InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

I have read 30 of 20 books for the 2018 Reading Challenge! What should I read next? http://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/10620080 30 of 20? I put down a target of 20 books for this year and have so far read and finished 30. I have 11 books in my "to read" list.

A set I found on a memory stick.

Powered up this morning and it did an OS upgrade. It was unclear what all the updates were, but when I opened the music app and 💥!   It works. Superb. I have created a second login using my Prime Amazon login, my main one is much older and is used for Blogger and Kindle, so that I can shop Prime and access Prime Video. That worked immediately. So we are off and running.

Christmas nativity in Metz. December 2013.

Having a look through Flickr I came across a series of photos from a 10 day trip to Fitou in southern France. Amongst all the places we went in the Pyrenees and Corbières the Gorges de Galamus are high on the "highlights". Photos here: https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=60261390%40N00&sort=date-taken-desc&text=Galamus

After a few years I have finally got around to spending the accumulated gift cards. It's amazing how they begin to add up. Yesterday we went to Canterbury and I took a stack with me. I used three at M&S to buy some joggers. The three added up to £18 and the joggers were £16. The £2 left was spent on some minced beef for a cottage pie! At WH Smith I invested in some books. I don't usually like hardbacks as they don't travel well, but saw these two and had to buy them. A little miscalculation meant along with the Lonely Planet "Miami and The Keys" I was 99p over the £30 worth of giftcards I had for books. So a total of £48 spent.

With my Kindle playing up and it seemingly not going to be easily repairable I saw on Amazon's Black Friday page that they had a Fire 7 tablet 8gb for £24.95 and 16gb for only £29.95. So I bought it. Then I fixed the Kindle.  The Fire went away for a Christmas present. So here we are. The Fire 7 is expandable with a Micro SD slot. I switched the 64gb card from my Canon DSLR and formatted it. What's it like to use? It is quite heavy but strangely more comfortable in hand than the Google Nexus 7. The apps pre-loaded are all Amazon related. I bought it primarily to replace the Kindle and maybe add Amazon Music. That would give me one bit of tech to cover two uses. The Kindle bit works perfectly well.  The "Silk" browser works okay and so does the email app. But.  The music app won't sync with my account.  😈 You would think if the Kindle app works, music ought to as well. The shopping app works with the correct account and shows all my or...

Merry Christmas from Unai Emery's Gooner Elves. posted from Bloggeroid

Hello InvictaMoto, Keep the shiny side up and the rubber down on your special day! Happy Birthday. Ride Safe! BikersPost.com

The FSF was set up as an organisation to defend the rights of football fans across the UK. Some lobbying and assistance to fans with problems. https://mailchi.mp/fsf/fan-mail-merry-christmas-and-happy-new-year?e=3467a4f59d

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the UK's leading voice for riders' rights, wraps up 2018 by offering a great big 'thank you' to its members for their support during the year and wishing them many miles of happy riding in the year ahead. MAG Chair, Selina Lavender, said "This year we have continued to deal with a number of ongoing issues, including moped-enabled crime and clean air charges such as the London ULEZ and various city CAZs.  MAG remains committed to working with all the relevant authorities to help resolve these issues and more.  The main reason we are able to engage with the authorities and gain the successes that we do is because of our fantastic members.  So 'thank you' to each and every one of you for your  support over the past year – we couldn't do it without you.  I wish you all a very happy festive season and look forward to helping you to take MAG forward in 2019." Lembit Öpik, MAG's Director of C...

When you get an email telling you what the vest restaurant is, you simply have to click on the link. https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravelersChoice-Restaurants-a_Mode.expanded Once I scanned down the page I wondered if any "best" restaurant actually manages to put any food on the plate without it looking like  Joan Miró i Ferrà  was the inspiration. Little dribbles of colour and dots.  Lots of dots of some sort of fruit reduced from recognisable fruit to a thin liquid that can be squeezed through a cake icing piper..... WTF? More crap from the kind of clowns that go to Glastonbury, not for the music, but "to be seen" amongst the twit class and wannabes. People with their heads so firmly stuck up their arses they can't recognise when someone is taking the piss out of them. It's all too much like The Restaurant at the End of the Galaxy..... What no prices?

Since I am in my first year of having my season ticket to myself after Alex dropped out, it is sometimes a bit of a chore to go to so many games close together. At least we are playing two fewer games after losing to the Totts last night, but quick on the heels of that is another lunch time kick off, this time against. Burnley. On paper, we should have beaten Huddersfield and Southampton to have "kept the pressure on" (© Tottenham Hotspur 2014-2019) the clubs above.  Instead we managed to lose to the latter. Burnley are in that same area near the foot of the table.  They will come to defend and keep ten players between the ball and their goal as often as possible. We need to be clinical. Just as the Totts were last night.  A game with few chances. Although we had one weak shot saved by the keeper that should have put us 1-0 it was poor.  That we hit the post twice and the bar once wasn't really bad luck but simply terrible finishing. ...

