T Break thread 2023

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by delta

I am good Robert. Fear not.Good job my co driver is a doctor .

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by E.B

I went for a none storage system because at the time the engineer that did the quote and work warned me of the ridiculous cost of the batteries and their dubious quality at the time.
.

A mate of mine had a small house out in the sticks that was not on the mains grid.
He had a load of HD tractor batteries linked up to his solar panels and used them at night with an inverter. Although he sold the house a year ago the system was still working fine after 8 years.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by delta

Few months back Mrs Delta was moaning about be biking home from work in the dark. I told her to be quite and that I was not stopping. Tonight on the way home big pot hole then high side and now in a lot of pain.Couple of beers seems to be helping. Good job its not racing season yet.

The worst part about this story isn't the pain, but the "I told you so look" you're surely getting .........

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[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Trip to Bicester for the Scramble today. A few pics if anyone is interested.

https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAnrGq

As others have said, a great selection of cars in your excellent photos, Peter. Love the Alfas, of course. I know the guy with the wide-bodied 105 GTA replica - he's a regular at the Scrambles He does also use it for a bit of sprint and hillclimb action too, despite like me, being considerably older than the car

[Peter Mallett]

Yes, he brought it to our local classic car show last year.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I'm afraid that people of a "certain" age like me seem to be forever attending funerals of our friends!. We went to my old sponsor's "send off" a couple of weeks back and have got a close family one next week, so we were looking at flights to get away in January "sometime". I then get a message from an old friends wife to say that he had passed away this morning!
Am I alone ? or is this happening to other 10thers ?

A propos of this - I see Jeff Beck has died..... only 78......


I'm getting fed up of this - people of my generation were supposed to live forever - or die young!


Only saw Jeff play once when he performed at Bury Palais with the Yardbirds before most people had heard of them...... but by heck he was good! RIP, maestro.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

A propos of this - I see Jeff Beck has died..... only 78......


I'm getting fed up of this - people of my generation were supposed to live forever - or die young!


Only saw Jeff play once when he performed at Bury Palais with the Yardbirds before most people had heard of them...... but by heck he was good! RIP, maestro.

Jeff lived quite close to me in the UK and was a friend of one of my sponsors, I often saw him around the area as he was one of the patrons of a wildlife sanctuary in the next village up the road. He even took Johnny Depp up there last year much to everyone's surprise!
https://metro.co.uk/2022/06/25/johnn...ting-16890033/

[delta]

Yes me and my mates from school went to Bracknell back in the 60's to see the Yard birds. Happy days and Rest in Peace Jeff.

[Colin McKay]

Before he moved to Wadhurst he lived down the road from me in Kent, we often saw him flashing around in his Corvette. When we found his local pub we used to sit in a corner making a half of bitter last all evening in the hope he'd brought a guitar. One Sunday he wandered in with Eric Clapton and they had a little jam. Must have been 1981 or 82. RIP, legend.

[Colin McKay]

Actually probably more like '75

[grantp]

I had the joy of travelling to South London yesterday for a funeral. I lovely lady from my Father's side of the family who in recent years I had chatted to by phone a couple of times a year. She passed away in early December, just after her 92nd birthday.

It was the first time I had had an opportunity to meet her children and their families - or most of them, some being in Aus. and places in Europe.

As part of the day I "enjoyed" the experience of the M1/M25 (or whatever) journey to Croydon with satnav trying to keep track of traffic flows.

Given a target arrival time of 10am and no opportunity to change the appointment time .... I left home about 5:30 am.

Obviously the entire world was on the move by then and the M1 was as busy as one used to experience in full-on rush hour not long ago.

We kept moving through the drizzle until grinding to a halt and then stuttering along, for no obvious cause, somewhere around Luton. Given the Average Speed cameras claimed to be install for what seems to be the entire length of the M1 I suppose the relatively low speeds observed were to be expected.

Approaching the M25 decision the overhead signs seemed to be indicating a rapidly building delay anticlockwise and the Satnav route, for which it chose heading somewhere through London when asked at 5am, was going the same way. So I gambled on the clockwise route and the Dartford Crossing.

That worked out rather well. However, the traffic in the other direction seemed to be stopped for miles.

Things were a bit slow over the bridge for some reason and random after that. Once off the M25 the Nav chose all sorts of interesting places and roads to get me to Croydon - just wish I could remember the names. I arrived just after 9 am. So about 3.5 hours for 160 miles. And one huge, crashing pothole on a country lane.

