All in one day!!

[KevinGambrell]

Well I set out for work on the 1100 at 6am this morning full of the joys of being on a bike. Three miles into the ten mile ride im on a roundabout just about to take my exit and the tosspot drip dick 20 year old in his souped up matchbox tosser car losses it when he puts his foot down too hard and spins out infront of me while im lent over in a turn. I stopped in time! I am also convinced he is the best reason to invent time travel and contracetion!

At 6pm I head home from work in the dark. Both lanes are chock a block wth cars and im stuck in front of a bucket of scum driving a brand new Landrover with what felt like night sun headlights.
He turned off and i reached the first roundabout on my journey home. Half way round the roundabout yet another teenage tosspot pulls out on me. Ok thats bad enough but when he realised I was there he lent out the window and hurled a load of abuse at me for being in his way. i hope he catches clap from his girlfriend and his bollox drop off!

I love riding in England!

[dano68]

Just another day on two wheels. If it makes you feel any better it is not just England, shity drivers are every where.

Thanks for the edit Slofuze lol

[default]

I was filtering ( legal in UK ) on a notoriously clogged stretch of single lane road this evening that regularly has a 20 minute delay ( on 4 wheels ) because of poorly timed traffic lights.

I had one tosspot in a Discovery actually move to his right to actively block me passing. Luckily I was on my little Honda 125 town run-around and managed to duck in behind him and pass on his off-side before giving him the finger. The Honda Pan European that was following me wasn't so lucky and had to sit behind this ignorant git.

[Slofuze]

Just another day on two wheels. If it makes you feel any better it isn't just England, shity drivers are every where.

ftfy

[Ronny]

Pathetic twats who haven't got the bottle to ride a bike. Fuck them, keep her lit

[Stumpy]

Oh I know that only too well.

Back when I was riding in the UK - it was Corsa's or Nova's with ridiculously huge exhausts that would guaranteed drive like cnuts. Or it would be the Audi A-somethings that would basically ego you off the road. Or there would be the idiot talkers in their 4x4's who would, by virtue of not looking at the road, absolutely not see you at all.

Fun times!

I had a Thundercat back then. YZF600R for the non-Euros. Nearly being swiped by some spotty teenage-neanderthal in a Vauxhall Corsa is no fun, and I REALLY remember this bit - he had an Opel grille badge on front, but the back boot still had the Vauxhall.

Anyway - he nearly swipes me, I manage to change lane and brake and think how lucky I am. Regained composure, carry on my way, and he is slowing down in front of me and waving me to pass. Of course, when I start moving he absolutely floors his Corsa with 2 or 3 of his grinning mates inside.

I wasn't going to take any of that bollocks and actually opened the throttle and just got gone.

Why people do that - I will never understand. I've not always been lucky - got the scars to prove it

[Aimbot9000]

that is why I like to carry an AR-15 instead of a backpack. you would be amazed how polite and respectful cagers can be when you have a rifle slung across your back. lol

[Stumpy]

I've often wondered how a firearm strapped to your back could help anything? I am sure that many Americans love carrying guns around, but on a motorcycle they can hardly be practical. Unless you have a passenger willing to take it, load it, charge it, unsafety it, aim it, and fire it - all while you are doing 30mph plus.

Welcome to Messedupistan In a civilised country - there should be no need for any such behaviour.

[Aimbot9000]

you where saying? lol

but in reality i was just transporting my rifle to/from the gun range or other such event. i did notice and enjoy not being treated as a prospective hood ornament.

[MEngineer]

Tosspot

I love the different dialects.

[KevinGambrell]

The only time I realy drive on the road with four wheels is when im on a steam traction engine. Keeping in mind that the one I drive tips the scales at 16 long ton and has 6 foot 4 inch back wheels that are steel with three bands of rubber. Its incredible the number of car drivers that think they can take the engine on in a pissing match.
I will conceed that at best we only do about 8mph on it but all the same threatening to ram the engine if we dont get out of the way is not uncommon.
My steersman has a bad habbit of chucking knobs of coal at cars that cut us up, I cant condone doing this but hey ho such is life.
Mind you we did on one occasion have the pleasure of a rather attractive young lady hanging out of the passenger window of a car with her shirt lifted high, I love driving steam engines!
I am becoming more convinced that the moment non bike riders sit at the wheel of a car they turn off thier rational thinking capabilities and turn into lumps of dung.

