bonio

What's the bike? A lot could depend on the size of the engine. Most tests in the UK are on bikes around 650cc, and this is what insurers expect people with new licences to ride. I've also noticed that insurers are very wary about bikes over 1000cc. I'd been riding for a few years when I bought a 1200cc and insurance was hard to find (despite clean licence and 5 years NCB), and when I did get it, it was pricey. The next year I had no problems at all, because I'd already done a year on a bigger bike. My advice would be to use the comparison sites to get some quotes for different engine sizes, and see what comes up. Also try some older bikes too. That way they'll find out what's possible to insure. Then get some quotes for the current bike, but saying the licence is a year old, and see if they can get insurance for that. If all's well, they could perhaps buy a bike to ride for year and bide their time, and then sell it on once they can get insurance on their own bike.

The Tiger 800. It was a good enough bike, but when it was stolen I wasn't the least bit sad, and I've not missed it for a moment. I was just a good enough bike.

Happy birthday mate. Hope your having a good one.

Last shock I bought was a made-to-measure Nitron. I was great. Incomparably better than the one that came on the bike. I haven't a clue if how it would compare in real life with a Wilbers or Ohlins, but I since I was only comparing it with the OEM one, I was very, very happy.

As above, I'd prefer to stay cool in stuff that will stop my skin shredding off. Can't see any good in sounding off against people who've chosen to do differently though.

and - seeing this is Norway - most of your savings

Rode it. First time since the op. Over to Old Buckenham. Glorious ride home with everywhere glowing under the setting sun. Nice to be back on two wheels.

A lot bikes just won't go into first when they're stopped, or at least they'll only do with after a a lot of faff. Mine are all like that.

What you're doing sounds basically ok, except you need to flip down to 1st just before or as you come to a stop.

We used to live at 6500 ft. When we came back to Blighty, we'd run up and down the hills as if we were mountain goats.

@fullscreenaging lol. I hardly get it at all now since moving to Suffolk

The Alpine passes are a lot higher than those that cross the Pyrenees, so perhaps that's the difference. I've had altitude sickness a couple of times - that time on that volcano, and another up time at the top of Pikes Peak. It's not nice. One of the girls with us on the volcano got became so disorientated on the way up she nearly walked off the edge of cliff.

I've cancelled the Premier Inn and put in a request for a "bon d'achat" (sounds a good cat) from the Tunnel.

Hello @megawatt PDL chain lube. Does it live up to the manufacturer's claims? the PDL® GUARANTEE: Inject and start immediately. - PDL® lubricated chains are maintenance-free! - There is no need to re-tension or clean the chain!

I thought altitude sickness was something that goes away once you acclimatise? Only once got it bad up the top of a volcano. 12,500ft. The locals said to eat fruit and it would go away. Not saying it would work for you, but it worked for me.

Really sorry for them all

Nervous? Never. Well, perhaps on the second day of my DAS, when my instructor asked me why my hands were shaking. I looked and sure enough, I was trembling like a leaf in the wind, and I hadn't even realised it. But the more you ride, the more you build your confidence up, and the nerves disappear. I've never ridden a grom, but I'd expect you'd find a full sized bike a lot easier to learn on. Smaller bikes are less stable, and smaller wheels are harder to steer on.

He was after your Caramel bikkies mate. You did the right thing to scarper.

Great result - congrats.

A few days ago, I got this by way of a renewal letter from Hastings Never seen this before, and I couldn't really understand why it was so hard to find an insurer: it's just for the VanVan - a 125 with no modifications. So I did the comparison site thing, put in the same old details, found a reasonable deal and bought it from.... Hastings

@KiwiBob Nice! Looks really tidy, and a great colour scheme.

Like here ...

It does mention it - at least it says on the wife's.

So I toddled along to the vaccination place to ask for an AZ vaccine yesterday. I'd the idea that I might be able to blag myself an early second jab and be fully kosher before the 4th. The nurse asked me loads of questions, like which arm, have I had any symptoms, am I allergic to stuff and so on and on and on. She then asked if I had any questions, and I wanted to know if the vaccine was Covishield (the AZ vaccine manufactured India) as the EU aren't accepting it a proper vaccine, so it's no use to me for travelling. This was a bit new to the nurse, but she kindly bustled off and showed me the packaging, but even so it wasn't clear where it had been made. And then this is the moment when Fate intervened. Out of the blue she suddenly asked me, "Are you on a covid trial?". And like a fool I said "yes, but no actually, no, I've withdrawn, so no not at all", but this news sent her into a bit of a panic, and after a lot of questions and a lot of words on her part that boiled down to, "I don't know what to do", she decided she wouldn't vaccinate me at all. But rather than saying *she wouldn't vaccinate me, she said she'd ask around for me to find out what to do, and she eventually fired off an email to Public Health England asking what they advised. In other words, she's going to wait until someone else steps up to take the blame for vaccinating me or not. But of course no-one in PHE is going to put themselves in that role. No worries, I thought to myself, there are loads of vaccination clinics around. Try again at another place. So I made myself an appointment somewhere else for today. And I was prepped: "Are you on a covid trial?" "A trial? No, not me guv". I'd get it right this time. This morning, though, I see from the NHS app that the nurse has added everything to my NHS notes, how I was on a trial, how I've withdrawn from it, and then all her doubts about what to do, including how she's waiting on a reply from PHE. So I'm sunk. With that in my notes, no-one's going to vaccinate in this country me ever ever ever. No-one's going to touch me. It would all be a bit sad if it wasn't so funny. Some random question popped into the nurse's head, and I blurted out too much information, and now I'm effectively banned from travelling abroad, like someone from Soviet Russia. Funny old life.

To get home from the place we stay at in Germany is 450 miles for me, 25 miles of these are taken care of by the Tunnel, so 425 miles of riding, mainly on motorways or dual carriageways. It's a bit brutal, fine for a last day blast to get home, but too knackering to make it the first day of a riding holiday. But perhaps you're young and feisty and can take it in your stride