Modern Vespa

I rode off the road and parked (on the footpath - allowed here). He drove off when i did that. After editing i took my video to the police, hope they tell him off plenty.

Arghh - a pox on that driver. May he get 4 flats at once!

Sick Bruno onto them.

[NSR] Crazy cat people let's see your cats (Post 2690178)

Does he do outcalls?

This fella was about 3 feet away from my oblivious kitty this morning.

Your kitty is obviously too well fed. But yes, Bruno would be happy to assist

Judging by the size of Ratty, maybe Kitty was feigning obliviousness 😬

The fact that KTM are in trouble, as are Husqvarna and Gas Gas.

Major problems with cams on 790 and 890 engines due to narrow oil ways and they are transferring much of their manufacturing away from Europe to India and China to save costs.

300 jobs lost so far.

Is that why there's good deals on old stock 401s?

Well I'm pissed off, I just lost my daily driver.

💩

Guess that means you'll have to steal your other one back from your kitten

just put a sticker over it.

Just ran the numbers. Probably had 10,000 cups of coffee or tea through it since 2017, though the last one was a hot chocolate.

It had a good life.

Yeah, I'm thinking that if you can sell KTM's in enough volumes you certainly won't sell Husqvarna because it's pretty much the same bike.

I can see Gas Gas finding a home but I'm not sure about the rest.

According to the Interwebs there may be an issue with an oil screen limiting the flow of an already narrow oil way flowing into the head.

I have the butterfinger proof version

It'll outlive me!

Well, that sucks.

14.95 US on eBay. Only 12.00 for the Italian version.

I know this has been said over and over, but people who are intimidated by scooters.

I'm not winning any races on the Stella. No doubt about that, but first and second gear, considering power to weight ratio and all, are pretty good. So when the light turns green and I just want to get away from the <notstereotyping>white guy with the ironic beard and flat brimmed baseball cap in the Cadillac next to me listening to gangster rap</notstereotyping> and he has to drive 70 in a 45 zone to overtake me because I got him at the light ...

Just makes me shake my head.

For him, it's a Victory.

For you, it's hilarious.

Rebuild it.

It pathetic. Some people need have the win in stupid sh!t like this to make them feel better about themselves. And, yes, it seems like the smaller the scoot you are on, the more it happens.

For him it's a day out.

For his family it's a day off.

But either way I win. If I DO outrun him ... I win.
If he outruns me ... ooooh. He outran a scooter.

I still win. Because he's a loser. Either way.

Over here I find it's often German car drivers who have a problem with Italian shopping bikes being in front of them.

I can't help thinking there's some sort of over compensating going on?

Tea Tree Shower Gel in my eye.

German car drivers or German cars eg BMW's?

It's always male car drivers I know that much.

Russia. Russia is pissing me off today.

Specifically, the Russian government and RT.

Fuck those guys. All of them. And fuck the people (Canadian and American) that knowingly accepted their money.

I've been pissed at Russia since the invasion into Ukraine. Every.Damn.Day. I feel especially bad for the innocents who have been swept up into this horrid situation, citizens and soldiers alike.

think it might have been a Nissan!

Anyway, he was wearing lederhosen, eating bratwurst and shouted arschloch out of his window

When our unit stood up, the Commander at the time instituted a plankholder tradition.

It's more of a Navy thing, in that the original crew of a ship when first launched all get a "plank" from the deck of the ship when they depart.

We have a nifty little design that has a jaunty phrase about the individual being an original member of the unit, etc. etc. It's carved into a plank of wood and presented to the member at their final drill weekend (it's a reserve unit, i'm a full-timer getting active retirement). That's next weekend for me.

Our unit booster club is responsible for getting the planks made. About 6 months ago, rather than the shitty curved knotty pine they spent 3 dollars on at Home Depot, I brought in a "scrap" of walnut that was big enough for the engraving.

They promptly lost it. But...they were very aware of my departure and when it would occur.

