MooN

One of the protos weve been playing with recently

19 minutes ago, Saul said:

I am working overnight 22nd, 24th, 25th   then 29th, 31st and 1st.  Off on all the other dates then back to my normal rota.   

I hope you get paid extra for working those days Saul?  I remember working at centre parcs back in the day we would fight to work the holidays cos christmas day and new years eve wer paid triple with bixing day and new years day paid double, though I expect that doesnt happen any more. 

I haven't booked any time off over the festive period cos we're not going anywhere except Lyon for the day on the Sunday 24th so I'll have sat, sun &monday off next weekend, then again the following wekend but that's all. 

On 19/12/2023 at 21:46, Pedro said:

I get it, but if they’re looking for long term sales they should comply with demands.

BMW sure as shit would have a good warranty unless mandated.

I'm not sure they are looking for long term sales.  Maybe some of them are, after all ts a fucking HUUUUGE place and mentalities obviously differ across such a vast country. We have maybe 2 or 3 of our suppliers who actually seem serious about improving quality and service, the rest... not so much. If I go back through the qualityreports sent to certain suppliers I will find identical reports about the same items going back 5 or more years related directly to the quality of build and of materiels used, with a similar reply " Oh we velly velly solly, that made by bad people in ploduction line, we fix plobrem, chop chop..!"  ( if you don't find that offensively racist then you're probably over 50 ) and this has been going on for years, to the point that we struggle to find dealers for these machines cos most competant mechanics won't touch them.  my boss reckons that another 4 or 5 years will see that particular supplier dissappear ( he's seen it before) and is already diminishing business with them so that we have as few machines as possible still under warranty when they do go pop. To be fair we have some prototupe machines from another supplier that ARE improved and do show signs of actually wanting to increase quality so just maybe...

3 hours ago, XTreme said:

They've got the power to block all Chinky imports to EU member states!

They already have most of central africa financially over a barrel cos they've been heavily investing in infrastructure there for the last 10 years or so and that comes at a price that hasn't yet been disclosed but that I suspect will be a commercial monopoly of some description. They have now started trying to invest in eurpean infrastructure as this will allow them financial control there too.   

 I'm starting to sound like that other conspiracy wanker, so I'll stop drinking.

3 hours ago, Pedro said:

Surely there’s a minimum warranty for vehicles sold in the EU?

yep. That's EU law and they will abide by that for exactly as long as they want to. they know as well, if not better than, anyone that there is no way in hell any eu law could be enforced in china, who would impose whatever sanction was applied?  you could sue the dealer, the importer, whoever but try and sue a chinese company with an EU law... their govt does not recognise Eu law.   They conform to safety norms to be able to sell their vehicles within the EU, that's as far as it goes. 

This is, of course just my opinion.

On 17/12/2023 at 17:35, boboneleg said:

When they were only building 125's and Scooter yes, but now theyre building big bikes and enduro/rally bikes so they'll surely have to make provivsion for spares back up ?

If small Euro companies like Beta, Sherco etc can do it then surely they can ?

The law is the same, big or small bikes. The number of small bikes sold is massive compared to the number of big bikes. Why would they treat big bikes differently ? 
 

re the smaller european brands, its a VERY different mentality. You have some hope of compensation if you get sold a lemon by a european brand. The Chinese say «  good luck with that » as they do not recognise international law and, as yet, have no need to. 
 

I agree with Bob and Pedro, (but don't tell them that...)

everybody who I would consider nominating ( all two of them) have already been nominated  so I wont muddy the waters further...

2 hours ago, boboneleg said:

That's still the worry isn't it Chris but I have two mates who have bought the Kove450 Rally and they're quite impressed so far.  I think I prefer to wait until they're a couple of years old and then see what they're like .

specifically wait a couple of yeasrs and see what happens when they need replacement parts.  

 We have had to dismantle 6 brand new bikes into component parts in order to supply replacement parts to dealers of one of our chinese manufacturers as they are incapable of providing any parts. so we have one part of the assembly workshop putting shipped bikes together to be sent to the dealers, and the othe rhalf dismantling completely same model bikes so that we have some spare parts...

Madness I tell you!  

when you order parts for a quad that's maybe 5 years old and they reply we dont make that part anymore. Um... the law requires the constructor to supply replacement parts for 10 years... " Not chinese law." is the standard reply.  

i can only imagine what is gong to happen in a couple of years when all the new MG and Volvo suv's start needing replacement parts...

 I hope I am wrong, but I see a shit storm on the horizon. 

32 minutes ago, XTreme said:

You had brainless Gammons there as well?

oh they're fucking everywhere pete, I really do't worry about stuff like climate change any more, the the human race will have destroyed itself by reverse darwinian reproduction long before the next ice age, or heat increase or whatever the newest threat theory is. 

On 08/11/2023 at 16:04, boboneleg said:

There seems to be a lot of interest in this bike.  The Wongs are getting better and betterer at making motorcycles.  If the figures are to be believed it's 25kgs less than a T700, so why can't the Japs do that ?

it's 25 k lighter cos theyve used 25k less metal in the frame and swingarm.... put it under some stress, real conditions with a load not press release day controlled conditions, new and prepared ( doctored) by a dedicated team and you'll find out where they'vs shaved the weight from.

