Fencing

We decided to replace our rather dilapidated fences in the garden.  

Top Fence

Bottom Fence

So we ordered the timber from Travis Perkins and some bark screening via B&Q.

Day 1, preparation

We asked for the timber to be delivered on Wednesday.  At 8:20, while we were still in bed, I got a phone call saying it would be here in 10 minutes! 

So getup, get dressed then help the driver to unload 17 4.8m lengths of timber of various widths and thicknesses.

First job was to cut to the correct lengths using my old cheap Chinese table saw. 

My old table saw

My amazing sled

Many years ago I made a "sled" for the saw.  It is incredibly useful.  The saw came with a safety guard. When in position it was impossible to see the blade, which made it hit and miss for cutting the wood at the right point.  I removed it. Then I made the sled.  Using it means that hands go nowhere near the blade and the workpiece is lined up with the sled, not the blade. I can honestly say the sled transforms the table saw.

Add 2 nails and it's a jig.

Then I needed to shape the ends of the vertical lengths.

The addition of a couple of nails to the sled turned it into jig for cutting the tops.

But cutting eight 3"x2" lengths then cutting and shaping forty four 4"x 1" takes time - like the whole day including taking the delivery, and walking the dog.

Day 2, top fence started

We have two fences. Both are  willow fence screen rolls which are falling to bits.  The plan was to remove it, put a couple of 3"x2" between the fence posts and then attach a bark screen roll. I thought I'd be done by lunch time. But on taking the old willow fence down I found the post spikes were rusted away. We needed new ones and getting the old one out of the ground is a pig of a job.  It took me around four hours to remove the three of them, source and collect new ones, then install them. While the posts were out I cut them down to size on the table saw. The saw managed the 3x3 posts easily when pushed behind the sled.
I did manage to get half of the top fence done in the remaining time. But we did not like the look of the tie wraps holding it on.  

Day 3, top fence finished.

New top fence

I took a ride up to Screwfix to pick up some staples, then I replaced the tie wraps with staples, and put up the other part of the top fence. The final two and a half hours of work were completed in the rain.

But the top fence is done! 

 Rain stopped play for the rest of the day.

Next, the bottom fence.

Selling the BMW.

 I am thinking about selling the old girl. We’ve been together for quite a while but she is not getting ridden much these days. At 207Kg wet weight (or 458lb) She is classed as a middle weight but I am finding her a bit heavy to move about, especially compared to the 97Kg (214lb) Address. 

It would be nice to have a bike that I could take on the faster roads two-up, but I don't think my ideal bike exists. I'd need a low seat, ideally a step through, a weight of under 130Kg, a power of 25+bhp and a narrow body and seat. 

The Address fulfils all of these apart from the power. It has only 9bhp. All of the more powerful scooters I have looked at are very heavy and usually very wide. I guess the width is because of the strive to fit full face helmets under the seat. The Address will take an open face, but not my full face helmet, but it does have two helmet holders under the seat. This means I can have a full top-box, full under-the-seat storage, and still be able to secure two helmets securely. I'd also still have the compartments and hook on the leg shield for odds and ends.

The BMW has the power, the narrow body and seat, and either pannier will take a full face helmet, but it's heavy (to me) and non step through. 

BMW R65LS
Dry weight: 208Kg,  Power: 50bhp, Seat Height:810mm
Max Speed 95mph        

Suzuki Address 110
Kerb weight: 97Kg,  Power: 9bhp, Seat Height:755mm 
Max speed 60mph

On the Address I only overtake tractors.

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I prefer the style of retro bikes and  Royal Enfield Meteor looks wonderful, but I'm not happy about the speed limiter at 70mph. I have often been in the situation of overtaking a vehicle doing around 65mph, and when I am along side they accelerate! With the BMW a blip on the throttle and I am out in front, but with a Meteor? I can comfortably travel at 70mph on the BMW but riders reports on the Meteor mention 50-60mph as the ideal cruising speed.  Not much faster than the Address, well under half the power of the BMW and almost as heavy.

Royal Enfield Meteor 350
Kerb weight: 191Kg,  Power: 20bhp, Seat Height:765mm
Speed limiter set to 70mph

Maybe a Royal Alloy 300 or a Lambretta 300 or 350 may be close.  At least I could get on them.

Royal Alloy TG 300 S LC ABS 
Kerb weight: 152Kg,  Power: 25bhp, Seat Height:770mm 

But I'm not sure about that airscoop or whatever it  on the bottom which looks like it could easily hit a curb. But the stated ground clearance is 40mm more than the Address. I'm also not too happy about the 12" wheels, the sloping carrier, and the lack of underseat storage.

