ChrisBiggsUK

I had a Pilot Street put on the rear tyre of my 125 not to long ago and am having a pilot street on the front on Tuesday. I've had no problems with the pilot street so far. It was reasonably priced, managed to wear it in quickly, and it seems to do its job. Feels a lot more 'slippery' in wet weather compared to the old, worn tyre that was removed (Pirelli City Demon), but that could be a purely psychological thing on my part as the tyre is very well worn in now so it isn't 'new tyre' related. Though, that being said, I have heard rumblings that the pilot street isn't great in wet weather. All I can say with certainty about the pilot street is that it fit my bike, my budget, and has kept me upright over the winter in the worst of weathers, managed well pootling round town, and kept me firmly stuck to the road while tearing down national speed limit country roads. I'm happy with it and happy being more cautious in wet weather to counteract the real or perceived slipperiness. Keeps me on my toes.

Not to rub it in, but just look at that sky!

Rode to the Dr's for my regular blood tests, then thought to myself; 'Chris, you know what, it's a bloody lovely morning! Why go straight home when you can go for a two and a half hour long ride instead?' Given that I know how futile it is to argue with myself, I decided to acquiesce and go for the aforementioned two and a half hour long ride. Would have been out for even longer but I'm very wary of my front tyres age (if I were to tell you just how old it is you would probably tell me not to ride on it but fear not, it is being replaced on Tuesday with one to match the rear tyre I had fitted not long ago).

I keep getting adverts for them. Note to self; No matter how good a bargain seems, no bargain is worth risking your life.

I've got a wall anchor attached to the wall of the house, suitably high off the ground, through which is a big hefty chain wrapped around and through the rear suspension and wheel (so that if someone removes the wheel, it is still chained to the bike itself thus making it hard to steal), big hefty disk lock on the front, cover over the top, two cctv cameras pointing at it, a cheap (but very loud and effective) battery powered (little cell batteries, not wired to the bike battery) motion sensitive alarm hidden on the bike, tracker also suitably hidden on the bike, motion activated floodlight, gravel/pebbles on the floor around it and two guard dogs which will be alerted by any noise of gravel/pebbles being disturbed and several very 'curtain twitch' happy neighbours many of whom have doorbell cameras and one or two who have external cctv cameras bolted to their own walls covering the cul-de-sac. I also have some of my old work body armour in the cupboard under the stairs, 'just in case'. All this for a nearly 20 year old CG125. I wish I were being hyperbolic. Do whatever you can to secure your bike as best as you can within your budget. Anything you can do to make your bike more difficult/awkward to steal, is a plus. While nothing will stop the more determined oikery, it will certainly deter chancers, casuals or the local undisciplined 'yoof' who want to score a quick and cheap bike to tear round the roads on with their mates. With specifics regarding attaching the anchor to the bricks of your house or that wall in your pictures, if it were me, I'd do (and indeed have done) the bricks of the house. Harder to knock down a house than it is a little wall. Though, again, with determined oikery, anything is possible.

Even if you aren't, others will be. Plus, 'I can't see mother-in-law because I'm doing some charity thing' seems perfectly acceptable and an excuse she cannot argue against. Me not going to the mother in laws on the 6th is a good thing!

I'll see what I can wrangle for the 6th. Can't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do.

Went for a nice long ride out on the bike, totalling nearly three hours over several stops. This has been the first 'nice' day since I got the bike back in October. Sure, there have been sunny days, but those were cold. There have been dry days, but those have been cold. There has been plenty of rain, wind, snow, ice, and general miserable weather but today? Warm, dry, only the gentlest of breezes, blazing sunshine. It was glorious! I've pushed and punished myself during the cold, wet, miserable winter months and now that the weather is starting to pick up, I'm reaping the benefits! As anyone who has followed along will know, I'd already been thoroughly bitten by the bug but today? Today, it has gone from being bitten by a bug to vying with my Wife in terms of love. I'm sure if I had to choose I'd probably still chose the Wife, but I dunno. It may come down to a coin flip at this rate.

I'd love to do the Egg Run (which is what I think you are suggesting ) but alas, it is on a Sunday and I have Church related responsibilities on a Sunday morning, followed immediately after by Mother-In-Law related responsibilities. Being a responsible adult isn't all it's cracked up to be!

I have a drop leg bag (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D3HDGRGN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title) that I strap to my leg when out riding. I can put my wallet, disk lock, house keys, all sorts in it. It extends too and when extended I can fit everything mentioned in it as well as a 500ml bottle of water / cola, snacks and more. Saves carrying a rucksack with me and gives me much more personal storage options than pockets. I also have a highly reflective rucksack that I got from Lidl? Aldi? Lidl? One of the two. I use that if I have to pick up any shopping or the sort while I'm out and about.

Thank you for the feedback everyone. Most appreciated.

