Geordie Oldie

Any vehicle I own I wait until it has reached temperature before I howk it. Company vehicles are a different matter.

People are still smoking now, often not just tobacco either.

Watching on episode of " Bangers and Cash" , they had a Granada from the 1980s up for sale. Back then this would have been a big car. Not so big now if you stick it next to a modern car. My wife mentioned how narrow the screen window pillars are, I think they are the " A" pillars? Which got me thinking, our Skoda yeti has pillars about 5 inches across, it leaves a huge blind spot which is even worse the closer you are to the pillar. You need to look round the pillar to make sure your path is clear. Obvs. many people don't. I imagine this thickness makes the user of the car safer in a crash. Add in people fannying about with their phones or who have their phones set up IN THEIR EYE LINE so they can pretend they are flying a fighter jet, I see this loads. Not saying everything was perfect back in the day, drink driving was common, but at least there were dedicated traffic cops back then.

2001 Honda Hornet that came with a small fairing as new ( I think?). Not sure what category that falls into.

I guess I am fortunate in as much as I don't need to commute, I am retired. When I was working it was all year round, it meant I could park in the city centre for free, we also got 20 mins walking time if we finished in a different place to where we started, which I could do in 2 with my bike. Looking back I had all the right gear and was never really that cold or wet. I cam still remember my first ever ride in the rain, you don't know wet until you have ridden in the rain.

Well, not me, turned into a right softy in my old age. When I got my first bike (1980) I rode all year round, did 18 000 miles in the first year, rode right through the winter, once did a 20 miles trip on deep snow in a blizzard, only came off twice. Now I won't got out below 15C and dry.

Just back from a trip to Westgate road for my bikes MOT, Armstrong racing developments, I have been getting MOTs there for over 40 years and I don't think it has changed much. She passed! All the big dealers gone, what was Harry Woods/ M and S motorcycles is still there but not selling bikes. I seem to recall Kens had shops on both sides of the road. There was a couple of places doing second hand bikes. It has become an extension of the west road, shishka shops, take aways, an Uyghur restaurant ( I had to look up what that was!), Asian supermarkets, off licences. It was always a bit rough and ready and still is, but at least most of the places have something going on, even if it's not bikes.

Cheaper to buy the brand new triumph 400 than a 45 year old RD400. I might be tempted by the new triumph, looks a bargain.

OP, where are you looking? Facebook marketplace has some apparent bargains, I nearly bought a Suzuki RF900, needed a new rear tyre but he would have let me have it for 700 quid. I try to stay off it as there is so much temptation out there. Might depend where abouts i the country you are. Edit, just checked and the prices are bonkers, I must be out of touch.

I would have blue as the bike is blue.

It's got carburetors so I assume never had a cat? Edit. Answering my own question, I have found this https://quillexhausts.com/honda-cb600f-hornet-1998-2002/ Anyone got any experience of the company?

Hi all, my 1999 Honda Hornet 600 came with a loud Lextek stubby. Too loud for me, i have tried fibreglass but that didn't make much difference and I was worried about blocking the airflow, home made baffle that made little difference and a universal DB killer from eBay which helped take the edge off it in town as long as I stay below 4000 rpm. I recall Motad exhausts, I fitted one to a Honda 750/4 SOHC in the 80s and it was superb, but they don't exist now. Ideally I would like a similar sound to when it was new, but I would expect a second hand silencer will be rotten by now. Is there a solution?

Bit late now, but using what I had read on here, I took a 500 quid excess on a 2k bike, garaged but with no extra locks on it other than the steering lock. Third party fire and theft. I looked at third party only but that was more expensive. £104! I think it helps that the local scrotes wouldn't know what to do with a Honda 600, they are mostly interested in small bikes they can ride round the streets/woods on. As I happens I do have an alarm disc lock, ground anchor and heavy chain and a camera that alerts my phone to any movement in the garage.

Sorry for the delay, yes, GB really, link here https://gb.readly.com/

I dread to think what the insurance would be like for a 20 year old on a transit size vehicle, trailer on its own would probably work out cheaper than the insurance. Then again, transit size means you could shift furniture for extra cash. Used to love tooling around in a transit.