Stans.

I went into carfone warehouse recently to see if they would unlock my old N5500 Sport. They advised that as it was locked to Voda, I should go across the road and see them – they are legally obliged to unlock them if they are out of the initial 1 year contract. This was a second hand phone I'd bought on ebay, and was over a year old, so I went over and asked them. "No problem, as long as it works with our software" was the answer, and it was free.

I used to. Only had one flat in the last 15 years, which was Tuesday morning. No sidewall left, tyre totally fubar'd. Luckily, I had a spare, jack, wheelbrace and a'hin with me. Not going to rely on a can any more.

Get the original garage on the blower, and get them to recover it – all their fault and their cost IMO.

Hmmmm…

If I put a PC formatted USB drive in a mac, surely it will be able to read the data?

Don't have a mac to hand out here to test that though.

Apparently my maplins player has just arrived at home, so I'll be having a play when I get back in 2 weeks.

Try one of these

Bargain at £25. Just been trying one out and it's spot on.

that'll teach me for being cheap then!!

Running Hope ProII's on my other bike.

How often do spokes actually break at the bend anyway?

Hit the wheel hard enough, and a spoke can un-hook from the slotted flange. Had this happen twice. Once was a really heavy hit into a trench that the FC had left in a downhill section at about 25mph. **** hurt too!

like 3 times or really 3 times?

E71 bluetooth audio sounds good.

Battery life is 3-4 days too.

Horses for courses really. Don't think I could be doing with the battery life on an iPhone, and I can't see that it would be so easy to send SMS and update facebook whilst driving on a touchscreen.

May well be upgrading to a E72 soon.

Macallan 12 given a choice for me.

The original 12 as opposed to the Elegancia 12? Much more impressive, if you can find any. Export only now.

Anyone got a link to the adaptor we need or an inflator with the correct coupling

How about these?

That's basically the kit that came with my £60 2.5HP/24Litre compressor (which uses Universal / Euro fittings) from screwfix when they made an arse of their pricing.

If you wouldn't use the other gubbins, then probably one of these, and one of these, along with one of these, and one of these for the end would fit the bill – but the cost does add up a bit.

+1 for Balvenie Doublewood. Highland Park 12yo isn't a shabby dram either. Expect to pay around £22-£28 for the Park, and around £30 for a Doublewood (70cl)

No skill, no thought, no better than mine

No birds arses in your ones though.

Rear cage is what takes up the slack. Sounds about right to me

Mountain Mangler

Buy it. I've just sold a 2000 model Allroad 2.5tdi with 120K for £6000.

Don't expect more than 30mpg though.

=LEFT(B4,7)&"*"

Get a Toyota – I reckon they are going to be quite cheap this year…..

My E71's been **** good to be honest – it will be replaced with an E72 in 5 months when the contract's up.

No, it's not banned in France any more. Certainly wasn't banned in Val d'Isere last easter.

Oilrig

That photo makes her look like a Thunderbirds puppet!

No it doesn't.

SHE makes herself look like a thunderbirds puppet.

Depends who's bush it is !!

All depends on the snow you are on.

Compare skis designed purely for piste skiing to off-piste.

Soft snow – more footprint required. Blue ice – skates will work (as you describe above, melting the contact layer).

You can't skate down a snowy hill.

Try lining the faces of your wooden runners with formica. I did that once – my mate broke 3 ribs and got concussion.

there is no weight on any of the wheels

Cool! A floating car!

mazda bongo 2.5tdi rwd auto with 17x235s, its a sledge

I've been pleasantly surprised by my Bongo – 4WD one though – First time I've driven an auto in the snow. Not the nightmare I thought it would be. Quite the opposite in fact. Running on 215/55/17/96 Pirelli P7's

The Land Access legislation in Scotland specifically states that golf courses should be made available for sledging

Bloody hell, that ^ is true!! Excellent!

In winter, many people enjoy activities like sledging and cross-country skiing on golf courses. This can be important to local communities. These activities rarely cause any problems if done responsibly – by keeping off greens, tees and bunkers – and when there is sufficient snow cover. Golf course managers are encouraged to accept such access when it is carried out responsibly.

