Realisation of action is a totally different thing to freedom of speech…

Realisation of action is a totally different thing to freedom of speech…

I fully accept that everyone has a right to their viewpoint… I just want the right not to have to accept it as the only viewpoint…

Watching the Victoria Derbyshire program this morning (26/02/16) and a part of it was about the “Safe Place” in campuses for freedom of speech being “restricted” with “certain” topics being banned

The present PC madness continues… controlling what you can and cannot say/do….

It's a “Safe Place” no more no less...

The problem is not with what you can say….

The problem I watched... was of not letting people say it…

Whether that was by a “controlling body” limiting the scope of subjects or by the, watched, heckling/shouting at the speaker...

It the old days it was “The person on speakers corner”... not massed people with megaphones or aggressive placards of “Behead X… Homo X… Black X… White X” and many others..

You stopped… you listened, if you wanted to… but you accepted that that person had a right to free speech and that was their view… You thought about it or you didn’t… You got on with life as you chose...

There must be free speech or the “he who shouts loudest will prevail” theology wins out…

What seems to be happening these days is that rather than accept that a person has, for the moment, a legal right to express their opinion some would risk losing this rather than “offend” someone…

I cannot see much difference between someone saying “this offends me” or “J'accuse”… Both cause the death of something...

Free Speech… A person can express their view…. You have the free choice to listen or move on…

Free Speech… You can give out leaflets to others who then have the free choice to read it or bin it.

Realisation of Action… Knowing what you do enhances your view over all others..

Realisation of Action… The, viewed, persons persistent heckling that stopped the debate... knowing that only his view was valid... and by repeating three words, loudly, over and over again would negate the speakers viewpoint... All would remember him and not the speaker, or the speech...

Realisation of Action… By limiting free speech you must accept that phobia's, oppression, increase

Example… Chairman Mao... Free speech… His little red book… Realisation of Action… Everybody had to read it… He knew by reading it you gave up your freedom of choice...

Realisation of Action… Groups trying to change you to agree with them… not letting someone have a choice… Is oppressive, self limiting and often accompanied by violence..

Realisation of Action… Groups intimidating by action… not letting someone walk in the own town at night... Is oppressive, self limiting and often accompanied by violence..

Final thought's on freedom and actions…

If I walk into a bar… and it's, say, a gay bar… I walk out… its not because of being homophobic… its because I am not Gay…

I know many Gay people and am truly pleased for those who find happiness in being so…

But I also know that if you tell someone who is truly Gay, that you are not... They will treat you as a friend… not an object to be converted…

Freedom of speech is a fundamental part of existence… The freedom of listening to other viewpoints is paramount…

If it was not… The world would still be flat and the centre of a very small universe..

50 First Dates... Another "Does Heaven Exist" if you want to not read any further...

Hi All

Just checking my blog stats and found that one reader was from the Arab Emirates.... don't know if I should be worried or not about this, the way the world is going these days....

A couple of my posts are about religion (which to me is just a means of control), or more correctly whether heaven and hell exist...

The more I research... the more I believe the only way heaven, or hell, can work is if it is like the film "50 first dates"... If you only remember one day.... it can always be perfect..... you can have as many as you like because you look forward to a tomorrow that does not exist...

But as the, alive, brain cannot fathom large numbers... the reality of "forever" is... well unfathomable...

You live a full life, if you are lucky, and get to 100+ plus... and that entitles you to millennia in "heaven" or "hell" and when that millennia runs out... you get another one.... who thinks that works...

I get reincarnation... I truly do... but I'm not as covinced about rebirth as I am about the knowledge  stored in our genes...

I have been told by two separate "knowledgeable" people that I am to close to my last life.. going to my death, by bayonet, in the trenches...  one was local to be... but the other... I traveled a long way to see... not by appointment but by research and just turning up.

I do like cold steel but is that a coincidence... I don't know...

Went on  a schools trip around Suffolk, back in the 60's, and when we got to Thetford and its priory ruins... I knew the guide was wrong... I knew the people who he was talking about... I just knew...

A belief I have long held is that we are all connected.... telepathy is something we have lost over time... not something new to learn....