Not the result we wanted after whooping their arses without a problem a couple of weeks ago. Started well, failed to take chances and they took theirs.  The better team on the evening won. They go into the semi-final against another London team in Chelsea.   With Manchester City against Burton Albion in the other semi, it would look like either Scum or Chavs at Wembley against City. Who to want to win?

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has welcomed the 'kept promise' of removing all tolls from the Severn Bridge crossings, after 52 years of charges. MAG has spoken in support of the removal of crossing charges at the two bridges which connect South Wales with England, after over half a century of tolls. These charges, which have not applied to motorcycles, were applied to traffic for decades, causing delays and creating a considerable additional cost to road users. MAG's Director of Communications & Public Affairs, Lembit Öpik, has highlighted the importance of this decision: 'at a time when other parts of Britain are doing their best to impose new toxic taxes and crossing charges on our vehicles, it is pleasing to see a much more common-sense approach at the Severn Bridges. This removal of tolls was promised many years ago, and they've kept that promise. 'By contrast, there is an on-going debate in many of the country's ...

Got this photo today from John Storrie, I have known John since the early 1980's and he was affectionately knows as "Old King Kettle" for his love and support for the Suzuki GT750.  If only he was still active now so mine could have a holiday in Oxfordshire. Taken at the Cross Keys in Pulloxhill in Bedfordshire. The pub used to be run by the Suzuki Owners Club Hon. President,Peter Mead. During the year we had camping weekends there and the Club's AGM. I guess this picture might have been 1984 or 1985 when I had the Katana 1000SZ - B891 JPG. I suppose it might have been the AGM as well as it was traditionally held in late September.  This would have been a few years before we moved to live nearby in Flitwick and so I guess I had ridden up from Kent as that's where I was living until 1985. I was Editor of the SOC club magazine " Hustler " at the time. I did the job for seven years and passed it onto Ken Fulton...

Tickets bought. Neill being retired was able to keep trying. It looked as though the initial 2500 had been sold but this might have been simply a Ticketmaster eff up. Anyway. We are sorted. posted from Bloggeroid

Old Man on a Bike. Simon Gandolfi by Simon Gandolfi My rating: 4 of 5 stars Read a long time ago and I might have to re-read as I have the sequel to this one and for the life of me I haven't a clue what was in this one. I know I have read it as it is on my bookshelf and has one of my old business cards as a bookmark! View all my reviews

These boots have oddly managed to avoid being reported on for a few years.  In fact, they hardly get a mention and there might be a reason for this. I bought them way back in 2013.  My Oxtar boots were getting long in the tooth and a bit battered.  Although 99.99% waterproof they were looking scruffy.  So before the Ashes Run to Scotland I ordered these. They were not that expensive as it goes and have a Goretex waterproof lining rather than some unknown liner.  This was a major point for me as I have had non-Goretex liners before and they have been less successful at keeping out the rain! Although the Explorer has a very light gear change. On the Ashes Run it wore through the gear change pad on the left boot.  On my return I reported this to the sellers and they asked me to return and they send out a new pair.  Being sceptical, and out of pocket for postage (!), the new pair arrived and I put the box, unopened, into the wardrobe where th...

More like water with flavouring and alcohol added. The raspberry and lime was better than the peach and pomegranate. The latter was very weak. posted from Bloggeroid

Still wearing them. The Oxtar (super) Boots . They are still 99% waterproof. Very battered. The gear pads on both boots have been superglued on and need re-treating with something stronger. But. Still alive. More comfortable than the TCX Explorer boots I bought in 2013 to replace them. And then we have the Spada boots.  I bought them a year ago but they are so uncomfortable and my ankles don't seems ot bend enough to force them on!  Anyone had cramp in the calf trying to get a boot on.  Yes?  Welcome to my club! https://invictamoto.blogspot.com/2017/12/spada-pilgrim-grande-wp-boots.html

This year's panto is Cinderella. Oddly there was a no photography rule. I am sure in previous years they have encouraged it and suggested where to post. Can't give too many spoilers away but the slipper fits. 😉 posted from Bloggeroid

Today is Save the Children's " Christmas Jumper Day ". A chance to donate £2 and the privilege of wearing a patterned jumper to work. Here's mine. posted from Bloggeroid

This set of prints labelled "Belgian c/w 1990" on the cover from Bonusprint. The only camping weekend I ever went on in Belgium was at a site near Nieuwpoort. I organised it for the Suzuki Owners Club and from the other photos in the set I can count 12 bikes including my DR800SL and lots of tents. This bike was a great workhorse and it is one of the few bikes I regret having to sell. posted from Bloggeroid

