Davidtav

I absolutely agree with this. When I took my test on my 125 and then bought a 500 I was amazed how much easier everything is. No low speed wobbles. Filtering much easier. A science teacher friend explained it is the gyroscopic effect of having greater mass. I wouldn’t discount taking the big bike test at all.

Don’t worry about not waving. Nobody will be offended.

I don’t think you have imagined it. But I wonder if this is related to our brains and perception of time? I read a very interesting book by Jean Paul Zogby … The Power of Time Perception. A fascinating read. The essence of it is that our perception of time is related to our brains and how quickly they are working. Our eyes record information in chunks. This is sent to our brains where it is stitched together and seems seamless. When we are young our brains are efficient and stitch together more chunks of information. So time appears slower when we are younger. The same effect happens if we are involved in an accident. And I have experienced this. Our brains start to work very quickly. And the result is that time seems to slow down. This is such an interesting phenomenon. For example top sportsman use this to their advantage. Without realising it probably. Top tennis players can return shots that look impossible because they have trained their brains to work faster and in doing so make everything seem to happen in slow motion to them. So my thoughts are that by riding your bike hard your brain was working more quickly than normal. And somehow this state persisted for a few roundabouts and altered your perception of speed and time in some way?

This thread is reminding me of an incident about a year ago. At a busy petrol station in Glasgow. I filled up the bike and went in to pay. And I gave them the pump number. Which the cashier questioned. So I checked it. Yes I had given the correct pump number. Now it turned out that another biker had filled up around the same time as me. They had charged him for my petrol by mistake. The assistant had obviously just glanced out the window. Saw my bike. And charged him my amount. By this time he had left the premises. So basically the staff started saying to me that I would have to pay for his fuel. I was saying that is your problem you charged him incorrectly. You need to charge me the right amount. And they were saying we have no facility to do that etc. and if you just leave we will treat it as a drive off … it was all starting to take up a lot of time. And I realised that the other guys bill was actually cheaper than mine. So I reluctantly agreed to pay the other guys fuel. … I wasn’t happy about the whole experience actually and I haven’t been back to that garage.

The new Royal Enfield 650 classic looks interesting. I could imagine having one of those as a second bike. https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2024/november/royal-enfield-classic-650/

Just use the bike and don’t stress about it. As I said earlier in the thread. You are overthinking everything. … these folks that say they always stick to 20’s I would take with a pinch of salt. This isn’t what I see in the real world. I’m not advocating speeding. Just be careful. Ride smoothly. And stay safe.

I think 20mph areas are a difficult area. It seems to me that most traffic goes through them at 25mph or slightly more. And my experience of keeping rigidly at 20 is that someone is going to be very close behind you. Whether in a car or on a bike actually. Which doesn’t feel safe. I’m definitely not reckless or a habitual speeder. And I get it that 20 zones are often close to schools. But I think it is generally safer to be at least travelling at the same speed as the traffic around you. Preferably with a safety “bubble” between yourself and any other vehicles. So I’m going to be criticised for saying this but my strategy with 20 zones is to adopt a very strong road position. And a speed of about 27mph. Be very vigilant for road hazards. And yes be vigilant for speed cameras etc. … I know I’m going to get criticism for this post. But in my view, this is real world riding. I would rather risk a ticket for being slightly over 20 than risk being knocked off by a stupid motorist.

You are overthinking everything … and I would stop criticising the wife’s driving. That won’t get you anywhere other than the spare room maybe

Regarding lane discipline. I might be misremembering this but I think that in the early 1970s during the energy crisis there was a series of TV adverts telling folks that the first lane on the motorway is for slow vehicles. Middle lane for faster vehicles. And outside lane for overtaking. … as I say I might be misremembering this and I cannot find this on YouTube. I was only about ten years old at the time. But I think I’m right. And I think it explains why a lot of older folk tend to lane hog.

I’m thinking of getting one of these electric outboards. And I think it would be a lot more manageable on a motorbike. But they are still quite pricey https://epropulsion.uk/products/elite

I’m honestly not sure if that is actually correct. I know it is true for cars but I’m not certain about bikes. The warranty terms in the booklet imply that the servicing needs to be carried out by a Suzuki dealership.

