Saul

Sounds like you have been lucky with that Xsara Picasso, we had the completely opposite experience. We sold our trusty old Volvo 850 2.5 petrol with 220,000 miles on still going strong because the Mrs wanted something a bit more modern where she could sit up high, like all the other silly bints around town. I gave in and we got a nice pinkish one with 90K miles on the clock, a week after the 3 month guarantee ran out the head gasket went. £1200 later all was good for six months then one night we heard a loud twang from outside. The bloody rear axle had collapsed as the torsion bar had snapped. Another £800 down the drain. Another 11 months along it started using water again at 116K miles. I got shot of it quick smart and we agreed that I would choose the cars from then on. We then had a CRV which was a beauty, but someone had to have 7 seats, so then we went back to a Volvo V70 2.5 petrol. Now a few years later Mrs wanted to sit up high again, she went to look at a Nissan Qashqai, but came home with a BMW X3, another bastard money pit that we still have. I hate to think how much it has cost. Oil leaks, cam chain, clutch and dual mass flywheel. Now it is leaking oil again, what boils my piss is that she traded a lovely 7 seat Volvo, that took me ages to find and is still going strong, for it. All so she can sit up high with the other horsey Mummies. I have just noticed how grumpy I am getting. Need a beer tonight and reset I think.

I quite enjoy that, found it interesting. Looks like my sorta place.

Had a walk around Luxulyan Valley this morning with the Dear Boy. Only 6K but stunning up there. No people either the way I like it. We had a look at the remains of the old winding engine and at Treffrey Viaduct.

I am out singing down at the Ship Inn Pentewan tonight, tomorrow I am tempted to have a trip down to St Ives to see Kimbers Men, a group I quite like. Haven't decided about Sunday yet, a Bimble may be on the cards.

Thanks mate that is a kind thing to say and I appreciate it, but we didn't adopt for any sort of altruistic reasons. We couldn't have kids the normal way so we went the adoption route, as a family was very important to us. To be fair the older two are now 17 and 19 so pretty grown up, Well my 17 year daughter is, the boy, well you know about boys of that age.

From my experience I think the quality of teaching has fallen in schools, they got rid of many of the senior more experience staff and replaced them with cheaper newly qualified teachers. Many of them are all at sea, and still learning their trade. One of the things with my kids, as they are all adopted, the school receives a 2K a year pupil premium as they are classed as 'looked after kids'. So we do have some leverage plus as experienced adopters we know where to look for support from external agencies. We have a very similar experience with my son when he was in Junior school.

Dog walking this morning, out for a bimble this afternoon if it stays dry.

I have just been staring at your bike, bleddy lovely.

I know Stuart can ramble on a bit but he does make a valid point here.

Round two trying to fix the condensation. This time I did exactly what Wee Jaunt did and used the exact same gasket type material as he recommended. I dried the speedo overnight on the radiator, put in the extra gasket stuff and added more silica gel. The keyword for the morning was 'Carefuling' channeling my inner AvE. Now que a few more day of torrential rain to see if it worked.

I can understand your point of view especially in the context of modern Japanese reliability, real quality products, but at a price. I did a lot of biking in the late 1970's to mid 1980's and believe me the Japanese motorcycle industry piled em high and sold em cheap then. Yes the reliability was superior to most of the alternatives but that is not saying much really, they made plenty of unreliable dogs too. Also into the mix came the associated bodgery that occured by the time these cheap bikes got to their second or third owners. Now from my point of view and in that context I find my RE a pleasant well made bike, I have replaced the relays as a precautionary measure and am having to sort the fogging issue but really tis just a bit of tinkering on what was a £4000 bike, I really don't mind doing it. I still have 2.5 years of guarantee if anying major goes wrong and roadside assistance if it were to break down. But I do trust it and would take it anywhere here. Of course there is better and we all make different choices for different reasons and the "Your Bike is shit" stuff is just banter to me. I like what I like and buy what I like for my reasons, as I am sure all people do. Perhaps the world has moved on and I am still in the old headspace I remember, but I like it there I do like Hondas for many reasons but to me, admittedly an old fart, I think most of them along with many modern bikes look awful. I can also appreciate that Canada is a very different place and breaking down miles from help is much more of a thing for you than it ever would be for me. In your position I would probably aspire to and stump up the extra for a premium brand like a Honda. Mind you to be totally honest I would probably go for a BMW if I was spending a large chunk.

Don't worry I have a feeling it is going to hit the fan once the Educational Psychologist gets involved. I won't roll over, they will be held to account.

