InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning , a set on Flickr. I rallied the baking troops and we made this array of cakes to sell for 50p a go to raise money for the charity.

I have to stand up and admit that since I went on the speed awareness course I have become a speed bore. Instead of flying around like a nutter, I try to keep calm and let the others do what they will and I get on with my own ride. I'll have to see how that pans out at the weekend when we drive to Brighton for the Joe Bonamassa concert. I set the cruise control today for an indicated 75 and cruised up the M20. Just short of Maidstone I noticed that traffic, although light, was now bunching. When this happens it's odds on that at the front is a police car running about the legal limit or slightly under. As I surmised, there was a cop at the front. I left the cruise on the indicated 75 and overtook everyone. The cop was in the left lane (nearside) and I was in the middle, he needed to pull out around a truck, I pulled out in good time to give him room. I slid past. No problems. A wave of thanks for letting him out. In the mirrors none of the others had followed my lead. A...

Riding in today was fraught again. I was hosting a training session starting at 0930 for 15 school staff that wanted to know about SIMS, the MIS that we use almost exclusively in Islington's schools. I was up early and on the road some 30 minutes earlier than normal, giving me an ETA of before 0900. The ride up the M20 wasn't too bad. Overhead signs said that there were holdup s on the M25 but the junction number seemed to be either side of the Dartford Crossing. Then more signs to say that there were holdups by the A223 - "A2 DELAYS AT A223". Meaningless to everyone but the most anally retentive pillock imaginable. As it was, the signs should have said "Blackwall Tunnel closed" and then me and thousands of other road users could have planned an alternative. But no. This information was only published a couple of miles from the closed tunnel and mostly after you had past the last exit! Brilliant. Take a bow Kent Police and Metropolitan Police. In t...

It's only a few weeks since we had the worst pile-up in the history of Kent and one of the worst in the UK. It occurred on the "new" bridge across the River Swale estuary giving access to the Isle of Sheppey. One of the contributing factors? FOG. The miracle was that there were few injuries, and no fatalities considering that there were cars and trucks and even three bikes involved. It's no surprise that in the UK, autumn (The Fall) is the season of foggy mornings as the warmer ground and colder air combine. Another contributing factor was speed. Give a British driver the "national speed limit" sign and he will use that as a rough guide that he or she can do that speed. Never mind that it is raining, or in this case foggy. The problem is that the bridge is quite high. To allow shipping to pass under it, the arch is quite pronounced and the river under is cold and draws colder air upwards. Or so they said on the BBC! When I left for my rid...

Buster the Border Terrier, with owner Mark. Simply the UK's Coolest Biking Dog.

You know how it is.. You are doing some housekeeping; maybe vacuuming the house and you feel that such a boring job would benefit from a little music. But where to put your iPod? The wire always gets in the way whether you have it in a front pocket or maybe in a back one with the wires running up your back! What you need are wireless headphones. Some years ago I bought the Jabra BT620 headphones and they came with a small Bluetooth transmitter that fits into the power/output socket on the bottom of the iPod. They weren't too expensive and I used them for a while and then they ended up in a bag in the loft. Whilst up there over the weekend I found them, plus the handbook (usually lost!) and charged them up. The Jabra headset can have two connections at once, so once charged, I paired it to my iPhone and was able to listen to music and a podcast from there. My iPhone is a 3GS with just 8GB on memory and so I have very little on it as it fills up all to easily and gets...

Today. It was going to be sunny. It was going to be warm. It's England. So I made sure I had leather jeans on and the heavier jacket. There was no sun,  but it was warm. Comfortable ride up to London.  Curiously home to work and back isn't as far as it used to be. Either the tectonic  plate has moved and Hythe is nearer London, or the odometer is different compared with the GS. The Emirates Stadium is about half a mile from where I work. I had a ride round the bike parking spaces around the stadium and they were all full so I ended up parking in a school up the road. It costs a fiver but at least the staff are on hand to keep an eye on the bikes and cars parked there. In future I might as well park at work and walk up! I might even be able to get in the building and change out of bike gear for the game. The ride up.  I gave myself plenty of time for a 1.30pm kick-off, leaving home at 10.45 and having a genteel cruise control  run up. The cruise set at a healthy ...

