Just took the bike (K12) for a 200kms ride.
It was a bit cool (5 degrees max) and very windy (Gusts up to 50km/h) but it felt soooo goood!
For the last 2 weeks, I have put myself on social distancing and working on the bike is what keep me sane.
I just hope that we won't reach the point where travel will be banned. If it's what we have to do, I am prepared to accept it without conditions.
I already have a contingency plan.... Work on the 2 K100s and the K75.
I should be out of the man's cave in 3 or 4 months.

I'm working on bikes and outdoor machinery as well.  Need to get a few supplies next week before everything totally shuts down.

In amongst all this madness you have to make sure that there is some light. Yesterday I caught up with some forum members, Gaz, Waz, Indian and Tom FGR. at Nabiac where there was a collection of riders and BMW bikes assembled. We kept our social distances, but we also interacted as human beings sharing common experiences and talking rubbish. The late RossKKo's bike even joined us there with the new owner Michael.
Life must cautiously continue.

Stan wrote:Life must cautiously continue.

I was working part-time, naturally keeping my distance from riding colleagues and 'customers' in their vehicles, which I really never came into contact with anyway. I ride a police bike as escort for funerals, dignitaries, sports teams and the occasional returned deceased service-person, from airport to game, or funeral home to crematorium or cemetery. Recently the gov'nor of the State of Washington decided funerals (and weddings) were too much potential contact, so they're both banned until further notice, with funeral services relegated to 'delivery of corpse' only with no mourners allowed. Now the bike and myself sit idle while storage of bodies must surely soon be a factor. 

Now I have heaps of garage time, but certainly morbidly, may soon be busier than a proverbial one-armed-paperhanger. Stay well, lay low, and take good care of your loved ones.

Sad to hear about your situation TWB, but we have to act responsibly and it will be a drag for everybody.
Just to put a touch of humor to this rather depressing thread, you have to protect your loved one before they backfire or run too rich due to a plugged air filter.
I did it, but don't know if it's legal.

I rode my 94 K1100RS through US Ground Zero (Kirkland, WA) yesterday to go check out a friend's house that's just been refurb'd.  Not as much traffic as normal but there's still lots of people out and about with a fair amount of traffic and the parking lot of a public park I went by was filled with cars.

His wife was out shopping at Fred Meyer with his daughters since they wanted new stuff for their "new" bedrooms. She got back before I left and insisted on giving me a hug before I left. (She's not extremely bright.)

To ease the boredom we went for a drive along the beach. When we got to Redcliffe we found that they still had the beach front Sunday market up and running. Wall to wall people elbow to elbow, so much for the 1.5 metre rule. Some beaches have been closed due to people flouting the 1.5 metre rule and some states are about to start closing borders. Australia's borders are now closed.

We're still managing to get most of our groceries, petrol is now supposed to be close to a $1.00 a litre but as usual most servo's are gouging $1.57 per litre. Local Puma servo is always a lot better $1.19 a litre with an extra .04c off if you are RACQ member and .06c off for hi octane. Small businesses are coping it hard and most probably wont survive.
Regards Martin.

Same thing here with gasoline prices. The Saudis raise production and discount their oil in their 'war' with the Russians, and to decimate the US' shale oil production and ultimately control the market. What does the consumer get? The local Mobil station was $2.85 per gallon two weeks ago and for months and months prior, and it's only dropped to $2.79 despite the price per barrel falling to the lowest (about $29) since about 2002 from a high near $60 less than three months ago. 

There's money in them thar roadside pumps.

As for people hoarding dunny paper...dunno. It must be an anal fixation.
A mate of mine calls it mountain money: an essential when you reach for it.

The reason for the lo paper shortage is because:

Every time someone coughs, 10 people shit themselves.

I managed to pick up one roll from Tesco's yesterday. I pity the poor guy who goes in next.

Dunny Roll Calculator

Joke, no joke.

Charmin contribution, TWB.

50 years ago there was no internet or news feed.....
So you bought newspapers and read them......
Loo paper was a luxury so you cut up old newspapers....
Yep, a clean arse but black as anything......
Loo paper came out when visitors were calling!


The poor folk rode horses,
The rich rode in cars,
Now its arse about tit
The poor ride in cars
The rich ride on horses.


Now there's the nutters,
Scared shitless of the scutters,
Then there's the loopers,
Some say the happy party poopers,
They just wanna ride a brick.


Extract from 'The Spotted wall' by Hu Flung Dung

Waiting for some new Aussie slang to be born soon.

Early Guesses:

Sanny:  hand sanitiser
In iso:  self isolation/lockdown
The Rona:  self explanatory
Magpie:  supermarket hoarder

Use in a sentence:

"Me boss tested pozzi for the Rona so now I'm in iso. Popped down to Woolies for some sanny but it's been bloody magpie'd."

Laitch wrote:Charmin contribution, TWB.

I think most people missed that one...

This is ridiculous. Out of curiosity I just did an Ebay search. People are putting 3, 4, 5 .... 10 squares up for bid.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=toilet+paper&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=3

duck wrote:This is ridiculous.  Out of curiosity I just did an Ebay search.  People are putting 3, 4, 5  .... 10 squares up for bid.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=toilet+paper&_sacat=0&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=3

Here's my favourite from eBay:

Here's a couple that caught my eye.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Emergency-toilet-paper/333552785008?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160811114145%26meid%3Dd29aa6ecda5f42d7aba0048846705e1c%26pid%3D100667%26rk%3D7%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D233535932264%26itm%3D333552785008%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2334524&_trksid=p2334524.c100667.m2042&LH_ItemCondition=3000

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CHARMIN-Toilet-Paper-and-5-Homemade-M-Ms-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-FREE-SHIPPING/184223413359?hash=item2ae492346f:g:F2IAAOSwxBNeeQMv

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Charmin-Essentials-Toilet-Paper-Tp-End-Of-My-Survival-Stash-Rare-Only-2-5-Sheets/362952104403?hash=item5481a199d3:g:aZ8AAOSwc15ed99o

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Single-Sheet-of-Kirkland-Brand-Toilet-Paper-1-Square-Sheet/283824193159?hash=item42153d7e87:g:5FQAAOSwS3Jed~Go

https://www.ebay.com/itm/TOILET-PAPER-ALTERNATIVE/223955035939?hash=item3424c2a723mBYA7haxTu5buMaNZnKvO8g

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toilet-Paper-Funny-Donald-Trump-Get-8-OFF-When-you-buy-4-or-more-rolls/313027972248?hash=item48e1ebcc98:g:Ib8AAOSwvxBebL4Z

No comment.

What a carry on.
In the UK, we’re now all under house arrest. I had a fabulous ride around the locality on Sunday - dry roads, perfect weather and very little traffic. Come Monday, our PM told us we had behave badly at the weekend and placed the whole nation on lock down.

Now only allowed out once a day to exercise, if unable to work from home we can commute to/from work - but need a ‘key workers’ letter to show the police when they pull you over and try and fine you for being out, and we are allowed to go to food shop/pharmacy occasionally (all other shops and social venues are closed down). Luckily I can work from home, but I miss the social interaction of the office.

Of course, once a day exercise is open to interpretation - riding a K bike is exercise, and they don’t actually say how long you should exercise for. Might be pushing my luck though, if I go for an all day ride somewhere - even with my key workers letter.

Thus is day 4 and already getting cabin fever. What a waste - beautiful, spring riding weather out there and deserted roads.

Born Again Eccentric wrote:What a carry on.


Of course, once a day exercise is open to interpretation - riding a K bike is exercise, and they don’t actually say how long you should exercise for. Might be pushing my luck though, if I go for an all day ride somewhere

I don't see the problem. I head out into  Fens of East Anglia and don't interact with anyone, filling up at unman'd petrol stations. This weeks has been wall to wall sunshine.

Had a lovely 30 minute ride in perfect sunshine this morning.....contemplating tent and trailer this Weekend and heading to some remote place for Wild camping....but maybe better spent cutting grass Washing patio painting shed etc.....diy and motor parts shops still open...!!

Was out in the garden over the weekend mowing, re-seeding, raking up Winter's detritus, and remembered I'd stashed the xmas tree (a lovely, stout piney thing, typical, really) out the back of the shed. There she sat, all dried out now, but lots of sturdy branches and plenty of needles. I trimmed her a second time. Logs and larger branches for kindling when they're dried, smaller branches in the yard waste bin, but wait. Those remnants would make wonderful brushes. Hmmm. Loo paper is down in count. None in the local shops...
 

VICTORY! 

I scored 12 rolls at Wal-Mart yesterday!  They were cleaned out about ten days ago.  They didn't have a limit but had put up a sign asking people to be considerate of others and only buy what they needed.

There's not an emoticon that can indicate the amount of disgust and anger I'm feeling right now. As predicted, pictures are starting to emerge of bins (trashcans) full of rotten food and, in one case, even good food that has exceeded its 'best by' date. Absolutely nothing else wrong with it and still completely edible.

