winston smith

Been there, done that Mark....they go off in a sulk pretty quick usually More common is the 4x4 driver that won't move onto the wet dirty stuff in a country lane, forcing the truck to drive in a hedge, or risk sinking through the verge.

Relax, breathe, stop panicking. It was an accident, no harms done. It happens - I've done it once or twice, I'm sure most riders have at some point. In future, maybe think if you can safely pause, turn and put an apology hand up - most car drivers won't give it a second thought if you own up to a mistake and say sorry For me, it would be more important to know why I'd clipped a mirror......did the car(s) in the queue move to close the gap? Was the gap too small? Was my positioning/speed wrong? Did the road surface or camber affect my direction? etc etc

I've had similar symptoms in the rain. my HT leads had come loose where they join the plug cap. A couple of clockwise turns of the caps tightened them up just fine.

I would agree with most of the above. For me, the fit is more important than brand, model, or test rating. I'm the opposite to the OP - my head is small and a funny shape - so far, only Shoei's fit me properly and don't squeeze in random places. I currently use a Neotech 2 which I really like but allows a lot of wind noise through so ear plugs are a must for long distance.

If the new house has patio doors just build a ramp and ride it into the living room

Great advice here from these two guys ^^^^

And this week's nomination for the Darwin Award is........

As far as I can remember there aren't any 50cc restrictions in the A13. However, as has been posted above, riding a 50 along there isn't necessarily a good idea - most of the road is fast and busy, and Essex drivers take no prisoners!

Wow, that is truly hideous ! I think the worst thing for me is that while it looks so expensively bespoke, for luggage they've just bolted on a regular top box as an afterthought - completely ruins the cartoon Pink panther/wacky races appearance.

Does it only make the noise changing UP to 3rd gear from 2nd? Or changing DOWN to 3rd from 4th too? From your description it sounds like something's misaligned inside the gearbox and slightly dragging against a gear on the output shaft - could be a bent selector fork?? Or possibly even just a worn out detent spring allowing some imprecise movements if the gear change mechanism?? I'm no expert, but that's my guess

Personally, I wouldn't go down this route. I'm no expert on tyre construction but I do know that if the cords/wires giving strength and rigidity are compromised the resulting tyre failure could be catastrophic. Just seeing the weird shapes of the sidewalls with cable ties on makes me cringe If you search Matt Hudson or The Workshop on YouTube he did a video about this and explains why it's a bad idea. I'm in favour of diy to keep costs down, but only if I have suitable tools to do a proper, safe job. Out of curiosity, how much does it cost to have a tyre fitted n balanced professionally ?

Useful info, thanks

Emulsion choobs. Anyway, when it won't start do you get one spark and then nowt? Because that'll be the little wires to the ignition switch not being connected together by the switch, it's some weird anti-theft thing that Yamaha were doing at the time. At least that's how the TRX is wired up and I'd guess the TDM is the same. That sounds likely - I can't imagine the ignition being any different on a TDM to a TRX. I'll try to check that out in daylight. Yep, carbs are first on the list for refurb over winter.

I don't think it has an immobiliser. But I will find out when it comes off the road for winter.

Thanks guys. Got it going again. And I think I've sussed the problem.... The switch in the ignition barrel may be worn out. When it turns over and over without firing if I take the key out, put it back in and then try again it'll fire as per normal. Recently (the last week or so) the ignition barrel feels a bit notchy, like something's a bit loose inside and catching as the key turns. Or possibly it's been got at, cos I had trouble undoing the chain locks too about a week ago, like something had been shoved in the locks to force the tumblers. Interesting idea with the twix wrapper though would a KitKat be better, being foil as opposed to plastic?? Incidentally, I've never needed choke to start it - in fact I'm pretty sure the choke doesn't work (common TDM issue) or is permanently part open - it runs a bit rich.

Pop quiz everyone: 98 TDM 850. Started & ran fine this morning. Leaving work just now it wouldn't start. Eventually started. Ran fine 15 minutes, stopped for fuel and now won't start again. Battery is fine. Starter spins plenty fast. Sometimes it coughs like it's gonna fire (no throttle). As soon as I give it any throttle it just turns over again. Was the same with choke. HT's seem connected ok - no tools so can't check for spark. Anyy ideas ???

In my experience when the gauge hits top of the red there's between 2 & 3litres left - enough to get to a petrol station. However, on an older bike, just bought, without good knowledge of it's history/condition I wouldn't want to run it that low - who knows what crap n sludge is sitting at the bottom of the tank waiting to be sucked into the carbs. Fill up ASAP is best advice

Is it even human That's gotta be an Eddie Murphy character..... can't quite remember where from - Flubber maybe?

