On the Road Again!

So it will piss down for 300 miles on our first day. And for part of the day after. So I have decided to wear my Triumph Steve McQueen jacket.  It's not going to be waterproof so like in Czech when it lashed down I will wear the Triumph overjacket to protect it. But it has loads of pockets that the Rev'It lacks! When the going gets warmer it also has zipped vents that can be opened front and rear. It looks once we cross into Spain early on  Friday that we will be into better weather with temperatures in the mid 20's centigrade. I am hoping the crappy weather through France will have passed by the time we get into the Pyrenees.

On the way back from The Meldrews meeting at H's near Canterbury I detoured off the A20 to get my first entry for the Triumph Club's photo competition for 2021. I had planned on "C" being Cheriton but couldn't think where the sign might be! Capel is also where the Battle of Britain Museum and Roll of Honour can be found. It amazes me when bikers travel all over the country there is no pilgrimage here.

I took this photo about 8 years ago. I saw it very often around the area and it was parked up not far from home down by the Royal Military Canal. I uploaded to a few Flickr groups and amazingly it has over 10000 views. Who would have thought it? https://flic.kr/p/83fgMm

Way back in March 2013 I was looking to replace Baloo (my 1150GS) and had two thoughts. The Triumph Rocket 3 Touring, and the Explorer. As I considered that I would be commuting in the summer (at least) I opted for the more sensible choice of the Explorer rather than the more emotional option of the Rocket. And now? I am thinking of another change and replacing Dora with a Rocket.   Plenty of thinking to be done.

I know it won't make me look as cool as the coolest man ever to slide a leg over a motorcycle.  Nor will it make me look like one of the last great movie stars from the age when men were men, and women seemed pleased about it! But. It is a fine looking jacket - The Triumph Steve McQueen Collection jacket. After penning a blog entry only in November last year regarding my FT Aqua jacket,  when I was being seduced by a £350 Triumph Explorer jacket, I have succumbed. Not that Frank ( http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/ft-aqua.html ) will get the elbow, it is still waterproof at six and three quarter years of heavy use, but Steve is simply too gorgeous to be used all the time. Steve came about as I saw a review of a leather version at about £400, and as I googled it threw up the eBay page of Total Triumph in the West Country. The price leaped out at half price.... £115. Waterproof? Yep. Breathable? Yep. Cool? Most assu...

One of the problems being a motorcyclist in the UK, and indeed, anywhere in Northern Europe is the propensity for it to rain, or be generally inclement during the summer months. Sadly we don't live in the Enid Blyton idyll inhabited by the Famous Five when the sun shone from dawn til dusk everyday without question.  Maybe in the Mediterranean or Florida? Anyway, it means that wearing a mesh summer jacket may seem very silly indeed. My Joe Rocket has an inner waterproof lining. So in the rain the outer jacket gets completely soaked through.  I have never used it, but with a trip coming up to Spain, and some of it in England, I looked for an over jacket. I didn't look too far as I fancied the look of the Triumph over jacket.  Priced at £39 it looks a decent bit of kit and what's more fits over my JR! So I bought one. It packs into its own little bag that when worn is a pocket in the back on the outside.  It has a few reflective stripes to keep the Fre...

The Red Pig is a lunch spot out on the Levels to the west of Rye and below the Cinque Port of Winchelsea. The Red Pig It was our chosen lunch spot. None of us had been there before so it was a first. Me and the Pig Claire and Pig The March monthly meeting was a quick cuppa at the Blue and White and then after a chat we set off across the marsh to the Red Pig for lunch and a sit in the sun. Claire and I were on the Laguna courtesy bike, the Sprint GT SE model. I comes with a massive top box and comfort gel seat. I labelled it the "Blue Pig" as it handled like we riding riding bareback on a Gloucester Old Spot.... Sprint GT-SE The Levels On the country lanes I found the bike to be pretty uncomfortable. The brakes seem far more wooden than Döra and there seems to be the tendency for it to stand up under braking into corners. Not pleasant and we soon found ourselves left behind by the others who admittedly were riding their own bike...

