¡InvictaMoto!

Bike Show aka Motorcycle Live. Once again held at the National Exhibition Centre or NEC, in Birmingham, the show is the showcase in the UK for the new models and all the manufacturers from large to small are there.  For me it would be a 350 mile round trip and the reason I've not been for a few years.  It was my turn to drive so I set off before 8am to drive the first 35 miles to my brother's house. Traffic was light and I arrived about 8.35am and once the TomTom was fitted we set off, filling the tank locally and then off north. We made good progress and were parked a little before 11.30. We chose the station car park as it is a covered walk into the NEC and is £6 whereas the NEC's own parking is free to bikes but £12 for cars. After a bit of hassle when I couldn't find the email confirming our free tickets and then we were in. We usually go in and the plan is to go up and down the rows until we have done everything. ...

A big thank you to the person that ran into my car at Sandling station sometime on Wednesday. I only saw the bumper had popped its  mounting on the left rear when it was under the bright lights on the Waitrose supermarket car park. Then with the torch we could clearly see the impact mark and the crack in the plastic bumper. Well done whoever you are. I can only hope something really nasty befalls you. Thanks to you I am looking at £250 to spend out to get it fixed.

The "bike show" as most people cal it starts at the NEC in Birmingham tomorrow for the press day and on Saturday to the paying public. I won two free tickets a while back in a competition and we have to pick the tickets up from the press office on arrival.  Not a huge prize, no quite the lottery but about £30. It's my turn to drive and so I'll pick my brother up about 0830 and head up there.   According to Tyre it's about 190 miles each way. Quite a long day.

It seems to be a biker or road user, an action cam has become the accessory of choice.  Cyclists wear them to show how bad other road users are and bikers use them to show how their rides went. Mostly boring I expect!  If they are anything like my tests. I bought this one from eBay for £17 inc postage from China., It,is not much use for mounting to a motorcycle but perfect for the cyclist and their style of helmet. On eBay now the SJ4000's go from £16.99 to more like £44.99! I can't see the difference between them and mine, whatever the price. I bought it as a replacement for the Denver I bought last year.  The Denver kept going wrong and I keep it as a backup.  Dropping it on the garage floor didn't help.  Whereas the Denver was wifi equipped and has an app on my iPhone (and Android) to set up and view movies, unlike this one it doesn't come with small LCD screen. It comes with the waterproof case and I had to buy the plastic ball mount...

Today Claire was meeting her sister for lunch and a quick look around the shops... Reggie and I went to take her and have a walk and lunch ourselves. First stop was the Dane John park in the drizzle. The park is inside the city walls and has several monuments. Pictured above. After Reggie had spied a squirrel and tried to follow it up a tree I needed a coffee. Luckily, the Don Juan cafe in the little kiosk was open. This is quite unique as a South American cafe. I had just a lattè, but the menu includes different choices from Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia.  I had planned to have lunch in a pub across the city but with it drizzling, I checked the doggie pubs website and found the White Hart . A quick call confirmed that dogs are allowed in the bar. In fact it was nearer than I had imagined. Back at the car park as I waited to cross the road, just 200 yards eyes right, there it was.  We were first in at 1230. I ordered a steak and ale pie and chip...

Thanks to Patrick at work we now have a working laptop with Windows 10 installed.  After the problems when Windows Update decided to do the usual security fixes for Windows and Office, and lobbed in the Windows 10 upgrade at the same time, it is good to have it back. Mind you. The original upgrade failed on October 26th and it took until November 16th to get it fixed.  Days in my life that I will never get back thanks to Microsoft and their half arsed upgrades. On top of that there is the MS tech forum that suggests all sort of fixes and bodges that are way way outside the technical know-how of the average home user.   Patrick though is a technician and network manager at work and even he struggled to fix it. In the end we had to backup what we could of the user data and then blast it, installing Windows 10 from scratch, I am lucky he saw it as a challenge as I gather from the internet and forums that others, and many of them, have had to pay a lot of...

The last hotel booking fell into place when my brother, Neill, booked us into the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook whilst he was staying there on his R66 trip. Coincidentally, before I emailed him, he had posted this card to us. According to Google maps, Scottsdale to Holbrook is 174 miles, but we will plan things to see en route. Such as the petrified forest and I'll be scouring the Rough Guide as well.

To save double posting..... Ring of Red Report

There's a screen.  Or at least there is now. The screen worked pretty well. It took the wind off my neck, chest and shoulders but has increased the noise a little around my helmet. When it started to get covered in wet in the misty conditions I could see over it okay. It needs a bit of adjustment to shift it forward an inch or so and a little lower to be closer to the headlamps. Weekend I think for that.

Decided to go to Thurrock and join there. Arrived about 1230 after a petrol stop on the way. Pepe does about 180 to the tank before I start to get nervous. So as it clipped up 115 on the odometer I decided to fill up to ensure I had enough to get to the start and join the ride. It is easily 60 miles home from here. Doing the maths convinced me to tank up. Even in misty drizzly weather sitting in a large column of bikes is hot business, once the fan kicks in. We were on the road and the M25 just before the allotted hour. Well done to the marshals in the absence of the local police service.  The photographer, former SOC member and Kent Centre Sec, Roger Wood, for the run from Thurrock stood atop the van belonging to  one of the charities we were supporting. I had cable tied one of the Ride of Remembrance car-flags to the sissy bar but sadly I didn't get enough wind to fly whilst  stopped.

Today I was working from home after the trains were cancelled and I came home from the station!  I did a bit of work, you can only do what is in front of you on the helpdesk software, and so  I had a late lunch and decided to have a look at the screen fittings. In the end, it was a 90 minute lunch and it is fitted. The four brackets have to be done one at a time, offering up the screen each time before tightening them in place. In the end it looks pretty central.  No time to test it today. That will have to wait until the weekend. Fitted! The instructions are pretty rubbish, and look like an eighth generation photocopy of the original drawing. Still, the photo on Skidmarx website was marginally better. My positioning looks a little different but it seems rigid. Only a test ride will tell if it is okay.

It's that time of year. Poppies have been on sale for a few weeks already and the Remembrance will take place on Sunday 8th November at 11am in Whitehall and all over the Commonwealth. Why we don't stick to the proper day and have it on the 11th November, I do not know.  I suppose a Sunday means that Big Business doesn't have to miss a day's trading! Ring of Red Wristband 2015 The Ring of Red is now in its third year.  Originally the target was to ring London on the M25 orbital motorway with bikes and their riders all wearing red to form a moving "poppy".  There is another on the M60 that rings Manchester. Hopefully, the weather will be kind and thousands of bikes get out on the M25 at 1330 to complete the ring. I had the event in the Meldrews diary but it wasn't met with too much enthusiasm so I took it out.  In the diary I am tied to a meet whether I am Johnny No-Mates or not.  Been there, done that and have many t-shirts to prove it. This...