Technically you are liable for the damage under the tort of "vicarious Liability" where a servant or emplyoyee causes damage through negligence whilst engaged in your employment.

So the emplyee can claim against your commercial insurance. But then the insurers will want to know about all the H&S stuff, ie supervising, certificates, and it will waste more time of yours than its really worth, along with a naffed off employee.

Dunno how you think with no experience your going to get 25k + car doing claims work.

I been doing it ten years, personal injury for nine, and am only getting iro £25k with overtime at the moment.

Good luck.

What was the position?

It's the strangest thing I ever heard.

Well, not really, but its still pretty odd. In claims its usually "your quick enough to take the money but don't like paying it out" we hear most of.

To be honest, its only 31 minutes if you have two broken ankles and are juggling all your items as you were too poor to afford a suitace.

I can't see why wanting to have a discussion automatically makes you a "moaner" who needs to be policed.

STW is a small, discrete comunity, it's not ebay. Its where like minded entusiasts would sell things sensibly to other likeminded people.

The "discussion" and not a "moan" is the present tendency of non community minded people seeking to impose their values on selling overpriced tat, on people to whom the forum is a community.

Anyone can try to sell overpriced tat,its their product, but the "discussion" is that is STW, a small, closed community the right place, for these "outsiders" to come in, add nothing, and not uphold the commnity "ideals"?

"Why can't the idiots use ebay like everyone else?" seems to be the unspoken sentiment, given their ads interfere with the people who want to do a like minded cyclist a "deal".

I don't think raising these issues makes you a moaner, but to be honest, STW ads are free, and appear to be being abused by people who are not community minded, looking to effectively "rip off" those who are. I don;t think thats a bad thing to discuss.

For 3k of the original posters cash, a Trumpet t595 or something similar? Decent enough engine for a bit of fun, but a touch easier to ride and more real world than a jap sports four, and more reliable than anything with pasta for wiring? Or a vfr you can't rally fault.

If you have ridden a bike before, recently, then a smaller cc if your into touring may be a waste. I just bought a sv650, and already thinking of a thou next spring, as after the gpz500 I had a few years back, it feels no quicker, (just a bit better handling)

Just ring the insurer.

They can arrange treatment if you need it privately and will offer an initial assessment via an independent treatment provider.

If its any member of RBS, I'll even tell you where to ring….

I've had 4.

An Alfa 33 green cloverleaf (doesn't that make "GTI" sound so vulgar!"

An Alfasud Sprint 1,5 GC

An Alfa 2000GTV (like the one in octopussy – from the early 80's)

An Alfa 75 Veloce.

Each was a great pleasure to drive, when working, and a whole world of pain when not. Quirky, individual, entertaining, soulful, a little expensive and unreliable at times.

You do get more "comedy" breakdowns with old Alfa's. My GTV threw a conrod at 120 mph uphill on the Brighton Bypass, and still took me 3/4 mile to stop. It also used to pour water in through the sunroof. The electrics on my 75 caused the onboard computer to basically function like xmas lights around my fir tree air freshner, with a sunroof that never worked. My 33 had electric windows that stuck shut, meaning getting tickets from car park barrier machines was a quick door open job, ect ect.

Buy an old alfa. if you can cope with it, it will reward you in spades. A really old alfa like a 75 or GTV, might even introduce you to really cheap racing via the very active owners club. If you crave cheap and reliable, buy a Toyota Carina. If nothing else, life will seem longer driving a Carina, even if isn't really.

I am now cured of my alfa fix, but only by getting into even older MG's and motorbikes. I would still love an old alfa, but really, old alfa's are like young women. Once you get to a certain age, its a foolish past time that will end in tears.

1 – Its a childish way of attention seeking.

2 – Depends on the answer to 1. If its negative – then from a long way, by text, phone or letter. If positive, then to their face.

http://www.pwsfinishing.co.uk does a lot of the bmx's for the guys over at radbmx.co.uk – people entrust their old retro 80's frames to him, and theres a gallery of his work over at their site.

