Not really service 

Similar recent experience with RAC when my motorbike broke down.  Gave up with link to the app RAC emailed to me. Either my phone or the app Couldn't find my location so unable to proceed to report breakdown. Several different numbers ended back at the same automated recorded message. After a couple of calls to the new membership line, which was answered very quickly, I finally got connected to a person and reported the breakdown. A van eventually turned up, told him i suspected dead fuel pump, not able to tow the bike no dolly or bike trailer, had to get authorisation for a lorry. Advised by him it would be a long wait. A good 6 hours later with still no ETA from RAC and frozen to the bone I gave up. A family member knew a man with a van and I paid him mates rates to come and recover me and the bike.

Oh! Sorry to hear about that. Glad you managed to get home in the end.

Perhaps, though the benefit of a forum over a pub is you can simply pop over into a different thread and no-one notices you slinking off Less beer though, but then again you don't have to use the pub toilets... So I saw a very interesting video on YT the other day of a Russian chap explaining how propaganda actually functions (considering that the Russians are experts in it somewhat, and that Trump is effectively following the Putin playbook). Seems rather insightful. It's a long monologue with not a great deal happening so if you're not riveted by the subject I wouldn't necessarily watch it all the way through, but he raises a few key points that are especially pertinent to our American colleagues (and us too really). The propaganda people put out (the lies, the mistruths, the fabrications etc.) aren't intended to be believed. They're intended to fatigue people to the point that they don't care even though they know they're not true. It's in this way that propaganda affects people, so the whole 'I'm too smart for propaganda to work on me' thing isn't really effective. It's useful to be able to see through the lies...but most people can. It doesn't overly matter if people can see it's stupid...it matters if people care about it. I population that's cynical, disengaged and emotionally exhausted is much easier to deal with than one that's angry and volatile. For me, the emotionally exhausted bit is key. I find people don't disengage from caring because they're heartless or because they only care about themselves, people disengage because it's too taxing to stay pissed off about it the whole time. You can't maintain that. So it's important to manage the conversation to people's tolerance, because different people will be at different stages of emotional exhaustion about the whole thing. It's important to balance being pissed off with having a bit of fun sometimes (both being important, because stopping being pissed off about stuff is what propaganda is designed to do). For me, I think that's one of the things the MAGA bods are trying to do. Make places that people enjoy intolerable, which contributes towards the emotional exhaustion thing because you can't unwind from it all. The trouble is that getting people to disengage from anything that pisses them off is the goal, so the owner on the Triumph Experience is doing exactly what the MAGA lot want him to do. Disengaging his public space from it. It's a tricky balance man. I'm glad we're all mature enough to be having a proper conversation around it. I think that's the actual way to actually combat it. Long may that last.

well that went well..... Took the new toy to my local TSSC and CT meet and it decided to release lots of Lucas Smoke from the fuse box wiring harness! At least I got off the A14 before the car filled with smoke, lots of support from my mates at the club meeting. Decided to phone the RAC, complexly useless, forces you to the web app, put the details in and then told to phone the recovery number! Estimated to get a van to come out between 12 to 3AM, over 4-7 hour wait.... Phone car insurance breakdown and a very helpful AA man turned up within an hour and helped bodge the car so it was driveable with front and rear fog lights and drove home with him following. Checking/sorting out the electrics was on my job list for the car (someone has fitted a replacement fuse box..)  but that has now moved to the top of list. Not sure what the original cause of the fault was or why the fuses hadn't protected the harness... but will need to replace some cables.... mike

Thanks Nick. I'm sure I missed a lot of that back in the days of dipping in and out of the forum.

@thebrooksterCheers Phil. Look forward to more tanker chat. @Yoda I'm kind of zoning out too. And its not because I'm bad, don't  care, want to remain ignorant, want to stop others expressing their views. It's just that after 10 pages of the essentially the same thing it gets a bit monotonous. I get your angst, but if we were in the pub together someone would change the subject. Or most folks would leave and noone would hear the message again.

In direct response to TheBrookster: Let me start with my regrets for losing your StarLink acess. It is my understanding that this area of Sideways is dedicated to "The Rant" It's not an area that readers are forced or required to read and have the absolute right to ignore and skip by. It's very much like pressing the clicker when you don't like programing on the telly.  If you don't want to be involved in a subject, or choose to remain ignorant of WORLD EVENTS, that's your choice. This is  a very vast and diverse forum/universe.  This area is quite novel as it does not censor users other than basic common decency, no one shouts fire or calls for violence.  If you read clearly, this zone is called:  Ranting Arena Anything go's in here so please feel free to rant and rave about anything within reason.... So, I think you can clearly understand my point, though you may not appreciate it. There is a Triumph forum that does censor members and has some egregious members who call out for the removal of any mind set that disagrees with them. They, in truth make up roughly 30% of the membership but most are not as nasty and vocal as a limited crew. I've learned a lot on this thread about Canadian and British governments and the mindsets of their citizens. I hope those who seek to preserve government responsible to the people continue to report and share their thoughts.

I'm for one glad someone else has noticed! I mentally switched off from this thread a few pages back, then vaguely noted the angst against TE forum before concluding I had little views on that subject either. TBH, I wouldn't be upset in the slightest if this thread could be laid to rest. And in more positive news, I shall try and update my tanker thread soon. Company had switched our Starlink off due to over consumption of data hence no action so far however once I can retrieve some photos from the cumulus or where ever they are I shall regale you all with a major overhaul of a generator I carried out last year 😁

Nick, Thanks for the post. You'd be surprised how ignorant we in the States are ......  https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/feb/02/how-peter-mandelson-links-jeffrey-epstein-came-to-light