S-Westerly

Some really nice bikes there.

My daughter had a Pug. It was a disaster.

Reminds me of about 38 years ago my dad was following me in his rather spiffy Toyota Celica and I had a scabby old Volvo. I stopped at a roundabout, my Dad didn't. The insurance was interesting; the Toyota needed a new front end and the Volvo added a few more scratches to the back end.

From what I can glean from the Internet they are a large Chinese company specialising in small bikes but very little known here in the UK and with no brand name recognition. They are also very cheap from what I can see - 125 cc 2024 with 55 miles on Autotrader for £999. Caveat emptor. Insurance probably can't be bothered to offer a quote as it would be considerably more than the price of the bike.

Difference being the Japanese attitude to service and the Chinese.

I'll let you know if I bump into Bacall

You are out of luck. Just got my flight details. Coming home from Abidjan via Casablanca on Sunday.

The OP was 2022 and I think you'll find most folks on here couldn't give a damn what you wear or don't wear. Live and let live.

I can assure you assuming I get home next week the weather will be cold, wet and windy. It always is.

My issue with anything Chinese is the quality and I'm not saying they can't do decent quality just in my industry I've yet to see it. Case in point we needed to replace a leaking sea valve. (low pressure but fairly high velocity). Korean valves were $4000. Chinese manufacturer came in at $1700 so you can guess what the company went for. Unfortunately after a mere 2 months a flaw in the casting has become apparent and it's now leaking once again. Add in the cost of the fuel involved in changing this valve if we buy 2 of these it will have been damn near the price of the better quality version which would have lasted at least 10 years.

I personally am a fan of wearing proper gear. My choice but I am not responsible for anyone else so if someone wants to ride a bike bare arsed naked apart from a helmet crack on. My thoughts I'll keep to myself.

Each to their own. Any bike has potential issues and dealers with less than stellar reps. You make your choice for whatever reasons. If you want one, like one then buy it. If you don't like them don't buy one.

Trouble is it's when some idiot knocks you off on your short trip. Guy i worked with was knocked off on a short trip wearing shorts and doing no more than 30. Skin grafts on his flayed left leg for 6 months or more and left looking like he'd had 3rd degree burns which in terms of tissue damage is basically what he had.

My then girlfriend (now wife of more years than i care to remember) and I spent our first night in a tent about 2/3 of the way up Helvellyn on the Grisedale side in November. It was pouring rain and I got up in the night for a pee and fell into the bloody stream which was 5 times larger than it had been. Literally not a happy camper.

Shell shocked more like.