On the Road Again

Adelscott. Bière aromatisée au Malt à Whisky. 5.8% ABV.

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Tue, 22 May 2012 18:29:00 +0000

Bought this in France. Liked the idea of the Whisky taste. Very nice. Should have bought more, but on the bike I was space limited.

L'hotel par nuit

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:42:00 +0000

BMW Water Collector

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Mon, 21 May 2012 07:13:00 +0000

MotoGP - Day 2 & 3

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:54:00 +0000

No photos this time as I used the Canon and the Sony cameras.

After breakfast Saturday we took the non-toll route to Le Mans. Woody leading as my TomTom was misbehaving.

At the track they affix a sticker to the headlamp and give you the other half. On leaving both have to match. They also want to see the biker's log book. French ones are small, our are four pages of A4!

We arrived in time for the Moto2 free session and all three classes qualifying.

All the commentary in French. A summary in English at the end spoken by a guy that learned English in a vacuum.

It drizzled all day. Rained hard at times. Almost trench foot.

Sunday. Up earlier, same route same rigmarole to park. Found a space near where we were yesterday. There are plenty of grandstands and about half of them are free. They were chock full.

We saw the warmup and then all three races.

Of course we were supporting the British riders with backups of Valentino Rossi in GP.

In Moto2 our riders Scott Redding and Bradley Smith were pressing for the podium and after a scare Bradders dropped way back and fought back to 8th.

Scott did better and as the last British rider to win a GP, got another podium.

Sadly in MotoGP we had a disappointment when Cal Crutchlow came a cropper when contesting for third with Rossi and Dovicioso.

The ride for James Ellison was more successful as he was first across the line to be the CRT class winner.

The weather looked up and it was drying as we left for "home", but it didn't last. Raining again for the last twenty miles or so.

We have been wearing waterproof over clothes for almost three days. Luckily trenchfoot hasn't set in

A brief dry spell in the evening meant we could go and get dinner but the rain soon came back.

Tomorrow we are looking at a WW2 monument near Argentan and maybe Camembert. Weather dependent of course.

More Rouen

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:51:00 +0000

Unfortunately, I am unable to attach multiple pictures to email on the iPhone. If you know how please let me know.

Adjacent to the Gros Horloge is this pair of buildings and the narrow alley.

More Rouen

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:16:00 +0000

The Gros Horloge, as the clock is called, is in an area where there are plenty of old buildings.

You can see where post 1945 the town rebuilt the areas where it was heavily bombed in the days around D-Day 1944.

But many still there in the area near the clock and the cathedral.

These interesting ladies adorn the wall of an adjacent building now an optician's shop.

Le Mans - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:11:00 +0000

The day started well. Sunny. Met Woody at the Stop 24 services and fuelled up and the had 3 mile ride tithe Shuttle.

The train was packed with bikes all heading one way or another the 250 miles to Le Mans or thereabouts.

Our first stop was Rouen for lunch and a look around the old city.

The cathedral was being renovated and we were unable to see the statue of Joan of Arc.

We did see the old clock down a side street and went to have a look.

The final hundred or so miles off toll roads took us in a strange loop when we expected the N138.

We arrived at the hotel about 5pm. A quick change and we were out again to the supermarket to buy provisions for Saturday's practice day.

TomTom

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:21:00 +0000

Why did I buy a TomTom. Bloody useless pile of crap. Three months old on only it's third trip out and is has gone wrong.

It was working on the bike all the here to Alençon. But when I came to set the route for tomorrow it was dead. Charged it and now when you turn it off it fires up again. The battery flattens in the case.

I had already logged a call with them for a rattle, some screw loose or something.

Now I am one day into the long weekend and it is not working.

Fantastic.

Paul Devall
Sent from my iPhone

Almost Rouen

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Made reasonable progress on off/on drizzle.

More later.

Paul Devall
Sent from my iPhone

At the Shuttle

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Fri, 18 May 2012 07:13:00 +0000

Arrived in good time. Loads of bikes ranging from normal blokes to clowns revving the balls off their cock replacements.

Paul Devall
Sent from my iPhone

Changes regarding 'anti-tampering'

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Changes are afoot in Europe, as they so often are, which makes it difficult to ensure information stays up to date. Meetings are on-going, both in the UK and in Brussels so I'll try and bring you up to speed without sending you to sleep.

I had another MEP meeting yesterday when it was agreed that a question would be put to the EU Commission in an attempt to discover their justification for some of the EU Type Approval Regulation which has no evidential base. I refer specifically here to the 'anti-tampering' clauses. The European Ombudsman has found that the Commission does have a case to answer on this subject and the UK Government questioned the validity of the claims too, conducting its own assessment of the situation.

Article 18 as the wording in the public domain still states, wishes to impose anti-tampering measures on all new motorcycles. This already exists for mopeds and up to 125cc bikes (known as A1), so, much as we may feel it's unjustified and the EU Commission are yet to provide evidence that it was a problem, or that the existing legislation solved that 'problem', it would be a difficult political case to argue for its overthrow.

What we have said all along, and it remains our position, is that MAG is not in favour of anti-tampering legislation on any bikes, but especially when the attempted introduction of that legislation has not been justified.

You may have heard that another 'high level' meeting took place recently in Brussels (15^th May) and indeed it did, between EU Parl representatives, the Commission and the Council, but nothing was decided. One reason is that the Council (all the member states) have not agreed their own common position, so they aren't in a position to enter formal negotiations with the Parliament and Commission. Indeed they probably won't have an agreed position until after 6^th of June.

