Lots of stuff been going on behind the scenes at Motorsickle, we shall be revamping the site, lots of exciting new developments and plenty of new ideas.
Very soon I shall be going out on a trail day, courtesy of http://www.ultimateridertraining.com/ who have asked us to come out and video exactly what they do, I'm looking forward to riding a brand new KLX250 in the dirt!
We also hope to be getting some test rides on some fantastic bikes, the new 1800 Triumph cruiser, possibly the new Honda DN-01 (although that one is a bit pie in the sky) and just waiting to hear when I can take out the new K1300R from BMW.
We shall be doing a feature on crash helmets and winter apparel for you hard bikers that actually get out there in the winter!!
We also have a facebook group, yes I know... but hell it has picked up 150 odd (very odd) people in less than 48 hours!! How popular are we then!
More soon, remember the days are getting shorter and the leaves are falling, stay safe out there.
Jake (aka Pyro)
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Market research......Orange
I did this 'market research' thing, for Orange, I was asked how I 'felt' about what their ads were saying to me. I told them I liked the 241 ads as they were amusing, I told them I didnt understand the ones with those stupid cartoon figures making loads of silly noises and pointed out the ad team were either 5 years old or on coke.
Anyway after a load of extremely stupid questions they asked me what I wanted from a mobile phone company, so I told them, I want polite knowledgeable people who are not over familiar, I hate being called by my first name by people over a phone line if I have never met them.
You call me Mr Willis or I call you dickhead.
I also want them to stop this stupid thing of not using capital letters or punctuation in their ads, I know they are trying to be 'down with the textspeak kids' but I find it ignorant and insulting.
Was I wrong? Am I just being an old fart?
Anyway after a load of extremely stupid questions they asked me what I wanted from a mobile phone company, so I told them, I want polite knowledgeable people who are not over familiar, I hate being called by my first name by people over a phone line if I have never met them.
You call me Mr Willis or I call you dickhead.
I also want them to stop this stupid thing of not using capital letters or punctuation in their ads, I know they are trying to be 'down with the textspeak kids' but I find it ignorant and insulting.
Was I wrong? Am I just being an old fart?
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Falling leaves, Pedestrians and Light‑jumpers
Another article from Motorsickle.com, but there is a relevance to some recent events, justs saves me having to write it all out again....
It's getting to that time of year again, when falling leaves make the riding very interesting, and there also seem to be conkers on every corner I try to negotiate at the moment. This is a dangerous time of year, when going to and from work the sun is quite low in the sky making it difficult to see properly, we have to make allowances for that as other drivers dont seem to think about it, especially if they have a car full of screaming school kids. I hate this time of year, the school runs clog up the roads and as most cars don't run long enough to warm up their catalytic converters the air is full of crap as well. Not to mention the greasy nature of the roads as there does nor seem to have been enough rain to wash them clear, funny that because it feels like we have had a lot of rain. Leaves on the road are scary, they build up just on the lines we would use on bends, in the middle of the road and in the kerbs, all places we use to pass stationary traffic. We need to look a bit further ahead at this time of year; to make sure we don't end up on the mushy crap that used to be leaves on a tree.
Maybe it's just me, but these days but I am finding more and more pedestrians wandering out into the road wearing those bloody ipod things, the number that wander around between cars without looking is growing, most seem to be foreigners who look the wrong way. I got another one a few days ago, luckily for him I'm experienced and was looking for prats. He got a nasty shock as I slid into his leg though, he then hobbled off screaming abuse at me, er… you were the idiot who stepped of the kerb looking the wrong way mate. I have also had a few running battles with cyclists. Don't get me wrong - most are quite sensible, there are a growing number though that think they have right of way regardless of the circumstances, especially when they change direction, no indication of what they are going to do and then swerve across your path, if you toot at them they get all aggressive!! Well next time mate, I just might not stop, we shall see what 600 lbs of motorbike using you as a brake does for your attitude. There used to be one or two of these a week at most, now I getting at least one every bloody day. Guess what, most of them are wearing headphones, you would think that riding a bicycle in London it would be far more sensible to listen for the traffic.