Lambretta G350
Kerb weight: 173Kg,  Power: 26bhp, Seat Height:790mm 

Will be expensive when it comes out and it's heavy, almost twice the weight of the Address. 12inch wheels again.

Lambretta X300
Kerb weight: 165Kg,  Power: 25bhp, Seat Height:790mm 

I think my recent hip trouble is telling me that my days of riding anything other than a step through scooter are coming to a close. I suppose a 59 year run isn't too bad.

For pootling about in Cornwall around 45-60mph (70-95kph) the Address is perfect and this is most of my riding.  For longer drives on fast roads the BMW will cruise at 70+mph all day. but I have not done these rides for a number of years.

Would I replace the BMW?  Probably not. But I may just go down to being a single scooter man - as I was when I began my motorcycle life on a Lambretta LD almost 60 years ago.

Lambretta LD 150
Dry weight: 87Kg,  Power: 6.5bhp, Seat Height:760mm 

Strangely I never really noticed a lack of power, although I remember being down to 25mph going over steeper parts of the Pennines. But the weather was cold, and the Lambretta was designed for Italy. I really loved that little scooter. It was the only bike I've ever got a speeding ticket on.  55mph, down hill, around 12:30am in a 30mph zone.  I got a ticket for the speedo not working as well!

Jamaica Inn and Inkie's Smokehouse.

 I always buy batteries for my bikes, our car, and our motorhome from Tayna. Service is always great and they have come up trumps (pardon the word) again. The Motobat battery, ordered on Friday and promised within two working days, arrived on Saturday morning.  I fitted it on Saturday afternoon. 

My hip is a bit better and I can ride, so today we went out for a few hours on the Address. The first stop was the Jamaica Inn.

It's a famous place thanks to Daphne Du Maurier's novel, and it's quite quirky.  

Smuggling used to be Cornwall's major industry

Poor old Joss

Because of this it is besieged by tourists in the summer, but it was not too   bad today.  It is situated up on the higher part of Bodmin Moor

After a drink here we headed off towards Dozemary Pool, where legend has it that the Lady of the Lake showed Arthur how to extract Excalibur from the stone. But the path down to the pool was extremely muddy, like everywhere else in the UK due to more than double the average rainfall in the last couple of months.  But that for another day now.

The intention was to take some video of the next part of the trip, but my little cheap Dragon Touch action camera keeps crashing.  It's a shame as it's a nice road.

I'm not buying another action camera, so next time I will use my iPhone.  It's image stabilisation is not as good as a proper action camera, but it's not too bad.

We then went to Inkie's Smokehouse at Goliath falls for a hot dog.  

This was welcome as the temperature was still only around 12C 

Then a ride over the moor through St Neot, Mount, and Bodmin back home.

The ride was a bit on the chilly side.  We will do it again when it's a bit warmer and when the ground has dried out we'll get down to Dozemary Pool.  

Next ride will have video from the iPhone - I hope.

Luck

So, 12 days ago I wrote that we were considering documented scooter rides in Cornwall, when it stopped raining.  Well, after a couple of named storms, it finally stopped.  But today I drove the scooter into the street. Then when I tried to bring it back in, it wouldn't start.

So I pushed it into the garage and put the battery on charge.  After 15  minutes charging it started. I suspect the battery at three and a half years old is the problem so I have ordered a new Motobat one on line from Tayna.

A few hours after a full charge,  the open circuit voltage was 12.3V. That is too low.

Today the weather is wonderful, it's 20C, but I'm not really happy to take the scooter out until the new battery is fitted.  The forecast shows the temperature dropping over the weekend, then back to 11C by Monday and Tuesday. This is when the new battery will arrive.

I also forgot that the Address has a kickstart so I could probably have used that when the battery was flat.  As long as there is enough power for the fuel pump it should start on the kickstart.

If I had not got my sore hip, the BMW would be MOT'd and taxed and we could have went on that. The hip is getting better, as the weather gets worse. Maybe I can re-book it next week.

One lives in hope.

But we had a wonderful walk on Polzeath Beach with Meg (our dog).

Meg

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Horrible HTML

Google Blogger is quite good to write posts in, but occasionally the editor seems to lose the plot and I can't get it to format the post how I want it to.

In these cases I can go and edit the HTML code in the post.  I am by no means an expert in HTML, but I do know my way around simple stuff.

The first view of the HTML code is horrendous, but there is a button to "format html" which makes it readable.

