Rollingskies

Thanks guys. Very surprised to see a thread, many thanks for those who wrote. 25. Hmmmm. Bet some of you wish you could be that age, but I feel I'm getting old. I just wish I could slow the clock down! I got a call from the bike garage to say my bike is ready to be picked up today (it failed its MOT). Bill is £205. A good birthday present? Well, at least I get the bike back and it's safe to ride again. Front brakes were corroded, binding and worn!

Yep, agreed with above. Biker at fault and lorry driver at fault. Therefore damages should be limited. But with the biker being more vulnerable and the lorry driver clearly knowing that cross into the opposite road could lead to a collision and it would be reasonable to expect this the damages should be reduced to 80% or something. As you say, if it was a test the lorry driver would fail and the biker probably wouldn't even get a minor.

Very sensible. Unfortunately it's Britain we are talking about here. Logic, sense, efficiency and practicality doesn't have to be present.

So if Scotland wants to be independent from Britain, why I can't I hold a vote in my street and if we decide we want independence, we will become a nation and I'll be it's president if everyone in the street is happy. I think that's just as fair. If Scotland can declare independence from Britain, my country, then my street can declare independence and become its own country. If I was Orkney I'd be going independent and lay claim to all those oil wells Salmond has his eyes set upon! Clearly Kirkwall has far more right to them than Edinburgh.

It's a 1.6 Active. It was 6 years old on purchase, from a dealer with 6 months tax and MOT. I was shocked to get a bill like this after the (2nd) MOT, but apparently they are not allowed to take the wheels off when doing the MOT and so would not have seen it. I have always been careful with overheating. It has never overheated, but just seems to be needing more and more water these days. And yes there is froth on the oil cap.

Apprently the pistons seized in the calipers if anyone knows about that. So basically the worn out brakes couldn't even work.

Before I narrate let me explain how upset I am and why I hate cars so much too. I'll keep the figures calculations brief as possible I bought my 2004 Vauxhall Astra November 2010 for £2,000. Insurance was £1,400. (That was the cheapest I could get having just passed my test age 23). In the year I spent £500 on repairs and £115 on 6 months tax. So that's at £4,015 In October 2011 I taxed my car for a year £210. The car failed it's MOT. It also needed 4 new tyres. This cost £600. I then insured it for a year at £650 (with my wonderful 1 years no claims bonus). So that's £5,475. I'm so short of cash. Then this happens. I leave for work this morning and admittedly late and going quick arrive at my t-junction at the end of my road approaching too fast at 30mph, I touch the brakes seeing the car on the main road cross in front and nothing else around knowing it was clear enough to then follow behind. Nothing happened. I stamped the brakes as I headed towards his driver's side door and yanked the wheel with all my might and threw the car out of my road and into oncoming traffic in the other lane - just missing him. It had to be black ice. I jumped out car in the middle of the wrong side of the road and tested the tarmac. It was fine, although there was sleet falling. I was almost shaking. I turned and looked at my car traffic building up behind it. I didn't want to get back into it. Eventually I relieved the traffic and dumped it on the grass at the junction. Nursing it home I left it to my Dad and took the train. I picked it up in the evening with a £470 bill for new front brake discs, brake pads, brake calipers, brake pipes and fluid. The mechanic said it was so dangerous to drive. Yep, so that's now £5,945. Ok I was fortunate. No crash, no injuries and no claims bonus still intact. When I arrived home I put in 4 litres of water into my nearly overheating engine, having only put in about 4 litres 100 miles ago. Head gasquet? Who knows. I really need some sympathy.

Like littlecat - have you tried kid sizes? I see kids on motorbikes with the full leathers. That failing all a certain auction site does made to measure leathers. I know because I nearly ordered one myself - and it doesn't need to be made in China. That said my sister got her wedding dress made in China and it was perfection - a proper designer copy for £150. You can get fully kitted up. Just requires some time looking to find the right one for you.

Never downshift using engine braking only if the reason you need to slow down is unexpected. You will get killed. If I am riding alone with no traffic I will take roundabouts with engine braking, but if there is traffic around I do tap the brakes just to make the light come on. Trouble is people can check to the right and take their eyes off the road because you are still accelerating as far as they can tell because they see no brake light out of the corner of their eye. I personally, given plenty of braking time and not in heavy traffic, release the throttle, (possible brake), clutch in drop 2 gears, clutch out, ride, (possible brake) clutch in drop a gear (possibly 2), clutch out, ride.

Great job. It's a feeling very special.

Congrats!

Well it doesn't beat it.

From wiki: "Initially all potential recruits are required to attend a series of entrance/aptitude tests and interviews at the Armed Forces Careers office (AFCO) to assess the suitability of all applicants. A series of physical assessments are also conducted including a hearing test, sight test and drug test in the form of a urine sample. As well as two 1.5 mile runs (2.4 km) the first to be completed within 12 minutes 30 seconds with 1 minute break before another 1.5 mile run to be completed at best effort but under 10 minutes 00 seconds, both set at a 2 degree incline on a running machine. For Potential Officers the times are 8 minutes 30 seconds and 10 minutes 30 seconds respectively." Did it on my second attempt. A 9:10. Really pleased with that. Get fit soon and have another go.

