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Showing posts from 2017

No weather for biking

Being on leave from 22nd December until January 1st I had hoped we'd have one mild day to get out on the bike. It's a month since I was last out and it seems like much longer.  Sadly it has been raining or merely drizzling every day and then it's taken a turn for the worst. Light snow and daily highs of 2°C aren't conducive to two wheel transport. Thursday this week is supposed to be the mildest day. But... Update: 31st December 2017 Sadly the Met Office were wrong. As usual. Despite all the computers and weather stations and access to every nutter with a pine cone, forecasts are still pretty rubbish. The forecast changed and there should have been a five hour window today where the bike might have been dragged out of the garage.  Sadly. That never happened. It rained all day. It has rained all evening. The forecast for tomorrow is much the same. Looks like 2018 will start as 2017 has drizzled away....

The Hairy Bikers

With biking being set to one side for the winter. It's too cold and too icy to venture out too far it at all at the moment. So Rocket web surfing has to do. I remembered seeing these guys a few years back, when they did a series touring the UK doing cooking and visiting places that cook and sell food.  Regional recipes etc. As they were on Rocket Touring models. Here they are .

Flyscreen

For the summer? I had an email (and no doubt everyone else with a Triumph did!) from Triumph announcing a clear out of parts and accessories.for a range of bike including the Rocket. When I bought Pepé I wanted the flyscreen but with a combined cost over £250 for the screen and fittings,  I couldn't justify the expense.  Unlike the X model that came with it fitted the ordinary Roadster came with nothing.   So when I saw in the list of parts at half or even lower price I chased it up. The flyscreen blade came out at just over £40. With all the bits, some genuine parts an some pattern the total cost is about £125. The reason for pattern parts made by a guy, David Gill, is because the screen needs two brackets to hold it in place. One side is out of stock at Triumph!  And given that the bike is no longer in production as it couldn't meet the latest EU emissions regs, what chance of stuff being made? What happens if an owner has an acci

Sinterklaastreffen 2017?

Currently the UK is in the grip of a cold spell.  Winds from the north-west are coming from the pole and bringing icy conditions to the south of England and snow and ice to the more northerly climes. So. The decision whether to go to Belgium will be taken later in the week.  The newspapers are scaremongering about "arctic conditions" being with us for weeks rather than the usual days.   One of the geographical benefits of where we are off the coast of mainland Europe means that we benefit from the jet stream and that generally brings warmer air up from the equator that means we get less snow but we get more rain than the Europeans.  Unfortunately it looks as though we are going to be north of the jet stream this week and in the cold air. It was very cold on Friday when I went on the Ride for Kelly and on Saturday we (Neill, my brother and me)  went to the football (soccer y'all) at Gillingham and even with four layers of clothing, gloves and woolie ha

Last Ride for Kelly

The RV was supposed  be no later than 0945. So I arrived at 0920 and found one scooter there and John the organiser. I parked up near the church and went into the coffee shop. A couple of skinny latté  later the scooters had begun to multiply and a couple of other bikes had joined in. I was talking to some of the guys when we discovered that the church proceedings started at 1100. At 1045 we were asked to fire-up and give a rev as the hearse passed by. It was getting on for noon when we finally got to move and the escort began. The cremation commitment was private for the family. I carried on from there to get a parcel from the post office and home. It was cold but dry and sunny. https://www.flickr.com/gp/pauldevall/z967Wp

Ride Out for Kelly - November 24th

Not quite the "Ride for Kelly" we had hoped to be holding this year or for many years to come. Sadly, Kelly passed away a few weeks ago and this will be the final ride out as we have been asked to provide an escort from the church to the crematorium. The Kelly Turner Foundation founded in her name will continue and the money raised used to help other children in the same predicament. RIP.

