InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

I looked at these at my local bike shop a while ago and marvelled at how gossamer thin yet stretchy this material is. How would it work? Then I saw the price and tried to calculate the number of thermals I could buy with £40. Quite a few. But would they actually be as good as the EDZ Innershell. I doubt it if my experiences are to be believed. My subscription of Bike magazine was due and so when I saw that new subscribers could choose to have an EDZ Innershell as a free gift I dropped the reminder in the bin and after a few weeks I logged on to the subscriptions website and took out a new one, and ticked the box for the EDZ Innershell. Although quite portly, the largest size that Bike had listed was XL, and it is quite snug! They obviously don’t expect fat people to sub to their magazine. The EDZ Innershell is available in sizes up to 3XL according to EDZ own website - http://www.edz.biz/edz-windstopper-innershell.html . I have no idea how it works. Why do I need to? It does. I wore it...

According to the song sung by the supporters of our local rivals we are “having a laugh” if we think we can win the Champions League. At least you have to be in it to win it and when they, Tottenham Hotspur, haven’t won the league in England since 1961 not finished in the top four in the Premiership ever, then you can’t help laughing back. After a second year of finishing 4th in the Premiership we had to again qualify for the CL. As we are a big team from one of the main countries, we are lucky and only have to play in the last round of qualifiers. The draw could have been tricky as we got Czech Champions Sparta Prague. A fortnight ago we won the first leg 2-0 in Prague, and last night was the home leg at the Emirates. As I am on the bike this week in preference to the train, I had the luxury of not getting up there too early. In the end I left work at just before six o’clock and by ten past I was parking up in the bike parking space at the foot of Aubert Place and in sight of the stad...

Rather than write up what has happened so far in my Quest to get wireless between GPS and helmet I have copied the article I wrote for the BMW Club "Journal" here and added a few photos.   The original idea behind the search for a Bluetooth solution for my Quest GPS was entirely down to the fact that I kept getting off the bike and the wire between my helmet and the unit kept pinging off. As well as looking a prat (steady at the back!) there was always the paintwork jack plug interface to be avoided! The options seemed quite limited. There are loads of Bluetooth earpieces available that stick in one ear for phones, but try to get a helmet on with one of them in place! Not going to happen. So, the solution needed to be more motorcycle oriented. The beginning of a solution came on two fronts; one in a shop and the other on the Suzuki OC Kent Centre run to Ypres at Easter 2007. The first was when I called into Infinity in Holborn to pick up my Schuberth C2 after a minor repai...

It was initially Nigel’s idea to go to France over the BH Weekend, and originally Monday. Claire and I were the only ones in the Kent Centre that were up for it and we couldn’t do Monday, but could do Sunday. After a change of plans we arrived together on the 0820 Shuttle to France in company with another trio of bikes and their riders. A nice MV with extra loud pipes and a couple of Guzzis. One being a 1000 Quota, a rarity in every sense! The plan was to head off down the D940 along the coast and stop for a coffee under Cap Blanc Nez at the Escalles campsite café. Sadly, when we got there after a short ride with perfect views over the Channel to Kent, it was closed until noon. Strange for a weekend in August. We set off south again and at Wissant I hove right into the village. Ahead the road was closed and we parked up for a walk around a splendid village that we had never been to before. There was a boat festival on and the square was full of tables and chairs gearing up for lunch th...

Today I'm off to see the Arsenal play at the Emirates against Manchester City. Back in the olde days I had a brief flirtation with City. We had moved down to Surrey from Lancashire (You could in those days before the madness overtook the price of houses) and at the time City were doing quite well in League and Cups. My first trip to Wembley was to see City beat West Brom in the League Cup. In the end the minor infatuation came to an end and I went back to being an Arsenal supporter full time. My Dad supported the Arsenal all his life. I decided to let the train take the strain but the service (what service) from Sandling of on train an hour is disgusting. Instead I got on myu bike and rode to Ashford. A large and free motorcycle park is right in front of the station entrance. With the bike locked up it was all very painless. I've left my jacket in one of the Zegas and my old helmet (not worth tempting fate!!) In the box. On the subject of jacket. Today, "I are mostly weari...