I have this conundrum at the moment. So I bought the VStrom 650 new last November when living in Yorkshire. It went to the dealer for 600 mile service. Planning to take it to the dealer for services up to 3 years old. And I believe the bike has a 3 year warranty if serviced by Suzuki. So the stamp in the book is worth having … but now I’m living in Scotland. My nearest Suzuki dealer is over 100 miles away. And a lot of that is highland roads. I’m wondering if I really fancy doing this in November? I’ve done 6500 miles on the bike. Everything seems perfect. Planning to keep the bike a few years. I am tempted to just service it myself and keep all the receipts. I’m confident I would do everything competently. I haven’t decided what to do yet.

I agree. I watched the video again. And I would have filtered up to the lorry. If the lorry had then pulled over to the left a bit I would have gone past. I wouldn’t have gone into the coned off area. Especially with a police car following!

Pretty sure most folk, myself included, would filter in that situation. Perfectly safe. Technically incorrect though as the whole of the second lane is out of action. The cop must have been having a bad day … what I don’t like though is that the cop thinks it is ok to shove his arm in front of a passing motorcyclist. Aggressive behaviour from the cop and dangerous in my opinion.

I think this is probably the original video:

I think this is the video that is being referred to. https://www.visordown.com/news/viral/legal-experts-respond-police-filtering-‘blocking’-video

Well I’m not a traffic cop. But I think I’ve seen that video. Or a similar one. Well if the lane is closed then that will apply to all of the lane. Doesn’t matter if there is a bit of a gap to the cones that a bike might use. That lane is not part of the carriageway is my understanding

I was looking for jubilee clips. But couldn’t find any. Before I discovered the stop valve I was planning to make a tapered wooden plug and then hacksaw the pipe and jam it in. Fortunately I didn’t have to do that.

I’m nob of the day. But a lucky one. So I’m doing some gardening yesterday and using this new garden strimmer. Quite a vicious thing with a metal blade. And manage to puncture the pipe work from my heating oil tank. No sign of a stop valve on the tank. The property is new to me and just getting acquainted with things. Manage to improvise with cable ties and an old inner tube and slow the leak considerably. I think that surely there must be a stop valve somewhere and took a cover off at the bottom of the tank. And there is a stop valve! … anyway 24 hours later and the pipe work has been properly repaired. Heating back on. Actually hardly any oil leaked out so no issues really. … one thing is for sure. I won’t do that again!

I have this helmet. And I checked my visor. Which is clear. And it says in very small letters: “If tinted for daytime use only” So double check if the word “if” is on your visor maybe.

Toni Basil of “Hey Mickey” fame is 81 years old today. I read it on Facebook and thought that can’t be right. But I’ve googled and I think actually it is … I’m feeling really old!

You’re correct. I was going to keep it. And I turned down part exchange offer. But then the dealer offered to put it in their showroom and sell it on my behalf for a flat rate. And at the time I knew I needed to move house and was trying not to have too much “stuff” Seemed no downside to letting them sell it. And so I agreed. And the price I received was midway between top price and what I would have got for trade in. And it sold fairly quickly. All good. And now I’ve noticed it up for top money in another dealership … I hadn’t considered that it might just have been sold between dealers. Actually now you suggest that, I reckon that’s what has probably happened. Just to be clear. I’m not in any way tempted to buy it back again. I wouldn’t mind a second bike now I’ve moved and more settled. But it would be something different.

Here’s the thing. And the reason for the question. And you can all laugh. It is fine. So I sold my bike last year. And it stood in the showroom for a couple of months. And I’ve recently noticed it is for sale again. Up with another dealer and presumably stuck in another showroom. … and I was worrying about my old bike lol. Yeah ridiculous I know. I’m not even the immediately previous owner.

It crossed my mind that bikes in dealers are often left for long periods. And if there is stale fuel left in the system surely this might cause issues. So do dealers drain the fuel? Does anyone know? Also there would potentially be a fire hazard I would think. Bit of a random question I know. But it was puzzling me. And I thought that someone on here would probably know.

I feel a lot of sympathy for Benders relative. When I was young in the 70s I don’t think the police were as pernickety. For example, the L plate on my Fizzie was literally the L cut from an L plate and stuck on the top part of the rear shock. Bore no resemblance to an L plate. But nobody pulled me. … nowadays everything seems different. And does public opinion of the police no favours. And they seem to have different rules depending on the vehicle. For example I saw a new Ferrari today with no front numberplate. Now if I took the front number plate off my Mini I bet I would get pulled