New government & motorcycles

I am a serious fan of Dr Leon Manning and his lobbying for the users of Powered Two Wheelers in the UK, so see his assessment of how the new coalition givernment could be good for bikes and bikers.

CrossRoadsRider is one of Dr Leon Mannings websites and a good blog of real news on all things transport with a motorcyle focus.

Mercedes need build quality

While all is well with my Honda Deauville the same cannot be said of my Mercedes. Andy has just done a service which (as one would expect of a car with 100,000 miles under it's wheels is a major service. What I didn't expect was to have to replace both front springs as they had both snapped in an identical place, just short of one full turn from the top end. What with that, a full set of filters and fluids, the near-side track rod arm and f/o/s driving lamp the parts bill alone is looking like it will be close to £300 (at mates rates) or over £530 at full retial. I'm very glad Andy is in the motor trade and has his Senior Technician ticket - it's saving me cash and making the Mercedes just about affordable. I still think that it's time for a change though....

Peace and quiet

It's nice now and then to get some peace and quiet, and right now Sue & I are enjoying just that. Andy is away on a course at BWM in Bracknell, learning the latest petrol engine diagnostics for the current BMW model range. Mark is busy revising for, and sitting his degree exam finals - he sat the first today and is very pleased with his performance, which bodes well.

And in just a couple of weeks Sue & I will be in Portugal on a one week holiday to the Algarve - that should be good. Well we arelooking forward to it anyway.

Exercise is good for you!

That's the popular saying. Well I'm not so sure....

Lunchtime today I took a 10 minute walk to the local ATM hole in the wall. By the time I'd got back to the office I'd got a lovely great big (and painfull) blister on my right foot.

So, exercise is good for you? I'm not convinced.

Bike MoT

As I'm on the subject of MoT (see Police Crackdown) I have to say that for the 4th year on the trot, whithout any special preparation, the Deauville sailed straight through it's MoT on Saturday. So that's it given it's fitness certificate for another year. It doesn't stop the expense though. New tyres will be required in a couple of months (the front has been on there for nearly 15,000 miles) and the exhaust is looking decidedly rough, though serviceable, so I'll be keeping an eye out for a bargain replacement.

Coming up at the end of the month, Sunday 30th May, I'll be leading out a group of riders for a tour of the Derbyshire Peak District taking in Snake Pass. Again this is the 4th time round so this year we are heading round the route in an anti-clockwise direction, taking the Snake Pass to Glossop rather down from it. Should be fun if the weather is good, and still enjoyable if it's not so kind to us.

Police crackdown

Last night on the local BBC news, East Midlands Today, they ran a piece on a police crackdown by Leicestershire Constabulary on drivers using mobile phones and hand held devices while driving. The camera crew filmed several drivers while the commentary said what the driver had been done for and whether they'd been cautioned, fined and gained points on their license. It closed with a lady who had been done for using a mobile phone while driving and who had routinely had a vehicle check that revealed her car had no MoT. I thought she looked familiar, but when I saw the car and registration I knew who she was. Wife of my ex-employer Mr John Mills, it was Elizabeth Mills.

Made me smile! John put ZEDA into Voluntary Creditor Liquidation at the end of January 2008 making me and all staff redundant. Small compensation, but, it made me smile! I wonder if he's well enough connected to get it squashed?

Mum's birthday

Hot on the heels of Angie's birthday a couple of weeks ago, tomorrow is Mum's birthday - her 75th. Happy birthday for tomorrow Mum, and yes, your new hair do does look smart, a nice change.

Mercedes build quality

I continue to be highly disappointed with the build quality of my C class Sport Coupe. Returning from a trip into town with Andy last Saturday there was a noise from the steering as I reversed back onto the drive. Andy took it to work on Monday to find the lower track arm has a lot of play and BOTH front suspension springs have snapped. With a service due shortly we've decided that Andy will do it next weekend replacing the bits identified as faulty. On top of that the o/s/f driving lamp has been smashed by a stone so will be replaced at the same time. Fortunately, Andy has already set aside some part used tyres and brought home from work, so they won't add to the cost of this service.

Having said that - the car really comes into it's own on the motorways and long distance drives, but I don't do the amount of driving that I used to so once this service is out the way it might well be time for a change. Might just keep Andy happy and get a BMW.

Election week

It's been a mad, mad week for Suzie especially, with loads of work and some very long days to make the election happen in Derby. Still, it's all over and as a result we have a Tory MP for Oakwood while the other 2 Derby seats went to Labour and just as the National Government is going to be a coalition because no one party has the majority, so it is in Derby City Council. We made sure that everyone locally in the family voted - that's both sets of parents and us and our boys. The televised national debates with the 3 main party leaders seemed to add a level of interest not previously seen and the turn-out was the best seen for years, which can only be good - at least people are getting out there and making the effort and using their vote.

So who will be in number 10 Downing Street? As long as it's not Gordon Brown I really don't care!