InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Each year in an attempt to increase tourism in the country, Kent councils and tourist sites have a weekend they offer free tickets. Usually things along the likes of heritage railways and the wildlife parks are always oversubscribed. This year I was actually unable to logon, the screen started refreshing every time I went to type my email and password into it so I gave up trying. Claire did manage to get on and she booked a few places we'd like to try and we were successful with one; Rochester Cathedral. Maybe the religious aspect put people off? Anyhew, as Sheldon Cooper might say, the trip was yesterday, coinciding with Mothering Sunday which meant that although still in Lent (no decoration in the church) that there was a big turnout for the morning service. Out arrival booked for 1230. We had a drive up and surprised to say that we have only been to Rochester once before, in the evening for a Christmas Carol concert when one of my nieces was entertaining us.... So i...

RAM Setup Is there really a double-b as the spell checker thinks? Anyway. The solution to the hand guard to TomTom interface has finally been sorted, I hope. Not as I had thought by using the new handlebar clamp ball, but by buying the RAM Mount dumbbell and using it to connect the two RAM arms together, thus allowing the changing of the angle as well as the distance from the original mounting place. With the shorter TomTom supplied arm at the bottom and the longer one, from the old Garmin kit, at the top, I can get the TomTom above the bike's instruments and still have it behind the screen. The cable will need to be cut longer than anticipated, but that shouldn't be a problem. I didn't get a chance to test it this weekend but once I have had a ride out I can see if this works or not. If all is good, then I'll cut the wire down and re-fit the Hella plug. This setup will allow me to remove the entire cradle and wiring, just leaving just the bottom RAM ball mounted to ...

Dumbbell? , originally uploaded by InvictaMoto . Is there really a double-b as the spell checker thinks? Anyway. The solution to the hand guard to TomTom interface has finally been sorted, I hope. Not as I had thought by using the new handlebar clamp ball, but by buying the RAM Mount dumbbell and using it to connect the two RAM arms together, thus allowing the changing of the angle as well as the distance from the original mounting place. With the shorter TomTom supplied arm at the bottom and the longer one, from the old Garmin kit, at the top, I can get the TomTom above the bike's instruments and still have it behind the screen. The cable will need to be cut longer than anticipated, but that shouldn't be a problem. I didn't get a chance to test it this weekend but once I have had a ride out I can see if this works or not. If all is good, then I'll cut the wire down and re-fit the Hella plug. This setup will allow me to remove the ...

Whilst I usually go to football at Arsenal in the Premier League. I also go to matches that feature my first ever football love, Oldham Athletic. As Oldham is over 200 miles away it is difficult to get to home games, so I make do with away games in the south. This year I have been to Gillingham and last night to Leyton Orient. After plenty of chances fluffed Orient scored against pretty much the run of play.  The game ebbed and flowed and plenty of huffing and puffing and the game looked to be over until Korey Smith popped up with goal of the week. 1-1 on the night. Some of my pix below. Ticket for a night of wonders Zoomed in No zoom Home fans "Tommy Johnson" stand Celebrating the equaliser #wearelatics

I have a pair of Hood Jeans that I like but wanted something a little lighter, especially for the summer. I saw these on eBay and although a lot cheaper than Hood and Draggin' they seem tough enough. They are cargo style with two big patch pockets on each thigh and two back pockets, all covered with velcro flaps. The side and back pockets are are a little small, but suffice as the cargo patch pockets are large enough for a wallet in one side and other stuff in the other.  The Kevlar lining is around the privates and butt and down the thighs as far as the knee.   They come with CE approved knee pads that fit in pockets with a Velcro top to hold them in. I've worn them a few times and they are a good tight fit and very comfortable. I bought 42W but as a fat bloke they are a little tight.  Maybe 44W would have been better!

The countdown on the blog shows a little over 51 days to go before we set off on the first part of the journey to the US. In the last 50 days or so since I last blogged  have been chasing a US Visa. After a long day in the US Embassy, two interviews,  it arrived today in  my passport.  Phew.

This Sunday we had an early run to Sissinghurst to see what the gardens look like coming out of the winter. It was also a good opportunity to test the new Samsung pocket cameras and also the tea-rooms. The latter passed with shining colours, the flapjack a little sugary and the coffee about right.  The WB30F camera needed a little messing about to get a panoramic picture to work, but the macro looks pretty good. Pano Test Shot - back of shop and countryside The Tower The Tower picture was taken before the weather turned fr the worst and the rain and grey skies came about. The colour looks okay The Gift Shop The Gift Shop was taken a little later once it had rained and the sky was still grey and overcast.  The colours again look okay. First close-up picture Both the zoom test pictures were taken about 10 minutes apart, but with the weather changeable, the results are still quite. good. The magnolia flowers were taken with the digital zoom acti...

