Throttled

At least it looks comfy to ride with the big seat springs.

CE rated armour is CE rated armour. It can be in a £100 jacket or a £500 jacket. The important part is fit. To protect your elbow the armour has to stay at your elbow when you go down. I know one of my jackets is a bit too big for me and I am more likely to come a cropper in it that my other jacket, which is a bit too tight, but everything stays in place. One difference is that a £100 jacket may need replacing after an off, but the £500 may not or can be repaired.

How does it not fall to pieces with no suspension at the back of the frame?

Superb and the video was excellent quality through out. Now best get some tags done for this years challenge........

Family and friends demands have been thick and fast. It should start to tail off as all the jobs are being finished off. I have got a new exhaust and a bike as clean as the day I bought it just sitting there......waiting......

I need to get out and tag. Being retired has proven to be very busy and my bike has hardly moved

With first time gear try it on. Only then will you get to know fit. Once you have tried different helmets and gear you can by without trying it one with more confidence.

yep, they came down very cleanly... almost too cleanly...... I am no engineer, but inside the buildings with lost of pillars around a central lift shaft and the tall thin windows made it like a massive cheese grater. So the planes were able to get into the building (harder to do with an older stone building like the Empire State building which has been subject to a plane strike and it just bounced off) and then they disintegrated amongst the pillars. That was also enabled by the size and speed of the planes. So the damage inside was spread over a large area inside, not just on one side of the building. Then to confirm if something works or not it is usual to do something at least twice. The two planes and two towers meant that there was a second time and on both occasions the towers reacted the same way. There would have been more reason to be suspicious of the way it collapsed if only one plane had hit one tower.

I was thinking about this the other day; the idea of a child born with their birthday close to this day and how it's affected them.. How does Throttled Jr feel about the event? Do they find it has become a defining feature in their life and as a parent do you think you can see any personality traits that have been influenced by being so closely bound to this day? Or is it more slightly infuriating that something they don't have any recollection of has always been there to over shadow their birthday? To him it has just been a coincidence. At the time my US relatives were just delighted that they had something happy to think and talk about.

I was not impressed with Oxford Bone dry either. If you are wealthy get gortex kit. IXS do some great gloves. If you are poor then waterproof over stuff is the way to go. Loads of it about. I have a mix of Spada and Held.

I've been trying Muc-Off anti fog seeing as my helmet doesn't accommodate a pinlock, and it works astoundingly well - worth a shot for anyone else in a similar position. Obviously a pinlock is still a smarter move if you have the choice, lower maintenance and cheaper in the long run. There should be some sort of universal pinlock that will fit. Muck off was the best of the visor wipe stuff.

Throttled Jur was born on the 9/10 and I was phoning people to let them know when one of my friends started to swear down the phone. I went into the maternity and got them to switch the TV over from some make over show, just as the second plane hit. I have also been to the top when I was in NY in 1986. It was an amazing sight just looking from one at the other. I still have my souvenir mug.

How to ride in winter - 1 - there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes. Get decent, warm waterproof kit. It does exist and cheaply if you go for waterproof over trousers, jacket and gloves. I got that lot for about £75. Pinlock for your visor the ONLY way to ensure it does not steam up. I have tried everything and ONLY pinlock works. For around £20 pinlock will keep you safe. 2 - sod hi-viz and get REFLECTIVE so you are seen in the dark. As Throttled Jnr once pointed out to me (he is a bright kid) if you come off and are lying on the ground, drivers will see you if have lots of reflective kit on. 3 - learn from fellow 2 wheel riders and look at how cyclists stay alive. This jacket is waterproof and has LED lights for £75. Use it as your over jacket. http://www.halfords.com/cycling/cycling-clothing/jackets-gilets/visijax-commuter-led-indicator-jacket" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I have worn LED arm bands that cost £1 from a £1 shop. I also treated myself to the Shark Skwal helmet which has LED light built in. It was £180, but I have seen it for less. It also comes with pinlock. It is the best winter helmet I have used. 4 - the worse the weather, the slower you ride and the less you lean. Bikers need to ride to road conditions more than drivers have to drive. So f**k'em. I find wobbling about means they leave space for me.

It makes me feel more of a man, more successful and more daring and brave, which makes me more attractive to women. But apart from that and my huge balls, I suppose you are right.

