Dave's shonkers - continuing electroshite

[EyesWeldedShut]

8 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

There is deffo an element of them trying to use FB etc for PR so if they can word it so it sounds like they didn't have it handed to them by the tracker then I guess they will.

 

Isn't that the modern way - bigging yourself up all the time - especially on Twatter?
I'm supposed to be constantly tweeting about how cool my latest idea is; how fantasmagorical our project is; blah blah. I just feel it's a bit like screaming into an abyss plus I really don't think that I want anything to do with anything to do with Mr Musk.

[barefoot]

6 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

I will send you a PM as probably best not to put details or what I'm using on this bike on a public forum.

Can you pm me too please?

[New POD]

6 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Isn't that the modern way - bigging yourself up all the time - especially on Twatter?
I'm supposed to be constantly tweeting about how cool my latest idea is; how fantasmagorical our project is; blah blah. I just feel it's a bit like screaming into an abyss plus I really don't think that I want anything to do with anything to do with Mr Musk.

I first discovered the existence of TWatter when a bloke I worked with, who was the thickest, most superficial dick head Ive ever met, was it using it on his latest I phone.  It was then that I vowed never to use it. 

[bunglebus]

You're braver than me doing the cambelt on that Audi, I've done various ones in the past like CVH, Pinto, SOHC Vauxhall Astra, Lupo 1.0 etc but I started the job on my Passat, lost my bottle and paid to get it done. Needs it again actually 

[tom13]

On 4/21/2023 at 1:31 PM, Dave_Q said:

I will send you a PM as probably best not to put details or what I'm using on this bike on a public forum.

Can you Pm me what you use as well please. Glad it worked on this occasion but those scooters are just theft magnets. Get it moved on asap. 

[Dave_Q]

4 minutes ago, tom13 said:

Can you Pm me what you use as well please. Glad it worked on this occasion but those scooters are just theft magnets. Get it moved on asap. 

L1 started a thread in the ask a shiter section, I've put some details in there.

[Dave_Q]

The police still haven't been round to ask me any info or get my CCTV, but they did come today to bring me a bike lock??

It's (bicycle) Sold Secure Gold which is reassuring. It's nice that they are trying to help but fairly bizarre at the same time that one arm can bring me a free lock I didn't ask for, and the other can't even come round to get my crime report and my moderate quality CCTV of the theft.

[3VOM]

Plod or related organisation may have funding to give out the locks, like some "victims of crime" charity. Hence one lot responds with a lock and the other can't get round to see you.

[Dave_Q]

49 minutes ago, 3VOM said:

Plod or related organisation may have funding to give out the locks, like some "victims of crime" charity. Hence one lot responds with a lock and the other can't get round to see you.

Yes they did say they were crime prevention officers and the locks were funded by Tracy off of Coronation Street's office.

I think they were civvies so the explanation that a real life PCSO needs to come for the other bits is fine, it just doesn't fill me with confidence that they will expend any effort at all on trying to ID and find the scrotes.

[Dave_Q]

WYP closed my crime by email without looking at the CCTV. I replied suggesting that they might want to look at it, they sent me the following fairly snotty reply about how pointless it would be.

Negotiations continue with the unwashed masses of FB marketplace to swap the TMax for something I can fit in the house. I have got a 70% confidence deal arranged for a 2-stroke Gilera Runner amongst other tempting offers:

Audi is in for MOT today, send FOUGHTS AND PRAYERS

[Wgl2019]

8 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

WYP closed my crime by email without looking at the CCTV. I replied suggesting that they might want to look at it, they sent me the following fairly snotty reply about how pointless it would be.

 

This emphasises the issue with the demise of proper local neighbourhood teams and volume crime units, whilst the footage may not show a face it will show clothing and this could link to other similar offences in the area, crime series, intelligence reports etc etc..... At the very least the footage should be secured and retained.

Police contact centre staff are unlikely to have any investigative experience or interest in detecting crime. For a few years a lot of forces wouldn't attend residential burglaries routinely (although a crime scene investigator would), this rightly triggered a backlash and the expectations have now shifted to physical attendance at all reports.

A small number of prolific offenders are responsible for a disproportionately high amount of crime..... the dismissive attitude shown above is how they get away with it.

 

(rant over)

[Dave_Q]

41 minutes ago, Wgl2019 said:

This emphasises the issue with the demise of proper local neighbourhood teams and volume crime units, whilst the footage may not show a face it will show clothing and this could link to other similar offences in the area, crime series, intelligence reports etc etc..... At the very least the footage should be secured and retained.

