Eunos Chump

Trying to buy a car over Xmas is surprisingly awkward, but I put down a deposit on this 9-3 yesterday - should be collecting it soon.  Also entered another raffle for another Rover 75!  Who could resist the combination of 4 cylinder power, V6 fuel consumption, and cloth seats?  The 2.0 Club has it all. Finally got around to servicing the VFR too, it's had oil, filter and coolant at 67K.  It's had a bit of a refurb too, though the paint is flaking off the rear wheel again.

Over Xmas I worked up some motivation to fix the MX5 - properly.  This morning I replaced the buggered clutch master cylinder (£20 used one from Autolink ), changed the oil, then took it for it's first run in months. It feels a bit 'soft'.  A bit 'wobbly'. I think the Koni shocks are past their best - they are at least 8 years old, after all.  It's still rapid anti-social fun, but the handling will be familiar to anyone who plays a lot of GTA5 with a gamepad.

Currently having a frustrating time finding Mrs B another car.  She's wanted a convertible for some time now and because of her dodgy knees it needs to be an automatic, and not stupidly low-slung like my MX5.  While she has champagne tastes, I have a lemonade budget so we've been plumbing the depths of Saab 9-3s (went to see one that was 'mint', had fungus growing in it), Volvo C70s (chocolate gearboxes), Merc CLKs (always, ALWAYS rusty), and Audi/BMWs (always badly modified and/or run on a shoestring).  This morning's contender was a '98 Mercedes SLK.  Looked good, interior sound (usually the paint is flaking off the dash), but a HPI check revealed it was written-off 3 years ago. So far, this seems to be the absolute worst part of the market to be looking.  Owners seem to scrape together enough cash for piss-poor private number plates and eBay alloys, but servicing it? Nope. If only she could be happy with a tatty old Rover 75!  I realise it's the auto...

It was good. This concludes my review.

I'm still lovin' the Euro Truck Simulator 2. After a week of hard work I've saved enough to buy my own truck, and being an astute businessman I've placed my hopes, dreams, and financial security into a big pink Renault: The large motif on the steering wheel reassures me that I've made a wise choice, like so many Megane, Laguna, and Koleos owners before me. I even paid extra for the fancy Optidrive R gearbox upgrade. I've a good feeling about this.

I've got loads of vehicle-related tasks to catch up on, but I'm stuck inside thanks to weeks and weeks of shite weather.  So today, I've been driving around in a 40 tonne truck in Euro Truck Simulator 2 : It's strangely compelling, and quite beautiful to look at.  I've never driven a truck, but it seems to be a lot like towing a caravan, only slower and more frustrating, and with constant pressure to meet deadlines.  Also, I found myself questioning why I was spending my precious leisure time sitting in a simulated traffic jam.

Not much going on at the moment - MX5 has had a cover thrown over it until next year, Rover continues to be problem-free.  I'm continuing to play a lot of Elite:Dangerous though, in fact I've just bought an EDtracker for it.  It's a little box that you stick on top of your headphones, which detects your head movements.  This lets you look all around you, making piloting the ship far more realistic and gives a new level of immersion.  Somebody does a review of it here: I love this!  It even makes you feel a bit travel sick. This time last year I was having exciting times in Australia.  This year I'm stuck in Guildford working on a Lync project, so all I can offer you today is some pictures of my pretend-spaceship fleet: Yellow Vulture got blown up, was replaced with a pretty red one.  That got blown up too. Imperial Courier.  Good fun, good shields, not much weapon wallop though. Python with fancy paint, mostly used as a mini...

So, it's 2015 here in the future, and I'm still driving rusty cars - my 1989 self would have been so disappointed (though perhaps not totally surprised).   The rusty car in question is the Rover - it failed it's MOT yesterday on a couple of holes in the sills. It's fixed now, cost £150, while the hopeless handbrake was just within tolerance (18% effective, minimum is 16%), and the worn strut-top bearing didn't get a mention at all.  I'm quite happy with that. In other news, I'm doing a training course this week - virtually, from home :)  So there's no dragging myself to the station every morning, no taking part in the polite battle to get on the Waterloo & City line, and I don't even have to get dressed.  I just sit in front of the computer with headphones on all day.  Unfortunately, this is also what I do in the evenings so the days just kind of merge into each other.  I've not been further than the MOT station (about 3 miles away...