Our paraolympians are now going to show our footballers how to succeed. We came third in the 2012 medal table.

I am very much talking about male footballers. I found this "Average Premier League wages have reached £22,353 a week – before lucrative bonuses – or £1.16million a year. Average Championship earnings are £4,059 a week (£211,068 a year), less than a fifth of players one division above. In the bottom division, League Two, their weekly pay of £747 is not much more than the national average." The League Two players are on £38,844, which is way above the national average. I am sorry, but considering what they achieve that is way too much.

After team GBs stunning performance in the Olympics, I think that it is worth noting our best paid sports people are also our worst performing. Wales getting to the semi-final of the Euros is now considered to be a magnificent achievement. Our clubs now rarely excel in Europe. Considering how good we are at sport now, with the money from the National Lottery, lots of very hard work and dedication from our relatively small nation, it is time for our footballers to step up. I finally watched a Scotland game a few days ago. I was not intending to, I was in the pub with a mate when it came on. To win 5-1 against Malta was considered a brilliant score. No, our footballers should be doing that in their sleep with one hand tied behind their backs if they were like our Olympians. Yorkshire on its own came 17th in the Olympics, ahead of Canada, new Zealand and South Africa. Yorkshire is presently represented in the top football league by Hull City FC whose list of "honours" primarily consists of being runners-up. No other Yorkshire club is in the top league. They are rubbish compared to the Olympians. No Olympian embarrassed themselves like England did vs Iceland at the Euros. The England U21s have just humped Norway 6-1, but that is the exception and not the norm. So footballers of GB and NI, get your fingers out and start winning, regularly and easily.

I agree with the comments about lane positioning. If you get it wrong just leave the round a bout, turn and try again. Never dart into another lane unless you are 100% sure nothing else is on the round a bout.

Happy birthday to you

There are very photos of the rally, anyone got any of a mad Bedouin?

Did you have to stop to use your 18mm. spanner on the way? Yes, as it did keep slowly drooping. But instead of the 18mm I used my hand to get it upright again.

Clithero Castle Kendal Castle Penrith Castle

Home. Sat nav took me on cracking road between Buxton and Macclesfield and then it was a long boring motorway run. Great to see everyone

I have space to store tents in my tent. Will get there by 5ish on Thursday.

A Harley Davidson Road King 2016 model. Cost £170 to hire for 24 hours overnight. Good Points - it handled and griped very well indeed. No matter how far I leaned it did not ground. It was very stable and confident around corners. - road presence, it gets respect! - seat for both rider and pillion was very comfortable. - 210 mile tanks range. - torque, lost of it for mid range overtakes and uphill drags - gear indicator - nice clutch - back brake effective - mirrors, small but very effective Average Points - the screen was effective up to 80mph and then it may have well not been there - speedo means looking down too far. - all the controls buttons are the same and easy to mix up. - low speed manoeuvring needs practice. - front brake less effective and caused bike to bounce. Bad points - the ride was harsh over the bumps. - tiny digital rev counter - it is very hard to push/pull it due to the weight, so you have to plan where you stop. - transmission whine - tiny panniers - vibration. No wonder the hand grips are rubber. I wanted to try a Harley too see what all the fuss is about. So I got a hire for my 50th birthday and took Throttled Jnr with me. He loved it as a pillion and the experience. I have more mixed feelings. The handling and grip was way better than I expected. The ride was way harder than I expected. Two up with a friend who weighs about 13 stone, so nearly 30 stone between us and we hit a bump which made him airborne and hurt my back. I was not expecting that! But the handling was way better than I thought it would be and so long you go in slow and accelerate through the bends it is very stable. I have not reviewed the gears because they are nothing like any other bike I have ridden with the forward controls. I am sure once you get used to them they are fine, but I struggled a bit. Very solid clunk and you can hear the gear change even at 60mph. It gets lots of looks, waves and respect which is why it must suit some as Harley riders really are a big club. At £18k new I would not buy one. It is a one trick pony for those who want to buy into a culture. It was also a couple of months old and the exhaust was rusting. My preference would be a Japanese muscle bike with all the torque but less vibes, a silky smooth four cylinder engine that revs higher, better build and a better combination of ride and handling. I also prefer the lack of image compared to the Harley. Plus I would gets lots of change from £18k. But total respect to Harley riders, it is a beast which needs tamed and I can see why they are loved.