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61

General Car Chat / Timing belt kits + wishbones

« on: 27 August 2015, 10:07:29 »

As I have been out of Omega ownership for some time, what is the current consensus on timing kits, brake discs and wishbones and where to source them from?

62

General Discussion Area / Road safety - your thoughts on this proposal

« on: 25 August 2015, 16:40:05 »

I am starting to get more involved with my local MP and councillors about various subjects and one very dear to my heart (for reasons most of you are aware) is that of road safety.  My intention is to lobby them directly from inside the relevant parties in order to get something done.  This is what my parents did when the 2nd child was killed by 2 motorists who were racing through the village.  Eventually they convinced the late Gwyneth Dunwoody to change the speed limit.

I think it is time to overhaul how we look at road design, policing and education so I have a been drafting something on the quiet for a bit.  I fear that it is heavily biased to ward the cyclists view point and thus I would encourage feedback from the view point of a pedestrian or a horse rider.

I am going to post it here and on cycling forums to gauge responses, thoughts and feedback which may develop the idea further.

THIS IS NOT A CYCLIST BASHING THREAD - there are plenty of other places you can do that (ie get your own thread )  Admins/Mods I apologise in advance if this creates more work

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Road Safety Legislation Proposal

1. Introduction of a Presumed Liability enshrined in law that places the onus of the less-vulnerable road-user to prove they were not at fault.  Currently the system is in reverse placing the onus on the victim and usually results in a long and costly legal battle to get their basic human rights to be upheld.

Why?

• The current system requires the insurers to take a decision, one which could cost them money and they are allowed to make this decision without 3rd party oversight.  If the victim decides to contest a decision they face an uphill struggle and normally end up in court.  This is costly and high-risk yet the insurance companies seem to rely on victims apathy and not wishing to take that on.  More often than not, only those with the determination and respective legal assistance get the compensation they require to make amends.  This should not be the de facto process in order to uphold your basic human rights which are enshrined in European and UK law.  It should be noted that we are often talking about life-changing injuries which seriously affect income and future prospects and this process should not be left to hinge on what seems a purely financial incentive.  Claims between motorists are decided at cross-company, independent panels which are there to avoid every claim going through the courts.  There is no representation for cyclists on these panels.  This is not the case for incidents involving other road users and the decision is left to the insurance company to decide on blame.
• This could see more cyclists getting public liability insurance (above and beyond what they automatically have on other policies such as home insurance) because if they knew that they could be held responsible for a mistake which affected a pedestrian they would want to ensure they are protected.
• The reason so many people use dashboard and helmet mounted cameras is due to the fact that they do not trust the current system.

2. Improving the process of ensuring that new roadways, junctions and traffic features follow a national framework in terms of minimum safety features for all road users.  This would include mandatory measures to provide a minimum of safety measures that allow all road users and pedestrians to safely navigate features which are known to present a danger.  This would be enforced on local authorities at the planning stage and each application should go through a specialist panel ensuring the road safety of all users.  For example:

• A minimum width for cycle lanes on roads that takes in to account drains and manhole covers (metal when wet is extremely slippy and a serious danger to cyclists) or even making it illegal to have such items in a cycle lane (civic responsibility)
• Moving cycle ways a safe distance from vehicle parking spaces.
• At large junctions and traffic lights, ensure that vulnerable road users can turn right safely, either through intelligent road design or by implementing a cycle phase to the traffic lights.
• Provision of a safe crossing point for bridleways and footpaths that intersect with a road.

Why?

• Many features designed to improve road safety actually create an equal or worse danger by consequence.  E.g. Shared cycle/pedestrian ways with tight and blind corners thus reducing the cycle traffic on the road but increasing the danger to pedestrians in the process, not to mention increasing the chance of a head-on collision between cyclists.
• Due to this many cycle ways are not used because they are either not convenient (ie having to stop and dismount 3 times to negotiate a roundabout instead of just riding through like a vehicle) or are a danger to themselves and other users.  This is a waste of resources and only increases frustration between user groups who do not understand the other’s viewpoint.
• Often it seems that cycle ways and other well-intentioned safety infrastructure have been implemented with tunnel-vision and not by envisioning the entire picture
• The current situation sees much funding set aside for road safety either being untouched or wasted by schemes which do little to improve the situation.

63

General Car Chat / Need advice - Kitty is sick

« on: 16 August 2015, 18:47:34 »

Spent some time today diagnosing the misfire on kitty (XJR6 X300'97 - last of the real jag straight 6's) and amittedly the lack of spare time means that it has been a while since I last looked at it.  Because of this i started from scratch with the diagnostics.

In Park - misfire is present through out the rev range and the engine is lumpy on idle despite high revs
In Drive - misfire is all but gone, revs drop to normal

Regardless of gear the engine responds perfectly to the accelerator, can take a while to come back down.

At idle:
Pulling plug leads one by one I saw that cyl 2 was the one misfiring.
swapped dis pack with anoth cylinder = no change
swapped plugs = no change
removed ECU and traced wiring back = no wiring issue
removed MAF plug = no change in revs

The last work done was changing the ICV Stepper motor but I havet driven her since.

So, my thoughts are now either air leak, faulty MAF or Ineed new injectors 

64

General Discussion Area / Any HR gurus about?

« on: 14 August 2015, 12:53:36 »

I have been looking over my work contract and noticed a discrepancy.  It seems that instead of stating periods of X months after the start of employment I would have to give 1/2/3 months notice etc, they (or should I say the outsourced HR company here in the UK) have instead gone by date periods.  They have, I think, messed up on the dates and left a year between the step up from 2 months to 3 months notice.  Previously it did say that after the probationary probationary period the notice would be 1 month thus I think that as I now stand in my contract (on this day) I can get away with only giving 1 months notice to my employers

Here is the wording:

TERMINATION

During the Probationary Period, you are required to give and entitled to receive one week's written notice to terminate your employment.

