Skip to main content

50-50 Challenge - 5E (1)

The Easter weekend has been pretty much of a washout as far a motorcycling is concerned.

The long holiday weekend is 4 days. Friday was raining all day. Saturday was little better and we did manage to get out with the dog for his walks.  Sunday looked better on paper but we had things to do.

So it all hinged on Monday. The forecast was for more heavy rain but in the end it turned out warmer. In the morning we did a bit of shopping and then had a walk with Reggie. Warm enough for a coffee outdoors.

So. To Challenge 5E.

Challenge 5E is for 50 rides of over 50 miles. It should be easy to do but we need to be able to get out and do it.

So today was the chance to get a 5E under my belt.

It was dry when I set off. Once again the dbpower unit was needed to fire Pepé up.

The idea was to go around 25 miles and then turn about. In the end I headed out of Hythe along the M20 and A20 to Dover and then up the A2. No great plan just a ride to get some charge in the battery. As I approached Canterbury the fuel light came on and the miles to empty display showed 0.

I detoured into Canterbury and up Sturry road to fill up at ASDA  (a Walmart company). I only got 17.34 litres in and that was a much as I could squeeze in. Fuelly calculated that at a mere 37.1 mpg.

The Rocket is supposed to have a 24 litre tank. So with 6.6 litres left I would have expected the miles to empty to be way above 0. After all. There was a quarter of a tank left! 

I had taken a photo at the start of the ride and again at ASDA. A more direct run home would see the 50 come up safely.

As it was it started to spit with rain as I left Canterbury but nothing more. The roads were greasy and the middle full of mud and other rubbish. So it needed more care.

In the end it was 55 miles once I got on the drive.  The last photo included the Challenge booklet or a print I did of the cover to save the booklet itself.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bikers Loft 3

The last day. After leading yesterday's run to Ypres, I decided to take a back seat, or a different place in the line of 8 bikes. And so after a repeat of the previous day's self cook breakfast we packed the bikes and headed off. Aiming for Nieuwpoort aan Zee as the first stop. The plan to follow a canal all the way there to where it meets the sea at a huge marina. I was bringing up the rear of the column and saw a sign like this one. "No Motor vehicles" After only one short section of the towpath/road. We tried to alert those ahead but Cal and I were the only two not heading past this sign. We chose to turn left across a lift bridge onto the other bank, where Nieuwpoort was signposted 15kms away. As we headed along we sounded our horns and waved at the "first wave" to no avail. Some miles further on their side came to an end. By then we were way ahead despite dropping the speed to 40. We carried onto t...

New Battery?

The weekend showed how weak the battery has become.  Having had to use the dbPower unit on four separate occasions during the day in Belgium was the giveaway. We are in the second winter of this problem where the battery isn't strong enough to start the bike. In the summer it charges and holds that charge and although I keep the dbPower unit to hand I rarely have to use it.  But in winter it barely has the power to turn the engine over. It's simply "clunk". The lights come on though and that probably doesn't help. So what to do? Being a fair weather biker nowadays I won't be using the bike that often until the new year. Do I get a new battery sooner rather than later? It might end up freezing away in the garage. I have a garage in a block away from the house with no power, so a trickle charger is no use either. I have been looking at a replacement though.  A  Motobatt  with a high cranking power should be around £75. So unlikel...