go outdoors or towsure do a cheap ~£30 campers mains hoook up kit this has 3 240v plugs on the end with an RCD and a blue 16a camping socket on the other, fit the plug end in your camper and run cable through wall/floor of van (fit grommet to prevent chaffing) and plug tother end into campsite hookup..
Fit a socket outside your house of the mains ring to charge at home.
Fit a 20A 3stage charger (~£70)- (dont fit a ctek small charger you need ~20a output to be able to charge batt and feed 12v appliances at same time) into the camper and wire with as big a cables as possible direct to the leisure battery, leave the existing split charge in place..
Plug into mains at home for a few nights before your trips to fully charge LB, plug in on site if available..
Dont bother with Zig panels, overpriced and not designed for decent batt chargers ie ~20a.

if you dont plan on using the upper bunks in either then the hightop will give you loads of permanent storage space (for light stuff)..
poptop will go under most carpark height barriers but will be colder in winter than hightop (but you can pull roof down overnight if not sleeping upstairs).
fuel will be similar as both big & heavy either way.
poptop maybe easier to sell on in years to come.
if you plan on sleeping 4 storage and floor space will be a challenge either way..
as accomodation for 2 both work great with sufficient storage for a weeks biking/walking..

Elcosol batteries are no better than stadard wet acid battery with regard to being subjected to discharge. Waeco fridge cut out is ~10.5volts by which point the battery is almost completley flat (9.5v generally deemed not salvageable).
An alternator will never charge your battery >75% and as you will only ever equalize the total change to the starter battery when driving possibly even less. Charging with a mains charger ~20a output overnight once a month will help condition battery as would avoiding ever getting the battery down to 10.5v. Either get on mains hook up sooner or increase your Ah capacity in the van.
Your battery may be revived if left for a few days constantly charging off the mains..
I similary wrecked a 110ah leisure battery in one season using a waeco fridge over a few weeks camping and it never recovered, i since went with twin cheap ~£80 110ah batteries and regulary charge via mains especially overnight before a trip, i can now run off the grid for ~4 days and the batteries are still >=11volts and seem to be lasting ok.
Compressor fridges are not as good as most make out and a single leisure battery will only just last a w/e if 100% charged (off mains) beforehand. HTH

PS > Elcosol are the battery equiv of £50 HDMI cables and £20/m speaker cables..

looks like BMW dash at start of film….

no need to watch further….

decision taken…

“All Mountain” defined by the following characteristics;
On site car park for ones Audi.
On site cafe serving Lattes.
Collective of middle aged men riding expensive bikes for upto a few hours whilst wearing a few hunderd quids worth of gear.

Yup CYB is all mountain..

if the slower rider is tail end charlie of a mixed group, mow em down regardless as you can guarantee that come the start of the next singletrack section his faster mates will set off as soon as tail end charlie appears..
Single riders doin their own thing ill wait, groups of mixed ability ive no time for..

dont bother,
swamp / hike a bike through upper forest.
hike a bike on non existant sheep tracks until the pass for a descent that was good but in no way worth the 2hrs of hiking/carrying.. worst route ive done… ever.. Scotlands got so much better stuff than this.

quite how anyone would pay you over 40k when your stumped by the maths is puzzling..

OH works in a bike shop…came home the other day with this tale..

Customer… “my back tire keeps going flat, whats wrong with it”
OH…..”sounds like a puncture, but could be the valve, how long does it stay up”..
Customer… “i pump it up a few times a week, how can i fix it”.
OH… “you can either book it in and we check / fix as required, otherwise you could check the valve is not leaking, fix the puncture or just replace the tube, if your unsure id dont want us to fix it your best bet is to just replace the tube”.
Customer… “you would say that your a bike shop and just want to sell me stuff”.

Customer then leaves…

Bike shop in free advice and offer to fix shocker..

