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TheSaffer

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Posts posted by TheSaffer

    stopped smoking

    in General

    Posted

    I tried Champix too. After 3 weeks my girlfriend asked me to stop the tablets. She noticed changes in my behaviour and I must admit that during the course of taking Champix, I felt like a drone. Champix doesn't work for everyone and once you have a deeper look into the reported side effects of the tablets, I don't think that it's worth the risk. When I think about it now, I would never take drugs designed to alter my brain chemistry and my behaviour. But I didn't know the facts before I started. If it worked for you, great, but there are safer ways to quit smoking. After my Champix episode I discovered a ad about ecigs and I was desperate enough to quit smoking to give it a try. Now after 2 years of vaping instead of smoking, I feel great. People tend not to understand what vaping is, most think of vaping as a quit smoking aid. It is not. Vaping is a healthier alternative to smoking. That's why I still do it. I enjoy vaping as I "enjoyed" smoking. The benefit that vaping offers is that you can control your nicotine intake and slowly reduce the nic with time to kind of ween you of the nic addiction. AscI said before, the cigarette lookalikes you find in the petrol station are a waste of time and money. Rather invest around £20 for a decent personal vaporizer. Its just a pity that the public isn't made aware of vaping. There is too much money to be made by the big quit smoking companies from patches and whatever else. Some even claim vaping to be dangerous. Which is ridiculous if you look at the ingredients of eliquid used for vaping, compared to nic patches or sprays etc... My eliquid contains 3 to 4 ingredients. 1.8% nicotine, fruit extract for flavour and VG. VG is what you buy in tesco etc, to bake with. Ask anyone who cooks, they will know what it is... And that's it. Compare that to anything else on the market, the only thing that beats vaping is willpower. So the next time you see someone vaping, please don't call the bomb squad! Especially if your on the M6 on a bus.... LoL.

    stopped smoking

    in General

    Posted

    Haven't smoked since April 2011... been vaping instead...

    If you want to try it, don't go for the ecig you find at a petrol garage... get something a little better for around £25 and you'll never smoke again.

    I used to spend about £200 a month on cigs too, now I spend about £25 per month on eliquid!

    Testing my new Drift HD camera in low light...

    in Video Section

    Posted

    Hi again.

    The Drift HD 1080p is £150 - Comes with the helmet mounts. Flat and curved. Best of all, it has a remote.

    The Drift HD 720p is £99 - Also comes with the above.

    I'm going to get the Drift HD Ghost next month - £299 Bigger screen, little more battery, wifi and aparently they are releasing an app for iPhone and Android soon. I bought it from actioncameras.co.uk... If you use discount code: roadcraft10 you might still get a 10 persent discount. I found the code on youtube and it worked for me.

    I mostly record in 720p, as it is very very clear and I am very happy with it. My previous setup was the DogCam Sport HQR2 DVR with the Sony HQ bullet camera. If you think that the bike kit cost me over 500 pounds, this little Drift camera is a bargain. So now I'm selling my HQR2 kit with all the wires etc on ebay.

    I will post more videos on here when the weather is a bit better, should be a great way to test the colour etc at 1080p.

    R1 now 2 inches shorter...

    in General

    Posted

    Thanks for the advice. The van driver said he realised he was in the wrong lane. He was in the turn right only lane and wanted to carry on towards Romford. He said he stopped when he heard the crunch! I always stop in line of sight of the drivers side mirror, so he didn't even bother to look. At the moment I am still waiting for my bike to be repaired, waiting for the 3rd party insurance engineer to asses the cost. My trust bike garage mechanic did go over my bike and said it was fine to ride. But now I don't know if its my mind playing tricks on me, but I can swear the bike feel different. You know when you ride on a well worn London road where trucks managed to mould the road. It feels almost like the bike is slightly weaving left to right on a flat road. And I can swear I can smell fuel more than usual. I just want them to get it sorted and have a good look. Now this is my question: can you check the forks by just looking at them? I'm sure you need some kind of instruments to check if they are straight! Thanks again.