Ring of Red - 2017

It was with some trepidation that once the Remembrance Day Parade had finished on TV that I went to the garage and tried to start Pepé.  Of course I had to press the "go" button and was relieved to hear the "whirr. click" from last week. I then got the power unit out and attached the leads. A few seconds.  Press again. Start. Phew. I left it running whilst I finished togging up. Boy was it cold out of the wintery sun. My phone showing 6°C. The wind chill on the motorway at 70mph... I Googled it and it came out at -2.3°C.  I need Santa to bring me some winter gloves. My usual ones were not that good today. I'll be more specific for him. Not too bulky but waterproof and warm. If anyone knows of a brand/model that fits this bill that won't cost an arm or leg, then tell me. So back to Sunday. I set off about 1145. This is my fifth Ring of Red. In fact I have been going since the first one.  The traffic was light to the

Whirr. Clunk. 2

The blogger app gave up the ghost on the original post only about half way through. After the clunk. I left Pepé in the watery sun on the drive. In the house I called the RAC. Only an hour to wait. Okay. I'll still be able to get down to Dungeness and meet Cal and Ian and see the old bikes.  I let them know by sms. It wasn't 10am yet.  Cal offers to come and bring the jump pack he has in a pannier. I say I can wait for the RAC and not mess their day up. Doh! The RAC call back. Update. About Noon they say. Bugger. Day ruined. I go online to look at power packs that I can carry with me in the pannier. A  note on the Rocket III FB asking for tips boils down to the dbpower 600A portable pack. £69.99 from Amazon Prime.  Tomorrow should be okay for delivery. Fingers crossed. Oh yeah  RAC call back with an update "more like 1pm". I say okay, but then call back and cancel. No point at that time of day. Db power 600A  Update No

Whirr. Clunk.

This is the third autumn since I brought Pepé home. But the first since he has begun to be a little temperamental. We are just at the beginning of a cold snap and today. Press the starter. Whirr. Clunk. I was supposed to be going to a classic bike run. So had to cancel that. Let the other Meldrews know and called the RAC. "About an hour". An hour later an update. "About 1230". Some two hours to wait. If tbis is liable to happen I need to invest in a battery jump tool. Neither of the cars can do it as thru have sealed battery covers. So let's wait.

Rockets on Blogger

There don't seem to be too many owners writing about their bikes and trips though. http://www.searchblogspot.com/search?q=triumph+rocket Pity this one isn't still running:  http://rocketthree.blogspot.co.uk/

Ring of Red 2017

Hopefully by November 12th the common  fainting (vasovagel syncope) problem will have receded and I will be fit enough to get out on this run. So far I have been every year since it started. I sometimes think that I should support the RBLR run to Newhaven Fort but that is a very early start. RoR starts well after local cenotaph events are over and well after the televised Act of Remembrance in Whitehall is over. Plenty of time to get togged up and out. I ordered a couple of wristbands. Last year I had two. One went on Pepé's speedo surround and the other disappeared. The 2015 band is on the rev counter. 2016 pinged off somehow so I asked the organisers if they had any spare.  For a donation I ordered another one.  Then this morning I opened a drawer and there was the "missing" one from last year. Now I have 2 for 2016. One spare! ! One will go on the bike with 2017. Ring of Red .

As Seen from the Sidecar 2

Sadly due to the "common fainting" (vasovagel syncope) problem I seem to have added to my list of ailments I have had to drop out of the run to Paris. It's a bugger but health and safety has to come first. Hopefully I'll be okay for the Ring of Red in three weeks time.

As Seen From the Sidecar

I signed up for this charity run. The guys are attempting to ride around the world to raise money and awareness of modern slavery. I had planned to do the whole run but have another event on the Sunday. So will do part of it with them and come back on the Saturday evening. What they are doing is going to be an adventure beyond what I can imagine on a small scooter.  https://asseenfromthesidecar.org http://invictamoto.blogspot.com/2017/09/as-seem-from-sidecar-round-world-blog.html - spelling mistake courtesy of android keyboard 

Vimy 101

After attending Vimy100 in April 2017 I have been looking at going again 2018. I fully expect that it will be a more relaxed affair than the Centenary this year where there were around 20000 people attending the event. When we went in 2014 we were able to park in the parking​ lot right by the visitor centre. Unlike this year where there were park and rides setup with buses to the site. I'll probably be Jean Sans-Amis again but hopefully less of a cock-up like 2014 when I managed to get lost after deciding to leave the satnav at home! Although I did all the planning for the 2015 trip I was unable to go after my heart attack less than week before. So fingers crossed for good weather etc. More information. Update 23/10/17 Booked the Eurotunnel shuttle today. The cost is £30 so no point using the £50 voucher they gave me after so many delayed and cancelled services.

