SometimesSansEngine

Cor your purpose, here's another vote for the aeropress

Different situation.

If you are making (or have made) a claim on your policy the full amount is due.

Otherwise you could total your motor in the first month and only pay one months premium for the privilege....

Agreed with the others that the first bit in not in dispute. You have to pay for the full year of insurance.

Some dates may help, ie cover started on [date], my bike was stolen on [date], the cover ends on [date].

Can you clarify EXACTLY what you have been told the 'cancellation fee' relates to? Have they mentioned it in relation to something you asked? If so, what did you ask? You can always link to the policy wording on here, I'm talking about the generic leaflet they give to everyone they cover, not your schedule (which contains all your personal details - don't post that). It's normally available on your provider's website.

I can't believe MM is racing this weekend madness.

Yup, when I got the email from MotoGP with the news I made a sweary noise... I can't work out if it's amazing or mental.

He has to be on some pretty strong pain relief - he has been cleared fit to ride (independently it seems) but I'm not sure how much pressure is on doctors to give the nod.

There's an issue in many sports with Tramadol use, not sure if that's what he's on but I wouldn't ride a bike on it...

Yes you can learn all the acronyms and the basis of Advanced Riding but if you don't Understand the application and relevance of them then your not advanced Riding or a Thinking Rider.

Advanced Riding lives heavily in the grey areas and there are very few You Must scenarios as you would find in normal driving/riding lessons or tests.

The biggest Must is Maintaining your Safety .

Yup, anyone who doesn't respond to questions about "what should I do when/in this situation..." with a "it depends" may not be thinking it through enough

and the sooner you can TUG and have a good think about SLAP the better

Enjoy. I'm sure you'll be told just before you set off, but it's your licence and your life, so make your own decisions.

There's some great YouTubers if you haven't found them yet that go through concepts such as IPSGA, which help get your head around it. Once it clicks it becomes easy to describe your decisions and actions based on it, but can feel a bit stilted and disjointed way of viewing the world at first.

And as with all these things - take the feedback onboard but also feel free to critique it. It's all opinion at the end of the day.

I went all in, I've got a waterproof phone (Galaxy S8+) but still bought the waterproof poncho for it..... (because despite all the videos on youtube of people swimming with them or leaving them submerged in water for hours with no ill effects, I still don't trust it....)

Zip, what zip?

I keep meaning to write a Quadlock review on here after getting one last month and realising no-one on here had reviewed it.

I have the wireless charging head. New product so a few niggles that the support team have been good to work with me on. But with regards to the mounting system itself, yes pricey but exceptionally impressed with how solid the phone feels on it.

I've been reading this thread with interest.

This may be an unpopular post, but when people say "it's useful to have the power to hand when I'm in a tricky situation", sometimes I think people need to consider the events that ran up to that situation.

Now this isn't to say I'm casting aspersions or making assumptions on EVERY situation you're applying that to. Just that I mean I've chatted to people before about that overtake they were doing and "then the oncoming car appeared" or "then the indicator light turned on". That's the point of my riding that I get reflective on my own decisions up to that point!

Have the power to hand maybe but always be willing to critique yourself

It's all about alerts.

Set them up on

eBay

Facebook (and join some local motorbike selling groups)

Autotrader

Gumtree

You can be quite specific in your search parameters and I'd definitely recommend that - budget, location, make etc

It's quite a keen market so the alerts help keep you ahead of the curve, BUT don't feel pressured because for anything you "miss out on" they'll be another just around the corner

It is confusing when you first look into it (especially with all the mention of A1 and A2 licences too, but disregard them as they don't apply to you), but is as simple as [mention]bonio[/mention] says when you get your head around it.

You'll get different points of view on either route. I did route 2, it's a good way to check you're really up for a full licence. If you buy a decent and well looked after 125 (Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki etc) you will lose much if anything at all when you sell it on. It was only a few months before I decided to progress on to getting my full licence but for me that was better than doing day one of my DAS and hating it!

The alternative view is route 1 is a lot quicker and potentially cheaper.

I'll be that boring grumpy guy.

If you don't declare it, and the insurance company see fit to cancel your cover because of it, you're going to have a mega bad time with every insurance quote for a very long time.

Took the eldest on his longest ride to date, down to the coast using the 'interesting' and meandering route. About two hours in total. Got to look at all the cruise ships in Weymouth bay whilst having a stop and a brew with my folks who are down there. Then back on the more direct A road route. God that's a slog in comparison, despite being quicker.

Polished my boots (not a euphemism) when we got home, then just to top it all off gave the door hinges and padlock to the shed a bit of GT85 and an oil too.

Left just after the turn of the century. Back then you did a leavers do (basically just a party in the school) and some celebration, then on to a coach to head into the city and go to a nightclub (assuming *cough* you were old enough to get in)

Nowadays my old school is locally famous for having a 'prom' including people coming to school with ever extravagant methods (vintage cars, on a tractor etc etc etc) and parents spending a crazy amount on 'prom dresses'. Barriers set up so other pupils can 'watch' them enter. All a bit silly and expensive, but each to their own.

Our eldest finished primary school yesterday and I will admit to feeling a bit sad that they couldn't even have a little party. They had a 'socially distanced' picnic on the school field.

I’m rewatching Star Trek The Next Generation and enjoying it. Suits and White Collar are reasonably good formula shoes, same for Scorpian.

I rewatched TNG in lockdown too, now onto DS9. Some dodgy episodes of TNG but when you remember loads of it is over quarter of a century old it's pretty impressive IMO

I'd happily try out an electric bike and wouldn't write them off until I had.

One fact is people keep thinking of journeys that make them unusable, but truth be told they don't go on those journeys often (this includes car journeys)

As I understand the biggest issues from a friend who works in the electric car industry, the fragmentation of charging stations/hookup types is an issue. But let's say tomorrow I want to take an electric vehicle on a 200 mile journey. It's highly likely I will want to stop for a break anyway. With a touch of forward planning on where to stop it wouldn't be difficult to find a suitable place.

I can imagine the "road warrior" sales person will find it more of an issue if they're doing such long journeys daily, but most of our journeys are well within the range of an EV.

What [mention]raesewell[/mention] says is correct - always also be wary of an officer giving you advice on the 'highway code' as most have no additional training beyond the general public, and I know what most people I meet's knowledge of the HC is like......

If I was debating with a traffic officer that would be a different story. But I've seen too many YouTube vids of police giving 'words of advice' about the Highway Code to have the opinion that many aren't going to know what they're talking about.

I'm not saying you chaps are wrong, but I've never heard of the bike school booking the theory - mod 1 and 2 yes.

Everyone I know was expected to do the theory themselves.

I've started watching this youtube series out of idle curiosity, it popped up as a suggested video on YouTube. Interesting to watch a mechanic get a cheap Chinese scooter (off Amazon..... ), put it together and try to service it properly and see what happens.

If I read what [mention]Pbassred[/mention] said it was shortER not fingerless

Removed the rear brake pads from the wife's bike. They were an advisory as 'close to minimum limit' at the last MOT but always visually looked OK. Took them off, no my eyes don't deceive me. 4mm of pad left all around on both. Put them back on.

But then one of the kids couldn't ride pillion

If she buys a bike then it means I can too, so help her as much as you can.

Cheers all, plan after my CBT is to probably ride about for a year before going for my full licence, try and at least give myself a chance of passing having had some experience then.

Enjoy! If you've never ridden before there's a lot to take in on your CBT but I'm sure you'll be fine. I planned a year on L plates but lasted about three months before I was taking my full licence tests Get a decent second hand bike though and you won't really lose much (if anything at all) even if you end up selling it on quick