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Heres a wee video from another Cartie.. http://ukgsa.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=soapbox&thread=2044&page=1#17231
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaron-sneddon/4822379576/in/set-72157624567063078/
Big Andy had a spill down near Girvan and has a new titanium elbow fitted I am told.. Sounds nasty, and we wish you all the best in your recovery. In the interim wee Andy has borrowed your exhausts as his were leaking.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jqFcCrZnKg
"Tour 2010" tab now finished. With added photos, bonus features, celeb gossip and your chance to win the trip of a lifetime on Andys new Suzuki GS 500.. A superb week with great weather saw Andy, Graham, Martin, Big Andy, Johnny and Stephen cover about 1100 miles of the north of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides. We had everything from Whisky Tours, Booze Cruises in Ullapool, photos at John O Groats, staying on Bunkhouses in South Uist to camping outside the Police station in Barra. A fantasic time and great company, the Alps next year! I will update the Tour 2010 tab with a brief summary and a few photos to highlight what we were up to!
Well we have 17 turn up a couple of weeks ago - thinks are looking up!
Jolly Boys day out in Tyndrum, Left to Right, Stephen, Alan, Robert, Johnnie, Big Andy, Graham, Andy Hot Links. Club Forum - www.strathgryffe.proboards.com Photo Album - www.strathgryffe.com
At the AGM it was agreed to hold the annual membership renewal at 10 pounds - "this is a brilliant", said MV F4 owning member Iain Morton who turned up for his annual visit. "The savings allow me to also run run my new BMW, Bimota and Hyabussa and still have money left for my Porche.." This bastard is all heart..
Well thats what our Treasurer Caroline says, so its good times for all, aprt from those of you who lost a fortune in the Club Clothing scam..
Well its goodbye to Alex, and welcome to Jim a the new Club Chairman. I will not let "power go to my waist" claims Jim and its a bright new future for the Club. All the other Committee stay the same. Andy won the John Ross trophy as He was thought to be an all round good guy. Ha!.. Johnnie won the Club Cahmpionship trophy. Now that was deserved.
Donor bike given to the Workshop Manager to start cutting up, meanwhile a Club members daughter wonders where her bike has gone.. Anyone got any 25mm or 1 inch in old money mild steel or stainless tubing we can have - no questions asked..
Two further Team appointments have been made, so this brings the squad up to: Build Director - Jim, Race Director - Andy, Workshop Manager - Johnnie (well it is his lockup..), Corporate Sponsorship Director - Michael. We will also need many helpers, so hopefully all the Club can get involved. We also intend this to a "self financing" event. More details to follow. Building is due to start soon and we have a design ready to go - anyone who has some 20inch Bike Wheels or 1 inch mild steel tubing please see Jim.
There is a lot of planning and preparation going on as you might expect and Andy is working hard to make this an enjoyable experience for us all. Inevitably there will be accidents or issues that arise, such as the unfortunate problem of two of our members sharing sleeping arrangements on the Ireland Tour earlier this year- just how do you handle (excuse the pun) situation, just what is the etiquette? Who knows for the France Tour in 2011 it may indeed be compulsory. So to make sure we are all up to speed the Club has created a Tab (not a bar bill), its one of the Red buttons to the left of this page with some handy tips and info on the Tour. So if you are planning to go in June 2010, go to the Tour 2010 Tab to keep up date.
As I earlier forecasted, in a Strathgryffe exclusive, the Pope is planning to visit the UK and possibly Scotland. I suspect his itinerary will include a visit to the Club and specifically to meet Johnnie Moran after his good works with the Moto Guzzi (Italian motorcycle) rider. Now do you see the connection.. Dave, can I ask that you wear a more conservative T shirt if the Pontiff does indeed plan to come along to the club?
All the Club Camping Weekend and Ireland Photies are now on-line at the Clubs Photo Album www.strathgryffe.com I will patch in all the remaining events as I get time. I have left most at photo quality so you can download them, print them, email them and put them on special interest web sites as you see fit. For any legal action against me, my solictor is Austin Lafferty and I am one of his best customers..
Well done to the brave Strathgryffe boys who waded through ice cold fast flowing water, to rescue a Moto Guzzi (Italian motorcycle) rider who was dangling perilously over rocks after he flew over a bridge when he didn't make it round a corner.
