InvictaMoto's Red Pepé Blog

The run began in Bexhill but it meant getting up way too early for me on a Sunday.  As it was it was lucky that I didn't go that far. More of that later. I decided to meet up at the midway point at Dungeness by the Light Railway Station.  I wasn't alone as fellow Meldrew Ian Gardner was going there as well.   Three others, Cal, Neil and Graham had met up at the regular Blue & White earlier in the morning to ride to Bexhill and then come back with the run itself. I arrived just before ten to see Ian had parked on the main gravel car-park by the railway station and cafe.  I parked in front of him.  We were joined by a couple of other riders and sat down to chat as bikers do. No names and probably never meet again, but instant camaraderie.   No posing and no bullshit . The first marshal appeared on the long drive w into the estate. Dungeness is the western most point on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway .  It is al...

What kind of plum walks around the parking at the rendezvous looking for Rockets and forgets his own. Me? At least my brother took one of his BMW and got Pepé in too I was up early for a weekend. Alarm set for 0735 and on the road at 0830. The plan to stop for fuel and meet my brother. Traffic was a little heavier than expected and I arrived at the Esso at Cobham on the A2 about 0920. Filled up and then had a coffee and pain chocolat. Whilst waiting for Neill I had a chat with fellow Meldrew Ian who was in his truck and saw me pass him. From Cobham it was a boring hour up the M25 and then M11 to the RDV at Cambridge Services. A chat and then a wander around. It was very hot again. By the time I got there my legs and personals were a little hot too. At least I had my bandana... I just need to grow a longer fuller beard to be a real biker. There were around 300 bikes and as it worked out we were in the second row of the last column to leave. I had...

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...