Smithers

Martin Selmayr, the EU civil servant promoted to Secretary General by JC Juncker has I think, something of the night about him.

Well, what do you reckon of the recent debacle with May and the EU?

Two blind pilots enter a plane, They have sunglasses and white sticks. As the plane starts to move, the passengers are uncomfortable. The plane gains speed, but it stays on the ground. The remaining runway gets smaller and smaller, and the plane is rushing towards a fence. The passengers start shrieking and suddenly the plane lifts, avoiding the fence at the last second. All the passengers calm down, thinking it was a bad joke. In the pilot cabin, the co-pilot turns to the pilot and says : "You know what? One day they're going to scream too late, and we're all going to die."

Unburnt fuel in the exhaust? Or maybe just a blip.

My first band as a teenager was The Nun F*ckers. Two of our most popular numbers were 'Anal Intruder' and the surprise hit 'Play My Guitar With a Plastic Lobster' which involved the lead guitarist windmilling power chords with the claw of a plastic lobster liberated from the local fishmongers whilst the singer shoved the microphone in his mouth and screamed. There is definitely such a thing as bad music. Not really; because you actually liked doing what you were doing at the time. Maybe later you reflected that it could have been slightly better. I was relieved to read that the singer shoved the mic in his mouth!!

The first thing to remember, is that music is very subjective, there's no good or bad, it's matter of personal taste. I have similar quirks to you, that I can listen to everything ranging from, Captain Beefheart's 'Trout mask replica' through to Chopin's Polonaises and everything in between. My best guard in not alienating friends and family is to listen with a decent set of Bluetooth headphones. As for favourite music, it changes from week to week depending on my mood. Currently I'm listening to a lot of Rory Gallagher; Live in Europe flavour of the week at the moment.

Oh OK then. Just thought I'd ask.

I'm surprised at how little Brexit features in the non bike related board

The majority of bikers have had the odd spill, myself included. It's a case of getting back on, taking it easy and the confidence will slowly return. Try not to think or dwell on the reason you came off, That's now history and you've learned from it.

Sorry; Road.

Not much to add to the reviews on here. I fitted a new set of pilot 4's at the end of October last year. A rear puncture on the Honda fitted Dunlop's was a blessing in disguise as I was never very happy with them. The Michelins transformed the bike completely giving amazing grip in the wet and more confidence in cornering. A great tyre and well worth the outlay.

From Fife to Durham via Edinburgh & Jedburgh. Next day to Stafford for a weekend conference (that was the hardest, less pleasant day). Then up near Keswick where I camped overnight before heading back up through the western lowlands. Fair play to you, 'you're a better man than I am Gunga Din'. Me, I'm Just a fare weather rider these days only riding in the wet and cold when there's no other choice.

That's a real crap thing to happen. Glad you're not more badly injured. Any time I'm out on the bike I'm always on the alert for cars to pull stunts like that. If I go home and nothing has occurred , that's a real rarity. The standard of car driving is getting worse.

There's probably a better looking aftermarket one about somewhere. But really, I would be inclined to stick with a chain guard for the safety aspect. You'd never forgive yourself if you had a chain break on you and cause a serious injury for basically leaving off something that no one ever takes any notice of.

I've never see such an ill thought out road surface. Were the planners on drugs when this was conceived? I would definitely press the local council for some sort of compo package, which if enough people do that they could end up making it safer.

Yes.. still about and still have the GS, though its currently uninsured and is likely (maybe) to be SORN'd at the end of this month and then some time to umm and aah about what to do with it. maybe sell it. Though that would pain me. (a lot) fortunately, it recently had a major service so will just need a minor oil change at the end of the year. I might just keep it as a runabout and insure it TPO. - I used my 17yrs NCB on the Honda. So, only TPO is 'reasonable' in price. Bought the Honda as a 'change' and I really fancied something from 'New' and something completely different with the DCT transmission.. which I now think is the bees knees. I don't have either the patience or the wallet to faff about with the various issues (brand) new BMW boxers tend to come with and I didn't want yet another second hander. I looked long and hard at the NC750X before going for the AT and only went down that route with the advent of the new 'Sports model. which fixed the biggest bugbear i had with the standard bike its 160 mile tank. if the blue beast hadn't appeared then it was highly likely i would have gone for the NC. in fact it would have then been a toss up between that bike and the totally wacky X-ADV. but hey ho, it never came to that. Anyway.. CC bill is now fully paid off and i managed to do this without any interest charges. The 20th is the start of the new CC month for me and so, Im taking one of the wheels to Tim at MTS tomorrow and talk about him doing the swap.. and I reckon I'll be going for Conti trail attack 3s. (road tyres for ADV bikes) and get it done one day next week. "Smithers" isn't a familiar name, so oo are yoo? Oh.. and regarding the holiday. Glad its done and dusted. but, just to show what a complete masochist I am.. Im taking one of the other guys for a trawl round the travel agents on Wednesday and then put together a budget for him to go to Amsterdam for a long weekend, probably in May/June. When I was looking at a new Honda I really fancied the AT but ended up going for the NC, mainly because the AT was too much out of my price range. I've only had the NC since last Aug and must admit It has grown on me quite a lot. It's not exceptional but wholly adequate for my needs. I test rode the DCT version but couldn't get on with it. Being a habitual throttle blipper, I could see a disaster waiting to happen. I was one of the old GB'ers who faded out long before the forum folded. It was so long ago now that can't remember my old handle. Glad you seem to be doing OK. Cheers.

This thread has just confirmed who I thought you might be Moto. Great to see you're still around, and riding a Honda!! Not lost any of your humour I'm glad to see.

My first ride on a motorised machine was an old Lambretta scooter. I was around 11 years old and just about able to put one foot down to steady the bike. The thrill of using the throttle and moving gears was a real buzz at the time. That episode planted the bug for motorcycles and has never left me.

Well done you, a great bike to own. I've been very fortunate in that I was able to buy a brand new bike after years of getting 2nd hand ones. I know the feeling you're getting by bringing it home for the first time.

I'm a recent convert to muc-off dry lube chain wax. I tend to use it more often than need be and usually give a light squirt after a ride when the chain is warm about the 80 mile interval. A thorough wash off with paraffin and re-lube every 200-300miles keeps the chain tip top. Over the top maybe but my chains and sprockets tend to last.

I've always fancied a combo, but never had the courage to buy one purely for the fact that you become no different than a car when stuck in traffic. If I remember correctly, a combo was the route to go down if you wanted a large cc bike but only had a provisional license.

I've got the manual transmission and the excess noise was a bit of a problem for me at first. I took the bike to a Honda dealer for an opinion and was assured that this is normal for this bike. It's a very mechanical sounding bike but the best way I found to deal with it, is to fit ear plugs. Problem goes away.

I'm being biased now because I've got one; Honda NC750x. If you want reliability and great fuel consumption this is the machine. It doesn't drink fuel, it runs off of the fumes! I get a consistent 80mpg, comfortable to ride and will sit all day on the motorway 70 - 80 and not miss a beat. A great all rounder.