I’ve never heard of, or experienced, any disc warping using that method thisisnotaspoon.

Most of the suggestions above will clean the disc but not necessarily improve it.

Get the disc hot by dragging it then spray it with water. When the steam clears you will have a brake with good bite. Standard practice for a motorcycle trials bike.

I knew someone who once went in to work early and found the cleaner washing her cloths in the water boiler for the tea.

Not sure why thisisnotaspoon feels you would not want engine braking but opening fhe throttle with no spark increases engine braking rather than reducing it (try it sometime).

You should have come to Scotland too.

Well they won’t keep Danny Macaskill or Chris Akrigg out anyway.

Long ago a Radio 4 programme was discussing fancy coffee machines. The expert said that the stovetop type could be just as good at a fraction of the price but that the secret was to ensure that the coffee was well tamped down.

That certainly improved my results and basically it’s what the pros do in the shops if you look. Stovetop or cafe special it’s just pushing steam through the coffee.

If you think it’s still not right after degreasing try the old motorcycle trials trick of dragging them until hot then spraying with neat water. Restores the bite quite well.

I bet the Lamlash midgies are already licking their lips at the thought of all that fresh new flesh on the Island?

Funny, the website doesn’t mention that.

I use cheap automatic transmission fluid as I had a load lying about – works well.

I saw his chequebook so I know his name really was Mushroom Pratley.

How times change; when I was a kid people used to put the jeans on as soon as they got home from the shop then get in to the bath to shrink them as tight as possible.

Over 47 years I’ve had (by way of “big” bikes, by my era) Guzzi Monza, Honda Revere and, for the last 17, SV 650 which I can’t really fault. It certainly coped fine two up with all the camping gear to Italy.

Borrowed 650 BM last year and was mighty impressed. 400 miles in the day round mid/north Scotland and I was fresh as a daisy at the end (would have been a bit stiff on the SV). Not going daft but nobody passed us and got 75 mpg. I would have one if I was in the market.

As said by others, you don’t need enormous power – much faster bikes existed in days gone by with less bhp. I recall coming up behind a group of sportsbikes a few years ago on a twisty Highland road and was forced to pass the lot and didn’t even need to use the full 18bhp of my Beta Rev3. Anyone who’s ridden a 400 by 18 Michelin on the road knows how much fun that was 🙂

I had the older, shorter Berlingo and a bike went in no bother. The removable seats meant I could carry two bikes and a tandem, or two trials motorcycles. The newer one should be even better.

In saying the cyclist was going too fast he surely is admitting he saw him before opening the door? But never mind, technically it is the driver, not the passenger, who is responsible.

Much as I enjoy a Bains pie it ain’t a proper Scotch pie, it’s got real meat and gravy in it:-)

Modern petrols seem to be much less economical than they should be given developments over the years.

Over 40 years ago I was getting 50 to 55 from a 1.3 Renault 5 which pulled well low down and would also register over 100 on the speedo if one was bothered to try.

I recently spoke with a Fiat Panda owner who said that due to all the emissions “stuff” on it it needed to be booted everywhere and returned only 35 mpg. More petrol used equals more pollution (at that sort of difference) surely.

There are advantages to diesel that I have never seen discussed. Better consumption means less oil reserves used up and (to my layman way of thinking) there must be a fair bit of pollution generated by the additional processing to produce petrol rather than diesel. Perhaps an oil expert can enlighten us.

No car window involved but was tandeming by the canal when an old bloke in a canoe with his wife shouted “She’s not pedalling at the back”.

I was just too far away, unfortunately, when the riposte “And she’s not paddling at the back” came to me. But feel free to use it should the circumstance arise.

Riesel Schlamm type can be made to the length you want for the massive expenditure of 90p on an Ikea placemat.

I was happy with gift gaff until they put the rates up by 50% in order to charge the same for here and abroad – moved to Asda.

You can find lots of info on the web about mould growing on the drum – it does not take long to build up. Solution is much as above but worth reading the detail. It took several goes to get rid of the mould from my drum and I had to replace the seal it was that bad.

