Ballabio Bertie

Ohhh! So this :rasta: is the problem!! Thank f**k for that, Ithought I had Alzheimers.....

Apparently the Belstaff IS just a fashion item...Just as well really,they were always f***ing useless as waterproofs. Very good at keeping water INSIDE the pockets as I recall. But there were very few alternatives back then.. From The Times September 10, 2008 Mutton dressed as lad: a revolutionary biker jacket The Belstaff Trialmaster epitomises Che Guevara chic The Mutton recently returned from a trip to NY, which seemed to be having a bit of a motorcycling moment in fashion. In the window of Bergdorf Goodman on Fifth Avenue, there was a shop-dummy biker chick perched cross-legged and side saddle on a jauntily angled Triumph Scrambler, while down in the East Village, the RRL Ralph Lauren boutique had a vintage BMW in the window. A couple of blocks away, I spotted a huge billboard for the sportswear brand K-Swiss, featuring a dude standing with what looked like another vintage Beamer. The Big Apple seems to be in love with the idea of motorcycling, which is ironic given that the state of the roads and traffic actively legislates against this form of transport. Anyway, as that well-known New York journalist, Sex and the City's Carrie Bradshaw, might have put it: “That night I got to thinking ... if a guy wanted to do the biker look thing, just what kind of a jacket would he wear?” Well OK, the thought really struck me when I'd landed back in Blighty and was wandering around the new Dunhill store at Bourdon House in Mayfair, London, which opened last week. Set in a beautifully restored early 18th-century former residence of the second Duke of Westminster, this temple to the spirit of the original Alfred Dunhill contains a number of intriguing museum pieces, including, in the first-floor “Discovery Room”, a brown leather, double-breasted, collarless Dunhill biker jacket from 1909. The look certainly has heritage, then. But, although real riders of bikes wear jackets as a form of protective clothing, there are many who just like the look and its associations of rebellious youth, freedom and the open road. And, given these associations, it is perhaps little wonder that some of those who go for the Brando-meets-McQueen image are men of a certain age trying to belie the passage of time through adopting a piece of outerwear. Well, I suppose it's a lot less painful than surgery and a lot less bother than regular trips to the gym. But, given the all-too-easy taunt of MLC (mid-life crisis), how should the mature biker approach the jacket conundrum? Well, if you're really going to zip about at high speed with nothing between you and the tarmac but your clothes and a crash helmet, I'll assume that you are intelligent enough to invest in something resembling a piece of war-zone combat gear, complete with armour-plating, padding and reinforcement in all the right places. But if you just want to wear the thing as an everyday garment - on the bus, or in your car while listening to Today, say - I recommend that you go for something steeped in the romance of the long-distance biker-adventurer: the Belstaff Trialmaster. This wax cotton, belted number, shown below, looks much like something to be worn for country walks, but is in fact a replica of the very jacket that Ernesto “Che” Guevara wore on his trip around South America on a 500cc Norton motorbike in 1952 - a journey that would become immortalised in The Motorcycle Diaries. Che is the icon of revolutionary cool - in both meanings of the word. Before the beret and military gear, as a 23-year-old medical student, he donned his Belstaff biker jacket and set off with his friend Alberto Granado on a quest for “distant countries, heroic deeds and beautiful women”. If you want to capture some of that spirit, then the Trialmaster is the jacket for you.

Jet skis?We dont need no stinkin' jet skis......

Not the best of races,tyres being the biggest factor,but well done Rossi nevertheless.

Its getting closer Guy... I hope BFG hasn't been affected by the flooding over in N.I.

Is it May yet...?

Football??Oh yes, ARSE and all....

Hey Antonio,that S3 was for sale last year about 10 miles from where I live,and I missed it.... It was the importers press test bike when new,and came with all the original magazines with articles about it.....

ARSE!!!!!!

Maybe I should post this in tech topics. Haydn tried octane booster to combat pinging...Given the price of oil this may soon be a viable alternative fuel..

A lot has been written about Ken Bridge already,so I'll just post a few more pics..

Eventually I met up with a pair of Dutch S&M enthusiasts and we travelled on together... Bambi appears to have fallen on hard times ,( I think he has a drink problem).

Before the trip began for me I had to pick up a birthday present for a certain Dutchman.... Then of course the long tedious ride down the West coast of Scotland...

The rims look like Morini ones Soren,but the bike....Is it a Laverda?

I'm pretty f****d here because its usually cold AND very high humidity.....maybe I should relocate!

Blimey!!!Being labelled an S&M freak and man lover I can handle,But DUTCH!!!!????.........

I was disappointed by the three Tennis at Ken Bridge-they never sang any opera....

Not under the kilt...???

Your new career as an international Haggis trafficker beckons ,Euan...

Oh No!!!Dont let them breed.....

I had an excellent holiday culminating in another wonderful V11 weekend.Many thanks to Jaap and Anton for letting me tag along,to the Ken Bridge for being such a good venue and my fellow V11ers for being such a great bunch of people. Poor Mrs Gearjammer,which one of the gang did they make you feel....?

Hmmm,I think a plan may be forming.....

The May/June weekend is good for me BFG. As soon as a date is confirmed i can arrange time off work. September in Denmark also sounds good...

Aye,Ive finished the cheap Chilean red and I cant see the keyboard for smoke,it must be bedtime.....

Jeeeesus!!!! Thats one red rose I DONT want to find on my pillow!!!!!