Exhausts and MOTs

Hi

Thanks to Mr Honda's choice of the lowest-grade materials available for
the exhaust on my CBR, it has corroded and perforated, so will fail its
MOT which is now due. As financially I'm a bit pikey at the moment, I'm
keen to avoid buying new exhaust headers & collector for as long as
possible. If I wrap some exhaust tape around the leaky bit will that be
enough to get it through the test?

On another note, why are there so many police on the M23/A23? Onthe way
to Brighton yesterday I just happened to slow down from an
"interesting" speed and then passed a pair of bikes, then a van with
some cameras on tripods (SPECS?), then a couple of cars. Same on the
way back - was scowled at by a copper in an unmarked Galaxy - even
though I was going _very_ slowly - and passed a couple of cars and some
more tripod things. WTF?

Thanks in advance for whatever advice is forthcoming.

 

Sounds like a "standard" ANPR check. They send out a vehicle equipped with
automatic number plate recognition. It scans every vehicle going past and
cross-checks various databases for no road tax, known criminals, outstanding
arrest warrants etc. If a vehicle triggers an alert then they dispatch one
of the accompanying police bikes and cars to stop the car. ANPR has been
trialled in various places and is now being rolled out nationwide.

I believe that Avon & Somerset are even experimenting with ANPR in mobile phones.
The policeman walks along a row of cars in a car park pointing the phone camera
at number plates and it tells him which ones merit further attention.

Big brother is watching you.

Mikey

 

If the tripods have death rays the war of the worlds has started.

It's best to run and hide.

 

(FX: smacks head) Of course!

I take back what I said about ANPR. It is definitely a Martian invasion.
All police are aliens. Kill. Kill.

Mike

 

Couldn't they just fit a little camera in their helmets?[1]

[1] Fnaar, or whatever the word is

 

Ahem:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/4681853.stm

work safe, but worrying

 

<snip>

IIRC, exhaust bandage and gun gum can be used for the MOT. I do believe it
just needs to be not excessively loud and not leaking fumes or be holed.

 

Labour Party Conference.

 

Cool, I'll give it a go.

Ta

 

It's worked for me, on cars and bikes. That Chemical Metal stuff is
also damn good. My old Kawasaki GT750 ran with more and more of it
being applied, as the collector section crumbled, until I swear there
was more chemical than there was metal, IYSWIM.

 

In what way is it worrying?

 

Aluminium cans, hose clips and bathroom sealer is as effective.

 

as in 'why'?

 

Yes, I think, as in 'what is it about the report you posted that
worries you?'.


--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2
`\|/`
`

 

It's not necessarily an indication of a more anti-social society, if
that's what you're driving at. It's simply a tool to make copper's jobs
easier; it's a lot harder for a defence solicitor to twist events in the
favour of some obnoxious scrote if there's good-quality video evidence
available demonstrating the obnoxious, scrotey behaviour.

Likewise, it's a lot easier for the police to counter claims of
harassment, racial-abuse, use of excessive force, etc. if an altercation
is recorded on video (the footage is time & date stamped, and
watermarked to prevent editing).

I suppose also, from the other side of the fence, it would be a lot
harder for the police to harass anybody if routine digital video
recording was the norm.

Everyone's a winner, really. Apart from crims, obviously.

 

I don't want to jump on the anti-police bandwagon, but it's not too
hard to imagine the tapes being accidentally blanked if they don't back
up the police position.

 

Sure, that's a possibility. That's not a reason not to use it though; if
a dodgy copper makes the footage disappear and tells porky-pies, then
nobody's better or worse of than at the moment where he could just tell
porky-pies anyway.

And if personal recorders are rolled-out and used as a matter of course,
then the absence of video might be enough to raise questions.

 

Well, apart from the obvious, but petty things like 'how much did this
cost?' and 'which consultant thought this was a good idead?' is the thing
that really concerns me: we seem to be forever moving to a position where
its _appears_ that the preference is to go for convictions rather than
prevention. If a cop is there, watching something, I really would rather
the culture was to go stop it than to film it. I'm not suggesting this is
the case here, but it seems to be the way of the UK right now - better to
have CCTV in the High St than a cop on patrol etc etc. And that culture
_does_ worry me. I must be getting old.