Leaderboard

I've just been offered and accepted a job! It'll be a while I have to be security cleared, it's less money! but it's local ( 2 miles from home) it's days and it's office or even possibly home based! I am so relieved! I have cider!

Took the L plate off and whizzed it cos ive only gone and passed my test

After being on my 125 for 2 years I decided to take the plunge and upgrade. I wanted something sporty looking but comfortable to use daily so decided on the CBR600F. It's fantastic bang for your buck and ticks all the boxes for what I wanted. I've had it a few weeks now and really enjoying it.

Here she is....

Went to put fuel in van, a regular expensive thing, usually uneventful. Noticed a young lady with a nice honda sitting against the wall next to the bike, bit odd maybe she's just having a breather, as I walked past looked like she was trying to put the key in the bollard First thought was looney everything ok I asked, she had somehow bent the ignition key and was waiting to be rescued, AHH gimme that, bit of a go with 2 pairs of pliers followed by some reworking with a hammer and some silicone spray and all was good. She was very pleasant and just a nice person, rarity these days.

Ten days in hospital and I'm finally on my way home . I have nothing but the highest of praise for every single one of the army of people of all races and creeds who cared for me from the Doctors to the lovely ladies who brought me a cuppa in the morning and everyone inbetween . It has truly been a privilege to watch such an amazing organisation in action and we must do everything to preserve this jewel in England's crown . Thank you NHS !

I bought this...... nc750s Hubs got a yammy tracer 900gt They were just there, sat there together.....waiting for us.

The opportunity arose for the to make the great move. Somewhere in south Asia, away from cold, political correctness, haggis, riding 3 days a year and all those things that make the Scottish riding a thrilling adventure even if very short one. Having consulted with the governmental authority in the capital I was informed that the amount of tax plus sea transport and all the other things together bring the bikes will be an expensive option. Better buy new ones when moving. Therefore, although sadly, I will have to sell both including the trailer for the pan. I won't be finishing the clock I was working on, apologies to @Stu But more pressing and urgent tasks got in the way. I have all the parts and there is little remaining to be done if anyone wants to take over the project. Finally, you won't get rid of me that easily. I'll always be around to wind you guys up

Well okay regret this as I’m already not sure about the choice but I swapped my 2005 tiger 955 for this ‘99 zx9r today… it was sportsbikes that started the obsession with biking when I was around 5 years old but now I’m through my test I find most sportsbikes too small, the Kawasaki seems to be one of the most generous in physical size so I’ve taken the plunge and hope it doesn’t backfire on me

Well its now official I am the owner of an R1200RT Pick it up on Tuesday I went to look at it yesterday and put a deposit down pending a test ride today and comparing it to the FJR its so much better in everyway! It feels lighter despite being heavier it handles effortlessly and soaks up the crap roads as if you are floating on a carpet! As a result I had to have it

My nephew has been obsessed with getting a bike , so today we went and put a deposit on this ... he’s over the moon .... he’s never rode a bike so I got to teach him wish me luck

Sooooooooo, feck me, it all happened so quickly. Bought a new one on 0% interest, a real no-brainer. Collect it on Saturday morning.

Rode up to Ullapool on the Harley and did a spot of whale watching .

Following up to say thanks for everyones words of encouragement, passed today with no faults. Let the real learning begin.

So fook it .... pick it up next week , bring on the V Twin

I'm on my way back from Scotland now . I had beautiful weather for five days with little more than a sprinkling of rain .I went up as far as Lochinver by the long route . The Harley took everything in its stride including the Applecross Pass .I'll do a full report when I get back .

Good evening Looking likely that Sue will be able to come home tomorrow or Friday!

As some of you will be aware , I have sold my Sportster . But what have I bought next you may be wondering ? Well , it is with great pleasure that I can now reveal that I have purchased a Harley Davidson FXDC Dyna Super Glide , all 1,585 cc's of it . Not only that , I bought it from fellow forum member Ian Frog . The story begins a couple of years ago when we had a meet up to compare Harleys and Ian let me have a go on it . Since then I have dropped the odd subtle hint about buying it and two weeks ago Ian offered me the bike at a very acceptable price . So I sold the Sportster in record time ( For me ) and rode this magnificent beast home yesterday amid the nerve-wracking clamour of the motorway rush hour . I went for a proper ride later on and I absolutely love it ! Thanks Ian .

