Stripped thread solutions?

I was put off the nc35 after I came across one at the iom mountain section. It read they were perhaps only coming in at 53hp and it seemed to show as I dragged up the mountain and easily passed this dude on my nc30. My mates zxr400 was faster than my nc30, not much but some. Then again he also got lucky with his srad600 as it managed over 160 on a properly measured top speed run. I couldn't get the zx6r to go past 155. For shame.

I wrote a story once for Used Bike Guide. This had to be the most amateur rag on the shelf? They didnt even tell me they were printing the story, I was in the news agents one day just flicking through one and there is was. I think I was supposed to get a cheque for 50 quid or something, no surprises that never turned up.

The story was about the original 98 R1. I went to Thailand in my early 20's - up to then I'd never owned anything bigger than a 250 and the fastest thing I'd ridden was my dads VFR800. We got to Phuket and found out that you could rent Blades for the day no questions asked. Completely blew me away, and after 2 days riding we then found out there was one R1 on the entire island that had just been shipped in. We tracked down the place that owned it but some guy had rented it out for the entire week so that was that we thought. We then randomly saw the guy out riding it and got chatting to him and he kindly threw me the keys so I had 20mins on it. I think that was the best biking experience of my life and thought it would make a good story. The blade was amazing but that R1 was just another world. I still have the magazine back home somewhere.

I once wrote a review of a computer game for Mooncat's paper. I was quite pleased as it was barely edited but then again I had been reading fucking game reviews since about 1983 so something must have stuck. I got to keep the game for my efforts. There was a quite astounding array of free shit you got if you were a journo. I bet they send it all to influencer cunts now.

You seem to have lived a charmed life there Spuu. That's some cool happenings.

Back on the topic of the mags - who remembers road tester Jill Strong for Performance Bikes? Cant find a single pic of her on the interweb (could be my location not being in the UK). I do remember her having an rs250 as a longer termer one year but cant remember what she looks like

I dont recall her racing it. I'm pretty sure she was just a resident road tester. She could def get her knee down though.

I remember Cantlie - and can remember some kind of small 'free Cantlie' campaign around the time. I just googled it and he was presumed killed but like you say there is word he could still be alive. Basically noone knows what happened I guess.

From a pain in the Aris perspective, or was it more a Robin Asquith 'Confessions of Race Technician' "Oooh come here Droog, I'm only a woman, I 'ave me needs" type of vibe?

Just very briefly, on the subject of cool gaffs, I rented an apartment in Cascais in Portugal for a year whilst working in Lisbon, it was a 5 minute ride from the Estoril Circuit (when GPs were still there). The complex was a proper millionaires secure compound with Ferraris and Lambos all over the shop, but the flat itself belonged to some old Swiss gadgie who'd not lived there for decades and it hadn't been decorated since the 70's, so it had brown carpet on the walls and polished brown marble everywhere.

I felt like Huggie Bear.

Pain in the arse perspective. From what she told me on the phone she had fallen out with her two previous mechanics and it sounded like she was the reason why to me.