I love an untidy kebab me…

(copyright Viz circa 1987)

Seeing as he is a taxi driver, he's probably lying anyway.

Don't feel bad, they all do. They are an industry of immensely fragile individuals. Surprised he's not got "whiplash", happened to be be off duty with his whole family who also all got "whiplash", and needs a hire vehicle as he would lose thousands in earnings over the odd day off (until you ask for his tax returns) but also strangly cant afford repairs until the cyclist gives hims hundreds for his crappy old toyota Carina 400k miles diesel.

I hope the cyclist says he was cut up and claims from the taxi.

yours sincerely,

from a cynical claims handler in the insurance industry.

c16r Orange (clockwork).

Rode like a dream. Light, zippy, rear end flexy in a really good comfy way, mavic rims and a total shimano alivio drivetrain and v brakes. Nothing been as good since.

Or my 1983 Diamond Back Silverstreak, with a db 3pc sugino crank!

No one suggesting this thread is no good without pictures?

splendid…

Stodgy is his username at Radbmx.com – its not a "in joke" or anything.

And he's probably the best source of info for an old fart getting back into bmx. I suspect a lot of older bmx'ers have mtb's and wouldnt be surprised if they surface here too.

I must admit, I;ve delved right back into bmx, as a 50 yo – but in a very retro way – I;ve got 3 Diamond Backs from the early 80's including a silverstreak – and the kids go mad for it when I'm out – wondering who the old fart on the cool old school bike is. Always being stopped and asked about it, and been offered serious money for it on a couple of occaiosn, but I keep it as a "rider" picked up out of gumtree, and picked up old school parts mainly from rad, ebay and the DB website for old school bikes os-db.net

Now, if you turn up on a Harry LEary Turbo, I'll be *very* impressed, for for christ sake don't start jumping big air on it!

To be honest, peoples idea of a delay is not universal.

I've given neg feedbacks recently to a couple of people who thought 2-3 weeks from taking my money to posting was acceptable. At the same time I'm waiting for some rare 1980 ish bmx cranks to come from Hong Kong, but seller warned it would be slow, so thats fine.

If someone is genuinely ill, with the flu going around, not checking email for 3 days or being able to source a box (especially if they were really hoping for someone to pick it up) isn't easy. I mean, where do you axctually buy big empty cardboard boxes? Especially pram or cycle frame size? (as opposed to easilly found 12 inch by 18 inch).

Prma sellers are unlikely to be dodgy like Rolex sellers, or mp3's from China, I'd chill for a couple for a few days longer.

My ma and pa were married for 25 years. Working together made them stronger.

He';s fallen for her, she hasn't for him. Simple. Why for a second is "working together" even an excuse? If you like seeing each other, and love each otehr, what better than being loosely "with" each other all day?

She might be getting cold feet, but it's going nowhere if that kind of excuse is proffered.

And if he logs – "dry yer eyes mate…"

Depends.

The frame and forks package that best fits your build, and rides best, might be the one with the low rent spec. No point ordering a super value mail order bike if when it arrives it's not really "you".

People get really hungup on "spec", as if anidiot like me could really tell the difference between say deore and lx blindfolded, on a cold muddy day.

My first decent mtb was an old Orange c16. It got stolen but was still the best bike in the shop for "me" at my price range. Indeed, it was £150 more than the marins/specialiseds I looked at, and with a lower rent spec, but the frame, the geometry – was just great for me, and rode in such a zippy, whippet way that the cheaper, better specced bikes in the shop couldnt.

Only way to tell is to ride them…….

dont get hung up on thinking a bikes better or worse than another just because the odd part is a couple of quid less or more than on another bike.

Lol at all the moral high ground campers.

Theres nothing wrong or rascist in suggesting different cultures might not share exact linguistic workplay or thought/sentence construction.

We all use language differently, but the majority of STW viewers, being mainly of UK upbringing, exposed to UK television and cultural references, will at least recognise sarcasm and or irony, but I suggest many don't.

And in much the same way, other nations will have vebrbal and non verbal communication cue's which we will struggle with.