PASSED MY BLOODY MOD2!!!! Time to go shopping. PS. sorry for shouting, I'm just happy

Begrudgingly, I was won over to the ease and simplicity of Applepay. It always worked. Then I got an Android phone. Nothing ever worked properly. So, a new iPhone is on the way. Last night I wiped the Samsung. Bike got delivered. Jacket was donned. Off I went to stop for some fuel. Filled the tank, went to pay, Card 1 wanted to be inserted - well that's no damn use as I've no idea what my PIN is. If I ever needed to know it I'd look at the app...but there are no apps on the phone because it's cleaner than a clean thing in a bubble bath with a loofer. Tried a second card. Same bloody thing. Same bloody thing with all my cards. I looked at the woman, the woman scowled at me, her husband scowled at me, I scowled at my collection of cards on the counter. "You'll have to transfer the money," he said. "How," I replied. "I don't have any of my details and my phone doesn't have any apps." "You'll have to ride off and be reported for absconding then"...and I swear he was almost smiling. My world-famous placid demeanour was about to give way to a slightly more grumpy version of Dave. Then a bloke said, "Don't worry mate, I got you." A biker. A Gixxer rider. Max gave me his name and number and I promised to refund him later. He told me the same thing happened in the same garage to him a few week's back and he got a £60 fine from the owner in the post after he rode off. What an absolute belter of a bloke. I'm blown away. Seems like an age since I last heard of a biker helping another biker, and it's the first time I've been the recipient. What do we reckon a decent thank you gift should be? Rum? Wine? Roses?

My wife has an excellent system of ensuring her car is clear of ice and ready to drive on frosty morning. I go out in my PJs and scrape off the ice. When it's clear enough to see out of the windscreen I set off down the frozen country lanes trying to dodge the worst of the potholes and stay of out the ditches. After a couple of miles the heater starts to work and by the time I'm home it's up to temperature. The windscreen and windows are clear inside and out, and the car is toasty warm. The downside of this system is that the de-icing operative is (I am told) a grumpy old git and expensive to maintain.

For those of you who have been following my journey from complete novice to attempted biker, today was a huge (for me) milestone. I had a Doctors appointment. In the past, I'd just walk to the Doctors and back. Today, however, I threw caution to the wind and decided no! Not today, pavement! Today, I go by road! And so I did! I went out on the bike for a lunchtime Doctors appointment, and then on to the pharmacy, with all the associated Friday lunchtime traffic and the extra pedestrians around the school and college, and did so with no errors! Shifting up, shifting down, stopping and moving off. Everything went perfectly. While I know I'm still a long way off being as awesome a rider as many of you fine people are, I'm getting there. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there! We are about a Month on from my CBT now and as those of you who have followed will know, things have been slow going for me. 43 years a pedestrian, and never having driven a car, to riding a proper bike, has been one hell of a learning experience. To those of you who may be struggling with your CBT, or who may be nervous about your first steps afterward, please trust me when I say that you should take things easy, all in your own time, acknowledge your weaknesses and work on them and don't get overconfident about your strengths. Every day is a new experience. Every mistake is a learning opportunity. Every ride you can push yourself just a little further and a little more out of your comfort zone. If I can do it, you can too! Mindset is key. I'm really starting to get the hang of this. Oh, and if, by chance, you person reading this was one of the two bikers who waved at me while I was on my way to the Doctors, I apologise for not waving back. I'm new. I'm learning. I'll wave back doubly as hard as soon as I am able but, for now, just accept this forum post as my wave back. *WAVE*. I'm now positively itching to get back out on the bike again tomorrow. I've caught the bug.

I'm most definitely nominating the driver of a red, series 3 BMW this morning. I left the Victory cafe on the mountain, on my bike and headed back towards town. As I got up to Brandywell I had this guy behind me flashing his headlights like a man possessed, it was a car full of young guys. My first thought was "nob in a BMW trying to impress his mates". I was very wrong, he stayed behind me, flashing his lights so I pulled over at Windy corner to see what his problem was. He pulled in behind me and gave me my wallet back. Like a complete tit I left it sat on top of my back box, got distracted talking and putting my gear on, forgot about it and rode off, it obviously fell off and he picked it up. Restored my faith in humanity "for today anyway" , total legend IMHO.

So I’ve moved house. Some of you might have noticed messages from me about riding my motorbike to Scotland in order to play with my sailing boat. Well I have moved to a property near my boat. And with great riding roads all around. And the new house is superb. Red squirrels in the garden. It is far North. And this is my view from my terrace. Yeah ok

I bought a small air blower as recommended by @V650 for drying the bikes. It was on the kitchen worktop this evening so after tea I opened it and plugged it in. It is a quite a tiny thing so I was expecting a fairly gentle waft of air....this was my first mistake. My second mistake was pointing it towards my dear lady wife who has just had her hair done. Third mistake was quickly realising my second mistake and deflecting the rather vigorous airflow upwards towards the ceiling. We have tracks with LED spotlights on the ceiling. Apparently these do not get dusted as frequently as they might be. Over the years this has resulted in a large amount of dust gathering. This was instantly and very effectively blasted clear. You may have thought my impromptu cleaning of the light fittings would have been greeted with delight. Not so.....not only was visibility instantly reduced to just a few feet but it transpired there were several open containers of meals cooling prior to freezing. These now have added ingredients which are not in the recipe. If you buy one of these blowers be advised that the airflow is somewhat brisk. Operate out of doors and under the supervision of a responsible adult.

