Fozzie

You have to buy a car no 17 year old would buy. A Nissan note or Honda Jazz (granny mobiles) would do the trick

They are much too common now, a lot of my mates have them and then rave about them but while they are good, it's mainly because they can't afford anything else, which is turning them into peasant wagons I intend tofirst find someone who services rotary engines, then pay them to let me sit in on a tip and seal refurbish, and then do it myself on one I buy. I've always wanted to learn about the rotary engine as it just looks great to work on in general. Mazdas tend to be quite typical of Japanese cars, it's all compact but surprisingly easy to work on

A lot of my mates have the mark 1 Mazda MX5. I always wanted an RX7 but they are too costly, so maybe an RX8 that has a bit of a more butch body kit from the later model (spoiler and beefier trim), and then try and see if I can turn it from a twin rotor, to a quad. It will be a money pit when I do it, and I have a lot to do before that life wise. But that's going to be my stab at a 350BHP machine

Stu mentions above, just try crossing it against other metal items, and then use the kettle to do it with other circuits. You will narrow down if the kettle is faulty. But if the kettle was acting as an earth, it should be tripping the MCB. But then again, at 55v the current is probably tiny.

I'm a sparky This situation sounds pretty weird. Could you upload a picture of the kitchen area where it happened, and maybe of the inside of that metal faced socket? If the two circuits are earthed properly there shouldn't be a potential difference, unless somehow mid-circuit the connection to the kettle interrupted the earth going from that socket and it earthed into the kettle. But that is still a short circuit and an MCB should have popped its clogs over it. Unless of course the kettle being earthed properly meant that it couldn't find a path through the kettle, which will have sent the casing live, but was still earthed by the kitchen ring circuit. But that's just speculation. You'd need to do some tests to see if there is an earth of neutral line fault. Sparks can fly and MCB's not trip, but usually only when they make a solid connection to something. So it sounds like you managed to make the kettle part of the circuit without it being detected as a short circuit... Impressive

If you have a big pair of these: http://www.abbeypowertools.co.uk/webupload/APOWER/DRAPER2013/APOWERLARGE26406_474B-10B.jpg Or anything that opens outward, pump out the pistons a bit, clean what you can see to as good a shine as you can get, insert these, grip very hard and twist the piston in its seat to get at the other grubby bits. Otherwise it turns into a bit of a faff It's just a sure fire way of getting all the grime off. Then push the pistons back in, and you won't risk damaging the caliper seals with a nice clean piston. Also smear a bit of copper grease on the *back* of the pads where it contacts with the piston. I generally smear the pistons in red rubber grease and the back of the pad in copper grease so that when the piston withdraws the metal/rubber contact with the seal is lubricated. Also makes cleaning them later an easier task. But you've got the basics so crack on

Big chain through the frame, around a solid object, held by an alarmed disc lock or padlock?

Get an alarmed disc lock and save yourself the hassle

When I was 17, which was only 7 years ago, I had a 2003 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 SXI All the chavs did what you mention, turned up in Rover metros, or even a Citroen saxo (the most modifiable car ever) and they had barely anything done to it. My car was different, it went on to have its own remapped ECU, and an uprated exhaust system, as well as a few other little tweaks, like iridium plugs, better air filter and so on. So it looked standard, and it was the "ultra blue" which was meant to be the best colour. So I left it after that, but it went like the clappers for a £3k 1.2 litre. Mates used to try it on in 1.4 Puntos, polos and even a 1.6 ford focus. Had em all Looked standard, but went well But I've always done things that way, have something that looks as nice as it can stock, but then fettle with the inside parts Your disappointment was my joy as I used to love overtaking these guys that do the silly meet ups. But yes I do see what you mean, they don't try any more like they used to.

Voltage ranges are well within the normal range there so at least that is solved. If it has been struggling, just remove the alarm and change the battery. I'm surprised you have an alarm on the CBF rather than a huge lock The only people interested in nicking it are usually chavs so an alarm is a bit OTT anyway!

Try a different multimeter as it sounded a bit weird to begin with, either that or something is crashing the voltage of the battery when nothings connected, which would be odd to happen so fast. I would have thought 13-15v wouldn't be harmful on a 12v battery, as many solar chargers put out 17v, so I'm on the fence with that one. Multimeter and horn first, then see what happens. A reg/rec always gets quite warm after use, especially the honda ones, which on bikes like the CBR600F and Blackbird are infamous for popping. I can check the one I look after this weekend, see what readings I get if you don't get anything.

Usually when you change something electrically and it plays up, something is wrong with the component fitted. Change back to the old horn and see what happens. It's odd a fuse hasn't blown though, it sounds like something is earthing somewhere, as a short circuit should blow a fuse.

