Can any of you offer counselling

[horsefans]

This really is a black day!!

After much pressure from the lovely HF2 ive finally given in!!

...............my motorbike is up for sale!!!...................



cant think of a good enough reason to keep it!!

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[Homer]

Come on Horsefans, pull yourself together, man.

If you sell that bike you'll have no one to blame but yourself, and no way of beating traffic jams. Think about it ....... no bike. http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad1.gif !!!

That sensation powering out of a bend on a http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif sunny evening. Personally, the way my life is now, kids at and pre - school mean the bike has limited use; I wouldn't sell mine.

Each to their own though. If a future of motorcycle deprivation is for you...

Your choice.

[Matthew]

Why do you need to have a reason HF?!! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif

I can see the black mushroom cloud that has formed above your head all the way from Yorkshire! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

Good reason to keep it?

Ummm, so you can eat pot noodles on the back of it, whilst travelling at speed? http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

(You dirty, dirty, pot noodler!) http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

The best reason I can think of for you to keep it is..........................................

IT MAKES YOU HAPPY!!!

Well I didn't say it was a GOOD ENOUGH reason http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

Misty

[Scooby]

http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

HF My sincere condolences to you and motorbike.

I love motorbikes and I can sum up in one word exactly why I do - FREEDOM

I do the pillion thing as I can't get the hang of the gears but Shaggy (my partner) well he loves his Ducatti. I think if I ever announced to him that it was me or the bike - be under no illusions whatsoever it would be me that had to go.

So my heart goes out to you HF. Speak with HF2 and get her to read my posting here - we are actually the same age HF, 34 years this year so there is no age gap quibble. Just gentle reminders to her that the unadulterated joy of riding down the road without the agro of getting in traffic jams is just sheer heaven.

In fact it's about the nearest thing I will get to owning an Aston Martin Vantage for pleasure !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Beth]

sorryHF1

I am with number 2 on this one!!

Noisey dangerous machines!

you are so vunerable if you get hit or come off, I remember an advert for transport saftey once that should a lorry reading long vehicle and then a biker wearing a day glow reading "soft vehicle"

soft and squidgy and very breakable.

bikers often travel at ridiculous speeds putting others as well at risk (not saying you are one of these though!)

walk or get the bus HF!!!!! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

[spinkysay]

Would you believe - our other NFH are the bikers.
I too loved motorbikes, it really is in the past tense now, but I did at one time adore riding pillion on ex boyfriends bike, which was a Honda 750. even bought myself a little 250 myself at one point (never progressed!) Nothing better, the feeling, the freedom as others have mentioned, it gives you the sheer feeling of being alive and vital. However...

Our house, although out in the sticks is right next to an A road, and every Sunday, most Saturdays and Wednesday nights, excepting a short winter break, we are woken by two bikes, and throghout the whole of Sunday there is a constant stream of them past our house. Some are way, way, WAY over the speed limit and many are illegally tuned up to get the maximum noise potential out of them.
Hardly a weekend goes by without a biker being killed in our area, two weeks ago two bikers died in the same accident. Yesterday a biker was killed in our part of the country. On masse these bikers are a b****y nuisance. I watch from my window as they regularly overtake five vehicles at a time on a BLIND BEND. They bully other drivers, weave in and out of traffic causing other drivers to brake to avoid them - I've seen these bikers do things that are unbelievable.
The police have had numerous 'campaigns' to try and stop the carnage and the havoc they cause. It has no effect whatsoever. They, like typical NHF, carry on and do what the hell they like.

The police in a neighboring county said two weeks ago when yet another crash happened, that they would put up with it no more, that it was "total mayhem and madness endangering other road users and themselves". but the whole of these three counties is blighted by them. A pub in a town twenty minutes from us is a bikers meeting place, you can see about 2000 bikes all around the place there sometimes. Yes, that is three noughts not two!They do wheelies on the roads around the pub - roads being used by other vehicles I might add and the local people are always calling the police out. It's one place we definitely won't be moving to.
It's been talked about on our local radio, a senior police officer was interviewed about it and asked how the problem was being tackled, he said the speeding bikers "should desist" as measures were being taken to stop them, well five months later we're still waiting for these measures, or any measures at all.

