# Is it a bird



## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Is it a Plane ?

No it's the new Mercedes "Carver" and it's in production









I'd love a go.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)




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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

It's my Ford KA, and some bugger's pinched one of me wheels!

I had a couple of Reliants to complement my bikes years ago, can't take a baby on a Suzi 750 "water bottle" after all.

I didn't have a problem with three wheels, but it's funny how you still think you have to lean into corners when you ride anything other than a bike after so long!

Never tipped a Reliant over, though.

Three wheels, no so bad IMVHO!

Stan.


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## MIKE (Feb 23, 2003)

Hi,



> "WATER BOTTLES"


I all ways knew the GT750's as "kettles"

MIKE..


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Some who have been riding a while may notice something of a similarity between this and the QUASAR that appeared in the very early eighties.

The fact is that fully enclosed motorcycles have never really caught on among bikers but car drivers like them, hence the popularity of the BMW C1.

I think this is nothing more than a leisure vehicle for posing in, and I still want a go


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## Roy (Feb 23, 2003)

Looks a bit better than a Sinclair C5,


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

And with a top speed well over 100mph it's a wee bit quicker too.









Not sure I'd want to go that fast in one.

My first "car" was a three wheeler. A Reliant Robin estate which I once got to 90mph. I was holding on for dear life and lost my bottle after about two minutes.

Some useless info:

Del Boy's Reliant in only fools and horses, is not a Robin as most people think, but a Reliant REGAL,(it's predecessor).

Evidently they were prone to catching fire from the instrument panel.


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

+When I was 18, I bought a Reliant Regal 325 (3 wheels, 25 bhp). 3 weeks after buying it, my employers paid for my car driving lessons and test.

I passed the car test but was stuck with the Reliant for a while. Initially it was horrible, but I soon got to like it, I tried really hard to roll it, but never actually suceeded.

I did many thousands of miles in it and was always dogged with head gasket problems so eventually sold it.

They are an awful lot better than many people imagine.

Roger


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2003)

Hi Andy,

I think i remember seeing those on top-gear. Jeremy Clarkson was raving about it. I thought they'd be about 5 grand and i could chop my Duke in for one but there about 23 grand! I wouldnt mind a test drive. I doubt it'd be much like the highly strung 600s you get in R6's and stuff. It needs a turbo/intercooler set up to produce 60 BHP. Looks like amazing fun though. I think i'll stick with the duke. I just love the torque. I expect you find the same with your beemer. You can poddle around in a high gear round town then as soon as you hit the open road you just wind it up without changing down and the thing just ploughs along on a wave of torque like theres no tomorrow! I still hanker after a R1 but i dont think i could be arsed to ride it properly. I test rode an R6 and it didnt have half the low down pull of my Monster. Admitedly it was faster overall because of its rather manic top-end characteristics. I think if i do chop the Monster in it will be for a 900s. Even more torque and i can have some granny bags on the back for my stuff


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

They cost Â£22000 so spot on there.

Thats a lot to pay for what is essentially a fun vehicle but I reckon they will sell loads.

I have a feeling that most of the one's that we'll see will have company logos on them.

I know what you mean about torque.

I came from the world of Japanese in line fours and the first thing I noticed about riding a big twin was it's ability to make decent progress without having to play tunes on the gearbox.

Having said that I do miss the linear accelerationof a sorted, powerful four cylinder.

The BMW is great and handles amazingly well for this type of bike but it's never going to be in line four, or even V-Twin quick. (Harley Davidson excepted).we're

I was out riding a couple of Sundays ago and found myself geen laning behind the latest Ducati 999 and was really impressed with the way my bike could keep up round the corners.

However when the road opened into a dual carriageway that thing was gone. I may have well been on a Puch Maxi









I thought , you lucky b****rd


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

Anyone into bikes translate Andy's last post please









Sounds like the biker's version of jibe.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Thanks for pointing that out Paul.

