Gerontious

I just use the wi-fi. so no wired connection needed. I actually use the wi-fi hotspot provided by my phone.. which is my source for the house. I don't have any physical internet coming into my house. the phone is providing the connection for the computer I'm using right now. Here is my unit sitting on the desk. not connected to anything, checking for an update. Can just as easily do the same on the bike, while the unit is in its cradle and the phone is in my pocket.

Looks to me like someone had a whoopsie and valued their NCB over the value of the bike.. or maybe they didn't have any NCB but due to previous unfortunate history, their premium was already astronomical and so claiming wasn't a good idea. Might even have happened on a track somewhere. who knows?

I’m 6’7 in my boots and ride one of these. it’s not the tallest bike you can buy but it suits me. A few minor and inexpensive adjustments and off I go. They brought out a newer version in 2020 but they made it lower, which pleased a lot of people but meant upgrading wasn’t an option for me. in fact the vast majority of popular bikes aren’t an option even worth considering. I need a minimum 33” seat height with an option to go higher. Handlebar risers usually and possibly lower foot pegs, though I don’t need them for this bike.

I would go cheap and cheerful - Lomo.

I have the same, Its not fully waterproof, though it would take a very long time in a major downpour for water to get in. but that's easily sorted.

Call me old fashioned. but sometimes going outside and looking at the sky can answer a question or two. should I stock up on hob nobs, or Jaffa cakes. its a puzzle. However... on. a more serious note, I did a bit of time travelling today. popped forward to next January. Saw the weather forecast for Doncaster (of all places). it was minus 10 Called my mate and asked him if it was true. he said no.. its only minus 1. But, I said.. the weather says its minus 10. Oh... that must be outside, he said. and by the way, what was your gas bill like? .

No.. they are simply normal Lead/Acid batteries with a very special design feature. they don't need anything different re. charging any more than any other lead/acid. Aside from very old trickle chargers, which are obsolete so far as AGM and GEL batteries are concerned. Any modern battery charger is just fine. I would go for one of these new smart chargers like an Optimate. or equivalent. Though you shouldn't need one until the winter when/if the bike is off the road for months on end. The special design feature is the lead plates are pure lead. This wouldn't work in a standard battery as pure lead is too soft and would bend and deform due to the normal vibration, bumps etc of driving. So... each plate is separated by a mat, usually made from something like glass fibre. This is then soaked in an acid gel. The mat stops the lead plates from moving. And because the lead is so pure, the chemistry that goes on inside the battery is a lot more efficient. They also tend to be a little lighter as the lead plates can be a lot thinner than is usual for other battery types.

AGM isn't a brand. Its a type. If this one fits then go for it, you might find it at a lower price with a bit of hunting. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391986998487 Motobatt AGM batteries are fantastic. long service life and as is the case with all AGM batteries, it's sealed. so never needs any kind maintenance (topping up with D/Water) and arrives fully charged. so fit and its ready to ride

He'll be getting out his slide rule next and beware... if he starts waving his log tables around it could turn nasty.

Who could forget the "Pass of death" and yes.. that really was its name which was highly appropriate.

I need to know what fraction of a chain my chain is to the nearest 16th or 8th if you want to cut me some slack with my slack. and don't get me started on the O rings. my nerves can't take it. especially if they start to swell up and create unsightly bulges. I might have to go the whole 0.005112 of a mile. exhausting.

I never would have guessed that anti-wear additives had nutritional value. can you spread them on a rather plain and ordinary biscuit for added interest (and nutrition) or to allow them to go down easily when you don't fancy a cuppa. keep it greasy (so it'll go down easy) as the late great FranK Zappa declaimed.

Modern washing machines don’t shake around. It’s the drum inside that can do this if the machine hasn’t been loaded properly. Not many machines that can cope with spinning a single bath sheet, for example as the balance will be out of whack. Tell her to get a machine with an induction motor.

I do like a good measure. But life is going to get complicated once our dear leaders get rid of eu surrender metric and replace it with the queens own patriotic flag waving imperial. I have no idea what a chain is. I thought I knew, but I don’t mean that one but the other one. What fraction of a chain is my chain?

Turned the cover. Bike is outside so I turned the cover inside out so it was white and controlled the heat a little better than if it was the right way round and black. But cooler weather and rain is coming. Not today… but on Thursday I went out for a ride. Fearful that the heat might have done for the lithium battery. But it started just as any other time. Instantly. Been hotter than it w as in Italy in June. Quite bizarre.

I’ve developed a strange craving for fig rolls. I might have to rush out and buy some. Just because I can.

Hi. you don’t really need people to be local. Put together a plan. Decide on dates and methods. How to cross. Accommodation type. A rough budget and then broadcast it. Done my trip for this year and as above, I’m currently mulling over the various options for next year. I usually leave the broadcast part until the winter, as it’s really nice when cold and shivering and (usually) off the road, to have something to look forward to and aim for with plenty of time to sort out annual leave and the bike, gear and Budget.

This article.... 3 factual errors and that's just the first paragraph!!

So if there is a recall for your newest bike, you'll be using an independent?

Just saying... Also its way past time this man was brought into the discussion.

Im pretty sure it could.. if the will was there. But of course it isn't.. because, you know. communism.

If they don't. they risk losing their franchise. It will be on the system and they need to sign that off. if they do sign it off and then this fault occurs. they will be in deep shit with BMW. So, I can't see them 'not' doing it.. they will be paid by BMW to do it. Similar thing happened to my Honda. I took it in for a service and they told me that a fault that I already knew about had to be rectified. I said my bike didn't have this particular fault. But, they told me they had no choice. if I refused the work they would need that in writing from me. I had it done... pointless as it was. But.. I got a new fuel pump assembly so...

Completely normal for BMW, they did the same on my old bike when it first came out. plastic leaking tanks. changed if a problem was found. and the next year they stopped using plastic tanks. Gearbox fault. replaced gearboxes on affected bikes, though it took them 3 years to finally fix the problem with a redesigned gearbox. Frames breaking in Australia. so hard parts were designed and shipped to OZ and fitted to bikes at service time. not all plastic tanks leaked. not all gearboxes failed. no recalls issued. they called it a 'campaign' and bikes were checked at service. They finally ended the gearbox campaign when the first 1200 engine appeared.. after swapping affected gearboxes for almost 6 years. BMW do not like recalls. but they do like 'campaigns'.

Everybody is being ripped off.. rail users. employees. everyone. meanwhile Billions of pounds are flowing from the pockets of rail users into the accounts of usually foreign, state owned railway companies. And being used to subsidise their own rail services. It would cost me, today £70 to go by train to see my mother who lives 150 miles from me. and would take 4.5hrs. Meanwhile in France I can travel from Calais to Marseilles. for €123. 8hrs. 550 miles. rip off Britain at its best.. and isn't it amazing that the unions are being bashed for fighting on behalf of their members for a fair deal from foreign owners. State owned rail companies in foreign countries buying our UK rail companies is free enterprise. State owned railways in this country is Communism. can you see the disconnect? People who are complaining about powerful unions taking on greedy employers are usually the types who have no union representation in their own industry and so its mostly about jealousy. Ive seen it suggested by this shower of chancers in government that the railway workers might get fired and agency workers brought in.. didn't they create a fuss just a few months ago when a certain ferry company did exactly that? If staff vote for industrial action and they have a union that can organise that... and its all lawful. then let them do it. that's what I think. cap the profits and cash flowing out of the country. pay our own people a fair wage that keeps up with inflation. not just the rail workers. everyone. in this country?... as if. we seem to have an addiction to being ripped off. we love complaining about it and absolutely hate anyone who might want to fight against it.