InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

I had to stretch my lunch break to er, breaking point to get the Post office part of things done so I have a taxed but unusable bike. It wasn't as straightforward as the DVLA website would have you believe though. As I don't have a V11 (the tax reminder they send out) and as the bike was SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) there was no record of it being taxed for a few years. On visit one the guy at the PO took the V5C (log book as we call it) and the V112 (MoT exemption declaration) and the printout of the web page,. He couldn't get past the first hurdle, telling me to call the DVLA. I walked briskly back to work and called. Amazingly it took around a half dozen "press 1 for blah-blah, 2 for blah-blah" before I got a human person to speak to.  She listed to my problem.  "On page 2 of the V5C, section 7, write HISTORIC in the box and sign and date it, then go to the PO". I did. Visit 2.  In and five minutes a different bloke had given me a receipt fo...

I had to stretch my lunch break to er, breaking point to get the Post office part of things done so I have a taxed but unusable bike. It wasn't as straightforward as the DVLA website would have you believe though. As I don't have a V11 (the tax reminder they send out) and as the bike was SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification) there was no record of it being taxed for a few years. On visit one the guy at the PO took the V5C (log book as we call it) and the V112 (MoT exemption declaration) and the printout of the web page,. He couldn't get past the first hurdle, telling me to call the DVLA. I walked briskly back to work and called. Amazingly it took around a half dozen "press 1 for blah-blah, 2 for blah-blah" before I got a human person to speak to.  She listed to my problem.  "On page 2 of the V5C, section 7, write HISTORIC in the box and sign and date it, then go to the PO". I did. Visit 2.  In and five minutes a different bloke had give...

In happier days It seems like I have been here before.    It's all come about after a comment from my old buddy John Storrie once he entered the 21st century and got email and even the dreaded social media.... I have toyed with this before, and as Claire wants rid of it from the garage, I guess the first step is to get it running and in a position to possibly sell it. Possibly. As it is 42 years since it was first registered it can be classed under tax and MoT standards as a historic vehicle.  That designation applies to all vehicles registered on UK roads before 1st January 1979. It is a 40 year rolling date. I thought it would be automatic, but reading up is less straightforward. The bike has to have tax, even though it is free for historic vehicles.  It no longer needs to have the annual MoT. Instead of applying for the tax online and the DVLA have all the details I have to go to a post office that can handle vehicle tax and take the log b...

In happier days It seems like I have been here before. It's all come about after a comment from my old buddy John Storrie once he entered the 21st century and got email and even the dreaded social media.... I have toyed with this before, and as Claire wants rid of it from the garage, I guess the first step is to get it running and in a position to possibly sell it. Possibly. As it is 42 years since it was first registered it can be classed under tax and MoT standards as a historic vehicle.  That designation applies to all vehicles registered on UK roads before 1st January 1979. It is a 40 year rolling date. I thought it would be automatic, but reading up is less straightforward. The bike has to have tax, even though it is free for historic vehicles.  It no longer needs to have the annual MoT. Instead of applying for the tax online and the DVLA have all the details I have to go to a post office that can handle vehicle tax and take the log book (V5C) and a form (V112)  to s...

Clipped over on the way home from work. 40000 since I bought the Insignia in January 2014.

Today a short ride out to the  Blue & White Café  to meet Cal and Ian G from the Meldrews for breakfast.  Afterwards I had a short ride around Ashford and the back across country and home. I hadn't intended the Tour D'Ashford but I was in the wrong lane and a guy in an Audi stopped me changing. When I say stopped he almost ran into the back of the car in front to block me from slipping in front of him.....  Rather than give the wanker the opportunity to think he had won I went a different way. A warm day and hopefully the start of another attempt at summer.

Say You're Sorry: Book One by Ian C.P. Irvine My rating: 4 of 5 stars Good read I couldn't help seeing Rebus' face when following McKenzie around Edinburgh. Another Hibees fan? The Hibs bit grated a bit. C'mon The Cabbage. Swiss Insurance. The standard it seems that all call centres that migrate to India seem to be aspiring to. I was expecting Jonathon to get to see his car but there you go. McN will be sorry one day. I had almost expected the twist near the end. No spoiler here. McN had to be one step ahead somehow. View all my reviews

Too Close For Comfort by Adam Croft My rating: 4 of 5 stars A little on the short side but the ideal as a commuting on the train book. I downloaded it almost a year ago and just got round to reading it. It may only be me but when I read books I assign a "look" to them. Robert, I automatically thought of him looking like Robert Bathurst. The misogyny of Culverhouse seemed very 70's. I expect it will grow into something else. And no. I never guessed whodunnit. View all my reviews

Not together, but two separate albums. Firstly, pre-ordered "Western Stars" from Bruce Springsteen some months ago. I had heard a few snippets. Bruce away from his E Street Band persona. A kind of semi-country record with some tracks with a full orchestra. It took a couple of listens through and it has grown in stature with each listen. My rating: **** Secondly. Carlos Santana. One of my all time favourite artists/bands. First saw the band live in the Roman Amphitheatre in Fréjus on the Côte d'Azur way back in the 80's. This album "Africa Speaks" features a "guest" lead allied to Santana's legendary riffs. You can almost hear the guitar sing. My rating: **** Both superb. But need more listen throughs...

