Modern Vespa

don't think i'm gonna make it guys .... i've contracted some kind of low-grade coldy/fluey thing on the plane back from greece and am feeling really run down. i'm meant to be writing and every time i sit in front of the computer my eyes slam shut. very frustrating the thought of having to make witty conversation in a crowded pub is making me tired just thinking about it

D&D it is at 6. Any other skokers loitering in the area are welcome to join.

Dungeons and Dragons

OINK OINK

greece, mate, not mexico. i've probably got donkei flu.

Oh don't worry, I got something similar earlier this week. It made me leave a technicolor gift in the Westfield Centre before I wisely scooted home and lay down.

Get well.

oh, you left your dreamcoat in the westfield center? that's a shame.



sorry. ill.

Sounds 'orrid - hope everyone is fighting fit again soon.

Alice you have first dibs on it if I decide to sell it in November and lets face it I'm not going to ride it between then and March.
I got a really good quote on the insurance for the Audi today so it's a possibility that I'll go down that route late in the year.
But I still love the KA. It's just a funky little ride especially in white.
I could catch the girls on the eco-friendly card. Save the planet and all that.
Enough of the car talk.

Kam if you are going to call about cars can you do it after 930 tomorrow ?

Fanks.

Love and Rockets

Bill X

where's doug these days?

bill i'll call you tomorrow at about 1.00pm or possibly after 6.00pm cos i'm in meetings all day

Sorry you & Kate have been under the weather... luckily, the pesky donkei virus didn't follow me through passport control into the US... Maybe you need to seek out a curative Greek lager--

When you're feeling better, I'll share news about a fabulous new beverage I'm sipping these days--- a bit over the top, so will save for later.
Heal fast!

xo, --D

Oh I'm better now, recreating happily.

HELLO! its Wednesday

it's wednesday and it's pissing rain bah.

Anyone fancy GIN at Somerset House one of these evenings, if we ever get a proper summer?

http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual_arts/909.asp

No problems on the GIN as that is a sparrow fart from my office! Let's go!

Also mixed by the legend David Hobbs - as a ex board member of Milk and Honey's he's very very good, and has left me near a state of ginful bliss many a time.

I'm still miffed that my colleagues and I failed to get tickets for this:
http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/alcoholicarchitecture.html

What a fantastic idea

Hope your commute has got better since you changed it.

The A40 has seen two fatal incidents for bikers in the last month and half.

http://londonbikers.com/forums/Topic554467-38-1.aspx

I browse that forum reasonably regularly and that topic comes up so often and it is quite sad to see. I don't quite understand what is so dangerous about that particular bit of the A40. I ride on it but never at rush hour and I see people go fast but don't get why so many accidents happen.
Think will be extra careful riding on it from now on

I believe that Doug is nursing his very ill Mum in the Emerald Isle at the moment. Yes I miss him too.

Kam I hope that my unbiased opinion helped you make a decision about your future purchase.

Please keep me posted. For me it's a no brainer so stick with what you know and trust but thanks for asking.

It comes from Japan has a H in it and rhymes with Donda.

I would'nt make a very good salesman would I ?

Nice to meet up with Genie this evening for a coffee and a sticky bun at Bluewater.

Thanks for listening to my list of conflicts and your suggestions to balance my chi.

Love and Rockets all

Bill

My neighbour's Huyabusa was stolen last night, parked next to the 300. Now obviously people who steal the busa don't go for weeny Vespas, but I need someway of securing the back wheel to a ground anchor as it does get the wrong sort of attention.

I can't fit the current chain I have through the back wheel because of the disc, nor one of those shackle locks. Does anyone here have a solution they use?

Wonder I really think it's time you moved.

Bill X

Bill, I'm on it! Went to see a few houses last weekend.

many thanks to bill for his great advice. i'll keep you posted of progress.

wm, my commute feels better without that stretch of a40. although the rest of central and west london was totally snarled up this evening as a result of the tube strike. my scooter started stinking of burning drive belt. and what a noisy clutch!



now all i need is new summer riding jacket.

