I'm interested in conversations about and I want to talk about
Know exactly what you want?
Show search

Notification

Error
ο»Ώ

A place to have a chat.

User
Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 10:00

Kev, I remember the Suzuki 250s. My mate had a Ramair one and another had a Yamaha 250. But I stuck with my BSA till I built an Ariel 350 bitza flat track when I was 17 . Then I bought a new DT400 which was good fun. A Ducati 500 Desmo then a Suzuki GS1000 as it had a nice seat for my girlfriend 🀣, wicked bike . Then had a few Enduros and trials bikes over the years and the last was a Bandit 600 but I didn’t like it much.



I have my Kawasaki 350 triple I rebuilt recently but soon as it’s running properly it’s going up for sale. I don’t feel strong enough anymore and I don’t think my mind is working as quickly as it used to. 


My youngest did his CBT with his missus and bought a Yamaha 125 racy thing. I rode it back from Margate a couple of years ago. But they didn’t complete their tests and so he can’t ride it now … 


Phil

User
Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 13:09

Hey Phil, 


Some of those bikes bring back memories. Ram air, kettles, kawasaki triples. I remember one day we were on our way to High Beech, and one guy dropped his GS1000 on a roundabout in Waltham Abbey. Most people I knew had  GT's, X7's, RD's.. then yamaha launched the RD250 & 350 LC's, they were quick! Saw one in mint condition in Northern Ireland recently. 


I visited the Haynes motor museum recently, loads of classic cars but they also have a small collection of motorbikes like BSA, Norton, even a Triton. I'd recommend visiting if you're near Yeovil and stuck on the A303. πŸ‘πŸ»


Cheers, 


Kev.

User
Posted 29 Aug 2024 at 14:30

Hi Kev. 


Knew a kid with a Kawasaki 250 triple and he couldn’t get between petrol stations if he tried to ride with the big boys. 

I definitely wouldn’t want to pick up a downed GS 1000 they were heavy beasts. Hope he was ok?


The GS was a brilliant bike though they were very easy to wheelie with so much torque and with a pillion. It could kick the back wheel out going into 3rd at 70. Fastest production bike you could buy at the time I had mine (1979). I had lower bars and a bikini fairing on mine.  πŸ˜Surprisingly my girlfriend said she never felt I rode dangerously 😳. She did end up marrying me.


I put an MGA piston in my Ariel which raised the compression ratio by a silly amount and increased performance quite a bit but I ended up busting the conrod with my mate on the back. Lucky it didn’t wreck the engine… or us… 


The Haynes museum is on my list to visit. Sounds great. Gonna have to make an effort to get down there. My mate is over from Spain and he wanted me to go up to the National Motorbike Museum in Birmingham but I didn’t think I could manage the walking at the moment so we didn’t go. 


cheers


Phil

User
Posted 30 Aug 2024 at 08:34

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member



I definitely wouldn’t want to pick up a downed GS 1000 they were heavy beasts. Hope he was ok?



Hi Phil, 


He was okay, it was low speed, but he was really skinny and a couple of guys helped pick it up. The engine bars took the brunt of it. In those days we all wore leather jackets, jeans and boots. Mad eh?


I didn't see him do it as I was too far back in the procession, I just got there as they were picking it up.. the bigger bikes always led the pack while the rest of us on smaller bikes were left struggling to keep up at the back. I was going to get a GS550 but another winter set in and I switched to cars.


I remember going to the motorbike museum back in the eighties, rode up on a mate's rattly old GT. I thought the place had a big fire a few years ago. 


I remember going to pick up a girl on my bike once, her dad came out swearing and shouting at me about motorbikes, didn't see her much after that. Now I'm a dad myself, I can see his point. 


Ahh, memories eh.


Cheers, 


Kev.


 

User
Posted 30 Aug 2024 at 20:41

Kev,


Love the stories Kev, great memories πŸ‘


I remember when I was 16 I had a girlie and her Dad made me an electronic ignition for my 250 BSA . Never did work properly 🀷‍♂️..


Never had a Dad who worried about me taking his daughter out on a bike. Plenty of other things they worried about though 🀦‍♀️ 


Phil

User
Posted 08 Sep 2024 at 11:25

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
Never had a Dad who worried about me taking his daughter out on a bike. Plenty of other things they worried about though 🀦‍♀️ 


πŸ˜‚


I hope you're still coping with chemo Phil and that this Tuesday's appointment with your consultant goes well.


It's been quiet in here for a while. To boost trade I'm thinking of putting free bread and dripping on the bar on Sundays.😁


When you look back, it's incredible how pubs have changed. I can remember when they first introduced meals in pubs. I thought the idea would never catch on. I also recall, when unbelievably, it was common practise, to have strippers on at Sunday lunch times! 


