Used car buying advice

[Bob Williams]

From Wiki:

” Diana
The first production Ducati 250 debuted at the Milan Fair in April 1961. It was called the Diana but for some unknown reason was renamed as Daytona in the UK. The 250 was so popular that in 1963 Ducati introduced the Diana Mark 3 Super Sport ”

I have only just come back online after CT and MRI scans and a rough time at hospital last night, didn’t get home until after 10 pm.

I actually gave no dates for when I bought the bike, just “before going to sea” which was 1962. It should have been a Daytona in the UK, but was badged as a Diana. That was due to buying it from a bloke in Oxford, who was the son of a wealthy family. He was told to get rid of it after he had it imported and it cost his parents a lot of money in (pre-Common Market) import duties. My big bro saw it in his bike mag and between us we bought it. I had it trained up to Nottingham and was supposed to wait for bro to come and pick me up, carry it home in his mate’s Bedford van. I passed him going the other way, riding with no tax or insurance and got the rowlocking of my life back home. Might have been the first one in the UK, I don’t know. All I know is that I loved that bike, like I said it was a lighter blue than the pic. It’s almost 60 years ago now, but riding it stays in my memory.

Some relevant Ducati stuff from the horse’s mouth ” è di fonte sicura ”

https://tinyurl.com/qoxusfr

Never was a biker after I sold the Ducati, began buying four wheels after that.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[Les.]

Bob, that is interesting about it being imported. A bit unusual. I stand corrected under these special circumstances.

You were lucky in more ways than one. My 200SS was what was referred to in the service manual as a “pre-modification” unit.I had a clutch casting BREAK off between centre and main part — Pre-mod. Sheared K/S gears, -pre-mod (though they were still bad later on. Wheels became “wonky” and had to be respoked with new rims — Ducati used thin spokes and alignment washers instead of thick ones, so with the VERY powerful brakes, they just got pulled seamrent. So many problems, but it sucked me in for life,  and still got me!

Les.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

They went through a fair few mods with the Mini gearbox to get it right. Type A gears, Type B gears, Full synchro gears and finally the type fitted to the rod change box’s. You also had “Magic Wand”, Remote change and Rod change gear linkages. They had 3 goes at the inboard drive shaft coupling before they got it right too.

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

They finally got it right for the launch of the 1275 GT in 1972 and they transferred that setup to the Metro where it stayed until they replaced the A series with a K series 😁

[Bob Williams]

Graham, you have the Mini story down, were you in the Trade? I lost count of the number of times I replaced a leaking Mini rod seal, where it enters the box. Eventually I tried just tapping another new seal on top of the old leaking one, with an old socket . I did this for free, providing the customer came back whenever she could, to let me check it. 2 years, 2 MOT’s and maybe 4 services* later, it was not leaking. I did that with every Mini we worked on after that. The only one which that did not work for, was an auto box. However, that customer was a widow who only had that car after starting to drive and passing her test at 71! She swapped it for an auto box Escort that I found for her, still driving that until 87, when she gave up.

I will always remember the Mini coming out: Summer 1959. I was on a school trip at Innsbruck, Austria and reading a full page advert in the Daily Express. “Austin 7” and “Morris Mini” iircc. A story all about Sir Alec Issigonis on the next page. Actually I preferred the Hillman Imp, but that’s another story, when I rallied a Chamois in later years as an amateur.

*That customer was a travelling sales rep for a UPVC company, drove many miles in that Mini, always had it serviced every 6,000 miles.

Les, no worries mate, I had to dredge my memory and unfortunately photos of my own Ducati were lost in Germany, along with photos and letters from my former family. Frau BitchMeister burned the lot. I should never had kept them anywhere but at my parents’, but you know how it goes: “Dad had one of these, kids!”

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[PlaneMan]

Suzuki have ‘launched’ the hybrid Swift Sport.

And it’s heavier and slower than my 2018 version. Also not a proper hybrid.

IMO they’ve messed up badly, should have gone proper hybrid, maybe using the 1.0 Turbo from my SZ-T Swift and a decent motor and battery combo.

Done me a favour though, I have no desire to own the new version. Nothing else fits so well with my needs so I’m keeping my car for a good while.

