My eye! Sweet Jesus, Ouch!

[L4byr1nth]

I said I didn't care

 

That's another thing I hate - bus drivers. Why are you grumpy when you're making so much money?! Cheer up.

 

Ben.

[Hedganian]

The bus drivers around here make about £8/hour. They work fairly long hours, so I guess they're doing okay financially. What you're not taking into account is how much *suitcase* they have to put up with. They're not walled up in those little plastic cubicle things because the bus companies think it looks cool, you know.

 

They'd have to be earning a LOT more to be cheerful about being verbally abused, spat at, assaulted and god-knows what else, all while simply trying to do their not-too-great job.

[Habakure]

And in my experience, there arn't that many grumpy bus drivers, just nasty old women with trollies. Damn them.

[Chimpy]

I said I didn't care

 

I hadn't said anything about your opinion at that point which shows that you obviously do care otherwise you wouldn't write to me specifically to let me know how little you cared. Actually not caring would involve you not even considering the replies that I had made previously in which case you wouldn't even remember them when you came to post next.

 

I'd hate driving a bus too. In fact anything that involved interacting with the general public. God knows how Guzzi puts up with it.

[mattmanic]

And in my experience, there arn't that many grumpy bus drivers, just nasty old women with trollies. Damn them.

 

+1 Bus drivers round where I live tend to be alright, it is just the old people that aren't.

[L4byr1nth]

I hadn't said anything about your opinion at that point which shows that you obviously do care otherwise you wouldn't write to me specifically to let me know how little you cared. Actually not caring would involve you not even considering the replies that I had made previously in which case you wouldn't even remember them when you came to post next.

 

You're right. I do care - I deeply value your opinion, and it gives me a fuzzy warm feeling in my tummy when I see you reading a thread I'm posting in. Like little butterflies...

 

Ben.

[Chimpy]

You're right. I do care - I deeply value your opinion, and it gives me a fuzzy warm feeling in my tummy when I see you reading a thread I'm posting in. Like little butterflies...

 

Caring about the actions of someone else doesn't have to be a positive thing.

[L4byr1nth]

Man love is always a positive thing.

 

Ben.

[Chimpy]

Man love is always a positive thing.

 

Unless it's vegitarian manlove!

[Hedganian]

 

Sheesh.... Get a room

[Chimpy]

We had a nice one until you guys showed up!

[GuzziHero]

Guess what... nPower have been using my normal rate numbers to calculate my low rate and vice versa. She said they call it 'transposing'. You know it must happen regularly when they have a company wide term for it.

 

So **** only knows what my bill is now...they have to recalculate back for 16 months...

[amateurstuntman]

When transposition happens with your DNA in the womb you get some hideous barely viable mutant, like Wayne Rooney.

Imagine how bad it will be with something important like an electric bill.

[Spudgun]

More trouble for me and my Enfield. The second Company I've insured with has just cancelled my insurance. That's around £160 I've lost. I've finally figured out that Insurance Underwriters (not the Insurance Companies themselves) are scammers and are exploiting a 'loophole' in the system. Here's how it works...

 

The DVLA explains that it can take up to six weeks to Register a vehicle (Take to MOT. Send application. Take to SVA test or inspection. Issue documents). However, Insurance Underwriters will only allow a maximum of THREE weeks for you to complete the process. If you can't do it within three weeks, your insurance is automaticly cancelled. The Insurance rules state that if you cancel your insurance within 14, you only lose a minimal amout of money in the form of a handelling fee. Once those 14 days are up, you lose a fair chunk more in the form of a Cancellation Fee. Now, in order to avoid the Cancellation Fee, you have to return the Insurance Cover Note. However, if you've sent it off to the local DVLA Office, you can't return it! Hey Presto, the Underwriters make themselves a fair chunk of money for no risk! If there's any aggro, it's the Insurance Company that gets the bad reputation and not the Underwriters!

 

I should mention that I still think that Swinton-Bikes are total butt-wads as their service was so bad.

 

The solution (if anyone else is thinking of Registering a vehicle) is this: The rules state that your insurance must be valid for when the Tax Disc starts. Simply get insured for the start date of the Tax Disc, send off the Registration Application and then let the insurance get cancelled. Only re-insure once you've got your Registration number and Tax Disc (irrispective of the time lag). You'll lose a lot less money this way!

[GuzziHero]

When transposition happens with your DNA in the womb you get some hideous barely viable mutant, like Wayne Rooney.

Imagine how bad it will be with something important like an electric bill.

 

Well from the way she was describing it, I should have MORE credit cos Ive used more electric on night rate than day (dont know how!) so that should be good

 

---

Spudgun - get a Guzzi, theyre a lot less hassle

[Spudgun]

Spudgun - get a Guzzi, they're a lot less hassle

 

I've never liked Guzzi's. They look a little 'chunky' to me. The irony is that I saw a very nice imported Morini 3-1/2 last year and turned it down because it wasn't registered (Registered ones go for silly money). I bought the Enfield because Brit bikes are in my blood and £1500 for a 'new' bike (It was bought in 1999 and kept in a garage for 11 years before I got it) seemed like a bargin.

