KwAcKy's Konfessional |
|
|
Nothing of interest; just mindless links to bikes Birmingham City Football Club and useless junk  
  
|
22 October 2004
A milling of Milligan 
There was a young man from Blighty Who wore a transparent nightie The vicar said "Son. It's not really done. It's not wrong - but it's not rightie" So what's going down in my world? Georgie is coming up to 18 months old. That's flown by. She's entertaining but hard work (as all kids are). She's talking a bit now. She seems to understand a lot of what is said but obviously the replies are limited to "yesh" or "no". Unless you get a "Daddy, bike". She seems to think that anyone on a motorbike is her dad. Even when I'm standing next to her. Have to have a word with Mrs Kwacky ;-) She's still not sleeping very well. Probably wakes up twice in a night. We've tried everything, nothing seems to work long term. We'll get a couple of weeks were she'll sleep right through but that patten is soon broken. Can't work out why as we're not doing anything different. Same routine every night before she goes to bed. House goes on the market next week. Put an offer in on another property. Bog standard semi in Walsall but it's got a huge garden overlooking Walsall FC's training ground. If Brady puts the price of season tickets up again next year I may become a Saddler ;-) There's a massive garage to the side and the current owners have planning permission and designs for a 1 bedroom self sufficient granny flat to be built over it. That'll have to go on the back burner, when we move we'll have little in the way of cash. High property prices are fine if you dn't have to buy a property. If people are using a large part of their income on paying the mortgage, that means little cash for other goods and services. They has to be a knock on effect soon. The plan is still to buy a new bike when we move, I'll just have to make sure there's enough money to go round once the financiers, surveyors, lawyers, estate agents, movers etc have all had their cut. Have some links How I paid for College Angry White Boy Polka The Ebay Song And let's not leave out I love Egg 17 October 2004
Julian Gray gave Ronaldo a torrid time at St Andrews. So effective was Gray at left back that Gray made Ronaldo look like the poorer player. Chants of "ladyboy" rang out as Fergie realised his future star player was being kept out of the game by two players who between them could one day help solve that troublesome left hand side for England. More later. I need some food :-) 12 October 2004
2004 Daytona 600 v 2001 Triumph Sprint RS 
I'm kidding, I'm not going to do a full write up on both bikes. I've just taken a Daytona 600 ("D6") for a test ride. I'm thinking of getting a sportsbike but I'm worried about the loss of torque that the in-line 955i triple has. The Sprint is an easy bike to ride. In any gear you just crack open the throttle and she responds with instant drive, which is great for commuting which is where I spend most of my time on the bike. The more upright position gives an excellent viewpoint for when you're weaving through the traffic and the loud thump of the triple via a carbon or titanium race can means people often hear you before they see you. That's another thing I'm worried about - that sweet sweet triple sound versus the harsh and howling rasp of an inline 4 cylinder 600 sportsbike. I dropped my bike off for an MOT and took the keys for the D6. Yellow with the Union Flag on the front cockpit. Many people think the D6 is too angular but photos hide the softness of the edges. The tank is designed to make sure your legs are snug up to the bike and the seat is large and roomy for a sportsbike. The position is obviously much sportier than the RS but you're not flung forward like most sports bikes. This gives you the impression that you're sitting in the bike rather than perched on top of it. But, if you do want to be that pretend racetrack god then the pegs and seat allow you to stand on the pegs and ride it jockey style, with all of your weight through the legs. I rode the bike for just over an hour - through twisties and traffic and at no point did I get any wrist ache. The heart and lungs of any motorcycle is its engine and the Daytona’s 599cc liquid-cooled four-cylinder motor pumps out plenty of power. The target output – 112PS (110bhp) – was reached but not at the expense of driveability and, by utilising Keihin twin-butterfly EFI throttle bodies and 32 bit processor, throttle response is razor sharp and precise. The lightweight exhaust system is made from 1.2mm thin wall steel tube and is of a 4-2-1-2-1 design with header lengths tuned to suit the intake system, head porting and combustion chamber shape. Peak power arrives at 12,750rpm. Peak torque, 68Nm (50.5ft.lbf), is delivered at 11,000 rpm. The RS has about 108 bhp at the back wheel, coming in at about 7800 rpm and torque is 65 ft/lb at about 5000 rpm. It's been a long time since I saw 11,000 on a speedo and it took some getting used to. The engine spins up quickly and the rate of rise through the revs is rapid. The demo bike had the standard can on so it's hard to pass judgement on the noise, but there was a strong hint of Banshee from about 8,000 revs. I can imagine it wouldn't be too difficult to see 144 mph appear quickly on the clock if you knew a deserted dual carriageway just outside Birmimingham. I also believe that at 144mph you could snick the bike up another gear as the engine might possibly sound like it's not even working hard. Handling was sublime. The bike moves quickly but with confidence; there's no sudden falling on its side or twitchy turns. I've read a lot about the handling and