Plan A.

Ok listen up, here's the plan. What I'd like you to do - that's YOU - not him sitting next to you, or your neighbour, or another guy in the club who looks at the blog - YOU - is when you visit for the first time this week (starting today, Saturday 21st March, until next Saturday 28th March) you just need to click on the YES button and then click the VOTE button. This will register one vote and if everyone who visits does it, I'll have a better idea how many people are visiting in a random week. Of course, I might be very disappointed and would probably prefer not to know that only 3 people visit this coming week. But I don't think that's likely, given that the site clocks up over 1500 visitors a month, and I'm sure that's not just BigBob and Darrell clicking on and off all day, all week, all month long. Well it better not be! I'm asking this of you because last night I was at the monthly meeting of the Central section of the VMCC and so many people came up to me and said they read the blog - people that quite honestly surprised me - in a good way, that I thought it would be good to do a little experiment. Remember now, only one click per person for the whole of the week.

Before dropping in on Shorty's meeting Mrs BC and I were in attendance at the first UCAN Fun Run (on bikes!) 2009 planning meeting at Ballater. Organised by the rather appropriately named Chris Norton, the aim of the event is to raise loadsa money for a local charity called UCAN, which tries to increase peoples' awareness of all of the urological cancers, as well as improving the quality of life and support for people who are affected. Not a cheery subject to talk about really, but when you think that 1 in 5 of all cancers in men and women are urological, we need to know about it. I can't quite recall how we got dragged in to help, but we were and we don't mind, it's a good cause. See more here - https://www.charttrials.abdn.ac.uk/ucan/manage/menu/Home/. Last year's run was pretty successful and all we need to do this year is build on the good reputation the run is getting, but there are venues to consider, routes to sort out, advertising and promotion to look at, a website to build, and people's arms to twist for favours along the way! It was a glorious morning for a drive out west to the mountains and just before Tarland is the Queen's View (one of two in Scotland I believe) where you round a bend in the road and a most stunning view across to Lochnagar, Morven and Mount Keen opens up. The light was just like that of a late autumn day, hazy, misty and lazy; lovely. Anyway, the meeting at Chris's place went well with a full compliment of committee members tuning out for Val's superb luncheon spread! Afterwards Mrs BC and I popped into Banchory where I had some work to do, then on to Aberdeen for more work, where a nasty thick blanket of fog came down. We grabbed a sarnie at Sainsburys (usually it's Asda but the diesel was cheaper at S'burys for some reason) and ploughed on down the A90 in more thick evil fog, arriving absolutely HOURS before Kawa who had the nerve to text me earlier in the day to say there was a bet on whether I could get there on time or not. Really, one should not make such remarks unless oneself is sure of being there on time, nah nah nee naaaaah naaaah!! The meeting was a good 'un, with Geoff Brazendale talking about Sunbeams and showing a few pictures. One of our members has a rather prized model apparently, I can see I'm going to have to go and take him up on his offer of trying all his bikes some day, especially the Sunbeam.




As well as an overwhelming desire to see Mr B and witness his talk on Sunbeams, part of the reason for going was to bring Cubbie home. Kawa had kindly been accommodating the wee bike since the Edinburgh show, and had even more kindly ripped the primary case off, pulled the clutch apart, fixed the leak with some fancy black gungee stuff and a couple of new screws, laughed at how much the case is warped and cracked and then stuck it all back together. While he was at it, he just couldn't resist the washing and polishing job, the bike looks like new now. I think he even washed the number plate. Tell you what though, it started up first kick today and while it still sounds good, it also sounds slightly different. I reckon all that muck has been masking the true sound of Cubbie. Thank you Kawa for the work and the pics/evidence.

