Having my riding mate move away would hurt. He already spends a lot of time abroad with work though so I’ve gotten better going solo. I’ve got a 998 on my list
They do indeed ! ..... and there doesn't appear to be anything that will make them stop ! When I lived with a gf in Paris many many years ago I quickly learned a crucial lesson .... The first word out of your mouth , to anybody , should be " Bonjour " and then follow that with " Je m'excuse , je ne parle pas Francais bien " . With just those few magical words , French people will welcome you , and will usually go out of their way to help you . That was my experience anyway , on a very personal level . PS - most French people have a good passive knowledge of their neighbour's languages ....unlike us Brits
I had the same experience in Czechia. If you set expectations early on, you get a lot of understanding, even gratitude that you’re even trying, knowing well the reputation of the British to not know any other European language (and hardly being able to speak English well either )
I would argue that it’s not a specifically « British » trait. All English speaking cultures have this in common, Americans an English speaking Canadians being the laziest in the matter, in my experience. Because the rest of the non English speaking world uses English to communicate among themselves. In fact, when you actually know English speaking people and cultures, you realize it’s not ill-will based. They just don’t realize how offensive it may sound. Until you confront them, in their own country, speaking your language to their faces like « they should know ». They feel immediately (and pretty seriously) offended. All you have to say then is « There you go! You see?». And you now can become friends for life.
Do it. It makes perfect sense especailly when the UK eventually runs out of money, which it surely will if the current dickheads in charge are allowed to carry on. Ours is brilliant. We can go away when we want and travel very light as we now have stuff kept in our French house that we dont need to take with us. A bike is being added to the garage in January.
Just question has this group try to organise a Tamburini bike meet just like DAT Owner club in Italy, would it not be great to show off all of Tamburini’s creations. Next year 2024 will be 10 years since his passing and I can’t think of any better tribute than an assembly of his finest works.
It will happen, I’m keeping an eye out for the right house. I just need to convince my new accountant that my company needs a second office in France!
Yeah , well that's all very good ...... but what about in the North East ? A region where people live in fear of spelling tests ( allegedly ) . " Diven talk oot tha ring man " Try to dig some meaning out of that one ..... I defy you !
All my riding mates have gradually given up riding over the years and I had to get used to solo riding but I honestly think I prefer it now.
Not the easiest thing to do thanks to Brexit. Working remotely and through a UK company is no longer straightforward to do and french tax rules will make it very expensive.
We did one at Donington a few years ago. It was very well organised and included some lovely 996RS’s. Nothing like Manu from the DAT does in quantity but very good, none the less…
Wow that looks excellent, it would be great to Have another opportunity to showcase those bikes again
Totally get that... Always welcome to come and join one of our rideouts? Get you out of the city etc ? Not when the weather is like this mind... urgh.. !
