samuri – that's inspiration that is 😉

Not been on the bike at all much the last 2 years, life just got too complicated in every way. Trying to find the energy and enthusiasm to start again now… probably 1.5 stone above my "best" weight from a few years back, so that isn't too bad (though my best weight was 17 stone 10… but I am built like a tank).

Think it is just energy, motivation and enthusiasm I am lacking rather than any injuries though. So I really just need to give myself a good kick up the arse! Need me some riding/drinking buddies… the last one pissed off to Australia!

It's a 2002 955i Speed Triple I have, bloody ace it is too… but the point you were making about winter is entirely true. It's bloody chilly on there! Not scary, just cold 😉

The main reasons I am going to chop it in after next summer are:

Fairing – I don't like em, but have decided that one is necessary to make longer journeys more pleasant.

Comfort – it really doesn't do comfort – way too focussed. So if I want to ride far regularly then something a bit kinder is in order.

Erm… actually… that's about it. The engine is stonking, build quality is very good and the thing shifts like you would not believe 🙂

Oh – I do like the Rocket 3 too, actually very not Village People I would say. The scale of the things is insane and the engine is a work of art… and has more grunt than a very grunty thing. The new one in matt black coming out for 2010 is just ace! If I had a stupid amount of cash and I get my garage (still waiting to hear back on my offer) then it would almost certainly happen. In reality… probably something a tad more sensible 😉

Aaaah – I quite like them too… but think I would probably "accidentally" go for the 990 😉

I have a bit of a thing for the Superduke myself – I would get one next, but it is too similar to the Speed Triple, and to be fair I think the riding I want to do is demanding something else.

The Tiger is a thing of great joy – my only issue with them is I cannae get my leg over in the current leathers! Need some custom made ones I think!

Currently being torn between a 1050 Sprint ST, VFR800, Beemer K1200S/Sport, Ducati ST3/4, Fazer Thou, CBF1000, CB1300S, ZXR1200… the list is actually shockingly long – going to spend next summer getting test rides where I can to narrow it down then buy a year in February… probably 🙂

I absolutely love my Speed Triple btw. Just I really need a second bike to go with it, and given I don't have time to ride 2 bikes I may as well compromise on something that will do most of what I want most of the time.

Gonna cry when the Triumph goes though 🙁

That should be Zoopla

I think 😉

Have a look at Zoopla to try and guage what a fair price would be, then offer a bit less than that to start off with 😉

That is a damn good point.

Tidal does make a lot of sense to me. Just a shame that no one is willing to invest in it properly. They are/were talking about a tidal barrage across Morecambe bay a while back that would power 25% of the north west of England… whether it will come to anything or not I don't know though (the environmental lobby don't like it, partially I suspect as they want to put a road and rail link over it to improve communications links between west Cumbria and Lancashire. Which would be magnificent for the region financially…)

Or power generated when there is no demand for electricity could be used to generate hydrogen, which could then be used to fuel cars, or burned/used in micro CHP set ups for power. Seems a great way to up the efficiency of wind turbines to me.

I just don't agree with the nuclear option, even if I did write an essay on how it was a great option and then defended it in a presentation, but that was more to go through the exercise of trying to put across a rather unsavory idea to a whole bunch of hippies than anything else 😉

To be fair I am not entirely sure on the dynamics of tidal turbines so don't know whether they do work on the inbound and outbound tide or just one way as it were. I think I heard that they basically are only operational twice a day, but could have been pissed during that lecture 😉

I was more interested in converting water pumps into hydro turbines, which effectivly works by running the things backwards.

What… geothermal 😉

That was just a response to up there somewhere where a sub 11 second standing quarter was mentioned… personally such things matter little to me 😉

Get the SV, it'll be good enough and fettling it to handle better will be more satisfying than going out and buying a 'fast' bike, blasting down straights, braking hard and early and then bimbling around corners

Bloody hell… do you know me 😉

Actually I am starting to understand a wise instructors words to me where he suggested that anything over 100bhp was utterly pointless on the road. Kind of wish I had gone lighter and lower powered… but then I am probably going to replace the Speedy with a bike of the same power next year, but heavier and comfier as that would suit the use I have for a motorbike better (ie long distance work with some luggage and, hopefully, some nice weather!)

I was really talking about the UK perspective rather than globally. The technology that suits one part of the world may not suit another… for example other parts of the world can do a lot more with solar technology than we can… or perhaps look into Kaplan turbines in the large, slow moving, rivers.

Horses for courses and all that 😉

Nuclear is woefully not environmentally friendly on any level – in terms of green house gasses it is plain scary. The CO2 from construction of a plant is massive. The CO2 from the mining and refining is massive. Then there is the small matter of CFCs which are a byproduct of enrichment and make CO2 look like a non-issue in the greenhouse gas world.

