On the Road Again!

For many many years I have been an avid reader. It's what (in part) makes me a clever clogs when we play Trivial Pursuit. Surprisingly though rubbish at Scrabble. I have several interests. I like fantasy and SF.  I like detective series books. And mostly, I like to live vicariously through the lives and trips of other motorcyclists.  Adventure motorcyclists as the authors no doubt want to be called. Here is a short list of the books I have read recently. The Long Ride 'Home' - Nathan Milward Llamas, Bananas and Bears - Stephen Mason Two Years on the Run - Luther Maddy Looking for America - Ian Mutch One Man on a Bike - Richard Georgiou Touching the World - Cathy Birchall Through Dust and Darkness - Jeremy Kroeker All a little different with a different level of preparedness and planning undertaken before they set off. Perfect for those winter months when the bikes are locked away in the garages and cabin fever is setting in. If you have a...

No photos this time as I used the Canon and the Sony cameras rather than the iPhone. Have to wait until I get home to use the laptop. After breakfast Saturday we took the non-toll route to Le Mans. Woody leading as my TomTom was misbehaving. ( http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/tomtom.html ) At the track they affix a sticker to the headlamp and give you the other half. On leaving both have to match. They also want to see the biker's log book. French ones are small, our are four pages of A4 and paper. As it is peezing down there is no way I am getting mine out of the topbox! We arrived in time for the Moto2 free session and all three classes qualifying. All the commentary in French. A summary in English at the end is spoken by a guy that learned English in a vacuum. It drizzled all day. Rained hard at times. Almost trench foot. Sunday. Up earlier, same route, same rigmarole to park, same logbook stays in topbox. Found a space near where we were yester...

We are planning a trip across to France for the 2012 GP at Le Mans.  We have been to Assen in 2009/10 and Brno in 2011, and wanted to try another track and GP that we have never been to before. The next nearest to make a weekend of it is France. So Le Mans it is. This trip so far is just me and my brother, Neill, but I have posted a note on the Kent Centre SOC forum to see if anyone wants to join us this time. I have started a new blog just for this event - http://thedevallboys.blogspot.com/

Tickets ordered online, bought and paid for. All I need to do now is sort out my accommodation locally. http://www.brno-circuit.com/en/

The trip has been on the cards from way back in 2009 when we had to pre-order the ticket.  Then my brother decided to go on a trip along Route 66 ( http://ndr66.blogspot.com/ ) so we made a team change and old mate Steve Hazlehurst stepped up to the plate. Now with just two weeks to go we have had a small change to our part of the trip. To save Claire's hip we have already broken the outward journey into two days with an island hopping first day Zeeland and a second day to Wapse and the hotel. On the way home we are going to break the trip again to keep the riding and subsequent pain down a bit. To keep the costs down I have booked a Premiere Classe hotel in Breda. It's not quite half way but will be okay I hope to save Claire's hip from hurting to much. It should make for a more relaxed holiday!

This week is the 70th Anniversary of the "Little Ships" setting off to cross the Channel to Dunkerque to assist the Navy bring back the remains of the British Expeditionary Force that had attempted to halt the German advance into France. As we are over in France this weekend it is a good chance to go and visit Dunkerque. Our lunch venue is in Bergues a few miles to the south of Dunkerque. It will be a simple trip to Dunkerque to see  the "Memorial de Souvenir"; a special exhibition of the events of May/June 1940. Telling the story of the  battle for Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo in whick Dunkerque and its harbour were completely destroyed.  Check out the website - http://www.dynamo-dunkerque.com/ The other place to visit is the Dunkirk Memorial and Town Cemetery. The cemetery contains 450 WW1 casualties and 800 from WW2, but also commemorates the 4500 casualties that have no known grave.  The location can be found on the website above. I have worked out a route t...

We have a week's holiday in August and now is the time to start planning where to go. France? Belgium? Both? After the GS took a tumble on the Shuttle last year, I have had a £50 credit voucher to spend against another crossing. Although not happy at the time that they didn't accept responsibility I suppose that £50 is better than nothing. The voucher has to be used by the middle of September and so a holiday in August should fit the bill. For a while we have been looking at maybe going down to Annecy or maybe the Auvergne? Planning starts here.

Canadian Memorial - Vimy Ridge , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . I was a bit slow writing up this trip but I have it on my Everytrail and Flickr pages. UPDATE - Since this was written, like many good ideas and free internet sites Everytrail has gone tits up. All the work that people put in lost.  At least the site owners probably got a pay off to  f*ck off.

I had a couple of days off in the Easter holidays and in the afternoons I had a ride out. One was to the Nailbourne Fords of East Kent and this one was across to Tenterden to have a look at the Kent and East Sussex Railway. Steam & Wind 13 April 2010 , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . Although there was a train due within a few minutes of me arriving it was sadly a diesel and not a steam train as I had hoped. Steam & Wind 13 April 2010 , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . On the way back I had a short detour to Rolvenden to see if the next (and last) train was a steam engine. It took so long that I had a look to an older form of power and the windmill at Rolvenden on the road to Beneden. Steam & Wind 13 April 2010 , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . By the time I got back the level crossing was opening for the cars to pass and as there was no smoke in the air I headed home....

