Dim Tim

Seems I must be very careful before I make a post in case someone else has said the same thing elsewhere and thus incur the wrath of Verbout. (is that short for Verbal Boot ?) I hear what you say Bluesman but to be fair I have to ask myself "Can I be bothered to hang out in a place that has that sort of company and take the chance of being chastised? " Frankly, no, so I'm off. Does it really matter that much Verbout? And when you are the only one left here? Bye Bye and thanks to all the others who have contributed.

OK, my mind does wander to strange and far off places every now an then and I had another brain meander about the "B" position on the gear "lever". I realise that the "B" position has the same effect as the regular type of auto transmission's lock into lower gear for descending hills etc effectively increasing the engine braking effect. Now, engine braking on the hybrid is achieved by recharging the batteries.so when the gear is in "B" position do the batteries get recharged quicker? Does driving in the "B" position affect the fuel consumption beyond that which is used to get back up to speed again after engine braking? See, I told you I go to strange places in my mind. :o) Not important just ...

OK, I guess the wheel is not too large in diameter but is too tall if laid down flat on the floor. I guess! So, if you leave out the underfloor tray (in the boot) the wheel will fit. Right? In which case as per my post on 23rd March "You will have to leave the underfloor boot tray out or modify it as per another thread on here." That thread was this one CLICK HERE And this thread has photos of a spacesaver in place. I didn't bother with the costly fittings to hold all the bits. CLICK HERE

That is strange! I have a 2011 Premier and daughter has a 2013 Sport and we both have a Prius spacesaver. When you say "too big" do you mean that the diameter is too large or the other measurement (IE the height if the wheel is laying down on the ground) ?

Yes, the camera came with the usual cigarette lighter to USB adaptor which I bastardised (if you do that ensure you retain any fuse etc) but I know that hardwired versions are available and there is room for the little box to fit above the headlining. Some cameras work on straight 12v input so check first. Sorry, just escaped from hospital after spinal surgery so I can't even get to my car let alone climb around it to take photos. LOL

Agree with the wires everywhere thing. I have fitted a £40 camera to mine (front only) and it suckers the windscreen to the left of and behind the rear view mirror (from the drivers point of view). The supply wires go up into the headlinig where the centre light fitment is. There is a 12v supply up there. Took some courage to wrench the fitting free (really is a push fit) and the wire is very thin green in the multi plug. I wouldn't want to load that too much but the camera seems ok. That supply is turned off with the ignition so the camera won't flatten the battery. THe whole installation is pretty invisible.

I am in the "don't understand the problem camp" I'm sorry to say. I have used TomTom since before they were TomTom. We first met on a Compaq PDA. :o) I agree that it is not so easy to add favourites, well, perhaps! (read later) Mine also shows zoomed on images of junctions on the right half of the screen. Also, when on a motorway the right half shows the forthcoming junctions services etc and their distances. (don't remember that on TomTom). On the plus side, are you aware that if you add addresses and postcodes to your contacts on your phone these can be imported to the system and you can navigate to "telephone number" which can be selected by the voice functions on the system. That also beats TomTom. Much is not so obvious I'm afraid, worth digging around a lot, you might be missing the things you want.

It might help the original poster, just in case he hasn't found it, you could add a spare yourself. If your care has a spare wheel well (I think they all have) in the boot. Get a spacesaver from a Prius and it will sit in that well. You will have to leave the underfloor boot tray out or modify it as per another thread on here.

Didn't some versions of the Honda Goldwing have AC?

Fair enough but it should be within the abilities of anyone who has a reasonable grasp of DIY. Maybe a friend or family member could help you out. Other than the pop riveter all the tools are common or garden items. Take care and enjoy.

Sorry, I did try to photograph the boot tray but being black there was no detail to be seen. So I did a couple of drawings which might help understanding. Please note, I accept no liability for anything which might go wrong if you attempt to do this, I am merely describing what I HAVE DONE. :o) Sorry for the poor quality drawings. Drawing 1 shows the boot tray and the lines I cut (red lines) and the green dots show where I drilled holes. The blue arrow points to the front of the car. The green blobs are 10mm dia holes and help to ease the stresses left in the plastic (cuts coming to an abrupt end instead of a hole may split later) and make bending easier without puckering etc. Drawing 2 shows the side elevation and the blue arrow points towards the front again. The blue wedge shape is the bottom of the tray hinged upwards and inside the top half. The point "B" will have to be pushed backwards to meet the top rear edge. Heating the plastic with a hot air paint stripper or similar eases the bending. Measuring how deep the bottom must be pushed upwards can be done by placing the spare and tray back in the vehicle (after the cut) and pressing the tray upper half down until the top edge rests in place and then adding a few millimetres for clearance. Pop rivets can be used to join both halves together again. There is one warning on using pop rivets in plastic, use a washer on the outside otherwise the rivets will just pull through the plastic. I bought the cheapest riveter tool I could find on Ebay, black rivets and washers (I used about 30 rivets) and the total was under a tenner. When all was done the front right hand floor was pressing on the spare wheel so I heated the plastic floor of the tray and pressed down allowing the bottom of the tray to bow upwards by a few millimetres. Cutting was done using a jigsaw with a fine-ish blade, carefully! There are some thin web things (stiffeners ?) that need to be trimmed off of the bottom half, I used a sharp chisel but I guess a Stanley knife or similar would work. In my case the tray is about 80mm deep at the rear and original depth at the front. Hope that all makes sense.