There are a growing number of pedestrians that can not be bothered to walk 35 yards to a zebra crossing, I have seen the same woman nearly every school day crossing the road near Rosehill, Morden with two young girls about 5 and 7 years old, she drags them by the hands across the worse bit of road along that stretch, sometimes forcing cars to break as she struggles with the kids, yet there is a zebra crossing 35-40 yards in one direction and a pelican crossing maybe a 100 yards in the other. She has to pass the pelican crossing to get to the school, so why not walk down and use it????
School children don't seem to have been taught to use them either, and the number that just walk out from behind buses is ridiculous, sometime just running out across the road without looking and guess what… wearing those damn headphones.
So much for all those expensive ads on the television then.
This morning I saw another smashed up bike in the middle of a crossroads, this is a notorious junction where at least once a week someone jumps the lights, this is a growing trend that does really scare me, everyday I see at least 2 red light jumpers, the main culprits being in Mitcham, Brixton and Streatham. One set is really bad at the junction of Westcote road and Mitcham road, I always hesitate here and several times it has saved my life, we are not talking crossing on amber, I mean up to 5 seconds after the lights have changed, although that is the worst one I have seen, 2 seconds is not uncommon.
The growing frustration on the part of motorists is partly to blame, there are far too many cars for our outdated road system to cope with, London is just now one large car park most of the time, yet when the schools are on holiday it is not that bad at all. Hang on are we missing something here, what if, now this is a bit radical, we had a dedicated school bus system, similar to what they have in America, would that not go someway to relieving the problem? I know a woman who lives near me and drops her kids off at school before driving on to work, the school is 400 yards away from their front door, she then has to turn around and go back the other way to get to work, normally doing a u-turn outside the school screwing up all the traffic, rather than drive another 50 yards to go around the block. Now, why does she not get up 5 minutes earlier and just walk them down? It's beyond me.
It's getting to that time of year again, when falling leaves make the riding very interesting, and there also seem to be conkers on every corner I try to negotiate at the moment. This is a dangerous time of year, when going to and from work the sun is quite low in the sky making it difficult to see properly, we have to make allowances for that as other drivers dont seem to think about it, especially if they have a car full of screaming school kids. I hate this time of year, the school runs clog up the roads and as most cars don't run long enough to warm up their catalytic converters the air is full of crap as well. Not to mention the greasy nature of the roads as there does nor seem to have been enough rain to wash them clear, funny that because it feels like we have had a lot of rain. Leaves on the road are scary, they build up just on the lines we would use on bends, in the middle of the road and in the kerbs, all places we use to pass stationary traffic. We need to look a bit further ahead at this time of year; to make sure we don't end up on the mushy crap that used to be leaves on a tree.
Maybe it's just me, but these days but I am finding more and more pedestrians wandering out into the road wearing those bloody ipod things, the number that wander around between cars without looking is growing, most seem to be foreigners who look the wrong way. I got another one a few days ago, luckily for him I'm experienced and was looking for prats. He got a nasty shock as I slid into his leg though, he then hobbled off screaming abuse at me, er… you were the idiot who stepped of the kerb looking the wrong way mate. I have also had a few running battles with cyclists. Don't get me wrong - most are quite sensible, there are a growing number though that think they have right of way regardless of the circumstances, especially when they change direction, no indication of what they are going to do and then swerve across your path, if you toot at them they get all aggressive!! Well next time mate, I just might not stop, we shall see what 600 lbs of motorbike using you as a brake does for your attitude. There used to be one or two of these a week at most, now I getting at least one every bloody day. Guess what, most of them are wearing headphones, you would think that riding a bicycle in London it would be far more sensible to listen for the traffic.
There are a growing number of pedestrians that can not be bothered to walk 35 yards to a zebra crossing, I have seen the same woman nearly every school day crossing the road near Rosehill, Morden with two young girls about 5 and 7 years old, she drags them by the hands across the worse bit of road along that stretch, sometimes forcing cars to break as she struggles with the kids, yet there is a zebra crossing 35-40 yards in one direction and a pelican crossing maybe a 100 yards in the other. She has to pass the pelican crossing to get to the school, so why not walk down and use it????
School children don't seem to have been taught to use them either, and the number that just walk out from behind buses is ridiculous, sometime just running out across the road without looking and guess what… wearing those damn headphones.