I can also remember when you could buy three pints of lager for a quid!

Edited by member 08 Sep 2024 at 11:40  | Reason: Typo and additional text

User
Posted 08 Sep 2024 at 12:12

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member


Originally Posted by: Online Community Member


I can also remember when you could buy three pints of lager for a quid!





Yep, we used to go down to the Red Lion on the bus from school on a lunch time when we were in the 6th form. Using our school bus passes 😬. A pint of Sam Smiths was 31p and we would compliment it with a 20p chip butty πŸ˜€ (better, any day of the week than today’s MacDonalds offerings πŸ€”). These outings were actually less of a risk than stayng in school for lunch which meant trying to get past the dinner queue by using fake dinner passes (we’d fake the signature of our Art teacher- Captain McFrizz) and the risk being that of getting caught. I remember getting back to school after a 3 pint dinner time session in the Red Lion on my birthday to have a double history lesson in the afternoon. I remember struggling to keep awake whilst our history teacher errrred his way through Gladstone’s time (he was a fine old fellow our History teacher - an excellent teacher).

User
Posted 08 Sep 2024 at 12:35

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
I remember getting back to school after a 3 pint dinner time session in the Red Lion on my birthday to have a double history lesson in the afternoon.


I remember celebrating my 18th birthday in our local. The landlord was quite annoyed as I'd already become a regular over the previous year. πŸ˜„


 

Edited by member 09 Sep 2024 at 10:02  | Reason: Reduce text

User
Posted 09 Sep 2024 at 10:06

Hi Guys. Yes Pubs have certainly changed over the years, especially with regard to the food, and of course the strippers… There was no age checking then. Remember one Pub we went to where there were kids doing their homework. That’s a good chat up line ‘ can I help you with your homework’ πŸ˜‰. We also used to go to the nightclubs in Southend at 16 , mostly TOTS or the Goldmine on Canvey and lots of the girls in there were only 15. I worked in the Pub above the Goldmine when i was 16.


When i left school at 16 to do an engineering course and resit my Maths, English and Physics CSEs as id messed them up, we used to scoot off to a local pub to see the strippers at lunch time and we were always late getting back so had to work out who had got a puncture on their bike. When i look back it seems really seedy…. And i feel a bit ashamed and embarrassed.


Falling asleep at school , yep remember that too. I moved schools beginning of 4th year and so didn’t get my CSE options. So i got a bit disinterested in the subjects i didn't want to do anyway. I can remember trying to write stuff down and it was just gobbledygook…..


Still struggling a bit with the chemo. Tiredness and the metal mouth. Have a few days after each session where I can’t even eat a dinner as it just tastes so bad. I am drinking loads of water this time and hoping it flushes it out a bit. Still hoping that bloods are ok and my consultant oks 4 more sessions. 


Bread and dripping , yeah that was lovely ! And remember the bags of Crisps with the little salt bag in. No fancy flavours then and us kids had to sit in a little room on our own or the off licence bit.


Phil


 

User
Posted 09 Sep 2024 at 15:43

I sneaked out of school to The Chieftain for the occasional pint. My old school was demolished several years ago so there's no chance of me getting a detention for it now 😁


As for bar snacks, peanuts are fine by me. I remember when they relaunched crisps with salt bags in.


And as we're reminiscing.. went to the Goodwood Revival on Friday, we had an amazing day watching old classic cars and motorbikes being thrashed around the track. I would highly recommend this if you're in to old racing cars. Drove through a village called Cocking to get there. Saw a Lotus Climax.. in fact saw several (yep, enough juvenile humour). The weather was atrocious, it rained all day until about 6pm, just in time for the 6:30 race. We got a proper soaking but the fun didn't end there, trying to exit the quagmire of a car park in the dark was a challenge, several cars including a Land Rover got stuck in the mud. We made it out in the wife's Corsa by sticking to virgin grass and keeping the momentum going πŸ‘πŸ»


We stayed in Portsmouth for the night and visited the Royal navy dockyard on Saturday. The submarine was well worth a visit, we had a great time talking with a couple of old submariners about their experiences in the service. Went round HMS Victory again, I did it as a child and when my kids were little. It's undergoing a lot of restoration which is understandable considering its age. They've put a shop inside it now and cut a big hole in the side for an exit.  Not sure how I feel about that, Nelson would probably weep at the sight.


We just had time to drive over to Dorset to see our eldest cross the finish line of the big hike 26 miler for Macmillan πŸ‘πŸ» 


Cheers all, just helped myself to a handful of virtual peanuts from the bar.