I have been toying with this item since the Scotland trip. The natural seeming place on the left of the cockpit for the TomTom was less than perfect. It was okay before the handguards were fitted and then on almost full lock to turn right, and you'd be surprised how often you do that, the handguard clashed with the Satnav. Dangerous a few times until I made allowances. The obvious place is the handlebars, but Döra has 1" bar in the centre and the Ram bracket won't fit. So enter the Touratech solution . Not cheap. But it looks like it will be effective.

My summer (or lightweight) gloves have begun to fall apart. Stitching mainly and the cuff fastening on the left glove was almost had it. So, today was retail therapy day.  A trip to Laguna at Ashford left me with many choices, mostly Italian and in excess of £100. The more budget end of the market seemed devoid of entries so it was left to Alpinestars and RST, to fill the middle ground. I tried the Alpinestars in XXL and they were a little loose and the XL too tight. I know they will give but this would have been circulation deading tight. The RST TracTech gloves look more racy and have three loads of Velcro straps to keep them on but the seemed like a new extra skin on my hands. Sold. Now to see what they are like tomorrow.   

Dear Mr Collins, I'd like to hear your opinion on the attached press release from the Motorcycle Action Group.   It seems incredible that in age where road safety and law and order are high on the Government's agenda that Mr Hampton was given such a light sentence for causing the death of Jade.  What message does this send? Drive whilst disqualified and kill someone and get two years, no doubt released sooner after remission. Where was the deterrent?  That trying to hide the crime is twice the tariff than killing someone? Time for the law and order party to pull its finger out. As a Kent MP I urge you to take this seriously and to seek a review of Mr Hampton's sentence and also to get the right authorities to look at the sentencing guidelines. Thank you.  Paul Devall Hythe CT21 6QZ Begin forwarded message: From: Central Office < central-office@mag-uk.org > Date: 20 Septe...

The weather forecast today was for dry and pleasantly warm weather. After the rain yesterday, that started about the time I was to head off for my Speed Awareness Course (see review elsewhere!), I took the car. Good job as it happened as it tipped down on the M20 on the way back. So, when I threw the curtains open today I expected to see dry ground and the sun in the sky. At least I got the latter. Albeit it was somewhere over the Channel. The ground was wet and not because of the evenings rain. I dug the bike out and togged up. The cloud strata was very strange. In Hythe it looked as though there was a full blue sky and sun, but someone had held up a blanket of grey above our heads. On three sides you could see the end of the blanket and there was a blue sunny horizon. As I climbed out of the Bay and onto the downs it was clear that the blanket extended inland, way inland. The further I went, the blanket kept hanging there! To the south, there was the blue edge to...

The Motorcycle Action Group is pleased that Brian Hampton has been brought to Justice over causing the death of 16 year old Jade Clark, while driving his Volvo XC90 in February this year. However, they feel the sentence handed down by Judge Samuel Wiggs, is woefully inadequate. Hampton received a two year sentence for causing death by careless driving. An additional four year sentence was imposed for Perverting the Course of Justice. The sentences will run consecutively. Hampton, who was an ex-paramedic, was driving while disqualified for drink driving. He denies knowledge of the accident, yet drove around Jade and fled the scene, leaving her laying in the middle of a busy road. He later attempted to cover his tracks by having his car repaired. He lied to both his wife, and the garage where the car was repaired, as to the circumstances behind the damage. MAG applauds the work of the police in bringing Hampton to Justice, considering the large amount of resources used. T...

I set off in good time to get to the venue in Ashford at the Ashford Enterprise Centre in the Tower School.  There were 24 of us miscreants that had chosen to go on the course rather than get the fine and the associated penalty points on our licences. A wide spectrum of men and women aged from 25 to 75.  All of us had exceed the posted limit by 9 miles or less. The session wasn't as bad as the advanced paperwork made out. Not draconian at all. The instructors Tim and Ian took us through subjects such as speed awareness, eco driving and hazard perception. I was pleased that they had a section on blind spots and the difference between looking and seeing, with motorcycles at the forefront. All in all, a good course and I have learned quite a bit.

After a relaxing ride and not buzzed by another biker, one of the Kent Centre, on the M25, the results are there to be seen! Not bad.