Brainwaves are electrical impulses.... radio waves if you like.... and our thoughts are still out there.... all of them.... probes send photos back from distant planets using less lower than is in our own heads..

And if your brain comes across a wave from the past that is of the same frequency.... you hear it... You know it...

So did I know the monks names because I was there or because of a brainwave I received from the person who was....

Think of it as crossover between to stations on the radio......

And there's always the option of the memory being passed down through my genes

Heaven...

You can do anything in Heaven... play a piano.... how did that get there... did it have a "good" soul to... and how can you just know how to play it.... do you have to play Mozart 'caus he's there first...

How does all the other "life" stuff get there...

How do the cavemen get on with modern technology...

Are the flat earth society all condemned to hell....

If you don't need money... is God a sugar daddy?

Would Rastafarians have their own "patch" of heaven.... make their own clouds...

Hell...

With all the greed in our lifetime... he must have a devil of a time trying to stay the "Don"...

Does "Stockholm Syndrome" mean we all end up as friends....

Do your fingernails grow back so he can pull them out again....

After being scared by bugs for the umpteenth time... do you think.. frell this I'm gonna kill something...

What about those who get off on pain... and start eating the lesser minions... will that cause harmony in hell, as anarchy is the norm...

See... only "50 First Dates" makes any sense of being happy or terrified for the 2.4 billionth time.

Royal Enfield Constellation Load Limit....

In the early 80's my brother and I rode through Austria, France, Germany and Italy..... sort of a mini "Grand Tour". We don't always get along but any reason to head south is good enough for me...

My ride, at the time, was a single overhead cam Honda CB750 F1 with a massive Dunstall alloy tank and twin Cibie "40" rally lamps for headlamps.... find an idiot who does not dip his headlights.. turn both on and you can see the colour of the tie he's wearing.... Nice....

It did have a "tiny" problem, as we found out,..... over 70mph it burnt more oil than petrol...... this was, basically, because I had stripped down the top end to do the valves etc and "on advice" from my brother did not re ring and hone the bores... which were a bit "shiny"..... so after we found this out we stuck more to the back roads...

Chris rode a Kawasaki GPZ550 Uni-track.... great, zippy, little bike that ran really sweet....

Great ride down through Germany.... great roads and strange people.... The eagles nest near Berchesgaden is an impressive place... remember well the entrance tunnel with its wood paneling and impressive chandeliers... You could easily drive any army truck through this but it was, definitely, designed to impress.... But mostly remember the 40+ person lift that whispered you up the "house".... you got in and then got out.... no sound... no sensation of movement.... truly spoooky...

Oh yes the other memory was of the bus ride up to the entrance tunnel.... real old school bus with a driver that could only be described as a maniacal Russian shot put "lady"... single track lane... sheer drops...loose gravel and tree branches everywhere and... well... I guess the driver just likes speed... and hill climbs, with a  rally cross twist.... she was not slow....

 The mountain fortress itself was not open, in those days, and always intended to go back there now it is....

On into Austria via an unfinished, but, strangely, open tunnel we found... tarmac was good but the tunnel itself was still being lined.... you could still see the tooling marks etc on the walls... trouble was the, unfinished, toll booths were manned.... and, although, there was no sign of a "pay x" anywhere it was an interesting few moments sorting what we had against what they would take...

Austria is stunning..... and expensive.... only had changed up a few pounds for petrol... but that went at the first coffee shop... heading up the road from the tunnel and there was a sharp left up ahead.... hit the left hard (well... straights are boring...) and the view suddenly got... well... simply stunning....

We had turned to be running, high up, along one side of a valley... the other side simply being one of the best mountain views I've seen.... there was a big gravel car park/view point right on the corner exit and an impressive cafe/hotel behind...

I drifted straight into the parking area as Chris just flashed up the road ahead.... so I stroll over and order a coffee... enjoy the view... did not have a camera on this trip and phones were not that mobile in those days.... the view was so big though, a stunning wall of snow capped peaks, it would have been hard to capture it properly.. (Ric/Neil... would liken it to heading for the tunnel, with the psychedelic lighting, near Grenoble)... so through Austria and onto Italy... Venice awaits and time was short....

