Bugilow Mk11

Will do am looking forward to catching up with Timbs

Hey Eddy! Tell Tim not to be a stranger, eh? He's been awful quiet lately! I'll be watching the traffic cams to catch a glance of the Bigalow II. Keep an eye open for our Canadian racer this year. Dan Kruger is on a BMW teamed up with Simon Andrews. He got the invite as an international new-comer and he's pretty excited about it all (wouldn't anybody?).

Surely would be , but now a days it would frighten me too much , the speeds are just so over the top of my capabilities, getting lapped 2 in one lap would be embarrassing lol

I'm gonna have to check and see if I won the lottery so I can go to all the races I want to go to... Work/money making keeps getting in the way. Then, if I stop the work, no money to go to the races!  

The money is the big limiting factor I would go to far more if I had the money , I try to go to a different one every year if I can , trouble is the bucket list is way too big

Ditto, ditto, ditto....  

... on the plus side, however... I officially declared it SPRING!



Hope I have not jinxed myself... Checked the weather man, and he says we'll be getting Manx weather this week. May even get up into the 20's C! Woohoo! 

Was sort if hoping you were in the middle. Of a heat wave they say over here that what you have today we get in two weeks time , come on send us some good stuff , wish I could post pictures from this phone the Mk11 us looking good I am pleased with how it is turning out will take a load of pickies and try and get on the grandkids laptop may be after TT , as I am still doing finnishing touches to the ,

Sorry can't start a new thread on my phone only answer existing ones but just to tell you I saw a message on F B that GTN is to be a farther again , they gave just had the scan all looks well and she is 12 weeks gone congrats to the Old fool, hope to see him while we are over there

Sigh... Missing the old Sparkies. Well, whoever you see over there, let them know the North American crew is thinking of them!

Sorry for no up dates from the IOM but the phone system over here can't cope with the demand for data its hard to get hooked up then when you do you get half way through doing something and it drops back out again very frustrating , there is a story to tell of the troubles we had but will save that tiller get home and gave more time , still have not seen Tim or GTN Bugilow working fine

Anxiously watching the results via the internet. I have not been home at the right time to catch live-streaming. Might be able to catch something tomorrow because I don't work 'til noon (east coast time) so that will be 4 PM over there. Then again, it is supposed to be warm and sunny, so it might be an outside day.
Hope for a full report on the activities when you get a proper link-up, and some pictures of the palace. It would be a good thing to rent out to us North Americans on visit!
Finally got the KLR out for some serious riding and am delighted to know it really is 'dual' purpose. Goes like stink on both gravel and paved roads as long as you keep it under 130 KPH or so. Not much grunt after that!



Picture of the KLR in its proper element!



Discovery of things at the end of the bush road.. Manged to dump it 15 seconds later. It is HEAVY to get back up. May make me think twice about riding on abandoned roads all by my lonesome!



One of the many reasons I'm not over there this year. We have an annual 24th of May party (Queen's birthday and all..), and we're in charge of the annual lobster slaughter that is part of the tradition. This is breaking in the great-great-grandson of originator!
Maybe he can take over next year so I can get over for the week!

Well we are back home it was with much sadness when leaving this time as we both felt it was not as good as it used to be and not for us any more . dont get me wrong it is still the IoM and nothing in the world like it . but the Island is at saturation level they dont have the infrastructure to cope . Accomadation comunication ferrys all strugaling . Money is god and it is above every thing else . theft is worse this year than I have ever known it in over 20+ years

I like the look of that new bike of yours that is my type of bike more in keeping with old age . not that I am old yet unlike some ha ha ha sorry could not resist lol

Oh Boy! Eddie, you've taken the words right out of my mouth! I'm seriously considering my first trip over to be for the GP and not the TT. The popularity is attracting too many yahoos' and I see enough of them here that I don't want to pay all that money to be affronted with the dopes for a week.
S.W.M.B.O. doesn't have much interest in the racing anyways, so having all that crush of people around for sight-seeing 'normal stuff' would be a drag.
I caught up daily on the various web sites for the whole two weeks, and the thought that I can see it almost as good on the telly afterwards (better in some cases)... well...
I know, I know... Still need the atmosphere to soak it all in. I remember taking people to their first F1 GP and watching their faces as the first car went past and they could feel it on their chest. That's why I still want to go, but I need to go in a private jet with a reservation for the grandstand, and maybe a private box at Creg-ny-baa!

