Air has possibly been pushed up into the master cylinder (something that is rarely mentioned in fluid changing/bleeding guides).

If so, it can take a while to displace it.

Take the reservoir cap off and, quickly & repeatedly, squeeze/release the lever part-way back. you may see small bubbles rising through the reservoir. Stop and repeatedly tap the master cylinder and hose area with the (soft/rubbery) handle of a large screw-driver. Resume squeezing the lever.

Keep doing it until the bubbles -eventually- stop. the lever should now have firmed-up.

molgrips – Member

PS have any of you lot ever driven on the Peripherique in Paris?

Yes, although it was quite tame in comparison with some places on other continents….

GrahamS

I didn’t see an indicator but I did guess correctly where he was heading – that wasn’t the issue – I just expected him to pass behind me for that exit, not in front of me.

I can sympathise (see my post above) and he probably should have been behind you, but had you not pulled out, maybe he would have been in the left lane.

Personally, I would have been indicating on my motorbike and taking it easy, but drivers don’t always see indicators….

My take on it:

The Motorcyclist (I am one) should be riding for self-preservation.
Assuming that all cars will not see/register him/his speed.
Busy junctions are very hazardous for motorbikes. Not the place to be cutting thing s fine.
Not doing anything ambiguous that might confuse other road users is important as is being prepared to yield to other vehicles if necessary.
(It’s of little comfort being self-righteous from a hospital bed)

Having said that, it is very annoying (and hazardous…) when cars pull out across you.

the Driver (I am one) should approach roundabouts with care, being prepared to stop, but not entering slowly and definitely not assuming what other vehicles are doing or pulling out in front of other vehicles.

ps. I do indicate on roundabouts whilst driving a car, riding a motorbike or riding a pedal bike. Lots of people don’t and lots of people indicate in a mis-leading way.

Pigface – Member

Have we talked about overtaking on a motorbike? That is a whole new ball game.

Really, don’t go at it too hard.

Do as much riding as you can, preferably including a few hills. I find that spinning a lower gear (ie. doing more repetitions) ‘reminds’ my legs how to pedal more quickly than grinding bigger gears. Acclimatising your legs to lots of pedalling and a smooth, efficient pedalling technique are important.

If you do begin running, take it easy and build up gently. It is very easy to over-do it and get into a cycle of injury after injury. As I have discovered over the years…

Yes, that sounds fairly typical and in-line with my experiences.

There appears to be a fear/reluctance to overtake in preference to driving (far too) closely to a vehicle in front. Maybe it’s due to the age profile of the (driving) population?

And, of course, some younger people mistakenly thinking that they are waiting in queue 😉

Personally, I much prefer having an clear road in front of me.

I did the Ruthin “100K” mtb marathon on a singlespeed a few years ago. I was reasonably fit then.

I was probably almost as quick as I would have been on a geared bike, but did walk a couple of short steep bits and spun out at other times.

Was I competitive? No. I was quite a bit quicker than most, but well down the field.

Other people can be very quick on singlespeeds though.

molgrips – Member

“And you sir?”

Because my driving is being slated, and by implication me.

As ‘they’ say, you can criticise a man for almost anything, including his performance as a lover, but you must not, under any circumstances, criticise a man’s driving.

The answer:

so long as there are no bends. It won’t require a long straight to pass anything (other than a fuel bowser) though

mogrim – Member
Given that, regular (as in weekly) all-day rides are probably out of the question, at least for the first few years, but taking a morning off?

Quite. All-day outings aren’t really practical -or fair to my wife. The best scenario is to get out very early on a weekend morning and be back for lunch (so, the more local the better), although a baby and a noisy 3 year old who also gets up early can make it difficult at times.

As somebody who loves riding/running/walking in the mountains I do miss full days out.

Weekends away are extremely rare and need to be arranged with management at least 6 months in advance…

I recently took up running again, which is very good ‘value for money’ in time (and in actual money) terms.

ps. Somebody who does little riding before having children is very unlikely to do more once they arrive.

Twice in 24 hours I’ve encountered vehicles (cars and a medium-sized van) driving along closely behind slow-moving tractors on open, straight rural roads with good views.

Twice, I have immediately overtaken (modest diesel estate car) said columns with no difficulties, no need for enormous power or any unreasonable risk. Twice, the other vehicles have not attempted to overtake the tractor and did not do so in the time they were visible in my rear view mirror.

Other people, eh?

ps. Should I have joined the “queues” each time?

stuff

Yee-ha!

Solo – Member

Overheating at inopportune moments

Would that be while considering overtaking, or while executing said overtake ? We need to know this

The time between the STW post, the request being sent to the chap in front (by use of semaphore), and the response being received and confirmed is particularly awkward.

Molgrips’ Commute:

Overheating at inopportune moments

richmtb – Member

I was here last weekend

Pretty isn’t it.

Big queue of 30+ cars, moving at between 35 and 40mph No one was overtaking. If I had waited for everyone to take their “turn” I’d only just have got to Crianlarich by now.

Whenever I’ve driven across Rannoch Moor I too have taken the opportunity to pass looooooooooong columns of vehicles. Look out for Stags, though.

Who has queueing/overtaking rights in this scene typical of my own commute?

Solo – Member

I’m still waiting for someone to tell me why people drive slowly until you go to overtake. Then floor it. Whats that all about then ?

An affront to manhood, I assume.

