InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

With Assen cancelled  it's off to the Blue and White for breakfast with the other members of The Meldrews.   Maybe a little ride around to get the glaze off the rear tyre?

Sadly due to illness we have had to abort the mission. I have cancelled the Groningen hotel and as it was after the free cancellation end date we might have to forfeit the €111 cost of the room. I have sent a "special request" to them through booking.com to explain why we had to cancel in the vain hope they will do something.  It's not as though they won't be able to let the room as rooms really are sought after for MotoGP weekend. Luckily Eurotunnel have rebooked my shuttle ticket for another date in the future and I can still use that again. I advertised the Assen e-tickets via Twitter and have had no interest. So we will definitely be stuck with the loss. It's a shame but Neill's health is far more important than money. Update 4th July 2018 It was only in the early hours of this morning that I got a reply to my request to waive the cost of the room. I had emailed booking.com customer services to se...

DELAYED??? We are due to set off tomorrow afternoon, an overnight in Gent and then up to Assen to see if we can arrive for some practice on Saturday.  But. Neill had to go to hospital today and they kept him in.  So I guess it depends on how he feels... and when the let him out. Best case scenario is early tomorrow and he feels chipper. Or later and we go Saturday.

Insurance My insurance renewed automatically today and I have the certificate printed ready to be stashed away in my little folder ready for the weekend. It must be a sign of being old, or at least 62yo, as I have never had a renewal come in cheaper than the year before. Insurance always goes up despite your careful driving/riding habits. No convictions and no accidents.   When I was testing the comparison sites I did one set of quotes where I mentioned the accident I had in 2015 when the van driver ran into my car, and another set of quotes not mentioning it.  Incredibly it made very little difference.  Although not at fault there was a claim.  When I got the car back I had to pay the excess to the repairers and then a few months later I got a cheque from the insurance that covered it.  No loss financially at the time. Breakdown Cove r In the past as we went abroad very often it was cheaper to have full cover for both home and in Europe.  The club that I don't mention its name (CT...

Took the bike up to Laguna Triumph at Ashford and left it whilst we had errands and a visit to my Aunt to fit in.  Why choose Laguna to fit the tyre I had sourced myself?  Although Oponeo have a network of fitters there are none within 50 miles of where I live.  In fact the nearest two were in Essex and Brighton. I had a look at a few of the places I have had tyres fitted before and the nearest ride in/ride out place was in London and 65 miles away!  Also, these guys are tyre sellers too. Laguna charged me half an hours labour inc taxes and that still meant the tyre was £40 cheaper than they would have done it for as supplier and fitter of the big fat Avon. When I collected it they had noticed an exhaust clamp had broken and so they had replaced that in the same labour charge. It will need a bit of scrubbing in. It's the first "road" tyre I have had fitted to a bike for many years.  The last was years back when I had BT020/021's fitted to the G...

Tonight is the British Bike Night at the Wagon and Horses at Charing.  It's about 19 miles from home. I have been a few times as long as it is dry! Last year was pretty good and as most times, I was Jean Sans-Amis with no Meldrews making the trip up there. Probably same again tonight. This year the newly formed Triumph Owners MCC "East Kent" section will be going as a group, or individually and meeting up there.  The "Rother" section will be there as well although I know not a one of them! Hopefully it will stay dry and as today is midsummer's day it ought to stay light a long time. Or at least long enough for me to get up there and take some pics.  I have charged the little pocket Sony in readiness.

I had the day off leave today to take Claire to the hospital as she is on the waiting list for a total hip replacement operation. That appointment was at 1215 and we had to get up there in enough time for the traffic etc.   Before that I had to take the car to a body shop to get an estimate on all the damage to the front and rear left corners. None of it my fault.  All three "damages" were done by what I can only call "arseholes" that have run into it and then driven off leaving my car damaged. No note of course. Estimate was £250 for the lot.  Need to see when I can book it in. Anyway once back from the hospital and lunch Claire went back to work and I was free to either watch the World Cup on TV or get out on the bike. I chose the latter. I decided to have a run up to Maidstone to J&S to have a look for a new summer jacket.  My Joe Rocket is mostly mesh and I wanted something a little more like Claire's RST with more material and less mesh....