So much for all those expensive ads on the television then.
This morning I saw another smashed up bike in the middle of a crossroads, this is a notorious junction where at least once a week someone jumps the lights, this is a growing trend that does really scare me, everyday I see at least 2 red light jumpers, the main culprits being in Mitcham, Brixton and Streatham. One set is really bad at the junction of Westcote road and Mitcham road, I always hesitate here and several times it has saved my life, we are not talking crossing on amber, I mean up to 5 seconds after the lights have changed, although that is the worst one I have seen, 2 seconds is not uncommon.
The growing frustration on the part of motorists is partly to blame, there are far too many cars for our outdated road system to cope with, London is just now one large car park most of the time, yet when the schools are on holiday it is not that bad at all. Hang on are we missing something here, what if, now this is a bit radical, we had a dedicated school bus system, similar to what they have in America, would that not go someway to relieving the problem? I know a woman who lives near me and drops her kids off at school before driving on to work, the school is 400 yards away from their front door, she then has to turn around and go back the other way to get to work, normally doing a u-turn outside the school screwing up all the traffic, rather than drive another 50 yards to go around the block. Now, why does she not get up 5 minutes earlier and just walk them down? It's beyond me.
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Frustration...
At 54 years old and out of work, I have had a lot of time on my hands to think, this is not a good idea, where as before I could bang out a few written articles in a short time, now I’m thinking too much about them.
Writing is a bit of a weird thing for me, I do not feel I’m particularly good at it, I tend to just jot down whatever is going through my mind at the time and let my readers judge it from there. Since having mucho time to deliberate on my senile musings; I find I am starting to self criticise my work, this means I keep writing the same sentence over and over again in different ways, yet at the end I preferred the first one, how frustrating.
I have written all my life, ever since I learnt to read at a stupidly early age, I wanted to write, as a teenager all my angst came out in really bad songs and even worse poems, I remember finding some a few years ago at my brothers place, I burnt them!!
What rubbish was going through my mind in those heady days of youth, most of my puerile musing concerned girls, sex, drugs, drink and motorbikes, oh, hang on, I’ve not changed much really. I have never claimed to be good at writing, I have had a go at a couple of novels; I have some good ideas for plot lines, but I just cant seem to get them out in the way that I want. Short stories, poems, even songs, over the years I have had a go at just about everything, but finally I think I have found my niche. Motorsickle.com allows me to ramble on about every aspect of my life that motorcycles have touched, after 40 years of riding I am finding that I enjoy writing about the damn things. The added bonus is that the feedback we have had, shows that some people are actually enjoying what we write.
Writing is a bit of a weird thing for me, I do not feel I’m particularly good at it, I tend to just jot down whatever is going through my mind at the time and let my readers judge it from there. Since having mucho time to deliberate on my senile musings; I find I am starting to self criticise my work, this means I keep writing the same sentence over and over again in different ways, yet at the end I preferred the first one, how frustrating.
I have written all my life, ever since I learnt to read at a stupidly early age, I wanted to write, as a teenager all my angst came out in really bad songs and even worse poems, I remember finding some a few years ago at my brothers place, I burnt them!!
What rubbish was going through my mind in those heady days of youth, most of my puerile musing concerned girls, sex, drugs, drink and motorbikes, oh, hang on, I’ve not changed much really. I have never claimed to be good at writing, I have had a go at a couple of novels; I have some good ideas for plot lines, but I just cant seem to get them out in the way that I want. Short stories, poems, even songs, over the years I have had a go at just about everything, but finally I think I have found my niche. Motorsickle.com allows me to ramble on about every aspect of my life that motorcycles have touched, after 40 years of riding I am finding that I enjoy writing about the damn things. The added bonus is that the feedback we have had, shows that some people are actually enjoying what we write.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Destitute.
Never in my life do I remember being quite this broke, until a few years ago I would always have money in my pocket. Now I cant even buy petrol for the bike.
Embarrassed is not a word people normally associate with me, I don’t give monkeys about most things and live my life as if today was my last day on earth. Having no money is putting a new perspective on my life, I feel I have to turn down invites to various functions, I don’t go to the pub because I cant stand my round, last week I went to a motorbike rally (tickets were bought in Jan) and was looked after by my mates, I spend the weekend in unusually subdued mode; because I felt embarrassed.
