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Bowdonblue

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Bike(s)
    Honda CBR650R
  • Location
    Bowdon

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  1. Having read numerous articles now about how Norton was run, It's difficult to understand why the UK press weren't giving out warnings or reporting the real state of affairs. The journalists knew what was going on, yet they remained silent. A bike magazine ran an article about Norton a couple of months ago. There was a side column by an insider who knew from the start they were in a mess, and detailed failing after failing. The Magazine knew that he knew so asked him for his take on things and yet they didn't write anything critical, as far as I'm aware, in all the years leading up to the collapse. The British bike press failed in my eyes to act responsibly, and as a result, Stuart Garner lived the high life with his collection of Aston Martin cars, his wildlife park in Africa, and his stately home, all paid for with deposits from hard working people who should have been warned years ago not to touch his company with a barge pole and have now ended up with nothing. That to me is as big a failing as the con man that Stuart Garner is. So many journalists and associates understood the truth, but not one of them reported it.
  2. It was sometime in early August I would think, so it's getting on for four weeks now. I called the shop earlier this week, and was told the AGV importers have a backlog of repairs due to people being on holiday over the summer. That made me laugh. AGV helmets are so crap there are so many returns they can't cope with the numbers! Anyway, I didn't receive the 'phone call towards the end of this week that was promised informing me about what is going to happen, be it a repair or replacement, so I'll wait and see how long it is until they contact me. Cheers for your help and the consumer rights attachment.
  3. In the first post the guy rode 25 miles wearing a BROKEN helmet to the shop to have it repaired, couldn't be repaired and needed to go to manufacturers, so the shop gave him a fully functional although cheap helmet for him to use until as such time his own had been repaired, so the guy doesn't mind risking injury wearing defective gear but snubs at a cheap but certified fully functional helmet Sorry, but you are incorrect with your assessment. There was nothing wrong with the structure of my AGV helmet that compromised it's safety. The problems were with the visors. The clear one had broken on one side, and the dark visor was permanently lowered. It wasn't BROKEN in a life risking way at all. The problem I have with the lid they gave me isn't the price. Yes, it's for sale for slightly less than £40, but that doesn't bother me. The simple fact of the matter is I can't find any reference to XRT helmets anywhere. You say it's a certified helmet, but I'm more sceptical than that. XRT helmets do not exist as a manufacturer as far as I can tell, so I fail to understand how a none existent manufacturer has managed to produce a lid that has been fully tested and certified then produces just one helmet that is then on sale for less than £40! I'm not snubbing it because of it's price, I have a real concern it's not fit for purpose, and with that in mind, I'm not wearing it.
  4. I've no idea what their business model is, but the helmet I bought has not been abused in any way. They sent my lid off to be repaired or replaced, which they said would take about two weeks. Yes, I was surprised how quickly it started to fail, especially as I don't ride every day. I always thought AGV was a premium brand with a good reputation. I don't know anymore, maybe when I get my helmet back and it's flawless for the next few years I'll be thinking about replacing it with another of their lids, but the combination of a cheap pile of rubbish along with a supposedly decent brand that has failed miserably has coloured my thinking.
  5. The problem is I can't find any information about XRT helmets, other than this single lid being for sale on their E-Bay site. We've all heard of Frank Thomas, but XRT Helmets is a complete void. You say it's certified, but I can't see any proof of that. If you can point me in the right direction so I can see XRT are a genuine company making proper, certified helmets, I will put it on my bonce and have some fun, but I can't see anything, anywhere, that gives me the confidence to do that.
  6. I recently bought a bike with ABS and I've not had it kick in yet. On a wet road in winter when inevitably some car driver pulls out in front of me and I grab a fistful, I'll probably be grateful my wheels don't lock up. I believe the statistics are ABS reduces collisions by 34%. That'll do me and I'm fine with that. I hit a car once, years ago. ABS would probably have prevented the pain.
  7. Yes, it doesn't fill me with confidence the helmet I bought is genuine. I mean, this is a recognised national chain and if you Google 'XRT Helmet' you'll soon find out who the retailer is. I bought an AGV K5, and after only three months use, the rear padding was falling out, the clear visor attachment had failed so it was flapping around my face, there were cracks on the other side, and the dark visor mechanism failed so it was permanently down. I've read the reviews on the helmet from another retailer and not one person has grumbled about build quality, so I am asking myself, given this well known chain has provided me with a very dodgy helmet of no known origin, are they selling rubbish to us?
