RantMachine

£55 for a new clock?!? Mine is £145 for a second hand one and it's only an analogue dial

Sounds to me like they did you a favour... People who are that desperate for attention are rarely a positive influence on anything.

Dammit, Joe beat me to it! I can certainly second his recommendation though, sod the 'smart' bit and get a much cheaper TV (or alternatively, a £400 not-so-smart TV that outspecs similarly priced smart TVs) and buy an Amazon Fire stick to go with it.

But... That's like saying "what's the benefit of aeroplanes? apart from the flying"

Depends on how dark it actually is, the legality is dependant on the light transmission. And of course, if the visor is marked "daytime use only" then it's illegal to use at night, hence some people wearing spare visor holders (aka bumbags )

Oh wow, this is a blast from the past!

People have spare time between fixing their bikes and riding their bikes...?! I enjoy cooking, particularly South American but lately I've been dabbling in Moroccan food too. The odd bit of hiking. Lots of film going. Boardgames and computer games with my other half. Alcohol sampling (did you know that Amazon deliver spirits now? It's amazing!) And travel, where possible. Ruddy pathetic holiday allowance at my job, though

Woo. Colchester. Woo. http://gazettereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/depression.jpg Consolation: At least it's not Nottingham. Or Bedford.

Don't think it does anything - I bought a bicycle lock at the same time as some oil the other week and the bloke at the till told me that it didn't cover anything from the bicycle section.

Optional meal sounds like a nice idea to me, saves me taking a detour to McDonalds on my way home! Bit more upmarket, too. But then, going through the bins would also be a bit more upmarket If anyone from far afield wants to come and ends up getting stranded, I'm sure the locals have a few sofa going spare between us

11th and 12th work best for me

Nietzsche walks into a pub. Barman says "What's the matter Nietzsche?" Nietzsche says "nothing".

Depending on where in the country you are, you may actually be within rights to drive in the bus lane. For example, I can't get away with it here in Cambridge, but on most red routes in London it's fair game. Filtering on the white line is risky business as we go into the winter months, it gets pretty slippery.

(While resisting the urge to kick him again)

Why not the Lower Lode? Did they do something dodgy?

At least I made it there the last two years, you cheeky git

Yeah, I need to start carefully planning 2016 so that the BMW's one week of working properly falls on the same week as the rally

Awesome, good luck with it! Saving some cash for the big bike or gonna sort out that hurdle when you reach it?

Blimey, that's a heck of a mess

Well I went through hell and back but least I'm...Reborn again?...New bike, problem though...Its Chineese. As long as its looked after though then f**k all can go wrong. Ooh, what did you get?

I'm counting on it! Last year was a great laugh, I forgot to go to the little boys room before catching the last bus home and had to decide between getting off in Histon to piss in a bush then stagger the rest of the way home, or staying on the bus and wetting myself Decided that going in a bush and staggering home was preferable. Hope all had fun at the meet, would've liked to go but didn't trust the BMW's creaky back end to survive going two up over that kind of distance Maybe if we have a "start of season meet" in 2016 I'll have it fixed in time... or sold

I was not aware that this was an option Err... something about using your beard to keep the bike warm so that it starts easily? ...Hmm, this isn't as easy as you made it sound.

Yeah, really easy. Pop the right hand side cover off, remove the battery, and it's the thing in the little circular plastic sleeve just between the battery holder and the rear wheel. That's partly how it gets wet so easy - nothing shielding it from spray from the rear wheel, and that stupid little plastic holder just traps the water on there. Disconnect it, dry the holder, connect the new solenoid, improvise a rain cover if you want (but remember to put drain holes in the bottom of it!), then stick the battery back in. Ridiculously easy stuff.

Think I know the noise you're hearing - I can almost guarantee you that it's the solenoid. Water pools in its housing when the bike gets rained on and it rusts over time. I went through three solenoids in the first year of owning mine. Once you replace the duff one, it's worth making it a little rain shield for it out of part of a plastic bottle so that it doesn't happen again.

Yep, what Fro said. Trying stuff on in a shop then buying it online takes the utter piss.