I thought I was lucky despite the majority of that journey being motorway.

On the return, it seemed to take forever to escape the potholes of Croydon and reach the M25 which, much to my relief, was flowing smoothly and relatively quickly. Or at least it was until we got somewhere near the A3 junction when it all slowed and the same at the M3 junction the same and then at the Heathrow/M4 junction we seemed to stop for ages. Once again, no obvious reason. Slow again at Luton. 4 hours to get home.

The country's main road systems seem to be perpetually broken. How do people with daily commutes along these routes put up with it without going mad?

[piekey]

Welcome to us southern softies world. It gets no better from day to day. You did find all the usual pinch points that we can never never avoid , even at 5 a.m.

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by grantp

I had the joy of travelling to South London yesterday for a funeral. I lovely lady from my Father's side of the family who in recent years I had chatted to by phone a couple of times a year. She passed away in early December, just after her 92nd birthday.



It was the first time I had had an opportunity to meet her children and their families - or most of them, some being in Aus. and places in Europe.



As part of the day I "enjoyed" the experience of the M1/M25 (or whatever) journey to Croydon with satnav trying to keep track of traffic flows.



Given a target arrival time of 10am and no opportunity to change the appointment time .... I left home about 5:30 am.



Obviously the entire world was on the move by then and the M1 was as busy as one used to experience in full-on rush hour not long ago.



We kept moving through the drizzle until grinding to a halt and then stuttering along, for no obvious cause, somewhere around Luton. Given the Average Speed cameras claimed to be install for what seems to be the entire length of the M1 I suppose the relatively low speeds observed were to be expected.



Approaching the M25 decision the overhead signs seemed to be indicating a rapidly building delay anticlockwise and the Satnav route, for which it chose heading somewhere through London when asked at 5am, was going the same way. So I gambled on the clockwise route and the Dartford Crossing.



That worked out rather well. However, the traffic in the other direction seemed to be stopped for miles.



Things were a bit slow over the bridge for some reason and random after that. Once off the M25 the Nav chose all sorts of interesting places and roads to get me to Croydon - just wish I could remember the names. I arrived just after 9 am. So about 3.5 hours for 160 miles. And one huge, crashing pothole on a country lane.



I thought I was lucky despite the majority of that journey being motorway.



On the return, it seemed to take forever to escape the potholes of Croydon and reach the M25 which, much to my relief, was flowing smoothly and relatively quickly. Or at least it was until we got somewhere near the A3 junction when it all slowed and the same at the M3 junction the same and then at the Heathrow/M4 junction we seemed to stop for ages. Once again, no obvious reason. Slow again at Luton. 4 hours to get home.



The country's main road systems seem to be perpetually broken. How do people with daily commutes along these routes put up with it without going mad?

You're like me Grant. I live in a rural area and only have to tackle roads away from drive time apart from my weekly trip to Whilton Mill just north of Silverstone - which includes the delights of the A34 from M4 to M40. It's quite a shock when I see what people put up with daily, I know I couldn't do it!

That said my foray to t'north today was quite good and I beat the sat nav to Grantham even using the van.

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[andy97]

Did anyone go to Autosport this year?
I went today.
Definitely not as busy in terms of stands or visitors as previous years, by a long way but nevertheless I enjoyed catching up with a few people and I thought some of the stands were good. However, glad I was a guest of someone and didn’t pay for the ticket (parking is enough)!!!!
Race Retro has always been far better.
I actually think it’s time to can the Autosport show in its current form and maybe combine it with the classic car show at the NEC in November. That is always extremely well attended and one or two motorsport halls on top could work, maybe?

[Peter Mallett]

Of course we had the Racing Car Show in the sixties and seventies. It died but was resurrected in 1983 (ish) in London. Then it moved to the NEC and in the nineties became the Autosport show. It's gone through the Max Power phase which few people enjoyed.

[midgetman]

What happened was...... The Racing Car Show was always in London, its reincarnation came at the Cunard Hotel, it grew into Ally Pally and then Olympia. I was an exhibitor in those days, Olympia was fun.

Then Autosport International set up at the NEC. To avoid a clash ASI bought out The RCS and hence BRSCC members get free/cheap(?) entry to ASI.

