InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

The tyre arrived yesterday lunchtime with courier DPD. When I got home I pulled the invoice from the plastic wrapping and found it was all in German. Further reading showed that it had come from Bydgoszcz in Poland. Now I thought that Avon bike tyres were made in Melksham in UK. Looking on Avon's website shows that they were bought out in 1997 by a US company called Cooper Tire and in 2018 production was moved for most of the Avon range to European factories.  Although motorcycle tyres were supposed to stay in UK. Given the lack of riding I have been managing of late, the journey from Avon to Bydgoszcz and back would be about 1700 miles.  More that I did in the MoT year 2018/19! Carbon mileage? Update 22/2/19 Emailed Avon. Yes. The Cobra and Cobra Chrome are made in UK. Update 25/2/19 Booked for ride in and ride out at Laguna Triumph in Ashford for 0900 March 9th.

Incredibly it was on 21st October 2018! Without the Fuelly app I wouldn't have remembered. Planned to get out early on Friday 22nd to book Pepé in for the tyre fitting, but.... fair weather biker that I am, I was put off by the thick freezing fog.

At the MoT a few weeks back although a pass again,  Pepé was marked as needing a new front tyre at some stage. It's about a mm above the wear blocks in the tread. So I have ordered a new Cobra. There is a new Cobra Chrome (AV91) on the market but at 20% more expensive than the standard Cobra (AV71) to stay Chrome-free. It should arrive later this week so I need to get it booked in at Laguna to get it fitted. Update 19/02/2019   Tyre has been despatched.  Have to see how long it takes to arrive. Update 20/02/2019 Tyre arrived.

In France there is a move towards reducing the level of congestion in the city and on the périphique and as a product of this to reduce pollution. The system is called Crit'Air . The movement is spreading to other areas of the country with major cities and départments signing up to the "lower emissions zones" (LEZ) idea. Essentially the idea is that when the air becomes bad, and it is usually in summer when the warmer air holds the smog in the air, that they can close areas of the city, and open them to lower emissions classes of vehicles.  And that is determined by the CO2 output of the vehicle. Every vehicle accessing the city must carry the crit-air sticker on the windscreen/shield on the right side lower. On the bike it goes on the upper right of the fork leg.  They even produced a video on how to affix it! Pepé is Cat 2.   As we intend to go to France in the summer, I have applied for a sticker at a cost of €4.21 including

Once the widened and more comfortable seat comes back we can get some longer trips under our belts to get Claire back into the swing of being on the bike. It's a few years since she last had a longish journey when we went to France for the Somme Centenary in July 2016. Three years is a long time away. But planning goes ahead. Ideally for the bike or failing that in the car. I am planning it as a bike trip but the posts are on the Devall Travel blog that we both contribute too.   That blog can be linked here :   The target area is the Vercors region to the south-east of Lyon and north of the Cote d'Azur. It is an area of some dramatic scenery and some rather odd roads, many of which are on the  bucket list of many riders, such as  Combe Laval and Petits and Grands Goulets .

Update. I messaged Else to see if my seat had arrived as I had heard nothing from Hermes Parcels and when I went on line to track the parcel they had delivered. it. Adrian got back t me with a simple thumbs-up.   So I asked for progress.  My seat is 34th in line to be worked on....   So it is a matter of wait and see....