To start with I shall be using our S-Max but in the long run it's just not going to be suitable for me so at some point I will end up with a van of my own as SWMBO doesn't want to drive around in a van (see my commercial vehicles thread), for the larger/longer jobs I will offer a collect/drop off service.

Here we are, my rather overloaded garage, the ride on, chest of  drawer, wooden workbench and bikes should be in the workshop, but my wife's crap is in there! it's a bit dark as I need to replace the strip light.

Just seen this and OMFG do we hear the driver say the words "I saved us, did you see that? I was just calm" ............... In all honestly shocked at how much of an absolute retard the driver was and his attitude after... I'd have gotten into trouble if I caught up with him after that!

He saved them all!!! My f@cking hero

Untitled photo by wheddonandrew, on Flickr

My man cave

On a different note and probably most appreciated by people in this section I did this the other day

Untitled photo by wheddonandrew, on Flickr

On a different note and probably most appreciated by people in this section I did this the other day

Untitled photo by wheddonandrew, on Flickr

 

You jammy git! I have never had a shot on one of those :( In 2007 ish we had a lot closing down nation wide and inventories were up for grabs internally 2 big feck off versions of this were among the many cool things. 

 

The closest I have been to this officially to date, still is this episode with the flymo from earlier in the thread! 

 

You jammy git! I have never had a shot on one of those :( In 2007 ish we had a lot closing down nation wide and inventories were up for grabs internally 2 big feck off versions of this were among the many cool things.

The closest I have been to this officially to date, still is this episode with the flymo from earlier in the thread!

You jammy git! I have never had a shot on one of those :( In 2007 ish we had a lot closing down nation wide and inventories were up for grabs internally 2 big feck off versions of this were among the many cool things.

The closest I have been to this officially to date, still is this episode with the flymo from earlier in the thread!

Fly mo is probably more controllable!!!

Bloody thing has a mind of its own, as the saying goes "if you've seen it, you'll hit it" I've never had to take into account that a corner very slight slope! Honestly they just flow down hill like water!!!

Great fun though

My winter gloves arrived today, I decided on some Halvarssons Advance gloves, I know there are cheaper gloves but remembered how pleased I was when I bought a proper pair of Sealskinz gloves for cycling in the winter so bought with the same principal of get the best out there.

 

 

As I own some Lindstrands Comets in size 8 I thought the Halvarssons in size 8 would match, sadly they are a little on the snug side so are of no use to me (unless they stretch?)

 

There is now a pair of Halvarssons Advance Gloves for sale here

They should feel snug to begin with, stick with them!

 

Edit: unless they're circulation-cutting snug, stopping you from getting full mobility in your hands, in which case it's best to sell on before they get worn.

 

Can't you send them back for a different size? Most online motorcycle shops would happily swap them out.

Edited 25 September, 201411 yr by Ben90

They should feel snug to begin with, stick with them!

 

Edit: unless they're circulation-cutting snug, stopping you from getting full mobility in your hands, in which case it's best to sell on before they get worn.

 

Can't you send them back for a different size? Most online motorcycle shops would happily swap them out.

 

I remember before George Whites went under, they used to send out the replacement and carrier to collect old one at same time. Was an amazing service all at their expense for my selection of a size off. No wonder they went under :(

I remember before George Whites went under, they used to send out the replacement and carrier to collect old one at same time. Was an amazing service all at their expense for my selection of a size off. No wonder they went under :(

 

My understanding is that the main reason they went under was their business model relied on the payment that the manufacturers paid to retailers that hit very high sales targets. They made little or no money on selling the bikes themselves.

 

Great model when people are buying lots of bikes but when there's a downturn and volumes reduce, the income drops from lots to none.

My winter gloves arrived today, I decided on some Halvarssons Advance gloves, I know there are cheaper gloves but remembered how pleased I was when I bought a proper pair of Sealskinz gloves for cycling in the winter so bought with the same principal of get the best out there.

 

 

As I own some Lindstrands Comets in size 8 I thought the Halvarssons in size 8 would match, sadly they are a little on the snug side so are of no use to me (unless they stretch?)

 

There is now a pair of Halvarssons Advance Gloves for sale here

I like the look of those but I'm a 9 in gloves. But I've found that £60+ gloves do seem to have a degree 

of stretch needed before they fit 'properly'. I bought some Weise daytona summer gloves for about £70

Linky at the start of the summer season and they were snug to start with, but after I'd warmed them up 

and had a good sweat in them they they have become fitted gloves now. You probably won't yet fully appreciate 

on a 125 just how sensitive the throttle is as you will on a powerful bike so feel is quite important.

That's why I bought gloves with a kangaroo skin palm. they are quite remarkable in respect of feel.

It useful with my bike as it's a bit snatchy throttle response wise, but I've learned to soften that right down 

with these gloves on. External stitching (like your gloves above) helps a lot with comfort as well. 

But as you lot know by now I'm a gear tart currently owning 2 pairs or Richa gloves, 1 pair of Weise gloves

and a pair of RST padded winter style gloves which I started out with when I did my DAS.   

