Eunos Chump

Finished installing the grips today.  I used Bostik 'Serious Glue' rather than the provided super glue as it doesn't set immediately, so I could fine tune the position.  The grips were a bit longer than the originals too, so I had to use some washers to space out the bar-ends. It turns out they're not actually the same as Oxford ones, as they only have a high or low setting.  Low was fine below about 50mph (air temp was 7C), above that high was required.  I like them a lot, it should mean I can wear my summer gloves most of the time now (my winter ones are like oven mitts).

I discovered the Triumph battery was dead today; that'll be because of the poxy alarm and the fact it's not been used for some weeks.  It was time to bite the bullet and get a charger, so I bought an Optimate 3: It does all kinds of clever stuff, like de-sulphate neglected batteries - which will be useful for the MX5, which  was very dead indeed when I had to move it for the first time in months.  Plus you can leave it plugged in permanently. I also bought some heated grips from Hein Gericke for the VFR, a bargain at £30 as they appear to be re-branded Oxford ones (priced at £70).  Getting the old grips off wasn't difficult, but getting the left grip on was, it seemed to be about 2mm to narrow.  A couple of minutes submerged in very hot water expanded it enough to go on, but I hope I don't have to remove it ever again.  Throttle grip seems a better fit, just need to get some epoxy glue to fix it in place (it came with super glue but that's rather too permane

Now that I'm fully adjusted to the time difference, and even getting used to the weather, it's time to go home.  And I've not bought anybody a present as you can get everything in the UK for less money; I won't be popular. As it's way too hot for any civilised person, I've been using cabs to get about, even for short distances.  Only yesterday did I finally hit the jackpot with a ride in one of these ancient Toyota Crowns.  It was big, noisy and bumpy with a sea of black vinyl inside, just as you'd expect it, and with a driver who seemed to have less knowledge than me about local geography, it was TOTAL MEGASHITE!

Been in Singapore a week now, FED UP.  New office is close to completion, so I should be able to leave as scheduled and get some proper winter weather; it's better than this heat and humidity, at least with the cold you can put more clothes on. Stuff is expensive here - a new Subaru Imprezza is the equivalent of £56K, for instance!