Wow nicely written first off, that didn't take 5 minutes and a good story to share. You handled that really well, many people would easily have snapped long before and the guy sounds like he has really tried to get you to "cross the line". If you have the support of your colleagues and management then everything will go well and eventually he'll either get sacked or everyone will make it intolerable for him to work with. You deserve a good cold beer and some chill time.

Agreed Aaron. The reason Africa has had millions pumped into it and yet remains in poverty is purely down to corruption. People in the west really have absolutely no idea what corruption is in a country until they live and see it every day and how utterly devastating it is to an economy. Japan rose from th depths of nothingness in 30 years to being a superpower with the latest technology everywhere. Germany under Adolf Hitler went from recession to nearly taking over the world. You could give £1 trillion completely free to Kenya and it will not become a wealthy country neither will it be a developed one. You could fine Japan £1 trillion and while they would have it hard they wouldn't turn into a country like Africa. Now, If I work hard I deserve the reward. That's capitalism. If I work hard my neighbour, who cannot be bothered gets just as much as me - that's something nearer communism. I ask this question again. As a young professional in the cheapest area of the country why cannot I own my own home and yet a 16 year old kid who has had a baby, she has no qualifications or future gets her own home fully furnished and all expenses paid by ME and you? What is the point of wages and reward if those who work hard have it taken away to be given to those who make their choice in life?

I'll presume the above is no joke. I have worked in rural Kenya in my student days for and I was actually only back out there in September and I know what poverty is and probably have a better understanding than most people on here and I don't need to look online for pictures. I am not comparing myself to the disabled people covered in wounds, eating out of rubbish dumps and keeping their wretched frames moving on this earth by what we wouldn't feed our dogs that I have witnessed many times, I am comparing myself to those in this society, namely Britain. Of course I am well off compared to the children dying of famine in Somalia or the aids sufferers all over Africa. I am even well off for Britain - I actually have a job and own a bike and a car etc etc, but that isn't the point.

It depends what grade it is. A grade 3 will leave you in crutches. I suffered a grade 3 when I was abroad in a sprint race a few years ago, leg blew up and I couldn't walk to save my life. It was agony and I was up for the first couple of nights in acute pain. This site is good: http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cyber ... strain.htm

They are all the same. No-one will cut benefits of any size to any group - that'd be seen as attacking the vulnerable, robbing the poor etc. The ones who earn a hard wage have more money (obviously) and they are part of the system of bad people who need to have their income reduced. Taxes are like fines. It is criminal to earn a good wage and you are fined every month. It is also a criminal offence to buy luxury goods and as for holidays and flights abroad that's about as bad as murder and deserves 100% fines of the value of the activity. Don't even get me started on fuel and cars. Taxes are necessary, high taxation is morally wrong. I am an accountant and I see a lot of people who work really hard and get walloped with all sorts of taxes. If you work hard you deserve the profit, not a big tax fine. We now live in a country where it is not possible for a single person to earn a good salary and own his own home (yeah that's me), but a 16 year old girl who has a kid gets her own flat kitted out with every mod con she needs. My neighbout was 16 when she had her first kid and has her own flat and all. I've worked my guts out hard at uni, gradiated with piles of debt and now I get up early and work really hard at a job an hours drive away and when I come home to my parents house after spending more than 10% of my income on the petrol (of which 60% is VAT and duty) to get to work and back I realise that by the time I scratch a deposit together the house prices will have risen beyond my reach - and I live in just about the cheapest place in the whole of the UK to buy a house. It hurts and it makes me angry. Why am I being punished for doing what everyone else should do? It's absolutely absurd going out getting kids at 16 and then expecting the state to fund your life. It isn't right.

Gutted for you. However, I kept my promise and before I did circuits training this evening I did the 1.5 mile in 9:43. So a bit out of the para time - but it was my first attempt. I'll see if I can get it within the time over the next few weeks. Don't rush getting back in - or you will be out for months. A hamstring needs at least 3 weeks with careful light exercise in that time.

Congrats. Enjoy the bike.

Hope it goes well. I ran my own PB in a 10k last week of 49:43. I haven't tried doing a 1.5 mile time. I might give it a try and see if I'd make it! I think I'd make the army time of 10:30, maybe not.

Bikes don't have a front plate.

Re-read my post and read the small print. I bet there is hardly a person on this forum who hasn't hit 90 on a public road if they have a big bike. I'm sure many people here will have done 100 at some point. Accidently is as good as purposely, - speeding is a statutory offence.

Extraordinary poll result. I never thought we were all so good at not getting caught.

My ZX6r conks out if you do it with the stand up. A very useful tip if you are buying one like I did and wonder whats wrong with the engine when it conks out continuously on selecting 1st.