Well, that was yesterday and today is today, sunny Saturday. We got a load of old branches cleared and burnt up and I even found time to drag the old MZ Skorpion out into the fresh air. After Cubbie it feels big, bulky and unwieldy but still so handsome. I really do believe this is a classic of the future. Look at that lovely stainless silencer - they came with those as standard ya know, boomboomboom, and the Grimeca brakes were standard fitment complete with braided hoses, I mean, this is quality gear people, and all on an MZ. The big single 660cc Yammy motor is plenty powerful enough for an average road rider who wants to have fun yet keep on the right side of both the law and life, and look at those light weight 3 spoke wheels - blimmin' difficult to get tyres for I'll tell ya! The battery was completely dead so borrowing Cubbie's tool kit, I whipped it out and will charge it up in the next couple of days. A few odd jobs need to be done, probably ought to strip the calipers as the main job before getting it back on the road, oh, yes, nearly forgot, it's gonna need some new bushes somewhere in the midst of the suspension - don't think Mr MoT man will let it slip through as it is, and I reckon I'll just live with the excessive oil consumption for a while longer. So so so so SO let's go peeps, get those bikes fettled and ready for the new season - I'll be seeing you around up and down the country.

Don't you just think it's a yummy scrummy looking big bikey?

PS The Rooster Booster has landed!

Oh! What a beautiful morning!

The weather is soooo lovely today, I'm going outside to enjoy it. Might even post some pics of 'peace and quiet' on the farm.

Well here are some pics for you, real, genuine, Scottish Sunshine. A heat wave almost.

T'was difficult to find things that I could do outdoors, as I had to keep sitting down to get my breath back. Oh, and then there is the fact that I've lost my voice and all that is left is a squeak and a cough. But between us, Mrs BC and I carted a load of old wheels over to the veggie garden, and used them to weigh down some more black plastic to keep the weeds at bay, then we tidied up the shed site so that building can start any time soon - well, when I can breath more easily. The birds in the garden were chirp-chirp-chirping away, the buzzards were crying overhead, Doolie was making holes in the black plastic and all the sheep were happily munching away on the new shoots of grass. Bliss. I had promised myself that I would get the MZ out and fire it up, but after my morning exercise I began to feel weak and snivelly again, blimmin' 'eck, hope I'm better by Friday, got a VMCC thing to go to - and it might well be Bring Cubbie Home Day. Feels kinda odd not having Cubbie here, but Kawa is looking after it for the time being. Rumour has it, he's going to wash and polish it too....I won't recognise the poor wee thing!

The Edinburgh Motorcycle Show 09

I don't want to whinge about it, but I've been ill all week, and Mrs BC most of the week before, so we weren't exactly looking forward to getting up at 6.30AM yesterday (Saturday). But my alarm rang so I leapt out of bed straight away, well, nearly, just a few more minutes... Of course, before we could leave we had to feed / check / water 60 sheep, and make sure the dogs had enough time outdoors, make a space in the van for both of us and our food supplies, and finally make sure the cats had been in, eaten and gone out again. We finally got away by 8.43, 18 minutes earlier than planned and arrived at the show, which is based at Ingliston, next to the Edinbugh airport, just before noon. My plan was to get a burger straight away as I knew if I started working and chatting to people I wouldn't get lunch until goodness knows when, and that would be too late. Feeling kinda poorly, one needs to eat when one feels 'able'. But that plan didn't work as we ended up heading to Shorty's Central Scotland VMCC stand - home of one Triumphant Tigery Cubbious. I can't go in to detail about the bikes (apart from the three other Cubs I saw...) as I've got to write a report for Old Bike Mart, but this is the biggest motorcycle show for both modern and classics, in Scotland, so you can probably imagine what it was like. Had a chat with Kawa, and saw my 'next bike' as he put it. In my confused state where I was running a rather high temperature and my legs were wobbly I didn't realise for a while what he was on about - sorry for being so dim Kwak! What he meant of course, was his 1980 Moto Morini 250cc 2c, which he has very kindly offered to lend me in the summer - it looks like my sort of bike, so I'm looking forward to it, and it'll give me a chance to do a few repairs to Cubbie...perhaps... Being the new VMCC Area Rep for Scotland I had a busy time meeting and greeting fellow members and taking note of any points they raised, so thank you to everyone who came and said 'hello', I think between us, we're got some great ideas. Thanks also to those who pushed money into my hand for Cubbies Counties sponsorship - and get this, even Eric Boocock, former British Speedway champ, has been following Cubbie's progress! He was impressed with the amount of road grime and oil on the bike and awarded Cubbie a special prize, something that perhaps a lot of exhibitors wouldn't want to be awarded...but a prize is a prize...see pic.... Some of the usual suspects were missing, but I did manage to catch up with the Ayr classic club and confirm that I shall be at their show in June to dish the awards out, a quick peek at Kawa's club stand, which was something to do with Kwakkysakkys, oddly enough, bumped into Dave, "Our Man from Morpeth" and his good lady Stella, who you might remember came to the Haggis run last year (er, they're from Morpeth, which is near Newcastle, which isn't near Alford, hence giving them a good mention. I dunno, try and keep up please!!), Joe from Shetland was there too (Edinburgh, not the Haggis run) and who else did I meet? Oh yes, Allan from somewhere to the south of Scotland who says he reads the blog regularly, and Jimmy Steel who does a lot of work in the borders club organising the Jimmy Guthrie Memorial rally. Finally got my burger at way past Hungry Hour, and had to put up with some stupidly loud and very very inappropriate for an indoor venue, 'drum' band. Bang bang bang flippin' BANG. By the time 5pm came I was ready to go home, apologies to those who thought I was just weird, or not very bright, I put it down to the temperature. Shorty was so concerned he even asked me if I felt as bad as I looked. Hmmm, something odd about that question now I come to think about it. Doug and Paula, the organisers of the classic section did a great job (again) of sorting everyone and everything out - I don't envy them! I might add more later if anything springs to mind, still not feeling 100% but seem to be lasting better today than yesterday, big BIG thanks to Kawa (you can give the bike a rinse now if you like) and his chum Fer, and to Shorty for helping to get Cubbie to the show, and hopefully home again.

