Leaderboard

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!

Got my bike back yesterday... I was bracing myself for a big bill haveing burned out one regulator and potentially damaged the shop's bench regulator... The total price, including VAT (20%) was £477.. This included 4 hours of labour at £70/hr (which is a little on the high side, but dealers charge £90). They only charged me one regulator and there was a few assorted other parts. It was mainly corroded connectors throughout. The regulator company credited me the burned out regulator that my bike caused. And to boot, the regulator was cheaper through the bike shop than direct - by £50. Who said customer service is dead. The bike is due its MOT (RWC) on 18th December... They are already booked out to the end of November... Shows how a good shop makes money.

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!

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.

I see where a bloke from Anthropic rates it a 10% chance AI will cause human extinction by 2030. That's it, I'm definitely not buying a new car, the old one should see me out.

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.

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

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.

30

90

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?)

40

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.

Didn’t the Rams only just fly in on a 14hr leg this morning. short turn around for such a long trip.

Hmmmm. So your current bike has no battery and a carbide lamp?

History has a way of repeating itself. The super rich don't need all of their wealth but are addicted to it. Their downfall over time is well documented in almost all European countries & Russia. The British seemingly were the only lot that saw the writing on the wall & it began with the Magna carta in 1215 but even that didn't stop the ultra rich either and the English civil war in the 1600s.

Do we need that? . Nev

Talking about sobering. The 1930s are coming back in Germany. AfD is, of course, cheered on by Trump and Musk. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-08/afd-win-in-germany-state-implications-for-europe-ukraine-trump/107127334

Very sobering and on the money. The difference is that Trump is old so won't last for too long, though Hitler created his destruction & genocide in just 15 years.

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

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1375910511381842

These manufacturers really aren't doing the planet any good, yet I bet most of them have a page on their webpage saying how green they are.

I doubt that would require much of it. Alloying with steel is common for strength and corrosion resistance. Nev

The knork is a combination knife/fork with a sharpened side to cut food and eat it. It was developed for Horatio Lord Nelson who had lost his right hand and allowed him to eat without having his food cut up for him. The original one had a knife blade attached to a fork with a screw.

If Donny sees how small Greenland really is, will he still want it?

Randomly, should we ditch Mercator's famous projection? Maybe use less distorted country sizes at the higher latitudes? I see USA doesn't like the idea.

I handed in all my welding rental cylinders years ago, paid a fee to Gasweld for “ownership”, only pay gas price when swapping. my oxy set ones are from another swap group through local owned ag store in Tamworth. I am going to change gasweld ones to Metal land system though because the shop is 3 doors down instead of a 100km round trip now. some years I not even get a refill, so rent was dead money with 6 cylinders.

Sorry, I self censured my post.

The USA has considered the Americas its domain since the collapse of the Spanish and Portugese empires. The Monroe Doctrine is a United States foreign policy position that opposes any foreign interference in the Western Hemisphere. Originally concerned with European colonialism, it holds that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers is a potentially hostile act against the United States. The doctrine was central to American grand strategy in the 20th century. President James Monroe first articulated the doctrine on December 2, 1823, during his seventh annual State of the Union Address to Congress.

You could say the same for any hot rod.

Of course we have "Some" good politicians .You find out if you Look hard who they are, but that's not fashionable. We don't live in a Perfect world, especially Lately so to expect an easy ride is not reasonable in such circumstances. There's a few complete drop Kicks Nev.

I was wondering why Finnair were offering discount fates to Aus :-)

All three have imperialist intent and stop at nothing to seek their aims. China does the long game extremely well.

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.

We had our local show this weekend. I got the chance to speak to representatives of the mob which is in the process of gaining approval for an eighty-tower windfarm within 20 kms of my place. Eighty towers seems like a big crowd, but when I was shown to proposed location of each tower, I saw that they were separated from each other by close on a kilometre. My first thought when I heard of the proposal was that teh towers would be visible from the Newell Highway which is located to the east of the proposed area. I learned that the closest tower woulod be about 5 kms from the highway, with a line of low "hills" between them. So that's no longer a concern to me. I think I've whinged before that around here it can be pretty windy, nd said that it would be ideal for a wind farm. Seems I'm right in some ways and mistaken in others. I experience wind as air movement within about 10 metres of the ground surface. That air movement is very turbulent compared to air movement 100 metres above ground where the turbine blades are. That turbulence, caused by the moving air particles colliding withthe ground and trees and ricocheting into air particles higher up. These collisions rob the air particles of energy due to loss of momentum. If the air movement is free of the turbulence, then there is more energy for the collision between the moving air and the turbine blades. That's why the towers are so high. I was also told that studies locally have shown that the most consistent air movement begins at these heights after sunset and stay pretty good until just before dawn. That means the turbines are best able to produce electricity at night in complement to solar panels. That sounds good. What about the effects on farm incomes? The builders don't resume the land they need like the government does when it wants to build roads etc. It seems that the land is rented from the landholders at a rate determined by the generating capacity of the turbine. An example was that of a property with two towers on it. Based on the generating capacity of the intended turbines, renting the land for two towers would return $100,000 p.a. CPI-indexed for a contract period of thirty years. That's got to provide a degree of stabilisation of farm income. I bet any landowner would love to get that sort of money, especially in the present circumstance when it looks like a drought is on the way. Why does it take so long to get a windfarm up an running. Would you beleive that it is in part due to the very people who pursue a renewable world? One of the environmental reports required deals with the effect of the turbines on bats and birds. Getting the data required a study lasting two years. Then there are the Native Heritage studies and gaining clearances from the local indigenous community. Then there are the geo-technical studies, planning permissions yadda yadda. We should consider the economic benefits. It is said that the workforce required to create the windfarm complex is about 500 persons. These people will be newcomers who will have to be fed, housed and entertained for several years. Already the local Council has allocated an area for an accommodation camp. Someone has to build it. An extra 500 people will hopefully boost local trade, although the proximity of the City of Dubbo, about 30 minutes' drive away might not do good for my town. Still, it's money coming into the district. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with this project. Really, it is going to be 'out of sight, out of mind' to teh majority of the population. And kn owing what I know about smart crows and blind bats, I don't envisage too many mid-air collsions with revolving turbine blades.

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.