The moaning old git thread

[Brockett]

 

[Brockett]

I may have already mentioned the poor state of the A120 from Parkeston to Horsely Cross. Not huge pot holes just poor surface with a multitude of joints, patch repairs and small, but harsh ridges across the road. Recently speed limit signs have been installed and I was hoping this is the first steps of a major resurfacing project.   Being installed now are average speed cameras and some but still not many 50mph signs although at present a lot more empty poles.  Are they going to fix the road  An on line query brings out the National Highways Agency decided to introduce a reduced 50mph limit at a cost of 2.6 million pounds errr how much? £2.600.000  in an attempt to reduce the fatalities on this 7 mile stretch of road following four fatal accidents in 2020.
I must say it is no great problem for me as I quite like to keep my speed down on this section since my Fiat Doblo front OS suspension snapped there and the local garage said the road generates a stead flow of broken suspension and has done for over twenty years.  I now drive at 45mph all the way and as the Horsley Cross roundabout also marks the start of the 50mph Average speed area for the next 1.5 miles I know my engine is ready for 70mph thereafter. In fact this 50mph section was introduced to reduce accidents at a T junction which has now been superceded by a roundabout. Of course the Average speed cameras are still up and garnering a steady revenue. What is irksome is that 200 yeards from the end of the 50 is the 70mph slip road from Clacton and there are some very squeaky moments as the Clactonites  doing 70+ mix it with the Harwich folk still working up to speed after a few miles of legally imposed dawdling.  There is, of course, no evidence or information regarding the cause of the accidents that have provided the excuses for these tax gathering devices.  Speed kills - no I think stopping suddenly is far more dangerous.  I think they mean high speed kills a "green" electric car's battery and or reduces it's range. So the universal new 50mph national speed limit will soon be imposed.  The digital version of the 'Turnpike' toll road will soon follow. 

[nigel s]

Cameras are the devils spawn.......and just now as I opened the fridge to get a beer out ready for the footy...........................the Feckin' DOOR fell off........ .........It is 35 years old 

[Brockett]

And in case I didn't say this:
Beware of the Manningtree level crossing when travelling from Brantham to Manningtree.
There are some huge craters /pot holes near the white line on the downhill side that you won't see until it's is too late.

[Rixington43]

I ordered some SW Motech Ion footrests back in May as I wanted some more off road suitable pegs for the ABR Festival and, since my oem footrests are now slightly worn beyond parallel from riding stood up, I thought hell, why not, they look comfy as well for those with large feet.
I ordered the pegs and adapters both in black to match the frame on the Vee.
Waited 3 weeks and they arrived in a box labelled black with the part codes for black. Great, except the pegs were black and the adapters silver.
Raised with SW UK who apologised and arranged an exchange. Took 3 weeks, missed both ABR and my annual tour. They sent the EXACT same thing again, black pegs but silver adapters all in packages labelled as both being black.
Returned AGAIN and SW UK promised they would contact SW Germany and eyeball the replacements before shipping.
Today I get an email from SW UK, the Germans have sent them the EXACT same thing again.

So much for German efficiency. How hard is it to look in the box and how many sets in their warehouse are wrong without them knowing.

Oh well, maybe I'll get them for ABR next year

[The Doctor 46]

I think you should get familiar with a rattle can and paint them yourself. I can't imagine why you missed the ABR just because of a bit of silver on your fixings, you fussy thing   

[Rixington43]

Sorry, I didn't not go because of the pegs, just missed having them for the event.

[2112]

Timewasting arseholes on eBay - tossers!

[Brockett]

Message from microsoft - " support comes to an end on 14th October - why not switch to windows 11? I'll tell you why .... the little laptop has insufficient memory to  run windows 11 and I know this because when I tried to upgrade I got a snotty message which translated as "Ha Ha Ha upgrade that rubbish.....  it's never happening"   Bloody Microsoft

[Upt North]

With new HP's available for way under £200 you'll get over it Brockett.
My now 3 to 4 year old HP runs 11, it's quick and reliable.
It was scary quick when I first ran it after a Windows 7 jobbie. Still just as quick still.
Upt.

Not as quick as a Guzzi......obviously.

[Ianmc]

  I upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and it has ruined my PC,lots of stuff has been deleted,like hundreds of email addresses,plus my iTunes has dis-appeared,approx 2k.tracks have gone,apparently Apple do not support it anymore,you have to go to Apple Music and pay even more.Thankfully I have not tried to add any tracks to my iPod in the car so they are safe I hope.I had previously saves a couple of thousand photos from this PC,to an older PC running on Windows 7 as a backup,and they are still safe all being well.

