Update – just got van back from the VW specialist for inspection. Verdict is the manifold area: missing studs, loads of soot. They won’t know if the manifold is salvageable until off, might have warped and popped the studs. If it does need replacing, they are quoting £500 for the manifold, various gaskets, clamps, seals and £500 labour + VAT = £1200. EEEK…does that sound about right? Worth a second opinion elsewhere or bite the bullet?

Bought my first pair in 1986 when I DJ’d at this place http://thevenuelondon.com/ back in the day. Gave to my kids ages ago and still going strong, they have never gone wrong, not once….

I stayed at La Grande Métairie near Carnac Plage in a mobile last year for a few nights in August*, was fine, the entrance was right by the main avenue of stones. They had some naff entertainment in the evenings too – one night a travelling circus with caged animals inc. lions, tigers and monkeys turned up and starting setting up. Looked awful, but a few hours later they packed up and went, I assume because of the howls of protest from campers.
Great beaches nearby & plenty of Vides Greniers to fill the van with crap to bring back. The Quiberon peninsula nearby is a weird place, a bit like Portland Bill, some strange folk there.
* being a tight arse, only booked the week before with Canvas, to get it very cheap

Thanks, links would be useful, no email in profile?

Yes there are usually several operators on the sites. I wouldn’t go for the pre-erected tents, definitely worth a tad more to get a mobile home with the added creature comforts/privacy/security. Risky, but we never use to book until a week or two before as they discount massively then to fill spaces*. Okay if you are pretty flexible where you stay. We used to do 2 or 3 sites over a couple of weeks doing this every year for about 5 years when kids were small and always had a great time.
* last time I went to Domaines des Ormes we got one of their posher wooden lodges for about £150 for 5 nights there in late August, booking it a week before, was previously nearly a grand. Haggling definitely works nearer the date, but I doubt you’ll get much off booking months away obviously.

The Domaines Des Ormes site near Dol de Bretagne is great if you have little kids, loads to do on site and nice places to visit nearby. Canvas Holidays were always great for booking there when we used to go, and get a discount off Brittany Ferries to Pompey/Poole -Cherbourg (about 1.5 hours drive to site from there) – best ring, better deals dealing directly than trying to book online. Do haggle too, there’s lots of competition and they will knock something off after ‘talking to manager’ etc
http://www.canvasholidays.co.uk/france/brittany-north/br01x/domaine-des-ormes?tab=overview

Stayed at this one too near Carnac which was good:

http://www.canvasholidays.co.uk/france/brittany-south/br12b/camping-la-grande-metairie?tab=overview

And this one in the north of Brittany:

http://www.canvasholidays.co.uk/france/brittany-north/br02a/camping-le-chatelet?tab=overview

+1 for Oxford T5, friendly and helpful bloke with loads of used T5 seats. I bought some off him and he helped fit there and then for no extra cost & made me a cup of tea etc. When I have changed to a smaller vehicle before I have always regretted it and gone back to vans/kombis again so stick with what you have it runs well and can take the extra seats.

Yep I had the turbo gaskets replaced a couple of months back by local garage but still get the smell. Nice blokes at local garage but this time I want to find someone who specialises in just these to make sure it gets resolved, cheers

Thanks all, much appreciated, will call around on Monday and go from there

Replacing Keaveny with anyone would be an improvement

Check out sold prices for units on ebay to give an idea of value then stick it all on gumtree with a pic for pick up only. People like me like old (quality) hi-fi’s, you’ll probably get more for it than you think. Then donate any cash to charity of your choice. Most charity shops won’t take electricals these days unless they have someone who can PAT test stuff.