    R1 now 2 inches shorter...

    in General

    Posted

    Been a while since I posted, but after my last little mishap, I thought I'll post a little something...

    Just before Christmas my bike was in my garage for a few weeks. So I decided it was time to go out and charge the battery for a while. After I had my fix of fresh air, I decided to head back home and at the last set of lights a white van reversed into me!

    I pulled up behind the van waiting for the lights, leaving about the length of half a car between us. As soon as the lights turned green the van reversed. I had a second to try and hit the horn, but it was too late. The van pushed me back about 2 metres!

    I'm just lucky I didn't come off. The van driver was kind enough to provide me his details and admitted liability.

    I just wanted to give some advice to new riders. If you had an accident, always:

    Take pictures of the scene.

    Take as much details of the 3rd party as possible.

    NEVER say sorry or admit any kind of liability.

    If you are not at fault and the 3rd party admit liability, try to get them to write you a note where they admit to causing injury, harm or loss.

    Try as hard as you can to find a witness!

    Do notify your insurer, don't agree to get repairs done by the 3rd party. They often don't want to pay once they get the repair quote.

    I was lucky to not being hurt and I was very lucky that the van driver owned up to causing the accident.

    The van driver wanted to pay for my damage himself, but after he saw the repair quote, it was left to the insurance to pay out.

    My R1 is now about an inch or two shorter!

    The Cost:

    Top fairing: £219

    Fairing Bracket: 176.23

    Front mudguard: 88.16

    Head light unit (left and right) £279 each!

    Inner fairing panel: £12,74

    Be careful out there!

    20121122_133525.jpg

    R1 idling little rough and hesitates...

    in The Bar

    Posted

    My 2003 R1 with 43500miles on it has been serviced every 5000miles and had a oil and filter changed every 2-3k.

    The bike started to idle a little rough (hunting) and I hoped the mechanic can sort it when it when for it's service. He told me that my injectors seems to be clogged and that I should try a fuel additive or get them cleaned, but then I won't have something to commute on...

    I haven't had a chance to slap her around hard for a while now (just the London commute), I have noticed my exhaust is black inside and when I ride slowly I can swear I am smelling fuel...

    I tried the ProLong injector cleaner, which seemed to work for a while, but hardly 500 miles later it's the same as before.

    Now I have taken it to Woodford Motorcyles to get a service as I have read good things about them. The service is due tomorrow, but they have told me that they never heard of injectors needing cleaning before! WTF?

    They said the injectors probably needs balancing...

    What do you think?

    What should I do after my bike was knocked over by reversing vehicle?

    in The Bar

    Posted

    Hi again,

    Just an update... and thanks for all the replies.

    I have yet had no success filing a claim.

    I have emailed three times now to 1st Central (her insurance company) and I am yet to receive a reply. I will now hand it to my solicitor to see what he can do.

    I have a recording of the conversation that I had with the woman when I first told her that someone told me she knocked it over. Is it even legal to use this as evidence?

    Cheers

    What should I do after my bike was knocked over by reversing vehicle?

    in The Bar

    Posted

    Hi again,

    I have now given her a written request for her Insurance details and I have given her till Monday the 25th to respond.

    Then I was thinking to use one of the accident management companies I found on the internet. They claim to handle cases like this and it won't affect my no claims bonus as I am not filing a claim with my insurance company. I still have to declare that I was involved in an accident when I am renewing my policy though.

    Have anyone here had any experience with one of these accident management companies?

    PS: to answer a previous post: yes I have comprehensive cover

    What should I do after my bike was knocked over by reversing vehicle?

    in The Bar

    Posted

    Hi again,

    I have now found a witness!

    After speaking to my insurance company (Equity Redstar), I have decided to ask her in writing for her Insurance details and her name. I already have her address, as she lives across from me.