Collected my shiny new toy from Frasers of Gloucester. Rode the 5 miles home but added another 50 for fun. Apart from being restricted to 4500 rpm for running in (and that's virtually impossible) it caused me to have a shit eating grin plastered over my face. Really nice bike to ride and for me possibly better than the Multistrada although it's really too early to tell but first impressions are "this is fun!"

look where you want to go! Don't look where you don't want to go!

Rumour has it that Kawasaki and Yamaha are closing many of their plants due to declining bike sales. Apparently, the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles, and Generation X is only buying a very few, and the next generation, the Millennials, aren’t buying any at all. A recent study was conducted to find out why. Here are the reasons why Millennials don't ride motorcycles and why sales are down: 1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat. 2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on. 3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving. 4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one. 5. Don't have enough muscle to hold the bike up when stopped. 6 Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency care. 7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning. 8. They can't afford one because they spent 12 years in college trying to get a degree in Humanities, Social Studies or Gender Studies for which no jobs are available. 9. They are allergic to fresh air. 10. Their pyjamas get caught on the exhaust pipes. 11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil. 12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen. 13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch. 14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding. 15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did. 16. Motorcycles don't have power steering or power brakes. 17. Their nose ring interferes with the face shield. 18. They would have to use leg muscle to back up. 19. When they stop, a light breeze might blow exhaust in their face. 20 It could rain on them and expose them to non-soft water. 21. It might scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy. 22. Their man bun won’t fit under a helmet.

Good evening.. When I say “good”, I mean “knackered but pleased with my efforts over that last few days”. The garden to the South West of the house has a steep slope and had been left to its own devices for twenty years by the previous owners. It was occupied by nettles, brambles, snowberry bushes and a whole host of other vegetation. Also pretty inaccessible without a machete (ok, I exaggerate. Slightly ). Today, after four years of prevarication, we completed building the steps down to this part of the garden - now labelled “The Dell”. We still have to level the area at the bottom of the steps and install seating - I’m repurposing an old swing seat for this purpose. At last, no more carrying wood, type 1, and hoggin 25 yards and then down the steps. I think I’ll treat myself to a beer.

Good afternoon from the Southern Hemisphere. A balmy 31 C and blue skies and seas. However the skies are occupied by blue footed boobies who have decided my ship is a nice place to rest on when they take a break from their fishing. They produce enough stinking guano to fertilise a small country. Absolutely reeks of fishy bird shit. Had I a shotgun there'd be a few less. I just shout rude things at them which has no effect at all except giving me a sore throat. Feathered f**kers.

See that it took the jury only an hour to acquit him of all charges. The CPS needs f**king with a fork as it should never have gone to court in the first place. Both the scrotes had rap sheets as long as your arm and need to be locked up for years.

And a happy new year to all members of the forum

I think Sue is coming home today! Hospital are happy they're just trying to sort local care out.

Good morning Sue is out of critical care and on a ward

Sue is out of surgery and in recovery it went well

I've had my bike for more than seven months, today was the first time I've actually had a real, and proper ride. I decided that as it was too hot to do any work on our little farm, I'd go for a ride on my now repaired little machine. Feckin' Nora!! I just had the time of my life, it took me 1 hour 40 min's to do 45 miles, but I'd decided to go to Mersea island (Essex), and back again via Sainsbury's. So I had a 3 hour round trip, backside hurting towards the end of the outgoing journey, and shoulders hurting on the way home. I spent most of the time going through towns and villages at 20-30Mph, it was sweltering crawling along, no opportunities to overtake as it was school home time. But I just turned up the volume on Bob Marley and enjoyed my bike's new ability to actually crawl along in traffic, or bimble along at 30Mph. I'm absolutely buzzing, I just want to get back on it, I'm so much happier with it, and I feel so confident riding it now. Happy Days...... Having reached the harbour (sort of) at West Mersea, it was at this point that I renewed my vows with her.

I have just got back from doing the NC500 with my Wife ( only our second holiday together with no kids! ) Despite being stuck in a car for 8 days we are still together All credit to my Wife, she did all the planning and booked us some cracking places to stay in, the highlight for me being this cabin on the mountainside in Ullapool.... Was knackering carrying suitcases up to it though! Roads were a bit dodgy in places, by that I mainly mean potholes, and as it was raining most of the time that made it fun not knowing if it was a puddle or a 6inch hole Unfortunately applecross was completely misted over with no visibility at all so on the way back instead of taking the pass we went on the coastal road. Glad we did as it is a great road with barely any other cars to be seen, would of been fun on a bike Also I have just learned that the footbridge over Corrieshalloch Gorge that my Wife forced me to go across (despite knowing how much I hate heights) got shut down the day after we went as they have discovered potential structural issues!!

