Mississippi Bullfrog

I used to ride in and out of Liverpool several times a day on a route used by buses and taxis, the roads were usually awash with diesel most of the time. As said above, I reckon most of the issue was the new tyre but you live and learn. Riding with diesel soaked tyres is a pain but so long as you’re gentle with the inputs it’s not unmanageable, the bike tends to squirm and slither rather than spit you off. It’s when you steer sharply or hit the brakes hard that it all gets interesting rather too quickly.

Being a cheapskate I just took my dremel to a standard set of pozidrive screwdrivers which seems to have worked pretty well. Just taking the tip off is a good starting point.

Of course if at the end of the day it's totally undrinkable you can always run your bike on the stuff.

Much depends on the age, mileage and value of the bike. It's not uncommon for them to write bikes off for minor damage - I bought a write off which only needed a new ignition barrel. I guess their concern is in case there's other issues which might emerge later. It's cheaper for them to just declare it a write off than take any chances of the frame being damaged or the engine ragged. The good news is that if they write it off you can always buy it back - fix it and keep it on the road. It will be worth less but you've had that value in cash now as the settlement. Sometimes you can buy it back before they actually register it as written off. Though the system has changed since I last bought one that way.

Just googled it, apparently Wilkos sell a small bottle for £3

You can buy it at an auto paint place. Halfords may sell it in smaller quantities. I buy it by the gallon for spraying classic cars. The thinners for Hammerite paints are similar but expensive. Older cars were sprayed using cellulose based paint so it’s not hard to find. Most auto factors should stock it.

We used to make a load of wine from various fruits - elderberry usually turned out a decent red wine. But you've missed the fruit season now - so maybe a kit is the only way to get started. You need patience as making wine takes time, the longer the better usually. You'll somewhere warm for it to ferment but somewhere where the constant bubbling of the airlocks isn't going to drive you mad. Keeping everything clean is important, if you get anything in that kills the yeast or taints the wine it's ruined. Be careful bottling if there's any chance of secondary fermentation or they'll explode and that both very messy and a waste of wine. As an alternative, if you can find a sloe bush near you they are ready for picking now there's been a touch of frost (I pick mine early and freeze them which works fine). You can make sloe gin - 500g sloes, 250g sugar, 1 litre gin. Takes about three months to make it, better left longer, the results are usually pretty good. Just prick the sloes with a cocktail stick, stick them with the sugar in the gin. Shake daily for a week, then weekly. After at least three months let it settle then strain through a coffee filter and bottle.

If it's plastic would cellulose thinners used on a cold exhaust soften it up enough to scrape off?

I bought a corded Bosch one and am very pleased with it. One of those tools you can't imagine being without once you've tried it.

At the end of the day a bike fitted with properly tuned carbs is so much nicer than a FI system. But I'll admit carbs can be a nightmare to set up right.

Have you given the new brushes a very gentle sanding at both ends? In storage they can get a coating that prevents the magical sparky stuff from working.

Hi Stu.... AFAIK... I've only ever had one bike with a tip over sensor.......please remember I'm an old git..... So bit of string tied to the rubber band and the other to your jacket. As you fall off the string will pull the band, the band will snap and the throttle close. Genius idea. The snag with this kind of thinking is that we British have a habit of over engineering things. So in practice what would happen is that the string would be the kind that will take the weight of an elephant and the elastic band would be surplus from Jo Brand's kickers - the resulting combination of tensile strengths would result in me bouncing along behind the bike wishing I'd settled for a slightly sore wrist.

I bought the Scottoiler branded ones via Amazon. Very pleased with them on both bikes. Quite intuitive to use though I did have a couple of time when I caught it with my hand before I'd got the angle just right. I heard the cheap ones sometimes break which I is why I went for the branded ones.

By law you can't pick up any animals you have hit for food. Only a following car can.... I can't help but wonder how you come to have that particular bit of the legal system to hand.

I think I'll stick to the day job. It's less complicated!

What's this then? You set fire to two matches a see which one burns the fastest?

The tourists round our way feed the damned things. Then when the tourists hibernate over the winter there's a plague of starving tree rats destroying everything they think they can eat.

Second video is pretty clear what's happening. The starter isn't turning it over with the higher compression of a hot engine.

The age old rule.....if something seems to good to be true then it probably isn't.

Ah that's simple. Your compression goes up when hot and your battery hasn't got the energy needed to turn it over. Try fully charging the battery using a trickle charger, or it might need replacing.

Get it good and hot. I'd let it idle for a long time, last time I had a stuck clutch it took the best part of a hour, but heat frees them off quite well.

Good quality marigolds under decent quality winter gloves - works for me. I'll ride below freezing to my folks who live 40 miles away. Fingers are feeling the chill for sure but not unbearably so. It helps to go easy on the motorway as wind chill increases exponentially with speed.

Boring Vain Git?

I've got a Mio and it's fine, but I guess from above not everyone has the same experience. It paid for itself when a taxi swapped lanes without looking or signalling - when he started protesting I just pointed to the dash cam and he suggested he settle up there and then in cash.

I guess they've tried the softly softly approach. The cost to the Swiss of an accident is far more than the fine so I reckon they're just passing some contribution to their costs to those daft enough to ignite the limits. The proof of whether it works.... I'm not coming back to Switzerland....I think that's exactly the intention.