mike wilson

Useful link. Thanks. Seals, particularly, are much cheaper than BSL. mike

So..... what's in the big hole under the seat? mike

Get the dimensions and have a look around car factors. Do you need a gel battery because it lies on its side? If not, there may be a Fiat one that fits - which could still be expensive. Be prepared to spend some time looking through catalogues until you find one that has the right sizes. I found that an older Escort battery works for the early Tontis. Less than a quarter of the cost of the Guzzi replacerment for a top line manfacturer. £95 is disgraceful. mike

Only about five miles from me. Why taken the gloss off it? Maybe it's not perfect but I'm sure it's been jolly good fun. mike

Yes, it's. 8-)

But the extraction costs much, much more than conventional wells. The oils being extracted are also in need of much higher levels of refining. Add to those base costs the elevated levels of profit to be accrued for all this extra work and you are talking about much, much more expensive final product. The oil companies will raise prices exactly as far as they can, because that's the way business works these days. The only thing limiting the cost of fuel at the moment is the fact that our society depends upon it. Do the oil companies care that you will be spending most of your income to cover the fuel cost of getting to work? Not one jot. Only if there is a danger that profits will fall because people are unable to work will the price stabilise. We are, literally, over a barrel. m

The £10/$10 gallon is well on the way. I can't work out if it's pure corporate greed (have you seen the oil company profit acceleration recently - makes bikes look slow) or some hidden "save the earth" agenda. That last sentence was intended entirely humourously. The first sentence I anticipate to become reality by this time next year. mike

Quite likely. I'm certainly not the best of us. I'll see if I can dig up some interesting pics from my collection. Unfortunately it's all still in analogue form and I HATE scanning, so it may take some time. m

Impressive stuff. What was point five, day five? mike

Wooler Edit: Wierd; the last half dozen posts were invisible until I posted. Deliberate?

Depends where you live. The roads here are so uncongested that I normally have to be very restrained with the right hand until the beastie is warmed up. Only on rare occasions do I have to filter. Just lucky, I suppose. Not to mention happy. 8-)

Let me get this right. You have a bike of 1100cc and it takes you (over!!!) an hour to travel ~40 miles? Move. 8-)

The oil pressure switch works by lifting a contact and breaking a circuit to make the light go out. If the centre part fails, fall off and oil starts peeing out, you will get no indication of low pressure until the engine starts to lock up. Not a place to bodge or go cheap. Either buy good quality or fit a bolt in the hole. mike

It's a non-starter for me, too. Ugly (personal opinion) impractical (I have enough difficulty keeping the V65 clean) and covered in uneccessary, expensive-to-replace-when-you-drop-it crap. Bring back the Spada

Tha article is based on a false premise. The most popular engine (by volume of sales) by at least an order of magnitude is the two stroke single. mike

American gallons are smaller than real ones, so they get apparently less mpg. Multiplied up, it will be not much less than yours. mike

Barbour International jacket, vinyl (Viking Rubber [!!!] brand) trousers, Dunlop wellies. Never leaked yet, although the Barbour is coming to the end of its life. Grit gets embedded into the fabric and rubs holes. Still not found a way of stopping water running down the arm into gloves. Also not discovered a clothing system that keeps you warm and dry on the bike but allows you to move around off it without turning into mount Vesuvius. mike

CATEGORY GLOBAL HECTARES FOOD 1.2 MOBILITY 0.8 SHELTER 1.1 GOODS/SERVICES 1.1 TOTAL FOOTPRINT 4.2 IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 5.3 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON. IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.3 PLANETS. Southerners! 8-)

If you give me a pm, we can discuss the numerous options open to you. mike