Essem

It was the lack of reason which struck me. They wanted full shift for a team, even though it only required 3 or 4 for less than an hour. It often seems that industrial disputes are meeting of unreasonable people on all sides of the fence, which is unfortunate as everyone loses out in the long run.

Back in the 80s the survey ship I worked on pulled into Aberdeen to pick up a few people. Whilst in we decided to take on some food supplies. The dockers union rep said we had to book something like 6 guys for 6 hours. So a few of us loaded the stores ourselves in half an hour. Mucho shouting, company resulted in the company took their trade elsewhere after that.

Recently travelled from midlands to Bordeaux return by train. Using TGV in France, rule of thumb was that for similar price you can travel twice the distance, at twice the speed, for much the same fare. And in France your seat is booked, no standing, none of this 8 carriages of 1st class with 3 economy.

On motorways if traffic stationary, watch for drivers doors being opened, particularly trucks. Also watch for knobs in slow mwah traffic who will try and block you, few, but does happen.

Good info re debit as unmanned stations are very popular in France and I wasn’t aware of that gotcha. I should get my act together re puncture, something to get to next town would be enough. I always used to use NatWide debit when touring because they made no charge to use, but that changed years ago. So I opened a French bank account for Brits which I stick Euros in when rates are good, and use that card whilst touring, seems to avoid many hassles, Think it’s much harder to get French account now, post Bxt and all. A completely nutty one in Spain, which I did not believe until I tried it. Due to high prices the gov introduced a temporary scheme whereby you get/got a refund of about 10% when filling up. But it was only applied if you pay at the desk, doesn’t get applied if pay at the pump.

Was in Spain and France a month ago, bike trip around Picos and Pyrenees. I took printed copies of COVID vaccination status (also had app on phone, but paper nice fail safe), was only needed to get on ferry leaving Portsmouth. More hassle with doc checks UK side than France or Spain in the two trips this year using Britt ferries. Took some face masks, a few places were still asking for them to be used. bike paperwork required same as has been forever - v5 and cert of insurance. I got the gov EHIC replacement health card, but have some separate ‘get me home’ insurance. that’s it, beyond a few bits of paper it’s no big deal. Biggest concern is what to do in event of breakdown - was with two mates in Picos but solo in Pyrenees - and took the attitude of worry about that if it happens. my vodaphone charges have increased - I use mobile phone as sat nav on bike, so maps hitting data volume, but it was up by a few quid for the month. Can save that by judicious fuelling off motorways. I had to ‘make progress’ along motorways in France and Spain on two days, was refreshing to have clear lanes and ride at a decent pace. Lots of locals cruising at 90 odd.

650 vstrom, over 70mpg if ridden very carefully, 60+ ridden day to day speeds

This sounds like you are almost agreeing with me - it used to be the case that it was far too easy to end up on poorly designed bikes (tyres, brakes, power delivery, handling) and only discover this when things went pear shaped. Everyone from my era went down that path and learned the hard way. The unlucky few, and it was a few, ended up dead or bent. Rules were changed (training, tiered tests), technology improved (frame geometry, suspension, brakes, tyres, software control) and there is almost no chance of ending up on a bike which is hiding a suite of dangers. The biggest danger is the person in control. If they are a knob, they’ll be a knob on a moped.

I don’t agree with your assertion that it is too easy for the inexperienced to unwittingly end up on a bike too powerful for them. But ignoring that, what would be your proposed solution?

Way back when I started out riding bikes, there were many features which could easily get you into trouble. Things like 2 strokes with power bands which were effectively on/off switches coupled with brakes and tyres which were lethal in the wet. Not to mention poor handling, elastic frames, speed wobbles. In the 90s we saw major improvements in tyres, brakes, handling; all needed for the rocketship performance which became available. These days, generally, the performance hasn’t increased that much over bikes from the 90s, but the technology to keep everything right side up has seen big improvements. The gradient of the path to a full licence is shallower than it was back when I took off the L plates - I had zero training beyond copying and talking to mates. These days, there is no way you get to ride a powerful bike without having undergone a lot of training. If someone ends up on a modern, powerful bike and gets into trouble, it’s much less likely to be because they were unprepared than it ever was in previous times. As someone who has been riding bikes since the mid 70s, I would say the biggest dangers to a rider are that cars have undergone a big increase in performance, they’re often in the hands of knobheads, and traffic volume has increased massively. There have always been and always will be knobheads, banning powerful bikes/cars won’t change that.

