Ingah

There's no need for a healthy young man to be out of work. If no employers want you why not try and employ yourself, millions of us do. There are plenty of elderly people who'll pay to have their gardens tended, people want their cars valeted and their windows cleaned. W

Love this stuff in principle. But follow it through: You get your JSA if you look for a job. If you, as well as looking for a job, get up off your arse to do these odd jobs and make some crap money, they will (probably) take your JSA away, possibly pound for pound if you declare it (and you'll be worse off than ever before as you've paid out expenses to go and do this stuff), and you're a benefits fraudster if you don't. This in itself is a major issue with the benefits system, the idea that doing the extra work will not actually benefit you.

I think (hope) this is the problem that universal credit is intended to solve?

They tend to scretch more when they're new and when they're knackered.

16mm links is the ideal, if you can take the weight. Doesn't have to be expensive and well made like some of the well known brands as at such a size they won't fit in the jaws of most bolt croppers, and provide maximum deterrant value.

They start to get more challenging to fit in the jaws of the ordinary size (smaller) croppers at 13mm and upwards so i've heard, so would say that is the minimum to be useful.

Start by just checking it. It may not need adjusting. It's really easy to check with the Haynes helping, and the feeler gauges.

Never adjusted it myself, mine has shims

I just bought one from fleabay for a tenner, ones below slightly more, thought be too good to be true. But does what it says on the tin. My oxford disc lock doesn't have an alarm in it so just wanted one that will go off if tampered with and this does that. It goes off if someone try's to mess with it and it is sensitive to vibration. It is a no make disc lock so insurance wont recognise it but should help a bit to be a deterrent. As others have said though if they want to nick it, they will.

This is it

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-WEIGHT-MOTORCYCLE-BIKE-DISC-LOCK-ALARMED-/150814611108?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item231d4056a4

Those are the ones i've been through a few of. They don't last very long, but usually conk out whilst its still new enough to contact the seller and get it replaced

Haynes manual appears the way to go

+1, even if you ultimately get a garage to do the work. At least you will know what needs/you would like doing, and rather than asking for 'a service' you can tell the garage what you actually want them to do and perhaps not do, and then they can give you a price that is meaningful. It'll also give you the chance to do the easier jobs yourself, and not pay for someone else to do them.

POWDER (Petrol, Oil, Water(s), Drive, Electrics, Rubbers) alone would cover the safety aspect for such a new bike. And you can (should) do that yourself.

TL;DR: There's a hell of a lot that *could* be included, or excluded in 'a service'.

Speaking from my own experience,first off no matter how good and expensive a disc lock is,it wouldn't stop anyone stealing it and I'm not talking about lifting a bike into a van.I had my bike stolen and had the top of the range xena on it and teenagers managed to take it off,so on that basis its purely a deterrent! Another thing to bare in mind with this particular brand is the key mechanism can seize and jam,I've been through 3 of them.

Which Xena?

personally I wouldn't go cheap and cut corners if I was gonna buy something which effected the heart and mechanical parts of the machine. Would you eat a 30min old sausage roll from gregs or go nando's?both fills you up if you know what I mean

Greggs.

As i implied earlier, i would use the Poundland coolant if it was safe for use in aluminum engines (i.e. if it met the spec). I wouldn't mix it with tap water though - There's ways to save money, and then there's just false economies (Besides which, this appears to be a ready-mix, not a concentrate).

Assuming it's even compatible with aluminum engines, i would avoid it on the basis of advertising a freezing point of -12c, which isn't enough of a safety margin if you consider the idea of tolerances...

Bikes now at the garage so hopefully they can sort it fair quickly

Hopefully they're honest as adjusting the clutch cable takes just a few seconds.

Yes especially working on cars in this weather Another bonus of buying a bike then ha. Will have to get some more tools

 

yep, wheel it into your living room, keep warm in front of the fire an spend the evenings taking your bike to bits

Mmm, yes please

Back in the days when I took my test, you really had to work hard to get a 250 machine to get up to a ton! They were slow to accelerate (unless race configured), heavy and comparitively slow. {And yes - before someone leaps at my throat - The tyres and brakes were no where near as good as they are now}.

RD250?

We learned by staying alive in those days.

Sounds a little more like it, to my understanding the tighter 125 learner restrictions came in because of the fatality rate for learners riding those 250s

To the OP: As someone who's finally managed to afford a car after 5 winters of winter commuting by bike, don't sell the cage!

make sure it's ok to use in Ali rads

+1.

