[SamT]

Yeah - really sad story.

Crashed at the NW200
He pulled out of the TT to be with his pregnant wife, who was having some concerns with 20 week scans etc.  Tough couple of weeks. 
Now this. I just can't imagine what his wife/family are going through.   

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Yes, especially sad when other things in life offered so much.

I was wondering if this happened because he lacked the total commitment needed.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Lore, I spotted a few styling cues that I thought might appeal 

[Nibile]

Girl + motorcycle + SoCal = Me Gusta.
Cool video and cool bike. Way too refined for my likes, but really nice indeed. Also, I'm very envious about the mechanic skills.
The only thing that I don't fancy that much is the saddle with no structural tail section, just the saddle. I prefer a fiberglass or aluminium tail section with some kind of cushioning on, be it leather or 2 cm of foam like in my case.
The two high mufflers are really cool.
On a side note, it would be well cool to have some female company in my group of riders. Maybe the conversations wouldn't be as nonsense as they are now.

[Nibile]

I got back yesterday from a four days motorcycle trip to the Dolomites.
war horse by Nibile, on Flickr
It's been huge.
1.300 kms, of which just 270 on motorways, the rest on normal roads and mountain passes...
First day, 560 kms of normal roads to get to Corvara. Epic. We got lost a thousand times, both in terms of directions and between ourselves. I rode on my own for about 150 kms, then while I was running up a long stretch of valley road, my friends just pulled in on the same road from a crossing, 50 meters in front of me! Incredible coincidence! Knackered.
Second day, lots of mountain passes. On the way down from Sella, while parking, I put my right foot on a small rock and dropped my bike. Broke both mirrors (I wonder how???) and also the muffler (goddammit). We let the muffler cool down then we drove down to Corvara with my bike with a direct, completely open exhaust. I was like a screaming dragon from a fantasy novel. Beautiful. In Corvara I found a mechanic that welded it back on for 30 Euros. Success. Taped back on the mirrors. Hell heah.
Third day downed cloudy. We went for a walk, then played our odds with the weather clearing. Bad choice. Huge storm at the Valparola pass. We put on our rainsuits, but we were already quite soaked.
Fourth day. The return. I found out that misteriously my rear light had stayed on during the whole night. I wonder how it's been possibile, without the key. Probably a false contact due to the rain. Anyway, had to jump start it, and I managed to do it first go. Then we did again a few passes (Pordoi and Sella and drove down to Canazei, then the motorway. Pulled out at Rioveggio for lunch and then went for the Futa Pass in the Appennino, which we did under a constant storm. Pools of water, rivers crossing the road, the full monty. Luckily we had time to dress properly before the worst came. Once down, we followed again normal roads into Florence and then Siena, where I got triumphantly.
I was by far the slowest of the group, and the most prudent. Never in four days I crossed the white middle line.
The bike behaved wonderfully, and the only mishaps were totally my fault.
Will sort out the clip ons later, must open them a little, they're too closed.
Anyway, a great experience.

[Nibile]

Some nice iron (and aluminium, and carbon fibre...) from the Isle of Man.

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

image by Nibile, on Flickr

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Lore, some utterly glorious machinery there! 

Particularly like drool over the TZ. Dunlop's RS is a poignant shot.

The old Honda looks rather fetching from behind 

I cycled out to the Peak the other night, down the hill past Gardom's to Baslow roundabout. First time I've approached that roundabout on two wheels for many, many years.

It's been resurfaced, and is indeed "knee down heaven"! Brings back a few memories - as Bubba will attest. I'll have to get some photos.

Hope you're having a great time on the island. Must be fantastic!! 

[Nibile]

Hey Dave!
I'm glad you liked the pics! The Honda and the Suzuki are for sale... I took the numbers if you're interested... The Honda is a 1976 CB F1 and the Suzuki is based on a 1997 Bandit...
I am back home, one week already, but we had a glorious time on the Isle. From full English breakfasts to walking miles to admiring the bikes it was gorgeous and I can't wait to go back!
Missed my bike there...
But my girlfriend bought me a pair of new knee sliders with the Isle thre legged emblem (which, by the way, is the same of Sicily island, the land of my grand-grandparents from my father's side).

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Good to hear you has a great time over there. 

