Paul Ruinaard

Good idea batman. Didnt think of that

I was out on the breakfast run on Sunday morning - decided riding bicycles was starting to feel like a chore so i took the bike out for a burn - it was a beautiful morning and nice and cool so i doubled back through Magaliesburg and then back via Bekker Schools and up Hekpoort for a second time. In Magaliesberg there was a horrendous crash - bike bits all over the road and guys sitting around on the sidelines, looked like the sports bike aka knee dragger dudes as they were all in full race leathers. Pretty much a completely totalled green bike in the road so i assume a Kawasaki. I can't say what happened but it didn't look good for the rider and it looked like by the amount of debris it happened at high speed, which is surprising as those corners are pretty tight and the speeds normally would be quite low (just before Mt Grace near the Lovers Rock turning). When i came back home i did some googling to see if i could find out what had happened and see whether it had been reported, but there wasn't anything out there. However what was there was a long list of crashes involving biker, some fatal, that seem to be are happening around the dam and areas almost every weekend. Seems like it pretty much mayhem and that people are getting injured and killed on a regular basis. Having been one of those dudes in a past life, you realize just how dangerous it now is. When we did the stupid stuff there were a lot less people on those roads. Now on a good Sunday morning it's pretty busy with lots of bikes going both ways. Still wasn't clever and i am glad i escaped with no consequences. Are these reports true? Seems like its getting pretty hectic out there every weekend. And anyone know of what happened in that accident - it wasn't a pretty sight. Normally a low speed area, which is also why i was surprised at the amount of carnage. Owing to the injury potential i didnt want to sit around and rubber neck

breathe. One foot in front of another. You will be amazed how time and distance heal. Strongs mate.

Hmm - i think you are buying in to the industry hype. Remember If you can segment a market and create use cases where there weren't ones then you sell more bikes. First there were bikes. then road bikes evolved from commuter bikes and then road bikes added race bikes. in the 70's there came MTB's. Now MTB is split in to XC, Enduro, Trail, DH. Now we are starting with rare variants of bikes for gravel versus CX. the DNA of the base machine stays the same and its just niches. Fat bikes were hype - try sell one now in Jhb. Lights went on that they are pretty much bad at everything after a couple of people bought them. After having 11 bikes hanging in the garage at one point when i bought in to the "need" for a use case specific machine and countless wheelsets (Race, training etc) i have now got 2 x road bikes (one is just sentimental) and 1 x MTB and i have never been happier. No confusion or frustration when i dont have the right bike. One does any road well and the other does any MTB well and can do road. Simple and cost effective. And BTW i wanted a fatbike - had visions of myself cruising the beaches in CTN on one. I got into gravel bikes (and gravel racing as an idea) 4 years ago and went grinding down gravel roads. Simply put the gravel bike ran in to some pretty severe limitations that a hard tail MTB would never have. I was limited by gravel bikes where i wasn't limited by a hard tail MTB. When i built the gravel bike the shop owner who is a mate also questioned why i didnt just build a lightweight MTB. He was right. And i built a proper setup - i didnt skimp. Go and do the spruit on a gravel bike or a CX bike. It can be done. and I did it. But i always have a lot more fun on an MTB which is what i worked out. Gravel bikes dont get in to the air very well and are designed for another purpose. they aren't easy to land and lose traction in mud owing to thin tyres. So then i went and rode around the cradle on dirt roads - that suited the bike well, but every time i saw a nice piece of single track and followed it to a bit of a gnarly point i had to get off and carry what i could easily ride on an MTB. I probably could have ridden it but i would be having a much harder time. Next time you are out on your gravel bike and have to do some single track with a big drop-off in it see how it feels. And FWIW you will always get some idiot who prefers to ride the spruit or whatever on the incorrect machine just for the kicks of saying he did. Like driving a VW Beetle through the Sahara, It can be done in fact it has been done but why on earth would you want to do it? This for me is what the argument for gravel bikes is about and having bene there i just dont get it.

Agreed, This was exactly the conclusion i reached. A gravel bike wasn't as fast as a road bike and wasn't as good as an MTB. Its neither fish nor fowl and whilst an interesting and funky trend it really just becomes the worst of all evils. i built a CX bike and after taking it offroad a few times i was wondering why the hell i was doing it. An mTB did that much better. then i did a couple of road races on it and i was slower than the bunches. Sold it eventually - nice experiment but really not useful.

Aah man nice slide deck. Now i want one - see what you have done. I am torn between this and the Diavel....

THere are some perennial favourites. I am not fascinated by the returns but would also like to have the classics that are likely to become collectables. FWIW: Seems like any CB 750 Honda is seen as collectible. Especially the older K0 variants (8 valve) CBR 1100 RC and the series CBX 1000 Magnum Honda RD 350 and an old RD 400 - i saw new ones at Linex about two years ago My list would include an original Fireblade, definitely some of the more collectable Ducatis and then also large bore two stroke MX bikes like the CR 450F etc, air or liquid cooled. Ducatis have their own gravity and the more exotic ones are already classics. Definitely agree on the S1000 RR and then possibly the Super Dukes as its where the pinnacle of horsepower has kind of dropped off. I would add a Hayabusa as well as its a one of a kind craziness...

I always wanted one of these - nearly bought one for R 35k in 2002: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/192693578247771 There are some great investments out there if you really look at the return on some of these bikes. that RZ500 and this 250 will only increase in value...

OMW Dream Bike. Trying to rationalise R 243k. I reckon it would be a great investment. Completely unique machine

Okay so now i am getting the picture that the grinder matters a lot more than the machine. Anyone give me some guidance on how much a grinder should cost - something that doesn't become the biggest single appliance in the kitchen. So a compact home grinder. then on specs of machines - double boiler etc seems to be important - what other specs matter?

you dont have to sign the affadavit. You have choices as well. Its not all one way traffic and what she wants.

The time of that edit says it all. Reminds me: At pizza night we always had one guy who used to whine and moan about his ex wife. Then one Monday he arrives with a big sh*t eating grin on his face and a bounce in his step. It took about 5 seconds for the guys to work out he had found a new honey and got some action over the weekend. A changed man after that....

I am the same. Warthog sits in the kitchen and gets used for things like my Kitchen knives. Globals FTW BTW. Lansky only gets used for specific work as it takes time and effort compared to the Warthog....

here it is - the machine and grinder for R 19800. new the machine is R 32995 and the grinder R 10 600.

All part of the healing process imo. Duane is right. You are likely to get excited cause some honey is acting interested. It makes you feel desirable and also makes you realise you aren't in for a life of solitude. However it will teach you the skills you are going to need again. Its like being a pimply youth who finally gets a date. You are probably going to blow it because you rush things (like you did when you were 113/15/17). But you learn quickly. WTF. Depends on you personally but you can also take sometimes and get your needs met. Its not always about giving but if you have a wild 3 months withs some new honey who fascinates you now then its lekker and you will be ready to move from your hardtail to your Full sus ride cause you now can ride (to add an mtb analogy). If you go full sus straight up you miss those vital skills (although its always fun to take a hardtail for a burn - sorry couldn't resist - its Friday)

How much do you think an Expobar coffee machine and grinder is worth second hand?

if you read Jody's biography eventually Scamp Porter and the works Renault team would put their cars under covers when he was in their garage as he was beating them as a privateer. Every time they improved he copied them and beat them the next weekend out. Jodie was fast in a shopping trolley which he clearly demonstrated later in his career. I remember the 1979 SA Grand Prix with him and Gilles Villeneuve like yesterday, the year he won the world championship. We were seated down at Crowthorne. Rain delayed start and all sorts of antics.

go reread your post of 21 Dec and see how far you come and recognise the progress you have made mate...

You remind me now. the first motor we built for the rally car had a bit of a wild Richie Jute cam in it and we had some big wheels on the car. My boet decided he would drop the clutch at full revs. All it did was take all the teeth off first gear, hence we learnt to change the gearbox quite quickly. Donuts and Hand Brake turns all over Northcliff hill cause thr roads were still dirt then.

Like my mates mom who had a 1600 Kombi. Not cool to get collected from school in. But at varsity you could get a whole lot of students in that bus. Uber cool to have at varsity. We had a whole plan how we stole the car when we were lighties and would go drinking at the Hyde Park hotel. even greased the hinges of the garage. He would slow down on the way home and i would hop out and run ahead and open the garage door of their house and he would freewheel in with lights off and engine stopped. Once inside i would pull the door down and we would check to see if the coast was clear and then scarper inside or wherever we were going next. He even had his own keys made so the folks suspected something and hid the keys but we were ahead of them. We thought we were stupid clever until one night the neighbour who was an insomniac called us over to have a chat at about 1 am on a Sunday morning - he had been watching us for months. To his credit he never spilled the beans just told us he would maybe have a chat with my mates old man if he caught us doing it again.

if you had a 2 door Escort Mk1 body shell now its worth a bomb as they have become classics. 4 doors were not as cool. I cant remember how many we hacked to pieces to make up our rally cars. we could change hte gearbox in 45 minutes with the two of us working quickly. I reckon if you came with some of the bolts i could still tell you where they came from. Renault Gordini - now that is in a whole different league of classic - man if you had one now it would be cool.

I read every fact or figure about cars in those days. It had a Weber downdraft carb, a branch and a bit of a warmer cam in a 1600 kent engine which produce about 75kw which was hot in those days. I was a bit young as they came out in 77 or 78. Was the ultimate car for okes who had left school, had a job as a rep and were making a bit of tin. On another note i ended up building Mk1 Escort Rally cars with my brother in about 1983 and 84. Wrote the first one off on a night rally behind Majuba. Scary stuff. The popularity of the 1600 Sport was also driven by Sarel and Jan Hettema and Sarel winning Rally Championships in them but those ran 2 litre BDA twin cam motors and were fast. The rally scene was huge in South Africa. In 1985 i ended up getting a second hand Alfa Berlina 1750 as my first car. My Italian brother in law had it serviced all its life by his mates so it was fast. Which i proved by annilhating a Porsche 924 in a robot to robot dice up Sandton drive. I think my mate and i were probably a lot more surprised than the Porsche driver. We went and got pissed at Spats and then drove home. It was a differeent time....

Escort 1600 Sport. The GTI of the era

AT is also high on the list

I am interested in trading my Triumph Explorer for a Ducati Multistrada or a KTM. Not sure which way to go though. Has anyone got either - particularly wrt services and spares. Whats the experience like?