Sam the Record Man

Another rake through the archives unearthed this.

Although this picture has a decidedly American 'feel' to it, it was actually taken in Toronto, Canada while on a short holiday there a few years ago.

Toronto is used a lot by companies making films and TV programmes which are supposed to be set in the US as it, apparently, looks like an American city. It is also cheaper to film there, and the authorities are very accommodating when it comes to shutting streets off to allow car chases and such.

International Adventurer

I couldn't resist this: an 'Adventurer's Balaclava', complete with beard & moustache. Be just like Sir Ranulph Fiennes without having to lose any of your less important extremities. Sure to come in handy if you plan on going to a Winter Rally on your bike!

Anyone who wants to try knitting something like this should get in touch, as I have a guaranteed order for you for about a dozen.

DIY airfilter

You can't tour on a single!: DIY airfilter: "Was at M@TD 's house today, and we made a DIY airfilter for his Skorpion. Genuine MZ filters are in the region of £18, but ours cost less th..."

Norrie was over this afternoon and we made a DIY air filter for my MZ Skorpion. Click on the link for details and pictures.

To P or not to P

A sticker I came across in the public toilet at one of the campsites we stayed at in Norway.

Keeping Cool

Here is another photo from the archives. 

This was taken at the MZ Winter Rally at HowStean Gorge in deepest, darkest North Yorkshire about six years ago.

The Winter Rally is held on the last weekend in January every year and, as you can see, this is one of the (many) years that it snowed that weekend. And yes, it was fairly cold, thank you for asking.

The bike was a little MZ ETZ251 which I normally used for my commute to work, but it was also perfectly capable of the 400 mile round trip. It was stolen about six months after this picture was taken.

Wee Red Machine

Here's a nice little bike that a friend has just bought for his wife.

It’s a 31 years old Moto Guzzi V50, but take a look at the (genuine) mileage.

He reckons that it needs a few jobs doing and the cosmetics sorting, but is very happy with his purchase, and so is the wife.

Norway: Conclusion

Our time in Norway was mostly spent in bright sunshine, in idyllic surroundings, and was a generally positive experience. I did wonder about leaving things like that and not mentioning the problems we had on the return trip. However, on reflection, I reckoned that, since you have to put up with the bad along with the good, I should cover that as well. Otherwise you wouldn’t be getting the full picture.

Do I regret going? Not at all. We had a fantastic time in Norway. It is a beautiful country with friendly people and scenery reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands grown large. The roads are perfect for motorcycles and, outside the few big cities, mercifully quiet.

Would I do it again? No, I don’t think so. Until they reinstate some sort of direct ferry link from the UK to Norway I wouldn’t recommend going on your bike as we did. It’s really too far to travel to get there and back, and takes too long. Around half of our holiday was spent just getting to where we wanted to be, and the long haul through Germany was thoroughly unpleasant, as all you did was travel exceedingly fast on the motorway for hours on end at the mercy of idiot drivers and the weather.

However, we both agreed that Norway was somewhere we’d like to go back to and a fly/drive holiday with family might be on the cards at some time in the not too distant future.

So, I'm not saying that I'll never be back; just that it's unlikely to be on a bike any time soon, I'm afraid.