Without fear, Johnnie even with all his problems, and there are many, rescued a fellow biker from the deep depths..
However Its about time that the actions of our brave lads such as Johnnie were formally recognised, a bit like Grace Darling with a nose ring. And if you don't know who Grace Darling was, look it up the web.. I was thinking of an engraved Club Pen - always welcome on the run up to Christmas, mounted on nice plinth. Then while I was down at the Lodge sinking a few, I thought of something of perhaps a bit more spiritual..
I note the Moto Guzzi boys have left a couple of thank you messages on the Guest Page, thanks guys much appreaciated.
I do not have all the names of the Strathgryffe Boys - but of those I knew who were there Andy, Johnnie, Hugh, Graham and some of the new young lads.. Juts who had the "Baw Bags" T shirt?.. A good time was had by all and the weather seemed to be great, apart from the midges. The pictures are now on the Club Photo Album.
Some of you may remember "old sideburns" with affection. I spotted him in Kilbirnie on Sunday 19th July, looks just the same. I shouted at him and he waved his fist at me. Same old Bert
This was a good event chasing Andy and John Rowe round Millport. Highlight must be Billy who travelled all the way from Ireland on his JinJin 125 cruiser to take part. Although Billy had managed to travel over on the Belast to Troon ferry without mishap, the onward passage from Largs to Millport had him beat and we had to wait until they could unerstand his accent at the Largs end. - he's English from Ireland with a Chinese motorbike and he's called Billy.. You cant make this stuff up! Billy was due to come along to the bike club on Monday night but had problems with his starter motor on the bike and could not make it along.
One of the most memorable statements I can remember in a long while, was when Johnnie (or "Gramps" as he now likes to be called), advised to all assembled, that he intended to fix his Suzuki RF900's electric problems by "entering his zone of learning". There was a hushed silence as the significance of this statement sunk in. Slowly some of the old timers muttered that maybe a wire with a bulb attached would also help light his passage towards self enlightenment.. We have since heard on Sunday 19th, that Johnnie has had a major mishap.. 20-07-09 Talking about lighting up his passage, we have been advised by Johnnie, that he was "rear ended" in Linwood by a callow youth while going about his own business. No doubt buying a wee present for the grandchildren from his meagre savings. "I fought with Monty", said a distraught Jonnie on Monday night.
A great week and great company, we had spills, thrills and many pints! plus we ended up at the Northwest 200 for the races. More details to follow. I will add over the next few days Note that there is a very good write up on the route on the Forum, well done Michael.
Day 1 - Sat, Johnstone to Stranraer (in the rain..), ferry to Belfast, down the motorways, paying tolls and arriving at a camp site in small coastal town of Rush just north of Dublin. It was here that we realised just how dear the booze was in Ireland!.. 20 Euros for 2 pints and 2 pints of coke - yee gods!..
Day 2 - Sun, The sun is shining! From Rush north of Dublin, through Dublin (not planned..) out through Wicklow and then turned inland and over the mountains towards Bennetsbridge near Kilkenny for the next nights camping.
Day 3 - Mon, The sun is really shining and we set off from Bennetsbridge heading for Bantry Bay, this was a long haul. We stopped off a few times plus we had a light meal in Mitchelstown and a visit to a cash machine to replenish my dwindling stocks of Euro's. Macroom had a lot of history and a big castle! Arrived at campsite at Glengarrick, went for a meal of Irish Stew (great!..) and followed up at the campsite bar with many pints and games of pool.
Day 4 - Tue, so some slight hangovers and the cooked breakfast was not the usual quality affair that we were used to. So off we set later than usual and Martin broke his clutch lever about 10 miles up the road. While Martin and Andy went to find a bike shop, we manged to use a bit of road sign as a clutch lever instead. I think we were all suffering from heatstroke and lack off drink and food! So it was short run to the next campsite on the outskirts of Killarney.
Day 5 - Wed, we had a good meal last night in a Chinese but we were not in best of moods in the morning as we had a cold sandwich breakfast and some milk. But we did fix up Martins clutch lever and he wasnt as sore after his spill. So off we set and headed towards Galway, we stopped for a coffee and some soup in Tarbert I think, but we were all grumpy plus it was not great weather and we called time at Galway and booked into a Hotel to recover. Price was good 59 Euros for a 99 Euro room and even better for the remaining sods who got theirs for 29 Euros including a great breakfast after complaining about some noise - aye right!.. Bastards..
