Modern Vespa

Hello everyone.
I'm still out here, I do still keep a check on this thread but don't often join in.
We've had to sort out a new venue for our ride-out & Christmas Do as the pub that we was going to use burned down.
It's all sussed now though & next year the Big7sc will be putting on it's 1st Rally so when all the details are sorted I'll post them on here. 8)
It would be great to see some of you (if not all) at our club events.
TTFN
Baz.

Glad to see you back on again. Sorry about your venue. I'd go but i live to far away. Don't be a stranger on here and hope all is well with you and the scoot. Good luck.

Ooh, a local rally! One where you don't have to camp, and you can just leave when people start to bore you! Perfect

I lost track of all the tyres mid-sentence, Jim, so I will stick to wishing you a safe and lovely journey, and confirming that Casa C looked in fine fettle.

So every thursday evening the techs I work with all go out for a 15 mile cycle ride after work so after numerous invites I finally caved and put my lycra on and joined them.
It starts with a 2 mile hill climb so word was passed back to me down the line as to where they would all stop and wait for me once they had reached the top.
It got a little bit embarrasing when I overtook 4 of them on the way up and declined to overtake another 2 because I would have gone 3 abreast to do so.
I stayed at the back of the pack or the rest of the ride.
Opps I wonder if they will invite me back ?

Bill X

What a great weekend.

It started with a shopping trip to Bluewater where we bumped into a Piaggio promotional stand advertising the benefits of the MP3 Yourban.
They had 2 on show but they also had some of the most helpful staff I've ever encountered. I think it was because they were actually Marketing people who really knew their product and not hired promotional staff.
We pointed at stuff and nodded and their wide knowledge then they had a look at Modern Vespa when we name dropped it.
Yes nice people and worth knowing.

Later in the day we went for a walk down to my local pub which is located at the end of the Loose Valley which at this time of year is just beautiful.
The valley has one of those streams that you usually see in a jigsaw or on a box of chocolates and every year they hold a rubber duck race on it.
I think Genie photographed everything she saw which included sheep, foxes,rabbits,horses,dutch people and ducks.

But today I was up at 5am so I could meet up with 20 cyclists at my local VW dealership so I could play support truck driver for our 75 sponsored ride around Kent taking in Maidstone,Sevenoaks,Bromley,Eltham,Dartford and Gillingham then back to Maidstone.
It didn't start well when one rider fell then hit his face in the road giving him a brilliant shiner but like a trooper he carried on.
2 riders pulled out at 36 miles but the remainder finished.
Our winner did the course in 5 hours 10 minutes but looking back I should have entered it rather than supported it.

Bill X

it's easy to ride, but it's noble to support. Ride there next year, and swap with one of the riders who dropped off.
BIG 7 Rideout. sounds promising . Good mixed bunch of a club Love to go, Is that their Pawdrophenia run?
I'm off to Brittany on wed, but still haven't fixed my new Prima roll pack on the back rack. Anyone doe this? The fixing straps look small. Gass Silver Machine GTS 250

Howard and I did LAM's Kent Training Weekend, two days of observed riding with a different Observer each day, because I felt I could do with a refresher and Howard wanted to see how we do things in the London group.

It's hard work having someone watch you ride for an entire weekend; you really have to think about what you're doing and try your best all the time. I think this sustained effort was more helpful than any pointers either of the Observers we were out with could give us.

Two days of working the GT really quite hard, and now lo! the exhaust is really noisy!

F.

F.

S.

I'm not so sure that I'd enjoy someone appraising my riding for two days.

My problem is that I've been riding so long I think I know it all - which I so obviously don't.

Plus I'd probably take any critisism ( even if it did benefit me ) personally anyway then later sulk.

Bill X

Watched you ride for 12 days, said nothing and it worked out fine.

When are you coming back?

Question:

Who observes and rates the observers??

Senior Observers monitor the Observers - Police motorcycle instructors monitor the Senior Observers. Works pretty well - though I've had a duff Observer or two in my time. Perhaps it was just a bad day for them or a personality clash.

If April next year all goes well it looks like we'll return in July.

Bill X

You're not meant to enjoy it! It's meant to be good for you!

That said, after my first go in front I was able to relax and it felt more like a social ride.

Mr Wilkins has given my exhaust a nice metal bandage and podded it all up so it should last until after Normandy. I'd better bite the bullet and order up a non-Piaggio one now.

What is it with you and exhausts Alice?

*innocent shrug*

to be fair, that exhaust wasn't in top condition when i gave it to alice ... get a leo vince! they're perfect on the GT200 - they don't cook to that awful brown colour and sound lairy after 5000 miles. at least they don't on normal people's scooters

Why not just not ride it during the week and the exhaust will last forever ?

