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"Keep the change, ya filthy animal". The famous line from the gangster movie being watched by Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone.

Correct.

I don't think I'd like to make a prediction on what will happen in almost two years time. People lost a lot of faith in opinion polls when they got it completely wrong in the Shorten lost election. The party faithful at party election HQ were popping the champagne before the polls were closed, and an hour later they looked shell shocked. The thing is, that election was all about the two major parties and now something else entirely is happening. I don't live in a political monoculture as far as friends and people in general that I know. I've got close friends that vote Green and close friends who are paid up One Nation party members, so from one end of the spectrum to the other. But for the last few months it seems like everywhere I go I'm hearing stuff that looks good for One Nation and bad for Labor. The only prediction that I'd be game to make is that the coalition will preference One Nation, which is not good for Labor. In the past, the coalition has preferenced away from One Nation to try to extinct them as conservative competition. It's too late to do that now and if they did they'd just lose more base and wouldn't have enough support in the centre to survive.

It's no news to anyone that One Nation has led the last three major voting intention polls taken. But I wonder how many people who have expressed a dislike of our preferential system and support for a first past the post system are starting to have a rethink now that One Nation is polling at number one on primary vote intention. There's arguments for and against both systems. The way I see it, with a first past the post system you could end up with a government elected on a fairly small percentage if we had a few strong parties instead of the traditional two major party dominance. That might be our immediate future, ie: an end to the two party status quo. The preferential system can have a lot more unpredictable outcomes, that's for sure. I was reading some of the views of Dr. Shaun Ratcliff, principal of Accent Research regarding preferences. He was saying based on current polling, what happened in Farrer could replicate around the country at the next election. Here's a quote from him: "In seat after seat, the Coalition is predicted to fall to third place in seats it has traditionally held, either on primary votes or it is pushed to third by Labor on Greens preferences, with Labor then losing to One Nation – usually on Coalition preferences”. That would mean One Nation defeating Labor candidates with the unintentional help of the Greens. This is my interpretation of that if I'm correct - in a four cornered contest between Liberal, Labor, One Nation and Greens, the Greens get knocked out first and Labor gets most of their preferences, pushing the Liberals to third place. It's then a contest between Labor and One Nation, and if One Nation polls well on the primaries, they pick up the Liberal preferences to top Labor. I think either way, it would be Labor with Green preferences against either One nation with Liberal preferences or Liberal with One Nation preferences. Dr. Ratcliff said the effect can magnify a small change in primary vote into a large difference in outcome. He said: “A Coalition primary vote that was just a few points higher would win considerably more seats,”. Round about now, Albo might be checking his wardrobe to see if he's still got those brown cord pants. He'd certainly be hoping for a big turnaround in the next six months or time will be running out to do it. I think the government knows that momentum will be their enemy if they don't stop it, and stop it soon.

The Addams Family.

Country roads, take me home To the place I belong.

None are built in the USA. BMW would never stoop so low. They do however make the X series AWD cars there. The biggest baddest cruiser the R 1800 flat twin is proudly Berlin built.they are about to release a R2000, yep a two litre twin. Also a new version of the six cylinder K1600 as a wild 1800 cc. The biggest selling large bike model in the world is the mighty GS range, now the R1300GS, expensive yes, but sales envied by Harley and Ducati Adventure bikes. Some of the new small 450 models are built now in China and India using their designs and machines. This makes them as cheap as the competition. Some of the smallish parallel twins were Austrian built. As fast road machines, tourers, adventure and racing BMW have been the top of the market for the last 20 years. Now they are tackling the small Learner approved -lams market and will sell a motza. My current beasty is a 2005 K1200R motorsport, the new hyperbike that year with a mere 167hp, 138 nm and only 214kg. The fastest acceleration for a Bike on the planet, 2.8 seconds to 100, limited by Aero to 280km/h. The Japanese absolutely lost their minds when a shaft driven bike slaughtered their hyperbikes. Then BMW made a six version to take Goldwing sales for those who wanted actual very high speed touring. Then the S1000R came out and slayed the race tracks. Modern R and K shaft driven bikes have none for the rise and fall of the shaft of old generations. Handling and brakes are world class, even a tourer will scare a sports bike rider.