  8. I thought I'd spin this on here for some opinions. I bought an AGV helmet a few months ago and as it had decided to self destruct in a number of areas, I took it back to the shop I bought it from. After having a look at it they agreed it was a mess, but as they were in no position to repair it themselves because they didn't hold any spare parts, they would have to send it back to the importer to see if it could be repaired, or if not, replaced. I didn't have a problem with that as they said they would provide a replacement helmet so I could ride home as my bike was parked outside. After a few minutes, they offered me a plain black lid to try on for size, and as it fitted OK, I left. I wasn't impressed with it on the 25 mile ride, so when I arrived home, I thought I'd look on the web and the only reference I found was an E-Bay account with the shops logo where it was for sale for less than £40! I can't find anything other than that about XRT Helmets. It goes without saying I'm not wearing it, but that means I'm not riding as I've only recently returned to biking and I don't have a another helmet to wear. I don't like kicking up a fuss, but I'm really cheesed off I've been palmed off with a cheap piece of plastic that would offer as much protection as a pudding bowl, so I was wondering what you would do about it?
  9. I don't usually bother. If some driver in a rubbish car revs his engine at the lights I usually ignore them. I mean, I know I'll win, so what's the point. I had some fun a few days ago, though. I was sitting at the front of a set of lights and this young lad gunned his engine so I looked over, nodded, and hunkered down in full GP start line pose. I've no idea what car it was other than it was black and small. Engines revving, the lights turned green, he sped off, and I turned left. I guess he didn't see my indicator flashing. I had a good chuckle at that.
  10. If you use in a car that has an engine management system which can make use of the higher octane then you will see an improvement in both performance and mpg. I never use it in the bikes but the cars do benefit, so it's not just a marketing gimmick. You just need to use it appropriately. I reckon the extra mpg pays for the additional cost of the fuel - but in terms of finance it's pretty neutral. The only real benefit is the slightly better performance. It was in a car, a Toyota Avensis. Before I retired last December I was a private hire driver based at Manchester Airport and we had plenty of long runs all over the country. I thought I'd try it out, and it didn't make a bean of difference to the MPG during the month I tried it. Like I said, that was 3,000 miles or so. The one factor that made the biggest difference I noticed though was air temperature. I always had better MPG figures in the summer. I wouldn't have thought 20 degrees difference in air temperature would have such a significant affect, but it did. It's hard to understand when the temperature inside the cylinder is so high, but it was the same every year, though I would add diesel engines were less affected than petrol engines, but the mpg figures always deteriorated in the winter.
  11. I wouldn't bother buying it. I tried it for about 3,000 miles, and it made no difference to my average MPG. On a positive note, I did notice a very slight improvement in performance, but nothing to write home about. I've not been tempted to buy it since as my opinion is it's waste of money. It's a bit like those washing powder adverts like 'NEW DAZ' that used to be prevalent on our TV screens years ago that tried to make us think we'd been wearing dirty clothes for decades because our white shirts didn't, erm, look blue. Or was it whiter than white. Whatever, it's the same marketing rubbish to sell us something that costs a halfpenny more to make for 10p extra at the pump.
  12. The same sort of thing happened to me. I picked up my new bike, and apart from a 'Back to Biking' course, I'd not ridden for over 20 years, and the rain was teeming down. It wasn't what I'd imagined. I'd had visions of a sunny day and a gentle ride down pleasant country lanes. What I got was mild panic at the thought of new tyres on wet roads and a skill level far removed from years ago. That was a few weeks ago, and the weather, until recently, hasn't been great. My clothing has kept me dry, ACF50 has been applied to my new baby, but the real frustration now summer has arrived is I can't ride my bike because it needs it's 600 mile service, and that's 10 days away!
  13. I'd not ridden a bike for 25 years. I bought my first bike in 1975, a Yamaha RD200, and had all sorts of machines until the early '90's. I never really thought about biking again, but about 12 months ago, a recommended channel on YouTube came up, by Richy Vida and his tour of the USA. I watched all the episodes, and it got me thinking I should return to the fold. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I bit the bullet and walked into my local Honda dealer and booked one of their 'back to biking' courses. It was initially a 3 hour taster, and I thought I'd be fine. I set off on a 125, and it was bossing me, if that makes sense. I wasn't happy at all, but the instructor, after about an hour or so, stopped and said he thought my riding was fine so did I want to try the 650. I told him I wasn't happy. The thing was I could relate to being an average biker back in the day, and I didn't feel any connection to how it should feel compared to how I was sort of wobbling around. So, we went into a car park, he put me on the 650, and I spent a couple of hours driving around cones, doing U-turns, braking tests, that sort of thing. It was a superb couple of hours, which made me realise I wasn't going to fall off at the first corner. When we got back to their centre and we had parked the bikes, he asked me how I thought the day had gone, and I said I thought I needed more time, so I booked a full day a week later. I was confident enough to throw my leg over a 650, and we spent the day riding around North Wales. All I can say is, it was a brilliant day out. My instructor was as good as it can be, and when I got home after that ride I was on the biggest high I have had in years. I'd forgotten how wonderful riding a bike makes you feel. I picked up my new CBR650R today, I didn't care about the rain, and I'm bouncing around tonight as much as I was a few weeks ago. I'm going to ride somewhere tomorrow, and I don't have a care where I end up. I'm sorry this is a bit of a long first post, but biking, bloody hell, eh? So, to the OP, just go for it. Those instructors know their stuff and fill you full of confidence.
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