BikerMooFromMars

Hahaha, you leg-ends! Looks like a fab day - wonderful weather for a ride...mine is at work cos I forgot waterproofs on Friday and got a lift home haha! So good to see you back on the bike GOG - how was it? And Mandy did you go on Kermit?

I'm guessing you get what you pay for - I am on my 3rd £60 Spada helmet (1 big drop, 1 accident haha!); my first one was matt and a couple of marks on it peeled away to reveal the shinyness underneath which looked horrible. But possibly to do with the cost of the helmet. Have had glossy ones since and no probs, marks just buff off.

Bahhhh! Not allowed on M25 yet!

A biker I sometimes see on my commute wears reflective clothing and I see him a lot quicker. Ollie recently bought a black textile jacket with thin reflecticve strips on arms and chest - it really lights him up more. I have a reflective backpack cover that reflects light really well that I wear in the rain and dark. I put reflective stickers on my helmet etc too. As for hi vis....gotta go for the 'it never looks good' argument !

I would recommend: Keeping away from the cheaper push-lock disc locks like these, as I had one almost seize up on my disc!!: http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/spastic_potato/BikerMoos%20Piccies/DicLock1_zpse0bd4462.jpg The screamer looks good (love the name too haha!)! I currently have one of these. It has an 11mm shackle - great lock but my god if you do buy one, get one with a longer shackle! Hubby's is the same length - only literally just fits over the disc and can be a bit of a faff, needs that bit more length. Cost about £25: http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/spastic_potato/BikerMoos%20Piccies/DicLock2_zps93276449.jpg And this is the big, bulky chain we lock our bikes together with (£35/40): http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/spastic_potato/shopping_zps32c9b9a2.jpg We will defo get better/alarmed locks when we upgrade our bikes early next year though . Good luck with your disc lock shopping! Maybe get that alarmed disc lock and a big chain & chain it to something too if you can.

Where to start?: > My knee is bad again since honeymoon. Physio manager is looking at it properly tomorrow but said sounds like a tag of cartilege has come loose or something has devleoped inside my knee. Potential I may need another arthroscopy? Getting bad already, had to stop nursing this afternoon and sit in the lab for the end of the day. Losing feeling in lower leg, foot numb and feels weird, swollen knee, leg feels heavy, shooting pains down the front of my leg. Bringing back memoories of last year... > Our hamster Artie got put down yesterday. > Short staffed at work, soon to get worse > Called my nan tonight and she was in tears. Grandad so ill now. Dad not coping either. May have to cancel our first paid photoshoot to go down to London and see the family this weekend... > Feeling hormonal! Someone is very late for a certain crappy 'lady things', and no I'm no pregnant, I'm just climbing the walls at the mo (poor Wallie)!! Bah! f**k it. But there are things to look forward to and be happy about - just gotta focus on that stuff instead.

Massive hugs Neil. Let us know if you'd like a catch up to talk/take your mind off things. Thinking of you x

Yaaaaaaay deserted shit!!!! Ahhhh 28 degree heat. Tho can't be much fun in ATGATT - do you always bother? And don't you get bored of sand?? I miss rideouts with Tango, Bonniebird and co . Went for a lil ride with Wallie and Fozzie on Saturday (not a rideout at all but more than just my work commute I've done in freaking ages!). Was loadsa fun, all revving loads laughing at how silly our 125s sounded in comparison! I got up to about 70mph on A14 despite battling with the wind a bit. Fozz probably laughing at us snoring away in 2nd/3rd gear! Think the spark plug change etc must've done some good cos felt like less effort to get there and stay there . Do you go on group rideouts, Xtremo?

Mine lives unloved under the stairs

Bloody Halfrauds don't sell it! In fact they sold so little of the bike stuff I needed when I went the other day that I will defo stick to buying online in the future!! Will have to buy it online next payday - currently using WD-40, learning to HATE the smell of it

Wooooooah, that's quite the project!!! Good luck with it, you must really know your stuff

Screeeeew yooooooooou!! I had to grab my backpack - I thought I had it on then realised NO IT'S THE BLOODY NEW BACK PROTECTOR NOT MY FRIGGIN BACKPACK!! Not that it's annoying or anything... ...AND I was ready before you both when leaving the arcade, so NER!

YAY! Bikes going "NEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWM!!!!"

Almost everyone every morning who doesn't slow enough from the national speed limit crappy country road to the residential 30mph zone which is also the most bumpy road ever, and tailgate me like I'm doing something wrong. Also, me as the nob; I decided I should let people out of sideroads more esp in busy early morning traffic. I'm always grateful when someone lets me in...I should make the effort (when appropriate) to do the same more.