It does seem to have a habit of leaving empty <div>s around which can be deleted.  Also unwanted <div>s changing the line spacing which can be replaced by a simple <p>

But, if the compose view looks OK I generally don't touch the HTML.  If it looks wrong then it's usually only a few minutes to correct it - after a bit of practice. 

There does not seem to be a button to place a horizontal line, so the only way is to add a <hr> in HTML view.

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She'll have to wait.

The best laid plans, etc etc.

On Tuesday morning I booked the MOT for Thursday at 12:00. On Tuesday night I developed a sore hip which made standing and walking quite painful.  

It got worse on Wednesday, and is still bad this morning. I don't think I'd be able to get on or off the bike today so I have had to cancel the MOT. 

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The old girl's MOT

My old BMW is finally going in for an MOT in two days time. She rolled off the production line in 1983, and I have been hanging on as I thought I could get her registered as a Classic after 1st April 2024 as she is over 40.

 

But I thought wrong:-

From the gov.uk site:-

Vehicles that do not need an MOT

You do not need to get an MOT if:

• the vehicle was built or first registered more than 40 years ago
• no ‘substantial changes’ have been made to the vehicle in the last 30 years, for example replacing the chassis, body, axles or engine to change the way the vehicle works

If you’re not sure if there have been any substantial changes you can:

• read the full guidance on MOT exemptions for historic vehicles
• speak to a historic vehicle expert

And again from the same site:-

Eligibility

You do not need to get an MOT if the vehicle was first registered more than 40 years ago and no ‘substantial changes’ have been made to the vehicle in the last 30 years.

So, built or registered?

From the historical vehicle expert:-

Please note: While the DVLA notes say that a vehicle is eligible to tax as a historic vehicle if it was "built or first registered more than 40 years ago", this  statement can cause confusion. The two instances are NOT interchangeable. For vehicles sold new in the UK and first registered in the UK it is the 'first registration' date that is used to determine eligibility. The phrase "built more than 40 years ago" refers only to vehicles that were sold new and first registered in another country (and therefore have been imported secondhand into the UK). In this case, the front of your V5C will say 'Declared manufactured in 19xx', while the '1st registration' date on page 2 will show the date when it was registered in the UK.

Currently, a vehicle "first registered" on/prior to 7 January 1983, will be classed by the DVLA as having been built in 1982, therefore it is tax exempt from 1 April 2023.

If your vehicle was 'first registered' after this date, up to 31 December 1983, you will need to wait until 1 April 2024.

So she was built in 1983 in December, but she was first registered on 1st Feb 1986. So I will need to wait until 1st April 2027 to get Classic status. 

So I have to tax and MOT her for another three years.

She has been off the road for well over a year and all I have ridden in that time is the Address. It will take me a little time to get used again to using the clutch, and using my feet for changing gear and braking. If she passes I will get her taxed again from 1st April (Hmm all fool's day). Then I intend to get a few more rides in this year, while I still can.

The rain continues

It's raining again today. We have already had 60% of April's average rainfall,  and we are only 20% into the month. March was 217% of average and February was 216%

Rain, albeit light showers is forecast for the next seven days. I would like to blame climate change, but I think it's just natural variations, which translates to "luck".

Now we have "Storm Kathleen" on the way.  A strange storm:-

The Met Office forecast for Saturday says:"A very windy day with severe gales likely in the west as a result of Storm Kathleen. Largely dry with sunny spells and the occasional shower."

So it looks like it will be warmer and drier in the storm than it has been for the last two months.

I must be getting soft.  At one time my only transport was a motor cycle or a scooter and I rode it all the year round, in hail, rain, high winds, snow, fog, and occasionally sunshine. But that was 50 years ago. As I remember I used to scorn "fair weather bikers". 

Scooter Rides in Cornwall

I intend to do a few scooter rides this summer and document them - maybe here. 

I must admit it's a while since I looked at Blogger seriously but after quite a while mucking about with Wordpress and another program called HTMLy I am finding this a nice environment to work in.  It occasionally doesn't do quite what I want, but changing to HTML view and adjusting the code seems to sort it.

This is a Video I took a few years ago in Port Isaac

I'll be adding a few more over the summer, if it ever comes.

According to the excellent Newquay weather station Cornwall has had the wettest March which followed the second wettest February since their records started 2008.

It is peeing down as I write this.

I was thinking of changing my scooter for a slightly more powerful one. But I can't find one that ticks as many boxes as the Address.  It only lacks a bit of power. But then again, at 9hp, that is more than twice the power the Ben Hur had.

1 BHP (Ben Hur Power) = 4hp

And he would not have got down the narrow Cornish country lanes.