Modern Vespa

havent been on a for a while. Good thread to say how ya'all doing so, hello. Im back. Vespa less but Im still here.

Spartacus x

Not for long I hope Welcome back!

cheers Husky, yes, hopefully not long. Might be venturing down the new lml route for now. how are you?

Looks much nicer! I have some pro bolts somewhere I think.. they might be red... you're welcome to them. Actually I think they might even be a pinkish red, if you know what I mean.

On another note

Any takers for our Normandy weekend at the end of July?

It really is one of the most fun things you'll do all year. I'm even coming back from Ireland for it...

Normandy! delicious food, lovely roads, great people as an added bonus, anyone who wants to travel to Le Havre with Doug and I could also (if they are very nice to us ) share our spacious cabin on the overnight ferry from Portsmouth.

I was the smallest-displacement bike by a long, long way last year - it didn't make a bit of difference. Apart from getting a bit shat up on the last day by the large piles of oily gravel 'crumble' lying around after road resurfacing, I had a great time.

Likewise I spent some of yesterday cleaning off my collection of seasonal bugs from 4 countries from the GTS post Italy. Although I put some (Blue Peter moment) 'sticky back plastic' under the front rack feet to protect the paintwork, 2000 miles later it'd still picked up a few small swirls, which got me to thinking how these little medals of honour would be lost if I PXed/upgraded her for something else, as others often do. So having done various jobs big and small, changed this, fixed that, picked up a little dink here and there, I'm just going to keep her. We have history.

Next job is to fix the speedo cable (inner broke 6 inches from the hub a few miles from the Swiss border) and get the Carbone shocks fitted right. The new underbody paint took a bit of beating on the long ride and looks like it needs some rework in places, and talking of powder coating, I meant to text Bill to say how bloody good my wheels still look after the Polish Polisher at his place did such a great job on them. I'm looking to pick up a spare CVT cover to send him to do when he can fit it in, so thanks again Mr D, and don't jump ship for a while! (and thanks for the PM)

Have a great week everyone

Glad you like the rims Matey.

I am to please.

Bill xxx

Yeah, that whole holocaust thing doesn't seem to have been that good of a deal. My wife's family tree was -- what's the word I want here -- truncated? -- during that special time.

Thank goodness all that stuff is over now.

You and your family stay safe, my friend. We are with you...

Thanks. May 'all this stuff' be over soon... for everyone's sake.

Why does it feel like the days you want to last forever pass in the blink of an eye and the days you want to pass quickly seem to drag on forever...

Quote of the day heard on LBC Talk Radio -

There's non such thing as a gay cake, although Battenberg is quite camp.

Hilarious.

Bill xxx

Boiler menders came for the second time today - all sorted, nice to have maintenance chaps who really know their stuff. New heat exchanger, new manifold, new flow control, 3L of X100 inhibitor (and the radiators didn't need to be drained either), all done in just under two hours. I've got my money's worth from the maintenance contract, that's for sure.

Should be good for as long as I'm the owner.

house purchase still dragging on

apart from one short delay due to a contractor not providing a report in a timely manner, ALL of the delays to the process have been introduced by the bank. it's now 4 months since my offer was accepted - but even with a 45% deposit, and a request for a mortgage that is less than 3 times my annual salary, they still haven't managed to come up with the mortgage offer.

the most frustrating part is knowing that if the sellers get impatient and pull out, I have no legal recourse - the bank can take as long as they bloody well want, and if it f*cks up my purchase as a consequence, that's not their problem.

i'm going down to the pub to watch the football sod this whole sodding house thing.

I have received a parcel-looks like a new exhaust!

My co-pilot and I are in barcelona for a few days as a birthday treat. What a scootery city! Scooters every where. Tomorrow we are picking up an LX125 (I think) from "Vesping" near the Sagrada Familia. I asked if they could adjust the setting on the rear shock as we would be two-up. They are not keen on sending a non-standard scooter out! I have also been through the fleet and told them I don't want any Sava rubbish. I found one with Pirelli on the rear and Michelin on the front (best I could do!)

Full report later. I know I'll be few behind Stan this year but it will bring my non-uk scooting countries up to four this year.

Take your own shock wrench, sorry spanner, with you. Fix it on the road.

You don't have one? Imposter!

germany v brazil.

'kinell

I actually watched it.

Sad and funny at the same time.

Bill xxx

...and there was me thinking of a summer house-warming barbie-jollities kinda thing for you round about out now Sorry to hear though, hope it moves along in your favour. It's a real bummer when its a big life thing and you have zilch control.

In other news, some of my management team at work seem to think I somehow have about 30% spare capacity to pick up a load of new duties they've recently decided is a must do. Given that I'm already about -20% capacity and could do with at least another day a week to do justice to my current workload (and about to log off at midnight after a couple of extra hours tonight), I think we're heading for what's normally described as a 'frank exchange of views' Grrrr...

If I were Dilma Rousseff I would be getting out of the country.

I am out of surgery in recovery room to fix a complication from a surgery two weeks ago. Sigh. Lame

Missed it Amy. What were you in surgery for? Hope you heal fast.

Fixin some issues I have had for years. Hopefully it is all good now.

Now that's a sad tale. Sorry to hear. Hope you're done with it.

I hope so too. For now it is healing and trolling MV

I wouldn't usually get behind Germany for all kinds of reasons but I couldn't help but watch in awe and wonder at how they took apart Sideshow Bob & the Mara canters......hilarious.

The Croatian team must have been wetting themselves with glee.

Lets hope the Dutch do the same to the Argie Bargies tonight!

just got the news that my mortgage offer has been approved and the offer is on its way

elated that it's finally gone through

depressed at how middle-aged it is to get excited about a mortgage

Congratulations! You have every right to be excited and proud.

So is it safe to uncross my fingers now genie? 4 months and I am cramping up a bit.

Congrats genie!

'kinada and congrats Genie!

well, technically no ... to be absolutely certain, you need to wait until I've got the keys clutched in my hot little hand. but i'm hoping that we are now over the worst of it, so you have my permission to take a few minutes to do some stretches.

cheers for the congrats all. when i do finally complete this ridiculous process you are all invited to the party

Congrats and roll on the more paperwork, Genie! Beware of the gut-check when you start scribbling your name to the seemingly hundreds of pieces of paper. And although the monthly payment is onerous, it's better than pissing it away to a landlord, plus the occasional extra payment sent in brings a wonderful feeling. I think that we are down to 10 years left, we must be getting old

Keep on healing, Amy! Are you back in or was it just a clean up? I hope that it's a full and rapid recovery... there are many more miles to be covered!

actually, even with the second undervaluation and the consequent need to up my monthly repayments slightly, i'll still only be paying about £100 more every month than I am on rent at the moment. If i was paying market rent on my present flat, the mortgage would be costing me considerably less

i don't like to think about how much money I've put away on rent over the years that's the cost of a 'bohemian' lifestyle, i guess

HOORAY HOORAY!!! Keeping them crossed for you...

Very glad to hear it genie! About time.

Well done darling. I have a complete set of paint brushes and rollers that you can have just dont ask me to do any work

great news, genie. will have to pop over and see it when you are settled in.

Congratulations Genie! You outlasted all those dreaded issues! Happy for you!

Congrats Genie!

Random entertainment from the world cup... anybody else enjoying the Men in Blazers bit from ESPN coverage?

Been a highlight of WC coverage imho:
http://www.espnfc.co.uk/video/men-in-blazers/103/video/1940502/men-in-blazers-broken-hearts-in-brazil