Errrm...about 15 minutes, sometimes a bit longer... . And I just got my back protector through today - ANOTHER LAYER!!!! Not to suit up tho, I half suit up then do outdoorsy bit, then finish mostly suiting up, then helmet and gloves outside. Goes a little something like this: > Pink legwarmers (over my work trousers to stop em rolling up and cos there's a small gap btwn bike boots and trousers) > Bikey non-waterproof textile trousers (with thermal lining in!) > Bikey boots, tie laces and fasten velcro > Knee protectors strapped on (I may soon be ditching these for Forcefield knee protectors inside bikey trousers) > Find keys, go outside > Flop on floor, undo and remooove bike cover. Unlock big chain, then disc lock, then bring it back indoors. If I didn't put cover on and it's rained - towel time! > Put on leather jacket. Zip up jacket at sides. > Put on neckwarmer. Feed headphones through it from underneath, but zip up leather jacket so cable is outside of it. Put phone in backpack. Fasten reflective rain cover. > If raining put on waterproof trousers and waterproof jacket. Look like a noob. > Plug headphones into phone, find a playlist, select good song, get ready to sing/wail for next 20-25 mins. > Grab helmet and gloves, leave, lock back door. > Adjust neckwarmer so it stays up when helmet goes on. Put helmet on. > Start bike. Put gloves on. > Smile the whole way to work, filter like crazy, laugh maniachally at all the cagers, but politely thank them for letting me in, even though they don't have a choice. Apparently it's a woman's perogative to take her time? Or I'm just slow and special....

WELL DOOOOONE!!!! Pics of new bikey and you all smiley smiley please!!

Heya! Without reading all the replies - my helmet is a £60-ish Spada one with a sun visor you can slide down when it's sunny. It got 4 or 5 stars on some approved helmet safety website and when I came off it felt like I hit a squichy pillo! Highly reccomended and I'm sure they come in other colours than black . Mine is black but I've covered it in funky refelctive stickers. Defo try before you buy though!

*everyone send healing vibes to Wallie's elbow* ! Still pus and grossness. Ugh! CAN'T WAAAAIT to call Euro Rider and book lessons/tests! Waaaaah exciting!

Glad it's not just me with the waterproofs over leather then! They'll do for the mo. And shifty? I was going for the "yeah I know I look a twat" look Worst thing about it gettng colder and wetter? Obv the waterproofs, but the amount of layers you have to put on to ride and not freeze your arse off, but then whenever you get anywhere you have to strip off to your normal clothes immediately cos the extra layers/thermal linings make you sweat like a bitch after 2 minutes! Then you have to carry all that exra crap around with you - waaaah!

So did I and the OH RantMachine! CONGRATMOOLATIONS!!!!

Stage 1 of getting our full licenses passed! BOOM! http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/spastic_potato/1393890_10153338947200434_414569694_n_zpsc0445e84.jpg RantMachine of course did a bit better than me so he will be rubbing that in forever...I will always beat him on arcade games and air hockey though, so I win in the long term! *ahem*! NEXT a couplea practical lessons and the big bikey tests. Wallie wants to recover from his elbow injury from his off first though (otherwise we'd have been starting next weekend if they had space for us!). Still oozing puss and has been told he has to take the antibiotics that make him puke constantly...hopefully his new gear will arrive soon and this bike jacket sleeve won't ride up if it happens again! But yeah, EXCIIIIIITIIIIIIING!!!!! *inching ever closer to my ER6F* Oh, Wallie had 2 questions on fuel spillages (the likely reason he had his off on Friday) and I had 2 on braking in the wet (debated much?) - haha!

Already on it thanks Dave! Moo and hubby doing our theory tests tomorrow morning, then will start lessons and do DAS . I have some money put aside, enough to cover the test and a bit towards a shiney green ER6-F .

So I've worn the wateproof jacket and the trousers I already owned in the rain and did a great job. Doesn't look very cool - but I've decided I will never look cool on a bike til the L plates are off and I splash out on awesome gear anyway! It's well made, elasticated bits on the arms aswell as fastenings to stop the rain coming in, nice and visible in an off-white colour, and best part - it came with a free rubber duck wearing goggles!! Got it in a smll size expecting it not to fit as my leather jacket's quite bulky (would've gone for the medium but was out of stock), but actually fits perfectly. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170958507959?var=470224923115&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 Only criticism is it's a bit of a faff putting waterproofs on over bikey gear which is why I was originally looking at an all-in-one suit thing. I take forever to leave the house as it is now the weather has turned and wearing many more layers already...will just have to get over it and keep making the girls at work late to leave! I will eventually get textiles in the future, just prefer leather atm, it's a lot thicker and my jacket's quite rigid and feels a lot more substantial than the other 2 textile jackets I've owned. (don't I look like a geeky scooter rider!): http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k96/spastic_potato/BikerMoos%20Piccies/PA090048_zps97c1ec96.jpg The neck fastenings do go up all the way, just remembered as I was about to take it off I wanted a pic of how silly I looked

Sorry so late to post - Fozz came back and him, mooself and Wallie were all eating more biscuits, Chinese takeaway, exchanging more gross stories and watching Disney and YouTube videos. Fozzie just left, on his way back to London. Wallie didn't go to the meet, had shizzle to do. I intermittently dozed on the back of the SV on the way back hard life being a pillion! Great day, nice to meet a couplea new people and catch up with all. Huge congrats to Ricky for making it - some great experience for you doing that. Anticipate you're "I'm home!" message!! Thanks for arranging Bob

And again... CONFIRMED: Stu Tango Bonniebird BikerMoo Fozzie Ricky TC Acting Strange Terryr555 (who has a spare pillion seat!) Littlecat/Catty Poo Oh Jay nman1 Yorbandit MCD See you all tomorrow