Fair comment brother Bullfrog, "smart" was the wrong word.....crafty, canny, savvy ?? Certainly couldn't use any of those for May - she was a dead duck before she was even sworn in and seemingly didn't work it out til a few months ago. I have a little sympathy for Corbyn. As I recall, his core beliefs are not pro EU, but he's been forced to follow the party line on this and in other areas. I think if he had been given free choice of shadow cabinet he could have been far more effective as opposition leader. The blairites have been screwing him over for years. Although, I could be completely wrong - I've not followed the goings on at the asylum for a while

As has been said, you are free to choose and only you can decide what is right for you. Agreed, a 250 isn't massively faster than a 125, at least in top speed. But low and mid range acceleration will be a lot better. And generally, everything about a 250 will be more substantial than a 125 - tyres, brakes, suspension etc so it should go, stop n turn safer. Bikes and tests and training and insurance will only get more expensive as time goes by too, so upgrading now could save lots long-term. If you're sure you will only ever want a 125, then I would suggest taking the cheapest option.

I get what you did and why. We've all been there. I've had temporary insurance in the past - it's massively expensive (by comparison) and I think the max temp policy would be 2 months. Have you tried using a comparison site to find out what a regular policy would cost if you had just passed your test ? I'm guessing it'll be a lot more than your 140 off-road quote. (Bare in mind that some insurers won't allow you to use ncd from provisional licence riding) So it might be best to bite the bullet and take the off-road policy for now. Then you know it's covered and you're under no pressure to get your test done in a hurry. Or, do you have friends/family that could insure it and add you as a named rider when you pass? That's just my thoughts - good luck whatever you decide to do

@ Joe85 I'm also happy to be proved wrong - every day is a school day Some of my post is opinion - which I hope is clearly such. Some of it is fact based, using information found online a while back and traced backwards to see that the sources are not obviously biased in one camp or another. I no longer have the original material to quote to you - before I lost interest it got to the point where nothing in the media came from a "clean" source, hence zero trust in MSM - BBC is the worst I've found. The amounts into and out of the EU pot to/from which country can be found easily enough. Remove the UK figures and the rest becomes obvious. Add in that the French still hate the Germans, Greece were bankrupted by EU & are desperate to get out, Spain, Portugal and Italy aren't flourishing financially, and some of the former Eastern Bloc countries are nervous of the Germans riding roughshod on them cos they're minor players, and suddenly the Union is no longer viable. That in itself could have big positive or negative effects on UK trade, quite separate from the UK simply leaving, deal or no deal; trade tariffs will be set for imports and exports which mostly will balance each other out. As an aside, it strikes me two of the smartest politicians in recent years...... Cameron; he got out quick cos he knew what a sht storm was coming. Boris; he ducked out of the leader race before cos he knew how things were going, and how badly May would screw it up. Doesn't mean from here on he'll get it right and save the day - looks like it's too screwed up for that already.

I think it's an "off the road" insurance policy you need. If that's what they're quoting 140 seems pretty cheap. I would just pay it in your position, you need it insured otherwise you could end up paying out £thousands if the bike was nicked. All the chains, anchors, locks, alarms available won't stop a determined gang of thieves with a van, a grinder and a few weapons to fight you off.

Looking at the big picture - long term, it probably makes very little economic difference whether the UK is in or out of the EU. In 10ish years time, financially, it won't really affect our country - economic trade will be different outside the EU, but end results largely the same end result. Seems everyone in the UK is only looking at the short term and panicking because the MSM project fear. The EU is looking at the long term and crapping themselves at the prospect of the UK leaving. Germany and UK are the biggest contributors. The EU will collapse if Germany is left to fund the Eastern and Mediterranean countries. Hence the continual objections to every proposal from the UK to exit with "a deal". If from the outset the UK told the EU to sod off, no deal, it could all have been done n dusted by now, and things finding a new normality within a few years. For the record - I'm not for or against brexit itself, just fed up with the incompetence, infighting, scaremongering, deception, politicking and bitching on both sides of the fence & channel

As Mississippi Bullfrog said - it's usually a bad idea to take a "trust me" comment at face value. I gave up commenting on or even following the brexit shenanigans a long time ago. It became obvious well before the people's vote that all the politicians, analysts and "experts" lied, fabricated "evidence" and cherry picked statistics to suit their opinions. And the blatant bias of the MSM set alarm bells ringing, along with the pantomime antics of the politicians. Either a yes or no vote at the start would have been fine IF it was accepted and dealt with properly. But 3 years of bitching, moaning, scheming and lying has ruined this country and it's citizens. It's very much a them and us situation...Them (political, government, council, police, judiciary, media) will always end up ok - employed, well paid, well looked after....Us (everyone else really) will be screwed over and only tolerated for our tax contributions. Rant over