InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

I only signed up for the Kilometerfresser competition on 13th September and have had a few rides out since then,   The challenge is in kilometres and I have managed 379 (236 miles) since signing up. The odometer reading 14903. October would have been a real bit of work but sadly the panic buying of petrol has meant a 700 km round trip to the RTTW that would have looked good, has had to be cancelled. None of the petrol stations in the area have any and are closed. Grrrr....

The beginning of the end for wire rope barriers: MAG Northern Ireland  victory The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is delighted to advise that there has  been a victory for common sense and road safety in Northern Ireland,  with the use of wire rope barriers on roads being terminated. MAG NI Rep, Martyn Boyd, has been working hard on this issue for some  time, along with input from MAG’s Political Unit (Colin Brown and Lembit  Öpik) and Ian Churchlow, Director and incoming Vice Chair. A sustained campaign, culminating in a strong case being put to the  Department of Infrastructure and Minister Nicola Mallon, has now  resulted in a positive outcome for road safety and the safety of  motorcyclists in particular. In January 2021 the regulations governing central reservation crash  barrier requirements were changed and going forward any new or upgrading  road schemes for or on a road which requires or has a central  reservation barrier, w...

Another visit to the clinic to have my eyes scanned to see if there are any signs of diabetic retinopathy.  I had some pretty intense eye tests earlier in the year when both eyes were treated and new lenses inserted to remove the cataracts. But this is all "free" on the National Health that I have been paying into since I was 17 years old and in full time employment for the very first time. It's a different clinic this time but hopefully the same result as last year. Update 14:02:00  All clear at first look but now gone to deeper scrutiny.

At one time it used to be sunglasses I had an obsession with.  Now it is reading glasses. I found that with one pair  never had them to hand when I needed them.  So by the end of last week, I had three pairs bought from various B&M Stores at £1.99. So that was one in the lounge, one in the conservatory where I work and another one in the kitchen. But what about the bedroom? The loo? The car? Well bedroom and loo can be covered by one pair and having one pair in the car for outside the house activities would be good.  So. I bought these on Amazon. Free delivery and £4.53 the pair. Okay they are kinda purple but who is going to see them? And do I care? So really five pairs of  +1.50 glasses isn't excessive after all!

I was looking on Google Maps to see where I lived as a small child. I was born December 23rd 1955 in St Thomas' Hospital in London. The hospital is directly opposite The Houses of Parliament. The River Thames between them. From there we moved into a room at my Great Aunt Nan's house nearby Elephant and Castle. Then we moved north. My mum was born and bred in Oldham. Hence the reason, if you read my output, I still support Oldham Athletic. Not before I was christened at St Lawrence Church in Morden, Surrey in February 1956. Our first home sounds pretty horrific by our modern standards in Throstle Walk in Chadderton. No electricity. Limited running water. Lit by gas. Outside toilet. We were later moved into a council house in Laburnham Avenue, also in Chadderton.  My brother was born there in 1960 and we moved south again in November 1965. But where was this Victorian hovel? I had to try and find maps of the area from the 50's or even earlier.  In the end I emailed the Archiv...

Kilometerfresser is under way.  An email came saying to check the " table " as the organisers were back from holiday and had entered all the received data.   My start odometer reading has been entered and I am currently 126th in the table.   One guy claims to have clocked up over 13000kms in August.  I doubt that I will even scratch more than two 00's worth for my September claim. Had I been going to the RTTW at the weekend I would have an extra 700+ kilometres to add to October's entry.  As it is. Sweet Fanny Adams.

At midnight 27th into the 28th September, the clocked ticked over and the mileage covered was 3.29 miles for the day, a little short of the average that was needed but.... The total for the month is 100.36 miles and an average of 3.72 miles a day. 🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳

I'd like to thank all the sheep like cretins that rushed out last week and all over the weekend, and who have emptied the stocks of petrol held in service stations across the UK. Not only have your selfish and moronic acts caused untold damage to the local environment with your queuing (engines running) and blocking roads, blocking emergency vehicles from going about their jobs, stopped ambulances from filling their tanks, but have made our nation look like some neanderthal excuse for a country.  As well as all that, we are unable to guarantee getting enough fuel to travel to the National Memorial Arboretum to pay respects to those that have given all for their country.  Our country, the one that you twats have made a laughing stock across Europe and the wider world. Pat yourselves on the back for your greed and stupidity.

