RantMachine

http://lds.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/po-eating-peaches.gif

On that note I'm gonna loop back to the numerous posts I've made containing statistics on how much immigrants bring to our economy vs how much they take from it... short version, on a purely financial level, we get back more than we give. The money we get back in tax from working immigrants exceeds the cost to our welfare bill for those that don't work. And that's statistics from reputable bodies like the University of Oxford, not just speculation. Also, I should refer back to the fact that there are 1.5 million British people who are permanently settled in other EU countries thanks to our EU membership, and leaving the EU is going to f**k them over royally. Remember, we're immigrants too as soon as we leave these shores. Y'got me Not got a problem with immigrants coming here working and paying in to the system but we all know there are a fair few who's intentions are sinister and if you deny that you need to be eating more berries son.... and British people settling in EU countries are people with money that will put into the economy of what ever country they settle in , and I won't be an immigrant if I leave these shores I'll be a holiday maker.... Next patronising speech from the remain gang please Hey now, no need for that - I could come up with plenty of mean things to say about the leave gang if I wanted to, but so far I've been focussed on the issues themselves rather than the people raising them And yes, you're quite right, there are always a few bad eggs. But isn't it a bit like when they introduced laws against carrying a knife in a public place? Anyone who was carrying a pen knife because it's damn useful was inconvenienced by it. And anyone who was planning on stabbing someone with a knife... well, they didn't have a problem with the whole "don't stab people" law so I'm guessing that a ban on carrying the knife in the first place isn't going to put them off If people want to come over here and blow themselves to bits on our public transport, they'll find a way. Nowt stopping them coming over as a tourist, after all. And that doesn't even take into account all the home-grown nutters, of which we seem to have a fair share. Booting out all the immigrants will only end up punishing the well behaved ones. At worst, it might even push some of them to remain here illegally - and illegal immigration is a much bigger problem than the legit kind. Cash in hand illegals are the ones that really end up undermining our job market... And of course, if we don't know they're here then how can we police them effectively? Etc etc

As an aside, I think the most important thing in all of this is that we recognise that the referendum is a diplomatic approach to our future in/out of the EU. They may have made their feelings on it very well known, but at least the government is giving us all our say. I'm sure that Blair would have just chosen for us with his usual "I know best" attitude and that shit eating grin. And by extension, whatever the outcome, we all have to recognise that it is the will of the majority. If we leave, it was because more people wanted it than not. If we stay, the same is true. So, whatever happens, I will be reminding myself that the path we follow was chosen by our majority, not by one or two twats in Downing Street. It may not be the path I would have chosen, but equally my path is not the one that others would take. The best we can do is go with the majority, and dammit we're doing it for once. My biggest hope in all of this is that once the referendum is done, we don't have a bunch of sour grapes from the losing side and an immediate demand for another referendum. That's the thing that pissed me off most of all with the Scottish referendum... "Oh, the people want to stay in, albeit by a slim majority. But WE want to leave! So we're gonna push for another referendum as soon as we can, because f**k public opinion". So, if we as a country choose "out"... fine, that's what we want. I won't keep on barking about my opinion after the matter is settled. Hopefully everyone involved will have the dignity to do the same. That's meant to be one of our national virtues, isn't it? Dignity? Let's see if we can pull it off Oh, and I'm also SO glad that nobody in this thread has resorted to the "A VOTE FOR [iN/OUT] IS UNPATRIOTIC" because that's just the most closed minded, pathetic, and retarded argument imaginable. Go TMBF! Not the worst place on the internet just yet (even though Glorian keeps trying)

On that note I'm gonna loop back to the numerous posts I've made containing statistics on how much immigrants bring to our economy vs how much they take from it... short version, on a purely financial level, we get back more than we give. The money we get back in tax from working immigrants exceeds the cost to our welfare bill for those that don't work. And that's statistics from reputable bodies like the University of Oxford, not just speculation. Also, I should refer back to the fact that there are 1.5 million British people who are permanently settled in other EU countries thanks to our EU membership, and leaving the EU is going to f**k them over royally. Remember, we're immigrants too as soon as we leave these shores. Y'got me

No, that's very fair. I think that an argument to stay "In" should be tempered by "...but we need to spend less time and effort focussing on a 'fairer deal for Britain' and more time focussing on 'a better EU all round, that hasn't lost sight of everything it can be'". We aren't perfect, the EU isn't perfect, but right now we're the ones screaming EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF, TO THE LIFEBOATS instead of helping to fix the leaks. Germany is telling everyone else exactly how to fix the leaks, but nobody remembers putting it in charge. Greece is running around with a drill like an idiot. France is sitting in the corner complaining about its own trivial problems. And that makes Turkey... the piranha swimming outside? I dunno But if we made more effort to fix the ship, we might just be better off in the nice big ship instead of the little inflatable raft. If it doesn't work out... the ship hasn't sunk yet, and this isn't the only chance we'll ever have to man those lifeboats. Hell, at least we aren't chained to the ship like all of the Eurozone countries.