On successful completion of the Probationary Period and up to 15 July 2014, you are required to give the Company and save in cases of summary dismissal, you are entitled to receive one month's written notice of termination of your employment.

From 16 July 2014 and up to 15 July 2015, you are required to give the Company and save in cases of summary dismissal, you are entitled to receive two months' written notice of termination of your employment.

From 16 July 2016, you are required to give the Company and save in cases of summary dismissal, you are entitled to receive three months' written notice of termination of your employment.

I have a really good potential opening which is only 20 mins from home, instead of working on the continent.  This could be an interesting one

65

General Discussion Area / where does the fault lie?

« on: 07 August 2015, 21:14:13 »

 Being a car forum I would be I terested in your opinions on this.  Please though, remain factual and leave your feelings for cyclists out of it.

Who is at fault and why?

http://thecyclingbug.co.uk/bugfeed/videos/b/weblog/archive/2015/08/04/cyclist-vs-car.aspx?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Facebook%20Post&utm_campaign=ad

66

General Discussion Area / Any Firefox users? Upgrade now!!!!

« on: 07 August 2015, 12:54:52 »

This one looks particularly nasty and it's already in use by hackers:

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2015-78/

67

General Discussion Area / gutted

« on: 15 July 2015, 21:23:00 »

I set about the lager brew that i promised Al for saving my bacon a few weeks back.  Researched a nice indian lager recipe, got the supplies i needed and had a very sucessful brew achieving a 93.7% efficency in the mash! (For non brewers thats not bad going) lost more than i wanted in the boil, cooled it down, split into two fermentation vessels and pitched the yeast. 

Set the temp of the new fermentation fridge to 12c went back to my vessels and one was empty. Seems a seal failed when my back was turned!  Grrr so i shall pinch this mini batch and turn in to a light IPA Then i shall have to start again!

68

General Discussion Area / Back from the holibobs

« on: 06 July 2015, 07:52:03 »

Back in blighty after a long flight home.  No joy on the job front this time but now I know there is a market in my field over there I shall be looking more proactively from now on

So, what did I miss?  Have Gixer and Steve announced their unrequited love for each other yet?

69

General Discussion Area / Just off out.....

« on: 03 July 2015, 05:39:30 »

....to watch the Solar Impulse 2 land.

Pictures to follow

70

General Discussion Area / Now for downtime.....

« on: 19 June 2015, 17:32:52 »

<------------------

Have a guess where? 

Oh, and I have a couple of job interviews lined up too

71

General Discussion Area / calling everyone who knows Taxi Al

« on: 28 May 2015, 22:57:16 »

This evening I was commuting back home through Gatwick on my usual back and fourth to frogland when I realised I had left 2 very important and costly items on the plane.  I had already gone through passport control so no way of going back.  I went customer services who were useless and then I thought to call Al.  He got me the internal phone number of the gate where the plane was parked which allowed me to get my stuff back.

Knowing he likes a good pint, I thought I would brew him a personalised beer but he won't tell me what he wants because he is too bloody modest.

I know somebody here can tell me the poison he prefers, so please let me know so I can get started planning it.

Al you are getting some homemade beer whether you like it or not 

72

General Discussion Area / NIP recieved

« on: 01 May 2015, 11:03:00 »

We recieved a NIP for the Leaf today

Then we worked out who it was.  I was convinced it was me as I had had a momentary laspe of concentration going through Sunningdale one day and also because I get told off a lot for 'driving to the conditions' shall we say.

Imagine how I felt when it turned out not to be me

73

General Discussion Area / it's not everyday.....

« on: 27 April 2015, 19:20:38 »

.....you get to cross paths with a fellow OOFer and friend on your way to work.

Al, always a pleasure.  Looking very dapper in your shirt and tie

74

General Discussion Area / Had to call the police last night....

« on: 20 April 2015, 16:03:30 »

....and dont know why I bother.

I was driving back from my parent's house after helping them out with some DIY going south toward the A312 in Harrow.  Limit 40, I was doing an indicated 42 I was about 12 car lengths behind the car in front doing a similar speed.  Suddenly the 4x4 that was driving normally is now about 30cm off my rear bumper and weaving in and out.  He overtakes at a moment where there is too small a gap in traffic and a traffic island so I had to brake hard to avoid an accident, the 4x4 driver had to swerve-in aggressively.  As I check my surroundings for other dangers I notice the 4x4 has 2 young occupants in the rear seats.

The 4x4 starts doing the same thing to the car in front and is now overtaking with little regard for the safety of other road users and is very likely to have an accident.  So I dial 999 and ask for the police.  Once all the details had been passed on to the operator I got the response:

"There is nothing I can do"
Me:  "I cannot stress how dangerously this guy is driving. Plus there are 2 youngsters in the back seat.  I really think he is going to have a nasty accident.  He is certainly a continued danger to anyone on the road"
"All I can do is pass on the details to Traffic but no one will attend"
Me: "Well, if he crashes and kills someone I will make sure the coroner hears this phone conversation.  Thank you for your time, goodbye"

To say I was upset is an understatement.

75

General Discussion Area / Interesting tech

« on: 09 April 2015, 13:16:11 »

I stumbled across this and found it fascinating.  I especially like the ability to modify the road markings according to the situation and alerting the drive of dangers ahead.

http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml