Modern Vespa

Sorry to pop in here, but did you guys ever meet up with Rex, and if so, is there photographic evidence?

That's coming up Friday night.

UK London - Friday 23rd Oct Curry & Drinks

i'd add a bit of foam on the inside of the top of the box, so that baby doesn't get too badly bumped up when you go over speed humps etc.

great news about the new steed mr. wonder

Well done Mr Wonder on finally getting your replacement.

Sounds like another excuse to meet up and point at it.

Better luck with this one my Friend.

Bill XX

I saw Fay riding up the pavement from West Smithfield on her MP3 today I was going to stop and say hello, but I had a taxi right up me arse. And by the time I had swung around she had vanished. Magic

You mean in a Paul Daniels kind of way ?

I'll tell you my magic story later on. It's not very good.

Bill X

No. I mean along the pavement sort of way.

Fay, if I had managed to find you again, I would have said hello. PS What were you doing on the pavement. There is one of those S M Cafes you like there, I think.

And no Bill, it's not what you're thinking....

Oh you know me well. It's been a while I'll tell you that.

How I miss the leather and the latex.

Now where's that picture of me going out clubbing ?

Bill XX

Please don't post the pic of your a$$ again.

Lets take a vote on it shall we ?

I enjoyed it

<Blech>

This thread is related to donkey based voyuerism, I think a few arses will probably be fine.

Was organizing some lunch time magic sessions for some proteges in the S&M chain, leading to an evening cabaret at the end of November. Watch this space.

The vanishing of an Mp3 in broad daylight must remain a mystery.

fay

Excellent advice, as ever. Thanks Genie. Off to the foam shop now

I'd love to come round and coo. I'm not normally a big fan of babies but I'll make an exception for yours. (Actually I keep having to restrain myself from vicariously buying bike-related bibs and sockies for you.)

Hey Skoks, I told you I would be back and I am.

I see the thread has taken its usual twists and turns.

Dear Skok friends!
See, I haven't gone for ages

Just thought it was my duty to pop by and share with you the happy encounter in this morning's commute.
There I was, taking a chill pill off to my "Advanced Microsoft Excel" course (I'm out of the office and that's all that matters - so I had a lie in etc), for which I had to be in Old Street for at 9:30am and obviously found myself leaving the house at 9:25am (a bit ambitious) and trotting along the unusual Finchley Rd route when...

Well, if it isn't Charles and his mighty red 250i greeting me at the lights!!
What a nice surprise.
It was the first time he saw Velma, but he said what caught his attention was my sticker, awwww
a landmark already! 8)

So off we went with little time to chat and we seemed to be going the same way, which was rather fun to have companion on your morning ride.
Then he disappeared on Adelaide Road, I thought he'd gone off into his strange detour he took on the day we came back from Kent (which I tried again and liked by the way, I hate going through Camden Town on a Saturday night).

Chalk Farm was all closed for traffic, so I too had to find a detour.

Well, what do you know, we meet again on Pentonville Rd!
At that point traffic was all clogged up with (yes, more of it) road works, so we got to catch up a bit.

I learned for the first time that Kate ran into the 250i during the Belgium trip and that he needed paint work done as a result? I didn't know - and was intrigued, unfortunately we did not manage to finish the conversation.

Turned out my course was on the same block as Charles' office, I think?
Charles - you probably parked somewhere private, but I ended up parking in that bay where you turned left on.

I love it when that happens, hope to run into more of you soon.

I see you have a meet up tomorrow, I'm very sad to say I won't be able to make it, I'm off of work but got loads to do tomorrow so I'm getting all that done.
You lot enjoy yourselves and I look forward to seeing piccies

oh - and I got a sodding ticket for going over the other side of the blue arrow when I was overtaking stationary traffic on Theobalds Rd WC1, or "failing to drive in the direction shown by the arrow on a blue sign (passing to the wrong side of the sign)"
here's a picture of me being very naughty indeed (Bill will like this little comment now)

take care you lot and enjoy tomorrow, lots of hugs to you

Lovely to hear from you Dessa - nice meet-up with Charles.

