RantMachine

To go off the topic of apprenticeships for a moment; Are Labour still the only party with policies aimed at improving life for private tenants? At one point I said to a friend that I'd vote for whichever party realised that I don't give a shit about how many new houses they build or how cheap they make them to buy, I just care about how much the bugger that buys them all can rent one out to me for

Also, I've made an interesting observation while walking around Cambridge. Based on the election signs I've seen, and the type of housing I've seen them outside of... The Conservative party is very much still the party of the upper class in Cambridge. The Labour party would appear to be the party of the upper-middle class. The lower-middle class certainly seem to be favouring the Liberal Democrats. And I've got no idea who the lower class are voting for because their landlords won't let them stick a sign in the front garden

I'll probably just vote for some party that doesn't stand a chance so I can reserve my right to say "I told you so" when it all goes tits up. Because they're all utter utter wretched self serving bast*rds, and regardless of who gets in, it will go tits up. Now all I have to do is decide which of the no-hopers to vote for...

None of my local candidates have knocked on my door, in fact none of them have even posted anything through my letterbox! I think there's some confusion about which constituency Orchard Park falls under, because I've had no end of crap through my letterbox from the candidates for Cambridge Borough constituency - apparently nobody told them that everything north of Kings Hedges Road falls under South East Cambridgeshire! Buncha prats As a side note: I have almost no idea who I'm voting for, and even if I did I probably wouldn't post it here - we're good enough at arguing about trivial crap without adding politics into the mix

Short and sweet; Any of the Cambridgeshire lot got a scissor jack that I can borrow? Finally got the money together for the new parts on the BMW and not a moment too soon - my tenancy ends on the 14th and my MOT runs out the day after! So I've gotta do my forks on the 9th/10th, aka this weekend. I'm sure I can bodge something it if it comes to it, but may as well ask first

Not so familiar with that side of things, I'm afraid to say - haven't done much video work since my degree and I was lucky enough that none of my files corrupted back then! That being said, I'm aware that such software does exist, I just can't make any informed recommendations. I think it's made a bit trickier by the various different formats that video cameras use; at least with a digital camera it's unlikely to be anything other than Jpeg, video cameras there are a load of semi-proprietary formats that behave differently so not all software will cater to all file types. Best bet is probably to look on Google for MP4 recovery software recommendations.

Just don't get a Chinese one!

Good work, well worth the effort I reckon. Now to master the art of getting it pointing the way you want it to...

I do try

Did it actually come with a curved one? If so, I'd advocate pulling that one off and fitting the right one, and if not then I'd say keep it as it is for now but buy the right one soon. It'll be sturdy enough at first but it'll weaken as crap gets into that opening (especially in bad weather), plus the fact that it doesn't sit flush at front and back might mean it stands to gradually rock free when buffeted. And hey, what costs more - a curved mount, or a new GoPro after it falls off and gets run over by the vehicles behind you? Edit: BikerMoo has/had the suction mount for her GoPro, that always seemed pretty damn sturdy and it fit well to the slightly uneven surfaces of her helmet.

Hey Stu, maybe you should add "big bore kit" to the wordfilter Something a bit like

The GS125 engine is just a lazy engine to start off with, and being a copy rather than the genuine article probably doesn't do it any favours. Have you been following the initial service schedule, including keeping the revs below a certain mark for the first few hundred miles?

Corrupted or not, copy all the pics onto the computer. Then download a trial copy of the latest version of Paintshop Pro, that has an automatic feature for recovering corrupted files and while it's a little slow to do it, it does a better job than any of the other recovery software out there. If that doesn't work you could try a few of these, but if PSP can't do it then it's unlikely that any of them will. In the future, when the camera is connected to a computer make sure to safely disconnect it. Also avoid opening the memory card or battery doors immediately after switching the camera off, it's often still writing to the card. And once this is all resolved, format the card (should be an option in the camera's menus) - this will completely wipe it but should also reduce the odds of it doing this again any time soon. Good to get in a habit of doing a format every time you copy stuff off the card and onto the computer. It's also possible that the memory card is just a bit pants; if you want to be safe, replace it with a Sandisk card. But don't buy it from eBay or an Amazon marketplace seller, there are knock-offs everywhere these days. And don't buy it from a shop without shopping around, they overcharge like crazy! Best to buy one on Amazon, but make sure it's from Amazon themselves not one of the other sellers on there. Hope you get it sorted!

Moving house soon, so I'm packing up all my stuff. Finally time to face all the paperwork that I've indiscriminately thrown into my desk drawers over the past year and a half. Bike service history is still just a jumbled mess of bits of paper, in the same carrier bag it was given to me in. Well, why not sort through it and put it in the right order, and add in the pages from my time owning the bike. f**k it, the bike has been clocked twice, not just the one time I was told about. No wonder it's a bit tired out f**k it, the bike blatantly had an accident with its second owner; clocks, headlight unit, forks and brakes were all replaced within a short span of time. f**k it, the person I bought it from lied completely about the time they spent on the bike and had blatantly realised they'd bought a wreck, it only did 300 miles in the time they had it. f**k it, I am far too trusting Also, turns out the very first owner went through FIVE replacement keys. At least I'm not the only pillock to own it!

Fire Water Burn - The Bloodhound Gang

Best method: Bike on centre stand, start it up and stick it in first, then wipe the chain with a thin cloth as it goes around the sprocket

Well, most Chinese bikes get delivered to the dealer in bits... just buy a Lexmoto and ask the dealer if you can put it together yourself With very little effor, it'll be the best put together Lexmoto in the country! Better yet, it's the project that keeps on giving; you'll be fixing it and rebuilding it for years to come

Bloody often! Forever adjusting them to allow for shedloads of camping gear or a pillion or both of the above. Plus I have those handy little valve caps that change colour as the pressure drops so I get a bit anal about it

Song to say goodbye - Placebo

I qualify as "of a certain age" now?!? When did this happen Buy anyway, I like the name change. I'd forgotten that show, used to love it when I was younger

Are you planning on joining us again this year Spence? Stu probably needs to know in advance so he can book an extra field at the campsite for that palace you call a tent!

Penriffic!

True that! And we had some new faces last year, and everyone had a great time. Awesome crowd of friendly folks! Except that Greg fella. He's a dick.

As I understand it, Stu ruined the chat room and it was never quite as popular thereafter...

You get beaten off the line by a 125 every time you stop at a set of lights? Damn...