Hmmm, the one in my care has a battery well in excess of this age and is fine, so I'm hesitant to say that. It sounds possible that you have a short or a bad earth somewhere, which is pulling a big amount of current from the battery and causing the voltage to nose dive. Get the manual out and check the earths, as the connectors on this bike do corrode quite easily.

Change the seat height so your legs are fully stretched at the end of the push, it helps both work the legs out fully and also uses the whole muscle which translates to having an easier time! Other that that, stop smoking and drink a lot of water I cycle, I only do about 10 miles in a go, which feels quite easy as I've been doing the whole gym thing for a long time. Just pack a cereal bar to munch on the other end.

It was a foregone conclusion! My guess was labour would only win with SNP support, whereas the tories could win so long as UKIP voters do what they did last time, which was vote tactically. Issue with scots is, bringing tactics to a game they feel emotionally about was never going to play well.

There's a simpler terminology to use there. "Politician"

Join me in the newly formed FZ6 crew... There's cake...

Did you not realise I'm a northerner? And I'm going to decline this one. I'm not going to ride as much as I am doing! oops, no sorry, kind of presumed I was a minority down these parts (get constant ribbing about it at work) And I'm from Cheshire, or Lymm haha! Which also means I never had a thick northern accent, I just say "oop" (up) and laff, etc. Much to the displeasure of my work mates and Moo. Moved down 6 years ago, and hope to go back up to stay soon!

Only thing I would suggest is make sure the better brand of tyre is on the front. Rear end slides are easier to control than front end slides and a better gripping rear might lull you into a false sense of security, but it's unlikely!

This is true, especially for beginners. But I still think apprentices don't get much in the way of pay rises and should to give them a sense of progression. Usually as the company is worried about ones that fail as even small pay rises means if one drops out, it's a bigger loss. My company got around this through promotions, in one company I've been: Trainee, Technician, Junior Designer, Associate designer, and Designer. It gave me a good incentive to work for my title, and I think many other companies could learn from this. But when I started I found my own way around things, I offered a cheap repair service for bikes/cars etc. Pulled in the extra dosh I needed to make ends meet each month. Which is an experience I'll never forget as I try to never be wasteful with my wage even now. Whereas some of the university labour generation seem to waste what they have, then complain everyone else must be having it handed to them

I think benefits as you know it would be scrapped if I had a chance at it. There'd be a points system, that was quite basic. If you have a genuine reason not to work then you would have a high amount of points. If you worked but the area was hit by hard times, you'd get a moderate amount to get you by. If you were looking for an easy ride, you're going to have a bad time. No benefit, and if you are of a young working age, just like students, I'd make their housing costs accrue like a loan, with a limit that stipulates if they exceed, they are booted from the home. So like EVERYONE else, they'd have to pay for their home. Bit rough and harsh sounding I'm sure, but if you took a basic idea and refined it, you could keep those in need supplied, while also pushing others to motivate themselves to work... Hopefully. It's not a human right to be given things for free imo.

Apprenticeships are still there, I'm a graduate industrial apprentice Issue is money, or lack of, I was expected to survive on £850 a month in london. Some added government funding to pad out the apprentices wage would probably result in a stronger economy as more employers would be game for it, more people in general would do it, and as soon as you graduate you are in a full time job, paying your taxes like the next chap.

Basically the above statement from Joeman echoes my sentiments exactly. I try not to pay attention to political stuff any more as I like trying to look at the big picture, and I get a soured opinion of a lot of people. Many in poor financial situations bother me a lot when they just continually complain the rich aren't taxed enough. Despite the fact if we were all on 20% the rich peoples 20% would be 1000% or beyond of some peoples total salary. Labour are recently spinning up that from the 70s to 90s debt spiralled, ignoring that the number did but its value did not. They leave out inflation, and ignore the death of the coal industry that became more costly than profitable. This annoys me as it's looking in the past. Tories got in after Brown made some blunders exaggerating the effect of a recession that was coming regardless of who was in the seat. I have a feeling we will have a tory/Ukip party with the lib dems. The things people say don't change much, 10 years ago people were looking at the rich with derision. This has arguably gotten worse as I think people see rich people as "they have all the money" and they do... But they also pay most of the tax. Even I get the odd jibe of "it's lucky for some", which highlights the bigger problems in society and therefore the choice in politicians today. Me tactically choosing a decent line of work and putting my back into it is passed off as luck. So god help this country as a lot of people want something for nothing!

Moo is more than welcome to jump on the back with me, not sure if there's more leg room? On my old sportsbikes it did really do a number on her, so the more comfy FZ does prolong the time. I'm sure she'd tear your arm off to go on the back of the ZZR1400 as it's her favourite bike of all time though and the change of seat/position could be of some benefit so will run that one by her! Thanks for the offer

Weather dependent I'm there! Will be cool if we leave a bit earlier so it's more like a late lunch Not sure if Moo is coming as such a journey would do a number on her knee but we will see!