Police contact centre staff are unlikely to have any investigative experience or interest in detecting crime. For a few years a lot of forces wouldn't attend residential burglaries routinely (although a crime scene investigator would), this rightly triggered a backlash and the expectations have now shifted to physical attendance at all reports.

A small number of prolific offenders are responsible for a disproportionately high amount of crime..... the dismissive attitude shown above is how they get away with it.

 

(rant over)

Yeah I totally agree and that is what I thought might happen with the CCTV, I am not under any impression that pictures of masked up scallies will lead to a conviction, just that is might be of use for establishing patterns. 

MOT results are in, could be worse, the leaky caliper is a bit alarming.

[Dave_Q]

£412 quote from the garage to fix so it's getting done there. 

That will include a new brake caliper and CV joint, and rear disks and pads, plus the labour to clean it all up and bleed the system. 

I am just gonna pony up as I don't fancy another 6 weeks off the road for it while I get round to pulling my finger out.

[Dave_Q]

Audi sorted, TMax sold.

[Dave_Q]

Christened the new van with it's first collection mission. 

It's a 2-stroke Gilera Runner just like all the coolest kids had in 6th form. 

It's got all the right bits on it, Malossi 172 kit and a PM 360 exhaust.

From a quick once over, it needs a battery, seat, couple of missing panels and I'm told a kickstart ratchet/gear thing. I'm actually positively surprised by the overall condition which is not too bad really but some panels are much rougher than others. 

Crucially it fits in the house so will be less subject to scratter attention than something locked out the front.

[Matty]

19 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

Christened the new van with it's first collection mission. 

It's a 2-stroke Gilera Runner just like all the coolest kids had in 6th form. 

It's got all the right bits on it, Malossi 172 kit and a PM 360 exhaust.

From a quick once over, it needs a battery, seat, couple of missing panels and I'm told a kickstart ratchet/gear thing. I'm actually positively surprised by the overall condition which is not too bad really but some panels are much rougher than others. 

Crucially it fits in the house so will be less subject to scratter attention than something locked out the front.

New van? What I miss?

[Dave_Q]

1 minute ago, Matty said:

New van? What I miss?

Think I did post a picture a page or so back:

Outgoing: black 2004 Vito xlong traveliner in "shabby chic"

Incoming: red 2010 Vito long traveliner in "surprisingly presentable"

The black one was just getting a bit shabby in the usual Vito places and rather than sending it in somewhere to be tidied up I put that money towards a newer one. Not much to report as it's just a newer, quieter, less rusty version of the old van really.

[Dave_Q]

The black one is for sale if you want to disappoint/offend your family and neighbours:

 

[Dave_Q]

Did have a quick look at trying to start the Gilera today but the level of bodgery was just too much, so I pulled it to bits.

Plastics are pretty decent actually, don't seem to have been crashed/smashed, just had 3 too many resprays with £shop black and a yard brush.

An example of the bodgery, this is a disc brake caliper attached to a lug that's broken off another engine? Held on by one bolt and some cable ties. 

The engine has never been a disc casing, it doesn't have the disc lugs or anywhere they have broken off.

Some previous owner has styled* most of the hoses and wiring by wrapping it in this red plastic ducting stuff which looks absolutely gash. There are also a fair selection of random bits of hose attached to nothing. 

The more I dug I started to wonder whether the engine was even what it had been sold to me as. So I took it out and took the head off to check. 

Luckily this bit is good, 65mm bore and 52 stroke for 172cc and doesn't look too bad at all for scoring. Could do with the piston cleaning at least. 

Not too sure what to do next with it, as the top end looks mostly OK I could get the bits it needs to run (side casing and kick or electric start) and just bolt it back together but it isn't loads more work to split the cases and put some bearings and seals in.

Will see how much the parts are and make a decision.

[Dave_Q]

Some parts are fairly expensive it seems, main bearings + seals around £50 for example. Maybe you could find the bearings for less from a bearing supplier rather than a scooter parts place.

I took the transmission side off to see if there were any goodies but the gearbox is all standard as is the variator, with just some 12g rollers in it. Possibly has a stronger counter spring in the rear as it's white and there are tool marks on the pulley nut where someone has been there.

I think I will get it built up and fired up by buying the least amount of parts possible in the first instance, as the bore seems OK and the crank seems to turn pretty smooth it might be OK. Although it does appear that clear bathroom sealant was used for the cases whenever they were last split so this could be delaying the inevitable.

