On 21/07/2015 21:52, Recliner wrote:
[...]
And, of course, next year, when he's no longer a would-be politician, he
won't have a new railway book to promote.


He might have a "I ran for the Mayoral nomination" book...

wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 09:52:48 +0100
Paul Corfield wrote:
The allegations include

a) brake / handbrake problems.
b) slow acceleration meaning risk of misjudging moves into traffic.
c) the electrical system failing meaning loss of steering control -
this has happened umpteen times.

http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/londoner...-con-that-is-t
e-boris-bus/

I might be more inclined to believe what he said if he got some basic facts
right.

"The fact that they cannot operate on their electric motors because of battery
failure"

They're serial hybrids, the electric motors are the only things turning the
wheels. The diesel engine is a generator.

"Some buses disengage from gears"

What gears? Does he mean it comes out of drive mode?

“The most unreliable and poorly engineered bus that has ever been made�

Obviously this guy has a short memory. When boris buses start spontainiously
bursting into flames then perhaps he might have a point.

Who wrote this - oh Mr Wolmar, a well known source of unbiased commentary.
*cough*

Yup, it's all part of his mayoral campaign, and that document looks like it
was put together by Unite. Wolmar is busy flying the red flag in the hope
of being backed by local lefties.

On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 15:32:17 +0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
Yup, it's all part of his mayoral campaign, and that document looks like it
was put together by Unite. Wolmar is busy flying the red flag in the hope
of being backed by local lefties.

Perhaps we'll see him and Comrade Corbyn doing an open top bus campaign tour
around London. Wouldn't be a Boris Bus of course even if there was a cabriolet
version.

--
Spud

wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 15:32:17 +0000 (UTC)
Recliner wrote:
Yup, it's all part of his mayoral campaign, and that document looks like it
was put together by Unite. Wolmar is busy flying the red flag in the hope
of being backed by local lefties.

Perhaps we'll see him and Comrade Corbyn doing an open top bus campaign tour
around London. Wouldn't be a Boris Bus of course even if there was a cabriolet
version.

I think that bus has already been booked by Diane Abbott and Comrade
Corbyn. Wolmar will have to cycle behind it.

On 2015-07-21 08:52:48 +0000, Paul Corfield said:

a) brake / handbrake problems.

That is concerning. And odd, given that there's no need for the
braking systems to be other than standard Wrightbus kit. Are other
Wrightbus vehicles affected?

b) slow acceleration meaning risk of misjudging moves into traffic.

A professional driver needs to drive to the capability of their
vehicle. Perhaps reduced acceleration will stop the passengers being
thrown around by way of aggressive acceleration, often unnecessarily
so. So this, while perhaps a design flaw, is not in and of itself
dangerous. Professional drivers shouldn't "misjudge moves into
traffic" whatever they are driving. It is their professional role not
to.

c) the electrical system failing meaning loss of steering control -
this has happened umpteen times.

*Loss* of steering control, or just loss of power-assist? I didn't
think fly-by-wire steering was permissible, while it should be possible
to pull the vehicle over safely (if heavily) to the kerb and stop if
power-assist is lost.

(a) is a concern if true, (b) and (c) are just inconveniences, which
perhaps the driver is simply bored of.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 10:26:57 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
A professional driver needs to drive to the capability of their
vehicle. Perhaps reduced acceleration will stop the passengers being

A professional driver yes, but we're talking london bus drivers here. I'm not
sure I'd class all of them as having a professional approach to the job.

c) the electrical system failing meaning loss of steering control -
this has happened umpteen times.

*Loss* of steering control, or just loss of power-assist? I didn't

Almost certainly the latter, though in such a large vehicle it will be
almost impossible to turn the wheel when stationary if the power assist
has died.

--
Spud

wrote:
On Tue, 21 Jul 2015 10:26:57 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
A professional driver needs to drive to the capability of their
vehicle. Perhaps reduced acceleration will stop the passengers being

A professional driver yes, but we're talking london bus drivers here. I'm not
sure I'd class all of them as having a professional approach to the job.

c) the electrical system failing meaning loss of steering control -
this has happened umpteen times.

*Loss* of steering control, or just loss of power-assist? I didn't

Almost certainly the latter, though in such a large vehicle it will be
almost impossible to turn the wheel when stationary if the power assist
has died.

Yes, I agree. Some amount of power steering would be essential with a heavy
bus. I'm guessing it has speed sensitive power steering, that should
provide more assistance at low speeds, but is failing to do so.

My car is like that, and sometimes if the battery is very low and only just
capable of starting the car, you don't initially get that extra assistance.
The car remains perfectly drivable, but steering at low speeds just needs a
bit more effort. It seems like the brake assist computer doesn't boot
properly if the battery is low; if your turn off and start again,
everything goes back to normal. The problem never occurs if the battery is
properly or even half charged, so the problem isn't easily repeatable: once
you've been running for a few minutes, the problem doesn't occur.

On 2015-07-20 20:25:34 +0000, Paul Corfield said:

I don't see tweets and comments from people complaining about other
bus types "smelling of ****" - this seems a rather unique NB4L trait.

A common trait of other buses prior to the installation of the
forced-air ventilation coupled with opening windows. Er, oops.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.