Throttled

Regularly washing the bike to rid it of winter grit, crud and salt is the most effective corrosion prevention method.

It is not a police bike, it is part of Bike Safe, a police recognised motorbike safety organisation; https://bikesafe.co.uk/ "UK’s #1 POLICE-LED MOTORCYCLE SAFETY INITIATIVE BRIDGING THE GAP TO A SKILLFUL RIDE BikeSafe is a national police run motorcycle initiative, aimed at working with motorcycle riders in a relaxed environment to raise awareness of the importance and value of progressing on to accredited post-test training. BikeSafe workshops involve an observed ride with a police graded motorcyclist or approved BikeSafe observer. With some local variation, BikeSafe workshops aim to cover: rider attitude, systematic methods, collision causation, cornering, positioning, overtaking, observation, braking, hazard perception and use of gears."

Relatives in NI have bought a mix of cars in NI and Scotland and just buy them depending on what was cheapest at the time, taking into account travel costs. I find England tends to be cheaper than Scotland, but only recently by so much it was worth the transport costs to buy from down south. I got a car from a dealer in Coventry.

1 - no, I wait till the last one is definitely turning. 2 - no, quick mirror check only 3 - roll off as the engine braking is not bad on my bike and it looses speed quickly.

Unfortunately I am allergic to wood smoke, but I have linked to this thread on an adventure bike forum as I suspect there would be interest there. Looks great.

I had a good instructor, but one person did not go out on the road and she herself said she was panicking and too nervous during the initial training as she could not to grips with clutch etc coordination. I overheard the instructor say the school would be happy to do some basic lessons in the yard out with CBT so she could practice. Maybe something like that would help.

Having not bothered, but then got a bike with the already installed...heated grips are wonderful. Wish I had had them on all my bikes. Knox cold killers are very good for keeping the rest of me warm.

My cousin recently renovated an abandoned house in Spain (purchased from its previous owner, I don't mean he just rocked up and picked a house at random). He could have an entire village by the looks of it. Ireland looked a bit like that, tens years ago, after the financial crash. There were lots of abandoned homes, many brand new and almost complete. A distant relative was one of two householders on an estate of over 100 houses that the developer had to abandon as he went bust.

Having ridden a Yamaha YBR125 over one winter, if that bike had never been coated in ACF50, never been washed, never had rust spots treated and painted over with hammerite, after 2 winters it would have looked as bad as that. Most Japanese 125s are made in China.

As an ex cop, the most likely explanation is that something triggered interest in the bike, such as it roughly matched a description of a stolen bike or bike used in a crime and then there was a delay conducting checks.

Lomo. A wetsuit/kayaking/diving company whose owner is a biker. Cheap, robust, lots of choice and very waterproof; https://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/Motorcycle-Motorbike-Dry-bags-Accessories.html

My old Versys, before and after I repainted the lower silver fairings using Halfords plastic primer and black plastic bumper paint; Scratches and wear from ribbing off my boot showed up badly on the silver. The black was fine.

Interchangeable batteries is the way forward; 1 - petrol stations gradually switch to battery exchange stations, keeping people in work and the advantages of a 24 hour shop 2 - range is not so much of an issue any more. 3 - second hand values are retained, since no one is going to end up having to buy a new battery for their vehicle once the old one finally runs out. If I can pull into what was my local battery station and in 5 minutes, the battery is switched, whilst I pay for it, buy a pint of milk and pop to the toilet, I would switch to battery powered for car and bike.

£21 including delivery, never had any issues; https://www.ghostbikes.com/products/3688-weise-stratus-motorcycle-over-trousers.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp4P7j_ef7AIVBeztCh16YQFtEAQYAyABEgLpF_D_BwE

Three offs, all the front wheel slipping on mud/ice/slippy road surface. Three topples over when manoeuvring; one in a petrol station, one trying to turn around after parking on a pathway and one during a forum ride out with a pillion. Various times off road when the bike came off the side stand or the side stand sunk into soft ground or I just lost balance and went over. I have not crashed into anything, all have been me coming off and all have been at low speed.

Happy birthday Tiggie

Of course, as soon as I went out, the storm ended, so winter gloves stayed off.

The weather is dreadful, so time to finally test my new goretex winter gloves.

Another suggestion to check back wheel alignment. Are both left and right rear wheel adjusters in exactly the same position? Is the chain dead straight?

This from BMW https://interestingengineering.com/bmws-new-diamond-motorcycle-chain-never-needs-lube-or-adjustment Just fit and forget. It needs no lubing and should not even need adjusting. Estimated cost is £255 for the chain and £379 to include sprockets. I would consider getting one. A Kawasaki replacement chain and sprockets for my bike is £190 and a decent chain is about £100.

I have had various bits from the IXS range and they sell some of the cheapest Goretex kit.

Friends of mine who have a dealership and sell Benellis report no issues so far, with the older bikes now about 2 years old. Another friend ran the tiny 125cc for 6 months with no issues, till it was written off in a crash. The only minor point is that paint can wear quite qucikly where boots run against the frame, but my brand new Kawasaki Versys did that as well. They are the first "Chinese" bike I would consider buying.

I would use boxes like that, so long as they were alarmed and clearly being monitored by CCTV.

I understand the popularity. I have done a bit of urban, abandoned places exploring and it is great fun.

Mine appeared today. Thanks.