InvictaMoto's On The Road Again!

August hasn't been the best month for me to tot up some miles as we have been away for quite a few days in the Van. So when I entered I wasn't surprised to see that I have only managed 252 miles on Vera and 0 miles on Suzi!  They will convert that to kilometres for the competition! So that will be approximately 403 kms. I hope to do much much better in September after the trip to Aragón for the MotoGP . I expect to cover around 2200 miles or 3500 kms on that trip.   For a variety of reasons the estimated 150 miles up to London last weekend didn't materialise as I went on the train!  There are a few more games for both Arsenal and Oldham that I will look at riding before the end of September.

I have had to log a call with Ohrex support as there is an oddity when the speed camera alerts come up on the screen. In the UK the current speed limit is shown in miles per hour, and likewise in Europe in kilometres. Above. Here we are on a road with a 60 mph limit. But, when it detects that we are in the range of a speed camera the limit shows in kilometres! On the picture above, under the icon of a camera, is the speed we are actually going alternating with the distance to the camera. Both of those in UK miles/yards. Let's see what the support come up with. Update: For the speed limit, The speed camera change to KPH when you approach them but back to MPH when clear. This is a bug that the tech guys are aware of and are working on a resolution.  Hope this helps and that it is not too inconvenient for you.

We have had the routes sorted out for quite a while and the outward journey will be taking the westerly "N10" route nearly as far as Bayonne before cutting inland. The first stop will be at the Kyriad Hotel in Chambray-les-Tours to the south of the main city of Tours. Claire and I stayed nearby many years ago at a Campanile Hotel.  I don't remember ever staying in a Kyriad before but they are part of a larger chain. According to the route planning software it should take us the best part of seven hours to complete a non-toll journey of over 310 miles.   Neill has planned the outward journey and we will follow a route he took a few years back when he did the trip solo. There is a fuel stop around halfway where we can have lunch at a McDonalds. I don't tend to use them when away, and rarely at home, but they are good for free wifi and of course a McPee. Day two is also a long day in the saddle. The planner shows it as 316 miles and another 7 hours in the saddle. The se...

https://ndtea.blogspot.com/2022/08/aragon-here-we-come.html My brother has his own travel blogs to cover the trips he goes on. Most usually with his Route 66 mate Patrick. I have then linked all on the right panel ---------> His are usually always one-off blogs for a particular trip and so this one linked above is different in that it covers different trips.

The second home game of the season and my first game. The train strike put the mockers on the first game at home to Leicester City. So today was full of the holiday spirit. A full house and a great game for the neutral supporter.  Both sides unbeaten in the first three games with Arsenal top of the league with three wins from three. Fulham just promoted from the Championship and 5th with two draws and one win. It was pretty even and I guess complacency led to Fulham taking the lead. Gabriel M caught on the ball by Mitrovic who fired home. From then on it was really all Arsenal. Goals from Ødegaard and Gabriel M making amends for earlier saw the game swing. Former Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno made a few saves to keep the score down. Fulham fans will say the same about Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal making several saves. In the end only one club has the 100% record..

It's not so much about the competition but giving to a charity that does good work helping disabled bikers continue to ride. I have no idea what I would do with a Can-Am three wheeler. But should I win it, I expect I could cope. https://nabd.co.uk/shop3/raffle-tickets/44-win-a-can-am-spyder-trike.html

Added security. With the van spending longer on drive and then in storage, we thought we should up the security a little.  Motorhome thefts have increased recently and so we decided to buy something to go over the brake and clutch pedals. It's another Milenco product. Bright yellow and fits easily.  Although there are step by step instructions it was quite simple to work out.  😁 The pedals on the 2013 model are lower than the later Peugeot in the pictures. The right version of the lock fits perfectly. It's pretty heavyweight steel.  It's another line of defence.

A new venue for me today with the Meldrews, and that was Badgers Hill Garden Centre in Chilham near Canterbury. I decided on the ride up to test the often misbehaving TomTom 410. It was fully charged overnight and a route sent to it from the TomTom My Drive app on my phone. It's done through Bluetooth tethering. On the app it gave three choices. I chose one. When it arrived on the 410 it has decided to take a different one of the three. I decided not to be so easily led!! I went on the one I had chosen and let the 410 catch up. It did.  Amazingly it only had a bit of "turn" when I was switching off and putting it into the top box at the venue. The road where there is the 80° left turn is up a single track road. The storm earlier in the week had washed a considerable amount of gravel off the land and deposited it about 4 to 5 feet wide in the centre. The wheel tracks of the cars leaving about 6 to 9 inches of bumpy rutted road for me. Never mind but luckily I ...