And so to the last game at the Emirates in the group stages of the Europa League. With Arsenal already qualified for the the next stage it was always going to be a damp squib of a game. Their it fell on a night where trains into St Pancras were cancelled and disrupted - the reason I didn't travel - and the coldest night of the winter so far was always going to affect attendance. Even though there were no more than 21000 in the stadium, the pre-sold season tickets for the night would show something like 59000 sold! As I said, I didn't go. I had worked from home all day and the trans were all cancelled from Folkestone so I went home.  I watched on TV, It was a game that seemed like an exhibition game. Arsenal started with some younger players given their chance at a first team game. Saka played the whole game and at 17y and 99 days he is one of the Arsenal's youngest players in a Euro competition. In the end it looked like the game would be a goal fes...

Taken way back in 1990. A summer holiday to deepest Andalucía.. So hot in Seville the grease on the clutch lever melted around the pivot pin making it hard to activate. We rode most of the N340 coast road from Cadiz to the French border. Not easily done nowadays with the autoroutes replacing the larger N roads. We had been to Morocco for a day trip but took Audrey's (my partner at the time) XJ900F. The Cavalcade stayed locked on the campsite in Tarifa. posted from Bloggeroid

I think that perhaps this jacket has the wrong name. Starting "Wa" is about right though... Why is that clown trying to touch the ground with his left hand? FFS!

So nine years after moving the Roadtest  article from the defunct Geocities site, I have finally got around to adding photos that I took myself. These are just a few of the ones I took at Woburn Abbey . So. There you are. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_TU250

I emailed Elsemade today as I had replied to the messenger post with a picture of the seat I  had bought and an idea of what I wanted done. They hadn't replied but their reply said to email for a quicker response. I wasn't too fussed about speed as I don't expect Claire to want to have a go until the Spring.  But I thought I would chase them up to get the ball rolling in case there is a long wait to get it back. The seat I have comes complete to bolt-on to the rear fender and a quick measure could mean as much as widening the brick by around 2 to 2.5 inches each side of centre will give a wider perch but also still allow the pannier lids to open unobstructed. Else quoted £140 for the job.  Let's see when I can send it up there.

With the pathetically low mileage I am doing I seem to hardly use any oil in Pepé! But I like to keep it topped up. I have always used a semi-synthetic oil in all the bikes and a 10w40 range oil. The manual isn't all that helpful: So having a look on the API website SH is a well out of date specification. I know the Rocket is getting on a bit in engine terms but SH is positively antediluvian in comparison! A bit more poking about on the various websites or forums it seems that Triumph shifted from Mobil to Castrol oils, Armed with a 25% off "friends and family" voucher from fellow  Meldrew, Trevor Rice, I checked out the Halford's webpage. I have ordered Castrol Power 1 4T Motorcycle Engine Oil. It's £39 for four litres and I guess it's formulated for motorcycles. The 25% off makes it less painful. Not being an expert I have no idea whether the modern turbo car engine is more or less oil conscious than motorcycles!  We were told in the 80's that motorcycl...

Well. That didn't go exactly to our plan. Huddersfield's game plan was to keep all ten outfield players between the ball and their goal at all times and break. Added to that a certain amount of what's called "unnecessary roughing" in NFL, it was a game plan that almost worked. Top that with a referee that made some odd decisions including yellow carding three Arsenal players for diving but oddly didn't reciprocate when Huddersfield players took a tumble. In the end pressure told and Aubameyang got to the byline and chipped over the defenders and Torreira overhead kicked the ball into the net. 1-0. Phew. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46409328 Video -  https://youtu.be/XZjRehQkSts posted from Bloggeroid

Saturday is an anomaly. At home. On a Saturday. Kick-off at 3pm.  This is the traditional day and time for English football for generations.  The advent of the TV viewer and especially since BT and others joined in to get a slice of the Premiership pie got us used to games played on a Saturday evening and Sunday afternoons.  Then we had Monday Night Football live on Sky. We have for many years had midweek games, midweek being Tuesday and Wednesday for cups and replays of cup games that had played firstly on a Saturday.  Then TV took over.  We now play on Thursday and Friday evenings....  Effectively the armchair viewer (he can't really be a fan or supporter) can watch a live game every day/evening of the week.  And that's just English games.  If he isn't fussy, he can watch Spanish, German and Italian games, plus the less exotic crap from the MLS in the US, Australian and Japanese leagues. Back to this Saturday.  ...

