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£115 fully comp this year from Swinton. This was after receiving renewal for £164 and secondary quote for £140 by post. I then get bombarded by phone calls from them asking me to renew there and then.

Strangely they didn't refer to the £140 quote, only the £164. When I complained about the OTT calls them they offered me the £140 less the £25 "admin fee".

Hence the £115.

Bike insurance......... Think of a number! They are all a bunch of cowboys!

So on my annual trip to Shepton mallett I'm wandering past the bikes all parked up and there's a black ( I think- it was very dirty! ) GTR with rider training decals on the sides, NEG escort on the screen and a big poppy on the near side mirror.

So was that then? I've been a bit aloof recently - mine is winterised till the spring. I've been too busy restoring my other kawasakis as well. It'll be worth it when I post up some pics.

A lovely blue 750 H2 came 2nd overall. Quite possibly the prettiest bike I've ever seen!

I did ring them up for a quote for the "big" service last weekend- just for a laugh really. Here's what they quoted.

For the big service 28k (valve clearances).

£190 for the clearance check with no shim replacement (cams out job).

(£280 - if a cam needs lifting).

I said I needed the bike back at 3pm the same day. No problem! I guess they don't consider the fact that the engine needed to be cold then!

Now if I could guarantee they'd do a job as good as Alfs or Bournemouth K I'd give em the job. Chances are though they'd park the bike up and trouser the wonga.

The website is very misleading - all that glitters etc..

What a crock they are! Here's my tale. When looking for 2010 GTR's I saw they had one with low mileage up for sale. I asked them if they were interested in a trade in 2006 tiger 955i. I sent pics details and we agreed a trade in price against their GTR and I asked for the bike to be ready to ride away if I came down and was happy with test ride. They said yes.

I rode the tiger all the way there from Devon and arrived there only to be told by partner/brother there that the deal was off as it wasn't agreed between them and they already had a tiger 1050 for sale. The othe partner was unavailable so not a lot I could do. Mighty peeved, I rode back but a considered selling privately the tiger as this GTR was mint, low miles and was only a year old. 

Undeterred I rang them up and agreed a cash price for the bike(£9900from £10199). I had already got a firm trade offer for my tiger so said to Portman that if I secured the sale of tiger could I put a deposit on the bike the same day. They said yes.

That Saturday I sold the GTR, got the cheque and tried calling Portman all day. They wouldn't confirm the GTR as sold or still for sale unless I paid the full £10199 and basically were rude and obnoxious. Here was me with a firm sale the day before and they treated me like crap. 

I got a mate to call on the Monday and they confirmed the bike as sold. Looks like I had a close escape.

A true bunch of muppets- why are they still in business?

Is the dealer to which you are referring in Guildford by chance ?

More to the point why are the stanchions in need of re-chroming after a relatively short life ? I sort of know the answer as the bottom of my 2010 tubes has a very light pit - most probably due to a bit of road salt not washing off. I reckon the "hard" chroming done now isnt a patch on the standard that was done yesteryear.

Remember that the chrome plate is porous - its the integrity of the barrier seperating the chrome and steel (the bit that rusts) that fails and leads to the pitting - there no such thing as surface rust by the way - unless it aint plated !

Thanks for the tip - a company called Philpotts quoted £168 for a pair - that more than I paid for one of my resto jobs for 'evans sake ! For any decorative (triple plate) chrome - not forks I can recommend a brilliant company near farnham.

Hi All.

Before I put on fleabag I'll offer here my magnesium grey top box. It's brand new and never used. I have the baseplate as well. Open to offers but if anyone knows how much to put it on ebay for let me know.

I need to make room in order to make space for my collection of restoration kwacks ( I keep buying donor bikes and decide on restoring them as well).

Thanks.

Excellent work Debs.

MGvalerio (RIP) would be proud of you!

All of our animals, (not pets) are rescued and members of our family. We love em more than most people. I would have no hesitation in putting down the piece of shit that did this in the same way he condemned those poor animals to their end.

The only lower species in court will be the snout-in-trough scumbag lawyer defending the little twat.
Sorry if I offend those whose opinions differ but to be honest I don't care.

RIP Robbie
You made/make us laugh...

Don't tell us he's popped his clogs as well!

I quite liked Robbie.

There was me riding back to work in Hampshire going East on the A303 when for about 2hrs from 5pm ish there was nothing but hundreds (probably near a few thousand) bikes going west ! Out of that lot I counted about 10 GTR's ! Theres bound to be someone from here there surely!

Nice to see plod wasnt out in numbers - and there were no accidents on that pig of a road this time - couple of bad ones last year I remember.

Don't open the bottle. That vintage was fortified with Avpin!

Wonder how the GTR would run on that?

I'm sure someone has tried a similar experiment!

Now I served at RAF Wittering in my early years and know GR3's and T4's intimately. I've even had a jolly in the back seat of a T4!

It'd be a brave jockey who ever piloted it. Regards the ejector seat - good selling point but let's hope the rocket pack, gun sears and MDC are still there before he tries to bang out eh!

Oh yes, there should be drop tanks on inner pylons and main U/C chocked.

My guess it'll end up at a museum airfield and perform runups, taxis and nose wheel stoppies!

Very sad!

Blimey, stick to the ruddy thread! I too need front rotors soon. Can anyone comment from experience regarding those Arashi discs. They look very good and a very reasonable price.

Incidentally my battery thread: cancelled my order for the high capacity, HD battery, I'm getting a standard BTX 14 12v 12aH job. Again, duff advice from Exeters finest motorcycle dealership - bunch of cretins?
Thanks to Bournemouth again for honestly clarifying things.

Sorry guys (and gal). Should have made it clear that its the great big battery I sit on !