Stolen

I woke up this morning to find that someone had cut through the locks on my shed, jimmied the door open, and stolen both my working bikes, as well as some tools and a spare helmet and waterproofs which were lying around.

The police officer who came round to take the details didn't hold out much hope of getting them back as apparently there's a spate of this going on at the moment and nothing has been recovered to date. 

So, goodbye then to my MZ Skorpion Trail (1994) and Triumph Sprint ST 955i (2002). It was nice knowing you!

What is particularly galling is that I came home tonight after work to find some parcels waiting for me inside of which were a new sidestand for the Skorpion and a service kit for the Triumph which I'd ordered last week.

Racing on Isle of Man

Rather pointless sign considering the bikes go past about 6 feet from where you stand

Near the start

Field has thinned out a bit

Sidecars

This explains so much!

Big Red

Where else would you take a big red bike on a Sunday afternoon?

Over the Hedge

Photos taken of Musselburgh Racecourse on the way home on Saturday.

Wild Wild East

During the week someone at work mentioned a western themed town built in a side street in Edinburgh. Curious, I went for a look on Saturday morning.

Sure enough, tucked away up a lane not far from the main road you come across what looks like a set from a western, with a livery stable, jail, cantina etc. I was a bit disappointed to see that the saloon has gone, all that remains is a blackened wall right at the far end of the alley.

 
It's obviously seen better times, and is beginning to fall apart, which is a shame as it's certainly extremely unusua and deserves better. 

There's a fairly decent review here which explains what it's doing there, as well as some photos from when the whole place was in better condition.

Sparkle

Since the sun is currently shining my new helmet got its first outing this weekend. My wife reckons that I have enough motorcycle helmets, but there's always room for another one, especially if it's a 1970s retro glitter one.

Edit: not to be outdone, Norman posted a picture of his new headgear on his blog