Second that –

I bought some arays 7x wheels for my Bmx recently. I was in a bidding war right up to the final few seconds – increasing my bid to match someone elses, and then with about 30 seconds to go, decided it was looking a bit expensive and didn't increase further.

I didn't win, and then within an hour had been emailed by the seller saying the buyer was at risk of losing job, couldnt afford, didnt really want ect.

Now, who bids on stuff, keeps clicking on the "increase bid" and then as soon as the auction ends, after having chased the sale over the course of an hour, decides not to?

I didn't think anything of it, til next morning, when it hit me, that the chances are I was "shill out bidded", and that my behaviour of cooling off before the last few seconds, meant the shill bidder got stuck with the high bid.

The world is full of second hand pedals. If you think you've been ripped off, then you probably are. Since ebay made bidders identity anonymous, I think its got worse tbh.

Toy could try a counter offer at the same as the next lowest bidders bid?

If it had been the other way round, and you were in some sort of competition, at a place freely available to you, but because you were a bit slow for someone else who you needed to share space with, they picked up your expensive mountainbike and tossed it in the river, would you praise them for their public spiritedness?

It's a crowded place we all have the right to enjoy, sometimes its best to keep calm. Couldn't you have just varied your route?

I'd consider going to one of those outfits that do "exchange" engines, rather than "scrapyard finds". They'll fit them for you same day, and might take the old engine in exchange.

Look in Exchange and Mart or Autotrader, loads of places do them. Probably cheaper, and tbh, the charnces are you'll even get a limited warranty.

From a buyers point of view – virtually nothing.

A modern motor engine is barely run in at 55k.

To need a new one is suggestive to a buyer of a major fault on the old unit. The unspoken conclusion is possible faulty servicing, lack of maintanace or bad driving, all of which have ramifications for other components.

Well, I just bought an SV650s today.

x reg (91?) 22k miles, £900 !

That will get me to work for the next few months!

To be honest – go to radbmx.co.uk – friendly guys, and look for their shop details – "Stodgy" will help you out and tell you the do's dont and what to look for at your given price point.

Does the motherboard have any integrated graphics?

If so, try plugging the monitor into that and removing the fx card.

What are you seeing on startup – are you even seeing the bios screen before it shuts down? Does the MB have a bios battery installed?

Check you have installed the memory correctly – (I'm a bit out of date, not built a pc for a few years now) but the last time I built one, I'd not put the memory in the correct sockets (dual channel ram), which prevented the pc getting very far. As soon as I realised the simple problem, after about an hour of swearing and checking the mb switches evy, it was all systems go.

Is the pc speaker beeper plugged in – how many beeps are you hearing before it resets?

300w is far too little really for a modern pc, its a pointless economy imho.

I'm about to buy an SV650s I've been offered cheaply next week.

Good first big bikes after passing a test – a bit more on the throttle than the 500cc bikes you learned on, and a touch of character being a twin. Build quality is budget – expect the odd winter issue, with furry nuts and bolts, and the odd bit of water related electrics issues – but easilly sorted.

They are pretty small, low bikes, and not heavy either, so easy to manage for the "smaller" rider.

http://www.os-db.net for old school Diamond Backs like mine –

If burners are more your thing – then http://www.burnerworld.co.uk has a friendly active community.

Sorry Juiced – another go –

Although they've changed a bit since the photos – the Streak's now wearing black Araya 7x shinesides, (not the z rims) black Mks BM10 pedals, and a black chainring, and the Senior pro is boxed up to get a black powdercoat on the frame soon, and some gold prisim decals fitted.

I also have a DB Pacer500 (the Taiwan Silverstreak replacement) being almost comleted but no photos yet, wearing pro size bars and finished in non standard red and black finishing kit, and I have a never built up DB formula1 1 f&f under my bed.

With the Orange p7 and Bianchi alu Nirone racer, my small 1 bed flats looking a bit busy right now….

All from the time when Diamond Back were arguably (with the Leary and Streak) the best BMX makers….