With Döra delivered to Laguna Triumph in Ashford, attention was drawn to the loan bike. As Triumph had run out of bikes for a while, Laguna have lent me a Sprint GT SE. The bike is a little more lean forward than I have been used to for many years. I've had sit up bikes going back to the XJ900F I had in the mid-nineties. However, all the controls fall to hand and feet and the oem seat seems comfortable enough. I've only managed ten miles so far and need to get a few more on the clock before I can make an honest assessment. One thing is that the top box looks massive but looks a little lid heavy.

Not the traditional Triumph badge but this is the one they have out on the Tiger Explorer. The modern look for the modern bike.

I got back from my public transport trek to Steptoe's a few pounds (money) lighter and in plenty of time to have lunch and then go to Laguna Triumph for my test ride on the Triumph Tiger Explorer. Claire came with me on the GS. We had a chat with the sales guy, Paul, and I went off for a ride round. The demonstrator is the latest colour bike in a pearl white but there are three others, black, blue and grey. I prefer the grey.   I immediately felt comfortable. The seat was right and the reach to the bars felt right. The 1215cc triple engine was very smooth and everything felt light and instant. The brakes almost had me over the bars! The GS had good ABS brakes but these were like nothing I have experienced. I took it up Bad Munstereiffel Way, and onto the M20 then down the A28 towards Tenterden and then back to Kingsnorth on the parallel road to the A28. I even tried the cruise control on the M20. A little difficult with a long thumb required to reach it. No thr...

The Explorer looks to be the ideal solution for me.  It's GS enough to satisfy my type of riding and it scores highly as a tourer.   What a wonderful thing hindsight is. Had I gone ahead in April when I looked at it the first time and then decided I still wanted to keep riding the GS, the current failed and lifeless GS would be a dealer's problem somewhere and I would be riding about in style!   Procrastination! Plus a Puritan streak that doesn't like spending money!!   I have the test ride on Saturday. There are deals to be had and the bikes are there.  I like the grey one and we'll see what Claire thinks.  I guess with no trade-in we might get a better deal. Have to wait and see.   If I sign on the dotted line on Saturday I might have it by the Saturday after!  Just the insurance to mess about with!   Might have to start a new BLOG!!!!

  Had a play with the Triumph Configurator and this looks like a really good option. The top case (it's powered too)  is an extra but the rest is as it comes from the factory.   Colour choices are silver, black and this blue. I can't make my mind up what colour but the bike is the sensible option for two-up touring with luggage.   The engine is the liquid cooled 1050 triple.   Although I have fancied a Rocket, at the end of the day, it is too impractical for what I need and not the right choice, but I do like the styling of this model.

Over the years I have had a few "big" bikes.  Size big not just named Big (had one of those as well!) or with a big engine.   Cavalcade and Me! The small picture is the biggest engine I have had to date in the biggest bike, a 1987 Suzuki GV1400GDG LX "Cavalcade".  The photo was taken in 2007 when a friend in the Suzuki Owners Club brought it on a run to let me see it.   I sold it in 1991 as I had been made redundant for the second time in 7 years and simply couldn't afford the luxury of keeping it.  He bought it more recently and restored it to its former glowing glory, and he sold it last year. I should have really have kept it. It would have been a far better prospect for towing a trailer across Europe to my new home for 1992/3 in Brno, Czech Republic. In the end I had to make do with my Suzuki GT750! All nostalgia brings me to the idea of a new bike.  Had I had the cash in pocket I may well have bought the Cavalcade back. ...

I need to do something about this.  Until I get a letter to say my job is safe, there's no way I can extend myself with a loan.  The only change to this position will be if I win the lottery or inherit a stack of cash. However, it doesn't stop me fantasising especially when the America is actually £300 cheaper at Laguna than I had thought.  I guess that might not be the OTR price. http://www.laguna.co.uk/locator/112360/america.aspx