Fast Eddie

I always stop leaving them only just enough space to crawl through if they don't respect who has right of way.

If only some idiot (me) hadn't left the camera on overnight, I would now have a nice video of my ride to work. As it is, no video and also no waterproof jacket liner as my forgetfulness also extends to leaving that at home. Praying for no rain.

The F*ckwit on a KTM (i think) who came flying out of Old Inns petrol station this morning with out looking whatsoever where they were going. Probably would have been a service to society if i had flattened them!

Be Attgatt and sweat yourself to death while avoiding roadrash.

Exactly, the majority of times I don't pull in it's because doing so would end up with me having to slow down because of the traffic behind who won't move back to the correct lane. There are some good ideas in new regulations, but the majority will be a waste of time. If they can beat it into peoples heads not to lane hog especially if doing less than the speed limit then they'll probably cut down on a lot of tailgaiting as well.

I'd jump at the chance to live there, having visited a few times. Roads are crap for a bike though and while food is cheap, the quality is often not as good as here. I also found driving there to be much more relaxing than here if you remember that while there are rules, no one pay attention to them i.e. pass in what ever lane you want and similar. Get a car with aircon over there, you'll need it. Oh yeah, I've never seen a gun when i was over there either that wasn't in a shop. I think we might be back over there in September too.

That sounds great Alan. Glad she's still keeping in touch.

Sorry to read this Alan, I hope it all gets done relatively smoothly. Got to agree on Lawyering up to get you the best/fairest outcome.

Generally when i see a police bike/car up here they're to be found speeding, tailgaiting and generally intimidating the other road users. 95% of the time it's on the motorway when they could easily use their sirens to show they need to get past.

It's difficult IMO. One the one hand things personally have been going better recently e.g. I can actually save again, despite the rising cost of petrol (my main expense) and food. However having looked to leave my job for at least 2 years I can (slightly) see what everyone complains about. Also having family in Germany shows just how broken our systems are. e.g. my Gran got a hip replacement in less than a week from diagnosis & 6 weeks in a recuperation hospital with Physio. You'd be waiting months at best for that here. Seeing where the problems that can be fixed though... One hand you get breakdowns from various sources showing that: Majority of spending on welfare is pensions (which is fine) Benefits fraud is less than underpaid benefits (which is not fine, but people seem to use it as an excuse that it’s ‘Not that bad’) However it seems many people I work with know folks who are playing the system and getting well rewarded for it. Perhaps that’s just the area I work in. Personally I’d not resent paying tax if it was used properly, but it isn’t and won’t be so that only leaves emigration if I’m lucky enough to find a place in a country that will have me & I want to be. Oh and the shit weather etc means even if the system wasn't broken i don't want to stay!

Good One Adrian. Is this a long term alternative or a stop gap?

Don't pull over on Autobahn hard shoulders unless its an emergency (i.e. not like you see folks here stopping for a pee) only use rest stops else you may get in trouble. Be careful in France/Belgium towns, I got caught out by what was apparently a pedestrian crossing when the car in front stopped. Couldn't see anything that looked like crossing signs. Can't think of anything else at the moment. Oh yeah, if you are in Germany they have/had an odd turn about traffic coming from side roads in towns. Something along the lines of if it's not a major road (think housing estate) then cars coming from the right have priority to pull out. I think it has something to do with keeping traffic moving at junctions. May well be worth googling.

Just to add to this, I'm not convinced there is as much as 20mm movement in the forks, but then I wasn't really looking for distance moved just if there was any. Might have to go out and check again when it's lighter.

I'll generally warn bikes in a national, in a 30 it really depends on if people are looking like they're speeding or maybe just over by accident.

The stuff's dirt cheap. e.g. full price is about £6 so i'd pick it up anywhere. You can get spray on stuff and wash in stuff. We picked the latter as it's guaranteed to get everywhere. Takes a while to dry though but did wonders for my RST trousers which leaked like a sieve and now resist having the shower on them.

at least there's some justice. hope they get that extra evidence they need.

you've never rounded off a screw, caphead or bolt then by having the wrong size tool and trying anyway? or using 'universal' grips? Not much fun having to drill and tap a screw out cos you have mashed the head with the wrong shape screwdriver! I never said use the wrong tools for the job!

I wouldn't bee too worried about breaking your bike, experience showed me that when the Haynes says e.g. "gently hammer a drift to remove bearing races" what it really means is "bash the hell out of it till it moves". (Learnt from trying it gently myself then watching a professional do it)

I used google navigator on my s2 for the first time on friday night and it seemed really good. What's also good about google maps/navigator is that you can preload areas so you don't have to use a data connection when over there.

Might have to give this a go, just for the fun of it. Can you d/l and then burn the live version to cd?

I think your only chance is if it's a private car park ticket (i.e. not council) then IIRC it's not a proper ticket and you can ignore it. I'd check before taking that advice though.

The Filling Station Cafe in Keswick.

Very nice. Looks like it'd be fun.

Happy birthday! Had a lovely day out yesterday for Gayle's birthday.

Really need pics for this one. Sounds great even in a 4x4