The customer is always right but also cheeky / misguided and about to buy online..

whiplash is caused by unrestrained motion of the head ending suddenly by the neck.
As you reversed into her the headrest on her seat would have prevented this from happening, her head would have been stopped from moving backwards by the headrest prior to her neck having to do anything, thus preventing any neck injury.
If you hit her side on or from behind her head can move rapidly until restrained by her neck once her body is held in position by a seatbelt.
She’s scamming the system as most personal injury claims are these days and your insurer are unlikely to do anything.

the fact that the bulb is focused so heavily at the road is the problem,
when driving towards it in the dark you have a large area of harshly illuminated road moving towards you, if the road is anything but totally dry this is reflected straight at the on coming traffic.
which is the very reason there not meant to be used in anything but reduced visibility.

Seems to be 2 types of Fog users the deliberate ones that also seem to drive both dangerously and discourteously in other respects and the stupid people that cant remember they turned them on 2weeks ago.
So Fog light users, which are you ?

no problem.

Midge an issue in highlands,west coast on still days between easter & end sept..(in general).
T4 or similar medium size van great for highland roads, but without an awning youve got to pack everything away just to nip to shops.

youll need to travel light in a small van too.

although not cool, renting some static caravans and using a car maybe more practical with small kids.

Fog lights on without FOG = IDIOT.
Inconsiderate of oncoming traffic,
Inconsiderate of following traffic,
and a complete TWUNT hwho believes their car looks better with stupid fogs on, normally accompanied by only using sidelights..

If you cant be bothered to drive within the rules of the road, do the decent thing and hand your licence in at the nearest police station OR GROW UP.

vito = rust & electrical issues.
T4 = scene tax, great drive & loads to play with but you can end up with no money for fuel & biking.
Transit = builders van + rust.

I run a T4 but am seriosuly considering a MWB, Hightop Vivaro, cheap for a van a few years old, more space than a T4, can stand up to change, full camper conversion for far less than equiv T4.

£6k on a T5 will buy you problems..

beam deflectors dont work on the outside of a xenon lens as the directional control of the lens is within the reflector, not on the glass.
Your lamps legally must align kerbside and the only way xenons can do this is by being re-aligned at the garage… mucho ££££

when added to the fact they blind other oncoming road users on poorly lit roads even when aligned correctly, people seem to happily drive around with one failed these days and fix at MOT as their costly to repair i reckon that Xenon lamps are a backwards step in road safety.

Dont care one way or the other providing one simple condition.
If a state within Britain wishes to have devolved powers and choose how it provides public services it should be funding those policies from its own states population and taxation on business within its own boundaries.
What is unfair is to demand devolved powers and use taxes rasied in another state to offer your own population something that the wider union cannot afford,, ie the current situation is unfair.
Love Scotland but if you want great social policy pay for it yourselves.

one shoe…
these are everywhere, but only a single shoe,,, where is the other half to the pair..

If flashing lights are so bad for judging distance…
Is a fundamental rule of the road for all users to make certain the way is clear before chaning road position..
IE the poor confused car driver should be prompted to take more care due to the flashing lights…
Cant belive your on a bike forum slating a guy whos been hit by a muppet who overtook him then immediatley turned across him, on that basis the driver knew exactly how fast the bike was and where it was SHOULD THE STUPID DRIVER CHOSEN TO GIVE A F*** ABOUT ANYONE ELSES SAFETY..

30mpg sounds reasonable,
engine nothing special and aeordynamics of a house and weighs the same..
also expect gearbox problems in near future (forums quote plenty of diff and main box bearing failures that 1st seen as oil leaks on driveway),, main dealer will rape your wallet.. expect big bills.
gearbox parts required are v.expensive and your looking at £700+VAT for the rebuild (at a non franchized box specialist).

if you feel so strongly dont go simples..
if you wish to go paying a fair rate such that drivers get some money towards wear and tear on their cars is the norm.
without work you wouldnt be going..
as others have said they arent making a profit as the £50 is covering what is deemed by govt as wear and tear costs..
if you do go and still bemoan someone recieving £50 to cover wear on their car suggest you travel alone on the bus.

