Malfunction Junction, Traffic management

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Good morning. It is a fantastic early morning. It's the last day of April, end of the month.

[00:00:09]I'm just going to take the bike today and enjoy. Expecting 20° later weatherwise, but currently it's a bit chilly, so I have got my heated vest on under my leathers and why not.

[00:00:28]Okay.

[00:00:30]Right. Then let's see what uh encounters we can see or enjoy or experience this morning, shall we? Currently, all I can see is uh the yellow glow. Even with a tinted visor, the the height of the sun is so low in the sky. It's right in my face. And I apologize if you can't see very much at all. We're on the 748 today, as you can probably see.

[00:00:58]I did record a video last week because I went to the western bike night.

[00:01:03]Unfortunately, the uh DJI camera had done a software update and failed to relearn the connection with the mic. So, all I heard was rattly clutch and exhaust note, which for for many people would have been fine, but actually it wasn't a very good vlogger.

[00:01:21]Had very little in the way of uh content to it cuz I was trying to explain about some of the bikes. had some really good conversations with some of the bike owners down there, but it didn't pick up. So, hey ho, never mind. We start again. We live another day.

[00:01:36]Oh, that's heavy. Fairly early this morning down this area. See if I can squeeze through a little bit and save a little bit of time.

[00:02:10]There's a lot of road works going on down here.

[00:02:14]This part of the system is called malfunction junction to anyone who lives around here purely because it is such a mess. It's never worked.

[00:02:27]So now they're replacing it with a roundabout, which will be such a mess and will never work.

[00:02:37]But someone on a much higher pay grade than me, I'm sure, has decided this is the best idea.

[00:02:44]So we're now dealing with all this, which not only causes problems going in this direction, but coming off the motorway in the evening when I come home uh is even worse. So, I'm queued back a mile on the motorway before I've even reached the roundabout junction off the motorway. And then it's another good trip here.

[00:03:06]And it's just it's just a up from start to finish really this whole junction.

[00:03:11]But like I say, someone decided that uh causing all this trouble during the summer months when Western is at its busiest would be a great idea.

[00:03:22]And who am I to argue?

[00:03:25]This whole section of road up here was reduced size-wise and lanewise. They could put in these bus lanes which they don't actually use. And I've already got signs up saying bus lanes not in action.

[00:03:37]So you have to wonder sometimes what uh traffic management teams do all day.

[00:03:47]Gosh, it's so bright.

[00:04:13]That's a nice bike.

[00:04:26]Looks a bit Ducati Monsterish.

[00:04:29]Actually looks like a Ducati Monster owned by a gentleman I was talking to at the bike night the other night. [snorts] It could well be.

[00:05:02]Oh, I get to see now if it is.

[00:05:06]Pretty sure it is.

[00:05:09]That is the monster that I was chatting to the guy, the owner of down at Western Bike Night last week.

[00:05:16]So, tomorrow is the 1 of May and next or two weeks time I'm heading off to Shrosbury for the Bike for Life festival uh where KL Fogerty will be there as one of the celebrities riding and also a kind of meet at the festival itself where you can get autographs and stuff.

[00:05:34]So, I'm going to get this helmet, my Cal Fogerty LS2 Challenger helmet, autographed by him. I'll then retire the helmet and add it to my collection, which is growing, but I think now comes to an end cuz Carl hasn't released any new helmet in the last couple of years.

[00:05:53]So, I think that has come to a stop now.

[00:05:58]So, the question is, what helmet do I buy next? Do I go for something quiet?

[00:06:02]Do I go for something light?

[00:06:04]Do I go for something plain? Do I go for something with a a design or a a race replica?

[00:06:12]Could do with us some advice really to be fair cuz you know there are so many options out there. What have you got? I think my budget is probably somewhere between 200 and£350.

[00:06:24]You know, I don't do any track work. I don't need the latest track safety aspect. Um, I'd like something I think quiet would [clears throat] be the big thing now. I'm getting to that point where the noise on this helmet has been terrible. It can't be any worse.

[00:06:42]I love the design of the helmet. I like the the way it feels, but the noise is horrendous.

[00:06:50]So, I think a quieter helmet would be good. But also, I'd like light cuz, you know, when you strap a a camera to the front of it, that that adds weight to the helmet anyway. So, that if you start off with something light, then at least you've got a bit of a chance.

[00:07:05]So, what recommendations can you give me?

[00:07:41]I would like to take this on the track though, just to see what it's like, just to see how well it handles.

[00:07:49]You can't really push it on the road when you've got all the traffic and edge furniture causing a risk to life and injury all the time.

[00:08:01]I'll just sneak inside this lorry now, which is a also a risk to life and injury. Woohoo.

[00:08:10]Oh, we got a few bikes out today. This is good. Everyone's getting ready for the sunshine.

[00:08:20]Right, that is pretty much me done.

[00:08:29]Just negotiate this last corner now and I can set myself up for work for the day.

[00:08:40]So, have a great day everyone.

[00:08:43]Take care. Stay safe.

[00:08:46]look after each other and all things being equal, I'll catch you next time.