bonio

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.

Inspired by you lot, I've just signed up for Ovo Energy 2 year fixed rate for gas and elec. The early exit fee is about 2 weeks' bills (£120) which I thought made it a reasonable gamble.

I'd be interested to know how you get on with it @Gerontious

Happy birthday mate. Hope it's a good one.

A bit easier. I got a few wrong, mainly because of anticipating the hazard too soon. The press, wait a second, press again rule is a good one to follow if you're falling into the same trap.

We've got a really ni... uh, but before I go any further... are you security vetted?

About @geofferz... he's a kindly soul and all that. But don't listen to him. Best advice I can give is to go do a CBT - book one in this weekend for the next available slot - and then you'll know how you feel about riding a bike - even if it's a small one. If it all goes well, sign up for DAS training to get your licence. At the end of that you'll probably have a clearer idea about the kind of bike you might want and what you don't want. And the training guys can help you too, especially as they will see how you're doing on the bike.

Ebay. Apparently we already had one in the dressing up box. Wasn't even completely aware that we actually had a dressing up box. It's long and it's soft, so there's plenty of scope for winding it round and round and tucking the material into the gap.

An update. The keffiyeh has come. And some Mack's Blackout soft foam earplugs. The earplugs are a lot more narrow than the ones I was using, and it turns they fit down into the ear canal really easily, and make a good seal. The keffiyeh is even better. I'm using it to plug the gap between neck and lid. The result is a calm, soft whistling sound, even at higher speeds. Hoping this is going to be enough to keep me on the road for a bit longer

His problem would come if he were involved in an accident - even if it's not his fault. Can't imagine Norway being the sort of place where they'd have a laugh and a beer with him as he regales them with the tale of how the DVLA went into melt down during lockdown.

I think you'll be fine. When I did it, there were very few questions where you needed to know actual data. Most of the questions were either simple (e.g. what can of road users can cross at a toucan crossing?) or obvious (e.g. when you're waiting at a pelican crossing, should you beep your horn to encourage the pedestrians to get a move on?).

Really sorry to hear you're having to give it up

I've an MV, a Turismo Veloce, MY 2019. Dealer is about an hour away; nice ride there too. Insurance is a bit pricey - group 16 (out of 17). I've found the servicing costs at the dealers fairly reasonable. Once it's done the three years of its warranty my plan has been to take it to the local shop where they specialise in Italian bikes; I've spoken to the guy there a few times, and he knows MVs and Ducatis well. Based on stuff he said, I decided to avoid the electronic automatic suspension - really pricey should it go wrong. So far, though, the bike's proved to be very reliable. To my eyes, build quality looks really good. And of course it's beautiful to look at (but not as beautiful as the Brutale :-)). Here it is The TV is based on MV's 3 cylinder 800cc engine. Oh my, its gorgeous. More than enough bike for me - more sprightly by far than the R1200GS I had before, even loaded up with luggage. It's a road-focussed bike, and rides perfectly on the kind of conditions you meet on UK roads. It will happily gallop through the twisties in 3rd gear at more or less any speed you want. You'd only need 4th if you were to get near triple digits. Which Brutale are you interested in? I've not ridden any them - I like naked bikes, but I find them tiring for all-day riding. MV's litre bikes have a reputation for being more of a handful on the road, so you really need to test ride before you part with your cash. I knew a young guy once who was a competent rider on dirt. He got his licence and bought some stallion of a Panigale that had stolen his heart. Gorgeous to look at. Within a week he'd frightened himself on a bend and never rode on road again. Can't help thinking that if he'd started out with an ER6n, he'd be happily riding his Panigale now.

Wowzer that actually works. 6081Hz hits the spot.

Oops, perhaps not those ones...

Haha. Nothing like ear plugs for turning the tinnitus volume up

Thought about them and did a load of research on them. Found a pair on Amazon with reviews from bikers, bought them, but sent them back as they didn't fit under the lid. tbh I wasn't expecting any great improvement as when I compared the noise cancelling specs, even the best of them are very similar to good foamies. I'll play around with some better foam padding and perhaps get a keffiyeh or something and see if I can get it better under control.

Sounds rough

I think the sad day is slowly approaching. I've been getting tinnitus from riding, and it's been building up slowly over the last 12 months and getting worse. I use 39db foamies (I tried custom ear plugs, but ow they hurt and they were no improvement). Use a Shoei GT Air, which is supposed to be a quiet lid. I wear a balaclava and a thick neck buff to reduce wind noise from around the neck, and stuff the microphone recesses in the lid with foam to reduce reverberation. Bike's got a decent Puig screen. With all this, the wind is actually pretty quiet - I wonder if my ears have just become supersensitive and ring like crazy for almost no reason. I had an appointment with an audiologist and they said I had a bit of hearing loss, which was normal for my age and nothing to worry about. The bad thing is, when I didn't ride much this winter gone, the tinnitus got a bit better, but now I'm back riding more, it's going downhill again, and almost on every ride. Wondering about trying out some different bikes in the search of a quieter ride, but I doubt it exists.

I've started my meteoric rise to the top. Just a couple more rounds and you'll all see what I am capable of.

I wear a balaclava under; never been asked to take that off

Cheers. I'll take a look.