I must admit, I took to biking initially as I had a big old alfa 75 with a 200bhp tuned engine, and it was giving me 23 mpg on a trip to work, so I went for a Suzuki gs125. I sold it a year later for nearly what I paid for it.

But I wouldn't have been capable of doing DAS in a week, from no bike riding. I found the cbt quite challenging, and had an hour and a half longer doing it than someone who'd ridden scooters before who was also on it.

After a year, when I was happy with the concept of "riding" and all my observations were pretty natural, and riding the bike made "sense" then I did a DAS, over a few days.

Is the 83 DB Silver Streak fitted with Acs Z rims.

is the 83 DB Senior Pro (same as a Harry LEary Turbo really, without the black smoked chrome) with HL Pro bars, a DBsugino f1 crank, Araya 7x on suzue large flange hubs. The new old stock DB mks Pedals were an ebay find!

5'6 with round about 30/31 inch inside leg according to M&S.

17 inch, but mines an old one (99 model) with 60mm Rockshok Judy XC forks.

Used to be a lovely pub in Frogham, between Ringwood and Fordingbridge.

Don't know what its like these days mind….

Was it wrong for me to snigger at the phrase "big gash"?

Yep, my 99 is more than I've ever needed, it still looks nearly new, under the dirt.

I appreciate the new ones are not really the same bike, gerometry wise, but if the build quality is as good as my old Oranges, it's a remarkably solid bike.

If you were a little less cocky about your own superior intellect, perhaps the stark, staring obvious answer is in front of you. I know its easier and funnier for the smaller of private parted gentleman to bugger "call centre staff" about, as clearly they earn less than you and you are clearly superior in every sense.

But lets say for example, Lyndsey can't allow you to use the same email for different people. Why? Data Protection of course. You are not, actually, your wife. You are a different person, with different privicy requirements, and email may be a form of communication between you and the company. Use the same address, and your private, personal confidential info becomes sharable with your wife.

You might wonder whats so wrong with that? Well, many people are not so happilly married as you, and might value and treasure confidential info about the ex spouse. Lets say she changed address, becasue your an abusive husband, only for her secret address to be emailed to you or vice versa.

Lyndsey cant tell how or why your using the info, or comment on the state of your marriage. All she knows, is that she must treat you both individually, in confidence. Lyndsey did nothing wrong, and frankly if your such a "difficult consumer", you probabably are a less attractive consumer than you fondly imagine.

Besides, imagine on a more positive spin, if you were going to buy a new car for your wife, or a motorbike or somehting, and your transaciton was made known to your wife via cross emails? It happens…

If I seem a little harsh, it is becasue I work in insurance, and people just wont try to listen, or understand, becasue its just easier to be bloody rude over a phone. Today, I had a prize part who kept going on about the failures of "my organisation" to deal with his claim. Well, we had repatriated his car from abroad, inspected it, made an offer to him, and paid him, in full in less than 21 days from when he left a French road and parked in a field. However, he couldnt understand that our failure to pay his excess to him (what did he think it was) or get a quick cheque from a French insurer was our fault. I explained several times, patiently, but he just couldnt accept that it wasn't "our" fault, in some, vague, ill defined way.

I get this most days. I get people like the OP most days.

I might be tempted to try and find a second hand ps3 on ebay, as the earlier large gig capacity ones were mostly ps2 backwards compatible, none of the new ones are.

Richer sounds are flogging 32 inch Samsungs at £299 at the mo?

I've often found changing jobs does it to me. A whole new office of bugs circulating in aircon systems, usually takes 6m of continual colds, or blocked noses before I seem to become "immune" to the crap in the air.

Theres a all in 1 printer test in this moths pc pro mag.

Theres some canon jobbie that wins the plaudits.

Oi.

I got a bike from the Halfords Cycletowork scheme. Most I could spend was £1000, but I'm sure I work for an outfit with a consumer credit licence. Well, RBS, perhaps after Sirfreds antics, they've had it withdrawn!

Must admit, thinking about one of those new Orange R8's myself.