Morris Minor Owners Club

millerman wrote:Minor drivers need to get out of the way of trucks. Truck drivers have a job to do and get very frustrated with slow car drivers and then the car drivers moan they are getting 'cut up' by truck drivers

AND no, I have not got an HGV licence

Excuse me? Truck drivers should drive properly!! Most of the ones i see are driving far too fast on the main roads and driving up ones DONT SWEAR OR YOU WILL BE BANNED; ie; not leaving sufficient room to stop, which in my opinion is very dangerous.
There is nothing worse than some idiot driving a lorry up close to you with no room to stop when you're doing a perfectly reasonable speed and keeping up with the car in front anyway.
I often see truck drivers driving fast on smaller roads too and have had one or two near misses.
Ther is NO EXCUSE for bad or dangerous driving whatever job you have to do. Rushing and being in a hurry and tailgaiting causes accidents, not people driving sensibly at the speed their vehicle allows.
If car drivers are moaning abiout getting cut up by lorries then theres probably a reason for it!
Minors can do the legal speed limit and thats fast enough, surely?

And to whoever said that trucks can't and don't do 60mph, i drove home from work down the A30 here in Cornwall on Friday (dual carriageway) and the truck in front of me was doing 65mph all the way to Bodmin. This was a delivery truck with a tail lift; (7.5T??)
It seems to be quite common down here.
So, no, as long as you do a reasonable speed on main roads which i consider to be 60mph, there is no reason to 'get out of the way'. Trucks should leave a stopping gap and drivers everywhere need more patience.

Better late in this life than early in the next...

Yes exactly; we should all drive safely!

Any 1098 should easily be able to cruise at 55-60 mph, to do any less on a motorway, at least, will just create a rolling road block and aggravation for the other road users.
It might entertain the lorry drivers who have to get past you I suppose.

Yes indeed, 60MPH is the MINIMUM speed for a motorway, for your own safety at the very least. If you don't want to drive at this speed, then avoid motorways.

Trunnions need to see a grease gun every 500 miles, and don't forget umpteen other points which need it every 1000 miles.

Rob Thomasson is the Technical Advice guy in Minor Matters, who has the filthy engine with a leaking rocker cover.

Yes indeed, 60MPH is the MINIMUM speed for a motorway, for your own safety at the very least. If you don't want to drive at this speed, then avoid motorways.

Perhaps my original reply has been vindicated

Whats all the fuss about , use it as a normal car as they were in the 50 60 and 70s . when the engines wear out replace it is is still much cheaper than a modern car. I have just scraped an 08 Skoda Octavia needed new gearbox uneconomic to repair

I never do more than 75MPH in my 948cc 2 Door Morris as it wont go any faster

Well I've only had a class one for 35yrs and NO points on my licence so what do I know?
I was just trying to give some tips seen from all sides not get in to an argument about bad driving. Oh I'm a motorcyclist as well
I presently have a Suzuki Jimny which is only really happy between 50/60 mph so I generally sit at 50 on the motorway with no problems.
I don't think you will have any problems with a Minor in reasonable condition

millerman wrote:Yes indeed, 60MPH is the MINIMUM speed for a motorway, for your own safety at the very least. If you don't want to drive at this speed, then avoid motorways.

Perhaps my original reply has been vindicated

I cruise at 50 -55 mph with the very rare burst up to 60 ,on a motorway with no problems ,the hardest part is flashing all the lorries in safely.

Also a few (thankfully) modern car drivers tootle along at 40 !!!!!

When driving a standard minor on the motorway, I have been known to sit (a safe distance) behind a lorry and stay there. I have also been know to drive it like any other car and have never had any problems.

I didn't get the bit about difficult to flash the drivers in, why do that? Thought it was just between lorries because of their length. Better say something about minors while I'm here! Fine for regular use, not great on motorways, too noisy.

You don't have to do it but the truck overtaking you is the same length as it is when overtaking another truck. It allows the driver to pull in ASAP safely and allow all those impatient MM drivers past
Seriously it's a safety aid. You have to remember the truck driver is 50-60 ft in front of you and only has the n.s door mirror to judge distance(and it's convex) so it is difficult to know exactly when your trailer has cleared the vehicle. It helps,especially in bad weather or night, to flash him in otherwise he could sit in the middle lane longer than is really necessary.
Most drivers will acknowledge it if you hold you h/lamp on for a few seconds until he indicates to pull in. Chances are if you just give a quick flash he won't see it and of course it helps you out as well

True, I take your point about the lorry being the same length whatever it passes.

Well, some people would say that if the lorry driver doesn't know the length of his vehicle etc. etc.
I always flash a lorry, coach or whatever in once it is safely past. It was me that put him out there in the first place by having to overtake me. It's a common courtesy and you usually get a wink on the indicators by means of a thank you.

I'm lost I usually find that the lorries flash me to let me know when I'm past them

That's the trouble with those stretched Minors.

Lambrettalad I could change the subject from trucks to scooters and say how much faster a Vespa is especially when the Lambretta is broken down again?? But I won't

simmitc wrote:I'm lost I usually find that the lorries flash me to let me know when I'm past them

Show off.
As Matt said, I normally find a lorry on the road and sit behind that, usually a Tesco lorry at 40mph on a single A road.
Back on track for Adrian, yes fine to commute in. You will find most commute speeds are slower due to the volume of traffic. Carry plenty of spares and familiarise yourself at home with the simpler tasks like changing plugs and points etc to gain confidence. Great thing is that it doesn't cost too much effort or money to carry spares like a whole distributor or alternator/dynamo etc. Swapping out when a problem occurs is much easier than it would be to solve a similar problem on a modern.

DO IT!

I'm back in a Moggy - 1966 1098cc and use it every day. I'm learning too and getting my hands dirty at times but I wouldn't change it for the world. They have great fires in them so you will be warm. You won't have to pay out £80 plus to stick it on a diagnostics to suss out what is wrong should anything seem uppity and generally speaking any decent mechanic who really knows their trade if you know owt about them will be able to sort it as they are apparently simple. Mine won't be covered oor stored this winter, but I guess back in 1966 issues like that wasn't something that was thought about. She's been sealed and fully serviced and in good health. Gotta do it!