@ Six30: Well, put it this way... We didn't do those things before the EU introduced them. Admittedly it's unlikely that we'll suddenly go LOL NO MORE EU LETS SHIT ON THE BEACH. But we flat out didn't bother introducing such things in the first place, ergo the EU has had a positive influence thus far and so stands to continue doing so. To put it another way... Once upon a time, your parents cooked your dinners. Taught you to speak. Paid the rent/mortgage and bills for the roof over your head. Brushed your teeth for you. All that sort of stuff. But eventually you grew up and started doing those things for yourself. Just because you don't need them to do all that stuff for you any more, doesn't make it any less important that they taught you in the first place. If nobody ever taught you all those things, you wouldn't be doing them. You probably would've found your own ways of doing things, but just like any feral child you'd be crapping in the bushes, talking in grunts and shrieks, and hoping to god that the next handful of berries you ate weren't poisonous. Thankfully you did learn how to function as a human being, and carrying on doing so allowed you to function independently to a greater degree. But... you didn't disown your parents, did you? And when they tell you something, their opinions still count for something? They didn't ban you from their house, and you know that you can turn to them when you're in trouble just the same as they can turn to you? In the same way, we're unlikely to stop doing all the positive things that the EU introduced, but would we have done them if we'd always been on our own? Looking at everything we did prior to the formation of the EU... probably not. We would've take a very different course, and wouldn't have a lot of things that we take for granted. Of course we would've done some positive things on our own, but that's just more of the speculation that this debate is overflowing with. The way I see it... Mum and Dad have gone off the rails a bit as they've grown older. We've grown up and become our own person, formed our own opinions on things, but have started to take everything they did for us for granted. It's up to us to give something back now, and do everything we can to convince Mum and Dad to sort themselves out and be just as much of a positive influence as they were when we were kids - and if we tell them we're done with this family, you can bet they won't listen any more. We're out of the will. Better hope that violent alcoholic uncle Sam will watch our back from now on.

Facebook just showed me this. It's a long read, but it's fair - the guy has put a lot of reading into both sides of the argument before making his case. Well, and it's also vaguely funny.

I will never understand why I hang around with people who cripple me the day before one rideout and then book the next when they know I'm out of the country

To be fair... it's a CG125, it was designed to run on olive oil when required But that said, I stick to the proper stuff in mine. Doesn't cost too much and I like to know I'm looking after it well!

This is the one I used: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Motorcycle-Windscreen-Yamaha-YBR125/dp/B00ZQ3GZ3W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1464259424&sr=8-2&keywords=universal+windscreen+motorcycle This is the best price I found it for - oddly it's much cheaper on Amazon than on the supplier's own website. Mounting it is very straightforward and lots of flexibility for different bikes - as demonstrated by fitting it to an enduro. Could be even more flexible if you made some bits up yourself; I plan to make mine a bit sturdier at some point. For customising it: 1. Fit the mounts to the screen and work out where it will fit on your bike, and how. 2. Mark up ONE side with electrical tape, to show the outline you want to aim for. 3. Stick newspaper over the whole screen, go for a snug fit. 4. Hold it up to a window and trace the curve of your tape outline. 5. Remove paper, cut along traced line. 6. Flip paper and stick back onto screen, then mark outline with electrical tape. You now have symmetrical tape guide lines. 7. VERY gently and carefully go once along the edge of the tape with a craft knife or stanley knife, just enough to mark your line 8. Remove tape. 9. Go over your cut line several times, slowly and carefully. 10. Once it's deep enough that the knife follows the line easily, start applying more force. Don't rush or press too hard or else you'll slip and scratch it. 11. Once deep enough, hold knife at ~20 degree angle to cut so that you're gouging a channel in it rather than just slicing feebly. 12. Cut all the way through, or snap once thin enough (CAREFULLY) 13. Sand or file down edges 14. If you need to make new mounting holes (which you probably will), DON'T drill it as this will crack it easily. Use your knife again, spin it on the spot to create a little rut then do the same on the other side so they meet in the middle, then use a very narrow circular file to make it larger. Done! Took me an afternoon. Would've been quicker if I'd chosen a less ambitious curve. You could also use a hacksaw, but you'll need a thin blade if you're doing dramatic curves. And a big saw or the body of it will end up smacking the screen! A fretsaw would be perfect, if you have access to one. Stanley knife worked for me. Got a few scratches because I was watching a movie while I did it, but nothing too bad.