I've exhibited on and off throughout the history of ASI. I decided a few years back that there was little custom for a full "racewear" supplier and it seems this year the big beasts agree with me. Ironically the fact that there are fewer current racers and more "fun seekers* at ASI these days means I should consider going back with my kart experience offering!

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[Peter Mallett]

Out of interest here's a review of the 1967 incarnation. Lots of technical stuff. Edit: oops link missing.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by grantp

The country's main road systems seem to be perpetually broken. How do people with daily commutes along these routes put up with it without going mad?

Not only the main roads, but even out in the sticks it's got worse and worse over the years. I went to get a spare part from an industrial estate in Tunbridge Wells a couple of weeks back and it was so gridlocked with roadworks and idiots that just love sitting in a traffic jam and blocking your exit that it took me nearly 2hrs to get home !!!! My workshop is only 5 miles away and it would have been quicker to walk !!!!

[rbs]

Originally Posted by midgetman

What happened was...... The Racing Car Show was always in London, its reincarnation came at the Cunard Hotel, it grew into Ally Pally and then Olympia. I was an exhibitor in those days, Olympia was fun.

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I seem to remember it being on a ferry that was moored on the Thames in the middl;e of all that!

[delta]

Yep . I went to that one .?

[Peter Mallett]

Tried to post this before. It was at Olympia in 1967. http://www.sportscars.tv/Newfiles/racingcarshow67.html

[E.B]

Originally Posted by rbs

I seem to remember it being on a ferry that was moored on the Thames in the middl;e of all that!

Yes, I remember going to that one, on a cross channel car ferry back in the early seventies. Moored at Tower Pier IIRC.

[Lancsbreaker]

Don't have a need to venture out at normal commuting times, these days, but last week I needed to get a car MOT's asap, so booked at my mate's test station (about 19 miles away, almost all on dual carriageway/Motorway)) at the first slot they had - 8.30am (about an hour before I normally surface...) on Thursday.



Thought that the roads might be a little busier, so set off at 7.30, thinking I'd have time to stop off for a coffee and a buttie. What would normally be a 25 minute trip took me 55 minutes - evidently WFH hasn't impacted the commute to Manchester from East Lancashire - couldn't believe how many people were crawling to work at that time of the morning - Its 30 years since I commuted into Manchester

[Lancsbreaker]

On an entirely different issue:


Got a nice letter from the TFL ULEZ people today, telling me I had to pay £80 for driving my Sprinter, EJ59VYO in Downham Rd, wherever that is, on 5/1/23.......

Confused me as the aforementioned Sprinter has been outside our house in Lancashire for several months with Ignition switch (EIS in Mercedes-speak) failure, and has been SORNED for all that time.

Had a look at the (grainy) photographic they supplied, and all is revealed. Number plate shows EJ59VVO.......and a quick check on Gov.uk site shows that this is indeed also a red Sprinter - presumably like ours, an ex-ParcelForce vehicle, and unlike ours, currently taxed and tested.

Thought I was facing a lengthy paper trail, but then discovered that I can make a "Representation" online - so I've done that, with a photo of my registration plate, and a shot of the offside of my vehicle showing some damage not present on the van in the image they sent me.

So only a minor niggle so far, only taken me 30 minutes or so to sort it..........providing they accept my "Representation". But I wish they'd take a bit more care in examining the images they use as evidence.


And I do wonder - just how does me paying £80, or if I don't pay by 27/1/23, £160, and even more draconian, £240 if not paid by 10/2/23, actually make the London air cleaner?

[Mike Harte]

I'm sure that most of us are aware how popular BMWs are/have been with so many police forces in the UK, especially for the road policing duties. Reading the news yesterday, I read that BMW have withdrawn from supplying cars to the police and have closed the specialist division in the UK that dealt with the police forces.

Apparently, a catastrophic fault can develop with the N57 engine in the cars during pursuit activities, potentially causing a fire, and, in one tragic incident recently, the fault (I couldn't find what it actually was) caused one police car in a pursuit to crash and the police driver lost his life.

More disturbing is the fact that both BMW and the police and the Home Office had been aware of this fault for some years, but, until recently, individual forces had not been updated, with BMW saying that the engine was not suited for the way that the cars needed to be driven in a pursuit. Now, many forces have been withdrawing the cars with the N57 engine and replacing them with cars from other manufacturers.