belfastguzzi

Guzzirider and other satellite tv slaves, Macau Grand Prix is on tonight, Monday, at 11.05 for an hour. BBC1. I guess it's BBC1 NI, so twiddle your satellite knobs. Remember that photo?:

ONLY your nose!? Well you should see the scar round my neck after my head was stitched back on! There's a big bolt too. Anyone know what torque it should be tightened to?

OF COURSE IT DID! You have been following my maintenance regime after all. Your next step, Grade 2, is to get the paint pots out. Have you got some time over Christmas?

Metal gasket?! I wonder did they change to that because so many gaskets were being damaged on assembly, leading to the leaks? Doubt it. Seems strange for this location / use. As for demagnetisation – assuming you're putting it back together this side of Christmas, it's hardly something to worry about.

I breathed in too deeply once – and sucked in a concrete block. It was so heavy. it made my head fall off. Unfortunately it fell on the chopping board where I was cutting carrots – and I didn't stop chopping quick enough. Boy, that hurt.

Yeah, it is. Look's like it's a year too early.

JRT's coming? It's ok: sure I can put that stuff in the back of the car with me.

Yeah. It's a shame. But if you want cheered up, drop in on the Scuras.

There's an hour long programme being shown on UTV at the moment (8pm here). It's streamed at http://u.tv/live/ if you want to try to get it. It's not working for me though. A lot of magical goals have already been shown – I'm sure there will be more to come. It's better than Moto GP

It's somewhere I have wanted to get to – someone should arrange a trip – and figure out for me how I can find some free time.

He's not that smart. He hasn't got Quiz X yet.

Hmmm. Johnny Badgoose be good? Unlikely. But I'll monitor the situation over the next coupla weeks. Otherwise, you get the Road King. Luckily for you, Ben's already getting the BMW – thing's coulda been worse.

Would you like a Road King? I hear they're pretty hot. I think it could be one of those internet rumours though, 'cause I also heard that the King is dead.

Sorry folks. This wasn't meant to be a comparison of who deserved to die more and who wasted their life... just the opposite just a comment on how, through delightful sports skills (sports – as it happens, in these instances) and warmth of character (that meant that so very many 'ordinary' people felt they knew and connected with these folk) generations of people, across divisions, can be inspired and have their vision lifted above immediate circumstances. All sports events can potentially do that for a short period. Some special people can sustain it way beyond the short term. Joey Dunlop was/is such a person (that's the motorbike connection, even if it's not Moto Guzzi) George Best was/is another (no motorbike connection, but the subject of football appears here every now and again – and George and Joey admired each other, Robert Dunlop also and I imagine he, with all his own road racing battlescars, will be at the funeral). On Saturday there'll be the biggest funeral that his country has ever seen. While they are grieving, yes, and 'frustrated', yes, all those people won't be there because they're 'morbid', or to meditate on disaster: they'll be there in such strength because there's something that's worth celebrating. And for me, one of the reasons that this is notable is that as a football non-enthusiast I, probably like a lot of people, would more often associate the sport with unbelievably gross salaries and incredibly shallow characters – and with motorbikes, we all know that the perception of 'yer common-or-garden man in the street' is that they're nothing more than noisy, vile, anti-social, speeding, hooligan-piloted death-traps. Yet here, through the achievements and the character of certain individuals, they're taken way outside those perceptions and can be seen as vehicles for demonstrating the best (excuse the pun) in the human spirit. OK, a quiz point to anyone who can translate this into one, or even two easily digested sentences.

Oh dear. That's not actually designed...is it?

and that engine clearly has no functional connection to anything at all either

Target practise? It started out as a whole motorbike.

No, it's not about sympathy, and it's definitely not about comparing one tragedy with another. Absolutely not. I was thinking about the incredible power of special, talented characters to lift and galvanise the positive spirit of a whole country, not just for a short time but for years and generations. But maybe because of that, it's more of a local thing. The coverage and perspective in England is probably very different. At a time of great trouble and turmoil, (particularly the late sixties/seventies) the gifts of Joey Dunlop and George Best took people way beyond the grim circumstances. Again - it's not even a media thing. These guys were/are loved by many, many people for their genuine qualities – never mind, even despite, what the media have done. Only a small proportion of those many, many people who are touched and inspired and given a different sense of pride and identity are sports enthusiasts. I just though that was interesting, as football sport and motorbike sport are both regularly referred to here.

I'm no football fan, but George Best had an extraordinary, mystical genius that communicated with and delighted everyone, football enthusiast or not. Maybe a lot of you have never heard of Georgie, 'The Belfast Boy', 'The Fifth Beatle', although he did play in America for a while when he was on the long road downwards due to alcohol. Here, there's been talk of nothing else over the past week except his severe illness, protracted decline in hospital and then death at the end of last week. If you've any memory of Bestie, have a look here, a site picked randomly off Google. His funeral this Saturday will undoubtedly be even bigger than the other sporting genius who died far too young: Joey Dunlop's. There's a video compilation here. I'm still waiting for it to download as it's 16MB (be warned), so I haven't seen it – but it can't be anything other than fabulous. 1946 – 2005 [And Don Fardon (remember Indian Reservation?) is re-recording the 'Belfast Boy' single from 1972, a song originally recorded for a BBC tv film and then released due to huge interest and demand. Number One in the Christmas Charts next month?] Edit: watched the video – so should you if you've any interest in football at all. It's quite short, even though the download is so big, but well worth a look.

OK, done. You're easier to please than Ben anyway. Now what does everyone else want?

WHAT!! ANOTHER new bike! Or is it a car this time? They sure hypnotised you good and proper, Goffredo. Moto Guzzi Matrix indeed! Go and stand in the windtunnel for 3 hours. That might bring you to your senses.

pssst.. I just heard – a couple of new limited editions are in the windtunnel: Norge Viking (fairing extends on up over head like a, well, sort of like a Viking helmet; fairing also extends round the side, like, well, like a Viking shield) and the Breva Ballerina (being described as the 21st century Guzzi for the 21st century new Tennista)

I've just heard, a Performance Bikes 'journalist' escaped the crusher and he's gonna spill the beans in the next issue: "GRISO – it so doesn't exist!" Go order your copy now.

OH! Right. That's the BM cancelled then. I'll give it to someone who deseves it. Someone in the Tenni Forum should fit the bill.