People say that renewables aren't an option because they can't meet current demand for power… noshit. How about we stop wasting so much **** power and start living with a smaller energy footprint. True the nature of renewables means that we need to look at a mixed bag of technologies to ensure that there is energy available to meet demands at any time (wind is a bit of a pain in that it only works when the wind is blowing… and tidal has this issue of happening only twice a day, but at least it is predicible and certain!). We should be investing in more hydro (which will really get on the tits of the NIMBYS when valleys have to be flooded), wave, tidal, wind, solar (especially solar thermal).

Alas governments are only elected for 5 years at a time so only need to think short term. So we are all screwed.

I find em a bit small – my legs just feel too cramped on em. Nice bikes though, I was pretty sure that I wanted one for my first bike but wound up with a TDM instead… and then changed that for a Speed Triple 😉

Got mates with em and they love the things, and can probably ride rings around me. I would be very, very suprised if they can do a standing quarter in sub 11 seconds though – MCN suggests 13.5 which is a bit more realistic I would think.

Cheers all, getting some useful info 🙂

If there is a new version just around the corner then it may be worth holding out to see what that is like… or to pick up discounted "old" stock later on.

So a T30 with 130bhp is pick of the bunch at the moment then? Just so I can get some kind of idea on costs and the like. I will have to pop into a dealership next time I am passing one, but that means either Carlisle or Preston I think, both being a bloody long drive (though I am up Carlisle way more often than south of Lancaster.)

And if they were closer to the £20k mark I would probably be angling for one… alas, bit too rich for my blood 😉

Was having a look and the only Kombi I could find listed on car tax calculators was bringing it in as a standard commercial… though not sure if that is right (so long as you have a 1 ton payload it counts, according to the government site, and I am pretty sure the Kombi has less than that???)

If that is the case then it should be about £100/month company car tax, which isn't too shabby.

Best get some definitive answers I think (not that I can afford the Sportline!)

Jimbo – that is arse 🙁 Probably decided since so many folk are getting crew cab pickups for company cars they will change the rules.

Bollocks…

Won't be too many motorway miles, mostly A, B and unclassifieds – unless I am on a road trip (hey, the M6 is miles away!)

Sounds good though! The 180bhp 4 pot if that happens sounds potentially interesting 😉

Angela m'dear… I don't think it is going to be this year. The Vitara is only just 18 months old, so I was planning for spring the year after next (change at 3 years), however my father keeps asking if I have looked into them any more so may be deciding to dispense with some company funds sooner than I was thinking (and as it could be more tax efficient). But since he keeps hassling me about it I thought I would ask some questions 😉

Given I only get 32mpg out the Vitara though it sounds not too bad! Especially given that I could actually get some more of my work gear in there and carry an extra 30l water tank with me, which would be damn handy!

Sorry – that was supposed to go in Chat, but since I also plan to carry my mountain bike in the back when loaded up with tools for work… I guess it is also bike relavent 😉

Sounds fantastic! Do you live in Windermere then??? Have to keep an eye open for a ZZR when out on the Speedy if so 😉

Joolsburger… is that just cos you get to drive around with Joy Machine written on your arse 😉

I was going to suggest a Saab too, mine never blew up other than post off roading, which isn't sensible really 😉 That only killed the suspension btw!

Nice.

I am just contemplating what to change the Speed Triple for… plan is to spend next summer testing some bikes and change in the winter (only had the Speedy for 6 months or so… but getting the feeling that at least a half fairing would be a good plan for some long distance touring!)

Enjoy 🙂

Been using it for a fair while now and am liking it. 2 discs at a time, twice per month – it seems about right for our viewing habits. Got BluRay and DVD on there, and I tend to find you get BluRay faster and with less damaged discs than DVD 🙂 Damaged discs aren't a problem though, you just send them back and they replace it with another copy… still a pain in the arse though if you are kicking back to watch, or half way through 🙁

All in all, tis a good thing. Though I keep wondering if we should ditch it and go back to Blockbuster since we live in town again and have such facilities a 5 minute walk away. When we were out in the boonies it was absolutely perfect though.

I have heard from folk who know that W7 is supposed to be a hell of a lot better as an OS, not just pretty pretty. I am needing a new desktop machine at the moment and have decided to let W7 come out, and get a few months use and updates before upgrading around the start of Spring.

Fingers crossed it solves all my problems.

(I used to know all about this stuff – was an IT Manager for 8 years before getting sick of computers and jumping ship to engineering about 4.5 years back… just after getting an MSc in IT funny enough. Now I let other people worry about it and I just use the things as tools!)

I would go as you intended in terms of doing the CBT and getting a 125 – then whilst riding it take some lessons and book your DAS for the Spring. You will be a better rider than me for it!

As I said, just cos you have a full licence, doesn't mean you have to go out and buy a big bike right there and then – nothing illegal about riding a 125 without L plates with your full ticket after all!