PS, can't seem to get the hang of posting pictures these days. But I saw this choppy thingy and immediately thought of Darrell and BigBob. Enjoy.

Ah yes, forgot to mention the really high winds that made travelling a little difficult, and the three bikers we saw on the hard shoulder who had been stopped by the cops - probably just for their own safety no doubt. Mrs BC, I wasn't going to mention that you ripped Eric's name badge from his jacket!

Counties 20 & 21 - Kincardineshire & Forfarshire

Hi honey, I'm home. Couldn't find my thermals on Saturday morning, which set me back a bit, but decided to wear two thick tee shirts and a big jumper instead, and finally got away, just a few mins behind schedule. I had been looking forward to riding Cubbie through Aberdeen, I just love filtering, pop pop pop bang!!! But then as I was heading to Aberdeen, I suddenly thought I didn't fancy the trek down the dual carriageway to the south, so we steered a course cross country, out to Inverurie, then Dunecht, Westhill and Peterculter, before crossing the hills on the Netherley Road and into Stonehaven - birthplace of the inventor of the pneumatic tyre, a certain R W Thomson, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. They had a rally there each summer to commemorate the connections of the town to Thomson, never been but hope to get the club to go this year as we've been invited to have a club stand and to apply for the title of Club of the Year. The response from members so far though has been just a little slow....so come on guys! The rain had started by then, and the oil leak from the bit behind the primary chain case was humongous. Topping up the tank took over 300ml of my precious spare Q8 reserves, of which I normally only need a few spoonfuls for a top up, so I nipped in to the garage to get some more. But they didn't have any, and the lady I picked on to ask how far / how long it would take to get to Montrose has never driven a car in her life so didn't have a clue. Rain was still on, but I didn't care 'cos Dr Jim has fixed my lights and I can ride all day with them blazing away. Couldn't resist popping in to get some shots of Dunnottar Castle on the coast, then carried on, rattling away down to Montrose, where I would meet Smokey Child. He's from Arbroath but agreed to meet me in Montrose for the guided tour. We went down a 'no vehicles' pathway to a lighthouse, before wandering around the back lanes, past Lunan Bay and Red Castle ruins to Arbroath. The rain had gone but the air was full of a nasty grey drizzle, making my glasses huff up. Smokey certainly knows his local history, and took me to see The Ness at Victoria Park, the harbour with its brightly painted rows of houses and piles of creel (things) with the signal tower in the background. With the daylight fast slipping away (along with Cubbie's oil) we made one last stop at the birthplace of David Dunbar Buick, yep, that chap who went to America and made a few cars. Well I thought it was the last stop but Smokey had one more place to take me, Keptie Pond. A nice, peaceful setting, ducks and swans swirling around and the rain drops pinging down on the water. Generally what you might call a grey day, it was getting on for dark by the time we reached Smokey's abode, popped the bikes in the garage, Cubbie with a super size drip tray - I meant to say, the bike Smokey was on, was a rather nice 193? Panther, 250 I think he said. A really nice sounding chuff-chuff-chuffer of a machine.