[pb]

Brocket, I got the same message for my Windows 10 , you should be able to take advantage of the extended cover by clicking on a couple of links within the Microsoft message. I was able to extend mine for another year at zero cost. Saves changing the computer this year.

[nigel s]

Not a Widows user..
But did have to replace my old Acer chromebook last weekend. It still works , but after dropping it in the garage one too many times the hinge ( that I had already glued up twice ) finally said enough.
New Acer 514 Chromebook Plus , £249 from Currys , £100 off offer ends today, should maybe have posted this Sunday  .... Updates till 2033.... always check 

Took maybe 20 seconds to set up the first time, sign in to my google account and done . I did not even need to put in my wifi passcode , the plus models  take it from my android phone , which was already connected via bluetooth to the old one , and the same with all the bookmarks/ files and other settings on the old one

So that was one thing , also discovered while in a techy mood my phone just got it's last security update 
In one way my recent prevaricating over replacing my backup phone has paid off. My old one will now be my back up ( with any security sensitive apps removed ) and I will get a new cheap/mid price one , Samsungs' new A17 or A26 look good and have 7 years of updates , the battery will have died by then..so..)

[Upt North]

Nigel, if you don't like a big one make sure you check the size before buying.
Replaced a J6 (?) with a A16 (?). It's a a flaming enormous monstrosity.
The J6 would sit happily in the car, your pocket etc, not the A16, I think it's bigger than my first tele.
Upt.

[nigel s]

I hear you Upt North ,
you don't see so many people self consciously walking around with a laptop stuck to their ear , wondering if they have made a big ( Ho Hum ) mistake so much these days
I ended up with an A36 ,same  ( pocket ) size as my old one , on offer meaning only a few quid more 
Set up was easy..signing in to all those apps etc less so.. Uppercase F ..or lower.... Fecked If I can remember.. That and connecting all the bluetooth stuff again has kept me " engaged ".

That and downloading about 2000 tracks off Deezer....then realising I had did it as mp3s not Flac files...and having to delete the lot and start again...

Ho Hum

[mr_diver]

Insurance - my least favourite thing to arrange. - to be fair, Carole Nash have been tidy previously and I've had both the Varadero and GSX insured with them for a decade.

As SWMBO decided to sell my other her bike, I needed to swap the bike on the GSX's policy.

The policy has been in effect since March 2015 when we took it out for the Enfield Bullet 500, then changed the bike on the policy later that year for the GXS1400.

Call them to swap to the new bike and the underwriter wouldn't accept the change - no other info provided to Carole Nash - bugger.
I got put through to cancellations as they can't do anything for me with the existing policy and it needed to be cancelled as I no longer own the bike, but they waved the cancellation charge as they were unable to offer the bike swap, I'm due a refund of around £12 as the Direct Debit had already been taken for this month. 

This all doesn't seem like a moan as it was all easy to do, just a waste of 30 minutes- here's the moan...

I'd already done comparison site quote for the new bike as a new policy and guess who came out the cheapest and within a couple of pound of the last renewal price for the GXS in March - Carole Nash.
I went through and paid for the new policy - the documents arrived and it was with the same underwriter! 

[The Doctor 46]

 . Why am I not surprised? In this modern 2025 with AI to help humans out, it still seems that their left hand doesn't know what the right is doing. 

[Upt North]

I'm stoopid, oh yes I am, don't try to convince me otherwise, that's stupid with two "o"s but this sites correct grammar police will now doubt correct me.....because I'm stupid.
I recently found that my gear change was a bit stiff, a wash, brush up and grease up was all that was required. I reported the same on this very illustrious site. So because I'm stupid I haven't ridden it recently and today I thought I better start er up. It started like a gud one upt to 3 bars then just put er through the gears to get the innards moving. Into first into second.....won't go any further. Pffffffftttttt.
Try again, pffffffftttttt.
I wonder. Looked at the gear indicator and 1st and 2nd were reversed.
Pffffffftttttt.
Did I say I'm stupid.
I removed the lever at least three times before it now works as it should. I still can't see where I went wrong, it looks the same but obviously wasn't.
I'm going to have a cuppa tea and reflect on my stupidity. No digestives though, I don't deserve one. Stupid boy Pike.
Upt.
Pffffffftttttt.

I shouldn't be let out!

[Rixington43]

Had you removed the spline drive end from the selector shaft as well?
Sounds like that was on upside down and you'd converted her to race shift by mistake ;)

[Upt North]

Oh yes I was proper stoopid, all removed, even boasted of my greatness.
Pffffffftttttt.