Once again I am organising the annual pet food run on behalf of the Kent Centre SOC, and again this year we are tying up with the local volunteer RSPCA group based in and around Maidstone. The date is September 23rd. The meeting place is Hein Gericke car-park in Maidstone at 1200 (noon). Hein Gericke GPS co-ordinate is N51.280168 E0.521644 The kennel we will go to is primarily for dogs looking to be re-homed. They are using part of a kennel at Boxley near Maidstone. Please bring along dog food and your wallets! Thanks.

It works. It works. At the weekend it will get it's proper test on the run to France to visit the Jardins de Valloire. Fingers crossed.

After the total system failure that occurred on the trip up to Suffolk that I mistook for simply the van body shielding, and then the performance that could have ruined the trip to Amsterdam, the Quest went back to Garmin in Hampshire and came back yesterday. Or rather a different one came back yesterday, and that is the problem. It fired up great but cos it is a different unit, it wouldn't let me load any maps. Mapsource works though, I simply can't add maps to the unit and open them. Garmin have been very quick and today I have a new unlock code to type in and see if that works...  Watch this space.

What started off as a suggestion by Nigel Jones, a fellow SOC Kent Centre member, to have a day trip on BH Monday seems to have turned into just Claire and me going over to France for the day, but on BH Sunday! The weather forecast looks good, so maybe the vented Joe Rocket might be the jacket of choice or perhaps it not, the new Suzuki jacket can be given its first outing as part of Devallwear. We have some Tesco vouchers left over from the Amsterdam trip and they had to be used by the end of August, so it was only natural that we used them. The sticking point could have been the 14-day restriction on booking on Eurotunnel, but this was smoothed over by Mandy in the reservations at Folkestone. Thanks Mandy. So we will be outward on the 0820 on Sunday and back on the 1850. As expected it will be busy in both directions as it is almost the last weekend of the kid's school holidays. We don't have much of a plan but we'd like to have lunch and perhaps get to the Jardins de Va...

Out as soon as possible to lay the 30m cable across the drives to the garage and get the battery on charge. Checked the levels and all stacks are above the line. may need to top up with distilled water later to get them back to the top level. With power on the charger hums and the battery can now heard to be active, lifting it a bit in the holder (strap pinged off on its own but still whole!) and there are bubbles. Hopefully, the charger can recover enough power to get it to start later in the day. I'll try to drop in to Alford Brothers and pick up some new plugs whilst I am there. They are sure to still have B8ES aren't they! In the meantime, clean the ones already in the engine, gapped okay. Bike out in the open, the tyres a bit flat, pumped up so it moves better pushing it about. Optimism high, why aren't I pessimist! Dribble a couple of litres of unleaded into the tank, turn to PRI, petrol pissing out of the drain. Switch to ON. Ignition off. Kick over a few times them ...

Up this morning and get the first crap job of the day done; the silicone seal round the shower tray in the en-suite! Yesterday, it took the best part of two hours on my hands and knees ( oo -er!) to cut and remove the old seal. I'd not done it that long ago but it was a cheap brand from Aldi and had no nasty chemical shit in it to combat the bathroom's friend: mould. This morning, I cleaned it all up again and went in with the latex gloves (chalked inside of course) and laid a new seal. Had Bodgit the Builder who built the house managed to get the tiles level at the bottom of the wall, the seal between shower tray and tile would be easier, but instead the gap isn't consistent. Much messing about and it is done. Once try I have a bit of trimming to do.

Now that there's the will back again, I have to measure how much! After the years of being condemned to the back of the garage there may be a lot to do to get it running. The problem I've already mentioned on the Blog, the throttle body being broken (and dangerous!) can be fixed as. I have a spare set of grips, NOS (I think) in my collection of parts. The main work to get throiugh the MoT looks as though it will revolve around the brakes. The front brakes have been a constant battle and I spent ages before to clean the calipers and fit new gaiters and 'O' rings. One of the mods that was done to my old GT550A was to fit early GS model brakes. The calipers fit straight on as the models shared the same fork legs. It had to be done to the 550 as it originally came with only a single brake up front and the mounts on the other leg. Changing for a pair of GS brakes improved overall performance by a greater factor than simply adding another GT style caliper. Oh yeah. Almost for...

