I'm giving up riding.

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Scootypuff snr

Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by Scootypuff snr »

Burgman 1958

Totally see where your coming from. I have recently muted giving up "biking" much to the usual piss taking comments frim my mates.

I don't have to commute anymore so it's purely pleasure (which is lacking in the UK) but once I'm abroad I love it from the moment I touch French soil.

Dine the 12 hour shift thing and it's awful when you throw in public transport.

Finance a nice little car (fiat punto will be dirt cheap now :D ) & maybe set a grand aside later for a 125 Honda or similar kept SORN for winter put on road from 1st May (some insurance companies apparently do a 6 wheel policy)

Maxsymuppet
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by Maxsymuppet »

Yes, I think the 12 hour shifts in the winter/bus thing is the main reason I have decided to make the move. Plus even if I make it to work and home again with no problems I am afraid of having a spill and ending up in hospital or even just damaging the scoot and facing a hefty repair bill. Those plastic panels must be easily broken and expensive to replace. Plus I have a Givi screen fitted which is vulnerable to damage.

As to getting a cheap scooter for the summer, hmmm maybe. I'm almost certain I will miss riding, but on the other hand when not being ridden it will be sitting for months outside with nothing but a cover for protection. Something that I am reluctant to do.

terryvanman
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by terryvanman »

Globs wrote
Also consider a move to a warmer country, cheaper housing, no heating bills, no council tax, cheaper food, much cheaper cafes and restaurants; what's not to like. They also have a decent SYM dealer network there :)

All of the above are some of the reasons we moved to Malta ......Along with lower tax costs, better healthcare, cheaper than U.K. if you want go private, not only cheaper food it tastes better, no MOT's for 2 wheels, lower servicing cost, all year biking weather ( summer gloves in the winter) friendly Maltese people who go out of their way to help you......and last of all......getting away from the sad country the U.K. has become
Dear God,
Please send clothes for all those poor ladies
in Daddy's computer. Amen

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andyscooter
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by andyscooter »

I tried giving up I lasted about 3 months


now commuting in everything but snow on the bike if I can


today I'm annoyed as have to take the car as need my pressure washer at work and cant take it on the bike
i was an atheist until i realised i am god
Remember its a speed limit not a target

gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)

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Globs
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Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:13 pm
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by Globs »

terryvanman wrote:some of the reasons we moved to Malta ......Along with lower tax costs, better healthcare, cheaper than U.K. if you want go private, not only cheaper food it tastes better, no MOT's for 2 wheels, lower servicing cost, all year biking weather ( summer gloves in the winter) friendly Maltese people who go out of their way to help you......and last of all......getting away from the sad country the U.K. has become
Malta sounds good, isn't it a bit constricted for travel though?

Other places for people to consider are places like Bulgaria, seriously underrated with proper seasons and a good bike culture although the language is tricky and a cyrillic alphabet doesn't help. £25k gets you a nice big house in a village though with super cheap costs of living - some people buy cars costing that much.

Also bits of France are very nice and anywhere rural is good if you don't need to work, many people could rent out their UK house and live in style abroad I think, the good weather and cafe culture would make a nice change for scootering. Also small Italian villages are desperate for people to keep them viable - the home of the scooter, when you arrive at a cafe in Italy on a scooter you're part of the crowd and park in the lines of scooters - rather than being the lone freezing guy dressed in wet plastic wringing the water out of their gloves :)

MrGrumpy
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by MrGrumpy »

Meldrew wrote: Yet the topic has now moved on to living abroad because the weathers better. Now isn't that more about having a decent retirement income from pensions and investments, having a mortgage free home to sell so you can buy a property abroad, and being free of any family commitments at home that allows you to move.
Now that's a thought Meldrew.....I qualify on almost all those counts!!! Snag is, I'd really like to come back to the UK for 'summer' and move somewhere warmer in winter, but my income won't run to that!

terryvanman
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by terryvanman »

[quote="Globs"]

Malta sounds good, isn't it a bit constricted for travel though?

Yes Travel can be a pain, There is a one and a half hour fast cat ferry to Sicily, then a drive across to the "queue when you get there" ferry to main land Italy. [bit like the ferry at Sandbanks in Dorset] The flights are plentyfull from £30 each way depending on what airport you travel to. Other things we considered here in Malta, Everyone speaks English. they drive on the left [so bring your own cars] all the electrics are the same as UK [so all tools appliances etc work] Malta has the lowest unemployment in Europe [ even with the minimum wage at 4.24 euros an hour,168 euros for 40 hour week] so labour charges are a lot lower than UK.
A lot of people buy a small flat here in a popular area and rent it out for the summer and move into it in the winter to get away from the cold of UK it pays for itself.

If you are thinking of moving abroad good luck where ever you decide
Dear God,
Please send clothes for all those poor ladies
in Daddy's computer. Amen

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kishan
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by kishan »

hope one day your come back to the darkside and ride again and hope you still stick about on here :)
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Ralph
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by Ralph »

I have a 2005 Clio DCi80 Diesel, it as averaged 69 mpg over the 90,000 miles we have had it
40,000 on sets of tyres £20 road tax 200 fully comp insurance servicing every 17,000 miles do it
once a year about 10,000 miles biggest cost as been 3 cam belt changes £280 with water pumps
and mot at the same time, cheapest vehicle I have ever run, now at 125,000 miles will run it till it
dies, but it leans the wrong way in corners.
Driving the car is just something I do no pleasure in it never happier than when I am out on a bike.
Ralph
Nr Fleetwood
Yamaha X-max 300
Ariel NG 350
AJS Model 18S.

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Maxsymuppet
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Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2012 6:48 pm
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Re: I'm giving up riding.

Post by Maxsymuppet »

It's not so much aggravating the old injury as suffering another one. Since my second broken ankle I have completely lost my confidence in cold weather, because of the slight chance there might be a bit of ice. Even when I know this is very unlikely, like last Sunday morning when there was no more than a ground frost, I can't shake the feeling that I will have another spill.

But... I am now having second thoughts. The fact is I can get to work or anywhere else for that matter quicker than I could by car. I will even have to work out another route to work as my route so far involves the M6 junctions 10A to 10 southbound, and as anyone else who lives in the West Midlands will know, this stretch of the M6 is notorious for long tailbacks. Not so much of a problem on a two-wheeler, but in a car it would mean being very very late.

It's just the ice thing and the pain in the arse of bussing it. Plus the summer (or lack of.)

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