Modern Vespa

not been on this but i've done the scooter safe course. looks like it could be interesting.

Ha Ha... can you actually hijack this thread? Its hijackable, it is a non thread.

and it gives us a break from all the shopping talk blimey and i thought there was a recession on

Got my Parka today. Lovely. Probably better than the white I think.

A few of us from the X9OC went last year - it was at Hendon Police College.

It was an excellent weekend - loads to see and do and yes, you can book an Observed Ride.

I did Bikesafe a few years ago and it was one of the most useful and enjoyable 'learning' experiences I've ever had.

The police riders are, apart from being brilliant riders, helpful, encouraging and thoroughly nice people.

i bought a 60s parka in the 80s still got it ... fleese lined ..lush

Yeah, Spider. But has it got armour? This has got fleece edges around the lining.

no armour ... just use it on the GTR ... desert boots .. blazer .. get the face

Very cool, now I have a longing for desert boots as well....

Correct. I didn't manage to get to last year's (in France), but by all accounts it was like a mini-bike-show without having to pay exhorbitant amounts to get in, plus the bonus of being able to try out bikes and to get assessment rides with your very own Police escort - which is great fun as all those of us who've done Bikesafe will attest.

Bikesafe > IAM > Unity Support Rider.

If I'm in the country this year I'll either be on the MAG stand or the Unity stand.

Erm is it me or is the male model giving me the eye ?
Doug ?
Regards
Bill x

Oh and Genie that seat is something special - a bit like it's owner.......

Husky please bring me back something Vespa related and I promise I'll never overtake you/show off in France again.
Bill X

It would be no fun without you showing off, Bill!

That is a nice parka. I had an army-surplus one which I decorated with patches, but I ditched it during a house move and have regretted it ever since.

BikeSafe show: I went last year. Not as huge as the ones you pay for, e.g. NEC, O2, but lots to see and do - bikes, kit (some bargains), societies, displays. I particularly enjoyed watching the Wall of Death.

I went last yr. Not bad. Not too many scooter-related things going on, but plenty of general-biking-interest stuff. Assessed rides were easy enough to sort out (but, again, not many scoots available). I took out a Vectrix, which was a blast.

I'll keep an eye out, the unity ride was fun last year and I'm up for it again

If Its free I'll definitely be there!

With the assessed rides, do they do "ability" (engine size) groups?

Last time, the assessed rides were 1 to 1.

I had a very nice policeman, who didn't even smirk when he had to tell me, after going about half a mile at crawling pace from setting off, that I was probably looking at a speedo that I wasn't used to and which maybe was calibrated in km/h, and that might explain why I might feel I was going a bit slow

All I can say in my defence is that I'm obviously a prat.

The kmh / mph numbers confuse me on my own speedo
Like the sound of using a different bike - just hope that it is over 18s not over 21s

It was really odd. Not least because I think I rely to some extent on the sound from the exhaust and the vibrations to give me a feel for how fast I'm going when on my own bike. But test riding an electric one (I was riding a Vectrix at the time), and also being really aware that I didn't want to go over the speed limit when I was being closely observed by a policeman, threw all my common sense nodes out of alignment.

You don't have to worry about speed that much - they'd much prefer you did a consistent 33 in a 30 than 27! Basically if you see them getting smaller in your mirrors you're going too fast.

And *never* allow yourself to be overtaken on the North Circular! But I'll leave that story to Mike.

The weekend is finally here and tomorrow the sheet is coming off the GT for a nice ride out among the common people.
I've been counting the days for this.
Regards
Billy-no-scoot

Veering wildly OT (is there a topic here?) I refer our august members to:
[NSFW] New hand gesture for MP3 riders? (Post 577207)

And would suggest this might be the Donkei Skok SC "Greeting" - just to make a real 'thang' out of the club.

that's pretty gangsta, jim....

I'll leave that story to Mike.

Ah!

'twas towrds the end of my second Bikesafe observed ride, on the way back to the Ace.

We'd ridden down from the Brent Cross Flyover on to the North Circular.
I was in front with 'my' policeman behind - somehow the other chap on his C1 had got lost and was nowhere to be seen.
Anyway, accutely aware of having a copper on my tail, I stuck rigidly to the 40MPH limit, riding most of the way in Lanes 1 & 2, being overtaken on occasions by other traffic of various types.

When we arrived back in the car-park and had taken off our helmets, my policeman came over with the opening words,
"What on earth were you doing along there?"

I don't reckon to be the world's #1 rider by any stretch of the imagination but I couldn't for the life of me think immediately of anything untoward I'd done so clearly looked puzzled, if not horrified.

When I asked what I'd done wrong, he said,

"In all my time riding a motorbike I have never, never been overtaken by a car on the North Circular. You are on a bike - make progress!"

Of course we discussed it in more detail and he certainly wasn't advocating speeding as such but it was a good lesson learned and I have it in mind always.

