Steve_M

I see a number of enquiries from new riders. Here’s a link to a site that may well provide answers. The “Ask Andy” section seems a bit of a risk, mind. New Rider Hub

I fell for this on Wednesday. The pump at Newcastleton asks your maximum budget for fuel. I thought “sod it” and hit £80. Only when I checked my account that night did I see it ring fenced. It can also happen when touring abroad. A guy I know ran out of available money on one card over the course of a few days as they were retaining €100 each time. It took a couple of weeks before the difference appeared in his account.

Greetings on this fine St George’s day.

Any incident where someone is reversing tends to put the responsibility fully on the person reversing. I learnt this a couple of years ago when I was driven into while reversing in a car park. Mrs angry came round a corner at speed and wasn’t able to stop before hitting my car yet I got the blame. From an insurers point of view, anything that materially affects the risk can result in “average” being applied. I wouldn’t wear an illegal visor my own safety anyway. My Neotec has a flip down dark visor so it’s a moot point.

Sure, all good, thanks. A few scratches on the engine crash bars. It’s a GS. Might even add value Finally ended up at St Abbs. A lovely spot.

Dropped the bloody thing. I stopped near Jedburgh to take a photo, put it on the side stand not noticing that the ground sloped forward slightly. Bloody thing rolled forward a couple of inches and slowly deposited itself on the ground with me taking as much weight as I could to ease the impact. No harm done but FFS… Anyway, here’s the photo.

I enjoyed his appearance on HIGNFY.

We’ve agreed that, though I’ve fitted three kitchens in the past, we’re going to let the professionals loose on our new kitchen. It’ll take them about a month vs probably double that if I did it. Have fun.

An Englishman, Indian and American walk into a bar. Barman, “Your usual Mr Sunak?”

I'm getting annoyed with people moaning about the cost of things. £3.50 for a coffee, £1.95 for a tea, £2.95 for a cupcake. If I hear any more complaints I'm going to stop inviting people round.

Agree. The government, apparently, has plans* … BBC article * no rude political comments please.

Is there any documentation covering this question? The key contention seem to me to be the construction and disposal of batteries. The batteries, I understand, can be repurposed at end of EV life for solar panel energy storage (Tesla only?). On the other side of the balance sheet is less energy used moulding, casting and forming great lumps of metal to create the engine, gearbox and drivetrain. The rest of the construction can’t be that different can it? I’d like to understand the balance sheet before committing. /Edit/. Not that it’s likely to be a question for some while… ££££’s

I’d like an EV but we’re pushing the available funds to their limit with the house renovation and making it more energy efficient (eg. we’re spending nigh on £9k to have the wooden sash windows double glazed and draught proofed. That was never in the budget).

Nope. There’s a drain hole at the lowest point of my exhaust, and I try not to point the jet wash down the exhaust.

What is this “chain” of which you speak.

15 panels @380w The battery is 8kwh We have yet to arrange a feed in contract but should be looking at around 6p /kWh for any juice after usage and the battery is full. 6p, in my mind, being a bit of a rip off considering they’ll resell it at 30p

Day one of having panels on the roof. So far, so good. They were fitted and operational by mid afternoon yesterday. It was cloudy and any sun was from the south west (the panels face south east). Even in that short space of available light they generated 5Kwh of electricity. They’re currently generating over 3kwh and most is going into the battery. Though the App seems to be poor at arithmetic and has rounding errors.

Washing the bike is my least favourite part of ownership so I’m all for snowfoam and jet wash, followed by a once over with a cheap car shampoo using a sponge if required. I am cautious with how I use the jet wash, though, keeping it a decent distance from moving parts, electrics etc. I occasionally use waterless wipes to clean the “dark side” of the frame rails as they’re tricky to get to by any other means. So far, so good…

Goodnight.

To be honest, they were free shares which I can’t trade through my online account. I’ve had them since the company floated and can’t be arsed to go through the hassle to get rid. The dividend most years will pay for a couple of day’s fuel when touring. I may flog them if I get desperate (ie. we run out of funds to complete the house renovation).

I’ve done a week in France, solo, with pretty well just a large tank bag. Containing 7 Tee shirts, underwear, socks and one pair walking trousers, as well as my wash bag items. Map in map pocket (pre satnav days), wallet in bum bag and disc lock in tank bag pocket. I had a roll up all in one “boil in the bag” waterproof which I strapped to the rear seat. Nowadays I tour with my good lady, first tour had total of 90l of luggage. She packed far, far too much (eg. she packed a thick sweater in case it got cold in the Alps) so it was a bit of a squeeze. Last 2 week tour we had 30l space each, providing 10 days* worth of changes + clothes for the evening, with waterproofs, maps, etc. in the topbox, leaving room for a lunchtime picnic snack. *we stop at a hotel that has service wash option around day 7 or 8 so we dump the clothes on the evening then collect them washed and dry the next day. We started this approach when we discovered the local laundry outside Zel Am See offered the service.

Looks a good itinerary. The joys of breaking it down to smaller days’ riding gives you chance to do things off the bike or explore some of the “off route” options. We spent a couple of hours exploring Inverewe gardens in 2016, and still had time to amble up to our hotel.

So the total value of my shares should, all other things being equal after all the dust has settled, be worth the same as they are now? As I said, I only hold a small number of shares which I’m holding on to because the dividend is a better return than money in the bank.