Painted Lady butterfly timelapse

Snowboarding… Guernsey style

Snowboarding in Guernsey. Weird.

GoBoat HD

Strapping a GoPro HD to a remote controlled boat

Guernsey 30in30 cycling for Les Bourgs

So for the second year running, I’m taking part in the 30in30 – a charity cycling event, raising money for a local (Guernsey) hospice that looks after the old folks. The challenge gets its name from “30 days, 30 rides” although was supposed to mean 30 people, 30 rides, 30 days. It’s actually 41 people this year. And what it really really means is that for the next 30 days, I have to cycle for at least an hour every day. Here’s the website from last year… hasn’t yet been updated for this year.

Anyway, predictably, it’s all about raising money… in the two years it’s been running, it’s raised around £75k – so the obvious target is at least £25k this year to make the £100k.

So… send me some cash!

How to remove a Datatool System 3 from a Honda CBR600FX

Way back when, I thought an alarm on my motorbike was a good idea. My bike had just been vandalised by a drunk and I had become a bit paranoid. And, in fairness, since having it, my bike was never stolen. Admittedly, I’m not certain there were actually any attempts to steal it. The times that the alarm did get triggered was always me, or an ant looking at it and setting off the motion detector, and even on those occasions, any passers-by in the vicinity barely gave it a glance before moving on and ignoring the apparent attempted theft of my bike. Had I been trying to steal my bike, then I doubt the alarm would have done much to prevent it. Seems to me that alarms are pretty ineffective nowadays. Moreover, I can think of at least one easy way to completely disable it with very little fuss.

So when I recently had to replace my battery again due to its inability to maintain a charge – no doubt caused by the permanent drain that the alarm system puts on it – enough was enough, the thing was coming out. It was surprisingly easy to do, which made me wonder about its status as Thatcham approved and all that. It took the installer quite a few hours to put in – he did do a proper job – but I’d say it took me around 20 minutes to get it out. Not something you’d do on the side of a road in order to nick it, but still, surprisingly easy. And to think I paid around £400 at the time.

This isn’t supposed to be step by step instructions and I won’t describe how to dismantle your bike or get at the particular pieces – if you can’t work out that much on your own, you probably shouldn’t be doing this. And needless to say, but it needs to be said, this is what I had to do to my own CBR600… no guarantees it’ll work for your bike or be the same or anything. And I’m by no means an electrician. So if you permanently immobilise your bike – it ain’t my fault! And note that my alarm was functional but I had taken a rather unconventional route to completely disable the bike before I did this (took out the main fuse for the bike) – so the alarm actually wasn’t alive.
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Best. Road. In. Cornwall.

If you ever find yourself in Cornwall and looking for a decent driving road, especially if you’re on a motorbike, you can’t do better than this one:

Best road in Cornwall. Ever.

Link to Google Maps

DIY