    The reason being that I would like to contact her insurance to sort it out, if i can do it this way. My insurance renewal is due next month and if I ask my insurance company to pursue the claim, I have to pay my £400 excess and then I will loose my no-claims bonus until the case is settled. I am really not looking forward to pay full rate without my no-claims discount.

    It sucks, but at least my broker said that I can pursue my claim after my renewal, providing I do it in a reasonable time.

    So now I am just waiting for her reply.

    If I haven't received it by Monday, I will contact the police to assist me with her details as apparently it is illegal to withhold your insurance details after an accident.

    The police are also now going to pursue the matter that she failed to stop and exchange details.

    I just hope this will go smoothly.

    What should I do after my bike was knocked over by reversing vehicle?

    in The Bar

    Posted

    Thanks for all the replies here..

    I actually have a good quality recording of the conversation where she asks me if we can settle it privately and that she said she never saw my bike behind her car.

    As mentioned, I'm not sure if a recording is even allowed to have been made.

    I am now waiting for her and her boyfriend to come around and "assess" the damage.

    I'm trying to solve this in a way we can still be neighbours in a sense that she lives across from me and I don't need her kids to vandalise my bike when I'm not home...

    I'll see what her response is after I give her the estimate.

    What should I do after my bike was knocked over by reversing vehicle?

    in The Bar

    Posted

    Right, i just spoke with the lady involved.

    She claims she hasn't seen my bike behind hers.

    She is also asking if she can settle the cost privately. Not sure she will be willing to pay this much though...

    I have to think about this, I told her that I will let her know how much the mechanic estimate is tomorrow.

    At the moment she is waiting for her boyfriend to come and have a look with her at my damage...

    Should I get a crow bar ready or what?

    As far as I'm aware she has just admitted guilt by asking if we can settle it ourself, as she already has a high excess premium.

    I don't want to be unreasonable, but I don't want to pull on the shorter straw either.

    What would you have done?

    What should I do after my bike was knocked over by reversing vehicle?

    in The Bar

    Posted

    Thanks for the replies.

    I have just been to my mechanic and the verdict is not good.

    Bend break lever, scratched/dented Akrapovic Exhaust, bent forks, steeringlock pin and frame damage, fairing etc...

    I am going to ask the vehicle owner for their Insurance details tonight, to see if they give it up...

    I will also take pictures of their vehicle, if there are any marks.

    Quite pissed off at the moment. The bikes a 03 R1, with 43 000 miles on the clock, used to be in top nick. The damage is close to £1500 now... the bikes book value is not even £2500 any more...

    Will keep you informed.

    PS: thanks for the advice.

    What should I do after my bike was knocked over by reversing vehicle?

    in The Bar

    Posted

    I woke up this morning with my alarm sounding and by the time I got out the front door the culprit was gone.

    I just woke up, so I didn't think of taking pictures at the time. After I lifted it back up and checked for visual damage I only found damage where the engine, fairing and road met this morning. I had it covered with good cover at least! I think I know who it was.

    I was parked on the street with my nose to my front door, about 4ft behind a 4x4 Merc and on my left a white Ford.

    My left mirror was bent flat as the vehicle reversed into my bike. The other thing that makes me more sure that it was the 4x4 is that the car that was parked in front of the Merc was still parked there.

    I am not too sure what else to check on my bike now: oil, fuel radiator fluids etc???

    Anyway, I have no real evidence to who it was, but I am going to check if I can see some damage on the rear of the 4x4 when it returns tonight. I am hoping to find some green (cover) marks...

    My question is this: what do I do now then? Do I need to contact the police for a report?

    Do I call my insurance? Do I leave a note on the 4x4 when it returns (I don't know which house they live at) Or do I get even?

    I am not sure if there might be other damage to my bike so I really want a mechanic to give it an inspection.

    But I feel that they should cover my cost.

    What do you think?

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