Whilst at Laguna I got them to fit a new mount for my TomTom. As it was going to fit to a handlebar clamp I wanted it torqued down properly. I did look at the Triumph mount, but at over £65 (wherever you look online)  it was a bit expensive and apart from looking like a kid's Meccano  set, it leaves the cradle behind when the nav isn't needed. I like to leave nothing on the bike that can get get tampered with or stolen.  This way I can remove the entire cradle and the attached power lead, already fitted with a Hella plug, from the bike. It is also near to  the power socket that you can just see to the lower right of the ball. I'll need to play about to get the perfect fit of the Ram mount! It started to rain when I got home and I didn't get much time to play with it.  The power lead needs cutting down to about 8 inches to allow for the bars turning to full lock. A loop and a cable tie should sort that out. See how it goes at the weekend when I next get some time...

After a week or so lull in the rainy weather  today it was raining as I took the courtesy Sprint back to Laguna Triumph at Ashford. I stopped at Stop 24 to put in some petrol to replace what I had used. In the end a tenner sufficed. Sprint Top-Up I was glad to be giving it back. It's about 1998 when I last owned a lean forward style of bike, a GSXR750. Since then I have owned a TDM 850, Bandit 1200 and of course for 11 years Mr Baloo the GS. I took the back roads home after filling the tank at the nearby Tesco. With her trip to Hinckley for the head replacement it meant that all the trips etc had been lost, plus the tank given some petrol. All designed to cockup my MPG counting. So I'll have to program another one and start again. Dora Dora As well as the new head, they also replaced the centre stand for a redesigned one plus the exhaust can. New Can New Head So at least she is home. Now hoping for decent weather to get some miles under the wheels.

So after all my faffing about to try and get the DSLR to "talk" to the tablet, Claire jumps right ahead with the purchase of this small compact camera.  It has WiFi built in. Not only can it be connected to any available WiFi, and still retain the home WiFi credentials, has a local send system where the camera becomes a WiFi hub and a smartphone can connect and with an app copy selected pics over! You can email and Facebook straight from the camera if you want as well. Damn.  Maybe time to get one if there are any left. Sainsbury's had them at £59.95, half price. Maybe we should have bought two at the weekend!! It is a superb little camera, slips in the pocket and takes 16mp pictures.  The zooms look good with both optical and digital. The size means it is ideal for a bike jacket! The pix taken at The Red Pig near Winchelsea, some of them were taken with it, others on the iPhone. Looks good in white but they do it in black and also metallic red. ...

The Red Pig is a lunch spot out on the Levels to the west of Rye and below the Cinque Port of Winchelsea. The Red Pig It was our chosen lunch spot. None of us had been there before so it was a first. Me and the Pig Claire and Pig The March monthly meeting was a quick cuppa at the Blue and White and then after a chat we set off across the marsh to the Red Pig for lunch and a sit in the sun. Claire and I were on the Laguna courtesy bike, the Sprint GT SE model. I comes with a massive top box and comfort gel seat. I labelled it the "Blue Pig" as it handled like we riding riding bareback on a Gloucester Old Spot.... Sprint GT-SE The Levels On the country lanes I found the bike to be pretty uncomfortable. The brakes seem far more wooden than Döra and there seems to be the tendency for it to stand up under braking into corners. Not pleasant and we soon found ourselves left behind by the others who admittedly were riding their own bike...

I have refined the route to get us as swiftly as possible to the first stop on the trip. A copy of the ITN file went off to Cal this evening to test in his TomTom. I have added a stop on the Sunday afternoon so we can take a look at the last preserved section of the trench railway. This is between the Red Baron and the Historial in Péronne. It might prove to be a lunch time stop as well http://www.somme-tourisme.com/cdt80/somme_tourisme/decouvrez/grande_guerre/le_p_tit_train_de_la_haute_somme

Earlier, Cal mentioned the ferry deal that he is looking at with P&O. Everyone, that  we know is going. will have received an email asking whether you want in or out, and if in, the details of the bike you will be taking; make and regno. Please let him know by March 19th.