I came off convalescent leave yesterday, to discover nobody had done a damn thing about getting a plank made for me. I asked about the walnut I'd brought in (uncheap, mind you) and it was just a big ol' shrugaroo.

So today I took a piece of teak (fitting, I know) to the spot on base that does the engraving.

And of course, was promptly billed for completion.

So thanks to a bunch of lazy jackwagons, I get to pay for my own award/thank-you gift.

So it's me thanking myself for giving this shithole unit 7 years of my life.

Bourbon flowing freely tonight. Clownass "colleagues" can eat the whole bag of phalli.

Crappy road maintenance is pissing me off tonight.

Coming home from out of town about 10pm, on an unlit section of road, I can see two cars pulled off the road with their hazard lights on. Momentarily blinded by the headlights of an oncoming truck that's hugging the center line I edged to the right and ease off the accelerator, and BAM. Massive pothole takes out both of my right side tires. Bent both rims, and there's fluid gushing from the center of the car between the front wheels. It's an electric car, I have no idea what the fluid is. Looks like water, has no detectable odor, but has a very slight oily feeling to it.

Called the auto club for a tow, then walked ahead to check on the other two vehicles. Both of them damaged by the same pothole. By the time the tow truck picked me up, there was another victim.

I got everyone's contact information, took pictures of the hole and measured it, so we can collectively reach out to the city. I expect they'll find some reason to say it's not their fault that the road is destroying vehicles, but we have to try. Meanwhile, out comes my insurance policy to see if I'm covered for road hazards like that.

The liquid is probably coolant from the battery.

Is the casing from the underside of the battery damaged ?

What model is it ?

I don't want to be the bringer of bad news but if the battery or it's casing is damaged the Insurance Co will usually write the car off.

It's a 2020 Hyundai Kona. I couldn't get under the car to see if the casing was damaged at the side of the road, I just had it towed to the dealership. Their service department opens in an hour, I'll be there to speak to them then, and will be calling the insurance company afterwards.

I'll be very interested to see how this turns out.

Yes the Kona has a liquid cooled battery so the chances are it's that.

The horror. The horror.

So. Much. Blood.

Nobody could deserve -- wait, hit-and-run?

*shrug*

Ok.

Yes, but the Huskies aren't garishly orange. Nothing wrong with a tasteful shade of the color, but clearly KTM isn't styling there bikes for me.

(I have a Svartpilen 401 with street tires. It's more fun than it should be.)

KTM remind me of Subaru's from the 1990's. Vulgar and superficial.

Husqvarna are a bit like SAAB's. All the same stuff, just a little bit different.

I beg to differ, at least historically.

I owned a 1974 SAAB 99, which was of some significantly different "stuff" than other cars of the time. Here are a few of the highlights:

- front-wheel drive
- aluminum alloy engine
- overhead cam
- fuel injection
- synchromesh transmission
- four-wheel dual-diagonal disc brakes
- rack and pinion steering
- roll cage construction
- impact absorbing bumpers
- pivoted front spring suspension (like Ferrari)
- radial-ply tires standard
- fold down rear seat
- bigger trunk than a Lincoln Continental Mark IV

My base-level SAAB accelerated to 75 MPH in third gear, and I did get it up to 104 MPH (indicated, level road, no wind) one time. It wanted to go even faster, but I chickened out.

Definitely one of my all-time favorite vehicles.

I'll post an update when I've got one. Both the insurance and the mechanic say they can't look at it until Monday, so it's two wheels for me for the next few days. Darn...

Since visiting Australia in February this year to spend time with my son in Melbourne, I have developed a liking for the game known as Australian Rules Football. I never understood the game before, but my increased knowledge made me realise the level of difficulty and the fitness that players must achieve to be successful.

There was a scheduled game between Sydney's two AFL teams (Swans and Giants) that promised to be seriously exciting...! Due to time zones, I was watching a recording of the game on my DSTV decoder.

With the scores tied at 82 points and under 4 minutes to play...

the damn decoder stopped the recording session!!!

PS: Swans won the game 86-82