Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

You are right.
Nothing bigger than a Vespa from now on.

Some days motorcyling is like that. But I LOATHE riding in rainstormes. Hate riding in rain, and when some comes along and says you haven't got the right gear, yeah right. Now you know you want a brutale ;)

Hopefully using the vespa will give you some great experiences.

Riding in rain can be miserable. On balance I hate riding in cold the most. Frozen extremities, unpredictable grip. Constant fog of snot steamed visor. Grim.

No Little article about the my home and the madness that happens here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/36378751

It's still top of my list of things to go to... maybe next year.

I haz spare bed.

I don't really enjoy riding a proper motorbike in the sun either :-)
A car is better on motorways, a Vespa is better in town. (Hell, a bicycle is better than either in town) and I don't do the going-out-to-ride-on-windy-roads thing. And if I did, again, I'd rather be in a nice car. I'm not a fan of being blown all over the place either, hence the Porsche is likely to be my last and only convertible car.

I bought the Triumph purely because it looks great and makes a lovely noise, and I don't like the way it rides. Never have. Other bikes do nothing for me: I have zero interest in Harleys and their clones, or in plastic sports bikes, or commuter bikes, or scooters that don't look like Vespas or Lambrettas, or in off-road bikes, so it's probably time to hang up the leathers and stop making myself do stuff I hate.

Interesting.

I still have to persuade the missus of the brilliance of it all but I'm almost certain i'll make the trip myself. With or without her :)

Hutchy is on top form.
Good to see.

That is gorgeous.

Do it, expensive but fun.

Maybe you need to find the right bike ;)

I sort of understand what you mean, at times I don't like motorcycling. Especially commuting. But then I like the silence of the bike and the concentration needed to be smooth and read the road. I like jaunts to forin on the bike. That feeling as you roll off the ferry. But then I like the idea of sticking the bike on a train and meeting it for the twisties.

If you hate it, don't do it. Unless you are a masochist.

Got the FireBlade MOT'd today, commuted to work on it too instead of the fixed gear. Burnt my tailpack on the exhaust and all my clobber fell out on the backroads, oopsie!

At the garage got introduced to the Honda Grom. Now want one big time, it's all the bike I need and the commute reminded me the 'Blade has so much to give I'll never feel like I'm ever pushing it. It just doesn't seem nearly as fun anymore. Or maybe that's the traipsing up and down B roads for trousers and ID badges talking...

edit: Obligatory readers...

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That's lovely.

Blade is lovely but yeah, small bike flat out > big bike never over half throttle.

What does a Grom cost?

We picked up a new family project bike.

AMF Harley-Davidson 250 SS from 1976 with an eerily similar plate to my '76 mini.

This things got only 10k on the clock, next to no rust and was last on the road in 1979.

It's a 250cc single pot 2 stroke and despite having nearly 40 year old fuel in the tank it started right up but only ran with the choke on. Over the weekend we'll change the filters, get some fresh fuel and a new plug in there. One thing I can say is that it's fucking loud.

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A guy at my local shop has a grom and absolutely loves it.

allo allo

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Suspect it will need an engine rebuild...cranck seals don't like sitting. Rebuild should be easy enough. Oh and replace the tyres.

One of my favourite bikes of all time.

Thanks for the FireBlade love!

Guy at the garage told me a Grom's can be had for £1800. I'm very tempted but not sure when I'd use it instead of the pushbike for anything except commuter, and then my base miles will be down at zero.

I'd love an old round eye blade, they're a proper icon. Still light and still wickedly fast after all these years. They must've been like rocketships in the day. I remember being absolutely gobsmacked, age 15 by some of the loons wheelie-ing over Chelsea bridge at a ton plus, occasionally helmet-less and with open pipes. Good days.

I had a 1998 one in those very colours.

Loved it, but scared seven shades of shit out of myself with it.

What a beauty - proper shell-suit colours too.

Noice, so you got the mini and this as projects now?