RantMachine

+1 what Dave3y said

...and that was the last that they ever heard from Joe. http://www.crnc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/obama7.jpg Shotgun the KTM

f**k yeah! Bike has successfully made it to the new house, and it was only an extra £22 on my insurance to go from being locked in a garage in a relatively well-to-do part of the city to being chained up outdoors with a non-specific chain in a slightly dodgy part of the city centre right by the train station! Guess that my insurers are making the same assumption as me; the Tiger 800, ST1300, R1, Hornet, F800GS and Transalp that are parked at the station most days are all more tempting targets for a would-be bike thief

Oh god dammit it is SO hard to resist the urge to set that quote as my signature...!

Back in one piece, rode it to the new house! Had to stop at some lights when half way and noticed that it smelt of petrol somewhat... stopped at the new house, killed the engine, tipped the bike onto the side stand aaaaand about half a litre or more of petrol ran out from under the seat Not another huge disaster though, it turned out that one of the clamps on the fuel hose had come a bit loose. Sometimes I get confused and forget that I own a motorbike, it feels more like an expert level meccano set

It's not necessarily 12k since they were last done, is the thing - I've done 12k on it since buying it, so I know it's at least 12k since the last time. God only knows when it last happened before that Guess it can't hurt to stick a post on the F650 forum and see what they think, they're not always the most helpful bunch but they come in handy from time to time.

I wouldn't even begin to know if a noise was coming from the valves, let alone the difference between a healthy noise and an unhealthy noise! Haven't particularly noticed and new and unhealthy noises coming from it, the only reason I was planning to get it looked at was because the Haynes said to have the valves done every 12000 miles. The BMW manual says every 6000, but every single other place says that's bullcrap, so I skipped that one.

Have you used that data recovery software you mentioned in Adam's thread a few weeks back?

Didn't elaborate fully in my original post - basically I got one of them out, but the damping rod wouldn't budge for love nor money in the other leg so in turn I can't use brute force to out the seal. Given my limited time frame I've bitten the bullet and given them to Motoworks to (mostly) finish the job - sticking the oil in them myself and reattaching them once I get home. Then I can ride it for one whole day before the MOT runs out, and then it's time to sort the rear brake out and check everything else over... and then it's back to the garage for an MOT, and then it's valve clearance time... still stuck on the decision of cutting my losses and selling it once it has an MOT on it or keeping it because what else can be left to go wrong??

On the bright side: - At least you managed to sell the YZF relatively easily - At least you have a new bike waiting for you finish with the bicycle When I'm done with cycling to work, I'll just be back on the same old crapped out BMW until the next thing goes wrong

Cheers, will do. I've been reading and re-reading the FAQ on the F650 forum over and over again and I have something to try when I get home, if that doesn't do it tonight then I'll take them to the shop tomorrow and see if they can do them sharpish for me.

Woulda been smart, wouldn't it? Already done all the van stuff last Friday when I moved all my other belongings. I foolishly counted on being able to sort the forks so that I could drive it to the new house. Best backup plan I have at the moment (in case it isn't fixed by Thursday) is reattaching the handlebars and getting a couple of my housemates to help me shift it - one person on each side of the bars lifting it and roll it out of the garage on the rear wheel, then chain it to a lamp post somewhere in Orchard Park propped up on a stack of bricks until I can come back with functional forks (and pray that it doesn't get towed or knocked off the aforementioned bricks in the meanwhile)

Someone has to keep the "F**k It" thread alive I guess... f**k it, my tenancy expires on Thursday and I still have a broken down motorcycle in the garage. Tried to rebuild the forks on Saturday but the old seals are well and bloody truly stuck in place and (once again) the Haynes manual did a wonderful job of making it sound far easier that it actually is. Need to take the forks to Motoworks so they can get them out for me, but they aren't open today. So now I have a bike with no front end that has to be fully rebuilt (at least enough that I can push it 4 miles to my new house) by Thursday evening... well, Thursday morning seeing as I have to give the keys back by 5pm. I am the posterchild for shite luck.

That's more than last time, I think. Also, some more interesting statistics: UKIP got 12% of the vote but only one seat. SNP and Lib Dem COMBINED got 12% of the vote and something like 64 seats. I may not be a fan of UKIPs major policies, but it does still illustrate the flaws in the system.

As far as I'm aware, the 12 months thing applies to anyone from a NON EU country (for example, my other half can't ride her GS500 at present because she's been here more than a year and not done a DAS yet) whereas people from an EU country have nowt to worry about (such as our German friends, who qualified back home many years ago and can drive whatever they want whenever they want). In fact, we compared licences the other week - mine and the Germans are almost identical while my girlfriends licence is wildly different.

No queue at my polling station... Not even any other people! Just me, the officials, and an old chap with a Labour rosette who had fallen asleep in his chair

Lemme just get those keys... http://i.imgur.com/HeT7gf5.gif' alt='IMGUR>'>

Funny you should say that - considering I voted in South Cambridgeshire, the closest candidate was Stevenage - a mere 32 miles away! We should get something sorted to stand for 2020. The Conservative candidate in South East Cambs is a Yorkshirewoman who lives and works in London but happens to own a spare house in Cambridgeshire, and apparently this is sufficient grounds to stand. Can't see how she's supposed to know the first thing about representing the needs of Cambridgeshire. Something very wrong with a system that allows that.

Sorry, made a few mistakes in that post - fixed them now.

Yup! I can vote for... The one that doesn't actually live or work in the constituency. The one that represents the party I swore never to vote for again. The one who I would consider, but doesn't stand a ruddy chance. The one who supports legislation that would put my girlfriend out of work and ruin bikes for everyone. The one who supports legislation that would boot a large number of my friends and colleagues out of the country. Where's a ridiculous independent candidate when you need one to vote for?

To be quite honest, it sounds like it might just be the limitations of the bike; I'm 14 stone and my 125 had a similarly lazy engine to the TW125, and my god it did not like hills or wind, let alone both at once How tall are you? I stick up above my bike so much that I act like a ruddy sail, my BMW doesn't mind much (when it actually works) but my 125 couldn't stand it when I started catching the wind with my face and chest.

All sorted thanks Steve, Bob has very kindly dropped by with his one. Touch wood, I might just see everyone in Connington next week...

I wonder how many young voters realise that the minimum wage didn't even exist back then...

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