Mississippi Bullfrog

Is the battery fully charged? A weak battery will cause slower starting. Remember that the charging system on most modern bikes does not bring the battery up to full capacity even on a long ride. They only replace the charge used to start the bike. (Old dynamo systems on cars did fully charge batteries which is why people think a long run will fully charge a battery.) I find I need to give mine a routine top up charge to keep the battery at peak level or it tends to drop to the point where first thing in the morning takes a couple of cranks before it fires up.

I learnt to ride through city centre streets in mid-winter. My tyres were permanently soaked in diesel and every trip was just one long slither and slide. The one thing it drummed into me is the need to feather the throttle with the utmost gentleness when grip is limited. Most of the time that's all that's needed. Quick sudden reactions and big inputs usually mean you unwittingly change throttle settings - which does more to unsettle the bike than anything else in that situation. As others have said, you just have to get back on and do it again. Focus on being gentle with the throttle and when the grip is limited use control small inputs - steering / brakes / throttle. Ride like you've got a loose egg in your top box.

How on earth did Gove wiggle his way back into the limelight?

The old chain will have stretched so don't use it as a measurement. Take off the old chain and sprockets. Fit the new sprockets (make sure you have the right torque settings and know whatever locking mechanism is used on your front sprocket). Adjust the rear wheel so it is at the front end of the adjustment range and in line with the markers both sides. Trial fit the chain - you're looking for the amount of slack recommended for the year/model of your bike. If it's too much you may need to remove some links, if so play safe and remove less rather than more at a time. It's easy to remove a few more if you need to, but not add any if you cut it too short. How is your chain joined together? Some smaller bikes use split links - if so make sure the link is facing the right direction.

On a different slant - I get a bit fed up with us following everything the Americans do. We do not have US presidential style elections in this country so why did every bit of election material focus on the party leaders? I am not voting for May/Corbyn or the rest of them. I am voting for our local MP. Now as it happens our local MP is a very decent hardworking bloke who scraped in last time with a majority of literally less than 100. Today he's been re-elected with a majority of nearly 10,000. There was a 77% turnout which is better than usual. So at a local level I think that's brilliant news. We've got a MP who works like a Trojan, listens to people, does was he says he will do, and doesn't play party politics. He just gets on with representing the people. The overall result however will turn out to be a bit of being somewhere without a paddle. Also - based on my alternative mode of transport I am all in favour of bringing back the '70s http://i.imgur.com/YN4nR7b.jpg?1

What Baloo said as above - very well put. Plus lack of anticipation. There seems to be a point at which newish riders have got the hang of the machinery but haven't mastered the craft of anticipation. That's a dangerous time because they're generally riding themselves into potentially hazardous situations. Most of the time they get away with it so they don't realise. But you only have to get it wrong once.

I believe the medical bods prefer you to leave these things alone until they can remove them. When a kid at our daughter's school stuck a sewing machine needle through his finger she insisted that he go to hospital still attached to the sewing machine. The school first aider wanted to remove it. The doctor contacted the school to say sending the kid in still attached to the machine was 100% the best thing to have done.

It would help to say what bike it is. Some older systems use the current to trigger the flasher unit so if one bulb is out the other will simply stay on without flashing. First thing to try is simply to replace the front bulb.

I love my Caberg flip up but only ride with it up (and locked) in slow traffic - I live in the city centre. I've never noticed any issue re. weight but then the front sits really high when open so the weight isn't hanging out front. Only thing I need to remember is to duck when I'm going in and out of the garage as it adds a few extra inches to my height.

I use Sikaflex on my boats for sticking self-bailers into the bottom of hulls. Brilliant stuff. You can remove it by cutting if you can get at it. If you can't get a blade to it then once it's in place then it's permanent. The alternative is a the mastic sealant they use in caravan bodies, it doesn't set quite as hard as Sikaflex but it's stronger than normal silicone.

Based on my recent experience I'm not going to make even more of a fool of myself. What I do like though is the ability to leave 2 options on the poll. So I can vote both ways and therefore stand a slim chance of getting one right.

In this event the driver got away very lightly. In a similar event some years ago the driver hit a member of my family - a serving police officer - who is now disabled for life. Yet the consequences of such driving seems not to be reflected in the penalties handed down. It is time we took responsibility to for getting behind the wheel of a car. If we don't want to be held responsible then don't hold a driving licence.

Screen sold One set of filters sold Indicator sold

Disconnecting the battery on newer Vauxhalls (ie anything after the mid 90's 8v engines) doesn't clear the ECU. You need diagnostic kit to clear the codes. So the codes should be in there. I say 'should' because the system isn't foolproof. The pedal trick works (as above.) Personally for Vauxhalls I use OpCom - dirt cheap off ebay and a powerful bit of software that will run on a laptop. Just don't go messing with things you don't understand as it can alter fundamental engine management settings. It is not unknown for them to throw a hissy fit and then clear up the problem themselves. Usually when the EML comes on they go into a default limp home mode. Driveable but not runnign 100%. If you had no acceleration at all then the usual fault is in the drive by wire throttle system. Basically two potentiometers, one on the throttle pedal and the other on the throttle body. A loose connection can cause the same issue but most of the time it's the throttle pedal that is first suspect.

Honda is sold. The Yamaha electric is still available. I stuck it on one of our rescue boats last week and was surprised how well it pushes the boat along. Tempted to buy something to use it for river fishing

Thanks guys. I called in this evening and plugged in a socket tester which all was ok. The trip switches haven't tripped and the guy in the next room was using his X-box at the same time and that's fine I'm thinking he's just been unlucky and two things have packed in within a few days of each other.