The last update was on the 21st and so here we are almost a week later. Progress has been bitty to say the least. A couple of low mileage days saw the "over walk" reduced to very much nearer the average per day. The average per day is 100 miles divided by 30 days.  It comes out at a very reasonable 3.333333333333333 miles per day. So after 26 (I've not done much today yet!!) complete days the total walked is 97.24. The average by 26 should be 86.66666666666667 so I am over 10.47 miles up on the challenge.   I should be able to have that done and dusted by tonight close of play i.e. bedtime. Three days ahead of schedule. Donate: https://www.facebook.com/donate/649372989368455 Sign up: https://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/give-support/challenges/100-miles-in-september/ Update 1132pm Monday 27th September 2021 Mission accomplished. 100.30 miles completed of the 100 mile challenge.

An unfortunate turn of phrase, typed in anger at the fools blocking the roads queuing for petrol has landed me in "Facebook Jail" for three days. Banned from "groups" for seven. Even though my rant wasn't in a group. It's all fuelled (no pun intended) by the media on every news broadcast, and the idiots, that are probably not going to use the fuel,  have been out since Thursday evening queuing to buy petrol. Panic buying of something that many of them won't use.  Petrol the new toilet roll! Not only causing jams everywhere but their panic buying has led to service stations running out completely, ambulances and fire engines stuck in traffic and of course, their engines running and burning the fuel they are panic buying in the first place! I am allowed read-only access to Facebook.  From there I can read the comments on posts.  Intemperate language abounds but I guess it was " fucking mongs " that got me banned.  Maybe it was " mongs "...

Less than a week before we set off for the National Memorial Arboretum to pay our respects to service men and women across the generations. The trip is in danger due to the fuel crisis.  It seems that there is a lot of fuel but getting it to pumps is the problem. Sadly, the main stream media aka #ScumMedia have fuelled the fire. No pun intended. And morons have blocked roads and queued to buy petrol. Whether they needed it or not. Unless the situation is resolved we'll have to abort the run. Over two days I'd cover around 400 miles. Two tanks! 😞😞😞

North London is red. Unbelievable result.  We had low expectations after the poor start to the season but recently after three losses and a terrible goal difference, we had recovered. On the other hand after a good start the Totts had lost the last two 3-0. So as we the fans wanted we attacked them from the kick off. On top and were three up at the break. Second half "game management" was lacking and we allowed them into the game. They were poor. Arteta needs to use his subs better. We were too deep and no surprise they got one back  And it could have been more. But a few good saves and it ended 3-1. Tony Adams "Mr Arsenal" (left) enjoyed the game. Ledley King (right) though.......

It's that time of year again.  Arsenal home to local rivals Tottenham Hotspur.   I will be going on the train again today.  Both clubs are hardly setting the world alight so far although briefly Tottenham were top of the league and Arsenal bottom.

Rochdale started the game 6th. Oldham 24th. Guess who were favourites to win. The local derby. A must win. After the drubbing in midweek at Brentford maybe we thought this was another goalfest. Instead it was Latics that came away with the 3 points. Two away wins. No home wins! Still bottom on goal difference.

I was looking through a box of stuff and came across the paperwork for the first FIM Rally we ever went on. It was 1986. I was a bit fed up at work and Audrey, my partner at the time, was a lecturer at a college in North London, she had time off of course for the summer. So fully expecting to come back and easily find a job, I quit. We were full members of the British Motorcyclist Federation (BMF) and also affiliated members through the Suzuki Owners Club. Audrey was also a member of the Women's International Motorcycle Association  (WIMA) and affiliated there too!  These memberships allow access to the  Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and all the events it puts on from racing to touring categories. The outward journey would take us through Western Europe and into Austria.  Out first port of call was to visit my long term friend, Ivan Benda, in his home in Bohunice , a suburb of Brno in what was still Czechoslovakia then. We stayed in...

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) will be presenting the case for a new  vision for road safety at the Road Safety GB Festival of Road Safety. MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement will be a speaker at  this major event in the road safety calendar. MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, is once  again included in the line-up of speakers for the 2021 RSGB Festival of  Road Safety.  This year’s video presentation will robustly make the case  for the Welcoming Roads vision for road safety. Welcoming Roads was developed by MAG and has been adopted by the  National Motorcyclists Council.  The vision was born out of a  recognition that casualty reductions in all areas of road safety have  flatlined in the last decade, and the fact that motorcycle safety is  underfunded and too often treated as an afterthought.  The Welcoming  Roads vision aims to redress the balance for motorcycling...

Plus any bits I might like to buy when I call into Louis in Germany next year..... https://www.louis.eu/magazin/rund-ums-bike/bike-datenbank/suzuki-dl-1000-v-strom-l8-l9-euro-4/dd12/3564

First impressions. Once fitted I had this incredibly stupid idea of killing time before the football to go to the Ace Café on the North Circular and get a coffee and maybe see if there were any bikes there. TomTom decided to take me on some tortuous route that included going the wrong way on the A3 and then " make a u-turn " back past FWR!  As a result of mostly walking pace traffic and some even stopped dead traffic I aborted and decided to go straight to the parking at Brentford. I set the "Yamaha My Ride" app on most rides and this was no exception. I managed to cover 21.3 miles in 1h 13m. An average of 17mph!!! So no real data from that part of the ride. The front had become a little skittish and that was gone.   After the game the real test of rubbing the glaze off  came about.  Rather than slog through London I opted for a roundabout route that would involve motorway almost all the way. The M4 is right alongside the ground and an on ramp close by.  Th...

