On the Road Again!

The GS is fixed. Hurrah!   Getting it will be a bit of a trial. Steptoe is out all weekend from about 0930 tomorrow and so I need to get over there from Kent.  Checking all the websites for the trains and London Transport, reveals that I need to be on the 0643 from Ashford International to St Pancras, then a couple of tubes to get me to Putney Bridge and then a bus, and eh voila!  Steptoe's by about 0845!  As long as there are no problems, no delays!!   Then ride back to sunny Kent.   I put the road test of the Explorer back to 4pm or so to give me chance to go and get it.   Fingers crossed. All the hassle is so that I can see what trade-in I can get and also to get to the Kent Pet Food Run!!!

Took the charged spare battery out and cobbled it up and the bike clicked and clicked on the starter and that was it. Need to get the battery out I think or try to jump the bugger from the car. Hope it doesn't have to be taken elsewhere!!

When the Register was first created two years ago I tossed my hat in the ring. The job eventually went to Terry Ryan. Terry recently stepped down and I put my name forward again. The BMW Club asked me to do the job f or the next 12 months. Okay I don't have experience of riding the Long Way Round. I am not an actor or his mate. I am not called Sanders. But I do have over 25 years of organising rides and holiday trips for the Suzuki Owners Club. As well as the Invader Rally, I have about 125 events to my name. Over the last two weekends I have organised and led two successful runs to France for the SOC and around Kent for the GS Register. So where do we go from here?

Nice Shiny New Bits , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . Nice Shiny New Bits , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . Nice Shiny New Bits , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . A few of the nice and new shiny bits that were fitted after the accident. Now I have to work out how to keep them as nice as they are now.

Where to start? Following the accident or should I say incident, with the Polish girl on the Honda back in September, the GS went into Cooper Motorrad for repairs. They had quoted for a new screen as the MRA fitted is broken in two places. But as a BMW dealer they couldn't order a non-standard part. After a few weeks it has been decided that I will order and pay for a new screen and claim it back via Carole Nash. Cooper's will deduct from the invoice. At last.

Not a theme park, although it sounds like it may be, but actually a recently rediscovered (in the 1970's) formation of trenches from WW1. These are around Messines Ridge to the south of Ypres. The trenches point northwards as this area was part of the bulge to the south the city. Entry is supposed to cost €1.50 per person but when we got there the gate had been wedged open and there were some other people already inside. The GPS location for the site is N50.80135 E2.87708. More reading http://bujold.co.uk/html/bayernwald.html

59000 miles , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . On the way home tonight I noticed as I was in the petrol station that I was about 9 miles to the odometer turning over to the next thousand. I took this pic as I was on the way out of Aldington as the 59000 popped up. The quality is pretty crap as the new Blackberry Storm with its supposed 3 megapixel camera is not all that good, although one of the pics I took in Holland a few weeks ago was okay and not in the slightest blurred.

Back in March after a series of flat or flatish battery moments I bought a solar panel from Maplin and have ever since when the bike is in the garage it is connected through the accessory socket. I blogged it back then, click on the "solar panel" link below, and never reported how good or crap it has been. Good. It has been excellent as it happens. Despite the lack of sun generally in the UK this year, it has been a total success. No flat battery problems and only one ABS malfunction that is usually associated with a low battery. Well worth the money. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone!

A boys weekend away to Holland for a long weekend? My brother mentioned that now his daughter's are off his hands, one at Uni and the other finished at Uni, that he would have more time for bike rides so I suggested we try the Dutch TT next year. After a search for somewhere reasonable to stay we found a hotel about 20 miles from the track as Assen. I advertised it on the SOC Kent Centre site and to a few friends and if all goes well we have 6 of us going and we have three rooms booked. It's so far away.... but now we need to track down the tickets for the racing on the Saturday!!

I got up the same time as I have for the last week or so since returning from holiday. Set off about the same time and got bogged down in traffic. The kids went back to school today and my journey to work went up by 25 minutes. Damn bugger bollocks.

Some hard biker I am. I woke to high winds and the rain rattling against the window. Slip the radio on and Terry Wogan's sidekick was announcing flooding on the M1 and on the A20 in South London.  SO.  I bottled it. Got Claire to run me to the station and I bought a cheap day return. Since about Tonbridge it brightened up gradually and sitting overlooking Upper Street it is bright and sunny, no wind to rattle the tree right outside our second floor window. B*llocks. Bike tomorrow?

For the fourth day in a row it has failed to rain as have ridden on to work and even more amazingly I have managed to find a space on the bike park across the road from my new office. Today was a bit of a squeeze as the dopey clown with the little shite trail bike parked with his front wheel to the right instead of left like everyone else, so the little shit heap took up loads of space more than necessary. With the forecast of the weather about to break I wonder how long this will happen, dry weather = good!

