The Bugilow all packed and ready to go

bumpt in to a couple of our old mates , Old Sof and his brother Nedy boy , happy to report both are ok SOF is still working , they are marshaling as usual , I think at Greeba bridge, they were also mashaling at the pre tt classic at Castle town corner , am going to try and get hold of Timbs today , he sent me an email with a phone number to use but he is not good with phones so we will see how it goes

Lucky guy... I'm planning the big move back into the house.

Please tell SOF 'hi' for me if you see him again. He used to come and visit us here in Florida every so often, and I've been wondering how he's doing. Maybe I can get some contact information or some place (other than facebook) he is at online...

Well had a chat with SOF and reminded him that we are still here , as I did with this mottly bunch

Hey! You found the Facebook deserters! Tell them the site is still open for business! I'm also beginning to see why I need to save up some more $$ before heading over! That menu is 8Euro, right? That translates to $11cdn at current rates. My local greasy spoon offers the same for $3.50cdn (2.50Euro)AND offers two pieces of toast and endless coffee to any combo! How can you'zz afford to live? I'll have to bring my own sandwiches for the two weeks!

No its not Euro its £ sterling British pound that is even worse for you I think , it is expensive that's for sure , but for us Brits its about the same , I did inform them that we were still here , Tim does not do the face book but Rich and GTN do and SOF and Les do ,
The news from them would be that Gary and wife Voirry are expecting yet another family increase in December , Tim is planning another long ride 4500 km taking two months over it with a mate that came to the IOM with him last year , cant remember the names of the places he was going and could not pronounce them if I could , the others are much the same as ever they were , was nice to see them ,

Busy day! Rain out on Saturday, so I finished pouring concrete for the garage floor. Wheeee...



Sunday dawned bright and sunny, so had to plan carefully.
My version of watching the TT by listening to radio Manx live streaming, and watching the web cams on the mountain.



Sorta works... You get the jist of things. (Including really stupid spectators this year!)
Congrats to that Kiwi fellow, although I was pulling just as hard for Hutchie (after Guy crapped out...)
Just looking at the bookmarks on my computer... Heavily weighted towards two wheeled things... Must be a fetish...

Then listened to the Montreal Grand Prix while continuing work on the 'stairs to the sea' project. Grabbed 15 minutes watching time every once in a while during beer breaks.



Lots of help from the new puppy. Good a digging holes where you don't want them and grabbing work tools, but NOT bringing them to you...

Sounds like you have things well in hand , the spectator stuff going on over there is frightening the riding standards and general behaviour is crying out of hand , never thought I would see the day when I was glad not to be there , I can now see why they want to sell it off so someone else takes the wrap when something goes drastically wrong , and the way it looks it is not a case of if it's a case of when

This is move week for us, so mostly tired and worn out. Nice to see a shot of old friends at the TT. Thanks a lot for the update Eddy.

I believe the TT is recording on my DVR each day, but I will have to unplug that soon, so will probably have to hunt it up later.

Did watch the Montreal qualifying last night while packing. Hard to believe we were there in person (and on my bike!) last year.

We will get back to the TT. Maybe we'll have some of our money back from the fire next year, but if not, someday. Hope folks still remember me!

Tim is promising to put in an appearance on here when he gets home , I would love it if you two ever made it back over here and as it stands at the moment is the only thing that would get me back over at TT time , the idiot that caused problems got 8 weeks prison and excluded from the Island

I'm having a lot of trouble with the prospect of the crowds in the last few years. The TT is becoming a victim of it's own success. Mind you, 'general admittance ticket' to the F1 race in Montreal was $100. God only knows what a half decent pit grandstand seat costs. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I keep thinking of all the alternate 'things' I can get for the money it costs to attend racing.

** sigh ** I'm getting so old...

I'm waiting for my TT stories!

I ended up having to replace my cable DVR when I got my cable hooked back up at the house, so I lost all my stored TT races

Still unpacking stuff while squeezing in our day jobs, but things are coming along.

Sorry guys for the delay in catching up with IOM reports , will try and make the effort over the next couple of days as a taster just one to show I did get there

And yes I did go to the important places that have to be done

Those V4s are just such classics! In 2005, when we had our ill-fated attempt at a 'sort-of-TT', a guy showed up on one with a fair amount of miles on it. One of the prizes for the event was 'biggest' bike, and I awarded the prize to him. 1300cc versus at Gold Wing. Which has 1200cc, right? WRONG! It was a new Wing with the 1800cc 6 cylinder. Much embarrassment ensued, and I had to scramble to find another prize.
I'm just composing a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. I'm dredging up old sore points, but I'll be mentioning that it has been 10 years since we cancelled the 'MotoFest'. This year's stats for the Steam Racket was 36 THOUSAND passengers and 14,000 bikes! What an event it would have been for us at even 10% of those figures!

My old girl is the early Pan the 1100 and the best one according to many even the Police who had loads of the 1100's but had some bad things to say about the 1300 they blamed them for some bad accidents , as for the SP stats it depends on which day you read the reports the bikes carried varied from 12500 to 16000 and likewise passengers from 32000 to 38000 , never trust the SP if they say its raining get your sunglasses out  , I had a good time taking two guys that had never been before and was playing tour guide good fun showing them around and see places that I hadn't been to for ages they loved it and have booked up for next year , for me it was my final trip I wont be going again , unless one of you two come over again then I would make the effort to at least have a day over there to meet up but as things are I will not be over again for the TT or the Manx , I may well , in fact do hope to go as a ordinary tourist away from the biking events we were hoping to go for the Southern but sadly it has not worked out so we are going to have a week or so over in the Lake district going over on Saturday hope fully , all for now on my way to bed will try and put some photos up tomorrow

And you meet some of the nicest people when out for a early morning stroll

and some of them you get more sense out of than some met our Norman was always good to talk to a lovely man

and then pop and sit and watch the world go by with our Steve Hislop

and then of course no trip to the Isand would be complete with out going and paying homage to the King
 

Sorry to hear you aren't TTing any more. What is the major cause?