Parking cost £5 for a bike and was in a disused car dealers parking lot. I have no idea if it actually secure but it was full when I got back after the game. It is luckily only a short walk to the ground and the away entrances. This is a new stadium and is surrounded by new build offices. The highlight of the evening was the coffee. I had two cups it was that good.  For dinner I opted for the falafel wrap but it was absolutely terrible. Falafel is usually served up in Turkish restaurants as hard little lumps a bit like burgers but obviously meat free and made with chickpeas and/or beans.  This wrap contained a kind of sludge with onions.  Not good. A reminder what falafel looks like. As for the game. The result tells the story.  Brentford made 11 changes to their starting side that beat Wolves on Saturday.  They rested their first choice eleven as they have Liverpool on Saturday.... The pattern was set when Brentford got a penalty in the 3rd minute. A defender ...

Michelin Pilot 5 Trail. Look identical to Pilot 5 Road ... Fitted at 9191 miles. The Bridgestone originals have done quite well. But for a while have started to be a little twitchy on bends. Enough was enough. 

The first part of the ride, 52 miles up to London took about 40 minutes, on motorway. The last 13 to FWR took over an hour. Traffic gridlocked whilst bus lanes and cycle lanes were hardly in use. Millions of pounds of empty tarmac. I had factored in an hour and a half from arrival to pay and leave. Instead there was hardly a queue, and I was out in 45 mins! It was just 1555 when I messaged Claire to say I was away. With 2h 45h before kickoff I set TomTom for Ace Café. Never got there. After a congested trip over Waterloo Bridge and God knows where I aborted and went back to the Brentford route.  Fuel near the ground was 50.9 mpg. Not bad considering the traffic and the fastish run up. Once parked I got my ticket and was in the ground a little after six .. As I write it's still 51 minutes to kickoff! Maybe another coffee or add in a pee?  

The  Motorcycle Action Group   (MAG) has continued to make progress on their work to improve motorcycle theft reporting.  MAG today publishes a revised edition of the 2020 National Police Force Bike Theft Ranking document.    MAG’s Campaigns Team is continually working to improve the quality of motorcycle crime data available to riders and policy makers.  This work is driven by the need to take robust action to reduce levels of motorcycle theft in the UK. MAG’s annual report on motorcycle theft statistics – released in August – is being used as a tool to open the debate with many police forces, commissioners and politicians.  The report mentions issues with figures reported in Hertfordshire and concerns about figures reported in Gwent.  Dialogue with both forces and their respective Police & Crime Commissioners has led to an offer to explore potential routes for increased data accuracy by Hampshire Police and correction of the data supplied by...

So here we are in the 20th day of the challenge.  I am working from home again this week and will be until the end of the month. https://shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/ At the end of today I should have covered around 66.6666666666667 miles (according to the calc app in Windows 10!) and I have actually done 70.92. This all whilst walking the dog and not much else. Of course.  I have yet to do that today and so that 70.92 will get to be more like 73 by the end of the day! Update At midnight the total distance covered with two-thirds of the challenge complete was 73.61 miles. Thanks in part to Reggie being incapable or more likely, unwilling to bring the ball back after I had thrown it for him. This resulted in a much longer walk around the field than normal!

I bought these back in May and due to being a fair weather biker and also the kinder weather they are still in their net bag. Maybe tomorrow when I go to get new tyres and then to Brentford for the footie I might get the chance!!! Even though I haven't worn them, I have bought another pair to go in the other top box.  Why?  I liked the Held made ones I had and that leaked after a lot of use but when I came to replace I couldn't get them.  So, this times for an extra £22.99 I'll have two pairs! Update to follow here when I wear them!

The sticker has arrived and I can get out and knock off the two places in Kent that qualify for the competition. Plus there are two that Neill has planned to visit to and from the Ride to the Wall run at the end the month.

When I bought Vera I negotiated the price down a little as it was obvious that new tyres would be needed.  That time has come earlier than I  thought it might. The bike has done around 9200 miles and I guess these might be the original fitment! It is currently fitted with a pair of Bridgestone BW501 front and BW502 rear tubeless radials. I had a look on the Bridgestone website and according to them they don't make a fitment in that tyre for the V-Strom. 😨 Anyway, the front is about had it anyway and the rear may have life left, but if I am going to shell out a kidney's worth of cash, I might as well get them both done together.  Especially as I need to ride to London to get them sorted.  So what have I decided on to replace them. Loads of forum searching and I have decided as the chances of me "off roading" is minimal I will go for tyres that will reflect the majority of my riding - a pair of Michelin Road 5 Trail . I called FWR Tyres in South East London and they ...