It is kinda tempting to fully strip the engine and get it blasted and/or coated to be super shiny but this will take 5x as long and cost 10x as much. I am just not the sort of person that can own anything super shiny anyway as I'm no good at looking after cosmetics so I'll stick to my usual "that'll do" level of workmanship.

[Dave_Q]

Not done loads, I picked up another Piaggio engine casing to try to salvage the brake parts from and started trying to drill out the cut off pivot thing on these casings, leading to snapping off a drill bit in it fairly quickly.

I did fit a reversing camera and a gearshift bush to the van but that's quite boring.

I seem to have a bad habit of buying parts then never getting round to doing the related bit of fixing. 

Currently in the "goods in" area is:

Van
Audi TT front seats with single bases and swivels. These are taking up quite a lot of my limited storage space so should really get round to doing something with them
Grom
Just some oil actually as it could do with a change, but I'm loathe to touch it in case something goes bad and the one on the road bike ends up off the road. Oh and half a set of new plastics but again it's not being touched until something else is on the road.
Audi
Some roof cleaner/sealant stuff. I really need to get some screen glue and attack the back window soon as it'll be pissing down every day again before we know it
Vespa
Just opened a fuel tank for it that has been sat there for probably a year. And a pack of cables. It's nearly ready to hit the road again after I got the rebuilt engine back for it sometime around xmas.
In preparation for such things I went to the PO to try and tax it. As I've decided it was built in Jan 1983, it's MOT exempt but still needs 1 more year of tax.

The PO got their wires crossed I think and tried to put it into Historic tax class, and computer said no (not eligible until 1/4/24). This lead to a great call with DVLA where the man couldn't really tell me when they think it was manufactured. 
Him: "Well it says on here, the date of manufacture is 31/12/1983. I think as the date within 1983 is unknown then they put the latest date possible"
Me: "That's funny, as you've given it a Y suffix plate which is for vehicles from before 1st August 1983. Do they assume the earliest possible date for the plate and the latest possible for other reasons?"
Him: "Erm well yeah, there may have been decisions made when it was registered, I can't see those notes"

Anyway he assured me that a V112 is down to me to declare and nothing on the system should stop the PO taxing it with a V112. Went back and explained what I wanted, £24 (!!!) later I am taxed.

[Dave_Q]

 Been a while. Had to spend a lot of my free time on patios and decking after being dicked around by a bullshitting gardener*

Here's a thrilling mostly text wall for you:

Van
Went to my tame van fondler to have some front seats fitted. I actually had these for the old van but never managed to fit them. From a TT, they are on swivel bases. Very happy with them.

He also gave me a list of things wrong with it which I got the selling garage to fix. They did drop links, DPF pressure sensor, gearbox mount, and a starter motor. The van whisperer told me the timing chain was making noise although I couldn't hear it. The selling garage weren't really interested so I asked Mercedes to measure the chain stretch when it went in for the airbag recall. They failed to measure it and told me they couldn't hear a noise and there was nothing wrong with it. 

The only noise I could detect from the chain was this fairly alarming rattle on startup. 

In the end, after reading various things about chains online I concluded it probably wasn't stretched/worn and replaced the tensioner. The new tensioner is a revised part with 4 larger oil holes instead of 2 small ones. I don't have another video but there is no more alarming startup noise. 

We're off on holiday in the van next week and the only thing I need to sort is fitting some towbar wiring for our bike carrier.

Audi
Hasn't really moved for a couple of weeks as its been raining. I did put 4 new tyres on after one of my part worns stopped keeping the air in.

Grom
Sailed through MOT once the MOT plate and a reflector had been applied. Retaxed at £25(!) for the year.

Vespa
I did get the engine back in the frame a while ago, it's so close to the road but I haven't touched it. Need to pull finger out.

Gilera
Shit got slightly out of hand with this one and I ended up with 3 frames and approx 2.4 engines. 

I bought a 180 frame off some twat who breaks them and runs a facebook group. He told me it had been used for racing and had had a bracket cut off at the front that holds the fusebox on. I reckoned I could live with that. 

What the shitehouse definitely didn't mention was that the head tube had been cut and rewelded and the lock stops were made of bolts and pigeon shit. It looks like the head tube has been lengthened by about 5mm, maybe this is to use different forks or something?

Let him know I wasn't happy but obviously returning something like this bought via FB is not like taking something back to Lidl. In the end he offered to send me another frame at a discount. Wasn't really pleased with that but needed a frame so had to go along with it. At least I now have a clean 180 frame to build it all onto. I also got a 2nd set of engine casings/bottom end with all the brake stuff intact so I will swap over the 172 top end onto that at some point and build it all up. I'm pretty sure I have one  of everything and some spare stuff to sell to try and get a few quid back.

