March 2003
Not posted for a while but events on Thursday seem to make one worthwhile.
Had a meeting in London on Thursday night but because the bike needed a service I was going on the train. Train was booked for 14:40 and I had to work later than intended, so left Manchester at 12:15 to ride back to Huddersfield. Bike had to go to Earnshaws for the service and I then had to go home to get changed pack a case etc before getting a taxi for the train.
Get onto the M62 and open the bike up a bit, traffic not to bad and nice bright dry day. Just past Junction 21 the 4 lane section was coned to three with the RH lane out of use. Checked mirror to see a dark green Volvo coming up fast, I am doing about 100 on the clock. I had seen the car further back and alarm bells start to ring. Check mirror again and the blue lights come on, check over left shoulder, clear, signal left, pullover three lanes to hard shoulder and park bike as far to the left as I can. Off with gloves, take glasses off, undo lid, pull off balaclava out with ear plugs and head towards car which now has two police men putting on the dayglo jackets they were not wearing when I passed them. Into the back of the car the usual checks etc show me the speed on the screen 103.26 MPH over 0.67 miles in 21.51 seconds. Bang to rights, I know it and they know I know it. Only the driver speaks to me while the other one does the honors on the radio to confirm what I have said is true. (Hadn't realised that they can also check your insurance is valid as well as your bike). Driver says "because you were doing over 100 I have no choice other than prosecution". Im thinking "thats 2 weeks ban at least". He then went onto say that while following he found nothing in my riding that was dangerous, position was correct, not riding like a nutter, obviously very experienced but due to it being over 100 he couldn't caution me. I made a comment about it not doing my advanced riding course look very good and he says "I'm a member of the IAM and the standard is not anything like as high as the standard we use as police" I said I was doing the ROSPA course because it was graded. He then says "when you take off and join the motorway again get upto speed on the hard shoulder before you pull on the motorway, you wouldnt't belive the number of people who try to join it at 40MPH" I make the comment that I would have got upto speed anyway. I take the NIP, other policeman lets me out of the back. I ask him what the current penalty is, he says "depends on the court on the day really". I say well its the first offence in about 20 years go back to the bike and start to kit up again.
Ear plugs in, balaclva back on, helmet on glasses on and then I can hear a car horn, think nothing of it and it goes again, look up and see them beckoning me back to the car. "Get in the back but don't bother closing the door this time". "Look at the screen, this is the video of you" I have left my glasses on the bike so can't see very well but the screen is just a load of black lines. "The video for some reason has not recorded you. I don't feel under these circumstances that I can go to court and uphold my prosecuting you so I am not going to prosecute you but am warning you". "Ride carefully, don't let me catch you again"
I get the bike to Earnshaws, they give me a lift home I get the train on time. There is a god afterall. My thanks to the officers as well!!
I do ride fast, I don't take chances, I am doing something positive to improve my riding and maybe it shows in someway! I don't know why the video "didn't work", maybe if I had been a nutter it would of. If I had been beligerent maybe it would of.
All I can say its a good learning experience and it shows the value of having trained police officers in cars rather than fixed cameras. The cameras can't differentiate between fast and safe and fast and stupid.
All the best folks and may you be as fortunate.
Bill
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I'm contemplating replacing my ageing Granny with a Rover 214 SEi, probably on an M or N-plate (ie latest available in old shape). I'd like as few miles as possible (max 70k). What should I be paying? Are there any pitfalls with the Rover 214? Any well known faults? Could I do better for my money? Thanks for your help.
Never rub another man's rhubarb. Read more
By Granny, you mean Granada, not elderly female relative?
Erm, I really have a downer on these. My father had one from 96 to 2001 and it was a complete dog. Known faults: anything between the two number plates. And the exhaust :-) Other people seem to have a more positive, balanced opinion than me though.
Probably a better idea is the Honda engined 216, as they don't seem to go for a lot more. As for mileage, I wouldn't be too hung up on it, but I would say that £800 is a realistic bottom line and £1100 would get you the nicest one in the world with a bit of haggling.
Can you please make your suggestions for topics for future Back Room Polls here in this thread? I'll choose the best ones for use. Emailing them direct to me, too, would make sure I see them.
Martyn [Back Room moderator]
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mailto:webmaster@honestjohn.co.uk Read more
Fif
You missed out the obscene gesture?????
DVD
I am seriously considering buying a G reg BMW 325i touring with 189,000 miles on the clock. The car has had one owner from new and full BMW service history. The miles have mainly been clocked up on motorways. The asking price is £2,250. Am I mad or could this be a very shrewd purchase? Read more
[snip] - the second comment like that will involve the removal of your registration. Have some sense, please.
Mark.
What's going on? HJ's piece in the Torygraph is getting smaller and smaller.