Apparently it was plugged in and working then just stopped, so it's not the fuse. I'm going to see him this evening. No evidence of the trip switches going.

We let a house to students, the house has had all the usual safety checks recently and is managed by a professional agent. So basically everything is done that should be. I've just had a call (first thing Sunday morning) from one of the students to say that he plugged his X-box into a socket and the X-box didn't work. He has sent it off for repair. He says that he then plugged a DVD player into the same socket and that didn't work. He reckons the socket is damaging his equipment. I am no electrician. I can plug a Maplins socket tester into the socket this afternoon but other than that it will have to wait until Monday to contact an electrician. But what could go wrong with a socket so that it would damage equipment plugged into it?

I am in danger here of riding a hobby horse. I am a member of several car forums including classics and have been banging on for years that the tax incentives to buy diesel make no sense whatsoever. The problem is that when politicians want votes they'll say and do whatever they think Joe Public will fall for - and they somehow persuaded people that diesels were better for the environment. Having pulled off that bit of trickery the motor manufacturers then began the build cars to meet the political trend, so you end up with cars designed by politicians and accountants rather than engineers. Look at the problems that beset many modern diesels, just plain bonkers to build engines and systems that are so complex and expensive to maintain. The whole point of diesels was their simplicity and reliability. It is fair? No! People have done what the government told them to do, or at least encouraged them to do. Now the politicians have realised that they got it wrong they're just changing the rules without regard for the millions of people who are left with technology that is a mess. Just look at the VW fiasco, that's what happens when cars are designed to meet political ambition. Then you've got the new tax rules from 1st April which again hammers people who are doing what the politicians have encouraged us to do - buy low emissions cars = low tax. So when too many people do that it's not a success because the government loses revenue. So they simply hammer new taxes onto cleaner engines. At the end of the day we're in the closing stages of fossil fuels and change is always expensive, so someone has to pay. I run a classic which is tax free - hurrah - but it's not much good as a daily in modern traffic. So I also run a modern petrol which I use to tow a small caravan. The caravan fraternity have by and large almost all gone to diesel with modern caravans getting bigger and heavier. I'll bet the next generation of 'vans will be smaller and lighter because people won't be using diesels to tow with. The problem is that the politicians who told us to buy diesels are no longer running things. With the turnover of power so quick, driven not least by the media and the public's increasingly short attention span, politicians think in the short term. That's where the real issue lies. We need a political system that rewards long term strategy. Right - I'm off to buy a horse before they raise the tax on grass.

To achieve both you'll be looking at a DIY conversion. I can't think of any coach built campers that would also carry bikes/junk. Avoid the Renault/Vauxhall versions. Most campers use FIAT these days. Personally (though I don't like them) I'd go for a Ford or VW base vehicle. With a bit of imagination and skill you can make an acceptably comfortable camper that can double up as a load carrier. You want to put good insulation into it if you want something you're going to be comfortable in. Take a trip to a caravan breakers to source internal fittings.

Simple way to prevent this - get a stainless steel quick release shackle from a sailing chandlers (or online), attach to your handlebars with a reasonably thick ziploc. It makes it impossible to simply pull the keys out and run off with them.

I've used these on cars and providing you change the oil regularly and do it when the oil is warm they get as much out of the sump as dropping it via the drain plug. But I've yet to be convinced that they work on most bikes.

The snag with wanting to make it look like it is not about 'give me money' is basically that is precisely what sponsorship is about. If not money then goods or services. Letters out of the blue to businesses will probably get you nowhere. As it happens, by pure coincidence, I only logged on to my computer to update a £1.6 million project we've just received the tenders for today, all of it raised through sponsorship. The key to finding support is establishing relationships, finding people who will share your vision and aims and are willing to be part of that undertaking. So if you're contacting people it's usually better done personally, often through people who know people who know people. You start with yourself and what you contribute to the greater good. For example, in my last position I went out of my way to help save a local motorcycle test centre, thereby also helping to keep the local training school and motorcycle centre in business. When I needed a hand 250 bikers turned out and helped raise public awareness for our project. So start not with what you want others to contribute to you, but with what you've either already contributed to others, or can contribute in the future if your venture takes off. That's what will capture people's imagination.

I used to work on a petrol station. I always take my helmet off because I know what it's like for the staff when things get awkward.

Try charging the battery first. Most people assume that if the battery is flat and you get the engine fired up then after a good long ride the battery will be fully charged. It won't. The old dynamo chargers would charge a flat battery to full capacity, modern charging systems don't. What they do very well is to quickly replace the charge used to fire up the engine, but if you started with a battery at (say) 50% charge the charge replaced will only take it to the same level. So over a time the battery drops from full charge capacity. Most of the time we don't notice this as using the bike regularly means that the battery has sufficient charge to fire the engine - even if you check the voltage then volts and charge are different things. But if you take most bikes or cars, run them for 200 miles, then put them onto a trickle charger - you will find the charger begins to add charge to the battery. ie it wasn't a full capacity even after a 200 mile trip. Sorry - bit long winded, but it's amazing how many perfectly good batteries get ditched when all they need is a better maintenance regime. Of course we're told these days that they are maintenance free - but the fact that you don't need to add electrolyte doesn't mean that they don't need a bit of tlc. 14.4 running is fine. 12.6 not running is fine. Dropping below 12v with the lights on suggest the battery is low on charge. If it was knackered the voltage would probably drop further and quicker. Hence I'd give it a trickle charge overnight and then see if it holds the charge. NB A really flat battery will not take a charge off a trickle charger - if the voltage drops to 11v or lower then it has to be raised back to 12v using a very small current. I use a gell cell charger at 400Ma on really flat batteries. A couple of hours is all they need to build the voltage back to the point where a trickle charger can take over.