Time for chocolate, back later.

Where was I? Oh yes, we got back to Smokey's place, and soon Mrs Smokey arrived home from work. She cooked up a super plate of fish and chips, followed by cream cakes, nice and healthy biker grub! Got a good sleep that night, despite the rain and wind absolutely hammering and howling on the window, and woke up to hear the birds twittering away outside. They were slightly misleading as the wind was still quite strong and bitterly cold, but after brekky Smokey and I togged up and set off on the bikes. He chose to ride his Suzuki V-Strom this time as the Panther would have trouble keeping up with Cubbie! We had planned to see a few more of the Forfarshire sights, but a combination of the severe oil loss and the not exactly enjoyable riding conditions, we decided to head straight to Shorty's house. Judging Cubbie speed is a difficult task these days as the cheap bicycle speedo that I bought has ceased to function and the original item is in bits, some bits are still on the bike and the rest are in a box in the lounge / workshop, so I had been going by the rate of charge. A fairly novel way I think you'll agree. I had somehow come to the decision that if Cubbie was charging at +3 with the lights on, in top gear, on level ground, then it must be close to 50mph, that's what it felt like anyway, but following Smokey, who was travelling at a very precise 50mph on his Suzuki, the rate of charge was only showing at +2. Hmmm, seems I was bashing on a bit going at +3, but it felt 'ok', I would have known if it hadn't felt 'ok'. We popped in to Glamis on the way for a few more pictures - you'll be aware that I had already been to Glamis on my Perthshire visit, but a malfunction with my photographic equipment meant I wasn't able to get all the shots I would have liked, so I got a few more, and who says I can't re-visit a county if I like, it's my game and my rules, so there! Most of the way to Shorty's we were riding headlong in to a gale, but hunching down over the tank and tucking my elbows and knees in tightly, aided by my rucksack performing as a racing hump, Cubbie managed splendidly. Of course, when we arrived, I got nothing but abuse from the two guys, they probably felt there was safety in numbers. Shorty even left Cubbie out in the snow! Poor ikkle Cubbie, goes all that way only to be treated like a second class motorcycle.

So that's Cubbie, half way to the Edinburgh show, and just waiting for a lift from Kawa on Friday. Then I'll have to work out how to get it home again. Talking of which, I came home on the train and was stung for £30 for a ticket. Not funny, I was expecting it to be a tenner, like it said on the website the previous day. Then the wifie at the snack bar tried to charge me £2.99 for a drink and filled roll, when the sign advertised it as £1.99. I only had £2.70 on me in cash, the cash machine charged two pounds for making a withdrawal, and the WH Smith kiosk didn't do cash back, so I snuck past the snack bar (where my order was waiting for me) and got some junk food from the machine, only to find 30p in the change/refund bit, which irks me somewhat because if I had checked in there first, I would have had enough to get my hot filled roll and a drink. Then the train was full of smelly stale people, there were no seats and I had reached my energy gap.

Still, Mrs BC laid on a corker of a roast dinner plus pudd to celebrate my appointment as Area Rep, followed by a box of Milk Tray, all to myself. And, the best bit, there are no horrible coffee flavoured ones.

Ok, that's the end, need to get a clutch puller to add to my tool kit so that when I get Cubbie back from the show I can fix the leak ASAP and carry on countying. I might stick a few more pics up tomorrow, and can you guess the name of the dog before then?

Thank you to Smokey and Mrs Smokey for providing shelter, food, help and hospitality.

Here I come...ready or not...