Yeah I know you're not supposed enjoy being appraised and I'm sure I'd learn something beneficial but it's not on the list of priorities right now.

I had a lovely day today. Got everything I wanted to get done at work and met a transporter driver right out of Harry Enfield's The Scousers then another who was an expert on the town of Corby.
I got roasted in the sun processing 22 used cars then cycled home while laughing at the poor fools sitting in the traffic.
I feel like a salmon riding against the flow and I can feel the contempt as I fly by sweating in bright orange with a face that says - last years accounts must get through.
One of my contractors gave me a fair size cheque today for c/ball which only wanted me to give him more work. I felt quite humbled by it.
Then I got home and promptly fell asleep on the couch for 3 hours.

Bill X

It's the weekends that keep destroying it! Every time I give a Vespa its alleged 'Italian tuneup' something falls off

I've ordered a GPR because they were cheap and supposedly quiet. We'll see how that goes. (Forum search revealed a bunch of Aussie and NZ riders who love them and one guy in the UK who doesn't, but he couldn't spell so I disregard his input.)

Obviously my first pick would be Remus so I could have a picture of a wolf on my exhaust, but they don't make them for the GT200.

You should see mine! Brown blotches all over and sounds like a Harley.

My last one fell in half as soon as the first bolt was removed

Well, I'm in a grump today. Changed my headlight bulb last night (they always blow either just before a holiday or when I'm actually on holiday) and discovered just how much of a mess the French garage guys made of my handlebar cover, which is broken in several places and held on by one screw. (eBay bid on replacement made.)

Then this morning I noticed that my Kickstart (from the Ogri strips) badge had gone from my bike jacket. My dad gave me that for Christmas when I was very new to biking, in 1997 or 1998; there's a photo of me wearing it on my very first scooter, and it's been on every bike jacket I've ever owned.

*sadface*

And it's RAINING.

But six more hours of work and I'm heading for Portsmouth, and thence Normandy...

I'm in a good mood today.
We moved house last monday, and I now have a proper brick built garage for the very first time. At the moment it's full of tat as well as the GTS but I reckon once I've bought a shed to store things in there may well be room for a second scooter.

Also BT have finally installed the phone line correctly today so I'm back on line properly instead of using an iPad or iPhone. I'm getting 16.5mb which isn't a bad speed for ADSL but a little slower than the 50mb cable broadband I had before.

I have garage envy!

(So, if there's room for a second scooter, there's going to be a second scooter, right? )

That is the plan. Whether it's an ET4 or LX for my GF to learn on, or a classic geared scooter for me to play with is a bit of a grey area but it seems a shame to waste the room.

Either of those sounds like a Good Plan to me. I'd lean slightly towards the first option because riding with company is so much fun.

Sitting at home waiting for the heavy rain to stop so I can drive to Portsmouth to meet some other MVers for the trip to Normandy.

At the moment the rain will not stop for another 4-5 hours so I may be stuck a while. Have to be there by 8.00pm as my b&b are very strict - no late checkin.

Bike is spotless - spent a couple of hours on it yesterday - but that wont last now.

Might go and run my frustration off at the gym.

Charles.

Cleaned mine last night too. Bah! or even Baaaa!

Towelled a corner of it off this morning so I could apply a new sticker. You'll love it.

Have a lovely time won't you all.
I expect to see plenty of photo's and hear lots of tales.

Today I told a close friend of mine that his plans to get married were a bad idea and he should really reconsider.
I won't go into details but he asked my opinion and I couldn't lie to him so I told him what I really thought.

Truth hurts. Ouch.


Bill XX

oh dear i take it we're not invited to the wedding then?

have a lovely time in Normandy you Donks we'll be seasiding in sunny Suffolk.

If there ever is one. It's one of those terminal can't live with and can't live without relationships and ..... Oh I can't be arsed.
Don't you just hate it when you split up with someone and all of your original friends who are still talking to you say " I never liked them very much anyway".
Why they don't tell you that while you were in the relationship I'll never know.
Well I'm one step ahead with this one.

Bill XX

Yay ! Off to Suffolk at the weekend to stay on the beach and then to meet up with CheekyThomas, Maver and some Broadsman.

Yebbut - they won't have ever said they *liked* them. That's a dead giveaway. Give them all love and cuddles from me.

Rescued from way down page two!

Bill, every time I was honest to a friend (2 times when I was young and stupid) about what I thought about their partner I nearly lost them as a friend. I was right of course as neither relationship amounted to much but you learn to keep somethings to yourself.

As for saying that you never liked them anyway...well that is just shit.