As the week off work draws to a close I decided to get the garage a bit tidied up so I could access the Kettle at the back of the space. Two trips of crap to the tip later and I have a bit of access space. A plan to move stuff to the back along the walls wouldn't work as we have hooks with tools and stuff hanging, but it would have been nice to have both bikes at the front where I can see to work on them. My garage is in a block and has no power, so I have to run a lead across from the house. Luckily a 30m length does it and goes in a square to stay off the neighbours drives. I'm sure they wouldn't mind it going across but this way they get to park and not trip over! I've had the battery on charge most of the afternoon so far but it was completely dead. I'm hoping that it will hold a charge after all this time. Yes, time. It seems to have flown very quickly. The tax disc on the Kettle shows it expiring at the end of July 2002! Yep. Five whole years. As you can imagi...

Sunday, we should have been out with the Kent Centre but no one could make it, so we went to Rye anyway.  Since the last time we went they have modified the entrance to the quayside at the Strand. Not for the better for me on the GS with the Touratech Zegas  fitted.  The gap seems much narrower! Why they simply don't open it for the bikes is hard to see. Okay, in the summer the town is teeming with coach loads of Japanese and other more home made tourists, but the bikes keep the Strand Cafe and Kettle of Fish chippie in business.  Some exchange for keeping the cash registers chinging might be in order. It's not going to happen.  Anyway, we had a look in a pine shop that Claire likes. All very modern with a CD instead of a paper catalogue. And then a long walk up the hill to have a look around and a coffee. The weather was so warm and dry. Good job we had the vented jackets on instead of the heavier jackets.   Paul Devall - sent from my Black...

First job on Saturday was to get rid of Buffalo Jacket 3. Michael at Robinson's had ordered me an XXL (okay I'm a porker!) Suzuki jacket from a brand new range that they are bringing out. The photo didn't look too impressive with former British Superbike Champion John Reynolds as the model. However, in reality it looks pretty good. The Suzuki wording on the sleeves and across the back might not be the best advert for a BMW owner but I do have a Suzuki laid-up in the garage. The jacket is simply called (on the label!) the 99 AGV - JCKT -2XL, a name that rolls off the tongue! It is made of Reissa "Power Skin" material and is breathable, waterproof and windproof. The fit is very good with part elasticated hem to hold it close to your arse. For added security it comes with Knox armour in the shoulders, elbows and back. Over the next few weeks we'll see how it performs. It comes with a detachable quilted lining, but I'll never get to test this as I hate them....

Here are a few more photographs from the Amsterdam weekend. We seemed to be clicking off all over the place, but haven't that many pics to show for it all! I did delete a load of crap ones though! West Kerk? Flower Market from other side of canal First floating flower stall - shot from tram stop! Rembrandtplein Inside the ArenA and the Ajax Graffiti Wall.

Just a few photos taken over the weekend in Amsterdam. Captioned but not much of a tale to them! "Nemo" Museum Floating Chinese Restaurant Edge of Gay Pride Area marked by pink balloons View of the canal from our hotel window Some Pride fans on the Canal.

I had this vague idea that riding to work in the summer holiday would be easier and less stressful than normal days when the commuters are racing to work. The traffic in August is only marginally lighter, the roadworks on the M25 don't help. You realise that whilst there are some wallies on the road, at least out of the holiday season, they are consistent wallies! Mr and, more often than not, Mrs Vacationer, is far less predictable. Put one of them at the wheel of a car, add a liberal dose of kids and then they weave from lane to lane, mess about with their stereos or whatever it is that means they take their eyes off the road ahead, and generally are a menace. Only today I had "Mum" (not her real name obviously) at the wheel of an MPV who was unable to actually keep to a consistent speeds, ebbing and flowing in the fairly open reaches of the M20, varying anything between 50 and 70 mph. As I past her she was looking down at her lap for the best part of 15 to 20 seconds.....

