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Starting a new topic, similar to the "tell us about your last flight" on the sister site, but for motorbikes. (Or whatever else you've been riding. Just remember it's a family site 😜) Had a lovely ride this morning, met @nomadpete and his better half for a coffee then down to Dover. From there I took the Esperance Coast road (which I've never done before - but it was a beautiful riding road), which comes out at Surges Bay. Beautiful day, no pesky cars in the way for most of it. Pure fun!

From the workshop --> home... Electrical gremlin fixed; sunny day, light breeze, cooling weather (about 18)... traffic reasonable. Smile back on face.

This sounds like a brilliant move.... Trump's Dallas mid-term convention site has been possibly sabotaged. The address redirects to the DOJ Epstein Library. http://gopdallas2026.com/ Try it. It really does!

This discussion has becomve very depressing, except for one thing. No matter where on the political spectrum each of us lays, we all seem to be in agreement that we have little or no say in how our country is governed and the direction its elected leaders want to take it.

Never was a problem in the good ole days - bikes had a kick starter and a magneto to make the motor go and a carbide lamp up front to light the path. Batteries? Bah!

When I was young and stupid (I'm no longer young) I rode from Hobart to Surfers Paradise on my Honda VFR750 for a holiday. The viffer is a fantastic bike for throwing around corners, but it got a bit uncomfortable after 2500 km. I did it in 3 days from memory. About 800km a day is enough on a bike, especially when you're cruising at 150 and still getting overtaken by semis.

Diesel is $2.70 /ltr now. Ouch. Thanks Donold! But the USAnians are almost ready to riot over fuel goung up to $5 /gallon. Sooks! At least they are hastening the EV revolution, so that's something.

The two longest trips I ever went on were both two up with a mate on his Guzzi, sharing the riding. One was from Melbourne to Adelaide and back, around 1,500 klm, and the other was from the Sunshine Coast to Cairns and back, around 3,200 klm. There's a ton of bikes I could name that would make those trips a horror story two up, but the Guzzi was a great tourer with a nice long comfortable seat and quite low from top of seat height to the ground. I could imagine it as the sort of trip where a BMW would be good as well.

Give me an old car any day. A friend had a Mercedes. The tyres were $1000 each and had to be filled with nitrogen, not air. My sons Mazda CX-6 diesel Hybrid SUV tyres cost $550 each. Tyres for my 2004 Holden Astra start at $129 each, a number of brands at $189 each. And the techno gizmos to go wrong. My son's SUV has electric tyre pressure sensors and an electric oil gauge. For people too lazy to lift the bonnet. The only dipstick is the one behind the wheel. Even has a wiper maintenance mode for changing wiper blades.

The manufacturers would be screaming poor if that happened. Making things to last and fixable is not good business under modern standards. Look at printers, it is cheaper to buy a new one with ink in it than a cartidge for most. Fridges dont last because of the alloy tubing now used corodes from condisation and blown insulation turn to a mild acid and eat the pipes. In my old workshop i had a fridge that was new in 1991 still running with steel tubing, others i know are still runing 70s fridges in their sheds. Not the most power efficent, but better than buying a new one every 5 years. I like fixing stuff because i hate wasting what was already bought.

Hmm. That's not what "nork" meant when I was growing up. It was only used in the plural and usually preceded by the words "phwoah, look at those "

I came across another photo repair website which offered a free trial. I uploaded one of the most damaged photos I had, of my wife's aunt and cousin. here are the results.

Guess what! A splayd is an eating utensil which combines the functions of a spoon, knife and fork. It was invented by William McArthur in the 1940s in Sydney. I've still got the boxed set of Splayds that Mum got back in the day.

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Being a federal politician can't be easy. Imagine the protocols, rules, how policy is developed, getting information from the APS, what to declare, how to bargain with all the others without getting screwed over, your every mistake and misstep scrutinized by the press, working and networking all hours of the day and night. So if we don't want professional politicians, then we want "normal people" from all walks of life who can also be media experts and able to understand the implications and anticipate consequences of complex legislation. Which means that in most cases they will be heavily dependent on, and guided by, their staff. Who elected them (the staff?)

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It would be good to get rid of career politicians in all partys.

Ukraine probably offers really cheap flights to Australian soldiers looking to take a working holiday.

Almost Page 103. Nev

Come the revolution.... the enablers will rule the world. We might have more to worry about than the price of diesel.

It's important that we know our 'lot in life' is not as bad as we often make out.

Do we need that? . Nev

Hopefully Albo knows that it plays far better with the voters if he stands up to the orange man-baby.

Bob Hawke’s widow Blanche D’Alpuget has died, aged 82.

RACV members have received a 5% discount when we presented our membership cards at a GG Ampol servo. I received an email today from RACV saying this will cease as from 21 September. No details wht.

I only drive 10 km per day, 5 days a week, rarely more than that. Usually 50-60 kph, occasionally 70 kph, all on bitumen roads. I don't think I will have many more years driving, so the old Astra will do me.