I have had the Tourances on since just before we went to the Isle of Man last year and as they were getting a bit low I had a check round to see what was really available for the GS. Essentially it came down to the Tourances I have had all the time since I have had the bike, and perhaps trying a set of road oriented tyres, and that led me down the Bridgestone BT020/BT021 route. A bit of checking round favoured FWR Tyres in Kennington as best for the ride-in/ride-out price over Watling at Catford. As I was going up to London on Saturday anyway for an Arsenal game, I set off a bit earlier and called in. Luckily I arrived during a spell of quiet and was almost straight in. Luckier than the guys that arrived sometime after me and got told they might have a two hours wait. Anyway, the combination of BT020 front (110/80ZR19) and BT021 rear (150/70ZR17) look good and first impression as favourable. With new tyres there is always that "shock" that the bike handles differently, more ...

The run from the overnight stop at Pete's was a doddle. Sadly the M1 is as boring today as it was last time I slogged up towards Derby! We arrived over two hours before the start of the rally. Before the checkpoint had been set up. Andy arrived about an hour after us and we chatted whilst he noshed through a Burger King speciality. Then everything started to go tits up. My Quest locked up and couldn't find the satellites. Then it simply gave up. Luckily we had maps and both Pete and Andy had the route in their Quest and Zumo 550 respectively. Once on the way I began to feel a little uncomfortable and my head began to hurt and my neck was a bit stiff. By the first checkpoint after the start at Leicester I was beginning to feel unwell and I took a couple of paracetamol tablets. Then we were off and gradually I found my eyesight a bit "tunneled" and this indicated a migraine on its way. I finally dropped so far back the others pulled into a lay...

Taken this morning on the way from a school I had just visited to do their end of year and the office. I had to ride past the ground to see what was happening, if anything. Amazingly, a load of people about having their photos taken and the shop (to the left of the bike) open and had a sale on. After work it's the National Rally, First a short ride up to Pete's place in Watford and tomorrow the rally starts for real.

Another eventful day. I needed to be in early and déja-vu. Broken down trucks and loads of traffic meant I was late again! Luckily I have a fairly flexible hours and a boss that is understanding! The ride home was pretty uneventful except from a grandstand seat watching a plonker in an M5 BMW and a (mere) A3 Audi racing along the A2 from Bexley into the road works by the M25 near Dartford. Never a copper about is there? My new riding style doesn't allow me to join in so now I am Mr Calm I let everyone get on with it. Even in the tail-backs where I used to get pee'd off with the lane splitters pushing me along, I just let them go!

I had to be in early this morning as I was taking a course for admin officers. Imagine my dismay to catch up with three lanes of solid traffic before I had even got out of Kent on the A2. F&*$! As I split lanes I managed to catch up with truck bounds for London to the fuel protest. Phew! http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pressass/20080702/tuk-protesters-wildcat-action-threat-6323e80.html The rest of the way in wasn't too bad. The usual w*nkers that can't line up behind the car in front when they know the jam will go all the way to the Blackwall Tunnel. The mongs that push into the outside lane despite it ending a few hundred yards ahead! The run up through Hackney not too bad and I was at work just after 9am for a 9.30am. Not looking forward to the ride home in the drizzle!

Today I had to be at a conference in Russell Square for 1000 to sign-in for a 1030 start. No problems. Up early enough, sort out the bins as today is the once a fortnight that Shepway come and take the proper rubbish. Plenty of time in two weeks for anything a little iffy to go off in the bin and stink to high heaven. Then it took 15 minutes to get the 4 miles to the Stop 24 Services to top up the tank. Why? Firstly a truck reversing into a narrow access to Jewson's yard off the main road. Then a broken down truck on the hill just exiting Hythe. My new system of not exceeding an indicated short-80 has improved my fuel figures. The short-80 is on the speedo with the needle just touching the left edge of the 8 on the dial! It equates to about 70/71mph according to the Garmin. The return figures for the run to work yesterday and return to Stop 24 via home returned 55.19mpg. I usually with a careless hand on the throttle get about 47/48mpg. The Garmin took me my usual way through the...

The paperwork arrived for the National Rally last week and as usual I have left the route planning to Andy Pratt. He has far more patience than I do. I'll have to make sure the batteries in the camera are okay, as I'll become the photographer again! Last time I took 2 pics! The other member of the team is Peter Bolsover. I guess we'll all be riding BMW's this year! Andy has planned the route for the Special Gold Award and that means 22 checkpoints including start at Kegworth and the end at Bletchley. His route for the Garmin didn't work on my Quest and so with his waypoints I have started a new route that does seem to work. I guess we'll see how Peter's Quest and mine decide to do the journey! Whenever I've shared routes before, we have had slight differences between Garmin units! And so to the weekend.

As my season ticket on South-East Trains ran out on Friday and with the National Rally with Pete and Andy coming up on Friday I decided to get a few more miles under my belt and ride in all week. Today I set off on time, and then lost 25 minutes standing and chatting at the entrance to the Blackwall Tunnel after a truck broke down in it. Finally arriving over an hour late to work! Tomorrow, I have a conference in central London so need to set off early to ensure I am there for signing in. Also to find a parking place near to Russell Square. I'll have to check parking in London website ( http://www.motorcycleparking.com/frames_index.htm ) to see where the parking places are. There seem to be quite a few and no doubt I'll have to try them all to get a place for a big boys bike!