Incidentally, others have been told by the same group of police riders that the safest place for a biker to be on such a road is in Lane 3 (with obvious caveats)

The sticker saga goes on. Despite my pestering them, I have heard zip/zilch/nada/sweet fa/absolute zero from scootgraphics regarding my order.

If anyone knows an alternative vinyl cutter and printer, I'd like to take the work to them instead. A month and a half to do a job is enough, or explain why you can't do it.

how annoying. i'm afraid i don't know of any other vinyl cutters .... christosx? can you help us?

oh, this is genie btw, posting from doug's account again... bill and i are here watching doug put in a new variator on the 300. pictures to follow.

where've you been anyway Wonder? missed you the last week or two.

I am in Durham for the working week until the 18th of March, so that is why things have been quiet. I am back up there tomorrow, today is my day off to wash socks and relax a bit in London. No real intermong access at the moment.

Durham looks like Harry Potter land and is beautiful, but basically it is cold, full of sloanes and the food is terrible. I ate in an expensive Durham restaurant this week and my mate discovered a DEAD MOTH in his spinach.

Durham moth spinach is definitely an acquired taste.

I thought Durham was an aquired taste.
Doug thanks for being a good host as always. I think I'm going to move just around the corner just for the local chip shop. mmm tasty.
After 1st saying no to Doug I had a blast on Dougs 300 and I really like it.
More torque with less revs with increased speed compared to the 200 and no wobble to boot. Lovely.
Cheers for the throw away jacket as well. It will have a new zip in it by the end of next week.
Genie thanks for waiting for me through the radar traps. Humph !
Regards
Billy-no-scoot

only after thrashing it through at least three of them before i realized i could no longer see you in my mirrors. oh well age before beauty and all that ..... hang on a sec, i might have got that backwards....

No I think you had that pretty much right and anyway I had the better view even if the image was getting smaller.

I've just eaten a whole packet of Foxes Creams because I'm feeling sorry for myself.

What doesn't go past the lips can't go on the hips. Too late.

Regards

Bill

Bill it isn't the hips you should be worried about!

I have just had a rather miserable afternoon. I went for a swim, taking the Vespa, and set out in brilliant sunshine and cloudless skies. Later in Hampstead, the skies went black and I was deluged by a hurricane of epic proportions. (I exaggerate). There was however huge gusts of wind and thunder/forked lightening. Needless to say I was in jeans, and got completely drenched. You know that feeling where your jeans wick up the water and shrink your bits with the windchill?

I then proceeded back around the North Circular to get home as quickly as possible. The side winds were unbelievable and I was being whipped all over the road. Still managed to break the limits tho with the newly installed JC. When I got in, I peeled off clothes and tried to walk upstairs only to find that my legs were so cold I couldn't lift my feet to go up! Only just warmed up now.... Three hours later. Brr.

At least I seem to have tempered my apprehension of the wind and the rain. And of speed somewhat as I seem to be able to sit reasonably happily at an indicated 70 now....

i was freezing cold and cranky all day too, and had to go and do a quick 5k on the rat-run aka treadmill to get warmed up.

so you're happy cruising at 70? that settles it then - we're riding down to the ferry together for the Ostende trip

As long as there isn't a 40mph side wind....

How about one of these with a big Donkei Skok logo???

Had a lovely day - did an SSI (Second Sunday Initiative) ride with LAM (London Advanced Motorcyclists). So many turned up at Ryka's Cafe that the ride was split into four smaller groups, and I played tail-gunner for one of those. We went to the Anchor Inn near Lewes for lunch. This took nearly 2 hours, and a couple of the old codgers had to stop for a pee by the wayside - luckily those corner-marking were counting the group through and could tell me that I'd passed one of the weak-bladdered. I was on the GP800 and found playing catch-up (even with these very swift and smooth riders) was a doddle.

http://www.anchorinnandboating.co.uk/

On the way back it started to drizzle, so I did a short stretch of the M25 to get from Godstone to Reigate - but halfway along the heavens opened! Luckily I'd put on some water-proof trousers - initially just to keep the wind-chill down - and I was so grateful I had them on! The wind was gusty - fearsomely so at times, but the GP800 was reassuringly steady. A nice fast day's jaunt of 164 miles.

Glad it wasn't my imagination! I treated myself to a tinted flyscreen for my GTS as I sold a helmet on ebay for much more than I expected. Those screens sure whip up the wind around your helmet

Which helmet Doug ?
I love the feeling on that first bit of water that runs down the crack of your arse.
I really like those bibs Doug.
I can see a huge Donkei Skok logo on the back of that can't you ?
We have the logo sorted thanks to that angel Wonder.
Bill X

lap aprons, if incorrectly positioned, can act as a sort of a siphon, directing gushers of freezing cold rain water directly into the crotch area. i arrived at a pub one night in this condition - had to rush to the table with my coat in front of me and not move all evening as it looked as though i'd wet myself

i got caught in the rain on my allotment this afternoon.

had to take refuge in my newly erected shed and listen to gardeners question time on radio 4.

pure bliss

oh bum