My first time in Italy so my brother pulls up alongside me and starts to shout... "Whatever you do DON'T ride near to white line in a corner cos there mad here and vans will......" just at that point a big blue van flies round this corner, towards us, straddling the white line.... and Chris has to dodge in behind me very sharpish.... "SEE" he shouts....

So funny.... so very funny..... I do cut corners (cough) a bit but the Italians are mad.... probably wear out the horns faster than their tyres...

Another entertaining moment... I was riding along behind him on a short section on Italian "motorway", near Venice, when something suddenly flips up from the road and hits me in the chest... and then falls onto the top of my tank....

It was the front sprocket retaining plate for a Kawasaki...... My brother was riding a Kawasaki..... Bugger... so pulled him over... whipped of the sprocket cover to find... his was still there.... Nice... but often wondered about what happened to the guy who lost it...

Anyhoo onto the subject of the title..

We pulled into Aosta.... which is up in the top left hand corner of Italy... not far from Mont Blanc and its famous tunnel....

We had stopped in a run down area on the edge of Aosta because of.....

1/ It was getting late in the day..... and...

2/ There was this big shiny square glass built motorcycle shop.... looked really out of place..... bikes on the ground level and clothing and helmets on the second... got the impression that the area was some sort of tax haven.... going by the prices...

So its late in the day and we ask for directions to a campsite.... you just know its gonna be... "ah my cousin runs campsite... best campsite... you come... you follow... I show..."  and that's exactly what happened....

So we follow this little Renault van down some dodgy lanes and into the campsite... must admit it really was a nice site.... not the best by any means.... but clean, good toilets and a cafe, of sorts,...

We set up our tents and were walking up the site when a couple siting outside this old, huge, canvas tent said "hello" in the broadest of scouse accents.... cannot remember there names now but a nicer pair of people it would be harder to meet...  do remember he was a good 6ft 4 and she was a petite 4ft 10.....

Ended up spending the evening with them.... listing to the story of how they had just been through Yugoslavia and stayed with a local family, for three days, while a new dynamo, for his Enfield, was being shipped out to him from the UK....

He had travelled down to the bottom of Portugal the previous year and Poland the year before that.... all on this immaculate Royal Enfield Constellation....  Respect..... Even more so in the morning.... but read on...

Never really thought about it but were are talking away... sitting outside this massive tent... I mean massive... they slept in one half and the bike was parked in the other......

Were sitting there while he's cooking away on a two ring camping stove more suited to a caravan and the gas bottle is a dumpy 4.5kg one... not some tiny canister... he's using proper pots n pans brought from home.... proper full sized frying pan.... kettle... mugs... yes it was probably in there somewhere to...

Just assumed he had a trailer around the back...

So... in the morning Chris and myself awoke to watch this pair load up the Constellation...

First off... out came wooden boxes... homemade ply and baton affairs... and everything got put into a wooden box of one size or another... and these boxes got strapped, not bunged, onto the bike.....

Both my brother and I watched in amazement...  just more and more boxes going on.... to say they had a system is an understatement for this couple.... large boxes... small boxes..... one after the other after the other....

After they had finished... it was stacked so high that when the girl sat "into" the rear seat you could not see her.... truth.... from back or sides she was hidden...

We say goodbye and he climbs on and we watch this "mobile parcel" wobble off up the dirt road and out of the campsite.....

How much weight.... dare not think about it....

How on earth the frame did not snap is beyond me.....

Those poor tire's....spokes..... ???...

Respect does not even cover it..... The miles they had travelled.... and those to come no doubt....
 
When I asked him about the it before he left... he simply said... "if you are not in a hurry you will get there..... if you rush you may not.."

Lesson learnt...   two on a push bike in the UK is an offence.... the family and a goat on a Honda Crunch in India is normal... I will, and always, say.. the more "civilised" we get the more stupid we get...

Its not a matter of whether you think he was a danger to others or not, as in our modern "PC" world he may well not be allowed to travel like that.... but it worked.... nothing was going to fall off the way it was strapped.... he could repair any box easily..... he could even have repaired the dynamo, once he had worked out what was making the noise.... And yes he had a full toolkit to...

ZX1 Micro Oil Treatment Thoughts and Review

Friction free oil/engine treatments....

As soon as you talk to anyone about these you are likely to encounter two types of answer... three in you count a quick smack in the mouth...

1... Snake oil.... Hokum.... Don' need it.... or any other similar comment before they launch into their reasoning behind this.....

2... I've used it....  sometimes this does comes with  a "but"..

So my thoughts......

I have looked at many engine treatments over the years, especially those that are used in a racing environment.... Molyslip, STP, Wynn's all have their place in engine longevity...

There has been, though, a few brands that are just hype and even the perennial "Slick 50" and it's earlier derivatives seizing an engine or three due to the fact that the size of the PTFE molecules were larger that the oil filter mesh pores.....

Interesting fact about PTFE.... if you heat it past 536°F it turns into a very nasty gas...  check this out.....      
                     http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=15+1829&aid=2874

Also another, similar, page states  "Recent findings show that 95% of Americans have detectable levels of Teflon-related chemicals in their blood" and that's not a good thing...

My First Honda CX500 was one of the original batch which had the wrong big end shells fitted and hence were known for seizing easily..... So I tried some American stuff called, inventively, TMT (The Motor Treatment)... which was basically graphite based..  Which I must admit worked really well in increasing gas mileage.... anything graphite based has its limitations

But since I stumbled across ZX1 many years, and hundreds of thousands of miles, ago I have used it in everything I have owned....

For me it's main strength is it's versatility..  You can add it at any time, it does not need clean/new oil... and you can add it to, almost, anything...

As it's a "Modified Oil" all the "friction free" element needs is a carrier.... so you can put it in the engine, in the petrol, in the radiator, into hydraulic fluid and even brake/clutch fluid... that's something not a lot of the others can do..

So long as it makes contact with a metallic surface it will do its job..... and as it mechanically bonds with metal at about 70 deg it stays there even after the oil/fluid change....

One of my first uses for ZX1 was in a Mitsubishi Colt... the model before they went hatchback.... Nice car but had not been that well looked after...

So I am driving home from London to Ipswich and as I am going through Chelmsford the oil light comes on... not good as its a pressure light not a "low level" light on these...

So... 40 miles from home and no oil pressure... As my Father was still alive and we had a breakdown truck I decided to carry on home... reasoning behind this was that the engine was probably toast so the nearer I was to home the less it needed to be towed...

The engine/fuel system had been treated about a 1000 miles before this and I am happy to say that I just drove the car all the way home... not a problem.... not a sound.... added new oil and drove it around for another two years before I sold it...   Kind of makes you think "Yea this stuff does work".

The original formula was invented for drilling heads on the oil rigs etc... If you want any info on this and the range of products they make now... head over to...

                                                                 http://www.team-zx1.com/  

Hope you do because you will find a review I did on a Kawasaki ZX10 compression over time... a short lived trial for a reason you will find when reading...

ZX1 has been a standard part of my maintenance regime for decade... cars, motorcycles, strimmer heads, hedge trimmer blades,  lawnmowers even my central heating system.. ie if it moves and is metal..

Word of warning though... don't put it in a new vehicle... don't put it in an all metal torque converter or all metal clutch etc... and when putting it in a engine make sure you run it for at least 20 mins/drive for at least 40 miles or it will smoke like a train....

DO NOT PUT IT IN - DRIVE 1/2 MILE DOWN THE ROAD TO GET THE PAPER/MILK/ETC... basically as it bonds at 70 deg a quick trip will heat up the area around the rings more than anywhere else and if you switch of the engine the oil around the rings will bond there only and make a very smooth "blow by" area.... trust me I did this with a Suzuki 1150EFE and it billowed smoke for days until it sorted itself out....

Originally they only made the "treatment" but nowadays they have a nice range of products.... I love the new grease (the original grease was a bit pants in that it disappeared to quickly) its all red and sparkly and is superb in wheel bearings....

The little pin oilier is another winner, especially on a motorcycle, so easy to lube levers, footrests, linkages, anything that moves really... Its also great in lubing cables and unlike WD40 it does not freeze in winter or affect to cable lining.

The C60 micro spray is, for me, the oddest one... I suppose because I use the pin oilier in most places you would use the spray... will say its great with sliding doors, windows etc... but I mainly use it as a "soak" to degrease and clean stuff.

