Fiddlesticks

In the cycling world they would quote the "n+1 rule" : While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.

Congrats! It's a great feeling.

Just bought my second!

Hi there

Don't know about Banbury but good luck anyway. I stalled on my MOD2, just out of the test centre. Still passed though.

Those extra 5m would probably make the difference in my case. On a good day I can read the number plate at the required distance, but have been known to get it wrong. Wore glasses to my MOD 2 (Chester) as a precaution.

A reminder popped up on my phone yesterday. Time to tax the Volvo. Oh well, nothing so certain in life as death and taxes, so they say. I go online, where the first thing it wants to know is, do you have a reminder letter from the DVLA with a reference number on it. - I don't. No matter. You can use the number on the owners document. That's if you have it... Cue a complete reorganisation of the home filing system and a minor falling out with Mrs. Fiddlesticks when I put her childhood letter from the Queen on the wrong pile of papers. -I don't have that either. Hmm. No problem. You can just use the new keeper Green Slip, which of course will have been given to you when you bought the car last August. - I think you can see where this is going... Now this situation is starting to interfere with my ordinarily calm and peaceable demeanour. Despite my momentary lapse a minute ago in the case of Regina vs. Fiddlesticks, I am usually meticulous when it comes to record-keeping. - Question everything. Well, maybe not everything - there is, after all, a big ugly Swedish station wagon sitting on the drive. But the heretical imperative suggests that we should always allow our underlying presuppositions about the universe to be challenged. Coupled with the words of Sherlock Holmes - when you have eliminated the possible, etcetera... I begin to ask myself whether, in fact, this was a snafu perpetrated not by myself, but 12 months ago by a certain salesman who lacked a keen eye for the details. Did we ever have the V5C, or in old money, the log book? The more I thought about it, the more I was sure we had not. Although the dealer had taxed the car at time of sale, somehow someone else had been collecting my parking fines and speeding tickets for the past 12 months. Well, lucky them. The multi-layered telephone menu system at the DVLA connected me to a young lady who confirmed my hypothesis in the most delightful Welsh accent. You say Swansea Joke Factory, I say Smooth FM. There was only one thing left to do. I had to choose between paying £25 and requesting a new Log Book at the Post Office with a V62 form, or I could call the aforementioned sales guy and try to get this whole mess straightened out. My inner Yorkshireman took over. I'm not spending money where I don't have to. I placed the call. "Oh yes", he said, "for some reason it's not registered to you"... Before I could invoke Shelock in reply, he started punching details into his keyboard to rectify a year-long wrong. Registration... Tax... The inner Yorkshireman flew once more into action. "Whoa.. before you do this, it's the 27th today. I don't want to be buying 11 months' worth of tax for the price of 12." "Oh", he said. "You're right. If I do it today you'll be charged from the first of this month. Best to call back on Monday. We'll fix it then." And with that, all was well with the world once again. The filing system was fixed. Mrs. Fiddlesticks was no longer worried about being arrested for tax evasion as she pinged the ANPR cameras in the Mersey Tunnels. And I could make a start on a mountain of shredding. Turns out, I keep far too many useless and random bits of paper.

There's a difference between accessories and modifications. This page is quite helpful, I guess other insurance companies have similar. https://www.devittinsurance.com/motorbike-insurance/modifications-explained-accessory-or-modification/?amp=1

+1 for leeching off the neighbours wifi. Invite yourself round for a cuppa and when they're not looking take a quick photo of the back of their router where the wifi code is printed.

The Department of Transport are currently consulting on a proposal to ban sales of new non-zero emission L-category vehicles sales by 2035, and 2030 for other specified vehicles. Seeking opinions as to when the UK should stop selling new non-zero emission L-category vehicles. L-category vehicles include the following and their sub-categories: L1 – light 2-wheel powered vehicles (including mopeds) L2 – 3-wheel mopeds L3 – 2-wheel motorcycles L4 – 2-wheel motorcycles with sidecars L5 – powered tricycles L6 – light quadricycles L7 – heavy quadricycles Survey closes on 11:45pm on 21 September 2022 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/l-category-vehicles-ending-sales-of-new-non-zero-emission-models If you are interested, please add your views (survey takes about 10 minutes) so that they can be duly ignored in line with the established protocols and procedures.

I have a pair of Forma FORC50 's on my wish list. Can't vouch for them as yet, but they look all day comfortable.

I seem to have stumbled into a sailing forum. Nice bimini.

It's one thing about mine that tbh I'm not wild about. If I liked my neighbours a bit more I'd be tempted to change it.

I've bought a 12" fan and two bottles of water. Freeze both bottles, then put one in a tray of water. Blow the fan over the top. Swap them around when the first one melts. Poor man's air conditioner.

Does this qualify as an empty layby? Too hot to go far today... Or if you prefer, from the other direction.. Back down to Eastham now to listen to the music at the Tap.

Make the shed bigger.

Howdy, Doing a few checks on my 2007 XJR1300 - first bike, have had it since Feb and have put 3250 miles on it, mostly either motorway or with a pillion (or both). Chain looks like it's within the correct tolerance for tension, but 3.2mm over stretched. Brake pads down to about 2-2.5mm from what I can tell. Rear tyre has a flat profile and the tread depth which seemed pretty good at the time is getting ready for replacing. Thinking of going down the DIY route, have most of the tools, a couple of different workshop manuals and a friendly mechanic who will help me out if needed. Would you tackle all the jobs in one go? Also noticed the rubber rocker cover gasket is sweating a bit of oil when you run your finger over it after a ride. Oil levels good though, haven't topped up since buying the bike. Anything to worry about? Any words of wisdom or caution welcomed before I start tinkering in a few weeks.

Worth looking up the rules on filtering while on zigzags, approaching a crossing. (Essentially, don't overtake the lead vehicle before the crossing). When approaching a set of lights, I'm more likely to filter down the middle of two wide lanes if it looks like i can get to the head of the queue while everyone is still stationary. Once at the front between the two lead cars I can be away before everyone else. (Teslas possibly notwithstanding).

We were up at the airshow. Never seen the front so full of bikes.

Hi, Don't know anything about UM, but if you wanted a more mainstream brand you could pick up a used Kawasaki Vulcan for not too much more than your budget. Have fun window shopping.

I took my lads up to climb Ben Nevis the other weekend. There and back to the Wirral on a full tank, about £105. Still cheaper than the train, which would have cost us about £600.

Congratulations on your purchase, looks stunning. What's the story with the sissy bar, seems to be in one pic but not the other?

Off topic, but a growing number of places are refusing cash. I've come to the conclusion that either they don't trust their staff, or they view paying customers as an inconvenience. Either way, we tend to go elsewhere on principle. Once it's gone it's gone.

Smart meters. The future. Someday soon, on a calm overcast day, when our green energy revolution is languishing in bed with a hangover and there aren't enough gigawatts to go around, a man in a room in Central London filled with cigar smoke and lit by old-fashioned light bulbs will issue the immortal words, "turn off Halifax".

Nothing wrong with average gear. By definition, it will work most of the time. Add a relatively inexpensive rainproof shell and you're sorted.