fastbob

Some things should be seen AND heard .

Some bikes are just crying out for a loud exhaust , among them the good old ER5 . The GRP one totally transformed the riding experience for me . The standard one on my current ER5 is so quiet and it makes the bike feel so remote that I've no idea what it's doing . Motorcycling is a sensory experience that should be enjoyed to the full .

Alcohol is at the root of all this slobbish behaviour . Some of the scenes along the banks of Loch Lomond are sickening . I nipped into a wood opposite the garage at Glen Garry for a slash and found a brand new tent abandoned with all the contents . Some as*holes probably couldn't be bothered to pack it so they just walked away .

I revisited a wild site that I have used several times on my way up to Scotland a few weeks ago and it's been trashed . Deep tyre tracks everywhere , a rusting firepit made from car wheels , numerous sections of turf cut out and replaced but dead and various rubbish including a pair of nickers strewn around . I won't be going back .

So have I on numerous occasions . Just because it's illegal dosen't mean it's enforceable . I could be wrong but I believe the origins of the English law on camping can be traced back to Margaret Thatcher's paranoia about the emergence of the New Age Travellers and in particular the Stone Henge Convoy . This came to a violent head in the " Battle of the Bean Field " when the bully boys of the Met went in like a pack of savages , beating parents in front of their children , smashing vehicles and taking away dogs to be put down .

I think you've missed the point entirely . It's not wild camping if you have to pay for it . Wild camping is illegal in England and Wales but not in Scotland .

Sleep soundly .

According to a resident , nobody was killed but both cars looked like they had exploded . The police had been there for four hours taking measurements and they very kindly let me through after half an hour . As I said , my fuel gauge was in the red and I was on the wrong side of the River Severn to go looking for a garage .

Went out for a trundle around Worcestershire . Petrol gauge touching red so I divert off towards Tewkesbury only to discover the road closed due to a serious incident . And it is a serious incident that I wouldn't photograph out of respect . The guy doing the measurements has kindly agreed to let me through in half an hour ..

I went to Manchester once .

I wouldn't have mentioned any of those trivial accessories to the insurance company . None of their business.

Like ask the opinion of a load of experienced bikers on a forum ?

I feel that a Malted Milk is the more purposeful biscuit here . Nice biscuits , pronounced Niece by the way , have a slightly effeminate air about them ..

It's good to share when you've received good service but , as previously mentioned , this is a largely UK * based forum composed mostly of funny old blokes who don't like Facebook . * That little island off the coast of Europe where we drink warm beer wearing Bowler Hats while we watch recordings of the Benny Hill show .

You'll soon get sick of commuting on that buzzy little thing .

Four grand opens up a lot of scope for alternatives to a mid range race rep style bike like the CBR 600 .

It's this kind of thing that gives those fine Harley Davidson motorcycles a bad image .

Living in a simulation eh ? Here's one I stumbled upon on Facebook that goes like this . If two people can sit side by side on a bus and there is a central aisle with another two seats on the other side , how come it can fit down the same road as a car where I can touch both doors at the same time ? This was spoken with a reasonable degree of sincerity by a female who appeared convinced that " They " had written the code incorrectly . That being said , I can summon my cat by telepathy . ( Sometimes )

I haven't really got an opinion about this because all of my bikes as far as I can remember have had louder than standard exhausts . The only one that even I felt uncomfortable with was my first GSXR 1100 that had a Micron can sawn in half and rivetted back up . That was just nasty . My GSX 1100 with a Vance and Hines and no packing was a close second with a lovely booming roar . My recent favourite loud bike was my last ER5 with a little GPR slip on . It had a lovely roar to it and a delightful crackle on the over run but always returned to a reasuring metronomic thump thump thump on tick over . By contrast the current ER5 is virtually silent in comparison .

My advice to everyone is to get yourselves ensconced in a Weatherspoons . Love them or loath them , they all have marvelous Air Conditioning !

I think we need to get this thing back on track .

I have every administration for your perseverance . You managed to park everywhere except an empty Lay-by .

Probably too late now but I always ride from Carlisle to the outskirts of Glasgow on the B7076 / B7078 . https://www.roads.org.uk/articles/b7076-and-b7078 This little used road is composed largely of sections of the old A74 that have been reduced to two carriageways .

Couldn't find a Lay-by but I needed to stop my bike and stand and look at it . It's starting to sink in . I've got a Harley , a really big , proper Harley . The Sportster was a great bike and I'd recommend it to anyone but this is in a different league .

I don't think that is actually a Lay-by . Looks more like a parking bay to me . Can't beat a big , air cooled muscle bike .