Bikers are fine - but en masse storming through the countryside, I loathe them.

[spinkysay]

Incredible. In the short time since I posted that message, I've just heard on our local radio another biker has died "in collision with a car" and another biker seriously injured "in a seperate incident".

[Scooby]

I can agree with you Spinks on the mass invasion of bikers at pubs. We had a similar venue in Warwickshire with a place called The Watermans and it must have been totally awful for the residents of that small village. The Police put in road blocks and diverted traffic around the pub and eventually they told the landlord that unless he ceased they would revoke his licensing application next time it was up for renewal. It did end it of course - for a while.

Now the bikers tend to go up to Matlock in Derbyshire on Sunday mornings. I gather that it is just a meeting place and by all accounts no trouble has been caused while it has been used as a venue, however, as you quite rightly say, it's not just the places where they meet up, it's what they do en-route to these towns and villages that causes the most trouble.

My fiance is fairly good on his bike - especially when I'm on the back and he doesn't like it getting too dirty either, he likes to keep it clean and tidy sometimes I wonder if it should be displayed for ornamental use only. But, you only have to open the throttle on full thrust just once too often and you are taking your life into your own hands.

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

I did notice on some of our trips to the Peak District an over abundance of the biking fraternity. We went to Matlock one Sunday and I couldn't believe the number of bikes there. I've noticed them a lot more when we go over to Snowdonia as well. Some of them ride like idiots!!

But I think we're making Horsefans feel like a BFH which I'm sure he isn't http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif Anyway Scotland isn't as populated as England so I'm sure it's different up there. http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

Misty (who has only been on a bike once as a pillion passenger and was terrified http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif )

[spinkysay]

I'm not against bikers - but I do really detest bikers en masse, at speeds well over the speed limit, that tune up their machines for maximum noise and that bully other drivers.

Saying all of the above, our farmer neighbour offered me a ride on the back of his motorbike on his land - was tempted but boyfriend wasn't amused to say the least, so didn't take up the offer - innocent though it was!!!!

[spinkysay]

I'm not against bikers - but I do really detest bikers en masse, at speeds well over the speed limit, that tune up their machines for maximum noise and that bully other drivers.

Saying all of the above, our farmer neighbour offered me a ride on the back of his motorbike on his land - was tempted but boyfriend wasn't amused to say the least, so didn't take up the offer - innocent though it was!!!!

April - know Matlock very well - it used to be quite a spooky place, lots of bumps in the night - you know the sort of thing! No really, it did have quite a reputation as having quite a few old buildings where strange things happened.

Scooby, yeah I think most of those bikers must have decamped up here! It's a shame about Matlock, as that used to be one of those places 'lost in time'. Sad to think the bikers have moved in there too.

Oh - and it was the police in Snowdonia that said they would not have another weekend of madness and mayhem. There was a big meet there about three weeks ago.

I don't get it. I used to love being on the back of the bike, god that feeling, you can't describe it. We used to bike to a town or to a coastal town, park up, have a mosey around, eat, whatever, and bike back at night.
I particularly used to love biking back to London in the dark when the streets were emptying, ah! Memories! But - ON OUR OWN!!!!
I don't get this; "lets do it all together" bit, I really don't. It's like ramblers, if you want to go for a hike in the country and have a bit of solitude, peace and quiet, and just be lost in your own thoughts - WHY DO IT IN A BIG GROUP!!!! You might as well be in the local park!
Of course I'm still waiting to come across the naked rambling group, they're based somewhere in Yorkshire I think. I so want to be on our paddock when they go by!

Anyway back to the plot and Horsefans plight. I say, if you're not one of those who bikes in a massive group, has tuned up hs machine that is so loud it's a moving menace, doing speeds that are just crazy, then keep it!

Me? I'll stay clear of Matlock, Snowdonia, village twenty miles away, etc etc etc!

A glad it's Monday Spinks

.....Well that's all very strange, part of my message is on the boards and I didn't even send it.

