Andymann

Bwahhaaaaaa.... https://whendidmazepinspin.com/

I've got my Dad's Jacket from the 1970's when he used to bike, and my Wife wears my Moms one when she went on the back. They are both pretty worn in places, but still really cool. There's just something about wearing a genuine 1970's Jacket vs wearing a 2020's jacket made to look like it's from 1970. Much the same with bikes to I guess - I'm talking to you BMW R90T Scrambler......

We watched Promising Young Woman the day before it won at BAFTA's - I quite enjoyed it - I won't put out spoilers, but it's pretty edgy.....

Yes but to we really want Marzipan free to roam the nightclubs of Pretoria and Cape Town? (Because every South African knows the prettiest girls are from Pretoria or Cape Town )

What they should do is paint a pair of naked breasts on the gearbox of either the Mercedes or the Red Bull - guaranteed Marzipan will never spin out if that was the case. On second thoughts he would probably drive right into the back of one of them just to get a closer look.

I suspect Savadori injured his shoulder carrying the large bag of money given to him by a bank in Noale....

I should have put my R500 on Cav winning a Stage of the TDF instead of Seb..... https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/presidential-cycling-tour-of-turkey-2021/stage-2/results/

One Swallow does not a Summer make, but right now I think my R500 bet on Sebastian Vettel would have been better put on Cav winning a Stage of the TDF.... https://www.cyclingnews.com/races/presidential-cycling-tour-of-turkey-2021/stage-2/results/

I'll put my 125LC in a Crate and send it over to you

Haha - I don't think it's going to make it too far out the garage!

Well that's pretty much it. I haven't ridden it yet because the seat is still being finished and I still need to finish the Silencer. I might still do the wheels - haven't decided but for now it's done.

The reason I put my money on Seb was that I have liked him since I saw the interview on Top Gear where he did a brilliant Nigel Mansell impersonation - he was like a breath of fresh air compared to the other F1 drivers they interviewed. So I backed him. It's a quiet day at work, and I inadvertently stumbled across some clips with Lando Norris - particularly this one I think Lando has a new fan.....

You and me both.....

Yup - I was with Yamaha when McCarthy owned it and Bidvest owned McCarthy. Brand Pretorius pretty much understood that selling motorbikes was a passion and that brand loyalty was very important - so developing the relationship between the Dealerships and the Customer was super important. We were so careful not to alienate the dealerships by selling direct - only staff could buy demos - everything else went through a dealer. And we were also very Brand conscious - so if we heard of anyone who was doing something unique on a Yamaha we were all over them - be it Marine, Golf or Motorcycle. I remember before the XT660Z was launched in SA there was a guy who drove one down from Spain - he ended up in SA and we wined and dined him to no end. And the Roof of Africa was Blue. Anyone who had a YZ or WR was welcome in our pits. When Bidvest took over, it all changed and Yamaha SA started selling direct out of the World of Yamaha, but still expected the dealer to have a relationship in terms of servicing. Things turned sour very quickly and together the MD, GM (motorcycles) and Product Managers were made to feel very unwelcome. We were all eventually replaced with Bidvest Cadres. Those of us who could leave did. I had discussions at the time with Franziska at KTM, with BMW and actually had a tentative offer from Honda, but it just felt really weird to move to another brand. In the end, Engineering came calling again so I went back to that.

I'm not sure if it has changed (I doubt it) but Honda SA is owned by Honda Japan, so Japan effectively runs Honda SA, whereas Yamaha is owned by Bidvest and is in consultation with Yamaha Japan - so slightly more flexible - Yamaha SA didn't have to (well in my time anyway) be absolutely aligned with what the rest of the Yamaha world was doing. So when we sponsored the AG's, we didn't have to ask Yamaha Japans permission - we just did it.

Lets be honest, it was a brilliant little car - 175000kms and it did not even blow a globe. Apart from regular services and the central locking which became erratic (ironically only after Honda did a factory recall on the block of switches in the door) it absolutely did not miss a beat. But the service costs were eye-watering. And a lot of the consumable parts like Filters are OEM only. We always joked at Yamaha about Honda making brilliant boring Motorbikes. We used the say the Honda Engineers had a motto - Better not to be annoyed than impressed.

Well I know who I would love to see win the title

Well I had to buy windscreen wipers for my Wife's Jazz once and they are OEM only - was a cool R1300.... And the front brakes on the Jazz were over R6000 - just for two disks and two sets of pads.

I'll say something else - I'm surprised BMW didn't get her on a 300GS because they would have milked it for all it was worth. KTM too.... But Honda SA has always been like that hey - they are very Corporate

If I was still at Yamaha I would have been all over her. Wait, that sounds dodgy. I would have been all over her project and got her on an XT250 or a TW and had her at every dealership in the Country. Todd Lawson and Cristina who I helped with AG200's go across Africa still sing Yamaha South Africa's praises almost 13 years later. And Todd has just written a book about the Journey and guess what brand features... Honda are missing something here. But I'm afraid no BEE points to be scored so sadly that is what it is.

I must be honest with the delay in parts arriving I moved the 175 to the back of the garage and covered it up - there was not much more I could do and the excitement was waning a bit. Just got this pic though from the Paint shop - and suddenly, I'm all amped about this bike again - I reckon it's going to be damn nice....

Phillip Island in the wet - only race it won.

I can see Frankie Chili saying exactly that. I remember when Ducati changed from the 996 to the 999 - All the Factory guys had to ride the 999 and he gave Ducati the middle finger and installed his 999 Engine into the old 996 Frame and raced it. I think he also referred to the 999 as "sheet". He also insisted on running a single silencer - all the factory bikes had a dummy silencer to make it look like they had two. He just tossed the dummy silencer off and upset the factory even more. Loved the guy!

Did Suzuki ever ride the TL at WSBK level? I though it was only ever Bimota. I know the GSX did well at WSBK - I wonder how Corona sponsorship would go down now

I know it's probably not ideal given the costs but I messed around with Duathlon doing the Momentum Series, the Sasol X series and the odd Trinity, but never really progressed until I got a coach who gave me a dedicated training plan. Got me to Worlds twice - once in 2016 and again in 2018.