Yes. That's right. A moment of inattention and my speed crept up to more than the 30 limit and *flash*! My picture retained for eternity on the Sandgate Road speed camera. For the heinous crime of 6mph over the limit the fine would have been £60 ($85) and three points on my licence. Or I could opt for the speed awareness course, a half day learning the error of my ways for the measly sum of £85 ($120) but no points on the licence.. I opted. It's tomorrow. I have a few hours before the official kick off time of 1.15pm to find the site to ensure I am not late otherwise I will fail and then get the points added to my virginally clean licence. Other ways to fail are not taking part in the discussions or not being responsive. Both these are subjective and at the discretion of the examiner. The instruction sheet is about the most patronising piece of shit I have ever read and so it looks like a grin and bear it afternoon is in store. Contrition w...

Not the traditional Triumph badge but this is the one they have out on the Tiger Explorer. The modern look for the modern bike.

Had a short ride out today across the marsh to the Blue and White to meet the other Kent Centre members.  Out of five bikes there were two Suzukis, two Triumphs and a Honda. Considering it was decent enough weather there were few bikes out and about.

I just signed the petition "Ask WH Smith to make gun magazines promoting animal killing age-restricted" on Change.org . It's important. Will you sign it too? Here's the link. They and others put the "lads" mags on the top shelf claiming the moral high ground, but this gets through their morality filters. FFS, motorcycle mags often make it to shelves too high for kids to reach.... Shotguns good, motorcycles bad?

The Punto was born in Italy in 1994 and was registered in the UK in the early part of 1995. Over the years it has had a few owners, the last two being my Mum and then me. I inherited it from her when she gave up driving as she approached her 78th birthday. Although the best part of eighteen and half years old (measured from registration not falling off the end of the production line in Turin or somewhere around there) it has managed just over 50000 miles. In the UK the average miles per year has hovered around 12000 miles per year. She had it serviced regularly and with the low mileage I have been bad and not bothered.  It suffers from a kind of vehicular acne with a disease of the paintwork; where a white coating flakes off. Added to a little bodywork damage to the nearside front after an excursion off-road; her not me, it paints a sorry picture. Today it has been in the garage for a pre-MoT check.  I called them today and it's not as bad as I thought. It needs a...

Once run in and speed had been increasing the mpg has started to tail off. I suppose an overall mpg across the gamut of riding styles and conditions of just short of 55 isn't too bad. After all Döra is a big girl carrying a big lad on her back.

MAG is currently in dialogue at a senior level with Brent Council. At a very positive meeting, MAG's transport policy advisor Dr. Leon Mannings learned of the very real problems Brent Council and the police have had to deal with to ensure the safety of all road users. Whilst MAG strongly condemns the unacceptable behaviour of the few irresponsible motorcyclists that has led to this situation, we reiterate our stance, that persecuting law abiding road users is not acceptable. We have secured assurance that the ban is temporary and has only been enacted because of very extreme circumstances. MAG continues to pursue avenues to a more acceptable solution. John Mitchell, MAG's National Chairman said: "MAG understands the situation faced by Brent Council and we hope they can get this matter resolved as soon as possible". For more information contact MAG President Ian Mutch: 07799 764161 MAG membership £25 per year.

The Somme and the surrounding area will be pretty packed with trippers going over for the Centenary so I thought I'd have a look on our favourite hotel booking site and book now. The date is now 19th and 20th July. I wanted a place within easy reach of Corbie, at a decent price, not a chain and with free cancellation. I ended up with Hotel Central Anzac in Amiens.  It's about 25 miles from Thiepval and maybe 15 from Corbie. Hotel Central Anzac

Flickr photo album I've uploaded a few pix to the flickr "set".

It was spitting with rain as we sat down to breakfast.  Although the hotel was the cheapest on the trip @ €40 a night, it was very good. It is currently under a massive plan of updating. Our room was brand new, the bed, everything.  Some of the other rooms where we could see in had been decorated and were "under construction" still.  We were the only guests that night. We were away a little after 9.20 and this time we headed straight for Reims on the N roads before a detour around looking for the city centre. On the way we drove along the D951. Every kilometre or so there are markers showing it to be the " Voie de la Liberte ", a huge monument stretching across France to commemorate the Liberation. I pulled up to take a pic of one in Mont Chenot village. This village on the road to Reims from Epernay would have been liberated on or about 30th August 1944. We didn't intend to stop, just have a fly-by in case we want to come back.  We passed Pommery on the way in....