Yeah, looks like it could be gearing up. We haven't had a proper big bang in a long while… wonder which one is going to go.

Yellowstone going would be deeply exciting… and not in a good way.

I have just switched (well, in the last 6 months) from Nokian NBX 2.3 jobs to Halo Choir Masters also of 2.3 flavour. Both UST, and whilst I loved the NBX I have been finding the Halo just that bit more inspiring.

These are also on a Yeti 575, and seem to be suiting the Lakes rather well!

There was someone theorising that the fibres are very similar to asbestos in that rockwool stuff, in that they are very fine fibrous things that can get right into your lungs. Bit of a worry that I thought having just ripped a ceiling down and put a load of the stuff in the resultant cavity.

I did my DAS and CBT over a 5 day course (1st day CBT, days 2,3,4 riding a knackered ER-5, day 5 was the test at about 9.30am or something). It is hard work, and it costs a few hundred quid. If I had the time I would have done CBT, 125 for a couple of months and then gone for the test, but the new one was supposed to be imminent and would involve a very long journey to the nearest test centre… so my have was kind of forced!

Do DAS though, nae point going for the restricted licence – the test is no easier and it isn't going to be that much cheaper just because you are learning and doing the test on your own machine.

Best I have had from my bike… 45mpg. Gotta love those 955cc and lack of fairing (naked bikes – good for keeping your licence! I won't go over 80 for more than a few seconds whilst overtaking, and generally won't go much over 70. The wind blast is just uncomfortable!!!! I suspect it may also push the MPG up a wee bit!)

Personally I would go DAS rather than a restricted licence, but there is nothing stopping you keeping the 125 for a bit post passing 😉 Whilst I like the idea of low powered bikes to start off on I think that the test is probably easier on a bigger bike (I found them easier to ride anyway), and if you can control your urges then you can get a lowish powered big bike when you are ready (I went for a middleweight for 6 months and progressed onto a bit of a beast after 6 months – ie 1000cc – which I keep thinking was a bit ambitious and am debating cutting back down to something like a VFR 800 in 12 months when I change again).

I am trying to hold off at the moment – got a 32" (I think???) Samsung LCD just now, but with Freeview HD due next year (think I heard?) that means there is almost certainly going to be a slight shift in tuner spec and I don't want to buy now and regret not holding out for a bit longer!

I could, of course, be wrong 😉

Oh aye – LED LCD is looking good to me at the moment!

Does it not depend on what you play through the Squeezebox? I can't see how running a Creative Xfi card/computer combo is any different?

If you want better sound quality out the SB, you can always take a digital feed out of it and through an external DAC (which is what I was considering doing, but my Sony DA1200 amp isn't really good enough to need such things!)

If there is a God the fecker certainly doesn't believe in me, so why should I bother with him/her/it?

Given the last year or two I don't believe in much anymore.

Yep, those thingies up there work pretty well – you can hang kitchen cupboard off the things! I, however, went for a telly cabinet with a sticky up thingy that the telly dangles off. Just seemed easier than channeling in all the cables, replastering and all that bollocks. If you leave all the cables dangling everywhere it looks a bit shit.

(I am have serious typing issues tonight – must be the beer! Taken 3 or 4 goes to type every word thus far!)

'Mon the Unions, don't let modernisation and investing in the future get in the way of a good strike!

Seems the Government are seeing the positive in it, which is sure to put a shity stain on any company attempts to put across the good story 😉

I think the point was, ritchiethesilverfish, that the OP felt that all these junkets were resulting in a poorer quality magazine that we DO pay for.

I do kind of agree that the mag has slipped a bit since the early days – I used to read it cover to cover and don't do so now. Whether that is because I am not as involved in mountain biking as I was or not though I really don't know. I do quite like the coverage of the shows though (though not the video – I just can't be arsed with video content on the web). If it were a straight choice between a better mag and coverage of shows though I think the mag would win out every time (though I suspect it isn't as simple as that!)

I seem to remember that yellow is better in the dark and orange fluro is better in the clag (from motorbike training).

Got me one of those Jura Ena 5 jobs last week. Been through a bag of Lavassa already and currently working through the 1kg of beans that they sent with the machine (from Italy).

It really is very, very good – the Lavassa beans were a bit pants and had me worried it wasn't really as good as I hoped (usually I use Hasbean or Booths which are almost as good), but the ones that I got free have been a revalation and I can't wait to get some proper fresh beans in there now! The crema that I am getting is thick and creamy like you wouldn't believe!

Utterly reccomended – though I think I can get better microfoam using my old manual espresso machine. Just got to flog the Rancillio Rocky grinder now since it is surplus to requirements 😉

I would go with this and throw on a monitor in the customisation part.

Priceless Computing – I thought they would have gone bust years ago 😉 I left Glasgow in '98 and it was a dodgy place back then!