Two in One

Two different events on the same day at almost the same venue. How could that happen? On the Sunday of August Bank Holiday in the UK an event was organised at Dover on the esplanade in the harbour between the two docks.   The Eastern Docks are primarily for passenger and freight ferries to the France and the Western Docks for cruise liners.  In the middle is a crescent shaped beach and an esplanade.  At the eastern end of the esplanade the owners of the Pebbles Kiosk and Gift Shop had organised "Bikes on the Beach" for a third year. At the Western end. The local sailing and rowing club had organised a fun day with stalls and exhibits.  The exhibits included some local classic car owners and the Dover Transport Museum brought some of their collection along. I was a little late getting up after some overnight dog barking and disruptive sleep because of that.  The Dover event started at 10am and as I rode out of the close I was in

Bird Toilet

Had a run into Folkestone today as I had a dentist appointment and thought the bike would be better. Nice and sunny. Parked almost outside and was early. Went for a coffee at the cafe over the road. They couldn't make change for a tenner and trusted me to go back. Biker friendly. After the scraping around I had a walk to Debenham's for another drink and make change. Back at the bike I couldn't believe it. Bird shit on the screen and tank. Spattered on the chrome work too. I stopped at the café and paid my £1.30 and rode home to clean the bike. A short ride that would have been longer without those bloody birds.

Custom Screens

I have been looking at the smaller flyscreens as the big screen on Pepé can be a bit of a pain in the wet as no matter how much polish it has on it, it still becomes a little hard to see through and you have to look over. I have thought about hydro-dipping but have yet to fnd someone that will reply to an email enquiry or in fact show an example of a Rocket flyscreen suitably decorated. The ones I have contacted can't be short of business as they can't be arsed to come back with a price. I have seen the work from Chris at Custom-Sculpt .  He does all kinds of different work and has a portfolio of bike work and a lot of R3 stuff. You can design your own but I have always liked Iron Maiden's "Eddie".  A quick email confirms that Chris has the mould and can make one. I can decide on any colours I want as the mould starts off plain.  He has work piled up and so I'd have to fit in. That's fine with me. Time to put some pennies away. Upda

Sinterklaastreffen 2017

It's a bit early to be booking bike trips into December. But seeing a special offer where the return fare to France for bike and rider was only £22.50 ($28.50 or so) for what amounts to two 90 minute (not luxurious though) cruises is the cheapest I have seen it for many a good year.  Book now!! Thank you P&O. As every other year since we stopped going for the weekend, the plan will be to go over early but not too early. Fill the tank with slightly cheaper EU benzine and go to Ostend. Check out the chocolate shops and have lunch. See St Nick. Then ride home after a good day in Europe. I'll probably put it on the Meldrews' Facebook page  at some stage in case there are any takers for the trip.  I have been Johnny No-Mates a few times and the last time it was just me and Cal. Still a while to go before December 2nd. Paul Devall shared an album with you from the Flickr app! Take a look: https://flic.kr/s/aHskn4opxt

Third Sunday?

Then it must be Meldrews' Sunday. Usually we meet at the Blue & White Café at Smeeth on the A20.  We have been meeting there practically since it re-opened with Superbike racer Leon Camier's mum at the helm. But it is getting busier and busier on a Sunday morning, not with bikers, who seem to have started to to back to the Airport Cafe, but with "normals" and their kids. Biker life has always been a little adult and we aren't the axe chucking mob, just blokes of an age that like to have a breakfast and chew the fat in an adult way without feeling that some bullethead might be offended on behalf of his kids or his delicate wife.  It's not that we use the f-word all that often, but like any group, we have people that are drawn together for their love of bike and biking from across the spectrum. We have all shades of political views but it rarely comes up as a subject. So this Sunday we tried the County Members pub in Lympne Village. 