Bike continues to be a revelation! Think it will be a keeper!

Waiting for news from Smilo. He rode the Beemer to Montreal for the GP. Weather was good, so I hope he had a good time!

How did the palatial motorhome work out?

The Bugilow worked fine , one or two jobs to do but on the whole ok had a few last min panics on the run up diesel leak the day before and oil leak the day of setting off , did not manage to see Timbs or GTN , I think I have git the laptop fixed by Manx friend of mine but have not had time to try it yet too busy trying to clear the forest that once was a garden

Just got back home a few hours ago.  Trip was great, and got an actual interesting race out of it too!  Had one awful riding day coming back (rain from Philly to the train station), but otherwise not bad (and great for the race weekend).

Haven't spent much time following all the other races, as we were on the move quite a bunch the last few weeks.  I understand there were a couple of fatalities over the TT fortnight, so as always, unpleasant to hear that.

I guess LeMans is going on now too (!), so best plug the TV back in and have a look.  Missed a MotoGP somewhere in there, so gonna have to look that up... And probably a WSB round as well (not sure).

Busy racing time of the year!  

With more time, we would have probably considered the TT again, but sorry to hear that it is becoming a victim of its own success.  Maybe I will consider the Manx (now "Classic") TT next go around.  I await your report on that event Eddy.  Maybe that is where the "sweet spot" is now.

Even on our last trip in 2010, it was obvious that they were trying to go for a different crowd now.  It'd be interesting to hear how it went for the other old sparkies this year.  Wasn't Timbo going this year?

Anyhow, literally just put the bike in the garage, and was catching up on e-mail and the like.  

Had one equipment failure (a strap on a soft rear bag which I fixed with a piece of paracord) and some wet gear (what is the best thing to do with wet leather gloves and jackets?) since we were stuck in a big-city interstate traffic jam when the sky opened and couldn't get our rain gear on.  

Otherwise, everything worked like a top.  All the bike on train stuff, apartment in Montreal, etc. etc.  Found some wonderful bike riding in the Adirondacks.  All in all a great trip.

Okeedokee Smilo, we expect a full report with illustrations once you get regular 'life' back on line! One of the other web-forums I follow has a thread for members trips. It is called 'SportsTouring', so I guess that would be a given!
Anyhoo... That would be a great trip to report on. I was reading one from last year were some guys went to the new Texas facility for the US stop of WSB and reported on an interesting trip there and back as well as the race itself (typical... too far away from the track to see anything....).
I'll poke Timbo to see if he's made it back to the Great White North yet. GTN was busy working and looking after the growing family. He's due a poke as well!

I hear you Eddie, on your jungle problem. I've just managed to clear up damage from April, and planted grass seed last week to fill in my new (now open) spaces after the ice storm wiped out most of my trees!



Monster fire from all the busted branches freaked out the neighbours a bit. This is 'before'...



Of course, I had help, so it wasn't as much work as it could have been...

Well JP cant make my mind up !! am I jealous or thankful ?? it would be nice to have the space BUT if I had that much space would I ever get the time to build a Bugilow and go to all the racing I do ?? doubt it , so may be better the devil I know than the one I don't ,
as for the TT classic Smiley it is much like the TT in many ways some thing for the bucket list for me once was enough , great to see some of the exotic bikes that were there , how long they can keep that up remains to be seen , some of the old riders there doing their thing was fantastic , especial the Jerby day the middle Sunday , that was the high light for me , the racing was more a riders thing than a watchers thing for me , the amount of bikes that did not make the distance left big gaps in the field that left you sat looking at an empty track for ages then you would get some of the front runners catching the back markers too early with too much speed differential it was dangerous ,looking at it with my marshals vest on , then at the end of the day the amount of bikes sat waiting to be recovered was heart breaking , so as ever with the IoM good and bad but still a must do if you can , the only other thing I must ad is that it did seam to be very expensive this year , don't know if that was just me but it felt markedly more this time so if you are going Smiley allow a bit extra in the budget just to be on the safe side