My boots were the same, I could hardly get them on and off when they were new but after a while they

became very comfy, spend 2 hours walking round Stonehenge in them at the weekend and was perfectly

comfortable the whole time.

I just spent a few minutes removing the armour from my Richa mesh all season jacket, it has a waterproof liner

and a thermal one so I'm taking it on holiday next week as a jack of all trades. We will likely experience a few

different climates on our travels from hiking on a glacier to tropical humid evenings and everything in between

so I thought it made sense to pack a multi use jacket.

Here's the kiddy

 

Last chance to get out on the bike tomorrow, and will be trying out my new Hein Gericke touring textile jacket

with their version of goretex in it, plus removable thermal liner and hiprotec armour. £20quids worth of anyones

money another auction triumph :yes:  Getting a head start on next seasons requirements and a tunic length

jacket was on the list. Next year I am getting my bike across the water and seeing some of Europe...

They should feel snug to begin with, stick with them!

 

Edit: unless they're circulation-cutting snug, stopping you from getting full mobility in your hands, in which case it's best to sell on before they get worn.

 

Can't you send them back for a different size? Most online motorcycle shops would happily swap them out.

They aren't cutting the circulation off but the curve on the glove between my index finger & thumb doesn't touch my hand, when I tried them sat on the bike they pull very tight on my index finger.

 

I like the look of those but I'm a 9 in gloves. But I've found that £60+ gloves do seem to have a degree 

of stretch needed before they fit 'properly'. I bought some Weise daytona summer gloves for about £70

Linky at the start of the summer season and they were snug to start with, but after I'd warmed them up 

and had a good sweat in them they they have become fitted gloves now. You probably won't yet fully appreciate 

on a 125 just how sensitive the throttle is as you will on a powerful bike so feel is quite important.

That's why I bought gloves with a kangaroo skin palm. they are quite remarkable in respect of feel.

It useful with my bike as it's a bit snatchy throttle response wise, but I've learned to soften that right down 

with these gloves on. External stitching (like your gloves above) helps a lot with comfort as well. 

But as you lot know by now I'm a gear tart currently owning 2 pairs or Richa gloves, 1 pair of Weise gloves

and a pair of RST padded winter style gloves which I started out with when I did my DAS.   

My boots were the same, I could hardly get them on and off when they were new but after a while they

became very comfy, spend 2 hours walking round Stonehenge in them at the weekend and was perfectly

comfortable the whole time.

 

My Lindstrands have taken some time to settle and are great gloves, very comfortable/easy to move fingers around.  I agree with the boots needing wearing in, mine have started to soften up nicely, I wear mine at work & there has only been 1 person thats noticed I'm wearing them rather than shoes.

 

I think I might wear them around the house for a little while, see of they start to stretch a little, in the mean time they're excelently priced for someone else.

Today... I will be riding. 

All week I've been tying up loose ends and getting my job to a place 

where I can safely leave it. I have 3 jobs/errands today,

 

1. Pack all the tech we are taking away

kindles, ipods chargers and adaptors etc, making sure everything is charged

up for airport security inspection

 

2. Go to the shops and buy some swimming shorts for me

 

3. Convene with our neighbour who is watering our plants while we are

away to hand over keys and show her the 'knack' to make sure the

front door is locked.    

 

After that I'm off out for a last blat before I go away, the weather is likely to have 

turned by the time I am home again at the end of October. 

Getting quite excited now, this time tomorrow I will be driving to Heathrow. 

Next year it's gonna be a bike holiday assuming my plane doesn't vanish forever

on this one . 

Enjoy Garry, have a good holiday too! 

 

I went for a ride Monday with a mate (the one who was late picking me up to take me to the train station and yes he was late again). It was to get his bike serviced, he bought it from a dealer who offers a 'lifetime warranty'. The only condition is that they must service it when it needs it. The bike was serviced at 2000 miles when he got it for free. He quickly hit 4000 miles on it, phoned them up and checked when it needed to be serviced again since it was on 4k service schedule, they told him it needed doing now! I told him to check but we went anyway. Shock horror, someone buggered up and it's not due until 6000 miles (4000 after the last one). We'd ridden for an hour and a half at this point so decided to mooch about and get some food. It's a place in Peterborough, by far the biggest bike place I've been to for some time, it has 1 huge and 1 large building, the bigger one has Kawasaki, Suzuki, Aprilia & Gilera/Piaggio/Vespa all main dealers! They've also got a large selection of used bikes, a 125 & scooter section upstairs and a large selection of clothes, boots, gloves and accessories. The other building has a Honda dealership with a mezzanine floor above for a cafe, sofas and sky box with projector on the wall. Pretty nice place tbh, we had some food and spent a good hour or so mooching about, my mate bought some new gloves and I was going to get some prices for some bits for the CB but forgot. The ride there was massively boring, just dual carriageways and motorway so on the way back we came a different way, littered with lorries but the CB made light work of passing them. 

