Arwen

My Shark helmet is not particularly quiet so I always wear earplugs when on the bike. It is rather funny if I don't cause I end up stalling it all the time because it sounds different! I use disposable earplugs and with my Q3 headset I listen to music. The music is slightly louder than normal for me, but nowhere near as loud as inear earphones have to be to drown out the equivalent wind noise.

The easiest way to get rid of wind noise is ear plugs as everyone head is slight different. As helmets have to have to accommodate that. You can get custom molded earplugs that you can put your own ear plugs in if you like. Can't remember who dies them but they hang around at the bike shows so someone else might remember.

If a theif happens to be watching bike spaces and sees this, all they do if cut the chains already there one night. Next morning bikes have to be left with no security as riders have nothing with them. My chain is in a little gym bag thing that I strap to the back seat with short bungees. Too heavy to be in a rucksack, even if I didn't mind wearing one

Best idea is to chain it too something, rather than just putting a chain through the wheel. Chain should go through a soil bit of the bike , swingarm is usually good. I have this combo http://securityforbikes.com/proddetail.php?prod=P13-x.x-SS50CS" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; As it is 13mm it can eventually be cut with bolt croppers, but I found the uncroppable 16mm chain to be far too heavy for me and my bike. I find it is a nice compromise between security and portability.

Elder Scrolls Online, Minecraft and just downloaded Civilisation V last night since it was on offer finaly on Steam. Never played Civ games but they look good... Toying with replaying Demon Souls and Dark Souls again in prep for the new Dark Souls to come down in price a little.

I buy the Nexus range direct from Google too. My bank account includes phone insurance among other useful things so I use that. I've used it a few times over the past 4 years, I do occasionally drop my phone and eventually the screen cracks.

WD40 Chain cleaner seems to dissolve any grime it touches. I spray some of that on all the chain, leave for a few minutes then go over it with a chain brush (£1 and a 5 weeks wait from ebay!) then wipe it clean with a rag.

Yay! Well done!

Don't feel old. It's only in the past year or so it has changed to CG. The examiner gave me a "control yourself!" Look when I had to stifle my giggling when I first saw it. No one warned me it was different to when I done my car one Good work Riston! Keep calm and you'll be fine i'am sure.

Yup, all CG now. Try not to laugh Male pedestrians walk with a swagger and females walk like they are balancing books on their head. The sheep and cows are rather cute though It is essentially the exact same now as it was before however. Practicing with real video version will help.

Don't be click happy. The technique I used was click once when I saw a possible hazard, then click again when it escalates. If you click too many times it gives you 0. There are a few websites that let you practise it.

^^ That is a great idea.

Believe it or not, girls who want more from a dating site than one night stands will normally by pass the "stunner's" from what I've heard. Make your profile picture interesting, not just the standard head shot. Put up a picture of you on your bike for example, or with a silly wig or hat on. Make it memorable, but not too weird. Same with the blurb on your profile, try not to make it generic. You are into airsoft, a pretty uncommon sport so talk a little about that, explain briefly what you like about it - (dressing up like Rambo, pretending it's like real life call of duty, etc) Make it fun and sound inviting. You don't want someone to think you only enjoy doing these things alone. Say how you'd like a partner to team on on the bad guys with or something. There are many shallow (and scary) women out there, probably more so than guys. But there are also a lot of women that go for personality over looks. They just tend to be a little bit more cautious. When messaging someone on a dating site mention things they have said in their own blurb that interest you. If they mention they are a massive Marvel fan then comment on your favourite movie, are you team Stark or Team Rodgers? etc. When I was on dating sites I simply ignored any message that was "Hi, I'm so and so and I think we should meet up". Everyone likes things to be personalised. If someone can't take the time to make a good first impression with a message, is that someone you want to invest time and emotional effort into? This all works for meeting in person too, so long as someone prompts the topics to come up in conversation. Explain to your mates partners why you want them to come out and they may be able to help too (and more willing to let their partners out for the evening).

I think before the internet became wide spread it would have been fine. Because as you said, it was one of very few ways to meet people. Just as much lying, bullshitting and pretending goes on at the bar than online in my experience. You use similar skills to detect it in both situations.

Personally I've never found this to be pleasant, never mind worth while. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind going to the pub with friends, but purely to pull, no. But then, maybe I just attract all the weirdos :-/ I find it much easier to talk to people over the internet/text than face to face or even on the phone. Especially "strangers". Informal conversations can lead to more if both sides are wanting it to happen.

Lol it wasn't really stalking… I think! We started talking on Twitter in late 2012, as we both worked in IT and had the same grumbles and annoyances with it. Lived 550miles from each other but now we have been living together for nearly 2 years, so something worked The main thing to dating in my opinion is finding common ground to talk about. Hence the suggestion about hobbies and interests. Any local biking groups you could go for a run out with? Might be some lonely folk there, and it always helps to have an understanding partner when it comes to bikes!

Personally I never had much time for actual dating sites. Just seemed to get messages from really weird folk... Talking to random strangers on Twitter worked for me Do you have any hobbies that you could do by joining a local club/group? If not, any local activities interest you?

If you can get insurance to cover you on your own bike during the test (de restricted) you could add someone else on as a named rider. Get them to ride it to the test centre then do your test. It is a lot of flaffing around. Could you talk to a school around you and see if they could do a deal on providing one of their bikes? It will probably work out cheaper I think.

Excellent news! Hope you enjoy it. For first gear, if you have a J&S accessories pay them a visit and try on loads of stuff. So long as it has CE certification for Motorcycles then it is the fit that counts. The more you pay for kit, the more "technical" it gets. You can also get loads of kit from eBay and Gumtree if you are a regular sort of size ( I got a lot of mine there). They only thing I would say that has to be bought new would be your helmet. You don't know how a 2nd hand one has been used/abused or dropped. Again, the fit is crucial with helmets to pop into some bike shops and try them all on.

Oh boots! I forgot about them. Alt-berg boots for me. Look like normal black boots. Really comfy, very waterproof and warm when you need them to be. They are however not the cheapest. But not the most expensive either.

Pretty much the same reason I bought them, with the added plus that they come in various leg lengths. They are pretty much the only bike trousers I have found that I am comfortable in because they are actually fitted to my shape, not really tight/skinny fit or overly baggy. Lovely Only thing I wish they did was different sleeve lengths for their jackets. I have the Sheridan jacket, fit is fantastic but the arms are slightly too long. Then so has every other bike jacket I have tried! I wanted the Electra jacket, but couldn't quite justify the price at the time

I love the Halvarssons/Jofma/Lindstrands brand too. I've got their textile kit but can see me gradually changing all my kit to them! Have have some "Bullit" jeans that I got from gumtree. They are pretty good, though the stock "armour" is just foam pads.

My CBT bike (older yamaha sr125) and my own bike (MSX - new) both do this. The SV650 I do my lessons/test on is also a complete pest to get into neutral from 1st or 2nd. So much so that I occasionally just turn it off to get it down to neutral. I figured it was pretty normal. Although I am going to replace the horrible split pin gear linkage with a rose joint version. Which appear to solve the problem.

Lol bet that is an experience you don't want to repeat! When I done my theory test they spaced us out so noone was sitting directly beside another person. Maybe they were doing similar, but also using the spare room? Congrats on the pass though!

That is fantastic GoG