European Commission for the Homologue Regulations and insurance companies.

[Mr Wiggy]

Last year I had to hang up my bike gear because of suffering a deterioration of both my age and my health catching up with me so. What I did was I bought a Lantana M800cc buggy, my Axa agent in Fontenay le Compt in the Vendee,gave me a devis which was acceptable and I paid, while there I also terminated my bike insurance as it still had just over a month to run and I assumed that a month’s notice was sufficient as I intended to put it in storage and restore it as it’s now a Classic, 29.5 years old BMW K75s.

A few weeks later I received my renewal for the bike so I ignored it, then the next thing I received was a request for proof of a battery Isolator switch and a receipt of fitment. This is a standard fitment, but I purchased a new one and took it to a registered mechanic, he then check the original one and gave me a receipt for 10€. I then sent a copy off and thought that this would be the last of it.

Now way, the next thing they wanted was proof of a steering lock, again this is a standard fitment, so I bought a Crook lock and sent in a copy of the receipt. Again, a week or so later they demanded something else. So I wrote back saying that if he wasn’t so incompetent he should know about the European Commission for the Homologation Regulations for Vehicle Type Approval requirements. I knew about them because I had spent a good part of my working life, ensuring the vehicles that the company that I worked for built each vehicle to the European requirements.

I didn't heard from him for a few week until he sent me an early termination notice of the buggie’s insurance.

My bank have now insured me for two thirds of what I originally paid.

[Lehaut]

Ah the "Flying Brick"!

Sounds like he did you a favour.

[BritinBretagne]

You cannot just take a vehicle off the road and cancel the insurance. You are supposed to have minimum insurance on all vehicles capable of being used on the public road.

The incidents with the isolater and steering lock; are they referring to the BMW or the buggy?

[Mr Wiggy]

Britin. You obviously have no knowledge of motorcycles. How on earth can I fit a crook lock to a motorcycle? With extreme difficulty.

The normal way is with a U lock which goes around the legs of the front forks and also locks the wheel moving. Also, I didn't cancel my insurance, my bank did, as I now have classic insurance with them.

[Mr Wiggy]

Lehaut, You are spot on, mine is the K75s, a twenty-nine year old Classic. Again you are right as my insurance was 170€ and now it's down to 112€. It is now stored in my cave where I'm able to work on it at and when I like, and yes I did do all the recommended tasks, draining the fuel tank and engine oil and remove the battery and as it's on a workbench I have remove the rear wheel.

[Mr Wiggy]

BritinBret.

I have justreplied to yours and Le Haults messages.

[Lehaut]

We did the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland in 2017 on our Pan European (nearly 3000km of twisting coast roads) On the Ring of Kerry we stayed in accommodation with some hard riding Germans. Got talking to one who had finished building a written off a new RS1200 2 days before the trip. One of his previous bikes was a K75. Or as he said in a very strong german accent "as you inglish say zee flying brick".

Very unusually one of the group was on a Ducati, I asked who had the tow rope in the BMW party!

[Mr Wiggy]

Hi Lehaut.

A small correction to what we both made. The K 100 was the original Flying Brick whereby the K 75 was called the flying Brickett being the smaller one. I could ride that for hour after hour,only stopping for fuel, as it was that comfortable. As for the Duke, I rode 900ss

down the M40 a few days after it opened and clocked 145MPH, As the gearing had been altered by one tooth on the gearbox sprocket, it certainly made my teeth chatter.

[BritinBretagne]

For all I knew Crooklock also make motorcycle locks. For my current motorcycle (I’ve had bikes all my life since buying a D3 Bantam aged 13) I only had to provide my insurance company with a photograph of the additional lock I use. No certificate was required. I was only replying to comments made in your post, any confusion came from your writing not my lack of knowledge of the subject.

[Mr Wiggy]

Hi BritinBbret.

Mine was the old telegram 125cc plunger, I replaced the original engine with a George Todd 125 engine.

I must say that I have never heard of a crook lock for a bike. The one I had was a Yale with the U shape bar of hardened steel with a lock across the ends.Like you I have been riding bikes all my life from a Honda 90, a Greeves 250t rials bike a G50 Matchless a BSA Golden Flash, I also built a Velton which was a Velocette clubman engine and gearbox in a Norton featherbed frame a Moto Guzzi T3. Bmw R 90, Bmw R100Rs and finally a BMW K75s. I also races a Royal Enfield GP5 rolling chassic with a Les Williams Suzuki T500 engine in it. I also changed the forks and wheels for the Yamaha TZ forks and wheels (8 leading shoe front brakes and wider wheels) and at the same time passenger in a Windle built sidecar outfit.

[BritinBretagne]

My Bantam was a 150, it also had a strange rear suspension setup. I too ha£ a Greeves, a 24 TES, a ‘Scottish’ trials bike with a square barrel. It was fantastic off-road. I had Honda 50s and 70s but never a 90.

I’ve never had a CrookLock for a bike or a car, I presumed that it was just a tradename. Most good locks seem to be badged by well known names. I use a chain with a fancy padlock, I can’t remember the make. Interestingly I just found some two pot epoxy resin that I’ve been searching for for a while, I’d been looking for my Araldite while all the time thinking it was a cheap imitation. I was surprised to find it was the real thing. Common names seem to take over some things. I still use the Hoover even though one is made by Dyson and the other DirtDevil.

How is the buggy? Does it compensate for not having a bike?

[Mr Wiggy]

Hi BritinBret.

The buggy has a Suzuki 812cc tripple and the acceleration is quite rapid but obviously the motor is restricted, even so it can just reach 105 KPH which at my age is quite sufficient. I don't bother with a roof or doors as I still like to feel the wind blowing through my hair, yes I still have a good thatch on top. It has disc's all round, it also has rally seats and seat belts. The only down side has been a plastic fuel cap and with the Alloy tank situated above the engine it can be difficult to remove the cap, at one point I had to smash the cap off because it had swollen making it impossible to remove. I now have a piece of aluminium checker plate to fit under the tank to deflect some of the heat from the engine.

[BritinBretagne]

I’ve got a Suzuki 80cc quad which my children used to use in the garden. It’s quite lively and it’s little 2 stroke engine makes it a lot of fun. Flat out it will do exactly 40kmh and, believe me, that’s fast enough, I certainly wouldn’t want to go any faster on it.