(It also states that it isn't compulsory :cry: )

Provided you exercise them responsibly, access rights established by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 are wide-ranging in terms of the places and activities that they extend to. Nonetheless, access rights do not apply to some places where the public have enjoyed access perhaps over a long period of time. Examples include passing through some farmyards and across some dams. Certain activities that are not included in statutory access rights have also been practiced for a long time by the public, such as gathering natural berries or fruit for personal use or sledging on some golf courses. Such access and activities are not affected by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.

Just looked up Ride Central on google – now in Darlington and no results pointing to Leeds. New shop / new staff ? Who knows. Hope so though. Would hate for others to go through the shite I had to….

Got a trailorpark a couple of years ago – at the time the only UK agent was in Leeds (Project Leeds / Ride-Central)

I won't slag them off on a public forum (and there's not enough room!!) – but I won't be using them again. Ever.

Should have mentioned that – all the LED backlit / sidelit TVs I have looked at recently in shops do seem to have absolutely stunning pictures.

You should have woken him up.

I bet M3's are a giggle in this weather!

Go for a piss.

That'll take your mind off the pain in your eye.

So Plasma TVs are a type of LED TV?

Can't say I agree with that. Plasmas don't employ LEDs in the panel. As far as I am aware the only TVs being advertised as "LED TVs" are LCD TVs which use LEDs as backlighting or sidelighting.

I didn't think the intensity level of 'proper' coloured LEDs was variable enough to use as elements in a picture matrix.

No doubt I'll be proved wrong though….

That's plasma, not LCD or LED isn't it?

AFAIK, LCDs all work by blocking light of the required colour from a light source, be that tubes or LEDs – so on a black picture, they are working hard to block out all of the light. LED backlighting (not sidelighting) means that areas of the screen can have their backlighting off if required, improving black performance.

Plasma screens have pixels which create light of the required colour and intensity, so when black is required the pixel is off. This is why they are so much better at being black.

There is a "USB Edition" you can either run from USB stick, CD or hard drive.

It is a hacked version of office 2007, and obviously isn't legal.

Not too hard to find though if you have a look in the obvious places……

Bear in mind that there are 2 types of LED backlighting.

The cheaper Samsungs have LEDs down the side, and project light across the screen then out the front using prisms

The top-end Samsung LED screens have a matrix of LEDs which shine out directly through the screen.

read all about it

Just been through this pain with my son.

Approaching 17, he announces he wants a Toyota Hilux. Let's call it the Top Gear effect.

Anyhoo, I have a mate who is selling one for about £2K, and it's a reasonable beast. So, I get on the phone to the insurance companies. Insured for me for business use with the lad on as a 'frequent use, non-business driver' it's £600 for the year. Hilux gets bought.

A year on, and it's starting to get unreliable so I'm looking to change it. He wants lower fuel bills, and would like a back seat as well. Call the insurers up. Hilux renewal is £500 if I want it. They are commercial vehicle specialists, so won't insure him on an estate car under the same terms as the pickup until he's 25. How about an Astra Van? I have spotted one on eBay, 1.7CDTi, 2002 model, factory fit rear seats, £1200. Insurance want £600 fully comp for me for business use and him on as a 'frequent use non-business driver'.

As a comparison, I tried various 'specialists' claiming to be the ones to go to for young driver insurance – for a hypothetical Ford Focus 1.4 it would be £3000 to insure for a year.

The Astra gets bought. Hilux sold. All happy.

So, if you are in a position to insure a pickup or van (anything commercial) as a business vehicle, you can get some good deals on insurance.

I once had a 2CV van for a while – complete bastard to get insurance for on a non-commercial basis (didn't have my own company then).

That said, it only costs you £50 to set up a limited company……

Insured with RSA, through Autonet.

The one I used (many years ago mind) was more like a pipe threaded internally and externally than a traditional helicoil (like a spring). It had a certain amount of 'wall' there too.

One tip I got was once the new, bigger, thread is cut, clean off all the grease. Get the external thread wet, with water, before screwing it into the head. Grease the spark plug before you screw it in. The idea is to encourage the 'repair' to seize into the head over time, and not unscrew with the plug on the next service.

This baby should do it and be cheaper than taking the head off.