May 2009
Just partially rebuilt the bike, unused for a year, but prior to that used to tour the continent. Started up OK and today used to go to the MOT station where it failed for loose handgrip only. On way back after ~10 miles, with water temp at 80C and no problems it suddenly died.
Fault traced to fuel pump relay not functioning. It works if we earth the yellow & brown cable which goes from connection 85 of the relay to connection 7 of the ignition control unit.
Manual suggests "fuel supply will be shut off" if there is a high water temp, or other fault which turns off ignition, but I assumed this would mean isolation of the injectors usually. Certainly the injectors will be turned off on overrun until the revs drop to 2000, but not the fuel pump?
Ideas before we try bypassing the ignition unit?
Pig to work on, as access to the relays means tank removal etc
Crinkly Dave (new and improved with Italian aortic valve!) Read more
When an advert for a business lease reads as this : 3+35 payments of £200
... i gather that the ' 3' months is a downpayment but is that a deposit you get back?
or is it basically 38 payments over 3 years?
thanks Read more
No, its just an upfront payment - you wont see it again.
Worth remembering that many quotes are ex VAT so you need to check on that to.
hi room, i was a having a flashback earlier whilst watching the "champions" on itv 4, i remember as a kid we used to get petrol adverts on the telly, tiger in your tank, and shell "you will, go well with shell shell shell , i used to have a collection of football "coins" from the 1970 world cup ...question is , why dont the petrol companies advertise on the telly any more? Read more
Ham,
Looked quite up to date. The 80s definiately looked different to that. Elaborate?
Went out motoring today - A speed hump jangled the springs - then a rash of cameras pointed at my number plate. Later I had the thought that because I had driven over a canal bridge - I would be on a data-base that grouped my number plate with canal barges including those big ones going up the Rhine.
A few days later a discount voucher for `Cod & chips` came through the door
What should I do? Read more
Road humping is a serious sexual offence and not only should you be prosecuted and jailed but also you should feel the wrath of the piece of cod that passeth all understanding.
I had a driving experience this morning and would like other BR's opinions please.
I was driving along a newly resurfaced road with a car in front of me, we then had to stop because in front of us was the yellow lorry that was repainting the road markings. At this point it was stationary doing some wording on the road, but it had parked inbetween the curb and a small central island (the ones with the blue and white keep left arrowed sign on it), now unfortunately this was at the brow of a small incline so any on coming cars where hard to spot.
The car in front clearly was very hesitant about going around the island onto wrong side of the road but this was the only way to pass the vehicle unless we had waited until it had moved.
Eventually we both indicated and passed on the other side of the island, did we do anything wrong?
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what would you do at a red light that was stuck on red?.....same principle, no one is going to expect you to sit there for ever
Parked in a quiet road in Stretford to get the tram. I was no where near anybody's drive and was parked 100% legally, I actually spent a good minute straitening up to ensure I was not causing anything like a remote obstruction. This busy body gets out and the conversation goes as follows:-
Woman: Can you move your car please
Me: why?
Woman: Because I live here
Me: I am parked perfectly legaly and I can park where I want, however I don't like the look of you and don't trust what you might do to my car so I will move it.
Woman looked shocked and didn't say a word :)
I causally then move my car having a joke on her.
Why do some people seem to think they own the road? People park outside my house all the time and I would not dream of going out and asking them to move.
The problem is I now feel she has got away with it :(. Read more
Me: I am parked perfectly legaly and I can park where I want however I
don't like the look of you and don't trust what you might do to my
car so I will move it.
A pleasant and reasoned conversation would have done you more credit, instead of supercilious sarcasm.
I have had Explorer crash a couple of times on me in the last couple of days. The non-responding file has been the popup that comes from here. IE blocks most of mypopups, but sometimes the ones from here creep through, and they're normally fine. I obviously have no idea whether this is the fault of the HJ popup, but circumstantial evidence suggests...
Running 7.0.5730.13
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Point noted and reported to site admin - thread locked.
Mrs BB fancies updating her 6 year/80,000 mile Merc CLK 240 cabrio. She wants a new or nearly-new 'proper' 4-seat cabriolet that needs to have room for the shopping in the boot with the roof down. Which rules out a BMW 3-series, and leaves just another CLK or an Audi A5 as the only choices(?). We obviously know the CLK and so we booked a test drive in an A5 (2.0 TFSI) manual.
Now I haven't driven an Audi for years, so it was all-new to me.
Good bits: Very smooth 4-cylinder engine, good build and materials, roomy, good boot, reasonable performance, stiff body, good price.
Bad bits: High waistline makes it hard to judge extremities and hard for junior BBs to look out of from the rear. I found the dashboard strangely 'dated' in design and layout. But the biggest problem is that the pedals are seriously off-set to the right, such that I could never drive a manual and walk afterwards. Are all modern Audis this bad? With auto therefore being essential you get a choice of a CVT box (no thanks - sounds like the clutch is slipping and Audi CVTs don't have the best of reputations) or a DSG with quattro (don't really need/want the added expense of quattro). A 2wd DSG would be great, but ... not available.
Overall: The bad bits outweigh the good bits for us, so I'm out.
Which leaves ... another CLK - we drove a newer CLK200 Kompressor, but it was (unsurprisingly) very similar to our current car, and not worth changing for at a cost-to-change of £20k!. The new E-class coupe cabriolet isn't out till next March and will be too expensive. They had a new E-class coupe in the showroom and it looked a fair bit bigger than the CLK.
The only other potential on the horizon is the new Lexus IS convertible, but I suspect the rear legroom wil be designed with the home market in mind - time will tell!
I suspect the Eon/308/Focuses will also be too small - is there anything else we've missed? Read more
"A 2wd DSG would be great, but ... not available" - yet!
In usual Audi style they have only released the A5 cabrio with 2 engine choices. Give it 12 months and there will be a much wider choice.
BTW I also have problems driving Audi manuals.
Ran into a friend on the other side of the Angel last night. He refused to stop off for a drink at my favoured dive in Kentish Town and suggested we stop at his favourite dive in the Portobello Road, in our home district. I agreed and we set off, he in his partner's MINI and I in my rough old Escort.
I got to the pub, which was crowded. He wasn't there yet. They had run out of my favourite tipple so I had to have Young's ordinaire, the next best thing. The staff took ages to get to me and I got us both a pint. He turned up at least seven minutes after me. He told me he had come by the direct route: King's Cross, Euston Rd, Marylebone Rd, flyover into Notting Hill. Most of that route is dual carriageway with two or three lanes.
My route, probably a mile or so longer, was convoluted, through Caledonian Road, Kentish/Camden Town and appalling rich mimser-infested St John's Wood, with many twists and turns and fifty or sixty speed bumps, ramps and cushions, lots of cobbles and traffic lights including temporary ones. Of course I don't let those slow me down any more than necessary. I let the poor jalopy take the strain (and it's beginning to show it too). It helps to accelerate optimistically when one sees a green light, instead of slowing down like Eeyore as so many do.
I say this not to boast - I'm not quick really, you can't be these days - but to draw attention to the sabotaging of westbound traffic flow in Euston/Marylebone roads and the inner reaches of the M40. This set in under Ken Livingstone and hasn't been corrected yet. And from the way the new mayor is talking I don't think he means to do anything about it. Read more
Surely by spreading traffic out, we ease congestion on other routes. We also spend less time driving and if all those two minutes are added together, we are certainly cutting down on pollution and carbon emissions. Touch of NIMBYism by some rat run claimants , me thinks.
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Glad to see a K100 still on the road - I did like the design, but like the Porshe 911 series, the boxer twin just had to come back - just too much of a classic I suppose.
Finding a poor connection can be very difficult - I hope you resolve it.
This has to be the quietest bike caff I've ever been in ! Especially if the weather's wet.