curlylegend

Riding in the rain is just pure shite ! Move to a different country....

They're not bird brains for nothing.....

And how about sheer idiocy, which has no age limits at all ?

At least these people aren't as bad as the scoundrels that used to prey on people on the Scotch Riviera during the Glasgow Fair when Maw, Paw and the weans went Doon the Watter for their annual holiday. These guys used to hang about the promenades clicking cameras at people and persuading them to part with a token deposit of usually half a crown. Then they gave out a card with the address where the photos could be collected from in a couple of days. Which was completely bogus !

Watch out for the photographers on the bends near the top. They have a signboard so you can contact their website, put in the date and approximate time and you'll find yourself featured. Not very expensive, paper photos and/or digital download.

There's a tree near Hadrian's wall that's recently been chopped down. Seems a shame not to get some use out of it ?

I love my Sat Nav ! But by god they can be a pain in the arse sometimes ? But maybe not as bad as standing at a cross roads in the pouring rain with a hurricane blowing, trying to stop a paper map turning itself into either confetti or paper mache.

Talking about Garmin, has anybody had the frustrating experience of trying to update a set of maps from garmin and being told it will take about 10 hours to download ? Have any TomTom users had experiences like this ?

The fact that they've arrested an adult as well seems to indicate more than mindless vandalism. But it was only a tree after all. Plant two more !

In the earlies Eighties a chap called Peter Sellars (no kidding !) was a customer of ours. He had previously been a designer for BMW in Munich and had worked on the design of the E30 3-Series. He had also designed a Modular Motor Cycle Helmet that was just about to go into production in Italy I believe. He was living in the South of Scotland at the time and was riding in to our workshop when he was stopped by a couple of Strathclyde's Finest. A particularly anal one was admiring the helmet he was wearing which was actually the prototype of the one going into production but which hadn't been subjected to UK testing. Hence no BSI kite mark ! He was fined £50.00 at Ayr Sheriff Court. Less than two years later all Strathclyde motorcycle cops were wearing the identical helmet !

I'm one of these awkward characters who just can't get comfortable in a full face helmet. It's not for the want of trying. Over the years I've tried helmets from the cheap and cheerful to the ridiculously expensive. But I've always felt much more comfortable in an open face helmet especially with a short peak to cut out the sun shining in my eyes. Of course, in those days I wore a variety of goggles which were pretty effective. However as I got older my eyesight deteriorated enough to make spec wearing advisable. Now I never got into prescription lensed goggles....I wasn't that rich ! So I got my first full face helmet and it was a revelation being able to wear specs and even hook up speakers to listen to music. But eventually the limited side vision and in those days the crap quality visors put me off. I eventually got a Cromwell Jet open face helmet with five studs which allowed me to fit a single curvature face screen with a short peak sun visor above. This was almost perfect, I could wear my specs and because it was so open there was little problems with misting. I was using a BMW R100 RT at the time with a very effective windshield but on any other bikes the wind noise around the Cromwell was pretty awful. After a gap in my motorcycling for over fifteen years I got back into it and this time I bought an open face helmet with a flip up face shield. These were just coming onto the market in the late Eighties and modular helmets weren't even legal in the UK at that time. But I can't find any way to attach a peak to it ! Sure it's got a flip down darkened screen but that doesn't really do what I want. Try this...... put your helmet on and look down the road in strong sunlight and note what you're seeing. Now just shade your eyes with your hand to simulate a visor and notice just how much better your vision is. With a darkened screen all your doing is reducing ALL light reaching your eyes and you loose a lot of contrast. So what this long ramble is leading up to is, does anyone out there know of a solution to my problem ? Funny answers are acceptable, I do have a sense of humour... P.S. I now live in France, not wet and gloomy Scotland and sunshine is a force to be reckoned with here.

In France, motos are exempt....so far.... from Controle Technique ( MOT) The reasoning I've heard, not official I'm sure, is that Motards look after their machines because if they mess up and neglect them they could end up paying with their lives. Which is a kind of harsh way of getting ignorant sods off the road. But I'm sure it's only a matter of time before France falls into line with most of Europe. Damn, there's money to be made here ! And pardon my ignorance, but what model is that you've got ?

Maybe a bit off topic, but is it true that in Germany a conviction for speeding will only be successful if the automatic camera has recorded an image of the driver ? So I can't figure out how they can prosecute motorcyclists? Helmets and no front number plates ? Maybe they just shoot you ?