[hollygolightly]

I'm still waiting to come across the naked rambling group, they're based somewhere in Yorkshire[/b]

Yes, I've seen those. They actually arrive at their meeting point on bikes! Naked! Can you believe it? It can be absolutely freezing here in Yorkshire...


http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif

HF keep the bike. If you enjoy it, keep it. I've never been on a bike, but imagine it's great fun and brings a huge amount of freedom. KEEP THE BIKE

[spinkysay]

Holly! You've seen them!!!!!! I take it they arrive on pushbikes not motorbikes, oh no, no - no they can't arrive on pushbikes - that would be well... painfull and uncomfortable! Perhaps they get undressed when they hit the trail.
My mind is boggling.

[horsefans]

a big thanks for all your messages!!

Glad to hear that there are so many of you on the site who are bike minded!!

The weather is great just now and yes the feeling of banking into a corner with the throttle open is fantastic!!

Sorry Beth, the only danger to a biker on the road generally is myopic car drivers who cant use their mirrors and dont see more than 10 feet out of their windscreen!

Spinky , It must be really annoying for you. Although being a biker im sure that if it were my neighbourhood then I would be the same as you!!

cheers

HF
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[Homer]

I never saw the attraction of biking in numbers until I did it. Twenty classic machines, almost all Brit, rode off into a Welsh sunset and a great time was had. Have also been on a funeral procession of over 50 bikes, an exhilerating send off that the chap would've wanted and something all present were proud to be part of.
More recently I was on a charity run of hundreds (500?) of machines. More than you need to have a good time. But when you see hundreds, it's probably a charity run. You'll probably find that a charity, and any businesses patronised (such as lunch - serving pubs) by such groups have been very pleased with the bikers involved.

Like cars, bikes also have a show-off fraternity. A wheelie-ing bike is less dangerous to others than a handbrake turning car.
All the Hells Angel movies and sensationalist stories have contributed towards a climate of prejudice against bikers. Laws quite rightly prohibit discrimination on grounds of race or religion. We on two wheels don't have this legislative protection.

[spinkysay]

Believe me Homer these are not charity runs! There's a charity bike run about every two years, it's highly publicised. They put a soft toy on the back of their bikes and all ride to a kiddies hospice


Last night I was on or paddock (a Wednesday) and I'd say roughly 50 went by in pockets of five or six at a time. A lot of beeping of the horns at other road users. We live on a hill on a bend and that bend is one place you don't want to overtake on - there are signs all the way up the hill saying no overtaking. But the bikers (and some car drivers also) overtake. I'm being honest here - it's mostly bikers pulling out quickly and 'going for it' to take that blind bend, I think it's become a bit of a dare with them.

I've seen them overtake two abreast on that blind bend a few times. There's also illegal road races going on. Last year we saw three bikers abreast come down the hill - they were arrested for causing an accident in the next town - it had to be the ones we saw as it was reported an accident was caused by bikers riding three abreast on the same day.
Don't want to push a point but in that accident the car driver lost one of his legs - his wife and kids were in the car with him at the time and they were injured too, but not as seriously. But for his kids to see that...

These bikers have meets locally - thank god not locally to us. But the road next to us is their rat run.
We've seen bikers doing wheelies on the motorway two, only twice - but twice is enough!
They all meet up at this pub on the outskirts of a town near to us, drink, hang about outside the pub riding around the ringroad and the roads around it. Police presence every time. They're caught now and again for speeding.
We had to call the police a while back as a bike overtook a car on the road next to us, the bike had to brake as the vehicle in front of him was a tractor that was turning, the car driver swerved into the farmer's hedge. Car driver got out, tractor pulled in. The biker who was in the wrong was FUMING! He pulled his helmet off threw it on the verge and there was an almighty argument. The biker was making punching gestures at the car driver. Car driver was backing away into his car. We called the police. By that time the farmer had called them on his mobile. It all went to court and we were prepared to act as witnesses but there were other road users who saw what happened so no shortage of witnesses for that one. I say all of the above because the problem (in our county )has got way out of hand.

I'm not discriminating against bikers or believing sensationalist stories - this is all what I see on a weekly basis. Every Wednesday night and every Sunday. Also the deaths are not sensationalist - they happen.

These are not Hells Angels either, they are sports bikes. There have been three prosecutions for illegal road races that I know of. One race was discovered because the brother of one of the bikers told the police what was happening - he was scared for his brother as the brother's friend was killed in a previous illegal road race. ........ I could go on! There's loads more.
Obviously car drivers are no angels either, there's good and bad in the biking community as in every other community, but in our region - we surely know about the bad! Oh boy do we know about the bad!

[Tannasg]

Selling your bike? Sorry for not keeping up - see Members only my post dated 04-10-03 - who is the pressuring HF2 - husband?
NONo NO anything but that!

tannasg

[horsefans]

)in whisper.....

psst! ive still got it!!.. needs a good 'clean' before I can sell it ... if you catch my drift!

http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ph34r.gif

[Homer]

needs a good 'clean' before I can sell it ... if[/b]

see what you mean. Besides, lots of bikes actually become collectable and increase in value.

If I'd taken the car, I'd have been late for an appointment today. Bikes laugh in the face of congestion. http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

[horsefans]

Originally posted by Homer@May 9 2003, 11:37 PM
If I'd taken the car, I'd have been late for an appointment today.** Bikes laugh in the face of congestion. http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif
absolutely!!!

just a bummer when its raining though! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif

[Beth]

sorry HF,
my opinion has got stronger,

I dont know if you heard but a lady was killed last week in yorkshire on the M621

it appears that her and her partner were on a bike and the back suddenly collaspsed throwing them across the other lanes.
I think her partner is still critical in hospital.

its only because I care!! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif

[horsefans]

An absolute tragedy!

Nothing can dilute the fact that there was a horrific loss of life but I suppose if you cross referenced with the amount of car drivers killed/injured in relation to accidents the split probably wouldnt be that far off a 50/50 split.

If a car had suffered a major mechanical failure as like you describe then every chance the occupants wouldnt be in a good way.

the guy from 'Autotrader' came today to photgraph the bike. It goes in for sale this Friday

boo hoo ( weeps into his pint!!)

http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad1.gif http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad1.gif

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

Awww http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif

Let's hope it goes to a loving home http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

Misty

[Tannasg]

I used to have bikes.

My best was my father's which he left to me - a Norton commando fastback. I had many others - I think my next favourite was a little suzuki T250 which was ace on and off road.

I rode it properly. I came off on the road twice - once through some pi**ock in a car suddenly making a right turn after crawling along at 20mph - as I overtook at 35 in a 40mph zone - the creep turned right - having gound his turning, without indicating and without looking in his miirrors - I know, because I always placed myself so that I could see myself in a car's mirrors before overtaking - I would have met his eyes had he looked! He didn't . He hit me. I rode the turn, went up over his wing and abandoned ship at the right moment - with a scratch on my left thigh from his quarterlight. The bike's front end was wrecked - it hit a 6ft stone wall still doing about 30.

Second time, I hit a patch of mud that cows had left on a lane - bike went one way, I the other. Not a bruise. On anything or anybody.

Bounced off when off road too many times to count - that's half the fun - and there are no unaware pedestrians about.

When conditions were safe - I sped. Boy did I speed. When conditions were safe. Rural or motorway situations. Empty roads, no pedestrians. No adverse weather conditions. Had I misjudged a bend or anything else - it would have been me - and or the bike.

I was never cussed for making a racket - I didn't ride in a manner that made one. (What is it that makes these kids go round and round the same few roads like gerbils in a perishing wheel? Too few brain cells? I used to travel along roads to get somewhere - not to make myself dizzy!) Neither did I ride an underpowered machine, either - anything under 250 is strictly for cutting grass.

No matter how much noise is made it doesn't make the rider's genitals any bigger or more effective. (There seems to be a similar myth attached to car horns)

I used to get my kicks from riding fast and staying in one piece - not from making a thorough nuisance of myself and endangering everyone within several hundred yards radius of wherever I happened to be.

I am crippled - but not by motorcycles.

By horses neither - which I have ridden since age 3 - including ones bought cheap because they were 'viced' - spoiled by bad riders, we used to ride them in rubber snaffles and NO fancy straps anywhere to artificially control . . . and owned them.

Not by any of the farm animals with whom I worked in very close quarters - bulls included.

Not by any farm machinery - no matter how unsafe.

Not even by those humans who have been unwise enough to attack me.

By doctors.

Bikes are only dangerous when ridden dangerously.

They are only annoying when ridden - usually dangerously - and in unsuitable places - like dormitory areas and quiet rural communities. When over-revved to a point that damages the engine and drive train. In short, when misused.

I used to make a free choice to take calculated risks with my soft body. I knew what the results of a bad crash looked like - my mother committed suicide by putting her AJS into a stone wall at 90mph after removing her helmet - but it didn't stop me winding up the Norton and throwing into some wicked bends - and catching flies in my teeth<g>

I sold it because I couldn't afford to store it safely while I went to Africa - unfortunately by the time I got back, Jap******** had taken over the market and prices had risen insanely - the oil crisis did that all round - so I was never able to replace it with anything of the same quality . . . but then someone lent me their MGB V8 . . . and I started finding out about steering going light at 130mph instead.

Nope. Never had a complaint or an accident (worth calling that) with anything dangerous. The only things that have ever done me harm are all legal. Some are even labelled 'caring professionals'. Quite a few have been legally required of me and done against my will.

Motorcycles have given me some of the few happy memories I've had out of an absolutely ****ty life - and their riders have been among some of the best and truest friends I've had - even if they did have long hair and dirty jeans. (Little prats with little minds riding little bikes are NOT numbered among the last!)

Don't sell that bike! If you absolutely must - what is it and how much do you want for it? I can still ride one . . .

tannasg http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif

[Homer]

Lovely post, Tannasq.

Motorcycling adds a whole extra dimension to life. It amazes me how many people fail to take it up.

I've ridden round India, and twice made a Delhi - Kathmandu return trip on an Enfield Bullet.

There's no highway code on that subcontinent, but I survived it, with only one set of grazes and a fair few screams. I think the Guardian Angel may have helped.

[horsefans]

Hi guys,

What a great tale Tannasq!!

Ive only come off badly once when I was just a young un' on my hooligan RD125LC which of course was tuned up to the point of exploding!!

I currently have a CB250R but that little 125 was so fast that it could hit 60mph in 2nd gear and the front wheel still in the air!

I came off at a corner - basically bottled it!!

other than that no other incidents other than close shaves by idiot car drivers!!

Trust me- if / when this one goes there will be a replacement ( at some point)

HF

[Tannasg]

Trust me- if / when this one goes there will be a replacement ( at some point)[/b]Sigh of relief! Particularly about the if/when<g>

I came off at a corner - basically bottled it!![/b]

I found out early on that is one thing one should never do! I must admit - I am exceptionally fortunate in having very accurate judgement of speed and distance - spatial perception generally - which makes it possible for me to make accurate judgements and decisions in a split second - I know not everyone is so fortunate - but oh how I wish men - in particular - wouldnt' be so ruled by the macho thing that they let it overcome their knowledge of how good their own spatial perception is - they are the ones who make the messes on the roads/trees/telephone poles - and the ones whose macho overrides absolutely everything are the ones who kill others - and drive us insane with their manic lawnmowers!

I know a good cure for them - place them astride a real motormower - a rotary, upside down . . . . . . now that is what you can call a crotch rocket!!!!! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif

tannasg

[horsefans]

Originally posted by Tannasg@May 13 2003, 6:04 PM
I know a good cure for them - place them astride a real motormower - a rotary, upside down . . . . . . now that is what you can call a crotch rocket!!!!! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devil.gif

tannasg
OUCH!!
http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif

[Jeannie]

Horsfans, I had an RD125LC (all black - named "Elsie" of course!) when I was 22 and finally moved up from my DT50. It had the unfortunate digits "NFG" in the plate so guess what everyone else called it. They had awesome acceleration and mine would hit 120 if I had the guts. Noisy and reeked of two-stroke. They were such fast bikes and I don't think my mum had a moments rest whilst I had it. Moved back onto a lime green Kawasaki KMX trail at 23 and that was when I had my accident. Coming out of a bend in the village where I lived, I just lost the bike from under me. To this day I don't know what I did wrong (if anything) since I'd been riding since I was 16. The bike shot out sideways throwing me down on my side in the middle of the road. Lay there a bit stunned for a few moments and then managed to get up and stagger off, just seconds before a transit van came bombing round the corner. Still haunts me to this day how close I came ..... http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/unsure.gif

Mum nearly finished what the transit started though by flying at me in a total harpy-rage after years of being assured a bike was perfectly safe. Glad I'd kept my crash helmet on http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

I haven't owned or been on a bike since that day though the urge to do the big American tour on a Harley is something I must do before I die.

[Homer]

Horsefans,

that little 125 was so fast that it could hit 60mph in 2nd gear and the front wheel still in the air![/b]

Must admit I thought this a tad fantastic, then I looked again & registered the letters RD and LC.

Mental things those elsies! Lots of people want them banned, least of all owners of bigger bikes who get fed up of being embarassed on the twisties by those classic hoolie-tools.

Friend of mine showed me what his 2 or 350LC could do, which was more than my XS500 could. Since then there's no way I'd accept a challenge from one of them, and that's despite having over double the cc's these days.

There's a bike with the engine of the RD250, in production in India (or at least sold in numbers there). The state of Bihar has banned it! (bandits aplenty actually, sorry, pun just happened) This is cos of a law & order problem there and these machines were popular with armed robbers.

Funny old world. How's that for off topic?

[horsefans]

Yeah guys!!

We should start an "Elsie" appreciation corner!!
My elsie had a K&N filter, valve reed inductor fitted, a Micron can and she was an absolute ROCKET!!

Most I ever got out of her was 105mph but the acceleration was of absolute hooligan proportions.

My fave trick was to 'take on' XR2/ XR3 drivers at the traffic lights and quite simply - blow them away!!!

I now have a CBR250 but that little LC could cut the mustard even against the more modern machine!!

Oh to be young again!!

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[Jeannie]

Ahh, aggravating the boy racers. Used to be the XR2s, now it's the "souped" up Citroen Saxos round here.

I owned an old Granada 2.8 Ghia X for a while. One of the big square ones. That used to be hilarious at traffic lights since the V6 monster under the bonnet would just leave the kiddies standing. AND it was an automatic so not even any need to remove arm from window ledge. None of the kiddies would believe such an ancient old boat could shift so fast. I got a whole kitchens worth of smashed up cupboards in the boot of that thing once. It was like the TARDIS.

I miss having a big car http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad1.gif However, I now have ££££££££ss saved on petrol http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif Hurrah!

I used to have a Capri as well (with furry dice I kid you not!). Blimey, can you tell I'm originally an Essex girl?

[Jeannie]

Oh my Badger. My ********i was a 2.8i as well. Black. Y reg. Used to go like hell but I tended to lose control of my rear end coming out of bends. Ever had that feeling of losing your rear end??? I imagine you have if you spent half your student days living off deep fried bhaji sarnies!! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif

We went to a Ford Capri owners club meeting somewhere near Birmingham and it was dire. It was raining and everyone was wandering around looking mean and shifty. They had the Capri from The Professionals there which was like the Star Car. I wanted to slide across the bonnet leaving a huge scratch mark from the pocket studs on my jeans (was that The Professionals? The sliding bit. Not necessarily the scratching.). Might have been Starsky and Hutch ... or the Dukes of Hazzard.

Am now a confirmed-til-I-die Mini nut. If only you could cram a 2.8 engine into the engine bay .....

[horsefans]

What a coincidence!!

Badger & Jeannie are you guys in cahoots?

I TOO!! had an X ( old x plate!) grey 2.8i Capri!!
One of the original 4 speed ones!!

I can absolutely relate to your tales!!
Try keeping one of them in a straight line on a wet road!!! http://www.nfh.org.uk/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif

Jeannie, you had an LC, a 2.8i, if you tell me you had a Fiesta Supersport and or a Metro Turbo shoe horned in there somewhere then we should have met years ago!!!!!

Metro Turbo!!....... guaranteed to blow up at least once a year!! ( had to have the engine of mine rebuilt twice! at mucho cost£££££)

HF