Yoooo hooooooo, that's me away, nearly, no rain yet, snow forecast for tomorrow, need to check Cubbie's chain, put a drop of that lovely Q8 oil in the primary chain case, check the main oil level, stick some air in the back tyre, then I can go. Oh, have to check the hay in the big field and fill Golly's hay net first. Good job I'm up at the crack o' dawn!

Twister hits NE Scotland!

Riteo, that's the official announcement bit out of the way, down to the nitty gritty now. The job, as I understand it, involves getting out and about, visiting sections and VMCC events all over Scotland (just like I have been doing for the last 6 years or so), and being a point of contact between the Scottish sections (all 6 of them) and HQ. There are meetings at head office several times a year, which is where I can raise any issues that are troubling members north of the border, and I'll probably be the messenger who gets shot when I return with the answers! It's not up to me promise to change the world or make the Scottish part of the club exactly what everyone wants, because that is not only impossible, but its not my job! I'll just do my best to help things run smoothly, and help to do away with the misguided idea that the VMCC is only for very mature (what can I put there that starts with C C....) gentlemen who smoke pipes but don't ride bikes. Let's show 'em, c'mon, look lively, chop chop! Looking forward to working with you all.


And in other news.....
Our Grampian classic club meeting last night hosted our annual talk from Timmy "Twister" Hastings, our sponsored 16 year old racer who is the current British GP125 ACU Academy Cup CHAMPION. He gave us a good talk about his 2008 season, the ups of getting pole position and places on the podium, followed by the downs of flipping over the 'bars at 133mph! We watched a couple of videos of his racing and then the poor lad to had answer loads of questions, followed by a mingle with the old guys who tried to tell him how best to go faster than the opposition. Give Timmy his due, he spent a good couple of hours chatting and mixing with the Grumpyones - I'd say he has earned our sponsorship for the coming season, but he still needs to raise a heck of a lot of money, and given the financial climate, that might be tricky. So if you can help him out, pop on to his website at www.timhastingsracing.co.uk

You might be wondering why a classic club would want to get involved with a racer of modern bikes - well, just think of all the publicity we'll get. Our club logo will be on show all around the country and possibly even abroad, not to mention it'll be on TV from time to time. The lucky little beggar, he's off to Spain very soon to start testing his KRP bike and to ride in the first round of the Catalan Championship at Barcelona - good luck champ, same again but better this year, eh!

Cubbies Counties stuff - I plan to nip off and 'do' another two counties this weekend, have Cubbie already fettled and ready to go. Took the primary chain case off, removed all the old remnants of sealer, cleaned the joints thoroughly and let it all dry off before applying some new silicone sealer, that special stuff for engines ya know. Bolted it all up, re-fitted the foot peg and the rear brake pedal, satisfied that the huge drip discovered on the Orkney trip would be cured. No sooner had I turned my back, but there was a new drip underneath - and it wasn't the primary wotsit 'cos I hadn't even put any oil in there yet. Looks like this is the next cover / case / whateveryoucallit in, the bit next the main body of the engine. Humbug. Well I'm not taking the primary chain case and the clutch off just yet to sort it, so it'll have to drip, and I'll have to remember to keep it topped up. While I was in the mood I also checked the gearbox level, using that stupid set up where you grovel around upside down, trying not to get an eye full of debris from underneath the bike, and trying to find a spanner of some sort that you can get on the bolt and turn, avoiding the oil pipe, the frame tube, the zorst and, you get the picture? Undid the smaller of two bolt things (there's one inside the other, sort of). If oil comes out the hole you're ok, but if it doesn't, it's time for a top up, which it was, so I squirted another 50ml or so in. Now I'm happy that all I have to do on Saturday morning is fill the primary case and top up the main oil tank, and it would be a good idea to stick some air in the back tyre I spose. Just before I left Cubbie in peace and quiet, I couldn't resist flicking the lights on.....and they still work!

Thanks!

Ladies and gentlemen, I would just like to thank everyone who supported me in the Area Rep (Scotland) vote.


***GBC is your new Area Representative.***


Hehehe!!! Wooooooooo!!!! Well looks like I'm in for a busy year!!!