Twelve years now and quite settled. I was actually planning a trip to Africa via Spain this year but the bloody plague put a stop to that ! Damn ! You've got your carte de sejours sorted? Not yet. Before this Brexit thing, we were told because we had passeports which clearly stated we were citizens of the European Community we didn't need Cartes de Residence or carte de sejour, particularly as we are retired. But now we've to get some sort of modified carte de residence. Which was fine until the powers that be decided to close the departement until Octobre ! What can you say about French Bureaucracy ? They invented it ! Are you well emplaced in Spain ? You're not one of those crime lords waiting for the door to be kicked in at 3am, are you ? And how's your Spanish ?

I thought the red line was just an advisory thing like speed limits. A friend turned up one day with his first motorcycle and asked me about the rev counter. " The guy that sold it to me was going on about something called the Redline..... So when is it I change gear ? When the needle goes into it or when the needle goes past it ? "

I kind of know what you mean. A long time ago I used to be a member of a rather esoteric cycling club who organised very long distance rides, 400km, 600 km, 1200km etc. This meant cycling through the night a lot, frequently short of sleep. As the club was an off-shoot of a French club the distances were all in Kilometres so in UK you had to convert road sign distances to stay on track of your navigation.... no sat nav then ! At night, when I was feeling a bit sleepy, I would do some mental distance conversions and found this kept me sharp enough to cycle. But by cycling buddy was the exact opposite. When he got sleepy, even trying to hold a conversation was too much for his concentration and when he stopped replying to you you knew he was tired so you didn't talk to him, just let him ride.

Transvestites ? I've never ridden one of them. Who makes them ? How long you been in France? Cos I'm 15 years in Spain! Twelve years now and quite settled. I was actually planning a trip to Africa via Spain this year but the bloody plague put a stop to that ! Damn !

So yours is a Mk2 ? That is a fair amount of oil consumption. What type of oil do you use ? And is it leaking significantly ? And finally are we getting off topic ? It's a good quality (shell? Can't remember exactly) semi synth. No leaks, no smoking. From what I've read its on the higher side of consumption but not uncommon. Possible light misting in line with the description for the output shaft seal, so will check that first but might just be something to live with. Yes, it's odd isn't it ? It seems that some do and some don't ? I did hear that first usage from new... what used to be called "running in"... had a bearing on it. No proof though.

So yours is a Mk2 ? That is a fair amount of oil consumption. What type of oil do you use ? And is it leaking significantly ? And finally are we getting off topic ? I wouldn't worry too much about going off topic.....it's fairly relaxed here. For example, I put up a thread a couple of days ago about changing the bike and it's now reached page 4 with the discussion somehow moved onto the subject of transvestites. Transvestites ? I've never ridden one of them. Who makes them ?

I have a TDM 900 and cannot say I am so restrictive on revs, the rest I fully agree with. TDM's are very popular here in France and they're nearly always flying past me at seriously illegal speeds !

Blimey, that is older than Xtreme. Until now I wasn't sure that even possible Aye, it's possible, don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't take recreational drugs, stay away from lewd people and remember, when you go out at night, wear white !

OK, I first saw the light of day thirty years after the end of the Great War. So please forgive any cock-ups I make here, I just getting used to it. Top Man! And I was born exactly one week before Roger Bannister ran the first sub four minute mile! So April 1954 ? Jings, you'll remember BSA Bantams and Triumph Tiger Cubs, maybe even Triumph Terriers ? And all the other junk we got before the Japanese showed the world how to make motorcycles....... will people be upset by me saying that ?

I was aware of the earlier version's appetite for oil but in the two years and 30,000km I've had mine, oil consumption has never been a problem. Mind you, I'm probably in a bit of a category of my own amongst TDM owners.... I really am an old fart ! I rarely take the revs over 4,000 rpm which suits the legal limit here for most main roads. I don't use Autoroutes because I'm a bloody miser and they're boring. Most of my touring is on minor back roads and deliberately avoiding tourist spots. At first, I was using pretty expensive fully synth oil but that was the only time I had to top up between oil changes. Now I stick to the manufacture's recommendation, 10W40 either straight mineral or semi -synth. but I do check the level regularly. From what I see on the estimable Carpe TDM site, if you ride it hard, it will use oil, no doubt about it ! I think it's the kind of bike you'll either get to like or you won't. I'm pretty happy with mine. Mines a 2000 year. I'm a slow rider but I do like to open her up now and again, for the sound as much as anything. Uses about half a litre for a thousand miles, so I check oil after every run . Bought an output shaft oil seal to see if that helps. I quite like the bike but not overly sold on it at the moment. So yours is a Mk2 ? That is a fair amount of oil consumption. What type of oil do you use ? And is it leaking significantly ? And finally are we getting off topic ?

Hi......what do you class as "old"? Spit out the number my man! The higher the number.....the better I'll feel about myself! OK, I first saw the light of day thirty years after the end of the Great War. So please forgive any cock-ups I make here, I just getting used to it.

St Pere en Retz, west of Nantes in France for me, please.