-
Continue reading →: Flash, bang, wallop. Again.
So it would seem that Oxfordshire County Council are about to turn on the speed cameras again, just a few months after they were turned off. I wonder why? I suspect yesterday evening’s BBC news story explains a lot. The bulletin featured a 9 year old girl from Nuneham Courtney…
-
Continue reading →: Training is bad for you. Apparently.
This year sees crashes at their lowest level since records began. We’re killing fewer people than ever – although the rate of fall has slowed markedly since the mid 1990s. Cars have airbags, side-impact bars, seatbelt pre-tensioners, anti-submarine seats, ABS, TCS, TSB, SOS and probably even BBC too. If your…
-
Continue reading →: Serendipity and sausages
Yesterday – in case you missed it – was one of those autumn days that’s cold enough for the jacket liner but bright enough for sunglasses. Pip was off to London for a course, so I had the whole day to ride. So I sat down and tried to see…
-
Continue reading →: Riding, Airfields and Arnhem
I arranged to spend yesterday with a bloke I’d never met before, just on the strength of a couple of e-mails and a phone call. Leave those ‘fnarr’ comments at the door – we’d arranged to meet to ride a route around Gloucestershire’s disused WWII airfields. These usually desolate places…
-
Continue reading →: When do you really own a bike?
For a while, a couple of years ago, I had an ST1100 – a Honda Pan European. It was THE most competent bike I’ve ever owned. My business partner, James, and I rode back from Cornwall one freezing February – him on his Triumph TT600, me on the Pan. I…
-
Continue reading →: When is a Ural not a Ural?
Owning a Ural makes you do strange things. Often, you find yourself turning off a perfectly serviceable road that leads somewhere and down a track that doesn’t. Just to see what’s there. This happened to me yesterday.
-
Continue reading →: Why it takes longer by Ural
You don’t buy a Ural to go fast. Urals are Russian motorcycle combinations, built like tanks (but slightly heavier) and rather slower. Based loosely on the 1930’s design for the BMW R71, they’re still made in Siberia. That means they’re designed to deal with Siberian roads and weather. Speed is…
-
Continue reading →: In speed camera land, numbers mean what we like
It’s pretty clear that there are a lot of people who don’t like speed cameras. I’m one of them. But my objections are based on what I’ve observed by training drivers and riders. I think I know what makes people safe and what makes them dangerous. By and large, compliance…
-
Continue reading →: What are speed limits for, Daddy?
What are speed limits for? Depends who you ask. Some people would stick up their middle finger and say “for ignoring”. Others would treat them with the reverence of a holy relic and demand they’re never, ever broken. A rather fundamentalist view of limits – and their enforcement – has…
-
Continue reading →: When Urals don’t start.
I felt like a right prat this morning. Had done a full fluid change on the Ural at the weekend. Used cheap, mineral 20w/50 (rather than that expensive, thin semi-synth stuff) and the engine sounds so much sweeter. I’ll drop it and change it again in 750 miles. Did tappets…
Hello,
Welcome
Thanks for dropping in. There’s all sorts of stuff here, from reviews of watches to thoughts on driving and riding. And you’re welcome whether you agree with any of it or not.
MMC Musings 