How about this one:
TAGOM
– Try and get out more

When I got made redundant earlier in the year I phoned up to cancel sky, after about 5 minutes of sticking to my guns, they dropped the price to £4.99 a month for all, for 12 months, must remember to check/cancel again when they try and stick it back up next year…

I had a Pure Highway plug in one that worked via aux in (better) or FM, aerial it came with worked fine in my area, lots of leads dangling though. If the car has a single DIN for the stereo it’s often more effective to buy a new unit with DAB already – I have bought JVC graded ones off ebay (circa £80 with 12 months warranty) and fitted to several cars, great sound and the windscreen aerials they came with worked fine. If you get one, make sure the USB port is a charging one for phones, some of the budget ones aren’t, only for playback, not charging. Cheers

I’ll have a look at the online site tomorrow and decide, then maybe see if there is any local casual work for a few weeks. As a student many moons ago I used to be a postman over the Xmas period, I loved that job

How much do you want for the 5 (and 5s if you find it)? What networks were they on and memory? ta

Thanks that was quick, presume 2 stroke, don’t suppose they come up too often on eBay.

Ditto, look on local gumtree. Technics 1210’s are great but hold their price. Maybe an old Dual 505 if you’re on a budget

Got a burley one:
http://burley.co.uk/category/wood-burning-stoves/
A mate who fits loads recommended it and it’s very good

Ours is done annually, 5 of us plus regular visitors. Not a particularly big tank and when we first lived there it used to overflow and stink quite regularly but diverting grey water from sinks, washing machine etc from it into a separate soakaway made a big difference, works fine now and apparently it’s better to not have detergent residue going in them as it hinders the natural bacterial breakdown or something.

I had a hire/loan one for a week, I know probably not long enough for a full impression but it was long enough for me – it did everything it should in terms of getting from A to B but I felt is was quite a dull place to be & very cheaply built to a price compared to VW’s/Toyotas I normally use. Seems to be between car derived and medium sized vans for size in the back. I wouldn’t want one after my week with it but I guess if you aren’t bothered about aesthetics/image and it’s cheap enough then why not?

^ car cover, not really, might want to tinker occasionally and perhaps want wet weather cover for other use too in the future e.g. events/parties etc. Tying down securely seems key – thanks for the other tips above too.

We used this place where I used to work for accommodation units: http://www.sofasofa.co.uk/
it is mail order but they are good, I bought my home ones from here too. Or if you are loaded, go to Heals, their sofas are great, but at a price

The shop wanted £80 just to look at it, plus whatever parts, plus vat etc
The scope says 3-9 x 50. The pump says RWS on it. I have to admit I haven’t looked after it as well as I probably should, it’s just been stood in a cupboard gathering dust for ages. Thing is I do secretly still want an air rifle for occasional use but I think a pump up one isn’t suited, maybe just a budget underlever or break barrel I can just leave and forget about for ages. Here’s the Air Arms:

Thanks for the offer ^, I’ll have a think

Thanks for the tips, I’ll check out the sites. It’s an Air Arms S200 pump up type with nice Simmons scope, had it from new about 15 years ago I think. Trouble is I went to use it the other day after not for ages and it seems to not hold pressure now when you pump it up (maybe a seal gone?), makes a little phut and I now suspect there is a pellet stuck in the barrel. The gun shop quoted some ridiculous figure to fix it so this, and because I generally can’t be bothered, means I was just going to flog it needing to be looked at and repaired. I will ask the gun shop to buy/value it but I suspect they’ll make some daft offer saying it’s old, busted and not worth anything – I would rather test the market elsewhere too, to see if I can get a tad more for it. I know it’s probably like old used bikes you are attached to, you probably think they are worth more than they really are…

When my dad died he had a humanist funeral and had ‘Is that all there is?’ by Peggy Lee playing at the end. No religious crap, nice readings, Somerset withy coffin, plant a tree on top etc. Proud of him to the end.

Update, well I got this one off gumtree locally for £100, it’s in really good nick, hardly used and pretty similar size to the one that busted. Hope it does the job, bit dubious as it’s an Irwin Record one but for the money (supposed to be £400 rrp) I thought I’d give it a go:

djtom – am in New Forest, have sent pm, I see someone else is trying to usurp it….