http://farmingafrica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/like1.png

What model was it? Kawasaki KLX250S. Usually just gets billed as the KLX250, but without the "S" on the end Google has trouble distinguishing between the newer FI model and the older carbed version that's still sold (and insanely popular) in the States. Also gets sold as the D-Tracker 250 is certain Asian markets. It's the bike of choice for the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force, and replaced the old KLR250 which was popular with the US military for recon and messenger duty. Hard as nails! When did you buy it and how much did it cost? Bought it from Colchester Kawasaki in March 2016. Very helpful lot, I recommend them. Far friendlier than Wheels in Peatboghorror (they lost my business when the salesman kept addressing me as "young man", condescending twat), and more keen to do a deal, too! List price is £4200, we agreed on £3800 with a nice new pair of summer gloves and a few hours labour fitting some aftermarket bits thrown in to sweeten the deal Can't complain about that - I'd also been considering the Honda CRF250L, which doesn't have quite such a nice setup but only comes in at £4000. They certainly made the choice easy for me! Good points? On the engine front: Loads of pull right from the bottom of the range (no surprises there), but the engine really comes to life after 5000rpm. And it loves being pushed hard. And it makes riding in the city an absolute pleasure - tall and thin enough to fit through almost any gap, and all that low down torque to get you in or out of trouble as you see fit. Fuel economy is great, too - so far I'm averaging £5 a week, commuting an average of 2 days out of five and going for a spirited ride each weekend. 6000 mile service intervals are generous enough, And any work on it should be pretty easy because they've designed it to be easy to work on. Build: This thing is built to be tough as nails! Straight out of the factory you've got a small sump guard to protect it from bottoming out, a sturdy chain guide (unlike the cheap plastic effort on the Honda), a guard across the rear calliper, and a set of radiator guards. Master cylinder is tucked away inside the bodywork, so little danger of that taking a knock. Heard it on good authority that the only weak point is the bars, which bend a bit too easily - budget for spending £40 on a set of Renthals. And convince the dealer to fit them as part of the deal, because it's a beast of a job (they regretted agreeing to that )! Frame has a couple of little lugs to stop the engine smacking on the ground if it goes over, and give a bit of shielding to the water pump too. On the note of the water pump, the cooling system is known for being the best in class; two radiators instead of just the one like the competitors, with the coolant reservoir tucked away in the tail of the bike instead. Stock tyres are a decent compromise, they'll handle dirt with ease and loose surfaces quite happily without sacrificing too much on the road. Takes a little getting used to, but it's steadier than running knobblies on a bike twice the weight would be. The low weight also means they aren't getting shredded by the on-road use as quickly as they would on a bigger bike. They'll even get pretty decent grip in mud, to a limited extent... but the tread isn't aggressive enough to go really nuts, it'll fill up with mud eventually and then you're basically running slicks. Suspension set up is one of the best in class, fully adjustable front and rear and with loads of travel. Finally, weight is great. I binned it in a sea of mud and had no trouble getting the bike back up on its wheels again, despite the less-than-steady footing Bad points? I can probably sum up all the bad point in a single word: Motorways! The seat is basically made of pure agony, I can ride it for about an hour before I start to need a bum break. The fuel tank is tiny, so you don't get much choice in taking that break! At absolute most you'll get 120 miles out of it. And of course, it's very light and not very aerodynamic (mudguard catches wind like a bugger), so on a motorway you tend to wobble around a bit. Even more so when there's a strong wind. And even more so because you're on knobblies. Perhaps not the best bike if you get spooked easily And finally, it just isn't that fast! With stock gearing it tops out at 70, running out of torque long before it runs out of revs. Getting to 60 is easy, 68 not much worse, but those last 2 take a bit of a wind up. If you want extra power, the Yamaha WR250 spits out nearly 50% more ponies... but also costs a little over 50% more. Dropping a tooth on the front sprocket is a popular mod, I'll probably give this a go soon. The pillion seat is basically a bad joke (I keep meaning to take the pegs off). Oh, and obviously it has a high level exhaust, so throw over panniers aren't gonna do well. On a final note, the subframe is a weak point on just about every bike in