Throttled

I do intend to do some tags, but between work, weather and illness (not the virus) I have been lucky to get out for an hour a week. I want to do a part of the UK I have never been to, so down south somewhere.

This video about build quality may influence your decision

It was a car I had, that was in an accident with a deer which did quite a lot of front end damage and so it was an insurance job in a recommended garage. I found that part of the metal work that had been replaced had included the VIN plate, so that was now missing and parts of the bumper and radiator cover had been cable tied on. I took it back, showed the owner, who thanked me for going to him first and not the insurance company. It was all properly fixed, including a trip for him to the scrappy to find the VIN plate, so it could go back onto the car, and I got a free service.

Running a couple of Nextbases. Very good picture and features, even with basic models. Just watch out for the bump facility, that switches on if it detects movement. It flattened one car's battery by thinking closing its door was the car being bumped into.

Wave at all other bikers, including scooterers. If you do not get a response, hunt them down.

Having tried various brands, I repeat buy now. Shark Evoline and AGV K3SV.

I bought a Yamaha YBR125, becoming the fourth owner with it on 4000 miles. I traded it in after 10 months, having doubled the mileage to 8000, and got only £100 less than I bought it for. I spent a lot of time keeping it in good condition, especially rust, as most of my ownership was during the winter months and I was using it most days.

I freewheel down a path and start the bike when I get to the roadway, then it is down hill for the first part, so I don't bother warming the engine first as it has an easy start to any journey.

I like the way you loop the chain round the seat and wheel.

As a retired cop, I am unaware of any such law and in all my years in the job was never called to a complaint about someone washing a car or bike in a public place. I presently live where none of the houses have a drive and there is a communal car park and lots of car washing and repair work goes on without any issues.

Nob of the day is the driver of an old silver Rover 75 estate, who saw me and still pulled out in front of me.

The last time I saw her on TV, she did look an odd colour. I believe it was a weird and very rare cancer. So sad and apparently there will be a tribute in Top Gear this Sunday.

Took the thermal lining out of my jacket and trousers, cleaned the chain and rode to Halfords.

What I get from the video is that all of the engines will work for years, with the exception of the Chinese brand Yin Xiang and that Royal Enfield has seriously upped their game.

A test, by youtuber Fortnine, whereby first change oil from brand new bikes were sent for analysis to find out which bike is built to the best tolerances and in the cleanest conditions. The flaw in the test is that the sample size was tiny. One maker produced results so bad, it broke the machine used to analyse the oil. The winner was....unexpected.

£56,800. Maybe time to start doing the lottery again.

Sorted out a better tool kit, ordered a Dynaplug puncture kit and rode it.

My cousin was given a lift by another god of Prog Rock, Greg Lake in his Jensen Interceptor. What was Rick Wakeman driving?

Rick Wakefield? The bearded bloke who was in that band "No"?

A friend bought a flat in a conversion from a large old house, and discovered a socket that was not through his electricity meter. It was amazing what he ran off it!

Today the biker had his back to the road, otherwise I would give them a nod.

Lots, all work vans, Renault and Peugeot. They are perfect for the work we do and with the slowing down and stopping, I can do a 34 mile route on 27 miles of electricity. They are not as quiet as you would think, due to road noise, but compared to the diesels they are far more reliable. I have been a passenger in some Tesla Model 3s and like the vans, they work better in the city and traffic. Lots of range tests are on the motorway, which does not benefit from regeneration. Also, like the vans, they are not as quiet as expected, due to road noise. Even a half decent petrol/diesel car will cruise in virtual silence. Our problem at home is communal carparking and I contacted my local MSP and there is no plan yet to install chargers. Even a plug in hybrid would be useless for us as most of the time it would have to run off petrol and lug about a heavy battery with no charge in it.

Very tempted to switch to Dynaplug. The tyre repair kit I have carried for years in filthy and I wonder if the strings go off after a while?

Out today and saw a biker stopped at the side of the road. In the past I would have stopped to make sure they are OK, but this guy was on his mobile, so if he needed help, he was likely arranging it. That made me think, I have not stopped to see if a biker is OK for years now and it is because of mobile phones. Do you stop?

This goes back to the first lockdown; https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/uncategorised/lockdown-stopped-470k-covid-19-deaths-in-uk-say-researchers/ "Lockdown measures have had a ‘large effect’ in controlling the Covid-19 outbreak, leading to 470,000 deaths being avoided in the UK, according to new research. It comes as the UK death toll from the virus has exceeded 40,000 – more than double the 20,000 deaths that the UK’s chief scientific advisor said in mid-March would be a ‘good outcome’"