In Scotland we have an Electrician Adult training scheme. You get paid a labourers rate (£8?) rather than an apprentice rate and you attend college for one Friday a fortnight (paid) for the first 2 years. 3rd year is one week at college and after 3 years you’ll be eligible to sit the final trade test.
It’s a good way into the industry and you finish with the same experience and qualifications as the normal mainstream apprentices.

It proves that the installation or whatever part was worked on is safe. Ie, the full complement of tests were done and no corners were cut and the work was carried out by someone with relevant experience and qualifications.

I’m happy that unskilled people are scared to work on electrical installations, after the horrific diy bodge jobs that I’ve seen over the years. It might only be the odd death by electrocution but how many house fires etc are caused by loose connections and overloaded cables?

Just send the guy a message and ask if he’ll take £800. He’ll probably save about £50 in eBay/PayPal fees. Pop over to collect it and get a test ride at the same time.
Bingo :)

Similar to Tang but I’m not into camper vans so I’d buy a GT86 and go touring in that, staying in B&B’s.
My kids are only 3 & 5 though, any bigger and it might get a bit cramped…

In Scotland we have an adult training scheme for older apprentices. One day in college every fortnight and you work/get paid the rest of the time.
You do a years experience as a sparks mate and then the 3-5 year ATS, at the end your a qualified/experienced sparky.
Would be worth asking if the English JIB have a similar scheme.

I reckon North is the way to head, I’m in the Highlands and there’s places you could park for weeks without anyone passing. Near to Inverness too so you could probably find work OK too.
The trails are good too :)
Best of luck with whatever you choose.

Armoured cable buried underground until you get near the driveway. Then, put a sturdy pole either side of the drive and use an overhead catenary wire to carry the cable across the drive, then bury it underground until you get to the garage.
Get a sparky though as you will need to size the cable appropriate to the length of run and anticipated load as well as the possible requirements for a TT earthing arrangement and earth rod.

Pity GT were too busy forging ahead with aluminum to takes steps to prevent them cracking!
Meanwhile my backwards and cumbersome steel Kona is still in weekly use on the same trails as I use my Stumpjumper on, 20 years after I bought it… ;)

Jiayu S3: waited 6 weeks for it to arrive from China, used it for 1 full day and it fell out of my pocket MTBing on a forest road. Cracked screen and touchscreen stopped working, back to my old moto g, ho hum!

I live in Drumnadrochit and often cycle along the A82 to the Clansman hotel, then up some single track and road to abriachan, do a lap of the trails up there and then scoot down the GGW back to Drum. 22 miles all in and some decent trails that drain well and are fine in the wet.

We’ve some tasty natural single track too that us MTB locals have built :)

When are you visiting?

There’s plenty trails about, but depends on what type you prefer. Devils staircase/Kinlochleven is good and there are trails at Glen Loy and Glen Nevis too. A good local guide to show you around helps a lot as well as looking at segment explorer on Strava. I’m from the Fort but stay an hour up the Inverness road now, plenty good trails around here too if you want to visit.

My Tissot got sent back to the factory for its first battery (£120!) The 2nd time I’d looked into it a bit more and my local watch shop did it for £30, it’s been fine :)

Jack it up, put a McDonalds tray under each rear wheel and push it/tow it to wherever you want.

Some of the stuff you’ve done could be straight out of Alan Partridge, like writing “Fool” on the side in big letters, anyone selfish enough to park like that will just laugh and then drive off!
Write “Arse” on one side and “Hole” on the other :)

I got a set for mine a few months ago, I think from MBbearings too. They seem to be good enough quality and were night/day better than the knackered old ones that came out.
Have fun fitting them, especially the double blind ones at the rear pivots ;)

I’ve a 2009 Epic frame with a recently rebuilt shock that you can have for £100, it’s a great XC frame :)

No ring circuits in Europe, we “invented” it after WW2 to save copper.
All radial circuits, 16 amp iirc for sockets and 6 or 10 amp for lights.

I’m using a 140mm travel Stumpjumper 26er, last year it was a godsend on the rooty downhills by the last lap and you can lock the rear shock out completely for the climbs.

I’m riding in a pair for the 2nd year in a row, managed 8 laps last year and will be happy to manage that again as I could hardly walk after last years event! :)

Postie was maybe a fan of the late, great Roy Castle?

306 GTI6 or a nice MR2 Turbo.

As above, an EICR is what you’ll need. I’m working in Perth next Wednesday, it wouldn’t be too far out of my way if you wanted me to do it.
(Approved Electrician, 18 years experience etc etc…)

Email is Paul_m4 at hotmail dot com

If it’s any consolation I paid a fortune for an early direct drive LG. I bought it as I thought a big pancake motor with no brushes to wear out and no belt to go wrong would last for ever. The LG marketing spiel made pretty much the same point. Imagine how I laughed when 3 months out of the miserable 2 yr warranty the main bearing failed and I was quoted 400 quid to replace it. The useless piece of junk went to landfill (which I still have sleepless nights if some years later) and I bought a brand new Siemens . No regrets so far but only had it 6 years…

Same happened to ours a year ago, I stripped it and replaced the bearings, which were only £30.

I had to strip it to almost component level and it took about 5 hours, all in. Your £400 price wasn’t too far off what I’d need to go through that trauma again!

I replaced the bearings in our newish LG machine. About 4 hours labour and £30 for parts. I’m a sparky and have worked on industrial washing machines/dryers in the past and it was still a pita!
Where do you live?

The power of the Internet used for good purposes! What made you suspect it was dodgy?

I had a similar issue a few weeks ago in someone’s house. The pump had jammed solid and the resulting over current was tripping the MCB.

What’s with the swear filter, I only wrote F e c k!

One end of the supply cable will be connected Intl your house fuse board, the other should terminate in a small garage fuse board with a built in RCD and a separate MCB for power and another for lights. Your sparky might fit an earth rod or could take the earth from the house fuse board.

Oh, and for a timber framed shed you can wire it in the same way as a house. Drill holes in the wooden studs and thread the cables through. Take note of wiring “safe zones” and minimum distance between the hole and outside of stud. If you are unsure then get a sparky to do it, it’s not the sort of thing to **** about with.

The length of cable run has a big effect on the cross section size of the cable and therefore the cost. You might find its a lot more cash to have a 25m run of big SWA cable. Ask your sparky if he’s happy with it on the surface, personally I’d want it buried and have a shorter run. Wiring regs and on site guide give guidance for what depth to bury cables at etc but I’ll need to check if it says anything about them being on the surface as every time I’ve done that job I’ve been asked to bury it. Also, someone might chop it and steal it for scrap, depending where you live!

Get a pro, it’s not as easy as it looks! At the very least get rcd trip times measured and the earth fault loop impedance (Ze) measured at the incoming supply point to ensure you have a suitable earth. Do you have an earth rod/spike or or is the earth “imported” from the house supply?

Get your facking jumbo jet outta my airport!

Any release date for the 2nd gen MotoG? Been waiting patiently!

Oh, and bike wise I used my 2008 120mm Stumpjumper last year and this year am torn between a 100mm Epic and 140mm Stumpjumer. Anything will do, really, but by the end of the 4th lap I was pretty glad I went full sus!

I did it last year as part of a pair, we managed 8 laps but my team mate missed the cut off by about 20 seconds so only 7 counted :(

Great fun and the weather was amazing last year, the rooty downhill bits might get tricky if it rains.
Training plan was to ride my bike, twice a week for 10-15 miles. All off road and plenty climbs. Went to the gym a couple of times a week but nothing too strenuous.
Entered again this year so I don’t want to give too many secrets away ;)

I’ve got some 100mm travel 26″ wheel Rockshox Judy Hydracoil you can have for postage.

As above, I’ve got Deore DX thumbies on my old Kona running 1×8 XT in friction mode. I have proper shifters on my other bikes and have no issues switching between the 2.

All 26; 1996 Kona Cinder Cone, 2012 Stumpjumper and 2009 Specialised Epic.
No plans to change, I’m a simple soul :)

Depends on the company overheads but it seems a wee bit steep to me. Shouldn’t be more than half a days work plus cable cost and time to complete the paperwork.
I’ll do it for £100 if you pay the travel time from the Scottish Highlands ;)

I left Glasgow after 13 years there and moved just south of Inverness, our kids are 2 & 4 and we wanted to move before they started school.
Been here 2 years now and love it, I’d never move back!

In the 80’s someone nicked the Ghia badge off my Dad’s Cortina while we were visiting family in Windsor, almost as random as the theft of 3 valve caps off my Mk2 Escort while parked in Ayr a few years back!

Leave the door open when you’re training and setup the turbo outside but under the shelter of the up/over door?
Don’t worry about neighbours extracting the urine, you’re a roadie so already beneath contempt ;)