I’d rather like to see this in a cinema but it seems that the research into the sport for the film must have revealed that nobody in Scotland is interested in mountain biking…………………

I’ve used office computer systems for thirty years. Based on that experience there’s no way I would trust my (or anyone else’s) life so directly to a computerised system.

I know we are forced indirectly to risk our lives (computerised control of hazardous processes etc) but just because “we” can do something by IT does not mean that we should.

Out of curiosity I googled the 125 Innova I alluded to and they are for sale at your budget.

The last time I looked at magazine fuel consumption figures automatic scooters were shockingly poor – a car could do better. I think it’s down to the continuously variable transmission.

Maybe that does not bother you but if it does and you don’t want a full manual then see if you can find a Honda stepthrough with semi-automatic transmission. With these the rider decides when to change gear and the clutch is operated automatically when you use the gear lever. Driven hard my old stepthrough still gives over 120 mpg which a scooter won’t, apparently, get near.

Later models are, I think, a full 125 and have telescopic front forks so you can actually use the front brake hard without locking the wheel.

A pal does work on Chinese branded scooters and, based on his experience, I wouldn’t give one house room.

Elbow Grease at £1 courtesy of Semi Chem cleans anything (including oily clothes) as well as and better than most things I have used in forty years of cleaning motor and pedal cycles but is a bit dearer than some of the dilutables mentioned.

Just get Melanie doing Lay Lady Lay, better than Dylan for that one.

Seems like a further move away from the cycling members to the corporate monster it seemed to have become.

And all those member group shirts now obsolete, or collector’s items 🙂

I wonder what they’ll call CTC Scotland now, surely not Cycling UK Scotland?

Elbow Grease – £1 at Semi Chem. Works a treat on bikes and clothes with no ill effect.

There’s an old trawler you can get guided tours of ……….

I agree with dodo. The shed at my mother’s old house was done this way and is still fine over fifty years later.

That 42 mile route cuts a corner and thus shortens the 36 mile route we did at the weekend. I thought it seemed a long 36. Who counted it as 36? 🙂

Just back from 300 miles round the Borders by borrowed VFR so just a quick post.

As, I suppose, a host native, it was good of me to attract all the punctures so the visitors didn’t have to suffer(except Ton unfortunately). On which point would one half of Team Norfolk please contact me by PM (I’m hopeless at remembering names, sorry).

And big thanks to Tony for organising and to Essel for letting me know about it during discussion of our outing in a fortnight.

If you want more cycling in Dumfries I can recommend the KM – Google KM Rally 2015 for details as I can’t link using this tablet. Did someone mention tablet? You can Google that too and, if you’ve room to park the sugar delivery truck, can try making it.

Altberg. They can repair them when necessary and can also accommodate individual needs on fit to an extent. They have a shop in Richmond and the factory is on an industrial estate above the town.

Actually I see they now have stockists nationwide and can do factory fit too. A bit over budget for the bespoke ones (as opposed to shop stock) but they really are a boot for life.

It depends what you want to do. Lothians and Borders CTC have had some good runs lately – not terribly technical but interesting routes. They happen on Mondays if you’re free. CTC[/url] They are announced on the Yahoo group Yahoo

Assuming you are running Presta valves then get a Schrader adapter and visit you rlocal car tyre fitters? They may help for the price of a pint.

“Um, yes. Officer suspects below standard looking light, stops the perp and simply looks at the indicator – not a big faff is it?”

And how would the marking account for a battery on its last legs? Which is the usual problem. It’s actual output, not theoretical, that matters.

Funnily enough I’m just going to finish off making one of these after my tea. 75 pence at Ikea gets you a plastic place mat that could be made in to a “Muckynutz” 15 inches long were there room to fit it.

The tram is slower partly due to a round about route and much more expensive than the bus from the airport to the city centre. Even when in open areas away from the road the tram seems to crawl along. When the trams came in the frequency of the airport buses was increased (one every ten minutes I think) which doesn’t do much to encourage tram use by airport users.

And if I recall correctly the original plan years ago was to ban cyclists from Princes Street, so they might revert to that.