InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Westenhanger Dawn , originally uploaded by InvictaMoto . Cold. Frosty. Car. Scrape. Shivver.

Looks like a good idea, the brevity of Twitter and Flickr sort of joined together. http://blipfoto.com/browse

If you are an art expert who specialises in street art, have a look at the pictures and tell me if these are Banksy originals or copies? The motorcycle jumping picture is higher up on the wall with the little kid with the rocket launcher are pavement level.  

A bit late this month and not all the mileages have come in but here we are anyway. There is one month to go, or to be precise there are 16 days left and then it is all over and done with. Updated on the 15th November when the last two entrants sent in their mileages.

The war memorial in Hythe.  We had a walk down there after all the services had finished. As well as the large wreaths from local organisations as diverse as the Police to the 1st Bn Gurkha Rifles were those of the Scouts and Guides, plus the personal poppy crosses. The flowers in the bottom right of the picture were laid by the visitors from one of Hythe's twin town, Berck sur Mer..

Another forwarded communication. This is not simply another European pile of crap, once they get it passed, then manufacturers will build bikes to these standards and then the whole world is affected. Please read on. This is no time to be a NIMBY! I'm sorry I do this before the weekend, and this is a long one, but if you can spare 5 minutes, please have a read. If nothing else you'll have something to talk about down the pub! You may remember earlier activist mailings highlighting MAG member Jon Strong's fight with the European Commission (EC) which he took through the EU Ombudsman. Among Jon's complaints was that the Commission's Impact Assessment accompanying the Type Approval Regulation we are currently fighting, was, frankly, inadequate. The EU Ombudsman agreed that the EC have a case to answer in respect of Jon's complaint. The EC were given until 30th September to respond to Jon's complaint as part of the process through which he can come to a decis...

The crucial committee stage vote by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO), into the Type Approval Regulation, has been postponed yet again, to the 5th December.   MAG welcomes the fact that so much attention is being paid to this piece of legislation, at Committee stage, after the many, many months of lobbying by MAG and FEMA and every one of you who've written a letter to your MEP.   It shows that the lobbying tactics are working and the postponement comes as no surprise as the vote date had already been postponed several times and we had said this further delay was always a real possibility.   This delay, as the 305 tabled amendments continue to be discussed, means that the Plenary Session vote, or vote by the whole European Parliament, will now be pushed back to the Spring.   You may remember that a complaint against the Commission was upheld earlier in the year by the European Ombudsman, that the Commission had failed ...

It's only a few days to go to to the first 11-11-11 since the end of the First World War, and it made me think how lucky my generation have been. We have fought many mini-wars, police actions and the current actions in Afghanistan, where our soldiers are still giving their lives, but no whole scale war.  In facr, we have not had a full scale conflict involving conscripted forces since 1945.  And that has to be seen as a measure of how lucky we have been. Despite the trend in the late Victorian period for large families, and despite the infant mortality rate being high amongst the inner city working class, my family were generally lucky with only two young men killed on the battlefields of the Western Front. My father' side of the family were even luckier in WW2 when we had uncles galore in the services, from the RAF to the Army to the Navy, not one was even injured. On my mother's side it was much the same picture, although a small family, there wer...

Every time I see the posts on the FB group for the GT750 owners I feel guilty that my old girl is lying at the back of the garage in need of some TLC. I guess I lost enthusiasm once I moved house and there was no light and no power available.  Until then, in the winter months I would sit with a polishing cloth and some metal polish and keep the bike pretty clean. Okay, not as clean as those that are trailered to shows and that have mirrors under them so you can see the original grey of the ally under belly, but clean enough.  Now she languishes, forgotten, well almost forgotten, not exactly unloved, but not really appreciated.  The older lover, replaced by a younger, better built and more modern model. Slowly losing her looks, shut away from the world. What to do?  As a below average mechanic with tools more suited to trucks rather than delicate Japanese bikes, I have been guilty of letting her fade away.  Now I need to do something.  I had ideas o...