After much procrastination, I got my finger out and fitted the new rear upper suspension arms on the 75 this weekend. It wasn't too bad a job, and everything came apart without serious issue. This is the procedure I used; the Haynes manual suggests you need to remove the anti-roll bar and disconnect the bottom suspension arms, but that means disturbing more rusty bolts so balls to that: Preparation: give all the nuts/bolts a good dosing of WD40, etc, preferably a day beforehand. With the car jacked up and rear wheels removed, loosen off the bolts at the inner end of the upper suspension arms.  These go into a captive nut, and are accessed via holes in the subframe.  It's a 15mm bolt - access is a bit awkward, and it's torqued to 100NM so you'll need space to get a breaker bar onto it.   Next, I removed the nut from the other end of the arm, where it meets the hub. That's 18mm,and it needed a good scrub with a wire brush as the threads were covered in shi...

I regret to inform you that the mighty Raffle Rover may not have been built to the very highest of standards.  Witness this rear upper suspension arm: It has the BMW Z-link rear suspension, except on the German cars these components are made of cast alloy. On this it's mild steel, and rubbish steel at that.  I've ordered a pair of OEM ones, which cost about 75% of what I paid for the car. Checked the oil (fine), coolant (needs a touch more antifreeze), air filter (recent), and plenum drains (all OK).  Was expecting one of the big front suspension bushes to be knackered, but they look sound.  Handbrake still needs adjusting, and there's a grumbly rear wheel bearing.  Will check it out once I start major dismantling to replace these rear arms.  MOT is November...

Roger goes back to RAF Odiham for another OMCC airfield riding day, and does battle with his arch enemy; Bert, the GSX-R.   James Hillier was there too (he's associated with the club), I didn't realise he was in the video until later though.  Shame I didn't attempt to overtake him - it would make for an interesting footnote on the display stand at the Science Museum, where Roger will one day take pride of place.  

Behold - I have arrived! This was raffled on the Autoshite forum last weekend, but despite buying 10% of the tickets I still didn't win.  So I contacted the guy who did, and a deal was done.  I collected it from North London this morning, and it's bloody SUPER! It's the highly sought-after* 2.5 V6 Connoisseur, in solid Doom blue, with some proper giffer-style bodywork repairs to the rear quarter panel and rear bumper.  And there's a dent in the front wing. Yes DB, it is due a cambelt change :)  Don't worry, it ain't getting one, it's not economically viable.   Internet lore  says they're actually safe to 150K miles, and this has done 81K. This was the real selling point - the interior is near mint.  It's got electric, heated leather seats, climate control, 5-speed auto, cruise, and archaic integrated sat nav - all of which still works.  Computer also says it's doing nearly 28mpg so far, which is quite acceptable given I di...

Doom blue, KV6 engine... who could ask for more?  Not me - I collect it on Saturday.

BRRRRMMM, BRRRMMM! This was great fun and I reckon an improvement on last time (certainly got passed less), but it was a sea of red flags.  I think we only completed 1 session without incident.   A chap fell off right in front of me, I believe he was OK but it was sickening to see - one moment he's confidently hooning out of a bend, the next he's tumbling down the road in a foetal position.  It exposed the fragile human-being beneath all the gear and bravado and left me questioning what I was doing.  It is such a high though; pushing the machine and yourself to the ragged edge of your ability, having your fate quite literally in your own hands; perhaps it's satisfying some primordial instinct.

My old Heine Gericke Boost 2 jacket is sadly no longer waterproof, despite 2 dips in Nikwax TX Direct.  It's 4 years old and has done a lot of miles, so I'm not upset - I'd probably buy another if they hadn't gone bust.  It's replacement is an Alpinestars Andes: I've only worn it around the house so far, and I regret to inform you that the waterproof membrane and armour have provided precious little protection from insults from family members about how fat/bald I am.  Hopefully it'll fare better against rain/Vauxhall Vectras. I've also bought a Forcefield back protector seeing as trackday shenanigans are becoming more regular.  No, it doesn't protect against kicks up the arse - ask me how I know. Also... fed up with the MX5.  I used it yesterday as there was huge rain going down, and it was horrible.  It's noisy (more so than a bike with ear plugs), the footwell filled with water, the clutch is heavy... basically I want a big soft luxury ...

