rabbitstew

Yeah that exhaust looks extremely low. Mine used to very nearly touch the rear bumper where the tailpipes came out.

Yep they have been since I sold mine 4 years back. I lost 7000quid in 18 months on mine , but since then the prices seem to have remained solid. Sods law really!

Love the plate "Blobby H" !

When I buy a house, my number 1 criteria over nearly everything else is that it has to have a double garage, or at least room where I can build one. Its amazing how few houses actually meet that criteria these days. Saying that, I never park my car in the garage, just leave it on the drive. Garage is full with my project car, motorbikes & my gym!

Depends on which 350z you are moving "up" from. I found back to back driving comparing my 350z HR against a 370z I preferred my 350z. The 370z just didnt feel as quick or as responsive to drive and certainly nowhere near as much fun. After an extended 3 day test drive of the 370z I just gave it back and kept my 350z. I personally found the 370z looked narrower and longer due to the styling (whereas in reality its the other way around!) compared to the 350z and I preferred the stance/looks of the 350z HR. What I did love about the 370z was the interior and the multimedia / sat nav system. The whole interior was a much better place to be, loads more up-to-date. All personal preferences really! And im sure if you were jumping up from a 276bhp older Zed to the 370z you`d notice a massive difference. But in my case, from an 313HR to the 370 it wasnt really worth it.

Some good advice here. Ive been a biker for 20 years now, currently have an R1, a Ducati 996 and a ZX7R in my garage. Ive schooled loads of mates who decided to get bikes after seeing mine and despite how much advice and guidance I give them, they nearly all crash within the first year. Baring that in mind, I would definitely recommend getting an older second hand bike. You can get a hell of a bike now for 2->3k. Personally id go for an older 600. I used to have a 1998 ZX6R many years ago whilst my ZX7R was off the road and that was a perfect first bike. In fact 2 of my mates had the same bike as their first bike and got on really well with it. The riding position wasnt as extreme as most sports bikes, it looked great and it was easy to ride. It was quick enough and had a really nice big smooth power delivery. I found it handled well and was great value for money. Ive not checked what they go for these days, but id guess they would be well below the 2k mark. An older CBR600 is another great bike like that. When you get onto the GSXR600`s & R6`s etc, I found they do have a higher power band and a bit more extreme riding position and so are not as easy to ride. When I learnt, the first bike you went for was a 250cc. Then after a while you`d maybe upgrade to a 400cc bike, then a 600cc, then after a few years maybe a 750. Its worth noting now that the typical new 600cc bike now has more power than a 1000cc bike had back in the day and so these people jumping straight onto a 600cc bike now, its like me passing my test back in the day and jumping straight onto a FZR1000 or something. So why does everyone seem to crash in the first year of having a bike? I find its a mixture of lack of confidence in the bikes abilities and not being experienced enough in reading other drivers reactions/road conditions. Any fool can accelerate fast on a bike, but not everyone knows how far they can lean the bike over or how fast you can take certain corners, how to read the road or how to flick the bike from one way to another quickly etc. When I used to go out with mates for a ride out id always say to them not to try and keep up with the faster guys. The guys in front would always keep one eye on whose behind them, and every so often slow down and let everyone catch up. But, people get carried away and push themselves beyond their ability. A bit like on track days. When I used to work with the California Superbike School, you`d loose count of the number of guys who`d crash on the first bend. People tend to overcook it coming into the bend, and have no confidence in how far over you can actually lean the bike, so panic, brake and the bike just stands itself up and you go straight on off the road/track. Had they just leaned the bike over a bit more and not panic`d the chances are they would have made the bend perfectly fine. You are much better off, going into the bend slowly, getting a feel for how far you can lean over - getting to know your bike, and powering out. You will be surprised at how far you can lean it over. It will take a good few months and a lot of miles before you do get the confidence and start to understand your bike. Ive had my R1 now for 14 years and know it like its just an extension of my body. I know exactly what gears to be in, and am confident enough on it that I can "press on" on roads im not overly familiar with, knowing I can brake/flick it around any surprise bends like its a 125. My 996 on the other hand, ive only had that 3 years, and even though im an experienced biker I am no where near as confident on it and am still nowhere near knowing its limits. The other key thing besides rider confidence is road awareness. Assume every other driver will try to kill you. Never assume that they have seen you. Even if you have eye contact with them. Ive mentioned on here before, but even when im driving my car, im looking about 3 or 4 cars ahead to see what people are doing. For example, the guy 2 cars ahead has just looked over his left shoulder. He`s not indicating, but that head movement usually means he is about to turn left. The lorry in the left hand land, he`s going faster than the one up ahead, he`s also got foreign plates on, so chances are its LHD and he`ll pull straight out in front of me as he might not see me in his blind spot. That Nissan Micra in the LH land at the roundabout up ahead is being driven by Miss Marple, shes doing 1mph in 1st. Chances are she will turn right at the roundabout and is in the wrong lane. etc. etc. Its stuff like this you soon learn. Id also recommend getting as many miles in on your own on your bike. No matter how level headed you are, once you get out with mates, the competitive edge comes into play and its so easy to push yourself beyond your abilities. Besides the bike, dont forget to factor in cost of leathers/lid/gloves/boots etc. When I first past my test, I went out and spent nearly 2 grand on the best Dianese/Arai/Alpine Stars gear I could get. Now adays, I bought my last set of leathers off ebay. 2nd hand, same as the £1500 Dianese race suit I got, but only £200 second hand. Fitted a treat. Same with gloves & boots. If you know your size, just buy 2nd hand. One item I would never buy 2nd hand though is the helmet. Always get a new one, and try a few on as they all fit slightly differently. Good luck!

Nice looking car, not one I recognise on here.

I know a guy who works at Google in San Franciso. From what he said, they pay very low wages compared to other companies as they know people want to have "worked for google" on their CV. Like a lot of big companies they try and turn the work environment into somewhere where you dont need to leave and can work longer hours. So, he said that people tend to get their at the crack of dawn, have breakfast there, meetings then lunch and evening meal there etc. They seem to only go home to sleep. He does get the opportunity to travel though and has just come back from spending some time in Asia at one of Googles other sites. Oh, and he gets to trial some of the google gadgets etc before they are released!

You're going to have to rest it mate. And keep it supported with an elbow brace. It'll help. Get some diclofenac gel too and apply every day. I had the same problem after I got sloppy with technique once. I'm ot saying your technique is flawed. Just that it can happen. Rest is needed. Yeah I know what you mean about technique. After pulling a neck muscle many years back doing shoulder presses and also tearing a lower back muscle doing bad deadlifts once im religious about form over weight now, as its just not worth the hassle & lay off from training if you injure yourself through being sloppy. The only thing I can think is that 2 days before it started hurting I was really pushing the rows very heavy. Maybe I tweaked the forearm then, but it seems strange it only started hurting a couple of days later. If its not better by new year i`ll see about seeing someone and see what they say. Until then i`ll just take it steady and use lighter weights etc. Gives me chance to concentrate on squats/legs more! Cheers on the diclofenac gel suggestion, i will get some. At the same time? mad!!

Anyone else ever get "golfers elbow" (not that i ever play golf) or some sort of tendentious in their forearm? Ive never had it before, but have been suffering from it for about 3 weeks now. Its like in your inside elbow. It has stopped me from doing any pull ups or heavy curls and ive no idea why ive suddenly suffering from it, as ive not done any heavy curls/rows or anything you`d have thought might have caused it. It seemed to just startup one day and thats it. Its not affecting bench/shoulder presses and things like that - it just tingles a bit after, but nothing too bad. And I can still do some dumbell curls if im careful with the angle I hold the weight. Deadlifts are fine unless I try to use an alternate grip on the affected arm. Very frustrating though, as it doesnt seem to be getting any better. Ive just borrowed an elbow sleeve to see if that helps at all as I cant bring myself not to entirely rest it for weeks on end.

Unfortunately thats just the way it is. Dealers will normally give you 25% less than they will put the car on the forecourt for. Privately, you might be able to get 10->15% more than what they are offering, but then you have the hassle of advertising, being there for people to view, and then never knowing how long it will take to sell. In the end, you may have to end up dropping the price to nearly the same as the part ex price anyway in order to get a quick sale. When I part ex`d my 2007 HR Roadster 3 years back to a dealer they gave me £9k for it. It had every optional extra you could get, had full history, 40k on the clock and was absolutely mint. Id even just put new tyres on it, new brake pads and got it MOT`d. They put it up for about £13k and struggled to sell it. In the end it went to a couple of different dealers before it finally sold. I spoke to the new owner afterwards and apparently they had to fit a complete new roof on it before the new owner would part with his cash. (god knows what they did as the roof was mint when I had it). I initially felt robbed at £9k but after seeing the hassle the dealer had trying to sell the car and the amount of cash they outlayed in order to finally move it, it made me feel a bit better and it also meant I could jump straight into my new car without any hassle.

