nearly new year

[Bentley eight]

Well nearly the end of 2014 and the start of 2015, whats it mean?
Those much loved classics another year older, the thoughts of shall i get hold of that classic bike i once owned?
Do it up, become a born again biker,

"Spend hours in the shed" the radio on to keep me company, Oh and the tea pot "YES" dont for get the pot,

If ive found one thing out about big boys toys of the age of my biker starting point is this, the smaller the easier to do up,
it's something well worth thinking about and it can go a bit further than just the shed/garage,

You'll have parts to find, bit's to add on to your re-born pride and joy and this means finding those bit's and pieces and that gets you out to the bike jumble parts sales,
before you know it the old camera' has been dusted off and your taking photo's of stage by stage the getting together that old classic,

You'll talk to other 's of the same frame of mind, and with todays www sites the worlds your oyster when it comes to finding out what you want to know, "u tube" etc will even show you how to do and what not to do when it comes to the things you've never done ref the build up of your classic,

No matter who you are no matter what age you just cant help feeling good the day that engine starts up (smoke and all)

I remember getting my tiger cub engine into firing up zone, to see the two stroke smoke billowing out that exhaust pipe along with the now evicted spider running for it's life was a feeling of 'ive still got it"  she 's going again !!!!
It's these feelings that take you on to getting the bike even more into shape,

Will you ever put it back on the road ? 

One things for sure you'll be spending time doing something you'll both learn about and time well spent,
If your not doing the bike you'll soon find your reading the likes of the old bike mart
 (by post well worth getting, it's full of info and parts & classic's for sale)

Well food for thought  "wouldn't you say" And 2015 is only a few weeks away.

You only get two guantee's in life, (1) your born, your here and (2) one day you'll die,
It's those inbetween times and what you do with them that counts,

Make the time and give it a try, you'll be glad you did   And maybe just maybe we'll get one or two people on this forum that'll share their projects and how they are coming along.

Be good and a merry christmas to one and all (evicted spiders included )

[33d6]

Hi Bentley,
Personally speaking, I'm not a born again biker but a continuing motorcyclist. I never stopped and was never a "biker".
I note you live in France. I'm far more interested in that as I have unfinished riding business there.
Riding the Col de Bonette is still on my bucket list as the sole time I got there it was closed by snow. The road workers assured us it would be open the next day but we couldn't wait.
My mate and I got home with 42 cols ticked off from our list of 65 but weather and time beat us on the rest.
So, whereabouts in La Belle France?
Cheers,

[Bentley eight]

Hi,
We live in the crues (limousin) thats about 200miles from paris and approx 400 from the ferry crossing to Dover,
It's one of the nicest parts of france for getting away from the rat -race,

we do have the four seasons but winter is a short one, more like winter in jan/feb and then the spring starts to kick in and the summers are as a norm nice AND HOT

Im just back from "Walkies" with the dog's and we've still got a few roses growing on the trees And a nice variety of wild flowers growing in the banks,

 "but you can feel that nip in the air" inspite of it being a nice bright day.

If you like riding both the touring bikes or the smaller slower classics ? then around the crues is the place for miles & miles of country roads, Lakes little time forgotten villages,

Very few people run when they can walk around here, and as for fashion clothing wise !! forget it, it's common to see the older ladies in those cross over pinnies and clear plastic rain hats when its raining "the ones we're you pull the tie's and the hat returns to a strip like fold,
Life really is very laid back, we never see litter in the streets or graffti on buildings,

Having said this we are never to far away from getting on the motorway.

We both really like it here no we've got use to the french system and way of life, ie most places have a two hour lunch break, But all in all we dont see or hear of any violence and in the 9 year' we've actualy lived here we've had very few problems with day to day living.

Now yesterday we we're having a coffee in one of the cafe's some 18 miles from we're we live and as i sat down by the window i just saw a triumph 650 bonn pulling out of the car park,
 it had french plates but the rider i think was british, (his barber "old" jacket had a 69 club badge on the sleeve,

I wish i had seen him earlier, We could have had a chat about the bike and who knows he may be local.

Well must go and un-block the fire-place "expecting visitor later this evening'
Have a nice one
Regards Bentley eight.

[murdo]

Bentley, I'd be pleased to have a bit of 'nip in the air' instead of the blazing furnace that is inland Australia at this time of year. I usually split my day by starting in the shed at around 5am, working until about 11, then hide inside with aircon until 6pm when I can venture outside for another two hours to dark. Even some rain would help to cool it down but very little chance of that. I understand that those living in cold climates all the time wish for a bit of sun, but I wouldn't mind swapping for some cool.
Merry Christmas to all.

[mark2]

france is a great place , always wonder why I come back to the UK , but its work I guess , also if you work in france tax is very very high , also theft is a big problem if you don't live there ie holiday home , ive had mine emptied twice (ln land Brittany) and im not alone

[Bentley eight]

Hi to one and all And a merry christmas,
Like murdo said if we have rain we want sun if its to hot we want the cooler days "& nights" But as a kid i lived with my grand parents and one thing i was always told was
 "look for the good in everything you do "good or bad" and it's true "now " the good thing about us talking is we can hear whats going on in both other folks lifes and share what we're doing or have done,

My passion in life apart from the bikes & gardening is animal's i'd go as far as to say in a lot of cases i prefer animals to a lot of people ive come across,
Ive 4 rescued dogs all had a really bad deal when it comes to the cards they we're delt in life,

 "Hell"   would be a better word but from day one each one of the dogs was glad to see a human when they we're taken from their individual "hell" and given that second chance,
It wan'nt easy for them to start again but they did and all four now are so loving and caring animals you just would'nt believe it.