 

Also, I've been commuting this week on the bike, making the most of the last of the dry weather no doubt. It's been quality, I dont even bother taking it past 5,000 rpm, just bumble along in a high gear. Seems to be as good as the 500 on fuel when commuting, I guess because the new one isnt even breaking a sweat when the 500 was being bounced off the limiter. As a bonus my lunch fits under the pillion seat too!

Enjoy Garry, have a good holiday too! 

Thanks Matt. See you boys in a month

I'll have to show you Fowlers in Bristol if we can get that thing organised next spring

MASSIVE bike shop. Bit overpriced but you can buy more or less anything bike related there.

Just been reading up on Malaysia Air and they seem to have been keeping better tabs on their 

planes lately so fingers crossed. Hopefully all the bad press will mean a half empty plane and

room to stretch out a bit. Kinda looking forward to chinese style in flight food as well. 

LOL, I know. When I got home from work last night, SWMBO was out with the boys at Beavers & Cubs, so I spent 30-45mins tinkering with the bikes in the garage .

 

My current employer is loosing the customer that I have been employed to support so from April 2015 my workload will be greatly reduced and by November 2015 I won't have a job (unless we win another contract & I can be moved there).  All dates are approximates and maybe reduced depending on how quickly the work is migrated out. By the time the contract ends I will have 7years service so will probably stay until the end and take what little redundancy is available to me, in the mean time I'm getting set to start my mobile bike repair business.

 

I'm hitting my mid life crisis early (36) & taking the opportunity to try and work for myself doing something I enjoy, rather than being stuck in an office.  I supported SWMBO when she stopped work 3 years ago to start working for herself & she is so much happier & her business is thriving, so now its my turn.

 

Good luck with everything Matt. I'd be happy to help in any way so get in touch if you need to

Thanks Matt. See you boys in a month

I'll have to show you Fowlers in Bristol if we can get that thing organised next spring

MASSIVE bike shop. Bit overpriced but you can buy more or less anything bike related there.

Just been reading up on Malaysia Air and they seem to have been keeping better tabs on their 

planes lately so fingers crossed. Hopefully all the bad press will mean a half empty plane and

room to stretch out a bit. Kinda looking forward to chinese style in flight food as well. 

 

Have a great time Garry (can never remember if its 1 or 2 r's lol)

 

We will still be here waiting to hear the lowdown on your return :sun:

Thanks Matt. See you boys in a month

I'll have to show you Fowlers in Bristol if we can get that thing organised next spring

MASSIVE bike shop. Bit overpriced but you can buy more or less anything bike related there.

Just been reading up on Malaysia Air and they seem to have been keeping better tabs on their 

planes lately so fingers crossed. Hopefully all the bad press will mean a half empty plane and

room to stretch out a bit. Kinda looking forward to chinese style in flight food as well. 

 

You'll be fine! Deffo have to sort something out in spring, even if it ends up just being a few of us!

 

Have a great time Garry (can never remember if its 1 or 2 r's lol)

 

We will still be here waiting to hear the lowdown on your return :sun:

 

You've not heard the story of why he has his forum name

Just stopped off at matlock back and an SP1 (or 2) keeps riding past sounding like thunder

Urgh. I want that!

Join the mille club! Much cheaper just as much fun

Join the mille club! Much cheaper just as much fun

I darent look. Iv only just spent £3.5k on the vfr, i do like it, but i do like the idea of having a sunday beast.

Its a good job theres no room left in the garage.

I darent look. Iv only just spent £3.5k on the vfr, i do like it, but i do like the idea of having a sunday beast.

Its a good job theres no room left in the garage.

 

In all honesty, if I get a job any time soon, I will prob buy another bike to celebrate. That SP1 I am tempted by, but it's basically a race spec bike one the road. My uncle builds race bikes for all sorts of folk and used to race in the past (many many many broken bones). I must see if one of his sons have any pics or vids of it online (he wouldn't have a clue what to do himself). Most likely my quest for a nice mint ZZR1200 with full luggage will be pressed harder! 

In all honesty, if I get a job any time soon, I will prob buy another bike to celebrate. That SP1 I am tempted by, but it's basically a race spec bike one the road. My uncle builds race bikes for all sorts of folk and used to race in the past (many many many broken bones). I must see if one of his sons have any pics or vids of it online (he wouldn't have a clue what to do himself). Most likely my quest for a nice mint ZZR1200 with full luggage will be pressed harder!

Nout wrong with a race bike for the road, just as long as you dont plan on going too far haha.

My dad went over to holland last weekend (about the 4th trip over this year lol). Hes got an r1200 GS (roughly 400 miles to a tank, sometimes further) with his mate on his ducati multistrada (200 miles a tank at a push). They went with another mate this time on his ducati 1198 this time.

It pee'd everyone off by the sounds of it. It wouldnt even start in the rain and he would only get 100 (120 at a push) miles to a tank.

My dads a proper touring biker. Doesnt go out on the bike that often, but when he goes, he does atleast a few thousand miles. (He rode back from Switzerland in a day last year. 800 miles, only stopping for the ferry and occasionally some fuel). So imagine how annoying it was riding with this guy haha.

Bikes like that and the sp1 need to be a second bike IMO. Or they would for me anyway.