me n my rig .... me n my girlfriend Tracy

So you can see where you are going then? Good grief Martyn that's a lot of candles.

Don't burn them candles all at once or you'll not be burning brightly at all :)

Parcel of Rogues?

Are you musically inclined? Sounds like a Pogues outfit to me

You tried the Dropkick Murphy's? Hardcore Paddy Whackery that, let me tell ya!



I thought at first you meant these guys... but no... http://www.parcelofrogues.com/en/main.html

They're Irish/Swedish....


Dub

Hello Serious black,after being almost crushed by an articulated lorry whose driver was myopic,i thought what the hell-get some more lights! I've got a friend who is a whizz with electrics.He did the maths,checked output etc and wired them up-i've had no probs[yet!]
ride safe and free.martyn aberdare.

Hello Dubliner15,how are things?the lights were sorted by a friend of mine,who is not only an amazing sparky,but is also the brewmaster of a micro brewery attatched to a nice hostelry called the
falcon inn.the parcel of rogues are a welsh folk-rock band,who i used to play the bodhran with.they are all mental-in one way or another-there is 'incognito jones',he can play anything with strings, he was handed a violin and was gig ready in less than 2 weeks.He wont go anywhere less he's had a fill of cider[a bit like b.a.barakkas in the a.team] then there is rob'no brains'-lots of letters after his name,not all educational,and no common sense.plays rhythm.mel,lead guitar-amazing,but not all there.brian,base player extrordinair,and finally,the drummer-stan, again, top notch and totally nuts!anyway,got to go now[tracy and shopping calls!].ride safe and free.martyn aberdare.

'I think Parcel o rogues' might have come from a Corries song. I distinctly remember the line' Sic a parcel o rogues in a nation'. Referring to to the traitorous behaviour of the Scots 'nobility' during the union of the parliaments of Scotland and England.

Hello Serious Black,you are right,it is a scottish song,and right again with the reference to 'naughty scots'.Did you know that the english national anthem had to be changed,and a verse removed because it was anti-scottish?all the best,ride safe and free.martyn aberdare.

I well remember being taught The National Anthem including the bit that goes 'oh let us crush rebellious Scots'. I and my mates didn't sing that bit and the general feeling was ' Oh aye, ye######inthinkso'! And the English wondered why we picked 'Flower of Scotland' as our National Anthem! Incidentally 'Flower of Scotland' is another Corries song. They had actually written a song as a national anthem and were disappointed that we chose 'Flower of Scotland'.

Martyn,

Great looking bike. I'm new to the Ural and have been considering adding lights to mine. The more lights you have the better the other guy can see you is how I feel.
Keep your eyes open around S Wales for a restores 1968 Norton P-11 Ranger. I sold it to a guy over there a few years ago.

Paul

I had thought, all my life that I was mostly Irish, just found out recently that a man named Matthews, probably my great-great grandfather, was a native of Scottland, from which he fled, to Ireland, as he had a price by the English.
He was reputed to be a highwayman...Now I know why I like bikes.....any one else want to "fess up....Ken

Hello Serious Black,I am continually suprised by the emotional power behind celtic[including picts and cornwallian]traditional folk songs,compared to the english.most are to do with murder, torture and other unpleasantness.which although was horrendous to the people it happened to,makes for great music today.ride safe and free.martyn,aberdare

Hello Paul,whoever has got the P11 Ranger is a lucky bloke,i believe that they were nicknamed 'desert sleds' in america.Richard,a friend of mine,did the lights for me,he measured everything,input,output,checked for the correct relays,thickness of the wiring etc.i'm not to clever with electrickery,so i pop down to his brewery to say hello,and sample his latest 'doo-lally juice'
while he potches with the electrics[which he enjoys doing].ride safe and free.martyn ,aberdare.

Nice Rig. The Hat is Awsome to

Hello oldskoolconservative,thanks for the comments,i bought the rig new in 04 off a dealer [who shall remain nameless because he is a right crooked tw*t
in my opinion.when the bike arrived it looked beutiful,but he couldn't have done a p.d.i. check on it,he must have just attatched the sidecar and sent it out.
the first time i used reverse,i heard a strange sound from the rear wheel,took it to my mate who owns a bike shop,he took the wheel off and was horrified to see that the pillar that the shoes clamp to had chopped down the strengthening ribs of the wheel hub-i phoned the twa* all he said was,dont use reverse!anyway,one engine blow up later,front torque arm,5 generators[4 were free]and an electrical fire later,plus the involvement of the consumer people and contact with ural head office,i thought fu*k it-send it to valhalla and claim off the insurance.a cup of tea later,while looking through a bike mag,f2 motorcycles stuck out of the page,so i phoned them,anyway,long story short,i've still got the rig,and it's running nicely now.
as for the hat,my brother found it on the ground in prague[or estonia],and gave it to me.
ride safe and free.martyn aberdare
p.s. jethro tull is a brilliant band-cracking music!

You might be doing people a favour by saying where you bought your bike...

But it's your call!

Glad you stuck with it!

Dub

hello Dub,If it wasn't for the help i'd had from David Angel at F2 m/c's,i wouldn't have the rig now.but i'm so glad i kept it.i am a 100% convert to the joys of all things ural-would i buy a new one? most definately[if they lowered their prices for the rigs and spares].as for the slime-ball[my opinion] who ripped me off,the less said the better.the only people i trust to deal with are:f2 motorcycles,and c and c motorcycles for all things ural.
as an aside,i met up by accident,a bloke and his wife from down the valley,he too was ripped off by the same dealer-it cost him more than me to put the damage to his rig right!Oh well,if there is any justice,the twa* is out of buisness now.i firmly believe that what goes around-comes around.
ride safe and free.martyn,aberdare.

Which townis this guy located in?

Hello Serious Black,which bloke,the twa* who sold me the rig,or the bloke i met from Neath?

The Ural seller.

Hello Serious Black,i didn't want to say who the rogue dealer[my opinion]is because it may open up old wounds,and a can of worms to say the [very] least.
i don't know of any ural dealers in the north.the only ones that i know are good is david angel at F2 motorcycles,and c and c motorcycles,both in the south.
i havn't seen any adverts lately for the bad[again my opinion]dealer,so i hope he's stopped trading.there are too many unenlightened people in the uk slagging off urals as it is[including some of my friends,most of their comments are funny though and not meant nasty],without him selling dodgy bikes to the public-mine was definately dodgy.as an aside,during one of my phone calls to him about yet another problem,he said,and i quote"why don't you go and buy japanese!".at the time i wish i had.ride safe and free.martyn,aberdare.

There was a bunch here who were selling home market models very cheap by Norwegian standards when I arrived in '96'. They might have survived if they knew their bikes or even did a reasonable pre-delivery check. Needless to say, the people who bought them were not used to bike that needed run in the old fashioned way and a lot of them came to an early end. This didn't do the Ural's reputation any good. That played into my hands though as I was able to pick up some OK ones cheap. That allowed me to keep my hobby going while buying a house and starting a family. All my mates with Brit or classic stuff here thought I was off my rocker but as the years have gone by there have been less and less 'funny' comments. Russian stuff doesn't have such a bad reputation these days, which is a bit of a double edged sword. Prices are beginning to increase.

I was interested to know who your bad experience is so I don't buy from him.