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Went out First Gemini hunting today, (and failed...) this is what I rode:

8 Huyton to Liverpool (2402) - Was really surprised, and happy, to see this as i've been meaning to ride it for a while. The engine was fantastic, sounded excellent and held a good turn of speed. The praise ends there. The idle vibrations were horrible, literally shaking the bus. And it was quite rattly.

1 Liverpool to Birkenhead (69310) - Wow! This was one massive surprise. The vehicle was excellent, sounded tip-top and didn't rattle AT ALL! Only criticism is the engine was a bit quiet, and the bus was full of Chinese tourists so couldn't really hear it...

2 Birkenhead to Liverpool (3004) - Quite nice. It was a tad on the sluggish side, but rattles were to a minimum.

13 Liverpool to West Derby Road (3061) - Excellent. The engine was fantastic, and kickdown was regularly applied. Rattles were to a minimum.

68 West Derby Road to Green Lane depot (7665) - What a shed. Rattled constantly, engine was loud and it reeked of diesel. Need I say more?...

Quick walk up to Aldi Old Swan after I just missed 2217 on the 68...

68 Aldi Old Swan to West Derby Road (2216) - Another shed. Rattled constantly and violently and the engine sounded terrible. But it was quite fast.

15 West Derby Road to Liverpool (3059) - I was happy to see this, as this particular bus is very rarely off the 14 and I haven't had the chance to get a "proper" ride of it yet. It was great, the engine sounded tip top and it hardly rattled.

471 Liverpool to Birkenhead (4203) - I had stood round for a good 40 minutes waiting for a First Gemini, sadly none turned up so I had to ride this shed. Rattly, loud and sounded awful. Nothing else to say really.

407 Birkenhead to Liverpool (4402) - Quite nice. It was quite fast, with kickdown being applied a few times and it was solid.

8 Liverpool to Huyton (2402) - I really couldn't be bothered waiting another 20 minutes for another 8, so I got on this. Same as before. Sounded nice, idle vibrations, rattles and generally crap.

(14/07/2012 14:54)V671 DVU Wrote: [ -> ]Went out First Gemini hunting today, (and failed...) this is what I rode:

8 Huyton to Liverpool (2402) - Was really surprised, and happy, to see this as i've been meaning to ride it for a while. The engine was fantastic, sounded excellent and held a good turn of speed. The praise ends there. The idle vibrations were horrible, literally shaking the bus. And it was quite rattly.

1 Liverpool to Birkenhead (69310) - Wow! This was one massive surprise. The vehicle was excellent, sounded tip-top and didn't rattle AT ALL! Only criticism is the engine was a bit quiet, and the bus was full of Chinese tourists so couldn't really hear it...

2 Birkenhead to Liverpool (3004) - Quite nice. It was a tad on the sluggish side, but rattles were to a minimum.

13 Liverpool to West Derby Road (3061) - Excellent. The engine was fantastic, and kickdown was regularly applied. Rattles were to a minimum.

68 West Derby Road to Green Lane depot (7665) - What a shed. Rattled constantly, engine was loud and it reeked of diesel. Need I say more?...

Quick walk up to Aldi Old Swan after I just missed 2217 on the 68...

68 Aldi Old Swan to West Derby Road (2216) - Another shed. Rattled constantly and violently and the engine sounded terrible. But it was quite fast.

15 West Derby Road to Liverpool (3059) - I was happy to see this, as this particular bus is very rarely off the 14 and I haven't had the chance to get a "proper" ride of it yet. It was great, the engine sounded tip top and it hardly rattled.

471 Liverpool to Birkenhead (4203) - I had stood round for a good 40 minutes waiting for a First Gemini, sadly none turned up so I had to ride this shed. Rattly, loud and sounded awful. Nothing else to say really.

407 Birkenhead to Liverpool (4402) - Quite nice. It was quite fast, with kickdown being applied a few times and it was solid.

8 Liverpool to Huyton (2402) - I really couldn't be bothered waiting another 20 minutes for another 8, so I got on this. Same as before. Sounded nice, idle vibrations, rattles and generally crap.

dont forget you was on speke hall shuttle :P

Erm...No I wasn't...

your the one who was called ultralow? (might of got you mixed up with someone else) ?

No, course not. There's a member on this forum called Ultralow, it would have been him.

who right thought he was you with that photo :P

Today, I Went to D&G's Depot in Crewe, Then a walk down Road 4 in Winsford, To see the new Optare Solo SR's

ANW 29B Grange Estate, Nixon Drive - Winsford Centre
Centro 2610 CX56 CEA
Rather Pleasingly, The driver swaped 3360 for this! Despite its turbo leak, It was rather good! A Bit rattley though, But the driver was fast!