A follow up on this thread. I was happy enough with the K2, good video quality (for the purpose of evidence in accident). However, the control unit failed and I have found the company INNOVV to be a brick wall when it comes to after sales support. Their FBook page is full of glowing reports from customers, that has not been my experience.

You’ve never been on touring trip before? if yes, can you say what bike(s) are involved, and what experience you have on them. if newbies, keep days short, stay in hotels.

650 vstrom is excellent all rounder, 65-70 mpg unless you thrash it - I’ve had under 40 sitting high speeds on french auto route chasing a ferry. Stick to normal traffic speeds and you get 65 ish. Comfy enough for long days. I only do 1 up touring, wouldn’t fancy a passenger, not enough grunt. Brakes and suspension are nothing special, but good for the price.

I would charge the battery anyway, if you’ve been spinning the starter motor it will have reduced the charge in the battery and charging it is an easy one. if bike was on its side any reluctance to start is most likely fuel rather than sparks. then the usual path is to check there is fuel in tank and that any taps are on. Remove spark plug(s) and make sure they are not sooted up. If you suspect motor was flooded with fuel, you can open throttle wide and spin motor a few times with throttle wide open whilst plug(s) are removed, or just have a cup of tea and leave bike standing with plugs removed. Then check for a spark by putting plug into its cap and touch the plug to engine case and spin the motor, looking for a spark. Front locking up - you want to get that checked out before using out on road. Could be something related to how you were riding at time, but definitely establish there’s nothing amiss with front wheel and brakes before taking on road.

Same here - pattern developing. I use WhatsApp with friends and family, and am in 4 orums like this which map onto my hobbies/interests. Twitter and Facebook are not for me. On topic, when governments take over the press and media and impose draconian laws against free speech, it tells you all you need to know. An important aspect of a functional democracy, IMHO, is for losers being able to acknowledge/accept defeat. Russia lost the plot on that one 20 years ago, and dictatorships always seem to travel a similar path.

Back in the day before retiring I was involved in a survey offshore (oil) Sakhalin island and a few of us had a few days ashore on mainland Russia. It was like time travel. Amazing how a country can have nukes at one end and medieval living standards at the other.

Even then it doesn’t always follow. There’s a bit of a road just up from village where I live, big straight with a hidden dip and about 4 side roads. End of straight goes into series of sharp curves with double whites down the middle. See nutters taking chances most days, overtaking late and crossing double whites. There’s a fatal every year. I’d like to see more convictions for driving like a twat rather than just a blanket breaking of a speed limit.

Boris was in Saudi, a very different country to UAE where the company which owns P&O are based.

Heard some ex-nato general type saying the Iskander missile launchers in Kaliningrad are reckoned to be targeted at 300 European cities. I reckon long term survival of those may be possible, but if they start throwing the ICBMs around I want to be on top of a hill with a bottle of malt and watch the last show before I’m vapourised. F’ing politicians, really bad idea letting them be in charge.

You really don’t want government in charge of fracking

In the Middle East the intentions were to depose despotic dictatorships to allow a path for democracy. Russia has invaded an independent sovereign state. Russia has shut down any media that is not run by the state, and made it illegal to say anything other than the state “special exercise” instead of war. In the UK we have a free press, you could find many different opinions in our medi about Iraq invasion. Russia has chosen military as it’s weapon of choice. The democracies have chosen sanctions as their weapon of choice. It’s too far gone for either to back down now. what an f’in mess.

When I started going to mainland Europe in 80s I once pulled in for fuel to a garage on left side of rural road. When I pulled out I did the classic and remained on left side of road, must have gone a few hundred metres before car came around corner ahead of me. Luckily there was enough room to just go across to right side. Early lesson learned. I always pull in on right hand side now. be aware of priorite a droite in France, it’s still around and can catch the unwary.

I fitted one of these a few years ago, does what it says on the tin. Only minor hassle is that if you want to get video off you have to take the memory card out which is fiddly.

>…. tangible for your money, just something-with a perceived value. money itself has no tangible value.

way back in the 80s I used to dabble in Enduro and trail riding. One mate was very good on a dirt bike, and one day crossing an open moor he left the rest of us in his wake. I asked him how he did this and remain upright, and specifically whereabouts he looked ahead - 5m, 25m ? He reckoned the trick was not to look near, but look far, and don’t look for every hole or rock (which is what I did). He looked further ahead, went as quick as he could, and just dealt with problems as they occurred rather than look for them and attempt avoid. Philosophy for life there.