Mississippi Bullfrog

Right....so you take a bucket, fill it full of battery acid, drill some holes in it, and the bike ought to start?

Today I packed everything needed for this afternoon's tasks. To be safe I put my flask of coffee inside one of my wellies. Unfortunately, on putting my left foot into said wellie I discovered I had neglected to tighten the top of the flask. No coffee. And very wet left foot.

As @oneseasaid....the battery voltage doesn't tell you how much charge is in the battery. If you left it with lights on for 5 minutes it has drained the charge.

Newspapers is what happened. The same tabloids that hounded her private life to feed the public desire for scandal then turned to peddling mawkish grief to placate the public guilt. And of course the public appetite for both drives what the media will sell.

Have a great day, lovely weather for a birthday

At Old Stores yesterday there was a biker complaining how many cars had pulled out in front of him that day. The same thing happened twice to me going home from Old Stores. One was a rural road where the driver had limited visibility. I could see the nose of his car, he couldn't see me. Such a simple situation to fix and turn into a non-event. The other was more annoying. A lady emerging from the right who pulled halfway onto the road, stopped, saw us coming, waited, and then just as we were on the junction decided to pull out. There was no gradual creep which would indicate they were about to move, she just floored it at the last moment. This caused me to need to brake heavily on gravel which locked the front wheel. Getting irate with such stupidity is pointless. I work on the basis that if they make me cross they've ruined my ride more than necessary. It's best to stay well clear of such idiots rather than engaging with them.

I removed the tank, it's not difficult and makes access much easier.

Why is it that our main lawn which I mow regularly, feed with fertiliser, treat with moss killer, scarify and spend hours with a tool putting aeration holes in it....is full of weeds and resembles Donald Trump's hair? Whereas the bit of grass behind the fence backing onto the wild meadow, which I mow irregularly and never treat with anything....is emerald green and looks fabulous.

I fitted a pair of iridium spark plugs to the Bobber. I'm very pleased with the result. Acceleration is crisper and smoother. I put a pair in the CBF a couple of years ago and they have been very good.

A nice sunny run to Sleap aerodrome and then Old Stores.

On my travels I have met a few more senior riders on the new Triumph 400s. They have been very pleased with them.

Village preparations for this evening's VE Day event.

Round here people bought houses built on a road leading to a farm, then complain about tractors going past their houses. And people buy houses near Oulton Park and then complain about the noise. We get lads on small bikes who remove the exhaust baffles thinking it will sound like a big bike. Then they struggle to get up the hill because they have lowered the power output. They make a racket which is silly and annoying. Big engined bikes make less noise than cars in my experience.

Having flown model aircraft I can see the fun of flying one but the code of conduct for rc planes/egg scramblers was not to fly in public places or near property. Flying was restricted to model airfields with planning permission. Or silent flight in more public space. Flying drones near people / buildings / livestock is anti social. They produce much more noise than an electric model aircraft.

I just post this here as its on local biker FB groups.. Following the horrific crash at Oulton Park yesterday St Peter's church in Little Budworth will fly the Union Flag at half mast as a sign of respect until Thursday (when it will rise to honour the fallen on VE Day). The church is open 7.00pm this evening for anyone wanting a quiet space to reflect on the sadness following the incident at the BSB event.

I suspect you're not the only person to have this issue. Have you tried asking at a local training centre if they could accommodate you?

I was told that on occasions a mobile can send a signal that disrupts the pump recording fuel dispensed. I thought this was a bit far fetched until I had a similar experience with a radio control transmitter. At our model flying club mobiles were banned from the flight line, not because the interfered with the control of aircraft, but because they would occasionally wipe transmitter memory settings. On one occasion I forgot my phone was in my pocket, walked out to the flight line, and had my transmitter lose all settings. I suspect it's a rare occurrence. And I didn't really believe it until I had that incident.

Which is why Triumph fit the filler slightly to the right hand side of the tank. On the side stand the filler is at the highest point. This avoids getting shouted at by filling station attendants.

Clearing crap out of the breather hose is a standard service item on my CBF. For some reason the hose is plugged so between services it collects a small amount of crud. It's usually oily water from the airbox so my guess is that the hot weather has simply allowed some accumulated crap to be vented. If you're worried leave a small container under the hose when you park the bike. The mark shown would be caused by a very small amount of liquid.

Sounds like your bike has an immobiliser and the new key doesn't have a transponder chip in it, or hasn't been programmed to the bike. Try putting the broken key next to the ignition barrel when you turn the ignition on. If it's chipped the bike ought to be able to read the original key being present. Some immobiliser systems will allow the starter to turn but disable the fuel pump or ignition.

Many years ago our local bike shop sold a sticker that proudly announced... "I've been to Casualty." I have always regretted not buying one.

Met with a few mates and rode to Chester, on to Old Stores, then to Berries in Wrenbury. Cracking weather. I was leading and had an interesting encounter at a T junction when a motorist waited until I was right on the junction before deciding to pull out. I had a feeling she hadn't spotted us so was on the brakes in good time. It became a non-event as I was able to stop before she crossed my line of travel, but her elderly passenger was clearly berating her quite vociferously.

It's not just bike insurance that is crazy. We have a house bought as an investment due to us living in tied accommodation. When I retire next year ( hopefully!) we lose our home. So the time has come to sell the investment property which means it will be empty for a couple of months. The insurance company we gave been with for 17 years, and never claimed, wanted to charge us £1007.00 to keep the insurance valid. The meerkat found us a policy to cover a vacant property for £187.

Oil change on both bikes. Blimey - oil is getting expensive these days. They both get annual oil changes despite the mileage being much less than the service intervals.

Swinging the handlebars to full lock either side with the engine running is part of the MOT anyway so it's no bad thing to find that out now.