On a day like christmas day it is special no matter what your drift in life is, it's the one day your mind wonders back to loved ones who are no longer here,
They may have passed away from this world any month of the year "but christmas day is the day you remember them,

The bikers in the uk every christmas day have a ride to local "needs places" such as the hospitals, old peoples homes, etc and its this one day of the year they're thinking of other's and its good to be that way,

Ive  been part of these rides in the past and when other road users see a long line of father christmas dressed bikers riding down the road it's a sight to be seen, and heard (horns honking in respect and support) of what your doing,

By boxing day its back to square one ref motorist & biker love/hate relationship
 ie some motorist hate bikes and all they stand for,
the leather clad, "the same leather clad father christmas they honked the day before, and the bike riders of all ages who love the bikes & the freedom it brings.

What mark said ref france is very true its a really nice place to live and the further into france's countryside you go the more french its stayed ie the gite's ( holiday homes) are left alone because again people respect what little they have and whats not theirs
,
We own a gite and the gite was used for years before we bought this place and we've never had any problem ref theft, it's to deep in the countryside for the theft people to bother with,

Well as i write this little lot we're getting a shower later on to day (so the weather people have said) so my gift to murdo is the thought of a very cool shower cooling your day,
 
And to mark, dont give up on france come further into the countryside and see the real france "not the mini uk 26 miles over the dover crossing"
your to close to the uk and the theft market,
We read the local ex-pat papers and the thefts are as the norm brit/NORMADY area's.

The french tax system is high but the french retire at the latest aged 60 so these pensions have to come from the system.

Well the dogs are wanting that christmas day " walkies" down by the stream "past the fields we're the cow's walk on their side of the fence with us until the cross wire fence stops them
 and then it's through the woods back home again.
Have a good day regards Bentley.

[murdo]

Well thank you Bentley. It is 10.15pm here and it has just started raining. I hope it keeps up all night. It 'only' got to 38 celcius today (was 32 at 9am of my last post), but the humidity late this afternoon was stifiling. Now a comfortable 26.
Good on you for rescuing the dogs. It is the terrible way that humans treat our animal friends that makes the world a sadder place, as they cannot respond to defend themselves. Enjoy your walk and talk to the cows.

[33d6]

Yes, I like France as well but like Murdo I'm Australian so riding there takes a little more planning than a quick nip across the water at Dover.
It's also a tad more expensive hence I don't do it very often.
Only once have I managed to organise a trip riding a bike of my choice. My last attempt fell apart three weeks before the start when I was stung with a long list of surcharges that killed all chance of shipping my bike across. I had to arrange a rental bike at short notice and take what I could get. Luckily it worked out very well but I still want to ride MY bike, not just take my turn on a rental.
I'm feeling even more restless as my Xmas present to myself was both of Noel Withall's books dealing with touring on his Model H Triumph both in the UK and in France.
I suppose I'll have t o content myself with some local touring instead.
Cheers,

[murdo]

It has been raining on and off for the last 3 days and now a lovely 18 degrees. Thank you for sending it over Bentley.
The rain has not made much difference to the water storage yet and we will still be on water restrictions (not allowed to use hoses) for the rest of the summer without a flood. How are the water storages in France/England?

[Bentley eight]

Hello Murdo,
Well im glad your enjoying my christmas gift to you of rain,
Back in the uk (or so the tv news tells me) they're having snow trouble,
Anyone who lives in the uk will tell you winter comes as a big surprise every year and its around about now the local councils run out of salt for the thawing of the ice on the roads and so everything comes to a halt

As far as here (france) is concerned as you know we "like you" live in very much a farming community and we tend to keep our own tracks roads clear but if the cars can't get about then you'll see people walking the 4 miles to the village, any cars that have managed to get through always stops and offers a lift,
Ive made a few friends this way over the years and as we're english it's surprising how many people get to know (those english) people gave me a lift and one back to my front door,

We found a ladies purse a few months ago on the carpark ground and in it was 20euro a bank card and the local little super market loyalty card,
Now our super market really is old and small

 ie when it rains it has a bucket in the middle isle to catch the water, its been like that (until a few weeks ago) for 9 years now and we all just excepted it;
So when we found the card in the purse we asked the cashier (who's become a friend over the years) if she could tell us the address of the owner,
She gave us the address and it's in a little hamlet,

Now we dont have any numbers on the houses /farms the post lady just knows everyone by name, and post code number
so we knocked on two seperate farms and then we got the directions of the purse owner,

We visited the very old farm but no reply so we left a note asking them to phone us as we needed to return something to them.

That evening the phone rang and this very soft voice said she'd got our note,
We said we'd found her purse and could we bring it round to her farm,
Once we'd met and returned the purse it was tears all round, she was so old and her only companion's we're her cats,

Well we we're glad to return the purse and thought no more about it until a few days later i was visited by the head of the fire service for these parts, "her son".

He nearly shook my hand off my wrist and then the kiss (3) infact and just this week we got our new-year fire service calender and a note saying once again thank you.

So the countryside friendships are very much alive here,

To nights forcast for tomorrow is "maybe light snow" but a frost, (So the wild bird feeder needs filling with seeds etc)

I spend the evenings tv watching (just been watching  australia's worst crimes) all about crimes that have happend in the last 10 years,

And infront of the woodburner reading about gardening subjects (what to do and what not to do) for the springs sowing & planting veg.

I was thinking about your way of life and the heat, my thought was it wouldnt seem like christmas if we didnt freeze our _ _ _ _ off,

Well nice talking to you, 'I'd send you a snow storm for new year "but it'll only melt by the time it hit your temperatures"
So be happy with a millon diamonds in the sky instead.