Anybody slower than me is a dangerous ditherer.
Anybody faster than me is a hooligan.

molgrips – Member

You’re missing the point.

If I lose a teabag, I’m not that bothered. If someone I don’t know takes a teabag from my desk without asking, that’s not right.

Maybe you should have a large, scrolling, rear-facing matrix sign on your roof:

“Sensitive Driver. Overtaking Deliberation in progress. Please do not pass. It’s Rude!”

molgrips – Member

No, I’m first in the queue, which is my point.

It is not a queue

sbob – Member

Advanced drivers are less likely to crash.

…but they are also a self-selecting group.

I have an IAM certificate and a lapsed membership.

My CBT was crap because the ignorant, arrogant, neanderthal instructor wasn’t up to much -The inter-com worked fine for his graphic letching over rough-looking female pedestrians, though

I went elsewhere for DAS.

monkeyp – Member

I wasn’t particularly anxious as I have been riding for 2 years.
Why not take your bike test?

Drivers should be checking what’s around them constantly. Nobody’s perfect, but you shouldn’t be ‘surprised’ by other people taking overtaking opportunities that you have also seen.

“Indicating” is indicating an intention, it doesn’t provide a right-of-way.

If I’m overtaking a column of bumper-to-bumper vehicles I’m wary of unobservant people pulling out, but I’m also keen to get it over with as quickly as possible. I don’t want somebody, who’s been considering (do I?/don’t I?) a move for the past 30 seconds, dawdling out in front of me, requiring me to slow down on the off-side of the road.

aka_Gilo – Member

Best thing I ever did was advanced motorcycle training with the police (twice). It’s not about knee- down heroism, it’s about learning how to read the road and make the correct decisions. Obviously it’s all taught at sensible speeds but it translates to spirited driving / riding too.

Agreed, having had sessions with Police instructors on 2 and 4 wheels, although the information is out there in books and on the www for people who are interested, so you can learn most of it before/without having a session with a Police instructor. Practice and more practice.

If people flash me after a perfectly legitimate overtake I tend to slow down to about 10mph for a mile or so to p*ss them off. Idiots.

Don’t do that. Really, what is the point?

wrightyson – Member

Before the flames, I do not drive an Audi, I am not smurfmat,
I have two children in the car, this is not a troll, just a thought.
I love driving, still even now when I’ve changed my fun super quick petrol saloon for a diesel estate.
However after spending an hour on the a roads today on the journey home I wish I still had that bit more under the bonnet.
Why don’t we teach folk who don’t want to overtake the bus doing 40 mph on an nsl road to leave a good size space for others to make progress safely rather than doing a “five car overtake”
At some points on the road I reckon you could see a good 1/4 mile. I can totally understand why the lads on bikes white line it the whole time!

The volume of traffic in 2013 is probably biggest problem -both vehicles travelling the same way and oncoming vehicles.
The ever-decreasing speed limits are an issue.

There must also be a fear of overtaking in a sizeable portion of the population.

I don’t buy this “always wait your turn” nonsense. The people in front have often failed to take numerous opportunities to overtake.

The main thing is to keep looking a long way ahead, preferably beyond the next couple of bends/hazards, if possible. If you can clearly see that nothing is approaching 2 bends away you can overtake (often at a steady speed or under deceleration, rather than having to accelerate) through a series of bends that the column of slow-moving vehicles will be most likely be comfort-braking for, because they’ve not looked more than 10m beyond the end of their bonnet or the car 2m ahead of them.

Overtaking over blind crests/around blind corners is definitely a no-no, though.

I can totally understand why the lads on bikes white line it the whole time!

Overtaking on even a modestly powerful bike is a joy, compared with even a fast car.

And why when you do overtake smoothly and safely does the bloke behind flash his lights mentally as though you’ve just clipped his wing whilst pulling back in!

This puzzles me too, although it doesn’t happen too often. Many of those people do appear to be posting on here though.

Kryton57 – Member
Really? I live 5 mins walk away from a mainline station into L st, Epping forest is 4 miles away, the Chilterns 1hr away, and road wise there are 3 cat 4’s within 10 mins ride time from my house.

MTB Heaven!

flanagaj – Member
Pointers welcomed.

Find work outside of London and move further North or West?

boblo – Member

Not sure about modding what’s a pristine, original bike. I’ve been offered a great trade in for it as it is.

It probably doesn’t matter what you buy if you are just going to store it in the garage in order to keep it pristine and original for when you trade it in for a newer one in a decade’s time….

How about doing this?:

-or send me the £10k and I’ll make good use of it.

yunki – Member

I think what Aristotle meant was do this with the Blackbird..

I did see that on Google, but suspected that it might have been taking things just a little too far for the chap. all that work would eat into his riding time 😉

As we presumably lag behind London, there are still a fair few bikes with one gear on the (very flat) streets of the Manchester conurbation.

I’ve noticed that many do have freewheels though.

It may not score many cool points, but a geared cross-bike, tourer or ‘hybrid'(29er?) ie. what my grandad would have known as “a bike”, with puncture-resistant tyres, mudguards and a panniers on a rack is the way to go for commuting.

and ride whatever bike you buy more than you ride the Blackbird!

Keep the Blackbird, give it a good servicing, new tyres, pour in some injector cleaner and give it a long run-out (or just use it more!) to clean the engine out, fettle the suspension, drop the yokes, raise the rear etc.

Fit wide riser bars, remove the fairing:

or…