Datatool ? Data 'fool' more accurate

I've never liked bike alarms. Ever. I've read the late '80's horror stories when immobilisers cut in mid-corner to devastating effect, being stranded in the middle of nowhere 'cos the alarm cocks up. Oh, yes, I've heard them all. The Daytona came with a bleeping irritation but the receipt for it was almost £400. Hummmm..... Must be a goodun' The alarm has become 'spiked' as the voltage has dropped too much on the battery over winter months, can't charge the fecker 'cos when the seat is off the bike thinks it's being nicked, que 10,000 decibels which wont turn off. Buggeration. I'm still unsure if the alarm was to blame on Motoeuro 2009, but I've had enough of it. Bleeps if you breathe on it, chirps when you set, unset, and quite honestly it's embarrassing sounding like 3rd rate life support machine. Now it's gone, thank god. Bloody electrics on bikes arn't worth a light - give me carbs and a kick-start any day. Now, where's my slippers, pipe and copy of Classic Bike magazine ?

Other bits and bobs going on.......

HONDA'S NEW VFR 1200 As excepted the new VFR1200 has received a mixed reception. Shaft drive, 170bhp on tap, Honda quality? All seems like a perfect recipe, but that styling ? Sigh.... At a shade over £11,500 Honda can keep it for me, it might grow on me over time but at the moment its just too.... too...... Odd. Stick with the BM K1300S, that's only £13,000. £1 per cc, bloody hell.	BE-EM'S NEWBY Speaking of BM, their new S1000RR has been crowned the fasted production bike ever - makes around 185bhp, big numbers for the road user but big braggin' rights down the pub. £12,000 to you, Sir. Hummm...... I can see a BHP fight starting between the Japs and the Germans and if history is anything to go by, it'll end up involving the Americans. Mind you, they'll just shoot each other anyway, probably in the foot. Must be the only country can't squeeze more than 50bhp out a 1300cc engine.	A686 GLORY CUT-DOWN? The AA say's "The A686 road from Penrith in Cumbria to Corbridge in Northumberland, as one of their 'Ten Great Drives'". Shame that Gordon Brown wants to kill the speed limit to 50mph, add more double white line sections, more speed cameras are being upped and a possible permanent site is being considered along side the mobile vans. We've had it good for a while but as it attracts too much attention it was always gonna happen :(	NEED A BIKE SHOW FIX ? Motoeuro missed the NEC bike Show as so many big names had pulled out, the Scottish Bike Show is only 2 hours away (if we take it easy) and might just give us the biking fix we need - plus lots of trade stands to grab new kit :) No list of exhibitors as yet, but click here to view the SBS website. Only on 2 days - 20th and 21st March 2010.	STAGE 1 - MOTO EURO 2010 Spring 2010 will arrive soon (I hope), so let the games begin; where the hell are we off to for the first stage of Motoeurto 2010? Ireland? Loop of Scotland? Isle of Man? With the organisation skills of a box of monkeys, we'll still be pondering this in August.... Answers on a postcard to the usual address please.

Clinging on to Motoeuro 2009

This is turning out to be a regular thing; we're back from Motoeuro and then part, or most, of our route appears in either Bike or RiDE magazine. Pick up the latest RiDE mag (Jan 2010 - on sale November 2009) and there you have it; the Pyrenees. Personally, the Spanish side of our trip was my favourite and as Simon Weir has just ridden the N260 to Sort and on to Vielha, Motoeuro are feeling pretty smug. Described as "nothing like this" and "this will give us memories to sustain the winter months ahead", I've been back to look at the pictures and re-read Motoeuro 2009, I'm getting all emotional..... Don't put it off, call your mates tomorrow and throw them the Pyrennes idea. Biking doesn't get much better and when you're back home, at work with the usual short-slighted idiots, you can reflect on a trip that makes you smile (and smug). Motoeuro takes some beating. [DH]

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