Now that you mention it


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## Roger (May 17, 2003)

Andy said:


> And with a top speed well over 100mph it's a wee bit quicker too.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





> Evidently they were prone to catching fire from the instrument panel


There were a few fatalities from fire in the 325, in fact, a whole family died near here on the Gloucester Ring Road,. The problem was that Reliaint thought they could get away with push-on rubber fuel lines onto the mechanical fuel pump. Under certain conditions, the output side slipped off the pump and neat fuel was sprayed about inside the ( very restricted) engine space with the expected consequences. It was probably done to save weight as they had to be below 8 cwt limit so us bikers could drive them on a motorcycle licence. Earlier models (like mine) had steel fuel lines.

Roger


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

I had a Mini and noticed a horrendous smell of petrol one day whilst stopped at traffic lights.

When I checked underneath there was fuel pouring from somewhere all over the engine.

I think I narrowly avoided a catastrophie. That was a dreadful car but nothing like as bad as the Metro I bought to replace it with. That was supposed to be a step up.

People always took the piss out of the old Skoda Estelle but thats what I had before these two lemons and it was way superior in just about every respect. Esspecially reliability.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

My ma has new Mini as I've mentioned.

She traded an MR2 in for it Andy.....


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2003)

Hi Mr Crowley

Dont worry about the new mini, its a sound motor. The main problem i found with the old mini was the engine/gear box arangement. In laymans terms then: A cars gearbox has very accurate pitch gears, layshafts, selector forks and other precsion engineered gubbins that has to run "just-so" for it to function correctly. These components all run in synthetic oil and the gearbox itself as a unit is pretty much sealed for life. It spins away minding it's own business and will last for many years. The engine on the other hand is a much more violent affair what with all that combustion and extream heat. The engine in gearbox in most cars run as seperate units with the engine requiring regular maintenance (oil and filter changes) and adjustment (tappets, clearances, belt tensioning etc). The engine has an oil sump which is where the oil sits and is picked up and thrown round the engine when it is spinning. The problem with the old mini is that the oil sump is infact the gearbox itself and it shares the engine oil. The gearbox sat under the engine to keep the car compact and still retain the front wheel drive layout where the gearbox would normally reside transversly in relation to the engine. So the engine wears, tiny burrs and shards of metal drop into the oil. Now the last thing you want is anything like that going round the gearbox. But thats exactly what happened in the older mini. All the crap off of the engine goes round and round the gearbox. In the short term the engine required regular servicing to keep the gearbox supplied with clean oil. And in the longer term premature gearbox wear was an issue. I remember a mini van i once had that had only done 40,000 miles and it just to jump out of second on a trailing throttle. This was dangerous to a degree because when the van was full of kit the engine was required for an amount of the breaking process (the weight of the engine internals creates extra inertia to slow the car). I had a fair few brown trouser experiences in that one. The other problem was the subframe. This just rotted like a pear in a matter of a few years. I ended up draining all the oil and rolling it onto its roof with the help of some big mates to change the subframe! Then along came the little metro or Rover 100 as it was later known. The engine arangement was kept virtually unchanged from the older car. These cars were very dangerous because there was precious little bulkhead material (the bit of pig iron that stops the engine from coming into the passenger compartment in a head-on). This basically meant that if you had a head-on at anymore than about 30 MPH you would almost certainly break all the bones in your feet, which would have been crushed by the weight of the engine on impact. The new mini is a totally different design. Opting for a totally seperate engine and gearbox with the gearbox next to the engine under the bonnet. Also, it has computer designed crumple zones which allow the body to crumple instead of the passenger compartment being distorted. So if anyone is running a metro or an old mini, sleep well







Sort of reminds me of the Ford Pinto saga in the US. The pinto was a small family car but the fuel tank was made from a plastic bag and it always ruptured even in the slightest rear end shunt. How badly burned you were depended on how stingy you were with filling the car up


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2003)

Oh and i'll translate Andy's bike speak for you Paul....



> I know what you mean about torque.
> 
> I came from the world of Japanese in line fours and the first thing I noticed about riding a big twin was it's ability to make decent progress without having to play tunes on the gearbox.
> 
> ...


