mike wilson

Would be fun to take it "home". Getting to the Continent is easy with the channel tunnel. Useful to ride with someone at first here, to counter "wrong side" syndrome. m

The C&R regs state something like "mudguards must, as far as practicable, prevent spray" Of course, the loophole is that every mudguard catches spray as far as _it_ is capable. Which is why following an HGV on a wet day is like riding in fog. One of the greatest steps forward in road safety would be the design of properly functional spray suppression. It would stop many, many accidents. To go back to bikes, the pitiful excuse for mudguarding is one of the reasons that motorcycle cosmetics and electrics have such a poor reputation for durability. My Mondeo is just coming up to 140,000 miles. It has had two new bulbs. The Guzzi is due for a complete rewire at 90,000 and I think that is spectacularly reliable. The failing with the C&R regs is that importers are allowed to provide a certificate of compliance. Now, there are reams and reams of C&R regs. Even for number plates there are rules on size, location, colour, text font, spacing, size, colour. Do you think the importers go through every model in that sort of detail? mike

Which hotel is it that lets you lie in bed watching Gannets diving for food? Then they stop for a while and suddenly a Killer Whale comes to the surface. I want to stay there.

The closest I've come is a guy who sat at the junction until I was about 20metre/yards away, then _looking me in the eye_ pulled out. Luckily I had somehow anticipated that it was going to happen, managed to brake hard enough and in time and just creased his door. Possibly, I could have stopped before that..... If I'd chosen that moment to glance away, I would have hit him much harder. That's once in over 30 years' riding. The only time _I've_ been hit was when waiting to turn right and I got hit from behind. I love predicting what other road users are going to do when I'm in a car with someone. They think I'm a wizard. mike

Don't care about fashion. I care about functionality. Mudguards are there to catch crap and that one will do it much better than the Griso's. I don't know how modern machines get away with flouting the C&R regs so blatantly. Probably something to do with the importers deciding if they conform........ mike

So it's true what they say about Police helmets! Sorry; couldn't resist. I'll come quietly.....

BTW, a good, cheap name to look out for is Gelert.

Some suggestions. A tent that is one person bigger than the number who will be using it never goes wrong. An entrance at each end (especially with storage space) is useful A sheet of builder's polythene to go underneath will save a lot of heartache. Try before you buy - any decent shop will let you. Don't buy secondhand. Get extra pegs, including ones for soft ground. Have something to go underneath you; foam, air mattress, whatever. Have fun, mike

He was probably faster (and more scared!) on the Lambretta. I rode a GP200 once. That was more than enough.

Don't like the cruiser style but the back end is a definite improvement, instead of that thing floating in mid air with daggy bits hanging off. m

Shipley _used_ to be a world centre for Temperance. Though how they did that and made Scotts is beyond me. m

Same here, a little farther north. Even worse, we have one of the busiest roads in the country and riders insist on lane filtering at high speed, even when high density traffic is moving at the national limit. I've seen three fatalities in two years due to this behaviour. More like "Ride to Die" than "Ride to live". mike

Interesting list. No Motomecca or Three Cross, which seem to be the only dealers to grasp the possibilities of dealing with the older models. M&S is not worth wasting a phone call on. It carries nothing. Might have a look at A&D next time I'm at the folks'. Shipley carries on a long tradition of being associated with the weird and wonderful....

There's a place in Colwyn Bay. But, in my experience, the M&P stores are long gone. Most Guzzi dealers in the north do not carry even the most basic spares and are very "take it or leave it" in their attitude. Border bikes in Berwick on Tweed is a pleasant exception - nice people but, again, not a huge stock of stuff. mike

I don't remember lending you my V65. Doesn't passing road signs hurt?

8-)))))) But I've already got a size 8 head! Maybe that's why I fall over so often.

Hmmm. Every time I try that, I end up looking like Arnie (except for the face, where I am more remeniscent of a Greek God) and weighing the same as when I started.......

You need an electronic flasher "relay".

But, if it happens, it's life-changing........

Polish cavalry did take quite a walloping from the panzers but acquitted itself admirably, considering the odds. The Polish air force knocked about 130 technologically superior planes out of the air in two days before succumbing to lack of supplies. Many of the same pilots went on to become members of the two highest scoring squadrons in the Battle of Britain. In later years of the war, Polish fighter pilots were the officially requested escorts to the USAAF bomber squadrons during its daylight raids over Europe. For some years, I have felt ashamed that my leader at the time was not able to stand up to that other paranoid, psychopath ruler, Stalin. mike

How are you collecting? If by road, I'm about 500yards from the Angel of the North, if you want a break. mike

Don't forget to include a reference to his direct descent from Neanderthal man with no evidence of sapiens genes, his arrant lack of common sense in not keeping his gob shut on a sunny day in a no-windscreen vehicle and his entirely one-trick-pony TV persona. A complete waste of space.

Are you going to do the Lancaster taxi thingy? Got any spare places? mike

Stop your head on anything solid at ~20mph or more and, helmet or not, you will die. Helmets are good for graze and weather protection and light impacts. Against that, they add weight to your head, which may exacerbate neck injuries. m

My wife often tells me that she's going out to exercise her ferret.