Hi Rob, I have a 2011 model and felt the same about the lack of spare. There are many comments about the grunge not working in some circumstance then you have to pay for recovery etc. and then replace the tyre anyway because the fitter says they can't fix a grunged tyre. I believe the space saver spare from a Prius will fit in the spare wheel well (I think that is what I have) but the boot floor will not lay flat if the underfloor storage tray is not left out. To overcome that I made a cut across the rearmost face of the tray and then diagonally down toward the bottom front-most corners. Overlapped the bottom and the top halves along the rearmost edge. Put everything in place and measure the amount of overlap then pop-riveted the overlapping parts giving a somewhat wedge shaped tray about 7inches deep at the front and 3 inches deep at the rear. Some hot air from a hot air paint stripper allowed me to "tweak" the fit. Now the spare, jack, etc fits under the tray and the floor still fits. Then I did the same to my daughters. :o)

On the topic of the phone, my last brain cell is dying of loneliness so I might be making this up, but I don't think so. If I remember correctly, once you have connected a phone, you download you phone book to the car. Then you set up the voice commands. Something like "Add a voice dial" then you select the entry in the list of numbers, press the button and it will say something like "Please say a name for this person". There is a beep and your voice is played back to you and you select save. As I said, "if I remember correctly". My phone is an Apple iPhone but I think others would be similar if not the same. To use voice dialing, press the voice control button on the steering wheel. (sorry if that is obvious) Good luck

I bought a spacesaver wheel from an Ebay seller for £68-00. It fits in the bootfloor recess but leaves the rear (relative to the car) edge of the underfloor tray about four inches too high and of course the floor panel does not close. So, I cut about midway in the height across the rear of the tray and then diagonally from that cut to the bottom front corner of each side. Trimmed some of the thin webs off the bottom and pushed the bottom of the tray up inside the top edge. Using some black pop-rivets and washers (must use washers to prevent rivets just puling through the plastic) to attach the bottom to the top. A little hot air paint stripper heat gun applied enabled the plastic to achieve the curve at the back of the tray. Also, cutting the back of the box down allowed the front to drop slightly. Again, a little heat from the hot air gun and that allowed the bottom to bow upwards by anout a quarter of an inch. Perferct. The tray is now about 7inches deep at the front and 3inches deep at the rear. I have wrapped the jack and wheelbrace up in some leather I had knocking around and used some velcro tape to tie tight (stops rattle) and fits around the spare. A bolt and disc of plywood fixed the wheel down. Don't forget to drill a hole at every point that a cut changes direction, this stops excess strain placed on the plastiic and should prevent any splitting. Might not be needed but ... Total cost excluding the wheel, about £9.60 because I had to buy the riveter, rivets and washers. I suppose it is a bit Heath Robinson but it works and looks quite tidy even when looking into the empty tray. I expect to be doing the same for my daughter maybe next weekend (she has a CT200 now) and will try to take some photos so I might be able to put some up on here.

Okay, I'm in the 61-70 group. And yes! I feel that there are advantages of being an old git. One thing I can sit back and think "I was around during the Summer of Love". Peace, grass, make love not war, karma, flowers in hair, very little bring you down, psychodelia, Woodstock (even though I didn't get there). Wouldn't have missed it. Way to go! Man! LOL

I love the keyless entry system. With key in pocket, walk up to car and simply open it. Brill. Now, Arrive home, keys are still in the pocket of my jeans. I have my hands full enough to make it impossible to dig deep into my pocket to take out my keys and unlock the door. If only the Lexus keyless entry could extend to my home, I could simply push the hande down with my elbow ... But , No, I have to empty at least one of my hands to extricate the keys, open the door, pick everything back up off the floor. And then the wind blows and the door shuts again. Put everything down ... Anyone out there smart enough to build a unit for the house door that can be trained to use the Lexus keyfob ? Stop laughing, I can dream can't I?

