Nanny goes too far

I visited Sicily recently, and one evening in Palermo I sat there with a Corona and a kebab watching the flow of life around me thinking how uncontrolled everything seemed, more like a country only just coming to terms with civil obedience and not yet embracing the value of organised society, rather than a regimental EU partner.

I noticed that only about half of all motorbike/scooter riders wore a helmet - despite EU law. Yes, so many Sicilian civilians who just ignore it! After all, its only a traffic law! I know its not much in the grand  macro theory of self determination/regulation but our diminishing civilian freedoms leave me feeling like I have a maternally pestering nanny who insists on telling me what is good for me.

But we are men Madam! we need risk or we cannot be truly happy. I need to be adventurous and carefree like my Neanderthal hunter-gatherer ancestors. Nanny, it seems, really doesn't understand me.

People in every society, advanced or not, still behave with basic tribal instinct - we divide, and fight, and separate ourselves from those we think are different -  not good for us, but we do it anyway because it's fundamental to what we are - you can't rule against it.

I make decisions all the time about which of our civilian laws I'll bend or break and which ones I have to follow to the letter - It feels good that I can use my own common sense to protect myself (to some extent) and it seems that in the UK I am still allowed to take a few risks with my person.

Most of the time it feels like the 'freedom/control' balance is about right here in the UK, and it is a difficult balance to get right, especially when you  have men and women (who are so fundamentally opposite) mixed together in society. But we do need to be careful of going to far, of forgetting what we are - what men are!


So far this year I've visited Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, and Sicily. All of these European countries have laws to control and protect society from itself, of course, but one of the things that makes each of these places feel different is the extent to which laws are abided by and which are robustly enforced by the state. The biggest contrast [I noticed] being between Austria and Italy(Sicily).

Sicily, slightly chaotic, slightly unsafe, feels like a place where laws are routinely ignored, a place where societies' natural order has joint control. Austria felt safer with a sort of controlled subservience - a very nice societly. 

I think our government [although we are subject to EU laws too] is borderline overprotective in the UK, specifically with regard to personal safety on the road. I wouldn't be surprised if, in the not too distant future, it becomes compulsory for cyclists to wear helmets too, like motorcyclists already have to. Flippin busy bodies coming up with health and safety statistics for this and that in order to eliminate human casualties. Someone should muzzle em! Being human, by definition, is an accident waiting to happen.Status Quo, rock and roll..... mmm, not sure those 2 things are synonymous. :-p

EU Motorcycle helmet Law has for many years insisted that motorcyclists wear helmets. I ride a motorbike, and in the UK I don't want to wear a helmet all the time. Do we, as pedestrians have to wear protective headgear when we cross the road or walk along the side of busy roads,  just in case a car or lorry accidentally crashes into us?

I cycle a lot too, but I only wear my cycling helmet when I think I should. ie: in busy traffic or while mountain biking downhill. I don't wear it if I'm just tottering down to the local shop or if I'm cycling along back roads with little traffic - or if I am cycling UP a mountain at 3mph. There is NO NEED NANNY!

Is it only a matter of time before our nanny makes me wear a cycling helmet ALL the time?!

No Nanny!!

Test rides, new bike and thieving little scrotes

About 6 weeks ago, I test rode (two up) a Triumph Tiger 800 and a KTM 990 SMT.  Both great bikes, but very different to each other. I really couldn't fault the tiger - fantastic engine easily pulling away in 6th gear from 25mph - but I think that was partly what put me off it - It really didnt seem to matter what gear you are in, just twist the grip and it goes - just as reliably as an automatic scooter. 

For me the Triumph Tiger [right] was just too smooth, too composed and too easy to ride. I knew I'd get bored with it. Not as pretty as the KTM [above] either.

Riding the KTM after the tiger made me laugh out loud - what a fun bike to ride; not as practical or as good value for money as the tiger but I didn't want my head get in the way of making this decision. I ride a motorbike for fun and adventure and the tiger just wasn't that much fun after an hour or so.  

so I traded in my Honda and bought the KTM that day, I didn't need to think about it, 2 minutes into the KTM test ride I had made the decision. 


A week later, after parking my new KTM overnight in east London, some scooter thieves tried to steel it by breaking the steering lock and chopping the ignition wires to start it (which they coudn't). My bad for not using disk lock or alarm. I know, I know! GRRR! Can't tell you how gutted I was arriving at an empty space where I  had parked my bike the night before. Awful moment.

Having had a few weeks to think about it, and consider how lucky I am not to have the life of a poor,uneducated, no hoper like those scooter thieves, I still think that they should have their hands cut off if they get caught. Yes, capital punishment please. No tolerance, if you get caught in the act or captured on video being a thief, then you should have some of your body parts removed- I don't agree with capital punishment for all crimes - but if you get caught red handed, then there is no doubt you are guilty!

Well, since then my damaged bike is still waiting on a new frame down at P&H motorcycles in Crawley. Maybe Ill get it back in a couple more weeks, but I sure do miss it! I'll be adding a datatool trak-king and disk lock alarm when I get it back. 

Shit, it's nearly winter already!!