Kev.


 

Edited by member 09 Sep 2024 at 16:41  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 09 Sep 2024 at 17:22

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
We just had time to drive over to Dorset to see our eldest cross the finish line of the big hike 26 miler for Macmillan πŸ‘πŸ» 


Cheers all, just helped myself to a handful of virtual peanuts from the bar.


Well done to your eldestπŸ‘


I seem to recall that years ago there was a story going around that scientists had tested a complimentary bowl of peanuts on a pub bar and found that they were contaminated by over 50  urine samples. I suspect,  as most of our customers have PCa, our peanuts would be even worse. πŸ˜‚

Edited by member 09 Sep 2024 at 17:43  | Reason: Additional text

User
Posted 09 Sep 2024 at 17:54

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member


Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
We just had time to drive over to Dorset to see our eldest cross the finish line of the big hike 26 miler for Macmillan πŸ‘πŸ» 


Cheers all, just helped myself to a handful of virtual peanuts from the bar.


Well done to your eldestπŸ‘


I seem to recall that years ago there was a story going around that scientists had tested a complimentary bowl of peanuts on a pub bar and found that they were contaminated by over 50  urine samples. I suspect,  as most of our customers have PCa, our peanuts would be even worse. πŸ˜‚



Cheers for that Adrian, I just spat out the virtual peanuts! 🀣

User
Posted 09 Sep 2024 at 18:04

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member


Cheers for that Adrian, I just spat out the virtual peanuts! 🀣



No probs Kev. I'll get the virtual Dyson.😁

User
Posted 10 Sep 2024 at 09:29

Kev,


Well done to your eldest πŸ‘. Very worthy cause. 


The Goodwood Revival is a great event. We went some years ago and loved it. So many beautiful cars and everybody dressed up - magic day. It’s a lovely part of the country and we must try to spend some time down there. We tend to go straight to Exmoor where our friends live and miss out those parts. 


 


We used to go to Brands Hatch quite a lot when we were first dating and would park on the grassy bank facing the main stand. Often rained while we were there but I’d got M&S tyres on my RS2000 Rear wheel drive so we were ok getting out off the grass. 


 


Uh I remember the peanuts on the bar … and I remember being told not to touch them πŸ₯΄… But we were hardy kids then unlike today’s softies … 



Have you finished the hoovering SpongeBob? I think the bar needs a polish as well 🀣


Cheers


Phil

Edited by member 10 Sep 2024 at 09:30  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 14 Sep 2024 at 07:44

Morning all.


It's been very quiet in here. Mind you, the entire forum has been very steady for the last few days. There haven't even been any overnight scam posts to report. 


I spent all day in the garden yesterday. Last hedge cuts and cutting back all the dead stuff in the borders. It looks neat and tidy. A couple of days ago I fitted a new u/v light for my fish pond and the water is now crystal clear, as good as I've ever seen it. 


In the suntrap corner, where my bench is, it hit 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I had to have a few beers to ensure I kept hydrated. The wife even had a couple, but they were only those tiny French bottles. One gulp and they're gone. I stuck with my cans of Stella. Apparently we're going to get a bit of heat next week. I hope so. The fridge is well stocked.😁


In the evening I watched the 2nd 20/20 England v Australia cricket match. A good victory for us, making it one game each. Should be an exciting decider on Sunday.


It's my 10 year old grandson's first football game of the season today. I love watching him play. One o'clock kick off.  So I'll have pie and chips from the nearby chippy whilst spectating. "Come on you Lions!"


Going to my daughters tomorrow for Sunday dinner. It should be good, she's a much better cook than her mum. (Only kidding dear)


Hopefully, unless Oli's team gets hammered, and he let's in a dozen or his mum forgets to put water in the veg steamer, which she's done twice before 😲; it should be decent weekend.


Hope you all have a good 'un.

Edited by member 14 Sep 2024 at 07:49  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 14 Sep 2024 at 09:16

Hi Adrian,


It has been a bit quiet on here, I've neglected the virtual pub this week as I've been busy with DIY jobs. We recently had new patio doors fitted so I had a step to build, a course of bricks and four large paving slabs did the job, and my back too! Next job will be taking down a studwork wall to create a new kitchen diner. When complete, it'll be great having family round for roast dinners.


As for the garden,  I pruned our small apple tree last winter and now it's groaning under the weight of several massive apples the size of grapefruits. They're ready to eat and taste great. Unfortunately the Mrs is allergic to apples, but she made a tasty apple crumble which is all gone now. I've placed an order for another one. The grapes have swollen up nicely and will be ready to eat in a couple of weeks or so. We have a fuchsia in the front garden that's full of flowers and looks magnificent.