I'll fill it in, but these questions about "gender identity" are really getting on my ti... Oh, never mind. Can we please go back to asking the question "Sex? M/F" so the sniggering thirteen year olds can write "yes please" and the rest of us be done with all this two-spirit, pansexual, xenogender, genderfluid rowlocks. I'm a bearded 50 year old bloke. Some nurse at the hospital the other week asked me if there was any chance I could be pregnant.

In my experience it is generally the wife who is the expensive ornament

I'm afraid I'm not able to help regarding trailers but I can't help wondering ... Would you be prepared to offer training courses for other wives?

Good news. I finally got through the DVLA and explained the situation. They’ve now sent me an application form to fill to claim the bike as mine. They explained that I’d need to contact the local authority, and the Police to confirm they have no objection to me claiming the bike, I must also then spy for an online vehicle check to confirm not on finance or stolen (already done) and then send in a covering letter explaining the circumstances of bike not being registered in the UK and being an import. If I do that, the lady thinks they’ll issue me the V5C. Here we go!

I will be delivering the model boat I built for my father-in-law. The radio and motor were the last things to be fitted. Sea trials were held in our bath.

Passed my Mod 2 today at the second attempt. Great feeling! Passed at Hamilton in Scotland. I failed on the 6th of December at the same test centre. I was as nervous as I can ever remember being for anything. Generally I rode pretty well only picking up only two minor faults, problem being that I failed about 5 minutes into the test and I knew it. It was a horrible feeling. I'd pulled over in a safe place as instructed however when I went to pull out, I never spotted a Nissan Micra pulling out from behind the examiner who was in his car behind me. Not helped by a horrible low sun which made it very difficult to see anything when I was looking over my shoulder. I pretty much tormented myself about it for a couple of weeks and all I could think about was not wanting to experience that feeling again. However, I think knowing what the test felt like and what a fail felt like helped me this time. Whatever the reason, I was much less nervous, managed to get a good night's sleep last night and set off from the riding school at 8am down to the test centre. It was a different examiner today (on a bike this time!), seemed like a really decent guy albeit very 'by the book'. He took me on a test route which was much more 'technical' than last time round and I was on a number of roads that I just hadn't ever been on before. Lots of speed limit changes (few mandatory then advisory 20s into 30s and vice versa), country roads that were completely new to me and that I didn't actually know were part of the test route(s) and then right at the end of the test I had a bit of a nightmare scenario right next to the test centre with Learner drivers pulling out and blocking traffic, parked cars all over the place and a flatbed truck that decided to start reversing off of someone's driveway onto the same bit of road. It was one of those one's that you've just never come across in your lessons and I just had to do what I thought was right/safe at the time. Anyway, ended up back at the test centre eventually with a pass, one minor fault and a compliment from the examiner saying that it was a very good ride. Not that I was caring much about the last part - any pass at all would've done me just fine. Straight home, taxed and insured my Honda NC700s and got out for a few hours this afternoon in the pissing Scottish rain. Happy days! Great feeling!

It's a fantastic feeling taking a new bike out having just passed my test; a world away from my 125 which I loved. A bit nervous but within an hour you realise your training has stayed with you and got you where you are. Had one worrying moment when I hit some mud on the road down a country lane otherwise just a great feeling flowing through the Worcestershire countryside. Took in two motorway junctions, felt no different than when in my car so will make my way to Motorcycle live again tomorrow only this time on my bike. Great day.

I phoned my local radio station today, to enter their mystery prize competition. The presenter answered and said, "Congratulations on being our first caller, all you need to do is answer the following question correctly, to win our Mystery Grand Star Prize".. "That Fantastic!" I called out in delight. "Feel Confident?" The presenter asked, "It's a Maths Question." "Well, I've got a degree in Mathematics " I proudly replied, "Ok then, to win our grand prize of 2 VIP tickets to a Harley Davidson launch and to be the first person ever to test ride the new bike, what is 2+2 ?" “17” I replied.

proper ride , got out for hour and half this evening, things a hooligan , still grinning now , sounds good to , love it .

As I passed my mod 2 this morning I taxed and insured the ER5 that's been stuck in the garage for a year and took it for spin! ... I like it!

Been a long journey but did it at last. First lesson August last year first fail December 3 but here we are.....Mod 2 here we come .

Now that the ER5 is almost finished I find myself without a project . Until now . I've just been given some work to do on someone else's 1966 Triumph 3TA ! The bike is nearly complete but it just needs the top end and carburettor fitting plus a lot of fettling . This picture is not the actual bike but it's close to the pictures I've seen of it so far . This should be a lot of fun and I get paid for doing it .