jimmy

well done matey

I try to use the guy who runs our local shop. His name is Ewan Haldane and he used to race bike. His claim to fame is 3rd place in the 1954 Senior Clubmans TT. He was leading for the first 2 laps and overshot his petrol station. It cost him an extra 30s and he lost by 29s. A great auld guy to sit and chat with and he still has his BSA Gold Star he raced with.

That is the favourite expression used by the Professional Standards Dept in my work. Usually follows some form of f*ck up

Hey Meat My auldest boy also rides a bike and the best/worst ride happened at the start of the year. Me and him with my daughter on the back of my bike and my youngest son on the back of no1 sons bike. About 20 miles away from home I happened to look in the mirror, saw my daughters elbow, and my 2 boys behind me and then the thought 'what if something happens' hit me like a lump of 4x2. It turned into a complete mind fuck for me and I was glad when it was over and all remained well.

1977 aged 13 I used to see this bike pass me on my way to school each morning. It was a Norton Commando and I wanted one. A year later me and a pal chipped in and bought a fizzy which we used as a field bike, we progressed onto an xl125 and a ts125. Turning 17 I bought an xs250 and it turned out to be a pig in a poke but undeterred I got through my test on it and then bought a 4/4. A week before my 19th birthday I got my first Triumph and that then became my bike of adored choice, although I still have a love of Yams and have owned a few. The Norton Commando? well I saw this bike every day and finally tracked down the owner. I was standing drooling over it, 14yrs old and in love, when the owner came out his door. "F*ck off away from the bike" shouts he. Stick your Norton up your arse thinks I and have never even sat on one since then

First of all mate, pick up a manual for the bike this will help now and in the future. How to's on you tube can also help (seeing it done rather than reading about it) The air screw will adjust your mixture and the throttle stop will adjust the tick over You need to know the valve clearances before adjusting them so once again a manual is recommended. Its great you want to do these things but get on to the gf's faither and get him to show you or keep you right. Get him a beer afterwards to show your appreciation and he'll be more willing to help out in the future

I liked the song

Congrats to both of you

Poor girl. Hope she makes a full recovery, and then gets her dream job. Meanwhile make sure it has been reported to the Cops and as stated above, get them to check out all the cctv in the area

Well thats me done it. Been debating with myself and others over the last 2 1/2 years. Whats best for me, what's the bigger picture. Who will benefit from my decision and who will lose out. Will my friends and neighbours respect my decision, do I care. So with a heavy weight on my mind I finally set out and made my choice.....It was the right one.......the bike started after only 2 kicks I never thought it would, but it did and ran sweet as a nut. A great day for me. Oh I also popped out to put an X in a box.

As the boys say, White lines, drain covers and wet leaves. Look well ahead and plan your braking, keeping it gentle (obviously unless forced to do otherwise). Extra attention during low light or worse still, low winter sun. Buy the best kit your budget allows and wrap up well Washing your bike will allow you to keep an eye on its overall condition, regarding chain wear, blown bulbs, loose bolts etc. Enjoy it, its all part of your rites of passage.

well smileyfaecs' is just about right

All we have to do is buy/sell our bikes on the first of the month....oh and do the transaction outside a Post Office so we can ride off on our new toy

It's ok foamy, we can talk about it now, now it's over

Glad you're ok mate, and as others have said, its important to read the road ahead. Not just tree lines, and poles but the road furniture. Was it solid white lines or broken lines very close together, were there arrows painted on the road, countdown markers....All these things help you to read an unfamiliar road. Of course there may have been none of the above, but it may help in the future

(un)fortunately not Slice, although I did get to sleep in student digs and eat bag meals

Well, 12 days of 14hr shifts and I'm now back from Cardiff. Was down at the Nato summit deployed on a RIB. Luckily we had glorious weather with only very light rain on 2 mornings. Just catching up before the good lady comes in from work

Kinda mate I'm down in welshwans neck of the woods. Very limited access to tinternet and just as little time to do it

For a couple of weeks, so play nice and enjoy Squires.

I'm not as old as you, meat, but when I got my first bike a few of my mates had vespas and we used to a wee bit of friendly rivalry laughingly saying the Mod revival would never last. This was about 1981-2. This summer I have seen more groups of scooters than ever before and certainly appears to be a much healthier 'scene' up here anyway.

I remember about 30 yr ago reading Superbike magazine. A bloke called Steve Rapid did a column in it. One column was about the impending Ice Age as forecast by the scientists of the day. These things come in cycles

or even vertical thinking

...and as if by magic If you don't like the Who fast forward to 3.00

I did the same with my auld xs tank only mine was in the Triumph style