rabbitstew

When my front tyres were getting low I found my 313 HR was all over the shop, especially on roads around town. The steering felt really horrible, the car was trying to follow the camber of the road. Once I had new tyres fitted, the difference was amazing. I went for the same make/model (falken 452) tyres so it was just old tyres vs new.

^^^^^^^ thats mad. Thats the sort of thing you see on some of these USA stunt biker videos. Didnt realise that sort of thing went on over here!

They certainly were. I missed the game as Thomas the Tank Engine took priority on our home theatre TV, (Thomas did sound great chuffing up the mountain on a 50" screen with 7.1 surround sound). I switched over with about 5 mins to go on the game, and the bookies were offering Wales at 5-1 and reckoned England would win. So, I stuck a cheeky fiver on Wales to win, and within 3 mins they had. Wish id stuck more on now!

Depreciation eally depends on which year you buy and whether you buy / sell privately or through a dealer. When I bought my 2007 HR GT Roadster, it was just 4 years old and £16k at a dealer. I sold it 18 months later later as a part ex to a dealer and he gave me £9k for it. Car was fully loaded, had nearly every option, new tyres, full mot etc. So that worked out at about £6k a year in depreciation. Looking at the prices now, depreciation seems to have stopped, or reduced greatly on the cars once they get below £10k value. I still see HR zeds advertised for around the £9k mark so had I kept my zed, depreciation over the last 3 years would probably have been very little. Certainly nowhere near as bad as both the first 4 years of the cars life, and the 18 months I owned it. With regards to fuel. It really depends on how many miles you intend to do. In my case I was spending about £450 a month on fuel for my zed as I used it as a daily commuting car. The diesel car which replaced it, is twice as economical and my monthly fuel bill is now down to about £250. But in the greater scheme of things, that's only a couple of grand a year, certainly nowhere near as much as the depreciation cost!

Except lycra clad cyclists it would seem.

I see what you mean. But mind you, I certainly wouldnt follow any car closely through twisties, as if they brake suddenly then id have nowhere to go. On a bike you never really need to brake hard at all, I just back off a bit, chuck the bike into the bend and around it I go, then power out of it. My R1 is a 99 model so same engine as the 98 one, and I can confirm its quick. Ive not found any newer bike quicker than it on my local roads yet hence ive kept this R1 now for 14 years. Ive not had it flat out, but when you floor it, it takes off like a space rocket and just doesnt stop. It keeps going & going until you get to the point where you think "fook me, id better back of the throttle now!" You can hit 160 very quickly without even thinking.

Guess it will depend on the biker & the driver. Theres some great bendy roads near where I live and I know for a fact I am miles quicker on them on my bikes than I am in any of my cars. I find on the bike I can just change lines mid corner, flick it from left to right without even thinking. My bike seems to brake from xxx mph down to nothing instantly and on the other side will get to xxx figures without even thinking (115mph in 2nd gear). The other day on the way home from work I actually thought id push same bends as hard as I could in my car. I thought I was really pushing the envelope (cue topgun music) as it felt really quick and I felt I was not far off the road/car limit. Then I looked at the speedo and realised I was a good 30->40mph slower than I would be on the bike around the same bends. I tread to think what sort of car id need to match the bike and feel as quick & agile around those bends, certainly would probably cost more than the £2k an R1 like mine costs.

I had a K1 on my HR roadster and the noise was very loud. I had the baffles in too. Measured 105db inside the cabin. I found at 70mph the drone & noise was horrendous, but at 80mph it seemed to get a bit more acceptable. As a side note I have a full race termignoni exhaust system on my ducati and find that perfectly acceptable, so I dont mind a loud exhaust but the K1 I had was shocking!

If you look under back of car you can see that its not really suitable for a tow bar. Not seen any done.

From my experience most bikers are far more observant than car drivers. Its something which is drilled into you when you learn to ride and once you get out on a bike its a kinda self protection mode you automatically get into. Your constantly looking around you and doing "life savers" like the guy in the video clip whenever you change lanes. When im riding, im predicting what is happening 3 or 4 car lengths ahead as well as around me. Your watching the road, the cars, the drivers, the lights, everything as you automatically assume every driver is out to kill you. For example, if I spot the guy in the car up ahead look over his left shoulder, you can usually assume he is about to turn left, so id keep well behind him. I think the "think bike" campaign is or was aimed to try and make car drivers as alert as bikers. I know that as a biker im much more alert as a car driver than I was before I became a biker. Sure, there are idiot bikers out there, I see them all the time. And as a biker, it annoys me beyond belief as I know what the consequences can be and they should know better!