After the big North London derby game on Sunday, Arsenal fans are still bouncing off the wall.  Tonight we travel to the so-called Theatre of Dreams to take on the Jose Mourinho managed Manchester United.   United the "winningest" club since football was re-invented in 1993 when the Premier league was created with Sky TV money sloshing about and they took advantage of that. Currently a club in some denial and currently in 7th place in the table some 8 points behind Arsenal who occupy one of the holy grail places in the league also known as 4th. This place being the last golden ticket place on the English leagues to the UEFA Champion's League. Although United seem to be in decline this year and have drawn the last two games against Bournemouth and Southampton, they have always been the "team to beat" if you want to win the league.  Although Chelsea and Manchester City have benefited greatly by having oil barons as owners,  pumpi...

Personally I see this as a step in the right direction, but a small step. At least it provided the Mayor with another photo opportunity. ----------------------------          The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has held a long-awaited meeting with Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. The result of the exchange gives room for optimism amongst the motorcycling community. 'It's been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait,' said MAG's London Regional Rep, Tim Fawthrop, following MAG's visit to Mayor Khan at the Greater London Authority's headquarters in City Hall, on 27th November 2018.  The meeting was the result of months of lobbying, and the hugely helpful intervention of Greater London Authority Assembly Member Keith Prince AM, who secured and attended the meeting. Lembit Öpik and Colin Brown from MAG's Political Unit were also present. 'We covered two items,' continues Tim. 'One was bus lanes and the other was the...

Another away draw in the South for Oldham. After Hampton & Richmond, then on Saturday at Maidstone, this time away in London. The opponents will be Premier League Fulham FC  With their near neighbours Chelsea FC also drawn at home the FA will have to decide which day to play the game. Here's hoping they see sense and make it a weekend game so that our supporters can travel to and from the North West in a day. Many years ago I used to go to Fulham. We are talking over fifty. At school my friend Chris' family had moved to Thames Ditton from Fulham. Most of the family were Fulham fans but some supported Chelsea and even Queens Park Rangers, who were also local and in the same London borough of Hammersmith & Fulham. I've not been there for over 40 years even as an away fan. One of the last games we went to was the FA Cup Semi Final against Birmingham City at Sheffield Wednesday's ground.  The scene of the Hillsborough disa...

Doesn't everyone have one? Mine came about when asked my name. "Paul" "Pardon" "Paul", this time extending it a little. "Thank you" Later. "Skinny latté for Tom" No one moves. Original server, "Your latté", pointing to the cup. "My name's Paul but....", Eyes raised to woman looking at me... "But Tom it is". So what's yours? posted from Bloggeroid

As a supporter of this organisation I feel it is fair to share this statement with anyone that cares to read it. I am not a vegan nor am I vegetarian.  I do not eat meat every day. I do not feel that I should stop supporting an organisation that is set up to end the cruelty that goes with hunting for sport rather than hunting for food. You make your choice. As you may be aware, the League Against Cruel Sports has come under the spotlight this morning in the national press. One of our ex-employees, Mr Casamitjana, claims he was dismissed for 'disclosing that the League invested pension funds in animal testing'. I am contacting you to tell you that this is factually incorrect. The reason for Mr Casamitjana's dismissal is different from that which he states but clearly this is confidential information which we are respecting. Notwithstanding, here are some facts: ...

With the hotel booked on the usual free cancellation/no prepayment basis we are in a dead zone until we decide that we are definitely going. Today I had an email from the ticket office to say that tickets for the event are on sale.  Eagerly, I clicked to see what the prices are for 2019. General admission to the track are €80 for the weekend and Grandstands with a booked seat are from €135. There are also a range of other stands for "fans". There is always a Valentino Rossi fan stand. I guess to sit there you need to make sure you have at least a yellow 46 cap and maybe say "for sure" in most sentences in English. But as for price. Who knows? On the website all grandstands come up as "SOLD OUT". Already? https://www.gpfrancemoto.com/en/grandstand/3-day-ticket

A picture can tell the story better than I can. 1-0 1-1 1-2 2-2 3-2 4-2 North London is RED. posted from Bloggeroid

It's over.  The Gallagher Stadium is within easy walking distance of Maidstone East station.   There are two large covered stands and one small i.e. lower roofed stand. Luckily we were in one of the covered stands as it drizzled  all day. I met Neill at the station and we walked around. Stopped for a chat with some of Claire's ex workmates from Laser Transport, Gilberto, Carl and Andy. They were supporting the home side. You don't doubt who we were supporting. Only pic that came out on my phone! On the 3G pitch it would be the home side that were expected to be on top at first despite being a league lower down the pyramid. But it was Oldham from the off they were on top.  As usual there is a pantomime villain and it was Baldy No6 for Maidstone. A player of such finesse that despite any infringement he sailed through the game card free. But it was Baldy that led to the first goal. Concentrating on fouling Surr...