Works well with carbs... especially if you heat them up with a blow gun and dunk them again after cleaning... really helps to give a smooth slide action

Last comment... I have bought many treatment bottles (especially back in the day when QVC used to sell a twin pack) and give them to people to try out for themselves... saying only "if you don't think it works don't pay me" and so far everybody has paid me...

There are drawbacks with this product that I am not going to go into here as I am sure that someone will add a comment about this and just want to hear who says what first, before adding  my thoughts and findings....

Buell Free Spirits Belt Tensioner Spindle/Nipple Modification

About a year ago I bought another Free Spirits belt tensioner for my Buell Ulysses.....

The original design of the factory Buell tensioner is a fixed item... And, although, Eric worked out the maths and it works well for about 95% if its travel it did not allow any flexibility for the usual road debris found in the UK and elsewhere.... especially if you like the "odd bit of off roading".

So the Free Spirits idea was to make the tensioner wheel sprung loaded... Now while they did a fair job in making it look nice and sturdy... there's a couple of design flaws that Eric's original did not have....

The worst one of these is that it, unless you set it up very carefully, it fouls the exhaust...  The lower inside section rubs against the rear exhaust bracket and exhaust itself... Not good.... and the other problem is that the pivot sucks..... a split bush, just in the center section and a shaft that is 40mm long (unit is 50mm wide) that has a countersunk Allen screw, very lightly tightened, each end does not make for a safe secure pivot..... loctite is the order of the day to stop them unwinding...

Oh yes... its sold as a "maintenance free" item...... moving parts... aluminium rubbing against aluminium.... road crap, water and salt.. I don't think its anywhere near "maintenance free".... if fact it seizes up quite nicely thank you.... frequently....

So my plan was to modify my nice new one (the old one has done way to many miles and is a bit knackered to say the least) it to an idea I had...  Now as much as I like the look of the "upgrade" kit you can get from Maz at the "Buell Emporium"... to me it still had one fault.... you cannot, easily, tell if it needs a strip and clean or starting to seize because its needs to be oiled more often..

So my plan was not to have a pin that was "fixed" in the outer plates and only rotates in the inner section bush....

My design was to ream out the outer pieces to take the same bush as the centre..... make a shaft/pivot pin that was wider than the tensioner and knurl it to aid rotation...

Will put some photos of it fitted on here in a few days to show how it looks fitted...... The back end is a bit long only so that there was room for adjustments or alternative ways of retention...

The above photo shows nicely the PTFE washers... the pin and end washer are stainless... What I should have done is taken a photo of it disassembled as the bearing part of the shaft is spiral grooved to aid in lubrication and the side plates have been recessed just enough to allow fitting "O" rings to help keep the grease/oil in and the dirt out....

The whole thing is being kept in place by an "E" clip at the moment.... if it works OK it will stay that way.... but if its not secure enough then I can always switch to another option..

The PTFE washers are also a trial as should give a long life but he also machines various types of Nylon/Nylatron etc

Also have a plan to turn up a cover plate which will push it to cover the grease nipple (Its designed to accept a standard grease gun nozzle into the recess)....

I like the look as is but I'm sure many would want a cover...

So all I have to do is rotate the shaft before riding/ monthly..... and if it does not rotate smoothly.... grease it..... if its stuck.. strip n clean time.... 

The plan now is to see if anybody else would like one....

As I no longer have access to a decent lathe (after being in engineering for a couple of decades I do miss the access to equipment) the whole thing was made by Probitts Engineering out of Finbows Yard, near Bacton in Suffolk..

His mainstay is in high quality parts for all sizes of model trains, but he makes far more than that.

And the good thing is that if enough people want one he will run off a batch....

Message me If you want any more info.. but the plan plan... is to give him my old unit to have a total rethink on the idea of "how to hold the wheel"... I like the idea of a "gull wing" rear piece to eliminate the rubbing/wear issue as a "just change one piece option".....  Or maybe a totally new design that loses the "travel limiting roll pin" by extending the rose joint thread (female rose joint and correct length Allen bolt?) through the back of the center section, which would also make fitting and removal MUCH easier.

Have fun out there....