Gerontious

You own one.. what do YOU have to say about this bike?

Her insurance may not... but his insurance definitely will want to know everything in a bid to find any loophole to avoid a payout. All he can do is keep his fingers crossed that she has not made a claim and passed his details on to her insurers and their legal department.

It was strange. missing the small gaggle of bikers who could barely contain their excitement beneath a veneer of blasé indifference and apparent boredom. From boarding to riding off I only saw one person, a member of staff who hurriedly scanned my boarding ticket/hanger then scurried off. Further up the train the drivers were told to remain in their cars and toilets were locked. But, once off the train and onto the A16/E40 normality resumed. Usual amount of traffic for the day, very little, and 40 miles later, when I arrived at our usual first stop, Aire de Saint Eloi, almost normal aside from a one way system into and out of the Carrefour. They did have a sign on the door that I translated as... try entering here without a mask and we'll have you arrested!!

well there you go then.. everything is tickety boo. which probably explains why the Tunnel trains are empty. Ok.. so I misread the French embassy advice. still.. as of now on return its a 10 day self isolation and 2 PCR tests. I can't afford that extra time in addition to a 7 day holiday. its just not worth it. And from what Ive seen.. not many people can. 2 retirees I know of crossed a few days ago and the train was virtually empty of cars and Bikes.. as it happens there was double the number of bikes to when I crossed last September. And there was little difficulty then... none in fact. aside from having to ride non-stop to Luxembourg as both France and Belgium were 'forbidden'. Was the most bizarre experience ever at the tunnel. me and <20 cars. there were 5 empty carriages between me and the last car.

No you can't. its a 7 day self isolation. "on trust" that you will not abuse/ignore that requirement. I and a lot of others are hoping that will change. just waiting and seeing for the present. that... and a relaxation of the self isolation on return to the UK. which is rather more worrying as I cannot add a further 10 days to a holiday.

Yes. But my crossing via the tunnel was booked back in January. So, might be best to call them and see what the current rules on that score is. as it stands I can move my bookings to any date in the next 12 months

I’ve still got my tunnel crossing booked for the first week in September and am waiting for August (or July, depending) to make a final decision on where we are going if we are allowed to go at all. Obviously. Being allowed to go is one thing, being allowed to enter and “stay” is another. Currently it’s a no in both cases.

It’s going to have even worse electrical problems than usual. if such a thing is possible.

I’m guessing they’re not aiming the bike at women/female buyers. it’s a bit odd, to say the least, copying or at least aping, male specific racing bicycle saddle design on a motorcycle .

How is your mental arithmetic? the basic rule of thumb is take the EU size and subtract 10.

Because Apple are so hot on both privacy and security anything thats slightly 'off' will be disabled. You really need to use apple branded or apple certified accessories. Anker is apple certified. It might be the cable, or it might be the USB itself. When I asked people more knowledgable than me about charging my iphone on the bike the general consensus was.. dont use anything thats 'clever'. USB sockets with voltage signifiers are the worst culprit, the very fact that the voltage is altered slightly by the built-in 'voltage measuring hardware' and/or leds can be enough to alter the 'signal' and cause an iphone to have, in effect, a paranoia attack and deny it access. .

No point. There will be a bidding war over this.

I only use two features. "Unread" and "Active" and that's it. It do look good on the new desktop though. .

Q. What is the best thing about living in Switzerland? A. I don't know, but the flag is a big plus!

Unless you have a separate fob for the immobiliser.. the 'off-on' doo-dah will be in the key itself. you will need to buy a genuine key and take it to a dealership to have it matched to your bike. its not a cheap process. A genuine key for my own bike costs £75+ and then add to that the cost of 'labour' for the key to be synced with the bike.. another £35 for a half hours labour. a key with a built in immobiliser transponder will look something like this.. with a chunky fob. It contains a chip, very much like the chip in a credit/debit card. .

Yes. Here they’re fully booked, for the most part by schools who, anticipating a backlog of learners have block booked. And are now roping in new riders to do the course with the test dates already arranged. Best thing is to call the local schools and see if they have tests spots ready to fill.

Do your CBT and only then consider the next step. I would always advise against the 125 for a year route. Think about the direct access course as a full license will open up a whole swathe of choices. You could still go for a 125, but without L plates or move up a notch or two. There are plenty of 250/300cc bikes that would suit your stature and give you much more options as your experience grows.

I blame Cameron. And Brexit and car drivers and petrol companies and Covid and I'm really quite unforgiving when it comes to the choice between Red and Brown sauce on a bacon sandwich. you would think old age and riding a Honda would make me more forgiving....

the greedy bast*rds that irritate me the most isn't YT. plenty of YT content with zero ads. its the content creators.. some of them. the worst are the freeloaders, the type who will 'copy' some TV programme and then fill it with ads.. especially that worst type that are unstoppable with no 'skip after' button. I tend to block these "creators" out of hand.. though they soon disappear after being flagged for copyright infringement. I'm currently not bothered enough by ads to want to pay for the ad-free service. that may change at some point, but for now its just a minor irritation.

A bike Ive already owned, Bought new in 1995. The original Speed Triple. A time when Triumphs entire range consisted of 10 models.

Ive always been a fan of Tsubaki chains.. and here is a simple answer for you. Full kit, all standard for the bike. £114 less the discount they give to members of this forum. https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/184677?gclid=Cj0KCQjwzYGGBhCTARIsAHdMTQw1WC_XUea2KCRMa4FzPALHpzQyIv4O3v6BYJquXIQBztUzz0tH1Y8aAkbCEALw_wcB .

I haven't given up all hope. yet. The Schloss know the situation but have not asked me anything about cancelling, Im not expecting them to unless or until they are approached for a booking for our week in which case I think its only fair to cancel at that point. Which I will do. Then there is the possibility of going to France, this might be the more likely outcome. A mad autoroute dash east from the Tunnel to the Vosges on the Sunday, 4 days there and then a slightly more relaxed ride back to Calais over 2 days. Perhaps returning to the Municipal site at Eperney for the overnight on the Friday. Something like that. I will find out the exact rules about Germany, if we can enter even if we cannot 'stay'. The Vosges are just across the Rhine from the Black Forest and it would be nice to visit for a day trip, so to speak. And revisit the south end of the B500 to the Swiss border. But all this depends on what happens over the next 8 weeks. It's beginning to get a little tight. But.. there is still hope. Changes especially once the School holidays begin, changes that will perhaps carry over to when the School holidays finish. All we can do is wait and see.

Which is almost exactly what 'running in' a new bike involves. nothing special. Almost word for word how 'running in' is described in the owners manual for my bike. .

A chipped tooth is a dead giveaway. So is a complete lack of adjustment which might be because it wasn’t included or the various adjusters don’t move. You can also look at the age of the bike and it’s miles and then think is the suspension original… in budget or even mid level bikes original usually means cheap with a short lifespan. The problem is the degradation is usually slow and can happen without the original owner even noticing. In the vast majority of cases upgrading the suspension can be the best thing you can do for any bike… even some brand new ones.

You are already at an advantage over many 'new starters' as most will never have ridden any kind of two wheeled vehicle before.. some not even a bicycle. Getting used to the gears is always tricky at the very start.. but it soon clicks into place. A week course should be more than enough for the basics.. it will probably be in your best interests to mention this perceived problem (with gears) to the instructor from the get-go. I went the other way, after almost 30 years of geared bikes I made the change to an "auto" gear box.. its not quite the same as your scooters, but was just as weird to change to. In fact it was VERY weird. But.. very soon became totally addictive. changing gears at the touch of a button?why didn't I do this sooner? My 1000cc "Scooter" .