I don't often go round this particular roundabout, but whenever I'm heading off to the other side of the Wirral, I have to. I've been told that this particular roundabout is somewhat notorious round here, but I don't know whether that is true or not. Anyway, every time, without fail, I get car drivers beeping at me and so I want to know whether I'm doing something wrong, or whether I'm just unlucky. So. Scenario. I approach the roundabout (from bottom of screen) and as I'm going straight on, I keep in the left hand lane (as indicated by my beautifully drawn red line). I follow the course of the roundabout, keeping in my lane, indicate to turn off and always, but always, have someone in a car who was in the blue lane cut across me and beep at me. I'm using the 'clock' method, that being I approach the roundabout a 6 o'clock, and any exit up to and including 12 o' clock is a left hand lane (unless otherwise indicated by road markings, of which this roundabout has no such markings) while any exit after 12 o'clock is a right hand lane. As such, I keep in the left hand lane, indicate to turn after I have passed the first exit, check over my shoulder and make a turn and almost without fail find a car cutting across me that has taken the blue line. So I ask, am I in the wrong or would the driver in the blue lane be in the wrong or are we both in the right? For those of you who have followed my journey thus far, this roundabout isn't my 'dreaded' roundabout. That one I tackle with ease. I tackle this one with ease too, but it has gotten to the point now where I'm concerned that my lane positioning may be wrong and may cause issues. Please educate me, or reassure me that I'm right in my lane positioning. Either positive or critical, feedback is most welcome. (Edited to add the sign leading up to the roundabout from the direction of travel)

His face in his mugshot at the end says it all; He doesn't give a flying F and will be out in no time and up to his usual antics. If even seeing how close he came to seriously injuring (or worse) a kid and a baby in a pram didn't wipe the smirk off his face then I don't think anything will. I shall also add that I don't wish ill on anyone, but will note that these people rarely, if ever, wear any protective gear and as such they generally end up getting what they deserve one way or another.

From what I could tell, the oil filter on my 2006 CG is a little mesh sieve eggcup sized thing that was held in by a spring. When I changed the oil, as the last bits were dribbling out, I cleaned the little sieve with some solvent (per guidance on the internet) as well as cleaning the spring. I'll be changing the oil again in a couple of weeks time as a precaution, given how filthy the oil was that came out of it. While I know that the CG could probably run on the oil you could squeeze out of a teenagers face, I want to do everything in my power to keep it running as smoothly and as long as possible. So, no teenager face squeezing, but another bottle of Castrol in a couple of weeks and see how we go from there.

Over the past few days I have; Changed the battery. Changed the oil. Flushed out and changed the brake fluid. Removed a broken starter motor and fitted a new one. Cleaned the bike three times. Cleaned and lubed the chain. Buffed my helmet (bike helmet! get your minds out of the gutter!). I've gone from being a 43 year old pedestrian to a god-like super mechanic biker in a shorter amount of time than I expected. This is most excellent! And you are all to blame!

Ladies love a shiny helmet.

Bad Simon! Naughty! No riding for you for a week!

Just got back from a vigorous morning 'workout'. Two and a half hours I was 'exercising'. I'm exhausted! Clearly a fat bacon sandwich is in order.

Just read a few articles about motorcycling and how it helps you get fit and lose weight, with studies showing you can burn up to 300 calories per hour while riding! Thats it! I'm telling my wife I'm off out for a bit of evening exercise. It is the truth! The internet says so! So long portly middle aged frame, hello slightly less portly but still middle aged frame!

Can confirm, this particular one is very good and very loud.

To bring this particular thread to a close (and hopefully help others in a similar situation in future), a summary; My 2006 Honda CG125 wouldn't start. Pressing the ignition merely resulted in a single loud 'click' from somewhere down near the engine. After trying to jump start the bike, discovered the battery was 20 years old, dead, and couldn't hold a charge any longer. Battery was subsequently replaced. This did not resolve the non-starting issue, but the battery needed replacing anyway and this non-starting issue merely brought my attention to the state of the battery sooner. At the suggestion of one or two people, tried vigorously rocking the bike forward and back while in gear and then starting the bike. This worked, albeit sporadically, and indicated that it was an issue with the starter motor. Purchased a new starter motor and fitted it (very easy job on a CG125, may be more difficult on other bikes) and as a result the bike now works perfectly. It seems that the non starting and single click was (in this instance) starter motor related and as such anyone experiencing similar in the future can (once they have ruled out other potential issues) look at the starter motor as the culprit. Replacing the starter motor was a very easy job (at least on my CG125 but I assume it would be relatively simple on other similar bikes) and cost me a fraction of what it would have cost to get a mechanic to do it. If you are able to undo three bolts (in my case I was) then you will be able to change a starter motor. Look in a haynes manual for your bike (or ManualsLib) and maybe watch a video on youtube and you will see how easy it is to do. Repair difficulty - Beginner. Tools needed - Spanner. Coffee/Tea. Cost of new starter motor (in this instance) - £30

For my Wife and I, 'arbitrary love day' passes without much notice. She went to the cathedral with some of her lady friends. I played with the bike. All in all, a productive arbitrary love day.

And heres me slumming it riding in all weathers with no heated anything. I'm motorcycling on hard mode!

I torqued. I torqued hard! While hard to tell from the photo, the oil that came out was so black as to have opened up a portal into an alternate dimension and from that dimension a haggard, portly, mirror version of myself peered back. In that dimension he is still a pedestrian, still having to hoof it everywhere, his weary bones never having a moment of peace and his life doomed to drudgery for all time for in that reality, he never learned to ride a motorcycle. It was horrible! I have put some nice new oil in, given the bike a quick once 'round the block' as it were for the oil to get everywhere it needs to and now put the bike to bed for the evening. So thats now a new battery, new starter motor, oil change, air filter changed and though I didn't manage to do the brakes today as the kit didn't arrive, they too will be done in due course. I reiterate from previous posts; I'm a god-like super mechanic! And I wouldn't be if it weren't for you fine people! You're a bunch of enablers. Terrible, awful enablers. Never change!

You know, if you had told me a few months ago when I started this motorcycling journey that I would be able to do something like change the starter motor on my very own bike (yes, it was an easy job, but that is beside the point), I would have told you that you were a madman. Well, here we are. You're all madmen and I'm slowly becoming one of you! Tomorrow; Changing the oil and brake fluid. I'm a god-like super mechanic!