AMRR 2017 - Report

I was up on time and after breakfast I finally got away a little earlier than the planned 9am start. As I was already fuelled up I decided to make my first stop just before the Dartford Tunnel. The traffic was running unusually smoothly. Maintaining 70mph was hampered as north of the tunnel I caught the back end of a rolling road block. The overhead info boards said there were animals on the road. This lasted until almost to the M11. I chose stay in the left most lane of four for most of the way. Despite costing a £1m a mile to build so few seem to want to use it. Maybe the common term "slow lane" makes them feel inadequate? It was about 1030am when I pulled into Birchanger Services. The car park was full and there were a few bikes dotted about. I didn't recognise anyone. Jean Sans-Amis again. By the time I'd got a coffee it was nearly 1100am.  I usually reckon 25 minutes to the rendezvous. With holiday traffic it was nearer 40 when I pulled

AMRR 2017

Just a week to go until this year's Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride , I have managed to source a Royal British Legion car-poppy to install on Pepé.  I need to find a space for it now. I might put it on one of the screen brackets. After missing the last two years due to the heart attack and the Somme 100 I am pleased to be able to attend again.   It's usually a nice run up to Cambridge although to get there in good time it it mostly motorway plus the added hassle of the Dartford Crossing through the tunnel. The local RBL Riders group in Kent are setting off a bit too early for me as they are leaving the A2 Services at 0845. I am not planing leaving home until 0900 and the RV is about 45 mins from home! I might catch up with them on the road as I am not planning a stop once I have a full tank of fuel and they have a few meeting points along the way. On the way up I'll see if I can get the 410 to work on the bike! I know where I am going but some ass

British Bike Night

Tonight Pepe and I had a ride up to the Wagon and Horses in Charing for the annual bike night. We had a good run up and back in fact. A chance to park on grass and a bit off off roading was enough for me! A walk around the parking and grassy area.  I took a few photos and they can be seen here . For once Pepe and the other Rockets weren't the biggest bike when the Boss Hoss V8 turned up.  Boy is it fugly. More Pix!

Ride to Work Week UK - 2

The ride home after work was every bit as bad as the way in. In reverse. The ride down from sunny Islington via Hackney to sunny Darenth took over an hour but did include a fuel stop at Sainsbury's near the Millennium Dome. I rolled onto the drive at home two hours after leaving work. This included a nice fast run on the motorway as well as the miles of bumper to bumper traffic basically from Dalston to Kidbrooke.   On the approach to the Blackwall Tunnel I was filtering when the guy in the left lane decided to block me off. Result. My left bar end weight and his mirror interfaced. No damage to me but his mirror knocked back on its hinge. Oh dear. He was effing and blinding at me but maybe next time he'll not deliberately try to block off a filtering biker.  Somehow I think he'll be the same cretin for life. So was it #commutehappy for me. Was it buggery! On the road for the three hours fifty to cover 145 miles. Even with the drive to the sta

Ride to Work Week UK

Pepé at work Ride to Work Week UK The idea behind this is to get people out of their cars and onto two-wheels,  It will reduce congestion, save on parking spaces and reduce pollution. As my commuting into London days were over a few years ago, once I came to terms with having to sell an organ to pay for the train fares every month,  it was a bit of a shock to see what the every day motorcycle commuter has to contend with.   Although saying that, the "ride" time is not much different to two years ago when I commuted on  Döra the Explörer . I made pretty good progress at first.   From home to the Darenth Interchange was just shy of 50 minutes. Google maps (below) has the time at 55 mins.  As this bit was pretty much free moving traffic that's no surprise. There was a little congestion where the cars were actually stationery on the M20 by Maidstone but I safely filtered through. Google maps is aimed at cars and not the more traffic slipping motorcycle.

Meldrews Sunday

Another shortish ride out today. It was Meldrews Sunday and also father's day so we had a reduced turnout. Still there were four of us in a pretty deserted Blue and White café. After a chat about their trips last weekend we went our own ways.  I headed back home via a loop across the downs on some roads that seemed new to me. Following signposts I must have ridden further than expected.  With temperatures hovering about 28°C it was great to be wearing my Joe Rocket vented mesh jacket. Stopped however. It was far too hot in Kevlar lined combats. Still nice to be out and about on the bike. My next outing might very well be a ride to work day on Tuesday. Why Tuesday? It's the only day my boss won't be there!!!