Day 6 - Thur, Well we all had a good night and recovered a bit, however it just pissed down and decided to make a run for a camp site at Strandhill near Sligo, but it wasnt great so we ended up in Sligo while Michael got us a good rate for Sligo City Hotel. So another night in comfort. Martin and Michael shared a bed and we have some terrible stories and pictures, however its all behind me said Martin. We tried a few boozers at night and I arranged for an early morning call for room 105 for 8:00am which was great, its just a pity that room 105 was actually the room I stayed in while I was in Galway - I was tired.. Anyway it got the sod in room 105 up nice and early..
Day 7 - Fri Well we got away from Sligo in the rain and headed for NI to meet up with Jim, the weather was mixed but we made good time and got to the campsite in early afternoon.
Now our good friend Andy has "managed", to get a whole host of workshop manuals in electronic format for all manner of bikes - so you dont need to buy an expensive manual! All you need to do is to buy Stephen a pint on a Monday night (I am Andy's front man), let me know what manual you want and leave it to me..
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Paul and Alan just coming up to the famous S bend that took out many a cartie. The bike knee rest had been lost in an earlier run so thats why Alan is in the Sidecar with Paul!
Stephen and Martin during testing on Friday. We tried all sorts of techniques and lines to get through the bad S bend, we even tried upside down, which was a way of proving how sturdy the machine was I suppose..
Alan and Paul really going for it through the S bends
It wasnt all fun though .. On race day there were some pretty bad crashes here. At one point, seven Carties were lined up all damaged and waiting to be taken away
Four of Strathgryffe's finest.. Castlebay on Barra 
Johnnie Moran in action, he was later to fall off in a farm.. 
The deep depths with rocks. All joking aside it was a long way down and the Guzzi rider ended up with a broken knee cap. Not nice.
Maybe a wee shrine, novelty key rings, or even a Church named after you. "St. Johnnies of the Blessed Zone" has that certain olde worlde charm about it with a slight hint of birth control thrown in. No doubt the Holy Father is considering your brave actions at this moment as he waits for his new sunglasses to arrive.
The Guzzi Club members were also camping in the camp site. However they cant do you for it these days as long as you are discrete
Left to right, Billy, Martin, Graham, Johnnie and Andy.
Superb action shot of the Tour de Millport. 
Day 1 Sat, Meeting up with Billy in Newry. Billy and family joined us for lunch on the way to Dublin.
Day - 1 Sat, The boys forcing down another drink. It had been a long and tiring days riding..
Day - 2 Sun, after Mass we all headed to a vilage boozer for breakfast / lunch. This I think is Carnew on route from Wicklow towards Kilkenny
Day 2 Sun, Tents up and ready to head off into Bennetsbridge for a cool drink, some grub for breakfast and a few cans for the evening!..
Day 3 Mon, pretty sure this is Clonmel. It was great weather and we were trying I think to find a camping shop for Michael as his air bed just farted all night..
Day 3 Mon, this was at Macroom, the place had lots of character, we had stopped at a car park for a break as we had clocked up a lot of miles in the sun and we were dying to have a paddle in the water!
Day 4 Tue, this was a bad start as we spent a lot of time trying to cook breakfast on a stove while the wind was blowing.. worse was to follow with Martins clutch lever..
Day 4 - Tue, on route to Killarney from Kenmare - this was classed as the N71.. Really twisty and no chance of passing anything, but nice scenery and it was still sunny!
Day 5 - Wed Killarney Camp site, the weather had changed and the mist was coming down followed by rain 
Day 5 - Wed this is the worst tent I have ever slept in. I did remember its room number 105 the next day, wrong Hotel right enough.. 
Day 6 - Thur spot the wet weather gear and Martin looking dazed.. Well he had had a long hard night with Michael. As for Andy.. I think we are in a pub in Tuam for some soup and coffee - but I could be wrong!
Day 6 - Thur well we have arrived in Sligo and about to try this pub and see if it meets our exacting standards - it didnt!..
Day 7 - Fri Andy gets a stiffy over the bike he always wanted.. We had stopped for petrol we thought.. It turns out it was for Mr. Coffee - aka Michael. 
Day 7 - Fri At long last we met up with Jim at the campsite in Bushmills. Jim had travelled over early on Friday morning 
Club Forum at 