[dano68]

I am becoming more convinced that the moment non bike riders sit at the wheel of a car they turn off thier rational thinking capabilities and turn into lumps of dung.

It is not just cagers dude there are alot of two wheel fucktards out there as well. I almost killed two of em' a couple of months back on the HWY 401 in Toronto, they were doing atleast 220 km/h when the limit is 100 km/h. They came into my blind spot as I was switching lanes.

Just drive safe and know everyone is out to get you

[Ronny]

The only time I realy drive on the road with four wheels is when im on a steam traction engine. Keeping in mind that the one I drive tips the scales at 16 long ton and has 6 foot 4 inch back wheels that are steel with three bands of rubber. Its incredible the number of car drivers that think they can take the engine on in a pissing match.
I will conceed that at best we only do about 8mph on it but all the same threatening to ram the engine if we dont get out of the way is not uncommon.
My steersman has a bad habbit of chucking knobs of coal at cars that cut us up, I cant condone doing this but hey ho such is life.
Mind you we did on one occasion have the pleasure of a rather attractive young lady hanging out of the passenger window of a car with her shirt lifted high, I love driving steam engines!
I am becoming more convinced that the moment non bike riders sit at the wheel of a car they turn off thier rational thinking capabilities and turn into lumps of dung.

That sounds like great craic! I hope you never have an accident, but the thought of some dickhead trying to explain ramming a traction engine to a Policeman is cracking me up!

Just thinking about your steam engine, how do you get on with other modern things? I assume you have to stop to take on water and clean the firebox out every so often, is it hard to find a place? Are they expensive to insure?

[KevinGambrell]

Hello Ronny
The big heavy road locos are a bit of a pain in the arse on modern roads, thats mostly down to visability from the manstand and the width of the rear wheels.
On a Big Mclaren road loco theres 10 feet infront of the engine that you cant see the road ahead and the curb and white lines in the middle of the road are not easy to see. Width wise we over hang the center of the road by a few inches on town roads but A roads are OK as a rule.
The light steam tractors are a real joy on the road being not much bigger width and length wise than a Ford Transit. Given the choice id rather be on a tractor on modern roads especialy round country lanes. Most that fall into this class are just under 8 tons fully loaded where as a big road loco can go 22 tons.
Taking on water isnt that bad, most journeys we do I will scout ahead a few days before looking for fire hydrants to fill up at thats if I dont know the route we are taking.
To fill both tanks takes about half hour so in that time the fore gets sorted out and as long as we are not in a rush Tea gets made and drunk. A few bags of coal are also dumped in the tender if its wanted. I can do about 16 miles on a fill up of water or about 400 gallons.
I wont go out on an engine with out a couple of flashing beacon lights and a wide load sign for the back of the living van. 9 times out of 10 other road users are very helpful giving us a wide berth while we are at the side of the road. THere are the odd dick head that cant see why we need to be there. Threats off ramming although sounding daft are more common than I ever thought before I started driving steam on the road. The police are as good as gold with engines, I had one going through Dorset that wanted to escort us out of the town he found us in with no other intention than having a drive of the engine when he had got us past the traffic. That turned into a bloody good day, over three hours we had four officers taking turns on the driving and steering.
Insurance isnt that bad for what it is. The cover is for three things, boiler, public liability and fully comp road insurance. That comes in at £400 a year plus the boiler test at about £200. Given that my mates son who is 18 pays £3000 a year to insure a renault Clio I dont think ours is that bad.
If you get the chance have a look round for steam shows next year, many of them have half hour sessions in the show ring for members of the public to have a drive for a couple of quid donation to the shows charity. I promise you will come away with two things one a smile a mile wide and two a new found love of modern power stearing.

[92xjunker]

Got one for you, I was rear ended by the same person twice today. No more than 15-20 minutes apart. Did absolutely nothing to my van but, jacked her car up bad. first one, she was gazing at who knows what. The second time, she was on the phone. COPS took her license on the spot. Now I feel like I went a few rounds with mike Tyson.