The LATEST BMW's are the Best thing there is According to My eldest who has raced a lot when a bit younger and is still a Bike Nut. They Lent him one for about a week. Some are built in the USA. Nev

Harley Davidson Market a Ute based on a ford F 350 I think. Really Fancy Paintwork. Nev

They weren't all that Poplar when they were NEW.. Maybe they appeal to the Older riders compared to some others these days. There's a 3 and 4 cylinder version. Not everyone likes an engine turning on a fore and aft axis in a bike and the effects of a shaft drive. Nev

Unlike most other bikes, the cranks on the big BMWs are extremely solid and failures or wear are very rare, same with most mechanical items. It means dirt cheap parts second hand, a friend is replacing his K1200 crank- previous owner failed to service it. The crank in perfect condition only $150 from a wrecked bike. Try finding a jap bike crank or Harley one for that price. Even better, you can remove the crank with the engine in place and box still attached, takes 30 mins to remove. Crank is driving a gear to the flywheel, just remove sump and unbolt the mains. New bearings, for crank and seals, total job under $500.

Over the past 10 years the old bike market has changed greatly. The most sought after bikes for actual use and still able to handle daily duties and modern traffic are the big euro bikes. The BMW twins and K series fours are popping everywhere with full restorations, original recomissioned and retro modded. They are highly prized, easy to work on and suit today's heavy policing regime. Plus parts are available new from factory.

HD ute wasn't to bad 4/5 on the floor would make it better and better seats. Have a Look at the Malloo Utes. HSV did some good work here. Nev

I remember the HD being called the Holden Disaster, and the HR the Holden Revenge.

As long as it's not Roger More. Nev

Ramseet??? I thought you meant Ramjet. I wanted o post this video as a bit of a joke, but as I listened to the song, I realised how American kids of the Boomer generation were being subjected to jingoistic propaganda.

A lot of owners considered the HR to be the Worst. Next door to My Cousin was a GM employee at Fishermens Bend, who bought one cheap(er) but had to NOT sell it for a specified Period. A year I think. He Had so Much go wrong with it, some of it quite dangerous so he stopped driving it and sold it after specified time had Elapsed. The Person who Bought it was Killed in it by some fault or other. I think it was the first Model to get Curved side windows and the body ended up a bit wider but the track wasn't. Ralph Nader was VERY condemning of GM products in Australia quality control and Lack of sophistication. Using old(er) less efficient design. The 202 wasn't a great Motor. Stroked to the Limit and a lot of Core shift in the block.. . Also inclined to strip the Fibre timing gear that drives the Camshaft which will bring you to a complete stop without much other damage. That can happen throughout the range and even Chevs had them. Nev

IF you tow things you'll wear them faster. The trouble with a lot of drum brakes they FADE when they get hot.. The discs can get Hard spots and wear unevenly and then shudder at higher speeds. Worn too thin and you can really Be in trouble. Nev

My dad was a Chev man in his day. His first vehicle was a Chev Maple Leaf truck he bought when he came back from the war. As well as doing farm work with it, he drove it to all the local dances and used it for personal transport. Then he got married and bought a Chev sedan which lasted until he changed to an FC, then a FB, then the rust prone HD, and his last Holden was a HT. He had an FJ ute on the farm as well. I had a few in my day. First car was an FE, others were EK, EJ, EH, HD, HQ, HJ and the current Rodeo which is as much Isuzu as Holden. The only one I miss is my dad's Canadian Chev truck. He traded it and an old Dodge truck we had on a AA-160 International. He still had the AA-160 when he passed at 89.

Bit of a coincidence we're discussing brakes. I've just got back from picking the ute up from the mechanics. New rotors and pads on the front, front wheel bearings serviced, new clutch master cylinder and a flush and fluid change for clutch and brakes. I brought the old rotors and pads home, they look a bit scary. One of the pads was down to about 1 mm. The rotors were well below legal.

That was great. I went past New Norfolk as far as Gretna, fantastic road. Almost tempted to keep going. I was going to go through to Elderslie then back to the highway, but the cross road was gravel so I turned around and came back the same way. Very enjoyable.

Ramsets are Lethal. Nev

Naturally, as a Mechanic I worked on a Lot of Holdens but never got around to Buying one. Fairly straight forward to work on. I used to like Chevs but you couldn't afford them. Nev

TV is just rubbish, haven't watched it for years. Rubbishy news and rubbishy, mind-numbing "entertainment", mostly American crap. SWMBO likes the game shows, and things such as "Would I lie to You?" As a coppers daughter, she's big on sorting out the lies! I can't hear the voices on TV, so that's a blessing in disguise.