ANW 31A Winsford Centre - Crewe Bus Station
Olympian/Palatine II 3330 R330 WVR
After missing 3329, On the previous journey of the 31, I Was happy to see this come! It was fast, But slow, If you know what i mean!, Well even though the ride is 31 Mins, And it was quite a fast driver, It felt as if it was going on for ever! It was very Rattely, But had a great sounding engine behind it!

ANW 38 Crewe Bus Station - Edleston Road, Bottom
Gemini 4489 MX61 AUN
I Carn't really judge this! I Was only on it for about 2 Mins! It was not very rattley, But that's it!

Visit to D&G Depot, Walked back to Crewe

ANW 37 Crewe Bus Station - Middlewich, Lewin Street
Cadet 2502 CX54 DLJ
A Nice suprise! The ride Was quite Rattley, But also very fast!, It was warm, And comfetasble!

ANW 37 Middlewich, Bull Ring, St Micheals Way - Winsford, Road 1 Roundabout
Centro 2616 CX56 CEU
Well, It was ok! My mate, On the other end of the phone, Said it sounded like a TDA Dart!, The engine was very rough, It wasent very rattley though! It was Running at an OK Pace, Although, When i alighted, A Huge amout of smoke came out, And 10 Mins, Later, It returned to the depot!

ANW 31A Winsford, Road 1 Roundabout - Winsford Centre
Olympian/Palatine II 3330 R330 WVR, AGAIN!
Same as above, But faster

ANW 29B Winsford Centre - Delamere Street, St Johns Church
Centro 2610 CX56 CEA AGAIN!
Same As Above, Just faster, And rattled more!


Next week, I'm going to Shrewsbury, With a friend

Today, I ventured out with no plan! Here's what I rode on:

52 (ANW) - Netherton, Glovers Lane > Queen Square Bus Station
Pulsar 2 MX09 LYC (2942)
It was nice to see something different operating my first journey today! The bus sounded great and it didn't rattle much, however the constant "foot-on, foot off" action from the driver ruined the ride. He was quite fast, though - kickdown was used once (properly!) on Scotland Road and it sounded fantastic! I've had better rides - equally, I've had worse...

18 (ANW) - Queen Square Bus Station > West Derby, Muirhead Avenue
Pulsar 2 MX59 ABN (3012)
I hadn't had this bus for a while until this journey; sadly, it was a disappointing ride... The interior was a mess - typical of many Green Lane-based buses at the moment! At the back, where I sat, there was a full seat in the moquette typically featured on 58-plated Pulsars, which looked odd among the bus' standard moquette - of which was ripped in places, especially on the back row... The bus itself wasn't very good - it sounded poor and it felt a bit sluggish off the line, however that might have been down to the woman driver, who was quite fast anyway. The bus also rattled a lot - something which it didn't do much when I last rode on it...

18 (ANW) - West Derby, Muirhead Avenue > Queen Square Bus Station, via Croxteth
Pulsar 2 MX61 AWH (3077)
I'd noticed this bus following 3012 into Liverpool earlier in the day, so I decided to wait for it as I hadn't rode on it until this journey. It wasn't anything special. It rattled violently at times, however it sounded nice. The woman driver was very, very fast; she commonly reached 40-MPH in Croxteth and she even went about 50-MPH before she (sadly) came off in West Derby. One worrying feature of these 61-plated Pulsar 2s is that their gearboxes don't feel very stable - when the driver was going over speed-bumps in Croxteth, the bus kept jumping back onto gear one and revving very high, but slowly...

472 (FC&W) - Liverpool, Sir Thomas Street > Birkenhead Bus Station
Gemini YJ04 FZE (32457)
I decided to ride on this when I seen it turning onto Crosshall Street. Firstly, its' interior looked nice, however it featured a few ripped seats at the back of the lower deck. Surprisingly, the driver was quite fast through the Queensway Tunnel! The bus sounded a bit boring as it never held its' gears very well; it didn't rattle much, though. I'll have to sample a few more before I form an opinion on the type; it'd be unfair of me to do so after just one journey, which wasn't the best.

409 (ANW) - Birkenhead Bus Station > Seacombe Interchange (Bus Station)
DAF/Cadet X447 HJA (2447)
As I had time to kill, I decided to ride on the allocation on the 409 - board one at Birkenhead to Seacombe and then board the other at Seacombe to Birkenhead! This bus was great! It didn't rattle much and it sounded fantastic! It felt a bit sluggish, however it sounded fantastic - just like a good Dart! The only bad thing about it was its' seats - the first one that I chose didn't have much cushion on it and the second one that I settled into was a bit uncomfortable. Hopefully, this issue will be solved when/if it receives "P&P" maintenance. Other than that issue, however, I'd definitely ride on this bus again!

409 (ANW) - Seacombe Interchange (Bus Station) > Birkenhead Bus Station
DAF/Cadet X423 AJA (2423)
As this was a "P&P'd" example, I expected a better ride. I was wrong... This one was comfortable, however it rattled badly at times! It was also very sluggish off the line - its' gearbox changed gears at odd times... The bus didn't sound very nice, either. Hopefully, 2447 won't decrease in quality when/if it's "P&P'd"!