all of it was good. No surpise. This really is one of those bikes that can be ridden well by the inexperienced. The suspension felt good although the front was a little harsh on the city roads. The front 43mm cartridge forks use single-rate springs. All fork internals – rods, cartridges and fixings – are made from aluminium and the forks are adjustable for spring preload, compression and rebound damping. The lightweight rear shock is also adjustable for spring preload, compression and rebound damping. If the rear shock is good enough for Jim Moody in a BSS race then it's good enough for me. Triumph offer their usual high standards when it comes to the brakes. Twin braided hoses come as standard and the bike stops strongly without pitching you over the bars (although a wee stoppie was possible without much effort ;-) ) In traffic the fuelaing was tested. The bike felt a little snatchy below 6000 revs and doing some roll on tests showed a hole at about 5000 - 5500 rpm. I'm sure that can be ironed out with a can and re-map. I had fun. I was surprised how well the bike behaved in traffic. There's a decent amount of torque there so I didn't get frustrated when filtering. The bike looks good and the quality of the demo bike was sound. There's no bling such as USD forks, radial brakes or a tracksuit paint job but the brakes and suspension felt top quality so I doubt you would notice any difference. If I did buy this bike then the only thing I would do is change the can for no other reason than aural pleasure. I dropped the bike off and had a chat with the salesman. Then I took the keys for my bike and rode home. The RS is very underrated. That ride home was just as spirited and exciting as the D6 ride but the biggest difference has to be the handling. The RS was never designed to win races. The Daytona 600 can and does.  06 October 2004
War Pigs 
British army soldiers stand next to the coffin of British Army soldier, Corporal Marc Taylor, from the Royal Horse Artillery Regiment on October 5, 2004 at Basra Air Station, Iraq. The coffins of Corporal Marc Taylor and Gunner David Lawrence from the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers were flown to RAF Brize Norton on a Royal Air Force Hercules after a ceremony at Basra Air Station. Corporal Taylor and Gunner Lawrence were killed in an ambush on September 28, 2004 in the outskirts of Basra. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images) Generals gathered in their masses just like witches at black masses evil minds that plot destruction sorcerers of death's construction in the fields the bodies burning as the war machine keeps turning death and hatred to mankind poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah! Politicians hide themselves away they only started the war Why should they go out to fight? They leave that role to the poor Time will tell on their power minds Making war just for fun Treating people just like pawns in chess Wait 'till their judgement day comes, yeah! I was going to post about the announcement that the Iraq Survey Group reports Iraq had no stockpiles of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons before the US-led invasion, but it seems petty when you consider the lives that have so far been lost in Iraq as a result of the invasion. 04 October 2004
Player Ratings Taylor - mixed performance - 6 Clapham - should have been rested - 6 Upson - first goal for Blues made up for earlier error - 7 Cunningham - rare glimpses of his previous self - 6 Melchiot - gaining in confidence - 7 Gronks - showed aggression and tenacity but final ball is sometimes lacking - 7 Dunn - boy have we missed this bloke - 9 Savage - played some nice football - 7 Izzet - looked sharp and linked well with Dunn - 7 DJ - got into good space but failed to use it - 6 Heskey - injured after 5 minutes Yorke - Well taken goal and good play with Dunn - 8 Clemence - added little - 6 Gray - on for all of 5 seconds Emile Heskey was taken off due to an ankle injury. An injury he had before the game started. So what did Bruce do? He not only stuck him on the pitch he used him as the only striker. Baffling. The silver lining from Heskey's early bath was the player Bluenoses feel uneasy about supporting - Dwight Yorke. Ex-villa and another Sourness reject, Yorke and Dunn ran the show up front. Newcastle looked rattled each time Dunn had the ball - and rightly so. Dunn, if fit, will be Blues' best player of the season. No question. Despite his bulky appearance, the lad is light on his feet, quick footed and quick thinking and a danger going forward. His foresight is second to none at St Andrews and with a seasoned pro like Yorke ahead of him the goals we've lacked might finally arrive. Both Dunn and Yorke were slagged off by Sourness for living the high life. So what? What would most single blokes earning more in a week than most in a year do? So long as they train as hard as the rest of the team and put in 100% when Saturday comes (or whichever time off time Sky kindly allows us to play footie) then let them get on with it. Bruce has to start thinking ahead. Our 4-5-1 formation showed our intent and Newcastle soon pulled it apart. We've got an established partnership in Gronkjaer and Melchiot being ripped up just so Damien Johnson can start. Bollocks to that. When Izzet was injured Bruce could have switched Gronks over to the right, stuck DJ in the middle and placed Gray on the left. The Newcastle defence has more holes in it than Internet Explorer and with Gronks, Gray and Dunn all pushing up, there would have been plenty of food at the table for Yorke to feast on. And don't play just one up front. Certainly not at home. |
