Mid-life crisis. nb

just don't get too enthusiastic too soon. had a test drive on a pan european a few years ago. went like the proverbial s**t off a shovel, then some idiot pedestrian stepped out in front of me as i was going round a roundabout. those brakes are VERY powerful and i locked the back wheel - not having ridden for a while i forgot to haul it upright before braking and it dumped me in the road. the good news is that with the panniers at the back it only went over about 50 degrees!

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Yin big daft Parahandy has done the very same and aquired a Honda Rebel - Noo Para must be 6ft 2 and that has tae mean that most of him will be dragging on the ground behing it

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=purple>regards
Claymore<font color=purple>
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Mine's a 1975 Kawasaki Z1A.

I'm still looking for something to do when the weather's really bad and I can't take the bike or the boat out, any ideas?

David



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Lucky chaps.

In a peculiar twist, my girlfriend is after getting herself a bike, only a year after we purchased our 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider, which revs almost as high as a motorcycle and feels about as stable - great laff! But bikes are another thing...

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://d205161.u24.uk.assimilatedservers.net/cryspics/>Crystal II in Pictures</A>
 
Honda Blackbird. I know lots of sailors who also own bikes. Not sure I understand the connection though .....

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You have two choice now

Go for a black bike, black leathers, black helmet, no reflective gear, leave the headlight off and spend the rest of your life complaining that car drivers cant see you (or in traction)

or

Get a brightly coloured bike, reflective top, white/bright helmet, always drive with the lights on, and wonder why the other group complain so much.

Enjoy, it is an amazing way of getting from a to b, and there is a lot of free council parking about, and queing will be a thing of the past (except for traffic lights).

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Small collection of old British bikes including examples of most Veocettes.
As an alternative to sailing, try trail riding. I have a Suzuki DR350 and a lightweight enduro Yamaha WR200. You WILL get wet, very tired and stay away from almost all traffic. When falling off do NOT lay underneath the bike.
Trail riding has some similarities to boating. You need good maps (charts)
When traversing water you need to discover the deep bits.(shallow bits)
Another class of user, walkers, tends to get in front of you (tacking)
Farmers will often stop for a chat such as "Git orf moi laaand" (you can't lie alongside 'ere)
I could go on - often do!
Regards Briani

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have fun!

I used to do the dispatch riding lunacy around cental london 20+ years ago and broke/blew/smashed up loads of bikes. So, i won't get another bike again, cos i have cheated death a few times already, including flying over and into several cars, once actually landing fairly reasonably having totalled the bike and went over to the car driver and asked if he was okay!...

Anyway, my 2p worth is that you always wear gloves and always wear a jacket and that neither are of any use unless made of leather : the falling off is okay provided that all your bits are in a leather bag, and not scraped across the tarmac.




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Option b didn't work for me. Henri Lloyd dayglo orange jacket and trousers and dipped headlight all went under the van that didn't see me.

Be careful James.

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Having started my longest thread ever, it occurs to me that, perhaps, we should have a Scuttlebutters bike meet - how about a Scuttlebutt chapter at the weekly Tuesday evening bike fest at Poole Town Quay?

<hr width=100% size=1>JJ
 
Don\'t do it!

I bought a big bike before I reached 40. Last rode a knackered Suzuki GT250 as a student - would hardly do 70mph as it desparately needed a rebore, but I could hear the big end rumbling, and couldn't afford to get a new crank as well as a rebore.

Anyway, I'm not far from you on the A32 /A272 bikers paradise, and got my shiny new Hornet

I did a day's retraining (you ride like a car driver!) before setting out. Scared me shitless. Every corner got me thinking - Is there a car round this corner? Every roundabout - is that diesel?

Sold it off after 3 months, and used the money towards a 1/3 share in a Moody 31. Much better £/pleasure ratio! Then caught the bug, and gave up sharing!

<hr width=100% size=1><font color=red>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=red>
 
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