Wrong-siding a blue arrow is as much (if not more so) an offence than wrong-siding a solid white line (for which there can be some plausible excuses). Many of the blue-arrow spaces are pedestrian refuges, and on some roads are designed for fast-speeding emergency vehicles (collapsible doncha-know) - so a gently smacked wrist from me too I'm afraid.

yeah yeah, I'm paying for it and am not happy about it - this is half the money I'd been gathering for those booties I have my eye on.
it'd be ok if I was just overtaking them, but it was the stupid little island in the way of my smooth flow through traffic and that bloody bus clogging up my narrow-but-just-fine little gap so I could go through on the inside.
I'll remember it next time.

By the way, Jim - where can I start a petition to allow MC's on the Shoot-Up-Hill and Kilburn High Rd bus lanes? Can you believe we're not allowed there? It's ok once it becomes Edgware Rd, but not earlier! Pretty irritating and pointless if you ask me :rant over:

Bus-lane thread detour...

At the moment in London we're holding quiet until the run-up to the elections to ask all prospective candidates (and their council fellows) about this. At the moment there are three councils (whose names I'm ashamed to say escape me at the moment) that have said they will NOT open up bus lanes - the rest just haven't followed up on promises about 'doing whatever TFL do'. However without vocal groups in each borough the Rider's Rights groups are pretty toothless. Don't ask 'what is being done' - what are *you* doing?

"Riders are Voters Too" will be a campaign quite soon. In the meantime if you have 20 quid to spare (cheap offer before it goes up) consider joining MAG - and here's a video explaining, perhaps, why you might want to.

--
Jim Crowther
West London MAG Local Rep.
MAG Greater London Region deputy Rep.
Motorcycle Action Group: http://www.mag-uk.org

Dessa being naughty huh ? Dammit I wish I could think of something mildly amusing to say at 6.45 this morning. You havn't tried the "It wasn't me" tactic ?

Still, Dessa breaking the law it's kind of rebelious and nice to see.

Bill XX

i'm afraid i am guilty of wrongsiding bollards on occasion

however as i still haven't had time to install my new license plate, i'm enjoying my anonymity by breaking every traffic law i possibly can [joke]

i almost had words with a cyclist on the way to work this morning - he was playing the 'guess where i am' game in two lanes of heavy, fast moving traffic - now he's in the left lane .... whoops! now he's in the right lane .... now he's filtering up between cars .... now he's going up the outside ... plus several excursions onto the pavement .... and then he had the nerve to pound on some poor woman's window and shout at her for not seeing him! i try my best to be sympathetic to cyclists, but i just wanted to smack this idiot

apart from that a lovely ride in. looking forward to this evening

Well, we're on hol's (cidermaking in Herefordshire) next week, but any time after that and it would be lovely to see you.

Mm - shall I leave it until the holiday cider is ready? One of the blokes at my karate class is bringing me some home-made wine next week. I assume I'll go blind.

Dessa, I hear you - sometimes when everything's blocked solid on your side of the road and there are no cars or people anywhere near the traffic island, it's teeeeempting. However, I've not done it myself since a bike cop in New Cross caught me at it and told me off so severely he made me cry.

Alice I hear ya and I've been there too, I had it coming really. I got told off twice before by the fuzz for doing it
Once it was particularly embarrassing but also funny because it was me and a very trendy boy on a PX going on the wrong side in a line as we see 3 police bikes approaching us and getting us to pull over. They lectured us for ages, so really I should have learnt my lesson. It's when it hits the pockets, silly us - I'll never do it again.

Jim - I hear you too, what can I do about it? Where do I vote? I'll gladly join, I just can't promise joining on the rides as I'm always at work when they take place, but I'll sign wherever!

Genie - what's up with your reg plate- I'm always the last one to know anything

I remember having a discussion on Shaftesbury Avenue a few months ago when traffic was completely stopped due to an accident. We were debating how to get between the back of a bendy bus and a pedestian refuge.

