Frenchbob

Well written, Baldini! None who rides one of these flawed, unfashionable and great bikes could say it better.

Looking at Veronica Saint makes me feel like an old loopie; Actually, if you could offer me Veronica saint for my old loopie, you might have a deal.

Much better than the original attempt at humour; like I said - welcome!

Got it wrong again! Sorry. Trying to reproduce and appreciate nuances of language using the internet has its problems, as I should know. Welcome, rcono: joy of your V11! And, yes, let's have some more topless tarts..............

Teach us how to get guns responsibly and shoot drunks - we might be interested. Over to Hatchet...........

Fair dudes, Dude. Ask Martin: he mainly rides his in the rain.

Welcome, Reboot. An alarming number of hooligans on this site seem to be retired! Your V11 sounds magnificent. Any V11 is better than almost any other bike [my S3 excepted] if you're looking for soul, the "big grin" factor and don't mind the thing embarrassing you every now and again. Performance figures don't matter, do they? I still get many of my thrills from a 1955 Norton!

I used to be an English teacher!

Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...................ope. We still didn't get it.

Oh dear! I've never had my testicles smashed flat with a wooden mallet, although ownership of an elderly Audi 100 some years ago must have been a close experience in terms of pain. I have to admit that my Jag was built after Ford management made them sort of reliable. It does do 27mpg on a good day [4.0 litre six], and it seems to be a good one [i.e. mechanically OK even if the electrics throw a wobbly now and again and bits of trim occasionally fall off]. Ownership of Italian bikes tells you I have masochistic tendencies. At the end of the day, I just like driving it, I didn't pay too much for it, and I don't take it too seriously..........my serious car is an old FIAT

The term you're looking for is ' patina', Martin.

In Europe, we are responsible about such matters. You colonials should be ashamed!

Now that's the kind of responsible, mature, intellectual content for which this forum has become justly infamous................ A local solution for global warming! I like it!

Thanks for that, Big J. My friend and I have agreed that I won't be buying his CBX. You're not the only person to have warned me off! I rode his Benelli 750 Sei back from Trofeo Rosso on Sunday - so different from the CBX and really rather nice. I think I'll stick with Guzzis, though.

[not so stupid]

Hi, Martin. I rode it this afternoon. It's the pro-link, B version, with fairing and panniers. Very nice, only 30K km. The owner, a bike mate, has been having troubles with starting - carbs: he's had them ultra-whatsit cleaned but still has to suck on a pipe to get petrol through to all six after it's been standing a few days! It certainly goes, but it's too, er, mushy for my tastes: I didn't know what the wheels were doing most of the time! While I rode the CBX, he rode my S3 to guide the way along the banks of the Vienne west of Limoges, and I fell in love with my own bike all over again, for the umpteenth time, just following it! The CBX? It was like sitting on an armchair powered by a very powerful electric motor. Everything worked, and it did as it was told, but........... I think I'm not a CBX person. Neither is my mate, which is why he's selling it! He told me that he thought the acid test for "feel" in a bike's handling, in his opinion, was whether, if you rode over a cigarette end, you knew it was a filter or not.......my S3 passed, apparently. Whatever: you see, you can say no, gentlemen! Martin, I'm with you on old bikes being used: mine get thrashed on a regular basis, and keep breaking. I keep inexpertly mending them: it keeps me off the streets and keeps people like Motomecca, RGM, Sportax and the excellent Oliver Barnes at Trisupply ticking over! The S3 and I will be at the Trofeo Rosso this weekend: I shall be going up with CBX mate, who'll be riding his Benelli six [he has a six cylinder fetish] and another local motard on his 1200 Sportster. Hopefully, we'll meet up with Andre, who's campaigning his T3/S3/LeMans/cafe racer/racer beauty [you've seen it here] and his equally beautiful Gambalunga special. But don't tell BFG: he'll think I'm making it all up again...........

Two sluts, surely? .............and six bikes, of course. I'm going to look at an old Honda CBX1000 this afternoon. There is no cure. All you can do is feed your habit. Martin, you seem to have had a lot to do with old Jap stuff: what can you tell me about CBXs, except don't do it?

Personally, I find that the shopping channel provides quite enough excitement in my declining years. And that girl belongs on a Harley!

I agree: he did deserve the red. I'm sure he agrees, and that he is ashamed. And I still think his honour and dignity are intact! It's interesting that the official focus here is not on hating the Italians, but on celebrating a team that went much further than anyone really thought it could, and the media seem more or less to be following that line. Moreover, they played better than the Italians, on the night, in my opinion. I continue to deplore the Latin teams' habit [the Portugese did it to Rooney] of goading the star players in the opposing team in the hope that they will lose their cool in the heat of the match. However, the Italian game has had little reason to celebrate, recently: I don't begrudge them their moment.

You'll maybe have noticed that Zidane is still a hero today, in France. Could be something to do with the fact that the Italian player involved wished his family a slow death.......on the day that Zidane learned his mother was critically ill. Zidane's dignity and honour are intact as far as I'm concerned, which is more than I could say for Beckham, or Rooney, sadly.

...a talent called the ability to disappear up your own arsehole, one assumes. Now, where have I seen other practitioners very recently?

If the emancipation of women meant anything at all real terms, World Cup football squads would actually look like this, wouldn't they? Or have I missed something again?

They were brilliant, weren't they? I nearly overturned my bath chair, cheering. Zidane's just been getting the rest due his age, and fooling everyone.

All being well, I shall be watching this one work at the Trofeo Rosso on 22nd/23rd July. I'll reprot back with an action photo if my meagre skills with the tiny digital do-dah allow.

Just about, apparently. At least, you can rely on the roads being empty at certain times, in England.