ferguzzi

Ah, yes, isn't jealousy a wonderful thing. Big J, you already have a reasonably pretty motorcycle, don't feel so intimidated. After all, we're all Gods children!

Right, time is short, so here's a few thoughts for the day. deep breath.... The griso's cute, and does anyone else thinks it looks like a centaoro, especially in red. Depeche mode are not just a band of the eighties, in fact the dulcet tones of their last album are blaring in the background as i speak, and the dogs are a little uneasy. Their new album gets released tomorow. the band, not the dogs. Ireland got kicked out of the world cup finals last week,(by f#cking Switzerland!), and i am not a happy bunny. Grrrrr. Big up to all hit by hurricanes, earthquakes, wars,(insurgencies?) and whatever other shite that has happened in the last few weeks. A small wet part of western Europe is thinking of you. Seriously, what is going on? Speaking of rain, I got back from LA last night and jeez, but I've never seen hailstones that big. And lastly.... Winter is fast approaching, and it actually wasn't raining last week, so I made it an excuse to go for a thrash. A few hours in, and a lithuanian (!) registered black mercedes with tinted windows and a steering wheel on the wrong side, decides to overtake a car. while I'm overtaking him. He hits my knee, And I wobble, but don't go down. This is at about 70 mph. I stop the bike, and he stops behind me. the conversation goes something like.... HIM: " I sorry,I so sorry, I no see you." ME : " look in your f*cking mirror!" HIM: " Ahh, huh, I no speak good english". and with that, he shrugs, and ambles back to his car, muttering to himself. I swear, if I had a gun.... rant over.

Ahhh, it's nice to see the sense of humour is still alive and well in the country with the worlds best beer! Apparently Rossi has been promised Schuey's seat if he leaves in '07. And yes his secret love is rallying, and given the way f1 has gone in the last 5 years, I don't blame him. The F1 move would be a shame because I think his talent,( and probably his personality) would get camoflaged behind all the bullshit that comes with the series. Not least of this is that you need about a 20 bhp difference just to be able to pass out on a straight nowadays(barring a mistake), due to the tail aerodynamics on the cars. F1 needs a serious shake up in lots of ways to get more popular again, and rossi's possible move would be only one of, say, 100. 200 maybe? Personally I'd love to see him move to Ducati, and try do the impossible again, but I've heard nobody mention the possibility.

He's not so bad because even he doesn't take what he says seriously. He plays the asshole next to the two other "straight guys" in the show(both bikers by the way), and the resulting chaos turns out to be humerous. Or thats the idea. I quite like the programme, the non-pc side of it can be a breath of fresh air next to all the other shite on the box.

Um, lets see. My name is ferg, and I 'm Irish. Mind you, My Grandfather was born in Manhattan, so I think that makes me an American Irish. Having said that, My wife is from Vancouver, so that kind of makes me an Irish Canadian. Although all her Grandparents were Scottish, so maybe I'm British. I'm not so sure though because both my Grandfathers fought in the war of independence in the twenties and shot at lots of Britsh soldiers. So maybe they don't want me either. I also ride an italian bike, a german car, and fly french airplanes for an english company. I once had sex in Luxembourg. My national anthem is in Irish, but I can never remember the words. I'm a pretty decent hummer 'though. I too am sort of a republican, but only because I come from one. You know, a real one. I don't pay tax. I cheat. Oh, and by the way I'M SPARTACUS!

I tend to bring,well nothing really. I did about about 7000miles in a month when it was just out of the crate, and the only thing that broke was the pawl spring, and I'm still not sure what that is. Although I'd recognise one if I saw one. Ample amounts of patience, an open mind and a loose timetable are about the most useful things,Iwould have said. And a healthy credit card.

Now that looks like fun. I saw John O sullivan's red centauro( the first I'd seen in the flesh) the other day and was very impressed.Why did they stop making them? How would it compare with my Tenni?

