InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

Finally getting around to writing up the trip - here .

The helmet proved a good fit on the 1763 mile trip to the Czech MotoGP and back. The noise was no worse than my Shoei. The Bluetooth was easy to setup but at anything above 70mph not a lot of good. Far too quiet when you need some satnav instructions with junctions coming up. The volume simply isn't loud enough to work with a combination of wind noise and ear plugs.  With them out and testing the controls the systems own voice is pretty good. It's a shame as the main selling point of this kind of helmet is the Bluetooth.  Otherwise you may as well buy an alternative make or their own much cheaper model. Still a decent helmet but can't say I am not a little disappointed.

It's almost a week since I got home and I have just got around to checking the exact mileage and calculating the overall fuel consumption rates, what we call mpg. A bit lazy I know.  The return trip from home to home worked out at 1767.3 miles on Trip 2. Mpg ranged from 44.09 to 54.52.  I haven't sorted them in date order only lowest to highest. But at a quick glance at dates the highest consumption was on the way out in the middle of the trip. Getting 54.52 mpg on a 2300cc cruiser is pretty decent I think. The cross country sections in Bavaria and Czech were frustrating in parts due to traffic, trucks in the main,  but apart from a few miles the surface was better than anything we have locally in Kent or anywhere in the UK. So much smooth tarmac perfectly made for bikes. And at moderate speeds the mpg went up. On the way back, one section, when we had to detour off S19 north of Pisek due to the Ždákovský most (bridge) being closed,  was cobbled. Not just by the edge...

I have been back a few days now.  Overall the Rocket and I did over 1730 miles. There were some really long days using the Czech roads off-motorway routes.  But rewarding to see the countryside. The Burgenstrasse in Germany was a nice route but sadly most of the castles weren't easily accessible for the killer bike and building photo.

Well. Mostly packed. Just sponge bag and the new pocket atlas* to go out and be stuffed into the Saddlemen bag. It's a bit full as I wanted to save the panniers. The left one contains my Kent Fire Brigade "Biker Down" first aid kit and... two bottles of English white wine from Chapel Down Vineyard (never call it a winery!) That's about 15 miles from home.  Both bottles wrapped in bubble wrap and then on a travel blanket. The right one has my Triumph waterproof over jacket and trousers.  Plus a lock and a bag for race day. I was going to manage without my tank bag, but I need somewhere for my passport and spectacle cases!  Now I have to decide on what to wear. Vented jacket obviously but it looks like Hood jeans over leathers. So. It's nearly 10.30pm and I have to be up early to be on the train to France at 8.50am. * useless!

Managed to get out for a test ride earlier in the week. Like most new helmets it is a little tight and as a spectacle wearer I need to be able to get the arms into it to see where I am going. It does take a bit of jiggling about to get them in the right place. I need to check the fit with my Oakley specs as they have straight arms. The Bluetooth works well with the TomTom  and is also paired with my phone. Luckily the power lead I have for my phone is the same as the helmet. The block takes both micro USB and what appears to be the current Apple plug. My current S5 uses micro, so that's one less cable to take with me. The other feature is the sun visor.  My old Schuberth C2 also had one and even with sunglasses it was superb. With clear glasses it was a great addition. We'll have to see what happens when we are away later in the week.

To say I am a little nervous about having a hearing aid is putting it mildly. When I ride the bike I wear ear plugs to cut down the noise around the helmet. Doubly annoying that after this precaution for many many years that I am 50% deaf in one ear. I am hoping that the aid will be small enough not to impede my wearing a helmet and spectacle arms and that it can be turned off easily. All this will be answered on Tuesday afternoon! I leave for my trip to Czech the morning after. Not much shakedown time. I guess this is another trial and error system!!!

Pepe is ready to roll, only needing a top up of petrol before heading off to the Shuttle on Wednesday morning. Before then I have a day at work,  a day work from home and a visit to the hospital to see about a hearing aid. Then I need to pack. The weather forecast looks pretty good so I'll need to get out the sun screen. And the insect repellant. Clothes? I like the idea I read about in a magazine of simply taking old stuff and binning it rather than carrying it about.  I'm sure I have pants and socks that could fill that role! The Saddlemen bag is pretty huge for one person so the panniers can be used to carry heavier low down stuff.  Our Czech hosts like wine and live in a wine producing area. So taking English eine might seem like selling sand to Saudi but I am sure with enough bubble wrap I can get a few bottles safely 800 miles across Europe. It might need a few days or weeks to settle before drinking. What else?

