bonio

Tuesday's vote goes to the lady driving some large black car on a proper single lane road, heading towards me. I can see her coming, and I can see that there's no passing place near me. One up by her, but she drives on past it. So I stop at the side of the road. She's still heading towards me, looking for all the world as if she's going to try to pass me, except I can see the road's just not wide enough for the two of us. So I start signalling at her to stop, but she ploughs on regardless. She must have slowed down, though, because when she hit my mirror, she was able to stop and she wound down her window so that we were head to head. This is a transcript of what follows. Daft woman in black car: "Did I hit you?" Me: "Yes you did." Dwibc: "I didn't really have much choice; there was nowhere else to go." Me: "You could have gone into reverse." Dwibc (eyes widening): "You can't be serious!" Me: "Well you have a reverse gear. I don't." Dwibc: "You really expect me to go into reverse? Well, " and here she grabbed her handbag almost as if it were a weapon, "I suppose you can have my insurance details. But it's Not My Fault". Me: "Never mind your details. Just remember next time you're in this situation to use reverse gear." And, since I'd guessed she hadn't done the bike any real damage, I hooned off. But now I have my doubts. I don't have a very elevated view of Dwibc's sense of social responsibility, and so I'm now wondering if the next I hear is a knock from plod telling me I hit the lady's car and rode off without leaving my details. Here's hoping she doesn't have a rear dashcam and so can't track me down...

... true, but they're exciting enough for a first bike. And reliable to boot.

Tiggie's right. Probably just switch the cables over and see if it's fixed.

Green grass? Where did you go to see that?

Yup ebay is pretty good. Just sold my VanVan there and it was pretty effortless.

Wot @Stu said. I had this on my gxsr. Was a loose connection.

After the ebay clearout...

Used to love that road when I lived out that way.

3 lids 3 leather jackets 2 mesh jackets 2 textile jackets 1 pair jeans 2 pairs textile trousers 3 pairs gloves 3 pairs boots Various buffs balaclavas etc Too much, so about half of it is up on ebay.

Do another test ride ask to take it out for the afternoon. Better that than buy a bike that's not going to work out for you.

Agree.

Visited Reiten many times. They stand out from the crowd and come across as a really decent BMW dealer. Baldocks in Peterborough are ok, too. Been let down too often by the others round here.

Me. In fact, here's my claim for NOTY. A nice, calm evening last night so went for a ride. Foamies in each ear. And as I'm still working on ways to reduce the wind noise, I'd bought some soft silicone ear plugs, the kind Boots sell that go in your outer ear, so put these in too.... and it was so quiet and pleasant to be out on the bike. Met a tractor, nice overtake, all safely done and at that point I felt a bit of discomfort in my right ear, and in the space of about a minute it had changed to the kind of pain you get from a wasp sting. Must stop, but now I'm on a bendy bit of road where stopping would be dangerous so on I go for another minute until it straightens out. Stop, stand down, hop off, helmet off, ear plugs out and - at last the pain subsides. Looking at the other ear I can see the problem: the silicone has expanded with the heat (or the ear's got smaller, not sure which) and, as there's no room in the helmet for it to expand outward, it expanded into the ear and rammed the foamie down the ear canal. Ah well, I sort it all out, put the ear plugs back in and I carry on. Was a very nice ride. But then, back home my ears were ringing and it was still a bit painful, so today I went up to the doctors where the nurse squinted into my ear and pronounced the verdict: perforated eardrum. 6 - 8 weeks to heal. If it bleeds or hurts in the meantime, rush to A&E to get it seen to.

It's the brakes. Her fingers only move at a tortoise pace, which is no good if you're haring along, even if it is only a little VanVan. It went to a biker up near Keighley. Nice to think it will be used instead of being just stuck in a garage.

Sold the VanVan. Missus can't ride anymore cos of arthritis in her hands.

... Alexa?

Or in fact just illegal. Here's "The Zebra, Pelican and Puffin Pedestrian Crossings Regulations and General Directions 1997": "the Zebra controlled areas shall be marked with give-way lines, a line of studs and zig-zag lines" Regulation 24. "Whilst any motor vehicle (in this regulation called “the approaching vehicle”) or any part of it is within the limits of a controlled area and is proceeding towards the crossing, the driver of the vehicle shall not cause it or any part of it— (a) to pass ahead of the foremost part of any other motor vehicle proceeding in the same direction; or (b) to pass ahead of the foremost part of a vehicle which is stationary for the purpose of complying with regulation 23, 25 or 26." (i.e. to let a pedestrian cross) As for white lines, if they're solid white lines, filtering across them is illegal. Broken white lines is often done and more of a grey area. I'd happily filter or overtake across a broken white line.

Plan ahead * know what gap you're going to move into if you need to if you're in a built up area * watch for junctions: move back into the traffic when you go past them * don't filter where pedestrians might be crossing (e.g. near a pedestrian crossing) if you're between two lanes on a motorway or dual carriageway * be wary for traffic moving across your path into a gap in the other lane: watch their wheels

Wot e said

I'd say get in touch with a school, do a CBT and get some feedback on what they think you need to do to pass. They will know what the instructors want to see, and be able to point out any areas that might let you down. They should be able to provide you with just the lessons you need, and focussing on those areas. No need to do a whole one week DAS course. Bear in mind you'll need to pass all the above * CBT * Theory test and, when you've got those * Mod 1 (off road: swerve control, figure of 8, slow speed, U turn etc) and then * Mod 2 (on road) So, I'd say your first steps are * Choose a school. Book a CBT for the earliest date you can do. * Start learning for the theory test and book yourself a theory test If you let us know roughly where you are you, you might get some recommendations for reliable schools.

Yup. If you're over 24 you can do the test for the full A licence. It's the best course, even if you want to ride a lower power bike once you've passed.

Ooo. Save some of that almond thingy for me would you?

Brutale 800

"Oh, Jimmy's coming round to the move the machine in half an hour. Must just pop a quick wash on. Just in case." And of course a quick wash on a modern machine takes a good three hours

Happy birthday mate.