Okay, torque is basically the low down pull of the engine. So when the engine isnt turning very quickly or at "low-revs" it produces somthing called peak torque. This is when the engine has most pulling power. This point can occur at anypoint through out the rev-range wheather it be 1500 Rpm or 9000Rpm. The modern looking superbikes you see burning round with bright decals and fairing usually have an in-line 4. This is a light, tight, highly strung (high-revving with all its power at high revs) engine with four cylinders in a row. With these bikes you need to keep the engine reving very fast to get the most out of them. IE you need to keep changing gear so that the engine doesnt go off the boil (drop below the power band, where the most power lies). Me and Andy both have twin cylinder bikes. Mine is a V twin so the cylenders are aranged in a Vee shape opposite to each other. Andy's BMW has a flat or "boxer" twin where it has 2 big cylinders that are horizontally opposite one another. Our bikes dont rev as high as 4 cylinder Japanese sports bikes (which typically rev to as high at 16,000 RPM!). Instead they have their power lower down in the rev-range. This means that to make the most of the power you dont have to "play tunes with the 'box" as Andy put it. You can just pick virtually any gear at any speed and the bike will just accelerate away without fuss. This is just us old buggers being too lazy to keep changing gear all the time. The bit at the end about keeping up with a Ducati in the corners and being left for dust on the straight is self explanatory. Appart from the bit about the Puch at the end. A Puch maxi is like a 50cc push-pedle-and-pop moped that handles like soap and just gets louder the more you open the throttle. You can tell i'm bored this evening cant you. The wifes gone out. Which means ive got nothing more to do than a pot-noodle and a wank.


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2003)

When i said the engine is turning very quickly at the start of my ramblings i meant slowly, but you knew that


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2003)

Lets get my post count up a bit more shall we. Green laning is where you ride like an ******** with someone else in a sort of race but on the road. It is best on little used country lanes where things get really tight. Its great fun and is actually not what kills most bikers. All the biker mates ive known that have been killed died because of prats in cars pulling out in front of them etc. Either that or oil on roundabouts that careless lorry drivers have left.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

I was referring to the old Mini.

The New Mini and the old one have only the name and a few subtle design cues in common.

In every other respect they are two totally different cars and I stand by my remarks.

Some people rave about them but I can only base my opinion on my personal experience.

The OLD Mini that I had was an unreliable, dangerous old pig.

The Metro was even worse.

The MR2 by comparison is undoubtably the best car I've owned.

It's twelve years old and has a relatively low 80000 miles up, of which 50000 have been covered by myself in the five years I've had it.

During that time the only thing that has let me down was the electric aerial that seized up one day a couple of years back and was cheaply replaced from a breaker.

It feels tight, responsive and even at it's ripe old age, still accelerates from 4500rpm like a cat with it's arse on fire.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Hi see you were busy as I was typin there G.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

Hi G

I'm too pissed to take all that in at the mo. I will read it tomorrow.

Told Andy as a a bit ago he was selling an MR2. Then i realised-different model.

You chaps who know about motors, here's the speil

My mum had an Mr2 Roadster. She's had 4 MRs bearin mind.

She took a test in the Mini, & bought it. She said it halved her payments, & it takes off as good as.

Make your own judgements. Watches are my passion now-apart from the woman sat on the sofa


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2003)

I was indeed Andy. Coincidence or just chance? Oh i love Mr2's. A cut above the MX5 in every sence. Mid engine, more grip, lighter and of course faster. Have you made any mods to yours? Ive driven a turbo before and that was mega.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

I see the problem about taking time to post-you get taken over


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2003)

Glad to hear your having a good evening Paul







Give my regards to Mrs Crowley.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Hi G

Was offered a Turbo but when I tried to insure it I was more ore less told to f**k off









I since joined the Mr2 CLUB who have an insurance scheme that would have been favourable but by that time I already had mine.

I think I made the right choice.

I had a good feeling about this car and my hunch was proven.

It's been totally there for me. Never let me down.


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## Andy (Feb 23, 2003)

Oh and regards your question about mods.

Nah.

I've fitted smart 17" alloys but resisted the temptation to lower the suspension and fit a "performance" exhaust.

It's no Ferrari but in this class, performance wise, it's very sorted, even by todays standards.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

If it goes faster than 4.5mph I envy all of you


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