Might also be worth some £££ in a few years, last of the petrol versions. Not counting on that, that’s daft.

[PlaneMan]

There’s a new Suzuki dealership just opened. :yahoo:

Luckily it’s even closer to me than the old one was (3-5 minutes in the car, the old one was 5-10 minutes) and it’s now under the White Dove group which already have Seat and Skoda dealerships right next to each other. Suzuki backs onto the overflow car park of the Seat dealership.

That’s going to save me a 40+ minute round trip when I need servicing done.

[PlaneMan]

Can anyone recommend any wiper blades? Mine all have little  nicks in them so need replacing soon.

On my previous Swifts I used Bosch but they wore out quickly and were only OK.

I don’t mind paying for quality but I also don’t like being ripped off.

T.I.A

[The Duke]

I’ve always just got Halfords own.

I need to change my rear one tbh, it’s the factory one, but it’s always been crap, always “judders”. Makes a racket and doesn’t shift all the water.  I won’t ever change it, but I should.

[PlaneMan]

Thanks.

The local Halfords isn’t open yet.

I think the one about 6 miles away is. Will check later.

 

[Dave Rice]

Got our last lot for the Zafira in Tescos, no idea of the brand (doubt it was Tescos own) and they were fine.

Bought some for the Meriva in Trago Mills last time we were down in Cornwall. I can’t remember what they are either but I’m fitting them over the weekend, so if you can hang on.

[PlaneMan]

I can wait a while Dave.

TBH they’ve been needing a change for a few weeks but with everything else going on it keeps slipping my memory.

Nice one.

[Dave Rice]

They’re Wipac Storm X blades. Not been in the rain yet but they operate smoothly on a dry screen.

I’ve seen some reviews that say the adaptors are a bit flimsy, I didn’t think so. There’s a universal base that clips onto the blade first then a car specific one clips onto that. They were hard work the fit was so tight and fitted snugly into the wiper arm.

[PlaneMan]

Nice one Dave, thanks.

[PlaneMan]

Ended up getting some Vipa blades, complete set.

Got them from Amazon as they were in stock, came this morning and fitted with minimal faffing about. They seem to be really good, OFC time will tell but at least they came before the rain did. :good:

[Dave Rice]

You should now be in the middle of the downpour we just had. If you were out that would have given them a good workout.

[JayCeeDee]

Dave Rice wrote:

You should now be in the middle of the downpour we just had. If you were out that would have given them a good workout.

 

We’ve been needing a good downpour for this last week – it was forecast for light rain or showers, but they hardly materialised. Had the sprinkler on the lawns for a couple of hours each over the last few days, I can see that again for the coming week!!

[Bob Williams]

Looks like the East is getting the worst weather, big change, for months now the West has had the worst of it. Here it is either raining or misty, a downpour yesterday and not likely to get better for a while. Throughout the first weeks of May we were able to visit our quiet beaches.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[PlaneMan]

Dave Rice wrote:

You should now be in the middle of the downpour we just had. If you were out that would have given them a good workout.

We had it Dave, lightning as well though I didn’t hear any thunder. Lasted maybe half an hour.

[Bob Williams]

We were supposed to get it but missed it and swapped it for a beautiful. warm, sunny Saturday. Walked ~ 3 miles along the coastal path, took our son a birthday card, spent a lovely afternoon and evening in our daughter’s beautiful garden, with the wall painting of a cherry tree that she did herself. Since the lockdown she has been concentrating on the garden big time. It’s a house that extends about 500 yards into farmland, with a view over empty countryside. Bees were buzzing around me as I sat in the corner of 3 bushes. A blackbird hopped around my feet, picking up mealworms for his babies as I drank my tea and ate chocolate cake slices.

Our son was engaged in rebuilding yet another stationary engine, in the hope that there may be Shows later this year. He has just finished building his SIXTH shed out of the remains of our old one from the bungalow. Both our kids are well tanned, but from very different activities!

In Mablethorpe, it was noticeable that almost everyone was keeping up social distances, except for one large family, most wearing Leicester City football shirts. They were just unbothered by it all, kids wandering about, screaming and shouting, right next to other people.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

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