Thanks dbcooper (and others), just googled, there’s a machine mart 9 miles from me, not been before, do they have stuff on display to look at first or is it like screwfix and all hidden out the back and you just order what you want?

Thanks, will look for a big old one locally on gumtree/ebay. The new ones I see on various websites I’m a bit dubious about as you can’t really get a feel for the size or quality without seeing them in the flesh, they might be really weedy and poorly made. Are the ‘Irwin’ Record ones any good or has someone just bought the name, bit like they do for old bike manufacturers and then turn out shit?
^Actually there is a machine mart and a tool shop in the nearby town, might take a look whilst keeping eyes open for a good used one.

Agree they are crap, basic (unless you can get a fully specced Invicible) but ultra reliable is a Hilux. For more space and security if you are not going off road, a Kombi/Crew van could make more sense.

I dug out the bad scan below of the original Africa Twin I had in about 89/90, great bike and would love the new version but can’t justify something like that these days sadly. The other bike is an XR650L I got from the States new in about 93/94 to replace the AT as was I doing more proper off road stuff then. The car in the pic I had then was one of my favourites from that era too, a Corolla GTI, happy days

I’m pretty sure the last of these AT’s was about 2003, seem to really hold their price well these last ones

We have LPG tank living in the middle of nowhere, for heating/hot water but electric for cooker, it’s clean and reliable but it’s bloody expensive and as others say we are stuck with Calor. Wish we had oil instead or renewable source, must do it. In the meantime, we just try and use the wood burner all winter (unlimited free wood) to minimise putting the LPG powered heating on.

Depends on the dealer I suppose and so many factors; how much leeway the sales staff have, how much in demand the model is, how desperate to have your business, or not etc.
I went to buy a new Golf a few years back all set for some ‘negotiating’ after doing my research and getting broker prices for the spec I wanted. The saleman came up with a price, I went in with what I could get it for elsewhere, he then came back with about 5% lower than that. I was happy & deal done in probably 3 minutes.
Same dealer more recently I was back looking at a T5 or Caddy and getting prices for spec. When chatting to him I could see on his pad how much discount he could offer, seemed to be 8-12% depending on model. Nearly did a deal but couldn’t bring nyself to go for new again, went for private used where much of the initial hit of depreciation was taken by someone else.

Well not so stealth, but if anyone wants it let me know. On Friday 30th at Manchester Students Union. Any kind of ‘donation’ appreciated, as I say would rather someone had it than it not being used, cheers

Thanks for the tips, hope they turn out okay

I’ll have a go but might bribe Keith at Perfect Balance with beer first, or probably after, to check and offer advice on handiwork (thanks Ciderinsport)

Read above with interest, I’d ridden regularly for 25 years mainly trail bikes and occasional 100 mile commuting when working on London on a Pan European. 5 years ago for the first and only time I got wiped out 2 minutes from my house, crawling along when a tractor came around the corner on my side of the road with it’s loading forks down. Bike took the brunt of it, I had all the gear on but it did still really hurt. That coupled with the fact that I wasn’t really enjoying it any more with so many dinlos/old retired people where I live on the road meant I gave up. Ferrying kids about and carrying stuff for work as well meant no time and not practical. It wasn’t a conscious decision, just kind of happened. Then 2 of my kids did their CBT’s and started riding scooters/small trail bikes for getting to their jobs/college etc. I used their bikes occasionally for a bit of fun on local trips and it’s been fine for just that once in a while. In fact it’s kind of re-kindled my love of biking and I forgot you could have so much fun on little bikes. I don’t think I’d go back to big bikes/commuting again though. Mind you, once it’s in your blood, every time I go down Poole Quay on a summer Tuesday night I do start getting all wanty. Winter’s coming so I guess that urge will die down for a bit

Talybont on Usk near Brecon is always good at New Year, great pubs, walks/rides. We used to stay at a litle campsite down a lane opposite the Star Inn, was a while ago though so not sure if it’s still open, well worth a look though

Hope it’s not like the one near us a few years back:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapland_New_Forest