It used to spread over most of two pages, now it is down to half a page - less various headings etc. I don' know what it comes to in column inches, but much less than it was, that is for sure.
HJ, is this the shape of things to come? I really enjoy your piece in the DT, but my enjoyment nowadays is not so longlived.
Regards
drbe Don Read more
The D.T. is also getting greedy!
I subscribe to the Crossword society, as buying the paper in Spain is a no no because of the cost.
Last years subscription was a tenner - OK I thought. My renewal e-mail is asking for £25 reduced to £ 20 if I renew promptly! Rip off Britain is alive and well, it seems!
Not expressing any opinion as to whether it\'s good or bad. What is UNFAIR is what happened to me tonight. Tried to pay £5 at 9.30PM. Could not get through. Carried on and the phone system would not accept my \"pin\" even though it worked before. I tried to speak to a human but was just cut off repeatedly. EVENTUALLY got through to a human at 11.45PM and paid £10 instead of £5 just because the system was jammed up. Makes you want to smash one of the cameras. That would cost the pink fluffy dice a lot more than the extra £5 they swindled out of me. Read more
I was with a foreign customer of mine on Fri and paid off his CC for him where he had parked his car (in a NCP). Free for all to use so you don't have to worry about tel/www etc.
I would say that it was not the clearest system
Err...So why put the pedals in such a ridiculous position?
I was sat in a brand new 3 series saloon at the local dealership and I could not seriously believe BMW thinks that this is where the pedals should be.
For those unfamiliar as you look down to the pedals, the clutch is exactly in line with the centre of the steering wheel and dead in the middle of your legs. The brake pedal is subsequently over to the right whilst the throttle...
How it can possibly be comfortable driving this I don't know - for me to sit in the car with my feet on the pedals involved a very twisted (and painful) back position. The clutch foot rest, which in my mind is where the pedal should be, also gets in the (my) way of pressing the clutch.
I really liked the car but reckon this would kill my back - nothing like the near perfect pedal positions on the Volvo S60.
Any defenders/comments?
Dan J Read more
Driven series 3s since the mid 80s. Last one I drove for over 60k from new. Never a twinge. The only complaint I have is that there should be a foot rest for the throttle foot (when CC is engaged a la V/W - apprantly)and when wearing other than "Office" shoes the clutch foot can catch the foot rest when operating it. 530 I had this week I've not given it a thought, my legs dangle down and work the thing, maybe 'cos its ever so slightly such a bland experience.
.. in the cheap used-car market? According to Parker's website the value of 1993 Pug 205s has suddenly risen from about £700 to £1200 since last week (to quote their top prices for a GR or a GTX). Since we have just changed plates, why should this happen? Read more
Chums, I started a thread a couple of weeks back about the best car for £1-2k as I was thinking of dumping the company car for tax reasons and shelling out on something basic but sound for the daily short journey I do.
For reasons I won't go into here, the company's done me a favour and offered me my 98S Passat 1.8 20V with Climatronic and 70k miles for a grand total of £500. It has a couple of dings/wheelarch scrapes but is otherwise sound.
Have I got a bargain worth hanging on to, or should I sell? And what do I need to look out for the on the service schedule? Other than the last service (AA Service Centre), it has a FVWSH. Read more
Andy, you're right, but of course Morris's Passat would sell easily for £4k in a private sale, at least with the dings sorted out.
Having said that, for the security of knwing that it's a good car (i.e., nothing's gone wrong with it so far and the mileage is genuine) and the fact that you're not paying for any dealer's profit margin, and you're doing a low mileage, I'd keep the car for a few more years.
It's a very good car indeed regardless of what it actually sells for. The mileage is sensible and you can probably arrange your own warranty if you want peace of mind. If you sold the car you'd have a nice profit margin, but some of that would go on a car that simply isn't as good.
Even a new cat and the extra fuel would be caught up in the dealer's margin and the fact that a diesel is worth more to start with. If you were starting from scratch, there's a good case for the diesel, but not effectively for replacing one Passat with another.
I had a bizarre problem with my 18month old Micra. It would start, but pressing the accelator didn't really increase the revs and releasing the clutch just stalled the engine as there was no torque. Left it for 4 hours, restarted and all was well again...Any ideas? Read more
I assume this car has an electronic throttle so I suggest unplugging and re-plugging the connector on throttle pedal. Could be a dodgy contact, so this may improve it. No idea how easy it is to get at the connector but it should be possible.
Browse
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Well its a couple of weeks now and I have not heard anything about either the lack of a licence or the lack of a valid MOT. Is this still the same as for speeding where they have 14 days? Or do I still need to worry about the brown envelope on the door mat in the morning?
Have to say it has slowed me down a bit, everytime the speedo goes over 90 it sort of slowly reduces again of its own accord, most strange!
Bill