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Cduro Epona: Innovative Carbon Fibre Mountain Bike | Bespoked Interview
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bikemike1968Free Member
**** yea!
Ignore all the keyboard warriors who haven’t tried it but tell you not to. I started motorcycling late (in my 30’s), I just wish I had started earlier.
Everyone should be taught to ride a motorbike – the standard of driving would go up immeasurably.Do it!
bikemike1968Free MemberWhen you say “based on tried and tested tech” you do realise you are talking about Renault tech don’t you? Not as bad as a Peugeot or Vauxhall I’ll grant you, but the fact it’s off an old Clio doesn’t exactly set my mind at ease…
bikemike1968Free MemberBattery related problems are still no. 1 (this includes flat batteries, dead batteries, bad connections, charging faults, electrical problems causing battery drain etc)
After that comes tyre problems, then come sensors and other electrical problems. The company has spent a fortune on new state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment – the latest cars have literally hundreds of sensors and without being able to interrogate the ecu’s you haven’t a hope of diagnosing or fixing the fault.
The job has changed a lot since I started – it used to be points and distributor caps, now it is yaw sensors and egr valves…bikemike1968Free MemberAh, but a Sandero isn’t a simple car. It has to pass the same safety and emissions tests as any other modern car.
Therefore it is laden with all the same stuff that causes problems for the other manufacturers, just made more cheaply.bikemike1968Free MemberThey are too new to know exactly what the residuals will be, but this tactic has been tried before.
Daewoo offered a good warranty and bought back any cars coming on the open market to keep depreciation at an unrealistically low level for some years. People weren’t fooled however, and they became effectively worthless once the warranty ran out (not helped by the fact they were awful, awful cars).
Once this happened Daewoo’s reputation was shot and they have now ceased to be a brand in the UK.bikemike1968Free MemberAn old Renault design, built in Romania. What could possibly go wrong?
In all seriousness, they seem Ok so far, reliability-wise.
Just bear in mind it’ll be worth the square root of diddly squat when the warranty runs out.bikemike1968Free MemberMy parents had a female Patterdale.
Plus points –
Pretty little thing.
Stayed healthy – no big vets bills.
Incredibly loyal to my Dad.Minus points –
Viscous little thing.
Caused many other dog owners large vets bills.
Wouldn’t let any body near my Dad.She ended up pernamently muzzled after a couple near misses with small children. If you’ve got kids or walk your dog where there are children or dogs around I wouldn’t risk it, some are lovely but a few are psychos.
bikemike1968Free Member“Ooh ah Cantona, I say ooh ah Cantona”
Showing that not all Leeds fans are mindless hooligans* when Cantona didn’t turn up for Man U the Leeds fans changed the chant to –
“ou est Cantona?”*Before anybody complains I should point out I have the misfortune to be a Leeds fan myself.
bikemike1968Free MemberSorry weeksy, but a petrol rover 75 is not a safe bet. The K series engine is well known for head gasket problems, no point buying a car with a weak point when there are plenty without for the same money.
Oh, and to the op – I’ll repeat my advice – buy a petrol car. Much less to go wrong.bikemike1968Free MemberMazda 6 is a good choice. Go for a post 2006 model, as they fixed the rust problem at that point. At that price point and considering your low mileage DON’T buy a diesel. A nice simple petrol will do you fine.
bikemike1968Free MemberI think there would be a market for a small, light and simple car, especially for old folks.
If you put a small, efficient petrol engine in the rear then, with narrow tyres, you could dispense with power steering. By keeping it light, you could reduce the thickness of the pillars, so improving visibility. ABS is a must, but they fit it to motorbikes nowadays so it is clearly possible to make a light, efficient system. Likewise airbags- they can be made very light, no excuse for excessive weight.
As for all the extras – most are unnecessary and unwanted. Nearly everyone I talk to dislikes auto wipers and lights and everybody despises automatic handbrakes – “the answer to a question nobody asked” was how one old boy I talked to put it.
I just realised I have described a modern day Hillman Imp, or perhaps the car the new Twingo should be.bikemike1968Free MemberI’ve been out to several breakdowns where the reported fault is “burning smell and stop-start not working”. So I explain that it is’t a fault, simply the ecu trying to do a dpf regen.
People I have been out to complain it always tries to do the regen at stupid times, a particular favorite seems to be as you pull onto the drive so it sits there gently smoking and stinking the house out.bikemike1968Free MemberI have to work on cars, not just drive them.
If you think that designers cock up the interiors, you should try some basic mechanical work. So many cars require steering racks or subframes removing to change a clutch, and often just an extra half inch of clearance would mean this wasn’t needed…My favorite though has to be the Porsche 911. The bonnet and boot catches are electronic.
The battery is under the bonnet. If the battery goes flat you can’t open the bonnet to charge it up.
Genius.
They give you a little charging point inside so you can charge the battery but fit it with a tiny thin wire so it takes about an hour to get enough charge in the battery to operate the catch.
