S-Westerly

Personally I find a nominal 950 cc and a 113 bhp about right. Big enough to go all day and not so much to be knackering. A 950cc is termed a large capacity bike though isn't it? I suppose so but compared to modern large bikes not so much and it's just so much damned fun to ride and no thrashing the tits off it either. Try one sometime.

Personally I find a nominal 950 cc and a 113 bhp about right. Big enough to go all day and not so much to be knackering.

Had my current bike exactly one year today. At least twice the ABS has saved my ass. Maybe I'm a crap rider but one was some twit in a car who literally pulled out of a side road right in front of me. The other was come round a bend into a lake of wet cow shit. I came close to adding to said shit.

I believe all new Honda's do this but this may be not true. My mate's gold wing does it too. Surely improves visibility.

Riding is more tiring than driving for sure. I also find it gives me a thirst you wouldn't believe. Sadly my Ideal drink (beer) is contraindicated when riding.

A lot depends on the bike and the type of riding you do. I find 300 miles is quite doable but that's on main roads. On minor roads 50 miles can be wearing and 5 miles in bad traffic in town can be a killer.

Okay, I googled XRT Helmets and got a well known retailer with numbers of branches. Are they a franchise? From what you say your AGV helmet sounds more like a rip off. Assuming you've not been kicking it down the road it should not have deteriorated to that extent. Get it examined and try and find out for sure. It's not unknown for individual people to buy copies and flog it off as original without the brand name knowing.

Whatever floats your boat I guess. Definitely sinks mine.

Life's too short to get aerated by other drivers being stupid. I just get on with my ride. Having said that there are parts of Bristol (Fishponds area particularly) where the standard of driving is very erratic. Pays to be particularly cautious in that area.

I don't think I'll be rushing to find the maker and have one built. Although I suppose it will keep the rain off. Must have balls of steel to take it onto a motorway!

Name and shame the seller. Also what happened to your original helmet? If it's that bad it would seem there's some issues there as well. Recently tried on an AGV myself but there was no way that any of their helmets would fit my head shape.

French waiters are notoriously obnoxious but shooting one dead is a bit harsh.

Why not install heat grips on your bike then? Or would that work out the same in terms of cost? Already have them, work fine for your palms, do absolutely nothing for the fingers. Even with 3 layers of gloves on. Made a commitment about 3 years ago that I would buy heated gloves and always put it off, well not this year! Maybe. I'm lucky. I have naturally warm hands. All I need is silk liner gloves in my regular gloves and I'm as warm as toast.

Brilliant ! It never really occurred to me but I suppose I do as well . Oh , you have made me chuckle ! Exactly Bob! Our generation seems to have had the life force sucked out of them. And the outlook on life they have now is the polar opposite of what they had 40 years ago. Sounds just like my brother in law. A real stick in the mud and boring as hell. His wife is worse.

Best accessories are Puig Touring screen, TomTom 550 and Denali mini soundbomb horn. On the subject of gunk in tyres I was under the impression that fastbob was vehemently opposed to it. Like to know why he changed his mind.

Bit of a Zombie thread. More than 9 years gone.

Ducatis are still made in their factory in Bologna.

A few of my colleagues have places in Spain, partly because of tax reasons but mainly because they are addicted to warm weather! It would be a bloody boring old world if we were all the same!

Don't agree with it at all. If you are in such a huge group non-biking folks are likely to feel threatened anyway. I'd resent it bitterly if I was trying to get somewhere in a hurry and what about emergency vehicles?

Something shoved through one ear and out the other would have been even better. Thinking 9mm.

My bad. I had a bog standard but that was.some years ago. The principal is still the same though.

This is true. I have a slightly tweaked version which allows me up to £400 equivalent daily without charge.

The legality or otherwise doesn't seem to be stopping any number of folks buying them unfortunately. In some cities they are becoming a pest especially to pedestrians.

Never had a problem anywhere in Europe nor anywhere else for that matter with a bog standard Barclaycard Visa. Used it for just about anything and everything. Admittedly in the sticks in some parts of Europe you sometimes need cash in which case the nearest ATM comes into play.