So after a short marriage it could be time to say au revoir to the Hudl and take it back for a refund. The purchase was after careful study of the web and reviews, plus their own website that stated that the Hudl would connect to a camera to allow downloads for saving and/or viewing. What Tesco didn't say was that it would work with a few undisclosed cameras, none of them in the DSLR ranges of Canon, Nikon and Sony. What percentage of cameras sold every day in the world does that number? After seemingly getting dropped by the technical helpdesk I logged a call with Tesco Direct Customer Support. After all that's where I bought it. They chivvied up the tech helpdesk who said despite their own website the Hudl wouldn't connect to the cameras. They offered a refund. All very well. But I am already out of pocket to the tune of two OTG cables and the leather protective cover! The Hudl is a fat little devil and the case will be too fat for another tablet. The...

Actually I don't know how many times I have visited and revisited the whole Cardo Scala subject. I surprised myself when doing a keyword search to find "cardo". Firstly that there were fewer blogs than I had thought and also how long ago some of them are! http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/bluetooth-revisted.html - this one from August 2007. So I guess it was about time I had another crack at it. I have a TeamSet that comes with a fully functioning rider headset and a second unit with less functionality; it will connect to a phone and act as an intercom to the other unit. It comes already paired. But we were never successful getting it to fit the Caberg flip-front J1S not my Schuberth C2; the biggest white elephant of my bike gear purchases. It's heavy and despite being so fantastic it, it steams up, fogs glasses and has to be ridden with the visor cracked for any ventilation. So the legendary "quietest helmet" claim is patentl...

M.A.G. (UK) Ltd was recently the Respondent in an Employment Tribunal case brought by former staff Nich Brown, Paddy Tyson and Louisa Smith. The claimants obtained a judgment in their favour for constructive unfair dismissal. The case mainly concerned the relationship between the claimants and M.A.G. (UK) Ltd directors Neil Liversidge and Pete Walker who were elected to the Board in April 2012 in response to membership concerns about the poor management of MAG Central Office. Mr Liversidge was originally nominated for co-option to the Board in November 2011, the Board having three vacancies out of seven seats at that time. Despite the Board being under-strength Mr Liversidge's co-option was blocked after Board Members were pressured to refuse his nomination. Mr Liversidge and Mr Walker were nevertheless elected at the subsequent AGM despite various efforts at preventing the same. For 25 years the convention has been that paid MAG officials are neutral in such matters, howev...

Following Cal's message published on here earlier. I will have TomTom and GPX routes available for anyone that wants to have it for their satnav.  I will do a special Ian version for Mr Gardner; he often turns left when everyone else goes right.... Only joking Ian. Let me know by email and I will send it out when I have finalised the stops for the second day. It's almost all there. Housekeeping 1 - Even with the benefits of satellite navigation systems there is still a need to keep together.  I suggest that we use the "drop off" system to keep us together. The SOC has a wide reputation for losing people on the road and also with some members choosing to go a different way without telling the following riders!! 2 - Autoroutes.  The start of Day 1 and the end of Day 2 require the autoroute to get there and back as quickly as possible,   On the way out please ensure you have a full tank.  There is a fuel station on the A20 about half a mile before the port, Shell I...

I think this is addressed to the group as it currently stands. If anyone knows differently please let me know. As those of you that have been on similar trips before will be aware, I can often obtain good rates for the crossing with P&O, sometimes in conjunction with Ian who works in the Port. This trip is planned for Sat 19 th / Sun 20 th July which will be approaching a “peak” weekend which may mean that we cannot obtain such large discounts as we have on some other occasions but we will probably get a good deal. The worse deal would be “Family and Friends” rates which are 25% below the published rate at time of booking. As it is July there is a slight possibility that concessions may be withdrawn but this is unlikely.  If you wish us to proceed on your behalf and obtain tickets I will require e-mail confirmation along with make of bike and reg number, the bike details are not essential but will speed up check-in on the day.  Assuming that we can obtain an accepta...

Part of the prize when I won Rosie. The N43E came with the N-Com B1 Bluetooth system already fitted. Sadly, it seems that it won't pair with my Cardo Scala so we won't be able to talk to each other on long runs. Whether that is a hindrance or nor I don't know. However, it does connect to her iPhone 5C (the other part of the Rosie prize!) and as it supports A2DP protocol it can be used to listen to music from the iPhone. It took a little fiddling and reading and re-reading the booklet that was in the box before we had music. Luckily, Döra has a power supply on the left side of the rear seat to charge stuff! Looks like it may see some action! Some pix: