg over anymore, I'll be looking for a step through. 2 wheels to the end.

Well neither do I that much, but that's because I'm an old git with the best part of my life over and have everything I need. If I was in my 20s or 30s, with a family to support, the loss of my business or trade and, consequently, likely my house, then I'd be caring a whole lot. My thoughts are with them.

I never mentioned it not being real, I wrote that the exceptional measures used to deal with it are based on very little hard science and ultimately going to cause more harm.

I've not been in lockdown per se, since you cannot transmit something you haven't got. So I've been out on the bike whenever I've wanted to and only social distance because otherwise I'd get into a hundred arguments everyday. Does that make me a reckless law breaker? Law breaker maybe (or statute), but not reckless. I'm 63 and can and will think for myself. I've never been one for going to work or meeting others when ripe with a virus, so know myself to be considerate and responsible. And I've worked in the NHS so know the lay of the land and, no, I don't clap for them like a fucking penguin every Thursday on cue. If the local hospitals were overrun I'd not have gone out and exacerbated the crisis, but they weren't. A&E Drs and nurses were literally left twiddling their thumbs for the most part and with so few patients one has to ask how many have died as a result of postponing or avoiding to seek help through fear. I doubt we're ever going to know. Most can't be bothered to question authority and just accept their servitude blindly. I've got the one 2007 paper that the 2 metre social distancing directive came from and it's sketchy bollocks at best, based on a belief and then tested indoors ("A large number of infectious diseases are believed to be transmitted between people via large droplets and by airborne routes"). Even allowing that various governments used that one study to practice the precautionary principle, the fog is lifting, the numbers are now coming in and it's clear the mortality rates are grossly inflated with coincidental deaths. It's time for a revaluation of Professor Ferguson's lockdown model that so many governments adopted. The destructive c#nt has got a history, his models have been disastrously wrong in the past costing us millions, this is going to cost us much more than a recession. Having directives based on such flimsy evidence, then shutting down the country down, anyone would think they want to crash the world economy on purpose, or at least all the little guys. No, it can't be. Rant over?

Yeah, seen it. It's a good review that covers the strong points of the Himalayan. I've had some trouble with it, but a lot of it is down to me. I was never one for doing the difficult servicing tasks and decided that on the Himalayan I'd start. Slowly I've got to grips with it and sorted out the problems. I'm really enjoying this bike. It's a change for sure, but a good one.

Very nice. It looks like a 250 Serow to me. What's the difference?

I owned this for a few years. Great fun and 130 mpg. And it was almost as fast as my Royal Enfield on a long downhill stretch

Well that would be a mammoth schlepp for a 410cc thumper from here. Then there's the likelihood that I won't be allowed to travel since I won't be doing any 'new normal' hoop jumping nonsense that they're likely going to roll out soon, if I can avoid it. Fuck, I had to stop flying due to all the herding, shoe removing, and other 'turrist' prevention bollocks.

Just affect a French accent and they'll roll out the red carpet

I had a go on my mate's GT250, but he was running it in so I didn't wring it. Never really liked the looks of those Ram Air Suzukis. This amber and black YDS7 though is a thing of beauty. I still think the Japs had bike aesthetics just right in the 70s and it's been hit and miss since then.

Where I lived there was kid who used to scream around the town on his Yamaha YDS7. I just loved the look and sound of that bike, but lost my license before I could graduate from Fizzy to a 2 stroke twin and my passion turned to sex, drugs and rocknroll. Naturally, at that age, we were all enthralled by those classic powerful bikes, the 2 stroke triples and the 4 stroke 4's. But as you say Pete, most mid-capacity modern bikes would trounce those monsters. My TDM 900 would've left any of those classics standing. The only thing I'd say is that there's something about the way a 2 stroke sounds and that sudden surge when it hits that sweet spot. I would still love to have a 2 stoke, but can't see it happening now.