437 (ANW) - Birkenhead Bus Station > Liverpool, Whitechapel
Enviro400 CX58 FZZ (4410)
I hadn't rode one of these buses for a while until this journey, although I'd heard lots of different things about many of them! This one was quite slow off the line, despite revving quite high - I suppose that this was in the famous "slow mode"... It was also uncomfortable as I had no choice but to sit on one of the "plastic" seats at the back of the lower deck. Apart from that, however, I enjoyed this ride! The driver was fast and the bus didn't rattle much. It also sounded nice, but different...

18 (ANW) - Queen Square Bus Station > West Derby, Muirhead Avenue
Pulsar CX07 CSZ (2642)
I seen this as I got off 4410; as it was on my to-do list, I thought "Why not?"... It actually wasn't too bad. The driver was good and the bus was fine - it sounded nice and it was quite fast off the line (when the driver was in the mood). Its' gearbox was lovely! The amount of blue smoke that emitted from the back-end of the bus was worrying, though...!

18 (ANW) - West Derby, West Derby Road > Queen Square Bus Station
Pulsar 2 CX58 EWR (2902)
It's always a pleasure to ride on this bus, surprisingly - it features the "sensitive kickdown" issue and it's in the famous "slow mode"! The grumpy driver at the wheel was fast; kickdown was applied often and it sounded fantastic! The bus didn't rattle much - if at all, from what I can remember!

18 (ANW) - Queen Square Bus Station > West Derby, Muirhead Avenue
Pulsar 2 MX59 FFS (3014)
Another "slow-moded" bus of this type... The driver didn't seem to like it, especially on hills. On Brunswick Road (a hill), the bus was absolutely rubbish! It struggled to get off gear one and when it did, it started to slow down (which caused frustration within the cab; kickdown didn't seem to kick down!)... Passengers at the front, where I was standing, were commenting on the slow speed! The driver was fast, though!

13 (ANW) - West Derby, West Derby Road > Queen Square Bus Station
Prestige R153 GNW (2403)
I was glad when this - something that I could tick off my to-do list - turned up. I didn't enjoy it. It rattled a lot and it didn't sound as nice as sister-bus R152 GNW (2402). The driver was quite fast and welcoming, though.

18 (ANW) - Queen Square Bus Station > Liverpool, Lord Street
Pulsar 2 MX59 JKZ (3032)
I'd been trying to track this bus down since I returned from Birkenhead earlier in the day - hence so many rides on the 18! I finally got it with a good driver, anyway. It was a short ride, however I couldn't identify whether it was in "slow mode" or not (it seemed to be!). It didn't seem to rattle much, from hat I can remember of the ride.

(I walked to Queen Square Bus Station with a lovely cone of chips; I don't like Lobster Pot anymore [probably because I'm there every other day]... )

9 (ANW) - Queen Square Bus Station > Kensington, Kensington
Marshall V624 DBN (7624)
I seen this and thought "Why not?" - another bus to tick off my to-do list... The driver was welcoming, kind and fast, however the bus was rubbish! It rattled a lot at the back, where I sat. It didn't sound nice, either, and it was sluggish off the line.

10A (SM&SL) - Kensington, Prescot Road > Queen Square Bus Station
Enviro300 PO11 BCX (27718)
As the evening timetables were starting to kick in, I decided not to wait for another 8/9 and boarded this instead. This was fine. The ride was a little rough - something which seems to be standard with these Enviro300s - although my seat was comfortable - another thing which seems to be standard with these buses! It sounded fine and it was quite fast off the line; it didn't rattle much.

58 (ANW) - Liverpool, Sir Thomas Street > Netherton, Peterborough Drive
ALX200 X265 OBN (2265)
I don't ride on these buses very often; I seen this earlier in the day, so I worked out when it'd be leaving Liverpool for Netherton again and I made a plan to ride on it home! It was very, very fast off the line - the driver was also kind and very, very fast! The bus rattled a lot, though, and it wasn't very comfortable - the interior wasn't very presentable, either. Its' excellent engine made up for those issues, though! An excellent way to end the day!

@V671, I rode 7665 the other day (I'll post a review of that day a bit later if I can be bothered!), no such smell of diesel, and the engine sounded rather decent. Plenty of rattles but not really as bad as you make out sometimes!

(16/07/2012 11:06)K853 MTJ Wrote: [ -> ]@V671, I rode 7665 the other day (I'll post a review of that day a bit later if I can be bothered!), no such smell of diesel, and the engine sounded rather decent. Plenty of rattles but not really as bad as you make out sometimes!

When I rode on it, the smell was mainly after gear three - and I wouldn't have called it a diesel smell. It was more of a burning smell rather than diesel!