The day started with a run into Hythe in the car to get some low dose aspirin and then home to get the bike out.  For some reason the TomTom 410 where I had the route installed was dead as a door nail. Not enough time to charge it. I've not used it since I came back from Czech where it was going wrong all the time.  So no chance of checking if the reset has fixed it. I am also beta testing a motorcycle version of the TomTom app. I linked the phone to my helmet and set the route. It worked. By the time I had got to the end of my road it had gone silent. The route there and back was pretty much the same. In fact the Yamaha My Ride screenshots show they are almost the same distance. In fact .1 of a mile difference.  The ride was all in decent weather. The only hassle is of course the three mile plus queue to get through the tunnels going north at Dartford. Having to squeeze through the lines of traffic needs a lot of concentration. So another 166.9 mi...

One went on perfectly. The other was a pain in the arse with a few bits missing and not sticking properly... Can you guess which went on okay and which didn't?

MAG demands evidence riders will not be put at risk by self-driving vehicles. The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is extremely concerned by today’s announcement that self-driving vehicles could be allowed on UK motorways as soon as next year.  With EuroNCAP testing of detection and reaction to motorcycles only scheduled to start in 2023, MAG wants evidence that motorcyclists will not be placed at risk. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has today unveiled plans to allow self-driving vehicles to be rolled out on UK roads by 2025.  Some vehicles, including cars, coaches and lorries, with self-driving features could be operating on motorways in the next year.  Today’s (19 August 2022) plans set out new legislation allowing for the wider rollout of self-driving vehicles by 2025. Announcements were made in October 2021 that EuroNCAP will start testing driver support systems in cars, such as Autonomous Emergency Braking and Lane Support Systems, on their performance in detecting an...

Ticket arrived today.  We are currently in climate change meltdown with ridiculously high temperatures in Southern England.  But what's the betting that the "Mediterranean Climate" we were promised as "imminent" in 2005 and thst has finally arrived, will break on Saturday, and it will lash down with rain According to Google maps door to door it's 80.1 miles from home to Southend's ground. They have parking and before I have parked the bike right by their club shop. So it's have V-Strom will go .. Google also reckons 1h 47m for the trip. This discounts the three mile queue for the Dartford Crossing. So for a 3pm kick off I need to leave home at 1pm latest. How about Noon instead? My first game under the Club's new ownership and of course, the first in Tier 5 of the English Football Pyramid.

A local ska and reggae band from South London.  We first encountered them years ago when they were busking in Canterbury.  We have been to a few concerts in Maidstone and also saw them at Skabour in Folkestone in about 2012. The latest album is called "Voices from the Sun". A pretty decent album. Maybe all the gigging and appearances across UK and Europe will get them some decent airplay.

Only 105th!

This was something that hindsight would suggest I should have invested in earlier! The shattered mirror just a few days before we went way to France in June might have been averted. Might.  These cover the mirrors and are supposed to protect the shell of the fitted mirrors. They fit easy enough and are gloss finished.  Not cheap but luckily I saw an offer on eBay and saved £25. 

August is the start of the new year's competition. I have had a few short runs out on both bikes but not enough I don't think to get me into the Top100. We have two midweek trips planned in Suki the Van to Norfolk next week and Littlehampton (girly giggle) a fortnight after. As there are rail strikes on August 13th and August 20th my plans for football trip will mean going on the bike, to London and to Southend.  I should be able to get about 300 miles under my belt on the V-Strom on both those dates. I was supposed to go to London on Sunday August 7th, but I have injured my left hand and can't pull in the clutch on the Kettle. I will wait until the last minute before deciding on that trip. That will be another 150 miles or so! Hopefully it will ease off over the next 36 hours and let me go. The short runs I have done on both amount to about 100 miles or 160 kms at the moment.  I have plans to go to football at Southend on the 20th and to London on the 27th to the Arsenal. ...

The Motorcycle Action Group ((MAG) has asked Essex Police to amend their advice to motorcyclists not to filter through traffic, branding it dangerous and counterproductive to road safety. MAG’s activist network picked up the offending post on the Essex police Facebook page where it was drawing a large volume of complaints from bikers. Within a matter of hours, MAG asked Essex Police to amend their advice with MAG National Chairman, Neil Liversidge, writing directly to Essex Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington QPM. Neil stated:  “Nobody doubts for a second the genuineness of Essex Police’s intentions, but this is bad advice and needs changing immediately. There is a certain type of car driver - and all of us who ride motorcycles have encountered them - that hate motorcyclists and are envious of our ability to make progress through traffic jams while they sit and stew. These are the people who see us coming in their mirrors and reposition their cars to block us. For the police to s...

I have been automatically been entered into the 2023 competition that began on the 1st August. Hurrah.