GT6MK3 Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 21 hours ago, Nick Jones said: I spy a very blue swimming pool through the screen in the second pic so assume that’s an arrival pic? Colonial Inn? It’s pissing down sideways here (again)….. so sunny pictures welcomed! Well played Sir. Colonial it is. Weather is pretty much what I was expecting for when you were here. Did a 14km loop with SM this morning to the eastbound pub for lunch, then pulled out the new roadie and did a quick solo 50km westerly loop to the aptly named Happy Valley Hotel Before dinner. Sunscreen and hydration are the order of the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted December 28, 2023 Share Posted December 28, 2023 Ah…… sounds superb. Dunno how you can bear it…. We’re “quite” envious We did get this sunset last evening though Pictures of the sunny Victorian highlands welcome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted December 29, 2023 Author Share Posted December 29, 2023 20 hours ago, Nick Jones said: Pictures of the sunny Victorian highlands welcome! Unloaded the CBR from the ToyBox today and took S.M. up to the top of Mt Buffalo. Not an easy ride with a novice pillion, (and to be fair, it’s an expert level perch!), but a lot easier than the last time I went up there on 2 wheels (1983 on an 18 speed steel push bike). On return it was time for a training ride, so I banged out a quick pre dinner 50km to Happy Valley again. Bike trails here are gorgeous, if looong and a little lonely but the locals Xmas decorations make for good viewing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted December 29, 2023 Share Posted December 29, 2023 3 hours ago, GT6MK3 said: Unloaded the CBR from the ToyBox today and took S.M. up to the top of Mt Buffalo. Not an easy ride with a novice pillion, (and to be fair, it’s an expert level perch!), but a lot easier than the last time I went up there on 2 wheels (1983 on an 18 speed steel push bike). Blue skies …… sigh! Well, you can tell J that I’m well impressed that she accepted that mission! Not sure I would have…. Though I’m apparently permanently scarred by my first (and, so far, last) pillion ride on a Suzuki GS1000 in 1987 ish. The rider is a certified nutter (though obviously lucky/skilled as he’s still with us) and every corner in the mere (very twisty) 5 miles we covered seemed like a near-death experience. To be fair, a few days later I returned the favour with him as a passenger in my (1500 at the time) Herald. Apparently that was terrifying too. I was trying quite hard and his door coming unlatched mid-bend may not have helped . We also managed to loose the boss following in his Golf GTI. He was very surprised, but declined a ride in the shotgun seat. What is a “parmy night”? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted December 30, 2023 Author Share Posted December 30, 2023 https://amp.abc.net.au/article/11277414 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted December 30, 2023 Share Posted December 30, 2023 Parmy, parmy night Parmigiana green and red Look out in the dunny shed ‘Cos I’m heading for a technicolour yawn! (Apologies to Don McLean) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 1 Share Posted January 1 Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2024 May your wheels keep turning and remain pointing at the road! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT6MK3 Posted January 2 Author Share Posted January 2 My Grandpa George lived his life for family. First the one he was born into, then the one he and Grandma built together. His teens weren’t spent in school, tough times meant that he was working hard physical jobs from an incredibly early age. He was a fit, tough man, who did whatever he to be done to make sure the family was ok. There are a lot of family stories about him, many dubious, especially when promoted or told by him, but one told by his sister to my dad has always stuck with me. When Grandpa was about 20, he was working planting tobacco at Smoko, near Bright. His sisters and Mother back in Rutherglen sent him a telegram to let him know the household was short on money, so he went to the bank in Bright, cashed his wages, and hopped on his bike to Rutherglen. On arrival he ate lunch, turned around and headed back to Smoko so he could get back to work the next day. I’ve always been impressed by that one, and wanted to give it a burl. Since there are pretty good trails in the High Country there days, it’s a reasonably safe ride, but really really far. So my New Years Day went like this: 6:10am out of Bright 11:15 in Rutherglen 12:00 out of Rutherglen 5:16pm back to Bright 6:40 in Smoko 7:30pm back in Bright A little over 13 hours all up, 10 hours 15 minutes in the saddle, peak temp 34c, 242kms, 985meters climbed. It was hot, sweaty, thirsty, hard work. I’m closing in on being 3 times the age Grandpa was when he did it, but I’m in awe of the fact he did it on a pre war, single speed bike, probably using his foot on the front wheel for a brake. I hope he didn’t have a racing saddle. I think I come in a distant second having crossed the distance on carbon fiber and 24 gears, so Grandpa can keep the record. I reckon he’d be pleased someone followed in his footsteps though. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Suspect you are not up to dancing with the banana right now…. So have 3 hand claps instead. Consider me impressed! I remember you telling the story while we were there and threatening (promising) to do it one day. It’s well over twice the daily maximum I’ve ever achieved and a long days ride by any measure. Very well done Sir! As for the weight of years vs. technology debate…… I reckon you and Grandpa George will have both have had a very sore arse well before the end….. and one of you still does! Mount Buffalo tomorrow? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 Well done that’s a great tribute ride and I’m surmising that when your granddad did it it was on gravel/dirt roads too. Having done quite a few miles on both metal’s and dirt roads in Oz i know how roughy they can be. much respect to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 I am NOT trying to lessen your Grandpa's achievement, just to emphasise the sheer effort of living in those times. My great grandfather lived In London in the late 19th, when it was still a city surrounded by villages. He lived in Hampstead, worked in Chelsea, and walked to work every day, and back of course. No taxis ( as if he could afford them) no tube, few buses, so he walked, twelve miles a day. His father was born in The Rhondda, (Old!) South Wales and in his youth went to Liverpool to find work. That's nearly two hundred miles, and he walked there. It annoys me that when I was at primary school, I walked there every day. It was about a mile and a half, nothing like GtGranpa's commute. And at secondary school, I rode my bike. Today, every school is traffic jammed with Mummies and Daddies IN THEIR CARS, delivering their kids and collecting them. They insist on parking as close as possible to the school, despite double yellow lines, pedestrian crossings and bike lanes. Apparently ALL their kids are so disabled that they must walk the minimum possible distance to and from school! Gŕrrrrrrrrrr! John, Disgusted of Lancaster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 I have a trip out tomorrow in the TR an ADAM SYKES invitation open day aimed at super cars and I checked and I will be accepted in the tr. https://adamsykes.co.uk/cars-for-sale/ as I haven’t looked at the car since the end of the season last year ( various family health and operation reasons) I changed to road wheels and tyres and primed the fuel pump and fuel literally GUSHED out of the carb hole indicated in the picture. all turned off and dried as best I could - the highly technical fix- you got it -tapping the carb with a hammer. careful damping down the exhaust wrap and restarting it seems to be all ok. just a chilly run out tomorrow morning- there are a few very tempting car at Adam Sykes hhmmmm- which one>……….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Went and raided my lockup earlier. I got this sorry looking object quite a while back as although it looks sad the top panel and front panel (some of) are actually straighter and less rotten than what is on the car. Question is….. can I be bothered to combine the best bits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John I Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, Nick Jones said: Went and raided my lockup earlier. . Question is….. can I be bothered to combine the best bits? If not why did you spend good time excavating said parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, John I said: If not why did you spend good time excavating said parts Was thinking very much along the same lines 4 hours ago, Hamish said: I have a trip out tomorrow in the TR an ADAM SYKES invitation open day aimed at super cars and I checked and I will be accepted in the tr. https://adamsykes.co.uk/cars-for-sale/ as I haven’t looked at the car since the end of the season last year ( various family health and operation reasons) I changed to road wheels and tyres and primed the fuel pump and fuel literally GUSHED out of the carb hole indicated in the picture. all turned off and dried as best I could - the highly technical fix- you got it -tapping the carb with a hammer. careful damping down the exhaust wrap and restarting it seems to be all ok. just a chilly run out tomorrow morning- there are a few very tempting car at Adam Sykes hhmmmm- which one>……….. Light hammer tap, perfect! And some tempting machinery there. Or how about this? I happen to know that it is actually a very well restored car worth a lot more than the asking price. If I had more space (and money) I'd be seriously tempted. As opposed to just being tempted https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1656008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 11 hours ago, John I said: If not why did you spend good time excavating said parts At least partly because I didn’t want it to decay any further. I’ve also got a complete and relatively unmolested one which supposedly superseded the above. Ultimately would produce a better result but trickier work. As for that Monte Carlo….. I’ve always liked the look of them and did look into getting one in the early 90s when they were almost free. There was a specialist (also in Morris Minors!) in the village at the time and he let me have a bit of a poke about of the stock he had. Jeez….. never seen rot like it - except possibly on my X1/9- steel just turned to soggy bran flakes - virtually everywhere. That and the grizzly memories from the X1/9 were enough…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRooster Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Similar story with a GTV6 my mate asked me to look at, never seen rust like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Hello Nick I have this one going spare off Alans Vitesse if you are interested? Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 9 hours ago, Nick Jones said: As for that Monte Carlo….. I’ve always liked the look of them and did look into getting one in the early 90s when they were almost free. There was a specialist (also in Morris Minors!) in the village at the time and he let me have a bit of a poke about of the stock he had. Jeez….. never seen rot like it - except possibly on my X1/9- steel just turned to soggy bran flakes - virtually everywhere. That and the grizzly memories from the X1/9 were enough…. Italian 'style'. I did once accidentally put my whole hand though a mate's Alfa Sud when I leant it on the wing. Oops... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 23 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said: Was thinking very much along the same lines Light hammer tap, perfect! And some tempting machinery there. Or how about this? I happen to know that it is actually a very well restored car worth a lot more than the asking price. If I had more space (and money) I'd be seriously tempted. As opposed to just being tempted https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1656008 This looks like to be a tempting toy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escadrille Ecosse Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 That's lovely Hamish... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrookster Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Well, pretty much recovered from the Festive period shenanigans, catering for 11 on Xmas day and 14 folks in for NY. Nice to have the house full, but also nice to have peace and quiet again The goose failed, due to non-delivery by DPD (they really are awful up here, if I see they are listed as a delivery option now I either request a different company or refuse the sale, they have become that bad). Fortunately I had other meats as backup so all ended well. However, in other news I have finally found a replacement truck! My black Ranger was fine, except it is a Euro 5 engine and therefore cannot be used in ULEZ, and having spent the wrong side of a grand in replacing emissions bits recently on an engine that isn't allowed in emission zones grated. So hopefully in the next couple of days I collect the replacement. Another Ranger (they are still one of the best pickups for capacity/towing/driving). Sourcing the replacement has taken over 3 months, as I was specifically after the older 3.2l engine, it had to be manual box, and I wanted a locking rear diff. So that limited me to a 2020 vehicle that was the top "Wildtrack" spec. Easy enough if you like orange as a colour, but I prefer not to advertise that I have a top spec truck. Black again would have been the perfect colour, but I've settled for a silver version. Like my current truck, it still has a rear canopy so that's good. Worryingly the new truck has a full body kit to make it look like an F150, and has a lift kit fitted so I may need to source a stepladder so that SWMBO can get into it! So yesterday was spent stripping out tuning box, front lightbar (which included a bolt I managed to cross thread, and I can only conclude that my hands have become fatter since I fitted the thing!), drop plate for the towball (damn those bolts were tight, my big impact driver wouldn't even look at them) and tyrepal sensors. Not too bad in the end, only three skinned knuckles. So next is a trip to Manchester to swap trucks. Yeehaa. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Couple of nights back now was the 3rd round of the Woolbridge 12Car series. This one in the wilds of east Devon which is a tangle of steep, narrow lanes. The organisers of this one can be relied on to provide a challenge to man and machine and this was no exception. The claim that all roads were “all tarmac and reasonably smooth” were optimistic at best. Sooty had a hard night. I was surprised to avoid a puncture (3 other competitors were less fortunate) and fair to say that the undertray suffered a few more gouges. It was very cold too, so many icy patches, which together with terrible road conditions made maintaining a 24mph average very challenging and quite impossible to make up time if gone wrong - which we did a couple of times. Timing wasn’t great but good enough for 4th out of 11 and a class win. Event was won by a beginner team, which is impressive even though they had a marked map. Car was quite dirty….. this is a bum print (not mine!) from earlier when SM (unwisely) sat to put her walking boots on. Apparently I’m a very bad man because a) I didn’t wash the car b) failed to warn in a timely manner c) laughed d) took pic of the bumper Photography of the clothing damage was strictly forbidden….. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerguzzi Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 29 minutes ago, Nick Jones said: Couple of nights back now was the 3rd round of the Woolbridge 12Car series. This one in the wilds of east Devon which is a tangle of steep, narrow lanes. The organisers of this one can be relied on to provide a challenge to man and machine and this was no exception. The claim that all roads were “all tarmac and reasonably smooth” were optimistic at best. Sooty had a hard night. I was surprised to avoid a puncture (3 other competitors were less fortunate) and fair to say that the undertray suffered a few more gouges. It was very cold too, so many icy patches, which together with terrible road conditions made maintaining a 24mph average very challenging and quite impossible to make up time if gone wrong - which we did a couple of times. Timing wasn’t great but good enough for 4th out of 11 and a class win. Event was won by a beginner team, which is impressive even though they had a marked map. Car was quite dirty….. this is a bum print (not mine!) from earlier when SM (unwisely) sat to put her walking boots on. Apparently I’m a very bad man because a) I didn’t wash the car b) failed to warn in a timely manner c) laughed d) took pic of the bumper Photography of the clothing damage was strictly forbidden….. No rumpy pumpy for you then? Roger ps been there and done that many times over the last 50+ years but a bottle of fizz and nibbles in warm Spain usually does the trick! We have booked half of the next Spanish trip now and doing a lot more 2 nighters and you will not believe some of the places we are staying and how Cheap they are!!! It will be another castle tour some good some just shells and great countryside and very little traffic on mostly very GOOD roads(whats not to like?) Plus in land the drink is much cheaper than here so a plus for us! and maybe Tapass ? So we say if you have not been to inland Spain give it a try you may enjoy it more than you think? (unless Benidorm is your thing?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Have I ever mentioned that I loathe working on Audi TTs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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