Kam I have a jacket here that has only been worn twice.
It's a Tuzo in black and blue that I bought on impulse about a year ago and just didn't bother to wear it again eventhough it's in my favourite colour.
It's got body armour in the elbows and shoulders and weighs a tonne.
Well not quite a tonne but it's not light.
Oh yeah it also has a stretchy panel in the lower back section and I'll even deliver it to you but try before you buy.
Bargin £60.

Regards

Bill X

unless you want to buy a new lock which will be cut anyway if someone decides they really want your scooter, i'd second bill's call to move. in the interim maybe one chain attached to an immovable object, and another chain looped around the scooter's waist?

I'm so paranoid as to where I leave the Hornet these days but I have every reason to be when I've had my MK2 Golf stolen from outside my house and the Gilera Runner nicked from a friends yard in the Surrey Quays.
When I went to Amsterdam I had to park it where it could see it from the balcony of the flat I was staying in and it was the first thing I looked for after I woke up.
I really don't like leaving it outside and only once left it overnight outside my exes house in Sittingbourne.
I'd rather ride it the 12 miles home and come back in the cage than leave it overnight in that town.
I think I may be growing very fond of that Vespa.

Love and Rockets

Bill

Kate, I've got a two-chain "noose" I use when I'm parked in dicey urban territory-- wrapping the noose around the body of the scooter, locking the other to a secure anchor. The NY riders swear by this set up. See pix here:

https://modernvespa.com/forum/topic34635?highlight=noose+chain

I do the same with the X9 although substituting one of those plastic-covered cables with a loop at each end for the chain round the scooter.

And you can get that "noose chain" arrangement in varying lengths, so you may be able to make do with one long chain with the big loop at the end so you can double it back, IYSWIM.

I have a hell of a job getting anything to go round/through by back wheel. Front wheel's a lot easier for me, if possible.

It's problematic on the ET4, as the wheels are so small anyway. Then there's the disc on the front wheel, and the exhaust and engine in the way of the back one. I have to get the wheel and the chain in exactly the right position to drop the chain through.

bill, thanks for the offer but i'm looking for something really lightweight for warmer days - i've becom a bit too paunchy for my dainese summer jacket.

on the subject of security, i put a d-lock through my back wheel and then thread the chain through it. and i use a ground anchor at home but this isn't any use to anyone who parks in the street - the stress of which would probably finish me off altogether.

No worries Kam . Maybe I overplayed the heavy bit.... a bit.

Right I'm all packed and ready for Le Mans so take care of yourselves you crazy kids and I'll see you all on Monday evening with hilarious tales of our travels.

It's a boys weekend away so bring on the clowns.

Love and Rockets
Bill X

have a great time bill, get some pictures with the audi pit crew and behave

Behave huh ? I'm not sure that there are going to be many chances to misbehave while I'm away with Nik.

I mean I'm going away with a womanising gigalo whose attention span starts to shorten every time he seems a female carbon based lifeform.

What trouble could I get into ?

Anyway I'm taking a 3 month self enforced sabbatical from relationships and any kind of physical contact with either sex.

That's the rules.

Love

Bill X

Is a womanising gigalo a double positive or the same thing ?

Bill, you're a three month monk....

I trust you will say your prayers every day.

Wow, what a lot to catch up on after a few days away enjoying the superb roads in Scotland.

My thoughts go out to those caring for loved ones and/or distressed tummies. May they all go quickly and without pain. (BTDTGTTS)

My news? GP800 stalling problem back big-time. No worries on long trips though (except for the end bit), Belgium lures...

Three Month Monk huh ? yes I like that.

Don't Worry I pray to our Lord Jesus every night Wonder.

Which begs a question - What to Athiests cry out when they come ?

I'm just waiting for Nik to arrive so we can leave for the tunnel.

Have a good weekend people.

Love and Rockets

Bill X

Amuse-toi bien en France, Monsieur Village!

Do French monks keep their vows....?

Holy Fuck!!!