It's great watching grandkids growing up and doing things they enjoy, we have a 10 year old granddaughter, we used to have regular kick-abouts on the green together but she seems to have gone off that now. My son and his wife just celebrated their first anniversary last weekend but aren't in a hurry to have kids yet as they're busy enjoying life.


My Mrs went for an early swim at the lido this morning and came home shivering, she's in a hot bath now.. glad I stayed in bed.


Getting the suitcase out of the loft today, we're flying to Fuerteventura next weekend for some sun and relaxation. 


No-one's touching those peanuts on the bar so I'll have a pint of Doom Bar and a packet of cheese & onion.


Cheers all, have a great weekend. 


Kev.

Edited by member 14 Sep 2024 at 09:26  | Reason: Typo

User
Posted 14 Sep 2024 at 12:28

Yep, I’ve been busy busy being an old git. Struggling with the HT, bones and joints aching but trying my best to keep active.


Son 2 is having a study year abroad in Tokyo and we dispatched him off at Manchester airport yesterday. Amazingly, he managed to find his own way all the way to Tokyo and reported arrival at his accomodation at 8am this morning - much to the wife’s relief (she’s been a bit stresso about it - especially as his flight path took him over the length of Russia and then China). I’m amazed, this is a lad who doesn’t even know where to find the outside bin or for that matter even the laundry basket so for him to get all the way across the world on his own is some achievement 😬.


I have an apple tree, they are ‘discovery’ apples, which are ready in august, fabulously sweet. You have to eat them straight away as they don’t keep. We get tons of them but the wife won’t eat them, she reckons that she found a worm in one a couple of years ago and hasn’t eaten one since! Of course, it’s complete nonsense, they are delicious.


So yes, having walked the dog up the hill for a couple of hours this morning I intent to put my feet up and emerge myself in football this afternoon and complete with usual Saturday curry tonight πŸ₯˜πŸ˜³.


Enjoy!

User
Posted 14 Sep 2024 at 14:49

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
I’m amazed, this is a lad who doesn’t even know where to find the outside bin or for that matter even the laundry basket so for him to get all the way across the world on his own is some achievement 😬.


πŸ˜‚

Edited by member 14 Sep 2024 at 23:17  | Reason: Additional text

User
Posted 16 Sep 2024 at 09:37

Hi chaps. Seems like you lot have been busy DIYing and gardening. That’s great to hear , keep it up. 
I was a bit crook this weekend with a funny tummy. Started Thursday and I had my 2nd shingles Monday so not sure if it was that or the chemo. We went to an afternoon bbq on Saturday but I only lasted from 3 till 6 and we had to come home. Then yesterday thought It had gone and we had a lovely roast dinner only for it to come back …. Pretty sure it’s not a bug.
Before that we’d cut the grass and edged , and cut back a row of lavender. It had got too big and may well have to come out…I also did all the tyres on the wife’s Mini as the TPS sensor was lit up… Was only 2psi out 🀷‍♂️.


I listened to Spurs get beaten again while sat in the sun then watched quite an interesting F1 later. Crash was definitely Perez’s fault. 


Missus just txt me from work and her pharmacist says I should phone the chemo nurses about my tummy. I just don’t want to jeopardise staying on the chemo…


SpongeBob , my youngest speaks almost fluent Japanese and he loves it there. He has lessons every week. He went to a gaming convention in Tokyo when he was quite young and loved it. He’s now been to Japan, China and even Guernsey and Jersey for work trips. Never would have imagined it when he was at school. He still won’t do cattle class though, people are too close, so it’s PE or business only.

Hope your boy has a brilliant time in Tokyo. No doubt he’ll make use of the full service laundry 🀣 


OK, talking of laundry I have some ironing to do now… 


Take care guys, 


Phil

User
Posted 16 Sep 2024 at 10:22

Hi Phil,


Despite your treatment slightly impeding your workload, you still put me to shame, mate.


Most of my 'Get up and go' has got up and gone.


Keep going mate.


I had a good weekend. Oli's team won 18-0 and they only play 30 minutes each way. He only touched the ball about half a dozen times. I felt sorry for the opposition who looked very disheartened. Their goalie, despite the score, made some fabulous saves. 


Sunday lunch was brilliant the Yorkshire puds were nearly as big as footballs and the beef was tender and delicious πŸ˜‹ 


 

Edited by member 16 Sep 2024 at 14:43  | Reason: Additional text

 
Forum Jump  
©2025 Prostate Cancer UK