Gravel car-parking

Today's run out was a tale of two gravel strewn parking areas/lots. We'd been out in the morning in the car to see the poppy art installation at Shoeburyness.  When I say "we" I mean Claire,  Reggie and me. After lunch I hauled Pepé out of the garage and headed to the bank in Hythe to get some cash. Man can't live by credit card alone. Then I thought of a great photo op. A tribute to British engineering. My Rocket and the WW2 fighter aircraft at the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne. Aaarrghh. Turning off the paved roadway entrance onto three or even four inches of grey gravel chips is not to be laughed at. Maybe on a cycle but not on a 700lb heavyweight cruiser. Jesus that was scary as the bars went straight to left lock. Luckily I got a foot down!!! I took a picture (and not the one I wanted) and left.  It's a great cause but that's my lot. I am never going back. From there I went to the White Cliffs. The car park

Fuelly

When you own a Rocket keeping a note on fuel consumption isn't really necessary. However, as an exercise I find it quite good to keep a record so I can see what is happening when I am out. A bit of fun.  Oddly, the app that worked on the iPhone doesn't work on the Android, so after ages I found Fuelly. It shares with other users and I need to see if there are other Rockets on there.  So over the coming months I'll be able to track the consumption on trips. Fuelly dashboard

June run out

The last two weekends were crossed off as potential bike runs out as we were on holiday in France and in the car. With such a log gap between rides I begin to feel guilty. Since I stopped commuting on two wheels I haven't even become a regular and fair weather rider. So when I saw on facebook that some Meldrews were having a breakfast run to thr Blue and White I decided to go.  Otherwise I was going for an aimless ride across the marsh. Yesterday I found a bottle of cleaner in the garage I had forgotten I had. The petrol/gas tank was a little dirty. A few squirts of this magic no water needed elixir and a rub over with a microfibre cloth and it was super shiny. So I hauled Pepé out of the garage and headed to the café. Egg sandwich for me. After an hour of chat we went our separate ways. Mine was to Tesco to fill up after the ride to Wimbledon a month ago! Tesco to Tesco was 160.2 miles. I was dreading filling the tank but was surprised at at an average crui

Wimbledon

Pepé must be thinking it is his birthday. Out twice on a few decent length runs in the same month.  Amazing. The last day of April was the end of the football/soccer season for the League One teams.  Oldham were away at AFC Wimbledon . I did add this to my general blog . According to Google maps the journey would be about 80 miles, mostly on the motorways but with a little bit at each end on ordinary road.  I set off about 0930 for a 1200 kick off.   The area where the ground is isn't totally unknown to me but the final bit was definitely in need of TomTom's assistance. I stopped to fill the tank at Tesco in Ashford. The French petrol from the Vimy run might have seen me get there and it may have been a few pence cheaper in South London but I wanted to be in and out after the game. The M20 and M26 were pretty peaceful. Cruising at an indicated 75mph and TomTom showing satellite speed at 70 was good enough for me. The M25 was its usual PITA. It was recently

Vimy 100 - Report

The day started a little later for me as I had misread the booking for the Shuttle and set off to arrive at 0850 when I fact the train was at 0850 and I was supposed to be there before 0820 when that train closed.  Curiously the automatic booking system didn't quibble and still gave me the crossing I could never make.   As usual there was a delay. I don't think we have been over using Eurotunnel for many years where the train has left on time or at least as scheduled.  The last time was with Reggie and Claire when we went glamping on the Somme (80) coast last October.  Delays both ways. Anyway.  Once I had done a few laps of the parking I slipped between the barriers.  When I arrived with my "hanger" - a thing that car drivers can hang from their interior read-view mirrors - showing crossing K, the staff didn't say, "Go straight to the controls", instead I would have done a 360 loop of the parking had I not snuck through the barriers after 180!