Saul

 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.    

6 hours ago, Grasshopper said:

I couldn’t agree more, speaking from experience.

I miss my Honda and would get another.  On the other hand I still have bad twitches from my Himalayan.....lol

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.   

21 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Goodonya Saul. Takes a lot of doing adopting a child and giving the love and care you're giving, takes even more to get them the input they should have. She's lucky to have you and your wife.

Just grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Makes me angry just reading it. 'Reset' what do they think they're doing? Did they study at all during their teacher training?

Sounds like the head of year needs to sit facing a wall and not speak to anyone until he's read a few books about child behaviour  

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.    

54 minutes ago, Pedro said:

They’re refunding you? You’re not dealing with real chinese! 

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

1 minute ago, boboneleg said:

A Stan Stephens 'race tune' was not a good idea for a road bike , my RD250DX was like shit off a shovel with porting and Allspeed expansion chambers but I was lucky to see 20mpg 

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.  

7 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Much more hooligan , I approve 

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.  

1 hour ago, boboneleg said:

Ok, there's obviously no hope for you . One of the worst POS Honda ever made 

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

41 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

Ok, there's obviously no hope for you . One of the worst POS Honda ever made 

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.  

2 minutes ago, Pedro said:

I know nothing about kids or parenting, but good on you for defending her as that’s what she absolutely needs above all else.

Maybe she needs a trailbike or a motocross bike after that, too!

 

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.  

1 hour ago, Pedro said:

I like that generation CBR600, the yellow one in the background. They’re such a good quality bike engine wise, and the proportions of them always make me think they’re not too big or too small, they’re just right!

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.  

54 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Because you’re cheap, that’s why!

In the end something that could have costed 90 ended up costing 120.

 

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.  

10 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Good plan, toasty! 

They look like they'll be long enough when your legs bent on the bike too - stops the wind going up the your trouser leg n down into your boot.

I found using those ankle/leg warmer things from the 80's to plug the top of my boot kept my feet nice n warm too.

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.  

1 hour ago, Catteeclan said:

My misses test rode the 800gt and would have signed on the dotted if it was a bit cheaper. The cbf100 she ended up with was and she never looked back although her first one did have a couple of probs.

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.  

15 minutes ago, Slowlycatchymonkey said:

Looks like a good fit. Like that the trews and the jacket link up.

Shrek and Hagrid

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.  

14 minutes ago, Catteeclan said:

Turn the top upside down just to be sure the moisture's out.

Done so 

35 minutes ago, Six30 said:

kill it with fire @Saul and get a honda or something

Nope, I am not that much of a fan of the angry insect, plastic fantastic look.   Now if I could get a modern version of a CB400N Superdream that would be the more the cut of my jib.  

If a job is worth doing it is worth doing twice    To be fair the first time I didn't dry the clocks on the radiator overnight as Wee jaunt did.  Also I didn't fit extra gasket material like he did either.  Guess what my first efforts didn't work. 

This time though I am going to do exactly what Wee jaunt did, I have even bought the exact material he did to make the new sealing gasket.  

Just now, Buckster said:

I have to be careful as it causes the ladies to get overly excited. Marcel too.

Wow that was a good guess.     I threatened to grow a growler but my Daughters didn't want their mates thinking I was Santa, which to be fair would be accurate 

1 minute ago, Buckster said:

This is the one you want.

Nah I am not a fan of the riding position, does look good though. 

15 minutes ago, XTreme said:

Richa is pretty decent stuff from what I've heard.

I am chuffed with it, the Jacket has been great so it made sense to get trousers to match.   

Just now, Buckster said:

I wouldn't want to say you look like a Minion or anything wearing that, but...

Funnily enough I have never seen a picture of you, in my mind I am thinking Shrek and Hagred's progeny 

5 minutes ago, Buckster said:

I always find the arms too short, probably okay for shortarses.

Take my word for it perfect for a shortarse