Visited Brackley Bike Festival at the weekend, and witnessed these fine vehicles: Also sat my arse on a MSX125 again (still want but not enough to pay actual money for one), and a Suzuki GSX-S1000F which was excellent .  It's sporty-ish yet very comfortable, has enough fairing to keep the wind off and is about £10K new.  Probably all the bike you'd ever need. In other news, Angry Roger is going back to Rockingham on August 29th.  He loves that track, and soon the long months of cold and wet and dark will return so I can't deny him.

I've been on me holidays, on the Norfolk Broads! The only available crew was this youth (seen here making some kind of nautical hand signal): Norwich (which is Anglo-Saxon for 'Miserable Shithole'), is surprisingly scenic from a boat. Yarmouth - always more disappointing than you remember.  Check out the treats in store at Britannia Pier (OK, the Frozen film is good but £15 for a ticket?  And what sort of person doesn't already know the lyrics?) Sometimes the broads are huge... Sometimes narrow... Being August, finding a mooring for the night was often difficult.  If you wanted to play it safe you'd start looking at 3pm.  On this occasion we left it very late, and had to settle for some 'wild mooring' before it got dark.  My GPS showed we were miles from any houses or roads, and it was pitch dark and absolutely silent during the night. Unfortunately I kept being woken by nightmares about the boat floating away and sin...

This was an absolute blast, the final sessions were some of the most exhilarating times I've had on any kind of vehicle.  Sadly there's no video as the camera didn't record; some Googling has revealed that if you start recording immediately after switching on the Drift HD camera, it'll cut out after a short time, with zero bytes recorded.    Morning sessions were not so good.  First session, the new Brembo pads hadn't bedded in and the brakes were so poor I considered going home.  There were also several people who were clearly in the wrong group, and pretty much every session ended with a red flag as somebody chucked their bike at the scenery. Come the afternoon, all the naughty folks had either been sent home or crashed, the brakes had bedded in, and I'd found my way around the track at last.  Didn't pass many folks, mostly I was working on my cornering technique (the International circuit is full of bends), and body position.  Still ...

The CBR now has Brembo pads and new fluid; only had a short test run so far, but it's certainly better than before... but that's not saying much. The Berlingo has also had new discs and pads, and I've tightened up the exhaust and fixed the loose airbox.  An outer driveshaft boot is on the way out, couldn't be arsed to do it though.  I hate working on FWD cars.

The CBR has been making the deathly cam chain noise of late.  This evening I adjusted it using this handy YouTube video and it seems fine now.  I also adjusted the throttle cables again, so blipping the throttle no longer requires a huge handful. New gear lever fitted too, it's perfecto now.  Took more than 2 hours to replace it though, due to difficulty getting the shift rod out of the old one.  It's a bar, threaded at each end, and there's no real way of getting any purchase on it.  Usually you remove such a thing by locking together a couple of nuts, but this has left-handed threads and I had no suitable nut.  Locking the shaft into a thread extractor finally did the trick.

Roger takes to the track at RAF Odiham: It was all very frightening as I was a mere passenger, clinging onto Roger as he went about his manic business.  In many ways I feel like Rod Hull; Roger is my Emu, behaving in a wildly inappropriate manner while I ineffectively try to control him. Anyway, his brakes are absolutely atrocious, I'm going to try some Brembo pads and DOT 5.1 fluid. The wobbly gear lever was a real liability too, so I've ordered a new one. Went to Poole bike night this evening and spotted my old SV650.  I thought it was long dead.  Apart from a different exhaust and more stickers, it looks just as it did when I bought it 4 years ago:

After a few days tinkering, Roger is back on the road.  I removed the carbs and cleaned out the emulsion tubes, as I suspected they may be the cause of that big old flatspot - but no change. That's annoying as the job was a right load of faff, but it did at least mean reinstalling the throttle cable, which works nicely now. Also re-shimmed the loose gear lever with a couple of copper washers, which has helped.  A bit. Had to replace the battery too.  Non-functioning cooling fan turned out to be a blown fuse. Biggest change is the angry Warhawk -style stickers, which I made out of Fablon.  This distracts people, albeit briefly, from the paint finish on the fuel tank (at which point it's normally "WTF did you paint that with, a dead fox dipped in creosote?") Odiham next weekend, then on the 1st August it's Rockingham.

Taxed, insured, and street-legal, Roger is back on the road.  I had a couple of very local runs and nothing fell of, so I went for a 25 mile circuit to give him a proper shakedown.  Issues are: Gearchange lever has a lot of side-to-side play.  When going down the box, it's like stamping on a ball of wool for all the feedback it gives you.   Throttle action not very consistent, maybe needs new cables Big flat spot at 6000 RPM Front brakes rubbish, but the discs are cleaning up nicely so hopefully they'll improve Indicators flash very quickly, as these eBay ones draw less watts than the OEM ones The paint on the fuel tank is AWFUL, but the rest of it is quite acceptable in daylight. Other impressions: Surprisingly relaxed riding position, it's nothing like a CBR600RR or GSX-R Very nice, stable handling, with taut and well-controlled suspension Sounds likes it's going fast, but isn't actually

Roger is now in FINAL ASSEMBLY.  Spent all morning replacing the forks seals, it was very frustrating until I knocked up the tool below to drive in the bush/seal: That's a Miniline downpipe connector from Wickes (50mm internal diameter), with around 5mm sliced out of it lengthways (so it can be made a snug fit), with a big jubilee clip.  I've looked at a lot of online guides for doing this and it often involves a tool something like the above, but I reckon they concentrate too much on driving in the oil seal - it's actually the guide bushing (below) that needs banging in: I drove in the bush and back-up ring first - I locked the tool onto the tube, then gently nipped it up in a Workmate.  I was then able to use the fork slider like a slide-hammer.  Once they were seated (which took some force), I installed the new seal, then put the old seal on top of it to provide some protection: Then using the slide-hammer technique again, it was fairly easy to dri...

July 19th is Roger's first track day - well, airfield day, at RAF Odiham .  I'm looking forward to riding this loosely assembled pile of parts down a runway at 150mph I've painted all the panels in glossy black coach enamel - with a brush.  It looks pretty good... not brilliant, but quite presentable.  Certainly better than the pus yellow, anyway.  The paint is Tekaloid, it's pretty thick and covers most of the blemishes.  The enamel gives a nice 'steam engine' finish too :) All the parts are here now, so if I get my finger out he could be finished by the end of the weekend. Right now I'm replacing the fork seals, but this seems a good opportunity to repaint the lower forks... I keep getting the urge to do a complete nut'n'bolt rebuild!

I was determined to get Roger's panels painted this weekend.  First task was to remove the front wheel so I could access the rusted up mudguard nuts - I had to go borrow a front paddock stand for that.  Then the fuel tank had to be drained and removed - more time lost.  So it was this morning before I actually started to get some primer on the panels... at which point it started to rain. Eventually it stopped, and I got out there with the Fiat Broom yellow I'd chosen.  3 cans down, and I realise I don't really like yellow anymore... I quite fancy black now. Then I could put stickers on it.  But it's now gone 4pm and all the shops are shut.  Bollocks!

Monkeyboy and I got into Goodwood at 8am on Friday, which meant the place was largely empty and by midday we'd managed to see everything.  No car park queues, no impenetrable crowds, and just a few mins walk to the entrance - this is the way to do it! The PURSUIT SPECIAL, along with another motor from Mad Max There was a largish motorbike area, with Triumphs, BMW and Ducatis to park your arse on, plus some classic stuff like this Honda stand design much more interesting than the cars within it, unfortunately Missiles, yeah! Finally, the Jenson Button walking-back-to-the-pits simulator ride.