First time ive seen that colour and your right, it looks awesome!!!

Ha, I usually do exactly that and never had any problems until this year. I sorted the wifes car insurance out a few months back, then about a week later get a letter saying they have cancelled my insurance due to suspicious fraud activity detected. I called up and after much discussion with their fraud team it transpired that whilst they did have my correct phone number, they also had the one I used on confused.com to prevent spam callers which was 01234 567890 and apparently they had linked that with about 2000 insurance estimates/policies which triggered their suspicious activity monitor. Despite me confirming all my details and pointing out clearly they had my correct phone number already, I still then had to send through loads of evidence to them to prove both myself & my wifes details/address etc before they would re-instate the car insurance.

!!!!! thats not good!

I have one in my shed. I shattered my passengers side on on a pheasant, so bought a pair. Only ever used the passenger side one. Let me have a look when I get home and see if I can find it. Its for the HR.

Looks like ideal time to fit de-cats and an after market exhaust on that r8 whilst its upside down - all looks nicely accessible compared to when the car is the right way around!.

As above, the joys of arguing with insurance companies. I remember when my brothers car was written off, they offered him £1500 for the first offer. We sent back adverts from garages showing that to buy the same make/model/spec with same mileage etc you were looking at more like £5500. They didnt question it and immediately increased the offer to £5500. It a shame really that they always try it on like this. I guess there must be some people who would just take the first offer. With regards to buying the car back, for me it would depend on what price they want for it. If its a bargain, then id be tempted to buy it back and break if for spares. When my last car was written off, the insurance company said I could keep it for free, so I ebayed it and got a nice bit of cash for it. As others have said I certainly wouldnt bother trying to fix it up and get it running again.

Make sure he`s insured on it. Keep hold of the cash whilst he`s out on the bike. Make it clear if he crashes or damages the bike then he`s just bought it. Id possibly get a copy of his driving license and get him to sign something to say he was riding the bike when he was, in case a speeding ticket arrives a few weeks later. Amazingly when I bought my Ducati 996 the other year, the seller happily let me take it out for a test ride without checking anything or even wanting any cash. For all he knew that could have been the last he saw of it.

They werent just for the Roadsters. They were an optional extra on top of the GT pack. On my 2007, if you went for the GT pack you got the black leather seats and you could pay an extra £600 (I think it was) to go for either the Frost Grey/Blue or the Alezan Orange. Both are an acquired taste, so a lot of people didnt bother. Where the Roadster seats are different is that they are vented, so the seat back has like a fishnet style material rather than being solid like on the coupes. On the early cars they did, the bottom of the steering wheel was also colour matched to the seats, but on the later ones they didnt bother. So you had the alezan seats, gear knob and handbrake but not the steering wheel. With regards to this particular car, make sure the hood in general works okay. They have a tendency to get stuck half way down.

Tough one really. Either way, one of you will have to swap your car for a 4 seater if you ever want to all go out in the car together. Im fortunate that my wife needs a 4 seater for work purposes, so it was her car we got shot of and got a 4 seater "family" car, which meant I could have whatever I wanted really. In the end I went for a 4 seater coupe, as its handy to have another 4 seater as a backup in case we ever need it. Also, I didnt want to have a baby seat stuck on the passengers seat perminantly. Its much easier to just leave it in the back of the car 24/7 rather than either leaving it on the passengers seat or having to keep putting it in/out all the time when im dropping the little one off at nursery in the week. Ive been considering changing my car for the last few months, and needing a 4 seater for a baby seat is causing me some pain as it is limiting the choice of car I can go for.

129mph! eeeeek.

Welcome, im an ex Peterborough boy myself, lived there most of my life until I moved away a few years back.

I use the Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel stuff. Spray it on and work it in with the supplied brush if you have any hard to get places. Leave until it looks like your wheels are bleeding then hose or jetwash off. Gets rid of all the muck/fallout/iron particles etc off my wheels. Then I just wash them using same wash as i use on my car. Once dry I then seal with FK1000 wax and that protects them nicely until next time I wash. At the moment I only get the spare time to wash my car once every month and i find the above seems to protect them & keep them looking like new.