I would add my support for fitting dash cams. About 2 years ago I witnessed a crash. By the time I had pulled over got out the car and walked back to them, the woman driver was in tears because the bloke was blaming her when it was clearly his fault. When he realised there was a witness he did back off a somewhat. My wife and I agreed that a dash cam would have made life easier because instead of filling in the forms I could have simply offered them the video. A little while later we purchased a camera and fitted it. Then, about nine months later a woman in a BM Wobbly changed lanes without looking and we collided. She got out of her car saying "Just because I made a mistake there was no reason to ram me". Then she claimed to her insurance company that I was responsible for the accident. The video proved it was her fault and that was that. Camera paid for itself. YAY! The first camera cost £12-ish but we have replaced it with a better one about £36-ish which has better night vision.

Cool! Not being a blues enthusiast I had to Google for him. Thanks for bringing him to attention. If I was to follow blues, I think that delta blues would be my preference so he fits right in. I wonder if he really did sell his soul there.

Cool, Thanks

Hi All, I have two thought provoking questions. If you wish, you can answer either or both. Time for some deep or lateral thinking. Question1 If you could choose any time and place to time travel back to, where and when would that be? Any event or place or combination. Question 2 Who would you like to have a coffee/tea/beer with? This could be a person still alive or someone you could time travel back to. MY ANSWERS:- Question 1 I would like to go back to and be at the fall of the Berlin wall. It must have been a very emotive and moving time. To see families embrace each other after so long must be ... Question 2 I would like to travel back to have a beer with Albert Einstein. Not just because of his high falutin theories but he was also very down to earth. Things like the story of how he taught a music non-lover to become a music lover all in the course of a single concert. Go on, you know you have nothing better to do

Very sad Spacewagon, my sympathies. There is a house not far from ours which must buy the more "commercial" fireworks. There is a very loud bang and then an explosion up in the sky where the stars, pretty colours etc show. This happens every second or two for about 2 minutes, a pause of maybe 30 seconds then it starts again. This goes on for about an hour. The next night the same. Last year they started at past midnight. I got into my car (although as the crow flies just 100 yards or so but by road its 1/2 mile) and went to confront the man but I was beaten there by someone else who was complaining to the guy in his driveway. I stayed in the car and watched. Another guy simply walked up to the offender, smacked him in the nose, turned and walked away! I'm not against people having their fun, but it is sooooo invasive every year.

Many thanks for your replies guys, looks like there is only the manual that will help. Will have to try again.

Just a rant, sorry prople! I hate bonfire night, well, the two week period spanning 5th November. It seems that not a night goes by without some fireworks. I realise that everyone has the right to enjoy themselves and I wouldn't want to put a damper on that but must it span two whole weeks? Tonight has, not surprisingly culminated in a crecendo lasting 2 hours so far and I know there will be another week of it! I guess apart from the effect of the noise disturbing us people, the effect it has on our two cats is horrible. Two years ago this January we adopted a cat from the RSPCA, there was a lot of work to do because he had been abused and mistreated, amongst many, many other issues, he would flinch each time we reached out to stroke him. A lot of patience and care, we managed to get him to trust us and he comes when called, sits, shakes a paw and does a high five. OK, it takes a few cat treats but ... All the neighbours play with him and fuss him now. Here is a video www.timnjune.co.uk/minchin Some people have to wait untll the video has downloaded before they can watch it so please be patient. Right now he has hidden himself away and I know we will have to be extremely patient with him to gain his trust again. Rant over, Sorry people!

Mny thanks Rich. Guess it is a case of getting accustomed to it. I suppose when reversing without a camera one has to learn how to do it, so why not why not with a camera, just a different medium. Cheers

Hi Mike, we are close to Spitfire Bridge (South of M3 Junction 9), big roundabouts on dual and single carriageways. From this junction there is the bendy A31 dual carriageway and the equally bendy single carriageway A272 with long straights. There are a number of linking roads whaich also appeal to motor cyclists. The A272 goes to West Meon where there is a cafe (known as Loomies Moto Cafe, close to the Meon Hut) where there are collections of hundreds of bikes at all times. From there, there is a screaming fast A32 towards Four Marks and then loop back to the start at Winchester again! Perhaps the cafe at the Meon Hut took over from the one at North Warnborough. The main attraction seems to be that the roads are all very fast and the bike can be laid down to make the bends. I have never tried to count the gear changes made but it does seem to go on and on.