Fckin twats.

On a positive note, it seems that people here are finally starting to appreciate what the NHS (National Health Service) does for them. It's one of those invisible things that exists in the background and you give no thought to, until it disappears or something like this happens. The major supermarket chains have all instituted a one-hour-period three-times-a-week for NHS personnel only. One filling station near here has dropped the price of a litre of fuel to £1 for NHS staff.

Of course there's a downside; theft of NHS security passes has started. How fckin low can you get!!!!

My eldest is NHS and she has been advised not to wear her pass in public!

There is something much worse than the dunny paper shortage in Australia, and a sinister fact is the silence about it. Alcohol has been restricted. For example, beer is limited to 48 cans per transaction, that's a scandal in anybody's language.

Noooooo

chris846 wrote:"beer is limited to 48 cans per transaction"


What! and you're only allowed one trip to the shops per day?

But you can buy wine or spirits (not both) along with your beer, so all is well. 

Bill

There's no limit on the number of times you can walk into a shop each day to make a transactioning, but that's an unbearableble  burden,,,, imin,,, thinin ,,

On a brighter note, have just had the opportunity to travel 83 miles one way from south of Tacoma, from Lakewood, the town frequently on the old Cops tele show - "Bad boys, bad boys, what ya gunna do when they come for you?" - to above Seattle (to Granite Falls & back) on a partly sunny Tuesday arvo to make a food delivery to some folks in need. Normally that'd take 1 hour, 45 minutes one way, minimum, with easily a two and a half hour return. Today I was able to set the cruise at 70 mph going north and didn't drop speed straight through Seattle in the express lanes, and then up to 80 mph heading back south. All of this took place between 1PM and just after 4PM, Seattle early peak traffic times. Locals will know about the dreaded Fife curve on I-5 south. There was absolutely zero slowdown! It reminded me of when I first visited this area back in 1993. So there is that concerning being locked down. 60% of the traffic is absent, prolly working from home or unemployed for the duration like me.

Same here,

I've been stood down until the virus goes away. I was doing maintenance at a restaurant until they were ordered to close.

Three days restricted to 48 cans/day, 179.75 days to go, yay.

On another brighter note, it's been good for my "to do" list.

Two Wheels Better wrote:60% of the traffic is absent, prolly working from home or unemployed for the duration like me.

considerable air quality improvement

What sort of heathens drink beer from a can? 

True, I drink stubbies.
I don't know why when I hear slab, I think cans.
About 178 days until the 48 crash
Watch out
You know the 48 crash come like a lightning flash
48 crash, 48 crash.

Ooooh.

Funny though 

....looks like Daveyson's starting to think he's Suzi Quatro.
Must be getting to some people.

Like many, we're on our 12th day of stay-at-home orders, having gone out only for groceries a coupla times, and once for a walk at picturesque Chambers Bay on the Puget Sound. I haven't thrown a leg over any of my motorbikes, just keeping the batteries charged in rotation. A man's mind begins to wander.

Early this morning, the yellow orb just beginning to rise through broken white cloud, I was stalking the aisles of my local Safeway, and able to bag a great catch: a six pack of Signature-brand TP, extra strong, one packet per customer. It was down to four or five packs on the otherwise empty shelves, two little old ladies and me. So I leaned in, using the coupla extra inches of height and reach advantage I possess, to grab the last roll on the middle shelf, while the two bickered over extra soft on the bottom shelf. I was so satisfied that upon sliding the code across the scanner I didn't even care what the total price was. 

It was a good day for the hunt.

It's pretty normal over here on Hood Canal.  About a normal amount of traffic on 101. I went down to Shelton's Walmart over the weekend.  With the exception of restaurants a lot of things seemed open.  The injun casino was closed.  On the way back I noticed that the Eagle Creek Cafe (about 11 miles south of me) was still open with cars in the parking lot!  So far there's only two confirmed cases in Mason County though.

Took a ride to the post office yesterday to mail some stuff.  There were a couple of other people there which is normal for out here in the middle of nowhere.

The Trades Guild is now closed. However I'll get one last run in today. Going in to rustproof the machinery and cover up what we can. And I'm not sure if the fridge has been checked for future science projects. I'll home a couple of  uncompleted projects. I might volunteer to do a weekly security run, if needed.
Regards Martin.

It's important to be able to store your toilet paper so that your neighbors can't steal it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvGP7ZQ3ixo