And funded the return postage, may be cheap shite but they came from a British retailer thank goodness.

Oh I know that . I had Allspeeds then decided I needed Microns, couldn't tell you why now, apart from young and daft. The sad thing was that the RD400E was a lovely ride before I started making it faster. Plenty of torque, lovely sound and looked the nuts untils the LC's came out. When I was young and still lived at home I used to swap bikes every couple of months or less. I remember at one point I had six, but only two legally on the road. Not even sure I could list them all now but mostly 400cc and below.

You would have, I spent a fortune Stan Stephens tuning it, until I ruined it and swapped it for a very nice clean Suzuki GSX250E. The RD400E ended up with a powerband as wide as a nats cock, drank fuel like a Jag, but did go like a stabbed rat when it wasn't oiling up. Like I say I ruined it.

I nearly bought one of these new in the mid 1980's I liked it.

I loved mine, eventually sold it for RD400E. Back in the late 1970's early 1980's I think pretty much the whole workforce of Devonport Dockyard rode CB 250/400's or C50's. It was like a Motor GP at clocking off time.

She has a horse that is much more of a handful than any trail bike. Bleddy thing is mental, I can't watch but she loves it.

It was spotless, had done 29000 miles for £2200. Doesn't seem much, but 23 years old. No idea what that sort of thing is worth. Suppose condition is everything when you get to that sort of age.

True but £30 of that will be coming back.

I know I have said a little about it on here, but long story short my youngest 15 year old is having some mental health issues. Without going into to much detail for her sake, if you google a thing called attachment disorder, much would become clear. Anyway as an adopted child who came from a horribly chaotic background my youngest has all the classical symptoms of it. Her problems came to a head when she ran away from home, although she is much loved and happy normally. Long story short again it has all been triggered by a string of bullying from kids in school and harsh treatment by staff in school. Anyway I have been keeping her home from school to get her head straight and just take some emotional pressure from her shoulders. Been trips to doctors, youth workers Cams contact and in the new year she will be seeing an educational psychologist. Following this the school is finally coming around to the point that she is not just a naughty child that needs punishment but one who needs help and a bit of care. So today we take her back, on the proviso that we talk to the head of year before she goes in. What a total cock he was, I have never wanted to deck someone so much in my life and not actually done it. The first sentence out of his mouth was that on this one occasion he was not going to send her to the reset they had given her before I kept her home. Just to be clear Reset, in that school, is when the kids are sent to a classroom and have to sit silent facing the wall working, they are not allowed to speak even to ask the supervising member of staff for help with the work or use the toilet. He is sitting behind them. WTF sort of way is that to treat kids. I said that perhaps we should not be talking about punishment as my daughter, after much support and encouragement has found the courage to come back to school. And her mental health is far more important than some petty punishment. From this point on my Mrs took over as she saw they way it was going. I am not angry or violent person but like, anyone would be, you hurt my kids and you will see a different side to me. Anyway for the third time long story short my Mrs wiped the floor with him in the nicest possible way. More meetings to come. Picked the youngest up this afternoon and she did have a good day so small steps in the right direction. There are some good staff at the school but but there are some petty fuckers than need dragging around by their hair. Now I feel much better getting that off my chest. Sorry for the rant but it had to come out somewhere.

They were perfect coming home, really warm. In reality my commute to and from work is between 45 mins and an hour, I am sure they will be great for that. I know you can spend much more but horses for courses. They are 31 inside leg which is 3' longer than I need, so they don't ride up when I am on the bike. It's been a good day when I stopped swearing at the Ebay crap I bought.

I bleddy did it again. Followed a link on hear for some cheapy textile waterproof lined trousers on Ebay for £29.99. Guess what, they were crap and unwearable, mesh lining was sewn in twisted so you could not get you right leg in, press studs on the waste broken. Going back tomorrow. So I thought bite the bullet and go and buy some decent ones, which I did, and to my surprise the ones to match my Richa Jacket were only £99.99, so with my loyalty discount I got them for £89.99. Why the feck did I not do that in the first place? I think I have scrooge disease or something.

I am not in the market for a tourer now, my days of doing that are finished, been all over on my R100RS and K100RS in the past. Loved it, but done it. Still have a soft spot for Beamers though. Chap in town has a Blackbird, I appreciate that, no ambition to get one but do like it.

They fit pretty well considering I still have the armour in and am wearing 3 layers and jeans underneath. I am thinking of work commuting, don't want to have to change when I get there.