First stop of the morning was up to meet fellow Meldrew Cal Price at the Cliff Top Café.  I was a little late as I was stuck behind a tractor and trailer through Saltwood and all the way onto the A20.  These things are massive. The one I followed today was over half the road wide through the village. Oncoming vehicles were almost up the walls and banks to make space and he was on the pavement with the nearside wheels.  Too big for our roads. Once clear of this road block I had a run down the A20 to Capel and the Café. Cal had already arrived and I parked up in the bike park area. He'd ordered but the queue was too long for me to bother. Gradually the queue got longer and longer. I don't usually go to this café as despite having plentiful outdoor seating they are anti-dog.  As a dog owner I have been spoken to very rudely by one of the staff before I had even set foot on their land.  Between the café and the 150ft drop into the sea, there is a public footpath. I ...

I bought this seat cushion well over a year ago and it was supposed to go on the Rocket.  In the end I stashed it away for "later". That later seems to be now. I located it on a chair at the back of the dining room tucked under the table. To be inflated! I was prompted to go and look for it after reading a review of the same make and model of cushion on the V-Strom forum. The writer said it was really good and has made the bike more comfortable over long runs, doubling the distance ridden before "numb bum" sets in. So all I have to do it read the instructions (I know as a bloke I shouldn't) and then fit it and try to see what air it needs in it. It can have air or water inside. I might simply opt for air! Maybe a job for the weekend.

When I finished work at 4pm today, I togged up and had a little ride on Vera. I only managed to get as far a Capel-le-Ferne. The Battle of Britain memorial was just shutting and so a photo opportunity was missed. Probably because I had stopped on the way at B&M Stores to get some AAA batteries for the TV remote and also to increase the number of £1.99 reading glasses in my collection!  I now have three pairs. One at x1.25 wotsits and two at x1.5. The 1.50 are the best for computer and phone work. I made a turn off the A20 and went past the Cliff Top Café where we have the Meldrews Sunday meet this weekend. It was also closed. From there back on the A20 and into Folkestone. The town centre around the harbour was packed with tourists enjoying the late afternoon sunshine.  Many of them ageing skinheads there for Skabour 2021 . We have been twice in the past.  I continued past and up the Road of Remembrance and back to the A259 towards Hythe.  Taking the seafront bet...

This was taken before the game with Chelsea in August.  Footie-buddy Helen and me.  Usually my brother, Neill, sits on the other side of me, but he was on holiday. Helen took the selfie. Has come out okay. It's reversed as the watch is on my left wrist!

I was sure I had signed up for this earlier in the year. My brother did and had been ticking off the places as he has been out and about. I went to the site and tried my usual email address I keep for things that are non-family/personal related. A Yahoo address that I can ignore the spam that comes it everyday. I tried a variety of passwords - no luck. I tried to get a password reset and it said the address wasn't recognised. So I registered.  It accepted all that and I am in. Website link -  https://www.overlandevent.com/ride-the-world The idea is to visit and and photograph yourself, bike and the  official sticker at the location. The locations are places that although in the UK, are also around the world. Given that the British and Irish have over 500 years of buggering off to the "new world" and naming the new places they have built after the one they left in UK it should provide us with many many places!  I am always amazed that people left where they lived, fo...

These were shot on my Honor 9 Lite phone and so aren't Hollywood perfect. The first is Reggie with his new Kong toy we have named "Tigger". The second is the squirrel deciding to get his food from the source rather than wait for us to put seeds and sunflower seeds into the bird feeders.

In the UK we have had vehicle testing, known as the MoT, for many years and I guess it is harder for us to understand the unwillingness of our former EU buddies to want the same. It's true that older machines are probably maintained better than the Spotty Herbert on his 125 scooter and so Historic Vehicles (over 40 years old) are exempt here. But the MoT is only really as good as today. It passes today but something could happen to it tomorrow and it carries the risk until fixed or until the next MoT! Read more here: https://www.femamotorcycling.eu/french-motorcycle-inspections/

An update on the progress of the challenge.  Like I said in the beginning, to walk 3.3333333333 miles a day isn't that hard, but to get donations has been harder.  Thanks to three Facebook and real friends I have so far raised £50 of my £100 target. So at the half-way stage, dog walking, I have completed 56.22 miles.  If I had stuck to the average I needed to have completed 50 miles. So I am almost two days ahead of schedule. https://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/give-support/challenges/100-miles-in-september/