As a biker, from my perspective, the biker just filtered through the traffic to the front. You can see the gap between the lorries in the LH lane and the cars in the middle lane is a bit tight. Personally I wouldnt want to squeeze through there. Whereas the RH is clear and the gap between the Evo and the car on the left is a nice size. The biker filtered safely to the front ready to pull off when the lights changed. The roads look damp and the bike certainly isnt giving it any stick by any means. 1st gear on my bikes, even in the dry is next to useless as it will just wheelie. So in the damp im even more careful when accelerating from a standing start. It looks like the biker accelerates off just fast enough to make sure he is clear off the traffic so he can take the slip road. The sliproad is a way further up so he has plenty of time to safely make sure he is clear off the traffic and moved into the LH lane. Mr Evo on the other hand, he was definitely in the wrong lane, he`s in the RH lane, then cuts across the biker over the chevrons on the bend before loosing it. It was just pure luck no cars, bikers or anyone else was waiting to come out of the junction he span into.

Check the hood works fully. The hoods have a tendancy to stick half way whilst opening. Closing it slightly, then reopening can help it get by the sticking point. The manual actually says dont use the hood if the temperature outside is less than something like 8 degrees. Inside the car, look above your head at the metal supports which go from side to side under the hood. On mine, the metal around the one above my head started to peel away from the support member. Other than that, check the usual things such as how much brake pads are left, tyre tread, does it need a service soon, any advisories on the MOT etc.. and use them as negociation points. The front bumpers are very prone to stone chips, so dont be surprised if thats been resprayed - pretty normal.

tbh, if you have a gut feeling which says something isnt right then I would walk. It might all be fine and legit, but that gut feeling is something I usually listen to. Must be plenty of others out there? With regards to the HPI finance thing, it can be a nightmare. I bought a motorbike once which flagged as having finance on it. I phoned up the finance company and they confirmed to me that the finance was on the old owner, and not the bike, and the old owner had cleared it all off. But, even 10 years later, HPI still were showing that it had finance on it. Nightmare.

Interestingly, this last 2 years when my BMW 123d has been for its MOT, its emissions have been so low that the machine has actually been unable to measure them. The garage actually put it down as an advisory?! on my certificate. Wonder if BMW have used something similar?!

Spotted this morning, heading towards Cambridge on A428 near Cambourne, grey 350z coupe. Had square plates so probably an import. Private plate T* GAK. Looked like it had clear front indicators as well!

Hot hatches & sports cars are completely different markets so I dont see any issues. There will always be those people who want the practicality of a sporty hatchback and there will always be those people who want a sleek 2 seater RWD sports car.

I can sympathise with the OP. My folks live out that way and their internet speed has only recently improved from 2mb to 6mb. And 4g for them isnt an option as they dont even get 3g. I have to go down the bottom of their garden and hold my phone in the air just to get a signal!

Looking awesome!

^^^^ this. My 2007 HR was the higher tax bracket and whilst it pained me forking out £500 a year just to drive it, it was nothing compared the £4000 a year in depreciation my car had during the time I had it.

Lovely colour! Good luck with the sale. £9600 is quite a good trade in price.

I was on the a428 again this morning, but I didnt join until the other side of st neots (I cut through st neots today as a1 was screwed south past it). Didnt see you, but did wonder if you were about! Next time I see you i`ll flash you. Will be a black bmw 1 series coupe!

Funniest thing I ever saw at the gym when I used to not train at home, was these 3 lads doing bench press. One guy was laying there on the bench struggling to push up 100lb barbell. His mate was standing over top of him, pulling the barbell up like he was doing rows. And 3rd guy was standing to one side screaming "come on john, you can do it....". Me & my mate just stopped our workout and watched in amazement. It was touch & go at one point as matey doing the row was struggling to lift it and the guy on the bench was struggling to get the weight up. Eventually after nearly killing the poor guy lying on the bench, they managed to get the barbell in the rack safely, before lots of back slapping & praising. Then, do our amazement, they loaded another 20lb to the bar and off they went again.....

I was reading about this earlier. Its a shame but just the way things go I guess - same as M3 / M5 etc... One thing they did say though is that they may still do NA limited edition cars in the future, which I expect they still will do if they can get them through the emissions etc. as they will probably go the same way as the GT3 / RS etc. It will be interesting to see what effect it has on the prices of 911`s. If all 911`s are now turbo`d (okay different turbo to the 911 turbo), I expect tuning companies will have a field day with remapping them - which might make buying a 991.2 Carrera turbo a much more attractive prospect price wise over buying a 991.2 turbo.

Damn, i saw this thread pop up again and eagerly opened it expecting an update on what happened only to find nothing... Maybe he`s still inside clink?

Also check the condition of the aux drive belt which is right at the front of the engine on the HR. Mine used to shred the belt every 20k, even though Nissan checked all the pulleys etc. Also when checking the history see if you can find out if its had things like plugs done as they should have been changed on the HR model by now. Think it was something like 6 years or 60k which ever comes first.