this class - takes a drop just fine, but doesn't like carrying too much weight over bumps. Planning to brace it when I have the plastics off to fit a new exhaust. It's too ruddy quiet! Would you get another? Yep, no doubt about it. Tons of fun. But I'd also get a second bike for doing the more boring long hauls, two up with camping gear on motorways. Any other comments? Of course! I haven't even gone into detail on the farkles yet Bars: As mentioned earlier, stock ones are known to be bendy and poop, get some Renthals and you're good. Also the stock bars have bits welded in the end that prevent the fitting of any bar-end accessories. The controls have a little pin that connects into the stock bars, so you'll have to do some drilling to fit the Renthals. Better if you can convince someone else to do it Levers: I also recommend getting some adjustable stubby levers, as the stock ones are huge and the angle didn't suit my big hands. With two fingers on the levers and two on the bars, I was crushing my fingers before I was pulling the clutch in far enough. I got a set of Chinese specials for £14 on fleabay, anodised green ones that supposedly fold back instead of breaking if you bin it. But the main thing I like about them is that they're two-finger length and I can adjust them. Oh, and they actually fit with the next item, which the stock ones don't! Knuckle Guards: You'll want the two above before you get these, or you'll have a rotten time fitting them. Stock levers stick out too far, and stock bars have those wretched welded-in bungs. I've gone for Acerbis Rally Pro, because I wanted something that had some reinforcement so it wouldn't just break the first time I dropped it. Haven't tested the impact resistance yet, but they seem solid. And my hands are a lot warmer since fitting them. At £70 they're normally a little expensive, but I got a deal on them and only paid £40. Polisport do a rip-off version for £40. Sump Guard: Wanted a bigger one that would protect from rocks kicked up by the wheel, not just against bottoming out. Also I wanted one that gave some shielding to the water pump as it' looks a bit vulnerable to me. Pleasant surprise here: aftermarket ones start at £100, but the OEM large bash plate is only £65! Thank you very much! Tank Bag: Needed to be small, cheap, and tie-on. Gave up trying to find one that ticked all those boxes and made my own out of parts from a waterproof washbag and two bum bags Not bad for £12 all in! Screen: Obviously I'm going to have to go on big roads from time to time, and I was catching one hell of a lot of wind in my chest. Wanted something to help with that, so I looked at screens... it's not really designed to take one, so most of the aftermarket stuff includes a mounting system and prices pick up around £80. Nuts to that! Bought a £30 Chinese windscreen (mounting kit included), same model I had on my Lexmoto, then trimmed it down to a shape that worked well with the bike. Very happy with the fit, nice and sturdy and it certainly helps a great deal. None of that wind catching my chest any more, still get a little bit in the face but less than before. And to be honest, I think my height will always make that an issue unless I invest in bikes with mahoosive touring screens. Not much left to do now, it's pretty much exactly how I want it. New exhaust (looking at a Delkevic stainless steel stubby oval silencer, shaves about 5kg off the total weight and liberates an extra half a pony and a fair few decibels, all for only £120), 13 tooth front sprocket, and bodge some sort of brace for the subframe and a simple frame to keep the panniers off the exhaust. Should all be done in time for the rally

Fixed that for you

Hmm I wonder how that happened

Fixed that for you. http://www.singlebuttonjoystick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Grimlock.jpg ME NO ADORABLE, ME GRIMLOCK BASH BRAINS

That amused me far too much...

Cheers, I'll let them know If I could just get the lazy buggers to join the forum they could ask for themselves

Any forecast for how long this will go on? A bunch of my mates have a trip all booked in a few weeks time and seem pretty confident that it will all have blown over by then...

If you'd confirmed your interest when I asked if you were up for it, who knows? I think we just got sidetracked by talking about our bikes, didn't we? You probably had a good chance of it! Roll on next year and we'll see if you can pull off a win

I'LL GO AS ohwaitIdidthatlastyear. Never mind, carry on.

Anyone going to be out today?

http://img05.deviantart.net/ea91/i/2006/309/c/b/bring_out_the_gimp_by_the_russian.jpg

http://gifsec.com/wp-content/uploads/GIF/2014/03/disgust-gif-3.gif?gs=a ...What are you, some kind of Versys owner??

Naaaah, that'd spoil the surprise for you and all the other first-timers Think I've finally decided on my costume for this year. Just need to work on my singing. And my lipstick

Looks amazing! Jealous doesn't even begin to describe it...