An update already. The destination is now confirmed as the Blue Cross Animal Rescue Centre   in Northiam, Kent. The date is still the 17th June 2012 . Now that we have a date and destination we have to look for a decent ride out for the riders we intend to invite and therefore a meeting place to accommodate the hundreds that will turn up.

We have a date -  17th June 2012 .  The destination of the run is still TBA as is the start point. The latter depends on the former! Although, I am leaning towards the Blue Cross at Northiam.  When I started organising the runs in the early 90's we went to the Blue Cross Centre at Kimpton in Hertfordshire. I stopped that in 2000 a year after I moved to Kent. Mainly due to the distance from home but also that the Centre Manager was retiring. It seemed like a convenient time to call it a day. Since then I've done a few in Kent to different places but I thought the 20th year should be back at the Blue Cross. I keep saying every year will be my last, but the draw is still there. Maybe 20 years will be enough? As soon as I have tied up the destination and start point I will update the thread on here and post to the various websites and forums to which I belong.

Have to be seen to be believed : 1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts." 2.  "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time - this should be banned 3. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry.  I don't like spicy food at all." 4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels." 5. A tourist at a top African game lodge overlooking a water hole, who spotted a visibly aroused elephant, complained that the sight of this rampant beast ruined his honeymoon by making him feel "inadequate". 6. A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she'd been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the "do not disturb" sign on...

Goonersaurus meets some of his fans... Have no idea who they are!!

Tickets went on sale today and Neill went online and bought them. We opted for the weekend tickets as they are only €10 more than Sunday only. Also collect on site was €1 rather than €30 for them to be sent DHL. All in €135.

Had to cut this from the official highlights video showing this "gentleman" laughing and giving RvP the wanker signs after he missed in the early stages of last week's game. Still laughing now four eyes? Robin van Persie's hat-trick inspired Arsenal to an incredible victory 5-3 against Chelsea as their recovery gathered momentum in a Stamford Bridge thriller. 29 Oct 2011

It's cruel to laugh, but this couldn't have happened to a nicer bloke. The question is. What did John Terry call Robin van Persie after this incident?

For the last eleven years the bulk of my commuting has been by train. Why? It's simply distance and time. Although when you take into account the daily cost of my train season ticket, monthly, it works out at about £15 to £17 a day depending on the length of the month. Before you factor in the other costs of using the bike; tyres, servicing, insurance and road tax as well as petrol, the bike is actually MORE expensive. At the current rip-off rates it costs about £18 to fill the tank everyday. Okay, back to the train. Etiquette amongst seasoned commuters is that you sit down. First on chooses where. Later arrivals take what's left. If in a seat with the aisle or a table you do not sit opposite the person if seats are free. We all need our leg room. If someone is sitting on an aisle seat and the window seat is free it is perfectly okay to ask them to let you by. Real words tend to work better than grunting and pointing. You never ask the person to give up their seat by slidin...

My first St Nicks was back in 1985. I went with my then partner Audrey on my MZ250ETZ and Tony and Heather Young on, if I remember rightly, a BMW R100RT. We went for many years and stayed at the Polaris Hotel. Then with wife Claire we went until it closed we dropped weekends to become day-trippers. The last few years have been less good, breakdowns, sickness and bad weather have all stopped me from going. I booked on Seafrance for £12.50 return and will go over and see how it is. Billy No-Mates?

The picture on the left and those linked below were sent to me in a series of emails by my friend, Ivan Benda, in the Czech Republic. Ivan's photos are from the Brno Memorial Day for Marco Simoncelli at the Masaryk Automotodrom on October 30th 2011. To get them seen by a wider audience I created a Flickr account for him and uploaded all the photos. As well as here, with a very limited audience, I have posted it a few Facebook goups. http://www.flickr.com/photos/2strokercz/sets/72157628037175150/

I've not seen this cartoon before. It was sent by my friend Ivan Benda.