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.

Never had one on either a car or a motorbike, I like to be as anonymous as I can on the road in case I do something wrong. I can see why others like them and if I could get a decent one cheap I might, but decent ones seem pricey. I loathe the ones where people mess with the plastics screws to change numbers to letters, if you can't afford the right thing don't fake it. There was a small fiesta size car knocking round here a few years ago with the reg X3, that must be worth a fair bit.

Spennymoor, I thought about the A68.

I filled it up before I set off. Also it was 80 miles round trip.coming back was quicker but still best part of an hour.

Went out for a proper ride on my Hornet, filled her up, it must be the first time in 30 years I have put petrol in a bike, maybe longer. Only took 6 litres, I will have to check the volume of the tank. Rode down the A1 from Northumberland to my mates house in Durham, rather foolishly I had forgotten what the A1 is like on a Friday afternoon ( retired) it was at a virtually standstill and difficult to filter due to narrow lanes and road works. Took me 90 minutes to do 40 miles. One scary moment where I had turned the fuel tap to off instead of normal and I thought I had broken down. My hips were hurting from the riding position, hopefully that will get better with time. I am totally besotted with biking again and that bike in particular.

Not having a centre stand is a pain but you can buy paddock stands for next to nowt and pretend you are a racer.

I am struggling to copy a link from the Amazon app, but mine is very similar to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Security-Cameras-Wireless-Outdoor-Tracking/dp/B0D2KGF8BY But there is so much choice out there. Mine doesn't always ping my phone when it's triggered so I need to work out why, I have also had to turn down the sensitivity at night as flys were triggering it. I do find it reassuring when I am out and about I can check she is still ok.

Honda 50 cub, stolen recovered but wrecked, Yamaha RD 250 never heard of again and it wasn't insured, Honda 750 SOHC K7, engine turned up in someone else's frame but way after the insurance had paid out, he had bought it from a very well known breaker local to me.

For the miles the OP is traveling and the speeds they require, an electric post apocalyptic bike makes more sense to me. You can make your own electricity at home much easier than you can make your own petrol.

I think a considerable part of the cost of insuring motorcycles is theft cover. I have never had a car stolen but had 3 motorcycles stolen. The sort round here who would steal a bike want it for riding around on for fun, they want a small bike like a 125, they simply wouldn't know what to do with a big bike. Having said that, my Hornet is garaged, chained to a ground anchor, disk alarm fitted and a camera connected to my phone 24/7. Garage is pretty secure too. My 3 Third party fire and theft cover after a 30 year lay off was £104 quid.

My interest in motorcyles was kindled by buying a " Bike" magazine around 1977, the cover was " A £50 box of Triumph parts becomes project Bike" as far as I can remember. Since then I have been an avid consumer of motorcycle literature even when i didnt have a bike, Bike remains my favourite but going back I liked Superbike, motorcyle mechanics, Motorcyle sport, MCN, The used motorcyle guide. Magazines are so expensive now, I subscribe to Readly. Off the top of my head, Bike,Classic bike,Classic bike mechanics, Fast Bikes, Ride, road rider ( Aussie), motorcycle sport, MCN, More bikes, there may be more. Readly costs me 12 quid a month but I can share it with my wife and son, she likes knitting and crochet magazine, plus all the misery porn ( Take a break, Bella, Best, loads more), my son likes Viz Comic and history magazines, there are loads of them. I like the shooting and gun magazines both US and UK. If you search " Readly" you will see adverts for a short free sub, I think I got 3 months free. I have no connection with Readly other than thinking is very good value.