The blue lights were in the grills / indicator units / dash mounted so very much legit.

Legit vehicles, but not police.

Is that the polis or the Hereford boys out on a fairly significant call?

No, they are definately not police vehicles.

Putting it inside a frame will not work as the RF signal will not pass through metal (or carbon fibre for that matter). Also placing it close to a metallic surface will detune the antenna meaning it will likely not work properly. GPS needs a clear view of the sky as the level of the signal is so low by the time it reaches the earth (about -130dB).

It is pretty much a waste of time putting trackers inside bike frames or stems, handlebars, seatposts etc.

You have offered a full refund so don’t think he will get very far with the small claims court.

I used a 4130 Cromoly tubeset from Nova cycles in the US before finding out that Ceeways who do tubesets in the UK is only 20 miles from home. The dropouts came from Paragon Machine Works and were stupidly expensive. I designed the frame using RattleCAD which is free on t’internet (geometry in pic below). All the tubes were mitered by hand using a file and dremel. The frame was tacked together using a jig made out of 20/20 extruded aluminium then fully TIG welded in my cheapy Lidl bike stand.

As to background reading there is a thread on a mig welding forum (think the author is on here too) that is pretty good for inspiration and the Velocipedesalon forum is well worth joining if you fancy having a go. I have done a write up on Sketchymtb and will post the link if I can find it.

I have to say the first few rides are pretty scary waiting for it to fall apart but after that it is fairly satisfying knowing that you’re riding something you have built.

The ride was not officialy organised and did not have authorisation from the police. The police chief is quoted in one of the interviews as stating that the first they knew about the ride was through social media.

As I stated above I have been caught up in a biker rally/ride and trust me you dare not brake when you have a number of bikers sitting inches from your rear bumper. You can not speed up, nor slow down (other than very gradually through coasting in gear) or change lanes to get out the way as you are completely surrounded by motor bikes. There is nothing you can do other than wait from them all to pass hopefully without incident. It is terrifying.

If you search around there’s dozens of videos from this group over the last couple of years. It really makes you wonder how this hasn’t happened to them before. I haven’t seen anything of what happened just before the RR video started but there are many incidences of them cutting up cars and slowing down quickly imediately infront of them as well as gesticulating and harrassing drivers for no apparent reason. It was only a matter of time really before one of them got creamed.

Look at the other videos, they did attack other cars. Maybe others were just lucky enough not to clip one of the riders when they got brake checked.

Anyway the question above was to those who keep saying he should have just avoided all the bikers in the first place. That is not an option if they overtake you on a motorway. You simply can not just “cross the road and go another way”.

[Quote] What did he expect would happen? [/Quote]

Surley everyone knows this is what happens when you break check a car using a bike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nqTbaNZMyU

Anyway, still no one has answered how you are supposed to avoid the bikers entirely when they come upon you on a motorway where you can only go straight on.

Me? I’d simply have gotten away before an accident happened. Let idiots be idiots.

If I see a gang of dodgy guys on the street, do I A. Cross the road? or B. try and squeeze my way through them? I’ll be on the other side of the road watching as you walk through them it appears.

P8ddy, how would you have gotten away before this happened if you are on a motorway when a gang of motor cyclists catches up and swarms around you? If you can get away then fine but how do you do this on a motorway when the only way to go is straight ahead?

I had this happen on the M20 about 6 years ago when a group of around 80 motor cyclists from across the channel came charging up behind me as I was overtaking a lorry. They ended up under taking between me and the lorry. I was then stuck in the middle lane with bikes 2 feet infront and several inches behind and to both sides of my car. I couldnt accelerate, brake or change lane to get away. All I could do was stay where I was and hope that I didnt hit any of them until they were all past. They thought it was funny to bang/slap on the sides and roof of cars as they were passing and did this to alot of the cars they were passing.

I can tell you this was f**king frightning as I had no control over the situation at all. I certainly wouldnt have got out of the car if I had clipped any of them (I hope I wouldnt have run any over either though).

Whilst I don’t condone the actions of the RR driver, given the other videos available on the net of these riders, I wouldn’t have got out of my car to exchange details either. Not sure I would have run them over though.

In the numerous videos the riders are swarming around slower moving cars on a motorway (where this incident appears to happen) and then cutting dangerously in front of the cars like in the video of the RR. If you are on a motorway and a bunch like this swarms around you how are you meant to pull over and go another way to avoid them? All you can do is carry on to the next exit surrounded by bikers.

There are plenty of videos on Liveleak of last years ride where they are attacking other vehicles which they deem to be in their way. One where a car is making a left turn on a green light and they go through the red and attack the car as it has stopped before hitting any of them but is in their way.

Given the very bad riding it was only a matter of time before there was an accident. Having said that no one deserves to get run over and I don’t know how I would have reacted in that situation but I am not surprised it ended like this.

Steel 29er with Rohloff