Spares cost, availability and Price of labour dictate when it's time to be rid of the Old vehicles. Corrosion Metal fatigue, Bad Paint and reduced safety features,also. Modern cars are More value for Money than many other items. I tend to Keep them Longer than most People I Know. but I look after them better than most People I Know... Nev

Toyota has been banking on its Solid State battery technology that it has been developing for a number of years but there have been constant delays & 2027-28 is the current launch date. Meanwhile they have teamed up with arch rival BYD to use their tech in Toyotas. Toyotas main effort in the BZ4X aka Subaru Solterra has met with poor sales due to a number of factors including price & range. Japanese manufacturers should have cleaned up the market with Nissan Leaf being one of the first EVs & Toyota the biggest & longest standing Hybrid manufacturer, but they were caught & overtaken & largely pushed aside by the Chinese. Chinas electrification plan began back in 2001 & no-one took any notice & the legacy automotive market has been blind sided & left in the dust.

My last ride wasn't very exciting at all. It was on a battered old postie bike down the driveway to pick up the mail from the letterbox. Uneventful trip down but broke down halfway back up and that's where it stayed for a few years. Haven't had a road registered bike for quite a few years now. Still remember my first ride (175cc BSA Bantam) and some of the more exciting ones. Some memories I cherish, some involving hospitals I'd rather forget.

And that's why you get the big bucks. Good luck! (seriously)

Sorry, I self censured my post.

Compressed gases are dangerous things. I would trust a BOC agent to handle cylinders with much more care than a casual employee of Bunnings. There has been a lot of Comment about how Bunnings is applying the tactics of other corporate ogres such as ALColesWorth by lowering the quality of its products by replacing the traditional brands with homebrands, made to a price but lacking the quality.

And that, M'Lord, is proof positive of AI slop.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1506510993864134

Thanks ome, I found it and it's total BS, probably put there for a bit of dramatic effect.

Very close to the start there is an image of pottery shards and at teh bottom of the photo is a graduated straight edge (ruler).

It's somebody's idea of desirable. Why even THINK of having a Law against it.? It's only a consumable and they are not rare or very quick. . USA is a bit hooked on chrome. It will Probably run OK for years. Nev

Everything else Marty said already applies to our current politicians. They have communications teams, speech writers, media experts, are heavily dependent on, and guided by, their unelected staff. In due course, once the oligarcs have dissolved democracy and implemented their corporate dictatorships, this debate will be forgotten.

You are going soft now. I never thought you'd have so much sympathy for them.

I'm not sure that would be a good idea. It would leave us with government run by hobby politicians..... Or more likely by oligarcs, in their spare time!

I hope they have the chants. I love the chants, timed to the hammers hitting the rocks.

This is an old photo, but this 1924 Hupmobile is still in the family; grandfather bought it new.

And the recycled pollies PHON have at the trough are different in what way, exactly? Jerry, they've done something else before politics. They've had real jobs and careers. It's not hard to research. Pauline fried fish, Barnaby was a bean counter, David Farley started out as a jackeroo and ended up CEO of Australia's largest agricultural company, NSW leader Mike Newman is a former investment banker and NSW trade commissioner to Japan, Luke Herdegen who just won the WA byelection is a small busnessman who owns gyms, Tyron Whitten the WA senator is a former concretor and business owner, Rod Caddies the WA leader has worked in child protection, construction, mining and as an ADF reservist, and that's just some of them. Even Malcolm has had real jobs but I reckon he's too nutty to talk about.

I can relate to that, having never owned a new car. The newest I've bought were a couple that were around six to seven years old. Most have been in the ten to fifteen year old range. I never saw the point in going tens of thousands of dollars into debt to buy a new car when a good second hand one costing a few thousand does the same job.

There is no emoticon for.... admiration of their spirit

Sometimes we don't know how lucky we are. We often have gripes about this and that, but life and nature can throw some people incredible problems, yet thet learn to cope with them and get on with life. Some are not expected to live a few days or more when born, but somehow live on into their 40's and 50's. A new series on Foxtel highlights these Extreme Humans. There have only been 2 episodes so far, each dealing with 2 persons/couples, but the show runs every Monday. Here are the people shown so far. From Turkiye, the world's tallest woman at 7ft 1in. She is 29, and studying computer science. She is so tall, she cannot sit in a car, she travels in a van, lying in the back on a matress. She has the largest ears. This couple from Brazil hold the Guinness World Record for the smallest couple in the world. They are both only 2ft 11in tall, yet live a comparatively normal life. The husband can drive, they go to the supermarket to do their shopping, they have to ask for help to reach items above the 4th shelf. They use a kiddies shopping trolley. When the husband puts the shopping in the car, his head is no higher than the rear seat. Naturally, door handles, benches and the sink in their home are lowered to their level. This girl from America is amazing. Her legs were badly deformed at birth and she gets around walking in her hands. Callipers on her legs as a child did not improve things. But she can drive an automatic car and rides horses. This chap from Brazil wasn't expected to live more than a couple of days at birth, but he is 48. The photos illustrate the contorted effects he has had to live with. It makes you wonder...and be grateful.

Companies who make profits in Australia often have overseas shareholders. I reckon if you compare remittances to the money going overseas to those shareholders, it'd be a drop in the bucket.