I have finalised my route with Tyre and then opened it in Garmin Mapsource. The plan is to go Thursday morning and take a more relaxed ride up island hopping across Zeeland, and staying in a B&B on the island to the south of Rotterdam. Steve H will join us there in the evening. I just hope we have weather like last year.

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.

Houlgate in Normandy.

This road-test was originally published in 1997 on the original SOC Geocities hosted website and transferred over here when Yahoo killed off Geocities. When Suzuki offered to let me have the VZ800 Marauder for a week or two to test, I was very happy to have a 'free' bike for the duration of two big runs to the BMF/ACU National Rally and a Suzuki Owners Club Scotland trip. At the southern entrance to Glen Coe  The only factory custom bike I have ever ridden before was an early Yamaha XS400 back in the early Eighties. It had not endeared me to custom bikes! After a trip to the FIM Rally in the Czech Republic in 1995 with a riding partner on a Suzuki Savage, I had begun to think that although not actually my cup of tea, with real perseverance, these bikes could be more than 'canteen cowboy' outfits. Near Loch Ness So it was with a bit of trepidation that I picked the bike up from Ken Fulton, the SOC's magazine Editor (at the time), who had in turn ...

(Originally written and published on the old Geocities hosted SOC website in 1997)   With the UK Government thinking of ways to force commuters onto public transport on the one hand, soaking the motorist with the other hand - road tolls, commuting into City tolls, increased in Vehicle Excise Duty on top of another hike in petrol tax, the motorcycle couldn't be better placed to provide personal transport when you want it, in a more 'environmentally friendly' way. So when I was offered the latest addition to the Suzuki commuter range, the TU250X, I was actually quite looking forward to trying a bike that might fit the bill for the beleaguered commuter of the future. During my trips to Spain this Spring, I saw quite a few TU's on the streets in Murcia. Although not as popular as the Yamaha SR250, there were significantly more than you'd see in any UK town. The Mediterranean weather is far more attractive for people to consider biking. Most of the ci...

Roadtest originally published on the old Geocities SOC website in 1996!! Author: Paul Devall On the drive down to Crawley, where Suzuki GB is situated, to pick up the Bandit I really didn't know what to expect. I had just read a really praiseworthy test of the bike in 'RiDE' and wondered if I would get the same bike. In the end I got one of that bikes 'brothers'.  When Roger Simmons, the test fleet manager, and former mechanic to the stars of the Heron Suzuki racing teams of the past (remember Barry Sheene, Randy Mamola.....), brought N119 NCD round to the front, it looked very nice. It was the metallic red colour, they call it maroon, that I prefer to Teal Green and Black. After a few instructions about the small quirks on the bike I was then soon able to ride off. Only I'd forgotten my boots at home! I had all the riding gear I needed apart from boots. If you cast your minds back to early July, after a few weeks of summer weather, in southern England...

First impressions Good fit and as they are waterproof I had them over my boots. I see loads of blokes every day with waterproofs tucked into their boots... what happens when (and it will in England!) it rains? Anyway, no tight spots as I cocked a leg over the seat of the GS. The knee armour needed to be pushed into the right place as it seemed to be ideal for the knock-kneed. The hip armour was comfortable. The only concern I had is that with a 32" leg length, that they might be too short when on the bike. They are only supplied in 30" and 32". Whether that is only in fat sizes I can't tell. Once on the M20 and up to cruising speed there was a little flap from the calf area and this may be down to the diameter of the legs and perhaps I need to be a little more ruthless with the Velcro that goes around the bottom of each leg, and tighten it more. From the seating position it is hard to look at your own ankles (!) so I can't say how high they ride up ...

Paul at Dungeness , originally uploaded by Getzgirl . Taken after a visit to the Sound Mirrors at Denge Marsh. http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23635

Originally posted on the first ever Suzuki Owners Club website hosted by Yahoo! Geocities. First posted in 1998. When Geocities announced they were closing I saved the source. Running with the Kettles - August 1998 On the face of it, a group of over fifty GT750's, drawn from all the different models from the entire six year reign, might seem a particularly insignificant and sobering thought to the non-believer. But. I BELIEVE! Thanks to some jiggery-pokery by Dave Pitcher, Chairman of the Kettle Club UK and Suzuki Owners Club member, we had a half hour. No. A wonderful half hour of track time to ourselves at the VMCC's "Festival of a 1000 Bikes" on the Sunday of the weekend event. Having a special Kettle-only session meant that we didn't have to put up with the myriad of slow blokes on Z900's and old British rubbish as we had done in Sunday's first session, the 1972-77 Over-500cc 'parade'. Waiting in pit lane I listened into a couple of ot...

61000 Miles , originally uploaded by Invicta Moto . Well, it was actually 60999 but I didn't want to stop half a mile down the road on Essex Road when it tripped over! Near enough though. Pic taken in the car-park at work. Nice new black tarmac and whiter that white lines...