Interesting question-has anyone got anyone prosecuted for dangerous driving by submitting footage to the police? I would certainly report the U turn idiot if I could!

Not sure, but i know sometmes the police give out section 59's based on 'concerned members of the public' reports, let alone on actual video evidence.

Edit: Just remembered a conversation with my driving instructor - Yes, the police will prosecute based on footage and a report from a member of the public. Or even without footage, if there's another witness on top of the person reporting it and one of the witnesses is a 'professional'.

I bought a go pro for my biking hols last year. I wore it a few times travelling into work (central London) but figured it captured me doing things that I wouldn't want anyone official seeing. Yes they're great for capturing what happens in an accident but also capture everything before including any breaks of speed limits, riding over chevron when getting past traffic etc. (yes, this is a normal part of a London commute and if anyone said different they'd be lying).

The solution is to 'hide' the camera in the fairing etc. Ideally wired into the ignition circuit, with the feature that once it fills the memory card, starts to overwrite the file again, from the beginning. Faff free - just need to remember to check once and a while that it's still working!

(if anyone knows of a suitable camera for that, i'd be interested)

Why not '(post)graduates only'?

No age specified, and not age specific, but anyone who has a degree under the age of 21 is someone who'd probably be a most excellent (nerdy, perhaps?) tenant. And everyone else will be 21+.

Job jobbed, no?

I wasn't under the impression the DPS was optional for landlords. I would call them (the tenancy deposit scheme that is) and check, because the whole point of the DPS was to prevent tenants having to go to court to get the money back from dodgy landlords. If i remember correctly, the DPS can simply give you the money back if the LL 'loses' in its independent adjudication.

I now use textiles however downside was sweaty as hell in wales

Amen to that. You have permission to pity me, i work in the rainiest city in the UK

A waterproof oversuit will fix it, but i find them a huge hassle.

What's causing the damp, is it sweat, or is water actually getting through, because if it is actually getting through the material, i'd take them back and buy something else. I commute over double that distance and apart from water trying to run down i find textile trousers alone are enough to keep my crotch dry.

Tried giving it a thorough service? I'm deadly serious, much of the things on a comprehensive service will improve the speed a little.

Happy birthday eab!

I'd like to pre-order a repair job on arrival please. The exact nature of the job will remain a surprise, the bike tells me it has a it's got something special planned this year because it's so overdue a breakdown.

As such, please bring a hammer. Or maybe a skip.

I use Kyoto pads and have done for years and I have never had any problems. I don't race my bike mind...

I have a CB500. 'Nuff said.

You too?

Personally i'm going to try Wemoto's cheap Kyoto pads next when i can replace these woeful EBC efforts.

 

really?

you should have learnt your lesson from the cheap EBC pads to not to buy cheap again

buy ones that are proven that way you know they are going to be fine when you get them!

ps make sure you get any servicing or repairs well out the way before the rally this year

Well they weren't even that cheap - £17! Besides which, i'd read negative reviews.

Kyoto's are just under a tenner, and for that money it's worth trying them out (i'm doing heavy mileage at the moment) - i'm using a rear Kyoto disc and pads at the moment and i haven't died yet!*

And got a guy coming over the weekend before this time to ensure i actually get it all finished

* = to be fair, if i could find Carbone Lorraine pads that would fit the CB... i'd buy them.

if your going ebc route stay away from their organic pads make sure you get sintered

I had a set of organic ones once they was in for a whole two weeks before I binned them they was bloody useless!

Doh

You too?

I nearly took 'em back, but i'm instead just trying to wear them out as fast as possible so i can justify replacing them

Cheap oil, correct viscosity (and semi-synthetic too, because that's what the manual says). Car oil is fine if it's cheaper, things like Magnatec and any 'energy-saving' oils aside, as they are potentially not good. Iridium plugs from eBay (again, whatever it says in the manual). Brake fluid from the supermarket, long as it's what the manual states. Air filter from eBay. Oil filter from wherever.

Personally i'm going to try Wemoto's cheap Kyoto pads next when i can replace these woeful EBC efforts.

they are only cast and easily break

I know this is an old ish thread and the OP is already sorted

but for future reference remove caliper and drop the lot in a sealed bag with lots of WD40 inside and leave for a day

Yep pretty much did this, only used PlusGas rather than WD40. And then hit it hard with a hammer and punch again, on the floor.