We reckoned you had to go left of the blue-arrow bollard at the beginning of the refuge, but that it was okay to go to the right of the "trailing" island because the bit in the middle was tarmac, and didn't have an arrow on it facing our way. I had a really nice ride in this morning. I had to stay at home until 10am for my hire bike to be collected, so I was able to commute in very light traffic and sunshine. I <3 my SH.

David

Mr Wonder?
I don't think we've met, but I know straight away who you are (Wonder, SH, I added 2 and 2 ) and here's a belated welcome on my part to the Skok family if I may

I take you're all gossiping right now at the pub. I want to hear all about it when you get back.
I still have another couple of tarot readings to do this evening and am full throttle on the wedding stationary printing extravaganza here, my ink jet hasn't seen this much action since university!

Thank-you, Dessa, and I look forward to meeting you at a future Skok event. I lurked on the thread for quite a while; I remember reading about Jim teaching you to do U-turns before your test. Since you've been away, I managed to pass my test too, so I now have a slightly shinier SH, and have fallen in love with scootering.

I was in such a good mood this morning after riding in that one of my colleagues said that "[scootering must be] much like playing Mario Kart through the streets of London". I didn't correct him.

awwww isn't it though, I also love to boast about to all my work colleagues when they complain about the tube, train delays, fares going up etc on how Velma is so much more cost effective and that instead of being sweaty like a sardine on the bus I get to work through lovingly "gliding" through the leafy roads. I never care that I may be a real show off 8)

well done on passing your test - U turns etc all ok then? any pics of your shinier SH?

come on Bill!


yes well that rebel in me is so tamed these days, must be all this maturing business but it does come out every now and then 8) **THIS BEHAVIOUR MUST NOT BE ENCOURAGED THOUGH, IT JUST COSTED ME 60 QUID **

Also, I just noticed that after my 1000th post I've been promoted to Molto Verboso.

Now, to those powerful members on this thread (and I mean you Genie ) can I just say, being a laydeee I'm in fact Molto Verbosa, and wouldn't mind it being corrected, and also to all other laydees as well, as a sign of female rights and all that

8)

ok, I'm getting back to work now!

Photos of Dessa taken from behind riding up quite hard up a one way street using plenty of wrist action.

Best I can do at this late hour.

Bill

shame on you bill!

Shame I can deal with, it's just the guilt that lasts.

And anyway you'd feel short changed if I hadn't come out with some kind of smut based cliche.

You've got to be good at something havn't you ?

Off to Brighton later this evening.

Bill X

a lovely evening was had last night. we started with curry at Shampan - delicious, but so abundant that we were too stuffed even to ask for a doggy bag. we then moved onto the downmarket charm of the foundry for a quick drink.

rex, it was great meeting you and your mate darek - we know you've got most of the evening on film, and we're looking forward to seeing some of it! as usual none of the skoks remembered a camera but we did remember to bring an honorary skok sticker for rex.

i've bookended my week with MV meetups - benny on monday, and rex on friday

and congratulations are due to marc, first, for coming all the way into the foundry, and second, for becoming an uncle last night! sadly we didn't get to meet up with him because he had to leave almost as soon as he got there, while we were still busy stuffing our faces at the restaurant.

Hornets side lower panel off,unscrew the screws to the air filter cover and the finger jobbies,pull it out and clean it with detergent in the sink and watch all the crap come out of it then towel dry it then with a hairdryer,after that lightly spray with a light oil and replace it all.

It still starts. Result.

Bill X

why do you have a hairdryer?

For drying air filters silly.
I've got a Pifco and I'm going to use it.

Thank-you. I did the new 2-part test, and my U-turns are not a problem, but I had to do a rather wide figure-8, as I was doing it on a manual motorbike and slightly botched my clutch-control on the day.

No pictures of the shinier SH, but I do have some from when I passed my test, inspired by yours earlier in the year:

Tearing up my L plate



Goofing on the motorbike I did my test on


Taking Kate's GTS for a spin (thanks!)


My previous SH300*



* I got hit by a car a week after getting the SH300. No serious injuries. Driver admitted liability. Scooter written off. New SH300 now delivered