There is an emergency release, but to get to it you have to remove the inner wheel arch lining. Which means you have to remove the wheel. And where is the locking wheel nut key kept? You guessed it – under the bonnet. They really didn’t think this through did they? So much for German engineering…bikemike1968Free Member“Mapmyride”, which worked well on my old Galaxy 4 is hopeless on Windowsphone. Constantly crashes and never saves. Avoid.
bikemike1968Free MemberIf you are using Facebook and instagram you’ll need at least one gig, preferably more. With 250 mb you’ll be paying a fortune in excess data charges.
bikemike1968Free MemberBlimey, it took until post #3 for the first supermarket snob to pop up – I’m disappointed in you lot!
bikemike1968Free MemberThey’re pretty reliable. They do eat ignition coils so either keep a spare in the boot or join the AA, as they carry them and will fix it on the spot.
bikemike1968Free MemberI have to take exception to the “Galaxy /Sharan/Alhambra are reliable” I’m afraid.
They’re not. I see plenty of these breaking down every week – they weren’t that reliable when new and they’re all getting on a bit now.
Corolla Verso? Honda FRV? Tourans are ok but stupid money – people still believe the “if only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen” nonsense from those ads in the nineties.bikemike1968Free MemberThe AA take a lot of reme guys on – as long as you don’t mind working antisocial hours it’s a pretty good job. Big company so usually some vacancies.
bikemike1968Free MemberHorrible, back breaking work – those things weigh a ton.
Get someone in. Let them rip their hands to shreds and bugger their spine.
Do a couple of days overtime at what you are good at and pay someone to do what they are good at. They’ll have the equipment and will do a better job in half the time.bikemike1968Free MemberDo you enjoy driving?
If Yes, then a Zafira isn’t the car for you.
If no, like quite a few people on here, and you consider a car a necessary evil to transport bikes and children around in then it’ll be fine.bikemike1968Free MemberWas she dyslexic
Didn’t get the chance to find out unfortunately. I was just reaching the vinegar strokes when the lights changed and she drove off…
bikemike1968Free MemberI spotted a busty milf in a convertible BMW with the registration J120NME.
She gave me a wink when she saw that I had twigged it, dirty mare.bikemike1968Free MemberI work as a patrol for a well known yellow breakdown company.
I change a lot of blowouts. Remoulds and cheapo Chinese seem a lot more susceptible to them. I hardly ever see quality makes of tyre fail dramatically.
We also do the breakdown service for nearly all the major fleets – none of them use remoulds or budget tyres. In fact they all go for the best – nearly all use continental or Michelin.
I wouldn’t trust part works either – the majority come from write-offs.
Stick to the top brands – they grip better, last better and are more puncture resistant.bikemike1968Free Memberbigrich – Member
my dad nearly bought an ex police SD1 in the 80’s. all bored out and uprated suspension. he said it scared him to drive.I did buy an ex Met police SD1. It went like stink but rusted to death even more quickly than a standard SD1 due to all the holes drilled in it.
bikemike1968Free MemberMy parents had one.
It would attack any other dog on sight – not a gentle nibble – full on trying to kill type attack.
Incredibly loyal and protective, she wouldn’t let anyone go near my Dad.
She was not safe around young children, after a couple of near misses my parents kept her muzzled at all times.
Incredibly effective at catching rats, mice and rabbits.
Despite this was completely dominated by my parents elderly cat.
Not a breed I would recommend.bikemike1968Free MemberSlight complication now.
Most of his friends currently have a 360, but talking to their mums, it seems that a few are getting an xbox1 for Christmas.
I really wasn’t looking to spend £300 but I guess it would save me having to buy another in a years time.
Decisions, decisions.bikemike1968Free MemberIf you are in the AA or RAC just call them out and they’ll fit them for free (if you have the bulb. If you haven’t got one they carry them on the van and only charge about £8 for a headlight bulb).
Call in on an evening when you are at home, drink tea and let someone else do all the hard work. No need to deal with the monkeys a halfords.bikemike1968Free MemberMany moons ago I read in Viz that Johnny Fartpant’s favourite meal was baked beans, with sprouts and pickled eggs.
Being a naive young student, I thought it would be fun to try it.
Oh.
My.
God.
It was evil, strong enough to make your eyes sting and I couldn’t sleep as every time I farted the smell woke me up. I was scared to turn the light on, just in case the spark caused the whole room to explode.
It took two days to fully clear my system. I’ve been wary of pickled eggs ever since…bikemike1968Free MemberI have also fallen out of love with Samsung (although I wouldn’t have ever called it love, more a grudging admiration for an effective bit of kit).
This is due to the software as opposed to any failure of the phone itself(a galaxy s4).
Samsung load their phones and tablets with huge amounts of unnecessary bloatware which slows them to a crawl, eats the battery and cause frequent crashes
You can’t remove most of this unwanted stuff and every update brings more.
I’ll be going for a plain android device next.bikemike1968Free MemberMy brother lives in France.
He used to make a nice amount of cash every year by buying a cheap lhd car every time he came to the UK and selling it on out there.
He says those days are long gone, any lhd car in the UK commands big money nowadays.bikemike1968Free MemberI too hate touchwizz. As soon as my s4 was out of warranty I rooted it and ran a custom rom (cyanogenmod, if you’re interested).
No more bloatware, the battery lasts a lot longer and it feels like a new phone.
If I break this I won’t buy another Samsung, plain vanilla android for me please.bikemike1968Free MemberBattery vent hose. Plugs into the end of the battery, centralish and quite high up. Other end goes through a hole in the bottom of the battery tray and vents to the atmosphere.
You won’t die, but it’s worth plugging back in seeing as you have it.bikemike1968Free MemberAs said above, I wouldn’t consider those faults to be a “spectacular failure”. About run of the mill for a modern fwd hatch.
Get it done, stop worrying and get on with your life.