S-Westerly

I'm with you on that one. Will never buy Chinese if there's an alternative.

A lot of manufacturers do the same. Stick a BMW, Guzzi or Ducati badge on something and double the price. You do wonder who buys the kit though.

I use them. I like them. I wear glasses and they don't steam up too often. I ride all winter in all weathers and I'd not have a helmet without one unless it was the mythical double glazed visor.

My specs had the anti fog treatment from the get go and I've not experienced fogging. So maybe it works? No idea what the treatment was though. I use a Pinlock 120 as well so that probably does more.

It gets worse trust me. Especially once you get a bigger bike there's an even bigger sandpit to play in. Long distance tours, track days, off road days etc.

Mild and damp will do it. Used to get plagued by it on the boat. A good hard frost lasting for a few days kills a lot of it off.

Good to know that there are some honest guys around. Wasn't trying to BS you into buying something either.

Some of my colleagues who live in the Baltic States swear by their heat pumps and reckon they are brilliant. They get significantly colder weather than us but and here's the kicker their electricity costs are about half of ours. Also there's a political / patriotic thing going on as well as a lot of their gas came from Russia which is now a big no-no. No idea of brand or model though. My house was new in 2017 and could theoretically use a heat pump. I'm seriously considering buying a gas boiler to have as a spare in case my current one packs in after net zero BS kicks in.

Went on their site yesterday evening and surprise - on the helmets link they had nothing available. Licking their wounds i hope.

I can probably beat the sky but no trees and definitely no motorbikes.

More like a £140 I'd say. Total immoral behaviour from Bikers Lifestyle (?) as their greed could literally kill someone and £150 isn't pennies either.

I can read the words but the total is incomprehensible to me. Glad I don't have to learn that stuff now. Good luck to those who do!

I'll be honest some of these guys are older than me and the appeal of geriatric rockers is not great. Happily listen to their music from back in the day but old guys on stage not really my thing.

That's fine. You'll be needing a lot of servicing with a Chinese bike.

Personally I wouldn't touch a Chinese bike with a 10 foot bargepole but that's probably me showing my age. However they do have a pretty dreadful reputation generally so be very cautious if you go that route particularly as a complete novice.

I'd not say no to a branded balance bike but all my grandchildren have graduated to pedal bikes and no.2 grandson is making noises about an ICE off road machine. Mother is saying no and given he's only 12 can probably hold the line. When they were small all 4 of them were keen balance bike users and excessively fast too with as much common sense as a goose. The lazier ones (all 3 of the boys) didn't enjoy transferring to pedal bikes as it was "too hard".

I wash the liner occasionally and have an alternative helmet if needed. Usually though I use a MucOff foam type cleaner which does a good job of deodoriser it. In winter I wear a thin balaclava but nothing in the summer. That said I've virtually no hair and what I have gets washed daily.

I worked with PDVSA in the late 90's and Venezuela then wasn't bad. One of the better South American countries to visit TBH. Since Chavez and his cronies plundered the country and wiped out it's middle class it's descended into Hell. I was last there just before full sanctions were imposed in late 2018. Met some guys I had sailed with previously and they didn't get regularly paid and were on ships that were falling apart around them. Thread drift I know but it's now a country I wouldn't visit as a tourist too.

I'm not sure i see the point of a helmet cleaning service. It's not difficult to keep my Shoei inside and out as clean as I want it. It takes only a few minutes and I'm good to go.

I've been to a few and the only place I've had issues with a British passport was Venezuela and even there it was more of an excuse to squeeze the gringo.

Multiply km by 0.6 to get miles

That would explain the unintelligible hieroglyphics then.

That's the standard thing in Iran. Just about anything justifies that charge as its impossible there to prove innocence. What were they thinking?!

No it was fine but my own bike is completely different to the V-Strom and you've got to ride it in a different way to make it fun. Remember it's 650 cc vs 1050 cc so I'm not really comparing like for like. End of the day just about any bike can be a pleasure to ride depending on circumstances.

I think I'd be on the phone to someone! Pushing 230 kg around isn't my idea of fun.