One of the problems with the lazy-boy set up is the need to maintain a loop at the front that allows the 'bars to be turned left and right to full lock. ( https://rocket3man.blogspot.com/2018/06/tomtom-410.html ) With a cable coming up from around my left ankle to the headstock, it needs to leeway as the unit is mounted quite high up on the left bar. On the old setup it was easy to keep a loop that worked. The new cable seems more limp and keeping a loop seems much more difficult. So I need an alternative. Hard wring the cable into one of the connectors under the tank might solve the power problem and also ensure that power was only available when the ignition was on, but doesn't allow for a clean removal of all but the ball. So after a hunt around my brother, Neill, found this solution. It's handlebar mounted. Available in chrome to match the bars and other stuff on Pepe. But...... How much? http://www.powerlet.com/shop-by-vehicle/triumph/2008/triumph-rock...

The Avon Cobra rear tyre arrived today. It came from Germany. And there I was thinking they were made in UK. Perhaps they are and the company, Oponeo, might be based there. It's globalisation. So Pepé is booked in Saturday week for it to go on. Some pix. Lots of rubber not much tread cuts.... posted from Bloggeroid

After a drive out to Biddenden Vineyard for their open day with Claire and Reggie followed by a stop at Sissinghurst Castle Garden I took the chance to get out on Pepé. The original plan was to just go out for a short run to make sure it was running. In the end I went for another 5E. Firstly, I thought I'd head up to Canterbury and fill the tank with their cheaper ASDA unleaded. Then out towards the Sarre Windmill. I didn't get there as the fork I took missed it. In the end I turned off the A28 and went cross country via Preston to Wingham, then down through Elham Valley and home. The end picture shows 52 miles. The Rocket odometer deals only in whole miles. The trips are better and at least have tenths. posted from Bloggeroid

Okay. I actually forgot all about these boots. Back in 2013 I bought a pair to replace my old faithful Oxtar boots. I wore them on the run to Scotland on the Ashes Tour. They were okay. Very stiff but they performed okay except for the rubber gear change protection on the left boot wore through . In 200 miles before it showed was not very good at all. It's not as if the gear change on the Explorer was particularly stiff or hard. Au contraire it was silky. So I sent them back after when I got home and after a few emails and new pair arrived. I didn't even unpack them as I had no confidence in them and so they sat in the box for nearly two years (!) and I then wore them once but that was it. Back of the wardrobe and Old Faithfuls came out. So today I dug them out. I need them for the Assen trip and so they need wearing. They are leather and cordura panels with a Goretex lining. Today on a fifty-two mile (5E) they were okay. The cordura helping to make the...

Finally got around to testing the "new" TomTom mounting kit onto Pepé. I've used it on a few trips away in the car and to Spain recently and Florida even and used the hire cars there with no problems. The new kit includes a locking bracket to the handlebars and one to lock the 410 itself to the bracket. It will stop the casual passer-by scumbag thief but the determined thief will get it. It will save me unshipping it at petrol stops and slipping it in my pocket. I like to leave a little as possible on the bike when I leave it, such as overnight, and with the old setup I have removed the whole lot just leaving the ball bolted to the handlebar. With this I just need to undo the connector and remove the cable at the mounting end and pull the plug  from the socket. Cleaner and easier. I had fitted a Bosch type plug on the end of the cable when it first arrived, but didn't test it. I have "sealed" it with my usual foot of insulating tape wrappe...

🎶  " What a difference a D makes "  🎶 I'd look even more stupid with a banana on my head. It certainly wouldn't keep the sun off my head. Bought this one expecting it to be sunny at Assen at the end of the month.

UK Registration opened a little later than usual but it's up an running. This year I will be accompanied by my brother Neill. I have created it as an event for The Meldrews and maybe someone will turn up. At least not Johnny No Mates!!! http://www.alliedride.org/index.php/uk-home/uk-registration posted from Bloggeroid

I've read so much about tyres and it looks as though it will be a straight swap between the Metzeler ME880 as fitted as standard or the Avon Cobra AV72. Googling isn't much help in this size of rear but US sites have the option of a Bridgestone alternative. I am hoping that this one will get me to Assen and back at the end of the month. Fingers crossed. This Metz has just short of 7000 miles on it and hopefully I can get another 1000 out of it. On the various R3 sites some guys are saying they only get 2500 to a rear! But most of the UK R3 people are recommending the Cobra. Update: 4th June 2018 Had a Google search and found the cheapest place for the Avon is Oponeo at £146 with free delivery. So I ordered one.  It has 4 to 5 days delivery. Now to see when I can get it booked in the Laguna to fit it. Even though there looks to be plenty of tread left I decided to change it before Assen. Laguna have it booked in on the 23rd June. L...