InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

It's almost a week since I got home and I have just got around to checking the exact mileage and calculating the overall fuel consumption rates, what we call mpg. A bit lazy I know.  The return trip from home to home worked out at 1767.3 miles on Trip 2. Mpg ranged from 44.09 to 54.52.  I haven't sorted them in date order only lowest to highest. But at a quick glance at dates the highest consumption was on the way out in the middle of the trip. Getting 54.52 mpg on a 2300cc cruiser is pretty decent I think. The cross country sections in Bavaria and Czech were frustrating in parts due to traffic, trucks in the main,  but apart from a few miles the surface was better than anything we have locally in Kent or anywhere in the UK. So much smooth tarmac perfectly made for bikes. And at moderate speeds the mpg went up. On the way back, one section, when we had to detour off S19 north of Pisek due to the Ždákovský most (bridge) being close...

I have been back a few days now.  Overall the Rocket and I did over 1730 miles. There were some really long days using the Czech roads off-motorway routes.  But rewarding to see the countryside. The Burgenstrasse in Germany was a nice route but sadly most of the castles weren't easily accessible for the killer bike and building photo.

Well. Mostly packed. Just sponge bag and the new pocket atlas* to go out and be stuffed into the Saddlemen bag. It's a bit full as I wanted to save the panniers. The left one contains my Kent Fire Brigade "Biker Down" first aid kit and... two bottles of English white wine from Chapel Down Vineyard (never call it a winery!) That's about 15 miles from home.  Both bottles wrapped in bubble wrap and then on a travel blanket. The right one has my Triumph waterproof over jacket and trousers.  Plus a lock and a bag for race day. I was going to manage without my tank bag, but I need somewhere for my passport and spectacle cases!  Now I have to decide on what to wear. Vented jacket obviously but it looks like Hood jeans over leathers. So. It's nearly 10.30pm and I have to be up early to be on the train to France at 8.50am. * useless!

Sunday. A short run out this afternoon. I checked the oil and topped up the tank. The Rocket has a dry sump system with a car like filler cap on top of the oil tank on the left side below the fuel tank.  Luckily it comes with a dip stick attached to the cap. The Hi and Lo marks are quite close together and Pepe only needed a few drops to get it back to the upper level. The tyres are another weekly check. With no centrestand it is hard to get both valves where you can get to them without moving the bike back and forth. The rear wheel is so huge, getting a hand past the disc to the valve is quite hard. Getting a digital gauge in is even harder. In the end I set off for the air pump at Stop 24. It's 50p for three minutes of air. The front was about 6lbs down and it went up to 34psi and the rear was down to 36 when it should be 40psi. That done I set off to see what difference it had made. Er. None. None noticeable anyway.  O...

Never ride angry. It leads to mistakes. For some unknown reason people in England have this urge to travel. That's not a problem. What is the problem is that no sooner has the final bell of the summer term/semester rung,  like lemmings they are in their cars and motorhomes  (RV) and heading on their summer holiday. Why? Most kids won't be back in their classrooms until September 6th or even 7th!! To coincide with this exodus, small 'e' as the waves don't part for them , after some terrorist activity in France (not to mention our vote to leave the European Union) the French boeufed up their ridiculously slap dash border control. Traffic was queued back on the M20 for about 15 miles. Three lanes and then two.... The A2 into the port two lanes for about 7 miles. Add to that both roads closed due to the inevitable accidents and a rare truck fire, and you have CHAOS. People trapped for upto 14 hours.  It later turned out that ...

Just a short run today.  A week since we got back from the Somme and Pepe  needed a wash'n'brush up. I togged up and with a plasttic bottle of cleaner  bungeed on the rack I headed for the jet wash. The idea was to get the worst of the French crud off from under the engine, mudguards and if course the easy-corrode wheels that Triumph preferred to fit. The wash machine has changed and takes £1 coins and you get three minutes. There are six options from jet to wax and rinsing. In the end and £2 later it all looked good.  Ten minutes later I knew I had to do it by hand again when it was cold! At least the mud and crud was gone. As it was sunny the wax rinse dried in streaks.   I had a ride to Tesco to fill up with their 3p a litre cheaper 95 unleaded, then a tour around Folkestone to check out the football ground for the next home game and then home along the coast drive. It was some two hours later when I  went out with a  bucket and...

Oops. Posted on another of my blogs and here are some posts.  http://devalltravel.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/some-trip-reports-somme-2016.html