To be fair I know nothing about this bike or this firm, but from what I know about chinese motorcycle production I am pretty confident that if it's cheaper its because the parts are mede cheaper ( low quality materials, unskilled workers, and a healty disregard for any and all western rules and regarding safety, or norms, or garantees, all driven by a totalitarian communist régime.  I regularly see test rides of these bikes, or CF moto, in the motorcycling pess here and they rave about them ( well yeah, cos if they don't then they'll just not be invited to the next test day all expenses paid trip to Hawaii for the press trials on the dozen or so carefully prepared and doctored versions of the machine) you then never hear anything further. Why?  Because 8 months and 5000km down the line the bikes are falling apart, or are terminally ill and there are no parts available, the dealershave stopped dealing in them cos they can't get any parts or tech support from the factory and are wrapped up in legal proceedings and the factory is pointing out that under chinese law, which is the only one they recognise, you, as the end user, can go fuck youself . 

 Ok, I'm exagerating.

But only just. 

Had a big nostagia day yesterday  the weather was so crap, 3c and thik unmoving fog lasting all day without lifting, that it was just like being back in England...

On 14/12/2023 at 19:22, Marcel said:

Gi ping pong wing ....my vietamese could be a little off ..I speak in many languages. 

and it always incomprhensible

8 minutes ago, boboneleg said:

I have several ideas for next summer but probably will only be able to do one of them.

Tour of the cobbled roads in Flanders, Paris-Roubiax route and some WW2 sites in the Falaise pocket

Off-road crossing of the Pyrenees, probably East to West

Ride to Dover and then do the southern TET route back to Bristol

Go to Jax Shack in France, ride trails, eat food and drink beer

If you go to Jax shack in the dordogne, gimme a shout...

16 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Depends what sort of roads you’re going on, but since you know what they are it’s always easy to hop on a motorway and kill 100km of boring roads easily.

maybe more enjoyable to take 500km off for the same days? Leave you in better fitness for dinners and drinks with said mates.

the problem with getting to Brittany from here is that the autoroute adds so many miles that any time benefit is completely lost. I go via autoroute in the car cos its just so easy, cruise control etc etc but its still around 7 hours. The non autoroute way by bike will be around the same time frame with less kilometers and not 45€ of péage...

Who's planning what for the coming summer riding wise?  Any epic road trips in the planniing stages? 

I know Pedro was looking at a northern ride into Germany...

The French, in their inimitable way, have maintained the practice of having what the uk call a bank holiday, on the actual day the date falls rather than on the nearest Monday. Though this sometimes give a random day off in the middle of the week, it will sometimes, when coupled with one of the "movable feasts" of the Christian calender, generate a ridiculously long wekend. It is then, a national sport, to spot these occurences and calculate how to get the most time off for the least number of days "paid Holiday".  I have always said that you ca't get anything done in France in the month of may and 2024 is a blinder

1st of may ( labour day) is a wednesday so a day off mid week

8th of May  ( V.E.Day) is rather obviously, a wednesday.

9th of May ( ascension) so another public holiday

11th and 12th are saturday and sunday, which means that if I book friday 10th May off from work I'll have 5 days off for a single day's leave from work.  That's got to be bike time right? 

So, planning with a couple of mates,a Britanny trip for that looong weekend in May.  Auxerre to probably St Brieuc on day 1 which will be bollox boring as far as Rennes but we can do without using the Autoroute. about 6 to 7 hrs riding I reckon. St Brieuc to Le Conquet along the coast on day 2 much less distance but very minor roads so much slower.

Day 3 from Le Conquet to Lorient, along the coast but cutting across the odd peninsula to avoid the worst of the holiday traffic and pausing to visit the Standing stones at Carnac and the tomb of Bernard Moitessier at Le Bono on the way round.

Day 4 from Lorient to somewhere like St Brévin les Pins again along the coast

and day 5 from there home will be a simple but long days ride west via Nantes, Tours and Vierzon, crossing the Loire at Bonny sur Loire and thus home.

should be about 2000km over the 5 days and I don't know if I'm physically capable of it. Gonna try tho cos its not going to get any easier with time 

First night is now sorted and the following are coming together, so...

Bring it on!

3 hours ago, Tango said:

I think that our flights are around 200€ and the Premier Inns are around £50 a night. We've got to add parking at the airport and a few meals, but it shouldn't be too bad for a weeks stay. 

yeah but there's 5 of us, which means two hotel rooms for 5 nights and car is still the cheapest way  for us despite the bloody crossing costing 160€ each way. it,s also doable in a day's drive for us from here. less so from where you are. 

Just now, XTreme said:

About €35 here!

Thats because a horse and cart has less to check…

6 hours ago, Pedro said:

Class 

 

Are you a part of some organised group or club? 

I usually grt the info from one or other face book page or via a FFMC mailing. 

Car mot’s and now bikes are every 2 years here. Car cost me 60€ last time. 

3 hours ago, XTreme said:

This shit really pisses me off.....you buy a Ford and you want a Ford engine.