Today. The Premier League season kicked off yesterday. Today's games on a Sunday for the TV audience include Bournemouth at home to Manchester United - David vs Goliath - and the biggest game of the weekend -  Arsenal at home to Liverpool. I'm off to the latter. I can't say I an going with  much confidence as we have a weakened line-up of missing international players and the usual round of injuries to key players. Whilst almost all the teams around us have been spending millions of pounds, we as usual are making do with one new signing and a load of kids bought cheap from the lower leagues and a few from the academy. Fingers crossed for today.

Over three years since I invested in this card and after a year or so of it working when it felt like it with the notebook turned on it I forgot about it. Returning to it recently has discovered that neither Sandisk not Eye-Fi support this generation of their cards and their customer support is totally useless. The software won't work with WIN10 and they have done nothing to assist their customers. They were happy to take the money off us all, and there must be thousands if not 0000's sold. But now we are on our own.   A 4GB SD card is worthless nowadays with ever increasing file sizes and write speeds. Another gimmick for the back of the drawer or the rubbish bin. Original posting

Sunday. A short run out this afternoon. I checked the oil and topped up the tank. The Rocket has a dry sump system with a car like filler cap on top of the oil tank on the left side below the fuel tank.  Luckily it comes with a dip stick attached to the cap. The Hi and Lo marks are quite close together and Pepe only needed a few drops to get it back to the upper level. The tyres are another weekly check. With no centrestand it is hard to get both valves where you can get to them without moving the bike back and forth. The rear wheel is so huge, getting a hand past the disc to the valve is quite hard. Getting a digital gauge in is even harder. In the end I set off for the air pump at Stop 24. It's 50p for three minutes of air. The front was about 6lbs down and it went up to 34psi and the rear was down to 36 when it should be 40psi. That done I set off to see what difference it had made. Er. None. None noticeable anyway.  Obviously the right pressure in tyres is important for ha...

Interesting drive down. Hotel not bad for under £40 a night. Superb meal at the Black Cock Inn on the Caerphilly Mountain. Beds too small. Reggie to kennel. Us to wedding. Great day. Bride looked like a princess. Groom scrubbed up nicely. Father of the bride did a great job.

Alright. I know. I am not a hipster and I don't own a hipster bike but I can still raise money for the charity and now they have joined up with Movember that I do anyway.... http://www.gentlemansride.com/rider/invictamoto That's my page.

With Reggie's refusenik actions getting worse this week I have scrapped the extra night after the wedding and we will come home on Saturday rather than Sunday. It saves quite a few pounds and will be less traumatic for him. So we'll drive down on Thursday and check into the Ibis. We'll stop a few times along the way to let him have a walk and for comfort breaks I searched for dog friendly pubs and found one in nearby Caerphilly where we can take him in the bar with  us and where we can eat. There are a few in the area but this one, The Black Cock Inn,  looks pretty good. I've already had to invest in new trousers. The Farah not deemed good enough!! Two days to go.

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the UK’s leading voice for riders’ rights, has joined a key working group operated by Highways England, previously known as the Highways Agency. MAG’s regional Rep, Tony Cox, represented the movement. Tony says, ‘I found the general mood to be very encouraging and pro-biking.   Highways England are no longer part of the DfT.  They’re now a government-owned company, with more direct control over their actions and policies. Their main aim is to reduce casualties on the Strategic Road Network - but also to encourage modal shift from cars to motorcycles, which is excellent news.’ Areas being looked at include better rest facilities for motorcyclists at service stations, parking and helmet storage.  There was also talk of improving refuge areas and hard-shoulders for motorcyclists who have broken down, plus other improvements directly aimed at motorcycling. The meeting was attended by the Institute of Highways Engineers, RoSPA,...