[EyesWeldedShut]

The TT seats look 1000% absolutely lush/gorgeous/name your personal vibe here. 

 

[SiC]

The seats in my TT Mk1 (which they look to be?) are a primary reason why I still have the car and use it so regularly!

[Dave_Q]

Yeah they are mk1 TT seats, the actual seats only cost me £50 so a bargain provided you don't mention the single seat bases, swivel plates or fitting.

[Dave_Q]

Holiday in the van was completed no bother.
1000 miles smashed at euro motorway speed loaded up to the roof and with bikes on the back, at 36mpg which is not amazing but not awful.

My wife recently passed her A2 bike test and bought an ER6. For a while I decided I would sell the Grom and buy something bigger, but after attracting mostly throbbers on marketplace I am just gonna keep it. It's very unlikely we are going to be doing long slogs on motorways and I reckon the Grom will do just fine at the sort of speed she will ride. 

Absolutely ages ago I bought most of a set of plastics for the bike thinking I would swap them over. I did kinda start doing this to improve its chances of selling then had my change of heart mid-operation.

Here's a before pic.

You can't really tell, but the paintwork is absolutely shocking. It's been stolen/recovered in the past and from the state of the overspray I reckon the thieves painted it bright blue, with graff paint, in a high wind. This was then painted over grey, in paint that is falling off in places due to there being so many layers and a lack of petrol resistance. 

Panels for these things are mostly reasonably priced. My spares are white but I've now decided to go red. I've found/ordered replacements for all the coloured panels except the mudguard and boomerangs. 

Here's an example of how bad the paint is, it's got cracks like the surface of the moon because it's been put on so thick.

I had high hopes that at least some of these layers were £shop rattle can and would wipe of fairly easily with thinners.

Like being in fucking Time Team it was. Looks like the original white is there, then grey, then white again, then thief blue, then grey.

Most of the other plastics had varying levels of overspray, This all wiped off fairly easily, removing shite rattle can work and finding original paint underneath is a very satisfying job.

I'm also reusing the mudguard but ran out of arsed to try and clean it up with thinners.
I have left it wrapped in a carrier bag overnight with a heavy layer of "trade strength just like the old days honest m9" paintstripper. It does claim to include dichloromethane and it stings like fuck if you get it on your hand but I wasn't that impressed when I tried to use it on some alloy wheels.

[Dave_Q]

The paint stripper didn't turn out too well, ORL MODERN PAINT STRIPPERS ARE SHITE. And I think the mudguard has had a much harder life than the other bits.

 

I deployed assorted abrasives and got it something like.

There were a couple of cracks which a previous bodger had repaired with cable ties. Because of my excellent track record in buying non-crashed motorbikes, I have a tool for this.

Listed by TemuExpress as a "plastic welder" this is a machine that joins the 2 sides of the crack together by melting a hot funky paperclip into the plastic. 

I left it with some filler on and will come back to it tomorrow.

I have to admit I don't much enjoy painting (or more accurately, preparing things for paint). I ordered some new panels but the boomerangs were £60 new and a mudguard would have been £85+duty and only available in Thailand.

I am saving overall by re-using these bits but I'll have easily spent £40 on paint and supplies when all is said and done which means that if you cost the swearing at inadequate paint stripping tools around £20 an hour you'd be better off just buying new.

[djim]

This is a fun watch if you think you might want to give it a little more pep😁

 

 

[Dave_Q]

Ha I watched that exact video the other night and coincidentally a couple of weeks ago I saw a CBR250 in a police auction that went for about £200.

I don't think I'd go for the 250/300 conversion, I have enough tasks/projects lined up without tearing the most working bike I have into pieces. I have been looking into upgrade options and there is a kit with a higher compression 125 piston and a cam that would get me from the stock 8-9hp up to about 12-13, that costs about £300 so not too outrageous and should mean 70 is achievable without a lengthy downhill run.

[Stanky]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but having seen several of these (or very similar?) around over the past 5+ years - why do they have such little wheels? I'm not a bike person so never knew what make/model they were to be able to Google it, but the wheels seem to be halfway between the 12" wheels you get on 50cc mopeds and 17"+ wheels on most 'regular' 125cc bikes?

Sorry if I'm talking rubbish, in my world there are 50cc scooters, and 125cc+ 'motorbikes' and this seems to have the frame of a 'motorbike' and wheels of a moped and I don't know why.