My policy documents arrived this morning and they'd managed to exclude rather than include business use (oh, good). Phoned again, was slightly less polite about it than last time (they wanted, initially, to treat it as an amendment and charge extra!), sorted - hopefully - for good. I may be changing my mind about whether I'm still a loyal customer next time around, though!

Have to say I'm only prepared to go to a certain level of cheapness these days. When everybody else is charging £200-£300 premiums, taking on a policy with neverheardofthesepeople.com for £130 rings alarm bells - best to bear in mind that you may actually want to claim against it at some point and you don't want to end up dealing with web-only cowboys that never reply to your e-mails...back when I could only afford the cheapest of TPF&T I spent one entire year without ever even seeing my policy document, all I ever got from the firm in question were extended cover notes and excuses that their printing system wasn't working properly. In the end, I just lived with it and hoped like hell a) I never needed to produce my documents for the plod and b) nobody nicked me bike!

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

And this week, dear old BMW have revealed their 2009 WSB contender.

Have they stuck with their company trademark shaft drive? Those annoyingly vague Paralever and Telelever suspension systems? That diabolical flat-twin motor, or even the Flying Brick 4? Have they, hell. They've produced an utterly conventional across the frame 4 that looks like a Ninja with an SP2 fairing bodged on the front. And the message, one can only assume, is an admission that (outside of their own one-make series) none of their fantastic "alternative" techno-weirdness is even remotely competitive when lined up against...well, pretty much anybody else. Hope they have the decency to feel some shame about it...!

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

Someone really pi$$ed me off on SUN. I went to the show in Brooklands (bitter disappointment) and on the way home we passed three lads on super motard/Trials bikes. This pratt decided to wheely all the way up the road behind me to the roundabout that I had stopped at. If I hadn't of moved, he'd've gone straight into the back of me! I was livid! he narrowly avoided a car and shot off in another direction. I hate it when riders put their lives at risk, but to put other peoples in risk as well is just down right inconsiderate. I had a good mind to charge after him and give him a damn good talking too and punch in the Kidney, but then I'd be contradicting myself, so I didn't.

Actually, that's another thing. 'Ped riders that wear T-Shirts... or anyone that wears T-Shirts and shorts on their bikes while riding. When I was a kid, I came off my pushbike and it bloody hurt! That was at 5-7mph... imagine doing that at 20-30! I think the law should change so everyone has to wear protective gear. It's not enough that it's just helmets that are compulsary. Oh yeah, and those that wear the leathers or protective gear.... but no gloves. that bugs me more!

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

Sensible choice letting the super retards go: it's just not worth having their accident with them. Karma (or natural selection) has a way of levelling these things out...

Have to disagree about legislating protective clothing, though. There's enough of a nanny state mentality around already, without encouraging 'em further. There's a thread covering some of this elsewhere, but I would always support the individual's freedom of choice to be responsible for themselves and that includes deciding what is appropriate to wear. Crashing isn't inevitable and if you're not actually falling off, you don't really need the protection. Just be aware of your level of vulnerability and ride with an according degree of concentration and caution.

Personally, I don't need to imagine what it's like to come off: I've been down the road on my a**e a few times! But I'm still quite happy to commute/ride around town in jeans (maybe even a T-shirt) during warm weather, rather than boiling in my leathers. Longer (or faster!) distances, I always wear full safety gear. To me, though, the benefits of being comfortable outweigh the risks and consequences of having an accident - and I'd like to continue to be able to make that choice!

If you mean you don't like folk riding like tw*ts in T-shirts and shorts, I wholeheartedly agree. But I suspect most of them would continue to ride like tw*ts whatever they were dressed in...

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

Couriers.

What is it with bl**dy couriers? It's the easiest job in the world: take this from A to B and give it to somebody. It's all they do, all bl**dy day long. So why aren't they any good at it?

Yes, I'm sitting here on this particularly lovely day, wasting my annual leave, waiting for a delivery to turn up. I wouldn't mind (that much), except I've been waiting for several days for it. Yesterday, eventually, after three attempts and several hours listening to the most annoying "please hold" messages ever made, I spoke to CityLink. They tell me they've already tried to deliver it twice and left cards both times. I explain that if they've actually left any cards, they're at somebody else's house because I certainly never got them. They make noncommittal noises. I point out that it isn't rocket science, it's not like I live in a trackless jungle somewhere. You can see my house on Google Earth, for goodness' sake! They tell me it's not their problem anyway, as they've sent the parcel back to the sender. Fine. Thanks. Appreciate your efforts.

So, on to the senders, who couldn't have been more helpful, promised to send another package out immediately, for guaranteed delivery tomorrow.

The only snag is it's tomorrow now and I'm still waiting, have no idea whether the replacement did actually get sent, or if it's going to turn up at all. And on Saturday, I'm supposed to be handing it over to my bro, whose birthday present it's meant to be. Hence, spleen and lots of it!

If anyonne out there does suffer from low blood pressure, though, I thoroughly recommend phoning the CityLink parcel tracking service and just listening to the recorded messages. That'll cure ya!

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

I know what your saying though. But i do have to say there are a lot of stories i've heard about why they go wrong!! And that was from having old mates that used to do the job. It all starts off with one thing. Traffic being the most obvious. And then other customers giving the wrong address or details. Like for example, someone ordered a sofa from Homebase years ago, only for the van driver to discover once he got there that it was a block of flats with no lift. Another with slightly diff situation, but the damn thing wouldn't fit through their door. People checking goods before signing takes time too. It's a sensible thing to do (and everyone should do it), but it takes time. Esp if the item is damaged and the driver needs to get to the end of the customers abusive words before he can go! They're assigned so many drop offs a day, but if one goes wrong, they all go wrong!!

The car in front, is now behind!

As you may have guessed, it didn't turn up at all. Again. Waste of a whole day, when all I really wanted to do was get out and ride. B*gger! Not only that, but I had to spend my Saturday trawling the shops for a replacement and now have to somehow wrestle a refund out of the original company I ordered from. Double b*gger!

I'm a big fan of Internet shopping, world at your fingertips and all that, but when it goes wrong, it really does go wrong.

Cost me an extra £20 to buy the same present in the shops, but I'd willingly have paid that in the first place to avoid this particular hassle...

>> ex silens nox noctis <<