Wow, just back from an AMAZING weekend with some Donks in Normandy. I will leave it to someome elese to describe in detail, but it was truely fantastic in all ways.

Riding, food, company etc. Only let down was it did rain quite a lot.

FYI - after I left the guys in Caen to come home I headed to meet my family in Dieppe and went over the enormous Pont De Normandy in torrential rain with a bit of wind. Doug, you would have hated every inch of it.

Guys, all I ask is that we do it again within the next 12 months.

Hope you all had a good trip back.

Charles

I really envy you folks for your proximity to the Continent.

The seven hour flight from Toronto is really a drag and expensive too. Certainly precludes any week-end stints from here.

The pont de Normandie is a magnificent piece of engineering, that's for sure.

Another lovely weekend. Rode up to Thorpeness after work on Friday to Genie's relatives house on the beach then on Saturday after a little fettling with a Chrysler we walked along the beach to Aldeburgh to enjoy some delicious Fish Chips then later rode North to Lowestoft to 1, meet up with the legend that is cheekythomas and 2 to join Maver,Sarah,Elementalist,Heath and Karen for a Birthday BBQ which went very well indeed even if two people did fall over.
I'm not going to mention any names but you know who you are.
The music was novel. There were two lap tops each set on you tube and we all took turns to pick the next track.
Sometimes it was good and the rest of the time it was my choice.
The company and the food was spot on but we had to leave fairly early because there was no promise of finding the beach house again once the sun had gone down.
Having said that the ride back down the A12 in the late evening was lovely because it just it's apexes all just blend together into one long strip of tarmac joy.
We did almost run out of fuel but as luck would have it we saw the shining lights of a petrol station in the distance so no dramas.
In the morning we ran for around 7 miles up and down the beach and in the afternoon went for a gentle walk while dodging showers.
We both had a lovely ride home punctuated by rainbows and showers.

Weekend Joy.

Bill X

I think the answer to all of those points is yes. As for the Pont de Normandie, the Viaduc de Calix over Caen was scary enough, thanks to Alice for realising I was suffering vertigo and riding close beside me across the worst bit. Fab weekend. I hit my fastest speed yet on a scoot. Ninety indicated 86 GPS.

You were taking photos of the bridge?? No wonder you felt dizzy

What a great weekend. I'll write it up properly in the Reports section, but thanks so much to those who came.

I got home at 12:30 last night, having gone through some nasty rainy patches. Brian overtook me just after the Hindhead Tunnel, then I found him filling up at the BP station between Guildford and the M25.

Phoned Howard, who had no doubt been in for hours and we spent another half hour chatting about how great it had all been.

sounds like a great weekend was had by all in normandy

suffolk was wonderful, though two days was not long enough. we were very lucky with the weather, the sun shone for most of the weekend and I had two lovely swims on both days - there were fantastic big breakers on Sunday, so I spent ages leaping and jumping in the swell as somebody who claimed to have forgotten his swim suit watched from the beach.

There weren't the usual 20 people in the house - just my aunt and uncle, the wife of one of my many, many cousins, two of her children and some lovely friends of hers from Italy.

now back in London, watching the rain thoroughly soak the laundry I've just hung out to dry. F**king english summer

The ride up this morning from Portsmouth was lovely. We took the A272 after a nice breakfast in a greasy spoon. After stopping at Ryka's for coffee, an ominous cloud loomed. I hit the M25 at Leatherhead and the heavens then opened. It was absolutely torrential and there was so much spray everything slowed to 40mph, so I had NO chance of keeping dry especially with no waterproofs. Fifteen minutes later, I left the M25 at Reigate to remove jeans underwear, T-shirt in the baby change area of a petrol station, to go commando in my waterproof suit with the drenched mesh jacket over the top of it. The rest of the ride home was uneventful and mercifully dry, done mostly at seventy miles per hour. The A2 was horrid as there was an enormous crosswind, but I noticed that a sports bike was having difficulty as well. My riding and cornering speeds have definitely improved over the weekend, as I looked down at my speedo while doing the bend over a flyover on the A12, which I normally take at 55mph indicated, to see that I was at 70mph indicated. Howard is right when he says don't look at the speedo. Several firsts for me over the weekend - I can now ride a scooter standing up with my knees locked, I can do a high bridge (just), I did 86mph (GPS), I did 75mph in the rain, I can now cope with crosswinds... I am also about five pounds heavier. All in all a FABULOUS weekend. (Oh and I never realised just how fast sports bikes can go )

I think there are specialist clubs for this sort of thing

Glad you got home safe and sound. It peed down on us for at least half of the way home last night, but there was very little else on the road, so that was a bonus.

What a fantastic weekend.