We like the look of the Nissan Qashqai but I want a Nissan engine not a fucking Renault!

that,s why I wont buy anything Nissan. Renault are shit, crooked money, govt backed, dishonest, rip offs. 

3 hours ago, Pedro said:

Was going to meet up with Dani for lunch, but it’s foggy and wet and seems like it’s not clearing up except for a little rain later on.

We’re driving instead 

Now sitting outside my local rural supermarket waiting for him, and check out this puck up. Aixam, no license required, engine sounds like something from a well’s water pump.

 

 

oh what a pile of shyte! I thought they enlu had those in France... 45km/h max and no licence... 38tonne semis obliged to overtake the bloody things on the narrow N roads causing all sorts of mayhem, drivers usually completely pissed or so moronic as to be incapable of passing a driving test.  I HATE them!

21 minutes ago, XTreme said:

The French are great at protesting! Will they be burning some shit down as well?

Typical Brit Shit! Maybe time to check out the Honda dealer Chris? That old Transalp of yours just kept on going for years!

I expect that I'll return to honda when this one dies, but won't be for a few years yet I hope. Goodness knows what piles of semi electric poo wil be available in 5 or ten years from now though. 

we wanted to visit my parents for Christmas, Mum's 92 now and Alzheimers is getting steadily worse, but there is just no way we can afford accomodation in the area for 5 of us at that time of year (last year at nearly 2000€ for 5 days nearly killed us) so we're not doing anything for Christmas but are saving for a uk visit in feb when we can have the same accomodation for five days for just over 800€... 

France has, until this year, avoided having an MOT equivalent for motorcycles. they have now invented one, and have somehow managed to take all the stupid bits of everybody elses MOT or equivqlentand roll them into one pointless surperfluous and inefficacious bi-annual visual inspection.

The statistics ( these are generated by the French "Sécurité routiere" organisation who are rabid anti speed, anti motorcycle road safety advocates and remain incontested by the govt. and ratified by the majour insurance companies)

- the road infrastructure is directly implicated in 25% of all road traffic acidents.

- in road traffic accidents involving motorcycles, The fault is imputed to the motorcylist in less than 40% of cases.

-the number of motorcycles on the road has increased by 30% in the last 5 years.

-over that same period the number of mortorcycle deaths has decreased by 20%.

- Mechanical failure or defect is implicated in less than 0.5% of accidents involving motorcycles. 

Now I have nothing, as such, against a regular MOT type test if it can be shown to be beneficial. it can't. 

the govt has just announced how the test is oing to work ( bearing in mind that this is supposed to be in place for january 2024) and it appears that the test centres will not be required to have anyone on their staff with a motorcycle licence!  The staff will be required to undrego a 1 day raining course on how to carry out the check, and this will include instruction on how to move a motorcycle around the workshop and " instruction on how tp pick up a motorcycle should you drop it".  Needless to say, this raises some eyebrows, not least those of the insurance companies who maintain that if you do not possess a motorcycle licence, and you damage it whilst in charge of it then any insurance would be void...

Is it only me that can see some charges of GBH on the horizon here...?

anyway,  yesterday afternoon, despite temperatures around 0 c we went and made some noise and fucked up some christmas shoppers saturday afternoon, to display our discontent. 

we stopped in front of each of the main MOT centres in town. They were closed of course but it was easy enough to set their alems off with a couple of bikes up against the building and half a dozen backfires... this fucked up their day as they then have to get someone out to shut the alrm down.  It should be mentioned that the police ;otorcycle escort managed very successfully to be busy at the other end of the convoy whilst this went on...

as that last pic was taken, the camera battery succombed to the cold, which was a shame cos as we started to move on one of the dozen of BMW GS's refused to start and had to be assisted by a guy on a 1990 Honda transalp... of course i laughed like a drain suggesting they were using the Honda to carry out a " reliability graft".

 30 seconds later, Karma struck and the tiger refused to start. Victim, I suspect, of an hour at idle speed with heated grips on full power.  The convoy dissapeard down the road and I started to ring Mrs Moon to bring me some jump leads ( i've never tried to push start the tiger and wasn't about to start in the middle of town in saturday afternoon traffic...

Then an angel came to rescue me, one of the FFMC outriders ( either a girl or a guy with very pretty eyes...) had seen me pull off to the side, guesse what had happened, ridden forward to a colleague she knew had a booster in his top box, and bought it back to me. Luckily the battery on the tiger is easily accessible under the seat so we started it from the booster and I followed her to catch up with the main group.  

 The battery seems fine now so ai can only think that it was the heated grips drawing more power the the constant idle was providing charge to the battery. the battery is at least 6 years old so it may well be on it's last legs as well. 

After the group dispersed I rode into town with a mate and we found a bar in the centre square that was doing christmas ale and mulled wine. On top of that, the landlord announced that he give a 10% discount to motorcyclists at the weekends. Result!

got home well after dark and with temps down beloz freezing. Lukily the ride home was nly about 5 km so no real challenge. 

I don't expect the demo will have the slightest effect on the installation of the new technical inspections set up, but at least no one an acuse us of not have protested from the beginning.