After a late night on Saturday after the football at the ArenA , we had a late morning and a leisurely breakfast before packing up for the ride back. At this time we had no idea that by some stroke of luck we had missed the entire closed section of the motorway south of Utrecht on the way up or that it was going to be even hotter than the previous two days. Is it possible to get sunstroke through your clothes and helmet? Escaping from Amsterdam was easier said than done. We thought we had retraced our steps back to S108 and the A10 Ring but in fact had gone towards the Centre! I guessed as the Heineken Brewery came into view. A quick ride round the block brought us on the way out, eventually meeting the Ring at S110. Not too bad. Just loads of sitting at traffic lights in the burning sun. Once on the A10 the A2 wasn't far off and we started to up the pace. Even at 80mph the wind was still warm coming through the top vents of my helmet. As we approached Utrecht there were signs in D...

As I may have mentioned in one of the entries about our weekend in Amsterdam, the Quest, dear old Doris, had a complete and utter failure. It wasn't my weekend for gadgets! Firstly, I found that after all the hassle I'd had on the Isle of Man when Vodafone hadn't done as instructed and taken the international bar off my phone, and the subsequent emails and phone calls that supposedly had it sorted; it was Novodafone weekend again. Apparently, some dickhead at Vodafone had put the bar back on. Who said to do it will never be known. Life's like that! Secondly, Doris went tits-up and couldn't find any of the satellites that are in geo-stationery orbit around the globe to help travellers navigate their way on land, sea and air! As we had planned a quick and dirty autobahn route to Amsterdam it wasn't too much of a problem. Doris dithering "acquiring satellites" for 200 plus miles was getting to me. Luckily again, I had printed out a route from Via Michelin...

We were up and breakfasted by 9.30 and out. This time we took Tram #16 instead for some variety and jumped off at Spui as Claire wanted to see the flower market and to buy some bulbs for the garden. On the other side of the road was a Gay Pride banner, penny not yet dropped. We did the flower market, bought a touristy ceramic clog and bulbs for our next door neighbour who fed the cats for us whilst we were away, and three packs of bulbs for us and Claire's sister. Then we felt we needed a drink. At the first bar we didn't see hide or hair of the waiting staff and so gave up. Not gay enough? The canal banks were lined with people and anyone that owned a boat was out soaking up the sun. As well as this there were boats overloaded with people enjoying the Gay Pride day.... dressed up in strange (to us) concoctions and some "ladies" that looked like rugby players in drag. We had a long walk around and a coffee in Rembrandtplein, once again the service was sloooowwww. Som...

We were up and breakfasted by 9.30 and out. This time we took Tram #16 instead for some variety and jumped off at Spui as Claire wanted to see the flower market and to buy some bulbs for the garden. On the other side of the road was a Gay Pride banner, penny not yet dropped. We did the flower market, bought a touristy ceramic clog and bulbs for our next door neighbour who fed the cats for us whilst we were away, and three packs of bulbs for us and Claire's sister. Then we felt we needed a drink. At the first bar we didn't see hide or hair of the waiting staff and so gave up. Not gay enough? The canal banks were lined with people and anyone that owned a boat was out soaking up the sun. As well as this there were boats overloaded with people enjoying the Gay Pride day.... dressed up in strange (to us) concoctions and some "ladies" that looked like rugby players in drag. We had a long walk around and a coffee in Rembrandtplein, once again the service was sloooowww...

Phew. What a scorcha! We were lucky with the weather. When we arrived at the tunnel there was a Harley and two Vespas in front of us in the queue. The Harley guy was wearing an Arsenal scarf but heading to Belgium for a Harley rally, we weren't wearing any Arsenal gear but were heading for Amsterdam. Partly for a weekend away, and partly to go to the ArenA for the LG Tournament (see elsewhere on the Blog). By the time we got into Belgium my odometer was showing 60 miles since fuel. I needed a drink as I hadn't had any breakfast so we pulled into the new services after Veurne. I filled up and we had coffee. We were in no real hurry. The route I had planned for the GPS was scrapped as for some reason the Quest was on the fritz again. Unable to find satellites. I persevered for most of the journey to Amsterdam and it wheezed into life a couple of times. Maybe for 3 miles in 230 travelled each way! As we approached Breda (with Amsterdam not on any road signs) I took the straight o...

