RantMachine

I might just bring my proper tent this time

Thanks Gin! I love that photo so much

Yeah I'll definitely be there, even if it is slap bang in the middle of my holiday ban once again Can't miss my last chance at a TMBF Rally I'll get on Paypal ASAP. It'll probably take me about 8 to 10 months to actually make the payment and I'll somehow bugger it up in the process

Looks great!

I think we're all missing the really important point here: That picture is SHOCKINGLY shit

Great work, if you can do Mod 1 in high winds then Mod 2 will be a doddle

Yeah, it still isn't fun - I ended up sending some of my kit back by courier so I wouldn't have to carry it on the ruddy train all over again

I think the thing that makes me distrust the Sharp tests most of all is the sheer number of helmets that are supposedly wildly more protective on one side than the other... front to back I can believe, but side to side seems a bit dodgy to me. I can see now why you're getting out of weddings - shifting all that gear with a bike as your sole form of transport is NOT fun The only time my Bowens set has seen the light of day in the past three years was when I could get to the job by train

Cor blimey Oasis, don't fancy your chances of survival much if you wear that lid - you want a cheap as chips Spada Evolution like I've got, £50 and look at the rating http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/testsratings/spada-evolution

Amazing stuff! You must get through tyres pretty quickly

Buy me a GoPro and I'll do it

What about heavy hooning? But I know no one would heavy hoon on the roads, that's for track only right Yeah why not http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/04/82/22/4822287_d86baa52.jpg

Very nice

The no brakes game is a fun one! I also like the not-putting-your-feet-down-at-junctions-or-lights game

Well it's going to be one of those people you do f*** off in that 5% of time that will probably be the literal death of you. I have had cars swerve at me, follow me by centimeters, pull along side and literally try and force me off the road and my crime was normally jumping the queue by filtering - safely - at a set of lights. People do not realise or care that they are in a literal death machine and as a biker you are so vulnerable already so why try to piss off people just to boast to some people on the internet? Surely you arriving home to your family rather than a couple of policemen turning up at 1am should be everyones goal here. If you are poo-pooing Bike Safe, get yourself on a track day learn how to ride at speeds in a safe environment and keep it there rather than on the roads. Or do an Enduro day so you can get a feel for what crashing really feels like, because it'll happen sooner or later

That is bloody clever and sounds like something I bloody need. Can find the gf's sense of humour easier than neutral. Kwaks are amazing Hmm... don't think mine does that. Will have to try it after work!

Some of us like to make a bit of noise

If Zontes are anything like the other Chinese marques, chances are that the owners manual will be mostly unhelpful and full of mistranslations! Your best bet would be a Haynes; the YBR one if you're confident that it's an exact match, or failing that Haynes do a generic one that covers all Chinese bikes (it's a bit of a read).

I also enjoy gloating over the misfortunes of others, if that counts. Back in 2005, I was crushingly disappointed when a friend recommended a new TV panel show that he thought I'd like... it sounded amazing until I watched an episode and found that Mock the Week was spelled with two e's rather than and an 'e' and an 'a'

Surely, being on a plane is the best opportunity to look down on people?

If you're near Cambridge I might be able to help at some point, pulled my own CG apart so many times that I could do it blindfolded now

I can help with that, seeing as it's identical to mine Your average 2001 CG125 looks like this: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-32FawH201l4/U_M8jm8PvYI/AAAAAAAAIBA/H8iMX5ZgGaY/s1600/Honda%2BCG%2B125%2B01.jpg Which of course looks quite dramatically different to yours. Still got the front and rear drum brakes, still kick start only (which is a bit different to having no electric start, as Shorty notes - the old contact breakers went out of use in the mid 90s), but a very different shape and styling to it. Yours (and mine) look more like the earlier pre electric start version, but have the notable inclusion of CDI. A lot of people assume this means the plastics are from a more recent bike (which they aren't; the newer bikes have different shaped plastics) or that they're some kind of dodgy Chinese knock off. Not always the case... the plot thickens. Around the Y2K, Honda Japan did a very short run of limited edition CG125s intended only for sale in the home market that used the newer CDI setup but the arguably more tasteful bodywork of an older model, along with a few other minor differences - the square headlight is the most obvious giveaway (the old points ignition models have similar bodywork but a round headlight), as are the "CDI" side panels. The other two things to look for are the clocks (which have a rev counter, unlike the originals), and the gearbox, which is the really telling thing. The limited edition ones have a weird (aka. mildly annoying) four speed four down gearbox, whereas the various knockoff CGs styled after the points model have a more normal one down four up setup, and usually lack the rev counter. Anyway, back on topic... they didn't sell well in Japan, ended up in a container doomed to be forgotten, until various foreign importers decided to snatch them up. David Silver (Honda spares supplier and occasional importer) bough in a small number of them, which pop up for sale every now and then. So all in all, if yours has a rev counter and a four-down gearbox, 2001 is probably bang on the money! And congratulations, you own the closest thing there is to a rare CG125

Blimey! Sounds like a hefty expense to go to... couldn't just ride to some nearby woods and find a patch without too many nettles?

My first car was a Viva HB in 1972! What a POS that was! My first car still hasn't happened!

Awesome photo! And nice work on the results!