If it is your decision, full respect. You have gone and contributed more than I ever will, and I know the greatest thing in the world can still wear out its welcome over time.

Yeah, we loved the original Pan, and test rode one at an event when they first came out. We ended up renting a 1300 one of our TT years, and were not impressed to be honest. It was bulky and not nearly the bike the original was. I'm sure it was cushier from a touring standpoint, but not for me.

I'll definitely be back, maybe the vintage TT, maybe the TT, but something. Right now, it seems far away with the strain of the last year, but we'll see. I'll probably be going to something in the US this year, though.

Statue shots are great. What is up on the Mountain where Murray's used to be, anyhow? I remember a very cold morning's tea in the old museum cafe...

The decision not to go any more is a mixed bag , the only way we can afford to go in the Bugilow is to go for three weeks and a couple of days that is too long for Anne these days she is finding life a bit of a struggle with her disabilities , she still likes being away in the Bugilow but that long is just too much for her , so I need to spend more time with her making it work for both of us

then we have the new breed of visitors that are going to the TT these days and am afraid the arrogance and bad behaviour are not good they unsettle Anne

I think for now the Classic TT is a better thing for us but we still have to do the three week thing to be able to afford it so it is out as well

the best day on the Island these days for my money has to be the Jurby day on the middle Sunday of the Classic TT that is a corker iconic bikes being ridden round the circuit half a dozen or more times in the day by loads of famous old riders and you can walk around amongst all the old bikes getting right up close to bike's worth millions of pounds ,

but like I said for me it is over but if either of you two do make it back over I will try my hardest to get over on a day trip at least to have a meet up , make it the Classic and I will make it the Jurby day and a good time will be had by all I guarantee as long as the weather holds out and if it rains we will get wet together lol

as for the old museum up on the mountain that has been closed for a long time now it is all stood empty , there was talk of doing something with it but as yet nothing has happened Mr Murray that had the Museum now has a place on the Castle Town Road just before you get to the Fairy Bridge just put in your browser Murrays Motorcycle Museum and you should find it
go on get it booked you know you want to lol
off now catch you later

Whatever we end up doing on a trip overseas would end up being a multi-week thing. WAY too expensive for me to just make it a TT event and nothing else.
We have friends touring Iceland this month and the pictures they are sending back do not encourage me in the least. For one thing, the scenery on this island is pretty much as good except for our lack of volcanoes. I'm also not too impressed with them wearing bug nets to keep the flies from eating them alive.
Mind you Smilo, I have another friend who has just moved to Florida, (Cape Coral) and is sending me data on the temperature and humidity. Nope! Couldn't live with that either!
Guess that leaves Scotland for me to visit after the TT

For me this side of the pond to expand a IOM trip it would be one of three places Scotland as you say Ireland or the French Alps all three are stunning places , and then on top of that you have Gods own country Yorkshire well worth a visit

Ps I even know a good tour guide for the Yorkshire trip and cheap lol

Any way ! how is the unpacking going Smiles ? I cant imagine what the last 12 months have been like for you , it would be one of my worst nightmares ,

We had a nice bike tour of Scotland one TT trip. The only bad spot was that when we got to Skye, the weather was so bad that the locals were staying inside (sideways rain)!

That meant no tour of distilleries, so that was a disappointment. And we missed a ferry trip to one of the islands with rock formations (like Giant's causeway), forget the name. But that was my fault.

Glorious weather for the trip back south, though. Well remembered.

Yes, for the most part, our summer is like winter for me. Don't do too much outdoor activity. Fall/winter makes up for it, though!

We are pack rats to a degree, so unpacking takes a while. Lots of books and brick-a-brack. Fortunately, the garage stayed, so didn't have to do much there, other than try to keep the bikes dusted and keep the batteries alive.

But, we are doing well. We will have to wait to replace some of the furniture and electronics that we can use as is or live without until the money builds back up. I'm making one more pass at the insurance company for a little more dough now that I have actual receipts for the labor, etc.

I hate them insurance men they are legalised robbers , but good to hear you are getting there I would be a wreck by now , come to think of it I am a wreck , almost beyond salvage, well almost, lol

Hey Eddie! I might take you up on a tour of Yorkshire! I've seen every episode of 'All Creatures Great and Small' so I'm an export on NORTH Yorkies, anyways...
Beginning of July, and we are finally getting spring! Flowers all popped in one week, mosquitoes came out, fish started running in the lake, ...and I ran out of tire on the KLR. It is no longer a knobbie and is a true Italian Baldinee!
Shopping the internet for something more street oriented than trail. That means of course, that I have to replace BOTH back AND front. It never is easy, is it?
We're off on a 10 day trip next week to tour the Gulf of St.Lawrence (by boat). I'll post a link before I go, I hope. Busy packing and stuff...

Have a great trip and I look forward to the photos , we are setting off this morning for a trip in the Bugilow over to the Lake district for a week , went for a ride out on the bike yesterday to see little brother and have a ride on his cbx1000 a story there to be told but um full of busy and need to tell it when I am on the new secondhand updown loader so may be after we get back from the lakes , there is only so much you can do on a not so smart smart phone , and the Yorkshire tour guide is on standby ready and waiting and eager to go no problem, he is keen that lad lol and he knew some of the farmers that were in all creatures , they were characters and no mistake , the salt of the earth , not many of them left now sadly taken over by collage know it alls that are up them selves and look down on the old lads , catch up later as I can off now to get on