Phew. What a scorcha! Scorchio! We were lucky with the weather. When we arrived at the tunnel there was a Harley and two Vespas in front of us in the queue. The Harley guy was wearing an Arsenal scarf but heading to Belgium for a Harley rally, we weren't wearing any Arsenal gear but were heading for Amsterdam.  Partly for a weekend away, and partly to go to the ArenA for the LG Tournament (see elsewhere on the Blog). By the time we got into Belgium my odometer was showing 60 miles since fuel. I needed a drink as I hadn't had any breakfast so we pulled into the new services after Veurne. I filled up and we had coffee.  We were in no real hurry. The route I had planned for the GPS was scrapped as for some reason the Garmin Quest was on the fritz again. Unable to find satellites. I persevered for most of the journey to Amsterdam and it wheezed into life a couple of times. Maybe for 3 miles in 230 travelled each way! As we approached Breda (with Amsterdam not on any road signs) I...

Another bit of pre-season silverware for the Arsenal to add to the trophy cabinet. We arrived halfway through the 2nd half of the early game in time to see three quick goals from Athletico and Lazio. Athletico Madrid running out winners in the end, 3-1. The Arsenal supporters were crammed in the away supporters area, surrounded by perspex walls and toothed razor topping! You can see it in the picture on the left! Our seats were already occupied and we were told it was a case of "sit anywhere". So we sat a few rows up. Then the ticket holders arrived and forced us to move. Nice to see some Arsenal supporters are so understanding. We went down and almost reclaimed our seats, sitting one to the left of where we should have been! The knobheads dancing and shouting right by us eventually sat down so we could see. The game went off okay, us in control and them kicking us up in the air all the time. Some dubious tackles on Robin van Persie, the "sporting" whistles when on...

Another bit of pre-season silverware for the Arsenal to add to the trophy cabinet. We arrived halfway through the 2nd half of the early game in time to see three quick goals from Athletico and Lazio. Athletico Madrid running out winners in the end, 3-1. The Arsenal supporters were crammed in the away supporters area, surrounded by perspex walls and toothed razor topping! You can see it in the picture on the left! Our seats were already occupied and we were told it was a case of "sit anywhere". So we sat a few rows up. Then the ticket holders arrived and forced us to move. Nice to see some Arsenal supporters are so understanding. We went down and almost reclaimed our seats, sitting one to the left of where we should have been! The knobheads dancing and shouting right by us eventually sat down so we could see. The game went off okay, us in control and them kicking us up in the air all the time. Some dubious tackles on Robin van Persie, the "sporting" whistles when on...

F**K! I changed the Buffalo Jacket on Thursday. Rode home from Canterbury. Friday rode to Amsterdam. Maybe opened and closed the flap three of four times at most. Hung jacket in the hotel wardrobe, not using it again until 11am or so when checking out of the hotel. Then I noticed the bloody pop stud had torn out again. How can it be? This is three jackets since April! All gone the same way. Once was a pain and perhaps duff manufacture. Twice? But three times! It might all seem a joke to some people, but it's £100 of my money invested in the jacket. On top of that a 36 mile round trip to change it each time @ 50mpg? Say 108 miles, so 10 litres of petrol, so at today's prices I'm also out of pocket to about £9 in petrol! Plus the time wasted! Looks like a refund this time or change for another design. I have emailed Michael Robinson at Robinsons Foundry to see about another exchange!

What to do?  The money pages are full of rip-off tales from the banks whether you use a Switch card in the ATM's or from credit card purchases. So for the Amsterdam trip I've had a look at various options and ended up with pre-purchasing currency on the Travelex website, to be collected at Eurotunnel terminal. They had the best rate and no commission. - sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

New jacket collected today.  Top marks to Robinsons at Canterbury - no quibble at all. Let's see how we get on with this one.  At the end of the day it's not been that bad; one damp pocket. That may of course be down to me being a fair weather biker and not out in the worst of it.  It also means that in three months I've had a new jacket every month. Amsterdam tomorrow.   Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device