 

Truth be told, I've never Registered a vehicle before. The information put out by the DVLA make it look a simple process. The problem is what they don't tell you. They don't tell you about scamming Insurance Underwriters and petty Local DVLA offices. I should've been on the road in April.

 

DVLA Local Office Exeter. I HATE you!!!!

[GuzziHero]

I like Guzzis because theyre chunky Nice big meaty machines with a fair handling capability But each to their own!

 

Are we talking Enfield, or Royal Enfield (Indian) here?

[Spudgun]

We're talking Royal Enfield (India).

[GuzziHero]

Daft question but...couldnt you have gotten one over here for not a lot more?

[Hedganian]

This might be a stupid question - but why do you need insurance to register the bike? Isn't that just creating a V5 document, issuing a registration number for your number plate, etc? How can you even GET insurance or road tax without registering first?

 

I'm confused....

[Spudgun]

Right, a couple of questions answered.

 

The Lightning was never a UK model. As a result, they're very rare in the UK. Before I bought mine, I had only seen another 2 (and that was on Ebay) and they were the 535 model (There were a total of three models and they were only made between 1998 and 2002). Since I've bought mine, I've only seen another 4 (three 500's and another 535. I've never seen the 353ES). You'd have to agree, the Lightning is a pretty rare machine over here. Moving on.

 

The one I bought was (effectivly) brand new. A bloke went to India in 1999 and bought a pair of them. He brought them over to the UK and put them in his garage, where they sat until March of this year. Then he died. His family then sells them off. So, £1500 (which includes delivery from Birmingham) for a 'new' bike is a bargin when you consider that you'd pay more for a Registered machine with an unknown history and service record. The other ones I've seen had bits missing and had been mucked about with. Right onto the insurance question.

 

To get a vehicle Registered, it has to be insured. Firstly, since my bike was over 3 years old, it had to be MOT'd. I had to ride it to the MOT station, it had to be insured. Conversely, if any machine (kit cars, machine made up from parts, etc) require SVA testing, you can ride/drive it to the testing station without a number plate, but it has to be insured. Lastly, when you Register a vehicle, it gets taxed at the same time. In order to get that Tax Disc, you must have the vehicle in question insured.

 

Now, it could be suggested that the bike can be trailered to the MOT, thus not requiring insurance. You can also trailer the machine to the SVA test if it required it (mine didn't because it was over 10 years old). However, things go downhill from here. Let us say that you've asked for your Insurance Cover Note to be post-dated (thus allowing it time to arrive in the Post) and it starts on the 1st of the month (You must be covered on the 1st, as it's when the Tax Disc starts) and you've Posted your application so it arrives at the Local DVLA Office on the 1st. The DVLA can take up to 10 working days to process your application. It's at this point when the Insurance Companies sent out the 7 day cancellation warning. I've been sent the Inspection requirement letter at the 10 working day point. I had only 7 days insurance left, but the inspection was AFTER the remaining 7 days! The bike has to be trailered to the inspection (because of a lack of Tax Disc, even though the DVLA had taken my money). So now you can see the 'Insurance scam' for any unregistered vehicle.

 

I still hate the local DVLA Office in Exeter!

 

Getting insurance for a unregistered vehicle is easy. Almost any Insurance Company will do it.

[Stealthbomber]

With the benefit of hindsight, I suppose the thing to have done would be to get short term insurance (maybe 1 month) on the vehicle until the registration was sorted?

Alas, I guess that only becomes apparent now, once you realise how the DVLA are dragging their heels with the registration.

[Hedganian]

But WHY are they cancelling your insurance?

[Spudgun]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If I knew then what I know now, I would've insured for one month only. I would've saved a heap of money and not had the heartache. It's strange really. I've said that I'd never do this again, but it has been pointed out that I'm the best qualified person to do it again.

 

Why has my insurance been cancelled? Only the Underwriter knows. Although the Insurance industry is regulated, it appears that the insurance underwriters have found a loophole and are exploiting it. In some areas, the Post Application Inspection is 100%. There is no doubt in my mind that other people who have registered kit-cars, imported vehicles or restored machines have suffered the same fate. The thing that these vehicles have in common is that the service isn't 'over the counter' (unlike new vehicles). All applications have to be Posted and processed over a period of time.

 

And I still hate the Exeter DVLA. If they weren't so petty and didn't want the Post Application Inspection, I would've been on the road in April.

[scorch]

My local KFC has gone Halal.

 

 

The gravy now tastes totally rank,

the original recipe chicken is greasier (yes, it can happen)

and the hot wings are now kinda dry and powdery.

 

 

According to the leaflet on the counter, there were requests to offer a Halal option. Personally I think if you want something changed for you, then its not really that product you want.

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer; I'm not intolerant of religions, I'm intolerant of people *fruitcage* with things I like. Today, it's religion and KFC.