Throttled

I am going to the Scottish Motorbike Show tomorrow and the most interesting bikes that will be on show, are Chinese. Some pretend not to be Chinese, like Morbidelli, but they are now part of the Keeway group. I have been watching reviews of the Morbidelli MBP C1002V cruiser and Voge Rally 300 and they are universally positive. We bought an MG3 Hybrid last year and it is well made, keenly priced, interestingly quirky, and so far reliable. It looks like the bikes are heading that way as well. Buying an established European brand and using its styling and sourcing parts there, has brought Chinese brands on, leaps and bounds. The entire Benelli range looks stunning. It is not all good, I test rode a CFMoto 800MT and hated its KTM sourced engine. The fuelling was awful, as was the noise. It was the Chinese parts of the bike, that were the best. Get a better engine and it would be an excellent bike. The progress, since the Lifan 125 I rode during my lessons, is amazing. It will be interesting to see if the Keeway and Hanway 125s are better made now. I would be amazed if my next bike was not Chinese, with styling and price the biggest winning factors. The only issue is of course long term reliability, but if build quality is an indicator, then that looks positive as well.

If the part is to sit about in an otherwise dry garage, do you need something as expensive as ACF50? Would WD40 not do, or even a bit of engine oil?

Pinlock is now a requirement for me, I find it works to stop the visor steaming up. I ride all year, in the rain, so get the advantage a lot.

I have previously taken relatives who expressed an interest, but clearly got bored after a while. It was good the year I met up with a former member here, Fast Eddie and went with him.

Going to ride to the Scottish Motorbike Show on Saturday, first time attended on a bike and first time alone. Looking forward to being able to do my own thing.

Washed it, took it for a ride, it needs another wash.

A pleasant ride out and then tucked back into the lock-up ready for tomorrow's red weather warning. This really is the calm before the storm.

Faith, Hope and Charity. The Quarriers charity, providing dozens of homes for orphans, all in one large village near Kilmacolm, founded in 1876 and Faith and Hope Avenues. Once a year, they ran a huge football tournament, inviting local youth groups to join in and I have fond memories of a day of football on made up pitches between the different houses.

The ferry from Uig to Harris only has four tie down points for motorbikes, so if want to use that route, book now. The summer timetable is out. I do not know how many bikes the Ullapool to Stornoway ferry takes.

Rode it to Sportsbikeshop, bought some Richa Andorra boots, rode home. Now I have boots that will be comfortable if I have a stop and a walk.

The Airoh Commander, with the peak removed, is the quietest helmet I have owned.

The memorial is down a very narrow street and would be hard to photo. I would pick the easy to photo Picture House on Hall Street. You can then walk to the memorial through the museum and library next door.

We are not allowed out in public with knives and guns, but for some strange reason, we have been allowed to take out dogs that can easily kill. That appears to be ending, thankfully.

It happened when I was working, delivering a meals on wheels. I ended up with bite marks on my arm and got a tetanus booster at A&E. The dog's owner, who was normally very responsible with it anyway, agreed to place the dog with a neighbour when we delivered to the house.

Until this year, I have had a dog attack me once in my life and it just left some slobber on my arm. Then twice this year, both times causing injury. When that XL Bully clamped its jaws on my arm, despite its owner being right there, I realised how it is that they can kill. I would have had no chance if it had not been for it responding to its owner.

I get to re-use 57 1/2!

In my defence @Hoggs I am sure I have given you tags to use next year for the IOM. Could Campbeltown have a tag next year. Kintyre is the last part of mainland Scotland I am yet to ride.

Decathlon is another excellent source of cheap thermals.

I plan to ride the last parts of the Scottish main land coast not yet ridden, with the Kintyre Peninsula and the Tayside section from Dundee to Aberdeen. The maybe head south to parts not yet visited, such as East Anglia and D&C.

Annual service for mine, which meant a ride out in -3. It has been very dry, so not much grit on the roads and I got in winterised with ACF50 last week.

When booking accommodation, the first thing I look at is how secure parking is.

There is no specific maximum width restriction for a motorbike, other than the universal maximum width of 2.55m. A trailer towed by a motorcycle cannot be wider than 1m, which is a good rule of thumb, as the most relevant law is about the safe carriage of items and nothing protruding so it poses a risk to other road users.

I ride all year round and the most successful winterisation by far, was getting ACF50 professionally applied.

I put adventure, as in the Versys 1000 (of which I am on my second and had the 650 before that) fall into the adventure touring category, according to most of the motorbike press. I think of that category as the SUV of the bike world. What was once for off road, is now for road use, and their size makes for comfortable touring.

Damn. The next closest to me is Planet Wax. They add in ceramic coating, which puts the cost to £150, but the £85 I was charged by All Year Biker seemed cheap and maybe contributed to them disappearing.