as prior post standard mixer shower with decent mains pressure is fine, adjust boiler water temp such that the hot taps get hotter than you would like to use to wash pots in sink. thus youve got plenty of hot going into mixer and you can choose not set temp down by mixing in some cold when in shower.
if you still are worried before you buy an expensive thermo mixer goto the pound shop (other junk shops also suitable) and buy an old school rubber push on shower head like your nan used in the bath fit to the taps and see what happens.. think youll find a normal mixer will work fine..

if you cant DIY and have any classic car you need to have enough money to never have to ask how much it will cost..
to restore a Bay to decent usable standard (ie MOT bits and basic paint / window rubbers to stop it degrading further will easily take £6k.
Problem comes with stopping yorself from justifying that the interior / pop top really needs replacing which you can easily spend another £3-5k on..
If the van owes you nothing now blowing £10k on a resto should be recoupable in a sale..
Problem is above this price most people want to have a straight van that they have evidence of the resto on and a perfect interior / exterior, if you need to later sell for £15-£20k to recover your costs your van will have to be perfect. their are plenty about where ppl are having to sell to cover costs / finance where they got carried away..

price seems normal round here..

inline engines esp 4cylinders the oil drains back very quickly, if engine is warm 5 mins is enough to get a reliable reading.
if a v-engine with VVT and complex oil routing / turbos it can take upto 30mins for even hot oil to get back to the sump..
Both physical factors from test / calibration of engine management oil level sensing systems on modern engines.
Sports cars with low sump pans even worse as height variance on dipstick equates to an larger volume of oil thats missing..

As for the original quote re oil light and braking / accel, sump baffle design is pretty well understood these days and your oil level would have to be super low to be missing the pickup..
if the flicker was due to tip out the light would be on at cold start when idling..

either your super low on oil or oil pump incapable of building pressure / pressure is being lost..or wrong oil type in engine..
most engines by the time the lamp is on youve already caused serious damage.
check oil level. top up.
if still flickers.
replace oil n filter.
if still flickers.
check elect connector on oil press sensor for open ciruit / poor contact / short to engine block (will be a simple switch unless modern engine with VVT).
if still flicker replace switch (VW’s fail such that oil leaks through sensor body causing loss of oil and pressure fault but no engine damage)
all the above DIYable with Haynes manual and handtools (for anyone that fixes own bike).
If non of that has fixed it your looking at garage time, get them to check pressure in oil system, should be able to either remove oil press sensor and fit gauge or tap into a port on filter body, from that point your looking at time to take sump off replace pump if failling (unlikely), more likely would be high miles engine thats been poorly maintained and is loosing oil pressure due to wear and tear.
HTH..

unless you have low water mains pressure it will be fine..

if you need accomodation with secure bike storage and bike wash the campsite at Torrent Walk, is great. electric hookup £9pppn..hardstanding or grass picthes.
heated loos / shower block / laundry room etc..
they also have B&B accomodation (not used this though)
great place, just before little chef on right as you drop off the hills into Dolgellau..
towns a 30min walk away.
petrol station 10min walk away at end of road next to little chef.
open all year round.
use it the other w/e, had the place to myself.

uncorrected CR = {{Cylinder Volume + volume above TDC) / (volume above TDC;1 }}
short stroke needed to maintain effcy of scavenging across ensgine speed range results in differing optimum CR’s…
Assuming optimum CR regardless of volume were desired to be the same and as high as poss for effcy (ignoring knock). Youve still halved the volume but will hit a threshold where you cant reduce the vol above TDC without creating a large knock/ thermal problem..
i’d guess the 80,125’s are small inefficeint singles..
250 large capacity single, can run higher knock due to vol ratio (as above).
500 a 4cyl engine, hence CR as the 125 ??

lawyers can only make money if they find a client (someone either genuinly agreevied or someone out to make money rather than MTFU)..
if the public were geniune and honest about what they were claiming as being unjust / a loss to them their would be no market for no win no fee ambulance chasers and the more commercial side of lawyering as their would be insufficient business to sustain them..