Buggery bowlocks. Once updated the damned buggery thing won't pair with my phone. It did before the last update. Now I can only upload routes etc through a wired usb connection and not by Bluetooth. Call logged with TomTom support. Update 18/6/19 TomTom Support have replied to tell me all the things I have told them I have done and if that doesn't work, to reset the unit and try again. Update 19/6/19 That worked with a factory reset.  I had to enter the setup information again. The only problem is that now it pairs to my phone the MyDrive Bluetooth route transfer system doesn't work.

Had a run into Folkestone for a walk around the harbour and harbour arm. The harbour area is being tidied up and with it the old Folkestone Harbour Station. All this tarting up really means that the chances of it becoming a ferry port again has faded away. The Arm has many food stalls and most were open. I baulk at £9 for mussels and chips! The portion didn't look too huge either. We stopped at Bob's Seafood for whelks and a crab sandwich. Very nice. Me at Bob's Pano of harbour Chummy's Seafood Claire outside her old workplace. After a coffee and a biscuit at a new cafe in the old signal box we headed for home. Not before a selfie. Selfie.

Late. Eventually got around to buying one of these. Maybe a bit too late after the hotel tumble in Alençon. If only the Oxford lock had come with one! Reminder!

The last ever St Nicks Rally to be held.   St Nick and his Piets I have lost count how many I have been to since my very first back in 1985.  Then we went on my MZ250ETZ. Two-up  with a cheap plastic top box with our things in.   Back then we went practically every year and stayed in the the Hotel Polaris. That became quite the annual event until one year the Polaris wasn't available to book and it had closed down.   We gave the weekend trips another year but it wasn't the same and gradually the "tradition" was over.  We revived it some years later and began going for the day and joining the run to meet St Nick at the quay, where he came in by fishing boat along with his Piets. Eventually we started going for the ride and later to watch the ride out with St Nick.  It seemed it was getting smaller each year.  One year I went and couldn't find the meeting place and the city was devoid of the usual throng of bikers enjoying lunch in re...

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) has received a belated response from  Transport for London following two formal letters to Mayor Sadiq Khan. Following a review of the response, MAG continues to press for greater clarity and common sense to be applied. MAG wrote formally to Sadiq Khan in March, ahead of the 8th April launch of the Mayor’s ULEZ.  The initial letter requested a delay to Implementation of charges for Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs).  There was no formal response.  MAG  wrote again on 25th April calling for a suspension of charges.  A response was finally received from Alex Williams, Director of City Planning at TfL dated 22nd May 2019.  The six page letter concludes by stating “We cannot therefore meet your request that motorcycles be exempt from ULEZ charges.” Going on to say “I trust this answers all of your queries and I look forward to working with you to prepare motorcyclists for the expansion of the ULEZ in Octobe...

I missed the run to Hinckley and the visitor centre experience at Triumph due to sickness. I picked up a stomach bug that lasted for four days!  Saturday to Tuesday.  Two days off work and my weekend ruined. Even more of a pisser was that the two days off work meant I had a train ticket that was wasted as there are no refunds! The next event will be the Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride to Madingley Cemetery on the outskirts of Cambridge. It's July 6th this year.  I am probably going to be Billy No-Mates again but it means I can go at my own pace and not have to ride as a group until we get to the rendezvous at  the services on the A14 to the west of Cambridge.  I have planned a route up to the services and from their to the cemetery and home will have to be from memory!  ;) Last year I thought of visiting the NAAFI canteen that is open at a former WW2 fighter station at North Weald.  In the end I missed it as I was in a hurry to get home.  I mi...

Yes, it is that time of the year again when the map updates come out. I had the email from them and connected the TomTom and it started the download of the Europe maps. I un-ticked the US maps as I am unlikely to need the maps for a year or more. The download bit got to the end and then it said "checking" it did this for over an hour and so I aborted it as it was late and I needed to go to bed.  I have had this before! So this morning I logged the laptop in and connected the unit via USB.  That was about 90 minutes ago.  It immediately  came up "Updating - Do not disconnect your device" on the TomTom and the TomTom banner is on the laptop but no exe running. I get some breakfast and a cup of coffee and nearly two hours later, TomTom My Drive still not running on the laptop, the unit says that the update has finished. Am I the only user that has this problem? Update 17:10 I decided to give it another go and kicked off My Drive Connect a...

Renewed my Gold membership for another year. Let's hope that there is more success at the club.  It is getting to be an expensive hobby since Alex stopped going 50/50 with me on the games and the price. Especially after some games you think you might as well have flushed a handful of bank notes down the loo. I think this maybe my last year anyway.  I am close to retirement and can see that there are other things I could do with £926. We'll see.

That was quick. Less than a week after sending my report and pix this certificate arrived in the post. Hopefully my bit will appear in the August "Nacelle", the TOMCC magazine.

My brother Neill and his R66 buddy Patrick set off in four days (as I write) on a long trip around the Iberian Peninsula, that's Spain and Portugal, to the uninitiated. Should you wish to follow his trip as it happens on Blogger the link is  http://whespana19.blogspot.com/ and it is also linked from the right sidebar on this blog. It should be quite an adventure.  I'd like to clam I am not a little jealous of him being away.  We all have different lives and reasons for doing, or in this case not doing, something. I have signed up to the email updates although they seem to arrive overnight rather than "live" as it were.