The Honda sounds interesting, but I can imagine some numbers are more important than others!

I'm still negotiating on my friends Guzzi - her 15 year old son doesn't want to see it go, unsurprisingly. There are some great value sport bikes out there, which might be the way to go. Early R6 for e.g.

Interesting to hear about your ancestry. Perhaps you should head to the Scillies for some bouldering! I'd come along 

[Nibile]

Interesting to hear about your ancestry.

Indeed!
I am very proud of my Sicilian origins, but doing some research on a website dedicated to Italian surnames I found out that my surname comes actually from... France!
Nowadays it's mostly common in the Gironda region in France, and it probably comes from the term "frustier" or "fruster" that meant "carpenter" or "woodworker".
Maybe it comes from the Normans that occupied Sicily ages ago.
We still have our family house in a small village called Capri Leone, in the hills above Capo d'Orlando.

[nik at work]

Now I feel like I should  have taken you to our local pizza place. They have Sicilian heritage and have both the Manx and Sicilian three legs flags in their restaurant.

Oh well, next time...

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Interesting to hear about your ancestry.

Indeed!
I am very proud of my Sicilian origins, but doing some research on a website dedicated to Italian surnames I found out that my surname comes actually from... France!
Nowadays it's mostly common in the Gironda region in France, and it probably comes from the term "frustier" or "fruster" that meant "carpenter" or "woodworker".
Maybe it comes from the Normans that occupied Sicily ages ago.
We still have our family house in a small village called Capri Leone, in the hills above Capo d'Orlando.

Lore, I completely misread your original post! Sicily island!

Because of your recent trip to the Isle of Mann, and what you were saying about the emblem, the relative proximity etc, I thought you were referring to the Scillies - I presumed there must have been a connection I was unaware of.

That's a bit of a  moment for me! I'd be proud of being either a Scillian or Sicilian.

I now have images of you in your workshop, carving out perfect 6mm edges!

Nik, maybe you should go out to visit Lore, and have him take you out for pizza 

[Nibile]

 
Great! I thought about a typo!
Nik, as you and everyone else here, is more than welcome to come over and have some pizza: my cousin Filippo runs a pizzeria!
No pineapple pizza, obviously.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

More action from the Turner Racing TZ:




Lore, you are clearly someone lacking in psyche and motivation, so I've posted this up for your benefit.

What a delicious piece of machinery. 100kg !

[Nibile]

 
I saw and heard them in the flesh on the Isle of Man!
Best ever.
I think I'll ride my two stroke this weekend.

[Nibile]

Go to the blackboard and write 1000 times:
"I'll never think again about selling the two stroke."
Did 130 kms today, a hell of fun!!!

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Lore,

that's fantastic!

Nnnnning Nnnnning Nnn.. n . n. n. n. n. Nnnnning!

  

[DAVETHOMAS90]

I saw this and thought of you!







All reproduced without the kind permission of Built magazine 

[Nibile]

 
Brilliant pieces of metal. I love the caption “Stage 4 is for racing. 3 is insane enough "...
The Honda is really nice. I would only run the exhaust under the tail, there's so much space there!
Probably my choice would be the Yamaha endurance though.

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Me too - re the Yam. Sweet isn't it.

The Honda is mean! Love it.

I'll have a look to see if there's an online magazine.

https://www.builtmag.co.uk/

[Nibile]

Already installed the app...
There goes my afternoon job schedule.

[Nibile]

The devil is in the details...
buttons by Nibile, on Flickr
The list of the modified parts is so long that it's easier to say what's left original...
 

[DAVETHOMAS90]

Loving the levers there Lore 

Details!:






https://www.rolandsands.com/blog/593/2-stroke-attack-born-free-7

Those cans sound lovely 

Unfortunately it's a crap video, so have some of this

[Nibile]

Haha Dave, that's a video that I know all too well! Unfortunately as you said, crap video for a bike so lovely.
I am especially envious of the dry clutch, something that I would love to have on my SV. But the amount of work needed is monstrous.
I am flirting with the idea of getting a bespoke metal tail section for my bike... If only some of my clients paid me...

[Eddies]

A choke on the handlebar, that's a handy feature... wish id had that on my 2-stroke!
This is my new ride, and my first 'big' bike after passing my test