have a public believing someone else is always to blame, and you create a desire for free and easy legal representation that feeds on society perpetuating the ever increasing need for everyone to insure themselves their property against ever increasing stupid claims etc, etc… a self fulfilling downwards spiral, created through mankinds greed but ONLY facilitated by the legal system that has developed through our Greed..

society is at fault..

avoid one 500m stretch that ends by forcing me out into the road just where a bus lane and normal car lane merge together using it would be a one way trip to hospital.. have to use one over a bridge into work, too narrow and is split in half with a rasied white line to seperate bikes from peds but the walkers take it as fair game…

lawyers / solicotors only exist beccause a great many would rather take advantadge of others in one way or another, its the people using the lawyers to make a fast buck that are the problem.

unless they were taken by force, i dont see why the police should be obliged to do anything at all.. waste off their time..
if you want to keep valuable property look after it..if you cant be bothered to do that serves you right.

how can their be a labour charge to replace the rocker.
to replace the bearings around the rocker all the bolts are out already.
and if the rocker comes with bearings as suggested the labour for replacing those bearings should not be counted..
seems like LBS is being economical with the truth, speak to trek direct to confirm what comes with the rocker then view the guide on DIY replacemement and have a serious discussion with LBS over labour charges..

petplan, had the most usefull and least cynical limitations on claim limits of those i checked.. the M&S insurer of the dog world (prior to M&S changing their bike limits that is).

tend to ride natural trails either lifted from guidebooks, the web or just off an OS map. plot the routes using the garmin sw and print a small map for my pocket as a backup if needed. drive to near somewhere on route intrested in, select route, navigate to it and follow route. great. screen just big enough to navigate off landmarks whilst biking or with brief stop, screen protecteor vituki off ebay svaes sratches and cuts down glare in sun. silicone cover protects against damage if dropped. battery only half used on a normal 4-5hr ride with the unit on and navigating all the time. the only bad thing is u cant print an os map overview from the garmin sw so i need to do this from an old copy of satmap. great bit of kit, makes the ride flow with less checking map and guidebook in new areas. audio warning of direction changes useless i never notice them anyway, just keep glancing down and your sorted. only thing i would recommend is to get the trail package with the OS mapping and also a 12v cig lighter charger to charge in the car if camping.. unless your training the cadence and speed sensor stuff is a waste of cash. glad i bought mine, tons easier to use and the hw and sw is more robust than the rubbish satmap adv3500 i had prior to this which went back after 11 painfull months of being let down.. in summary Garmin 800 great bit of kit..

1) so you saved the pool house from the tree but the tree fell on your mates bike.. FAIL.
2) Tories did it.
3) Your LBS is financed as a PPI, or has offshored the servicing.
4) Road into inconsiderate dog eggs at trail centre.
5) Your a landlord and deserve all you get.
6) a RLJ hit you when you had right of way.

once converted get V5 ammended by DVLA as motorcaravan dont need PSV then.
cant use bus lanes as it will no longer be a bus.
campsites, Camping & caravanning club are fine, private sites and caravan club sites may turn you away.
until its converted and re-registered as motorcaravan your driving licence will have to cover you to drive it as its registered currently, be this on weight or passenger capacity.
it will cost a fortune,
buy one already done and save a fortune and loads of hassle if you must have one.
look at loads and expect rubbish fuel economy and expensive service bills and bits you cant get from your local car parts place.

buy LWB van.
fit standard interior conversion from SWB van.
that will leave you approx 40cm deep boot full width & height behind rockNroll bed.
put up a plywood partition here.
you will only need to drop front wheel out and turn bars, easily get 2 bikes in + biking kit. couple of bungy cords around bikes to some anchor points on the partition and bikes are secure. add a ground anchor equiv to floorpan in the boot and you can even lock em up.
go for solid tailgate and your sorted.
build it yourself.. DIY is cheaper and of better quality than the majority of so called PRO conversions out their.

trail centre in major conurbation trail wear shocker…
someone think of the children..

especially the ones on BMX’s without pads or helmets..

quick get the mail on it..

help out
ride elswhere
MTFU

Football fans in simpleton shocker !!!