I think I picked up a small oil leak on the way back from Cork. Now given the level of Knowledge shown down there (by every one else), I should have no problem fixing it... But no... I really have to learn how to fiddle with these things. While down there, I overheard a conversation with BigJ talking about a double seal near the bevel drive.... bevel drive, isn't that in Malahide? On a different note, It was great fun meeting you all, we had the post holidays blues for a few days afterwards, which is always a good sign. Unlike BigJ I don't have a cat to kick, and if I were to kick one of our dogs they'd probably kick me back. Bastards. Guess who's the alpha male in this house. We did take photos but they were old fashioned ones, so god knows how long it'll take to post them up. Fair play to you John oSullivan, the saturday was great crack. Roll on Scotland, If there's any chance of getting the time off.

Lovely shots, It's funny, I was looking at the garage today wondering about expanding it enough so I could fit another bike- that centauro really is a beaut'. We made it home safe and sound, we actually only got out of bed about 11, just enough time to have a nice brekkie and amble down to the pub to watch the motogp. then it was about 4 hours to dublin, with a few stops on the way. By the way, the nice brekkie was a damn good reason to avoid a tent, not to mention the midges!

Um, I'm beginning to think this is one of those websites my mother warned me about.

Well.... I hadn't planned doing any cooking over ther weekend, but I'll bear that in mind. Seems a waste of guinness though. Yet another change of plans, it seems we will make the weekend after all. I phoned various people down there and needless to say the hotels are full, and the nice lady in Creedons said the tenting is basic. i.e. no toilets or showers, though I don't know how true that is. We'll be staying in Mrs. Cronins place, about a mile from the village, and apparently it still has rooms. I think we'll be leaving around 3pm from Dublin, as I think a few stops might be in order on the way down, and I want to get there before it gets dark. Or cold. Or both. I have no idea what any of you look like, but I'm on a W (uk) reg Tenni, with a 6 foot canadian lass on the pillion. I'm Fergal, by the way. P.S. I believe the BBC are doing a preview of the TT on Sunday morning, followed by the Barcelona GP live. Sounds like just the thing for a nice warm pub!

I won't make it I'm afraid. I hope it rains. Alright, I don't really.

It's funny, everyone seems to think Schumacher is the best F1 driver there's ever been, and that may be so, but he will never have the balls to swicth his Ferrari for someting else, like Rossi did last year, just because it was too easy to win on. Rossi did, and then he won. Again. For that, he gets my vote as the best rider out there, possibly ever. He is just a phenomenon, there's hardly a record he hasn't broken. And he's only 26. Apparently Ferrari have said there will always be a seat for him if he ever decides to go that way, and even though that would be facinating, or at least as facinating as F1 gets nowadays, I think it would be a shame. Why not put him on a ducati next and see what happens.

I went through San Antonio once on a Yamaha Virago, my first bike, on a trans America trip. It was late at night, after a 500 mile ride, and I couldn't find where i was supposed to be staying for the night. I was also dying for a piss. So I stopped and ended up relieving myself on the outer wall of the Alamo. I do hereby apologise to all Texans, whole-heartedly and without reservation, living dead or undead, and promise to be a good a good boy from now on. sorry. really.

I reckon "Jupiters travels" by Ted Simons is about the best bike book out there, I read it first when I was twelve, and even then it made the "travelling by bike" bug bite. It's still a great read. "Long way round" by Ewan Mcgregor and the other guy was an inevitable birthday present, but I saw the tv series as well. I wasn't too impressed. They spent a fortune on the bikes, months of preperation( including self defence instruction from someone who claimed he was ex sas), with an office in London to coordinate everything. They then spent 3 months on the road, with a back up of 2 trucks, and a film crew. Now granted, they did have a go at the road of bones in Mongolia, but they spent the majority of that in the back of a train. As someone who prefers travelling solo(or maybe two up), it all seemed a bit like overkill. Or maybe I'm just jealous because he's a jedi knight.