This weekend I have to go to a VW event up at Santa pod, I have to go because it’s the last chance I will get to see my Daughter for a while, so tonight I have to go and borrow some money off of my brother, god knows how much I owe him already.
After that I wont be going anywhere for a while, my motorbike has blown the exhaust to the extent where it is barely repairable, no point in selling it as it is not worth anything without the exhaust, besides … sell my bike? FOAD.
The weird thing is I feel in a kind of limbo, I cant seem to even pick up a job driving, I just applied for a job riding a 125cc motorbike (for gods sake don’t tell my mates!) to deliver car parts around London, bloke listened to me on the phone and said “Mate you are far too intelligent for this job…..” no matter what I said he was not interested, the money was also less than I used to earn in 1978.
Now I’m not proud, I have cleaned toilets in the past to earn money, I’ll do anything to get some money coming in, but there are so many people applying for every job, it is a lottery and you now what the odds on winning that are. One job I applied for, driving a van, had 118 people apply in the first hour of it being advertised, don’t believe me? Go to Gumtree.com and look at the jobs section, refresh the page an hour later and look at the number of hits for any job, I was astonished when I had this pointed out to me. Bar work picks up maybe 200 hits an hour!!
So where do I go from here, well bankruptcy is calling at present, I had tried everything I know to either get a job or earn some money, even 3 years ago I could have found a way to make some dosh, but now its ridiculous. So I just keep trying to look for a suitable bit of work, I have even started applying for jobs in Europe, I don’t really want to move abroad, but if I have too I will.
Back in the ‘bad ol’ days’ I never had less than £100 to out with (equivalent to about £4-500 now) but I was a ‘bad boy’ as my mum used to put it, since I have been legit I feel like I have been skint all the time, the government was quite happy to take all my money in tax and NI, but now I get back less than a third of what I paid in every week.
What price is ‘doing the right thing’ costing me?
Embarrassed is not a word people normally associate with me, I don’t give monkeys about most things and live my life as if today was my last day on earth. Having no money is putting a new perspective on my life, I feel I have to turn down invites to various functions, I don’t go to the pub because I cant stand my round, last week I went to a motorbike rally (tickets were bought in Jan) and was looked after by my mates, I spend the weekend in unusually subdued mode; because I felt embarrassed.
This weekend I have to go to a VW event up at Santa pod, I have to go because it’s the last chance I will get to see my Daughter for a while, so tonight I have to go and borrow some money off of my brother, god knows how much I owe him already.
After that I wont be going anywhere for a while, my motorbike has blown the exhaust to the extent where it is barely repairable, no point in selling it as it is not worth anything without the exhaust, besides … sell my bike? FOAD.
The weird thing is I feel in a kind of limbo, I cant seem to even pick up a job driving, I just applied for a job riding a 125cc motorbike (for gods sake don’t tell my mates!) to deliver car parts around London, bloke listened to me on the phone and said “Mate you are far too intelligent for this job…..” no matter what I said he was not interested, the money was also less than I used to earn in 1978.
Now I’m not proud, I have cleaned toilets in the past to earn money, I’ll do anything to get some money coming in, but there are so many people applying for every job, it is a lottery and you now what the odds on winning that are. One job I applied for, driving a van, had 118 people apply in the first hour of it being advertised, don’t believe me? Go to Gumtree.com and look at the jobs section, refresh the page an hour later and look at the number of hits for any job, I was astonished when I had this pointed out to me. Bar work picks up maybe 200 hits an hour!!
So where do I go from here, well bankruptcy is calling at present, I had tried everything I know to either get a job or earn some money, even 3 years ago I could have found a way to make some dosh, but now its ridiculous. So I just keep trying to look for a suitable bit of work, I have even started applying for jobs in Europe, I don’t really want to move abroad, but if I have too I will.
Back in the ‘bad ol’ days’ I never had less than £100 to out with (equivalent to about £4-500 now) but I was a ‘bad boy’ as my mum used to put it, since I have been legit I feel like I have been skint all the time, the government was quite happy to take all my money in tax and NI, but now I get back less than a third of what I paid in every week.
What price is ‘doing the right thing’ costing me?
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