I rented a buell in Chicago about 6 years ago, and put up about 600 miles in 24 hours- down to Indiana, up through Michican and i just touched Ohio,(I think). I don't remember which one, it had a small fairing and a set of hard panniers and it was being rented as a tourer. Lots of fun, and far more enjoyable then the usual harley fare when you want to rent in the states. Mind you, trying to find a decent corner in that part of the world was a bit of a challenge. Flipping the kill switch certainly got your attention too. I've heard plenty of horror stories about the the electrics though, and I'd be scared as to how it would mix with Irish weather. On the subject of american bikes, I just read an article on the new harley steet rod, and it just might be the first harley i'd ever consider. Very worrying.

Shame on me, i just noticed inshi-whatsit is actually in Cork, not the kingdom. Still, its a nice part of the world!

Sounds like fun, but I won't be able to make a firm decision until mid may, when i know what june holds for me workwise( ah the joys of working for an airline). Me, the Tenni and hopefully the missus will be leaving from Dublin, so would be able to join up with any others from there. I don't suppose anyone can ensure the weather in the kingdom will behave itself?

[scotland would be best, I think. Some of the best roads in Europe if the weather holds up, and the scenery is spectacular, so various pillions won't get bored.

I have to hang my head in shame here because I should have been at the last one this summer, but was in ireland at the last moment, so couldn't make it. Defineitely I,d be intersted. I would also be starting out from Dublin this time so could hook up with anyone this side of the water on the way. mind you , I saw some of Belfastguzzi's photos of the trip, and at 34 I think maybe I 'm not old enough. I suppose I could make the tea or something....

No 161 lives in Dublin, has about 9000 miles on the clock and has seen much of Eurpoe, and hopefully a lot more to come. The looks are definetly unique,but I think very sharp, I've only had complimentary remarks, and even got me out of a speeding ticket in Croatia once. This is not a bike to sell on, she's a keeper and it seems eventhough there might be a ducati somewhere in my future, I'm going to be destined to always have at least 2 bikes, and No 161 will be one of them.

Yep, the plan at the moment is to ride up to Holyhead to pick up the Mrs. off the boat, and then frolic through the valleys to the meet. John O Sullivan said he might try get to it too, so we might meet up? I believe I'm to be based in Coventry, but other then that I don't know much, so all plans are a little tentative. I'll know more in about 10 days. Where the hell is Coventry anyway?

I'll have no leave for the summer, but I will be in the UK so I think a short trip to Scotland will be in order, I'll try to make a few track days and also visit some of the more famous British biking spots, like devils bridge and the cat and fiddle run. I also want to get to a few BSB races, and hopefully the Motogp. If I do get some time off in the autumn, I want to get down to southern Italy, where I've never been, and maybe over to Sicily. I'm getting itchy feet already.

I,ve used the bagster tank bag, which I was told by the dealer was the correct one. However the fittings don't really match, by which I mean there is not much to anchor the fastenings to( as they're too short). It's taken a bit of fiddling and some not very proffesional Knot-tying to make it work, but so long as you're not taking off the base everyday, it's fine. the tank cover does fit snugly, and the whole system in general was well worth the money. The tekno bags are the best I've ever used. The only fault is they can limit foot-space for the pillion even more(given there isn't a lot there to begin with, but still, well worth it.

Well, if everyone else is doing it.... My name's Fergal, I live in Dublin( you know-the real one, in Ireland) and at 33 I'm only a young lad compared to some of the experienced guzzisti above. I live with a canadian wife from Vancouver,and 2 dogs, one Alaskan, the other Belgian. I've been flying airplanes for a living for the last 15 years, and am in the middle of switching companies, and onto 747s. I,ve been riding 10 years, my first bike was an xv 535 virago that I bought in New York, and then spent 3 months and 13000 miles riding across the states. It was a great experience, and a sharp learning curve-I wouldn't do it over Winter again! I covered about 30 states, but have seen another 10 since then. We travel and tour a lot, and on a dirty weekend in Florence I happened to drag the mrs. into a bike shop to check out the Ducati st4 I thought I was going to buy, when we spotted a V11. I live in a country where it rains 13 months a year, the roads are the worst in Europe, bikes cost more then anywhere else and there are no moto guzzi dealers. So obviously I bought a Le Mans Tenni. Logic doesn't really apply,does it?