Still with me?

To clarify developments I have just finished a consultation with our Dept for Transport and can tell you that UK Gov, like us, is still very concerned with article 18, even though the text of it is still under negotiation. As we've mentioned before, the modified article 18a that the IMCO committee wrote, has now been side-lined which is good because as MAG said at the time, it had gone even further than the original proposal.

The latest incarnation of the text in Article 18 (and remember it is not final yet) does at last exempt the biggest bikes (those over 48bhp) but that isn't good enough and MAG will continue to work with those MEPs who have agreed to table an amendment exempting all bikes over 125cc. We have got this far because you have all actively campaigned and written letters, contributing to the campaign, so keep up the good work. But a brand new paragraph has been added to the text which makes it very clear that users (us) will still not be allowed to modify a bike's powertrain "unless such modifications or adjustments are explicitly declared and contained in the information folder and thus covered by the type-approval."

This particularly concerns our Government because it in effect means that anything we choose to do as end users will not be tolerated and it puts the onus on manufacturers, through best engineering practise; to do everything they can to limit our tinkering. At its simplest, anti-tampering could have been a sticker that said 'please don't modify this bit', but now it looks like manufacturers will have to do what they can, through engineering, to stop us.

The on-going concern we have, like the British and French Governments and just about every MEP we speak to, is that the Delegated Acts will still contain technical info that won't be seen until after the vote in EU Parliament. Negotiations in Brussels continue on this point to pull more of the detail out of the technical Delegated Acts and into the domain of parliamentarians and government negotiators.

The next 6 weeks will be hectic and in all probability the Parliamentary vote will be moved to September/ October, but it was originally timetabled for last March, so that demonstrates just how dynamic the situation remains.

Paddy Tyson Campaigns Coordinator Motorcycle Action Group www.mag-uk.org 01926 844064

Washed and Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Just put a few extra pounds in the tyres front and rear to take it more towards the loaded fast tour pressures.

I usually run 32psi at the front and 36psi at the back but gone to 34/40 for the run to Le Mans.

Once back inside the house will switch to battery charge mode to get the camera and TomTom charged for the weekend. Next to sort out clothes. Will be in bike gear most of the time so will need jeans and a few tshirts. Plus caks and socks.

Toying with netbook as well as the hotel allegedly has free wifi.

Mr Baloo (pic) has been my mascot since 2004 and has brushed up well considering he has been in the beak area for about 8 years now. When they gave him away at a McDonald's they never expected him to last long as a kid's toy.

Wash and Brush up before the off.

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:37:00 +0000

When waterproof isn't waterproof!

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:48:00 +0000

Last year I bought a pair of cordura waterproof trousers to replace a pair I'd had for two years.

They arrived in time for the Welsh National Rally in early May the weather was appalling on the way back from Wales. To make things worse the crotch split.
I emailed the shop from my hotel on the way back.

They were good and replaced them.

For one reason or another I wore them for the first time in April. Luckily it didn't rain.

Unluckily, the second time of wearing them, resulted in what crotch syndrome. Soaked through. Can't see where it is getting in but this is so annoying.

It's cutting it fine but this pair are less than a year old, so I emailed them to see what happens!

Even if they see it my way and replace them they won't be here until after the Le Mans trip.

Let's see how it goes.....

Lunch - Sausage and kraut

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:17:00 +0000

Went to Cotswold and passed Kipferl so popped in for lunch.

I'm might grow on me......

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:20:00 +0000

Poppy Appeal Car Magnet

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Fri, 04 May 2012 19:09:00 +0000

Claire got this on a visit to the RBL at Aylesford and picked this up.

This is funny! (NWS)

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:17:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000KKNQBK/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

MCN Fantasy Road Race 2012 Private League

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:10:00 +0000

Not very good!!

http://mcn.fantasyleague.com/FriendsLeague.aspx?p=4591

Disney 2

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:38:00 +0000

I have had an hour of looking for hotels. Budget of course!

On Tesco's Clubcard site there is a link where I can turn £25 of vouchers into £75 of travel money. The Shuttle for a car is in the region of £95 for a five-day crossing. So ontop of the vouchers it will be about £20 in real hard earned money.

Next stop, booking.com to look at hotels to fit in to the plan. Sunday night in a Premiere Classe in Torcy. Average reviews but the idea is it is somewhere to sleep the night before a day of queuing for rides (glass half empty view) or a day of excitement on the rides (glass half full view).

Two nights in Epernay so we can visit a few champagne houses and then home from our mini-break. The hotel has parking on-site, is a few minutes from Moet & Chandon and has free wifi to record all the details!

Attached map gives a rough idea of the trip.

Disneyland Paris

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:56:00 +0000

"We are delighted to confirm you have successfully booked your 2 free park tickets to Disneyland Paris for Monday 20 August 2012, exclusively from Sky Rewards."

I had an email from Sky about the offer of two free tickets for Disneyland Paris so why not? We spend a while in France as it is and this might be a good day out. I have never been that great a fan of theme parks, mostly as I can't be bothered queuing but let's give it a chance.

Last game of the season...

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:50:00 +0000

For me at least. Alex will have the next games until the end of the season.

Blackbird's nest

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:38:00 +0000

I saw the female flying back and forth from the garage gutter with mud and leaves and this is the result.

Hidden away in the prickly pyracantha bush but sadly looks abandoned already. It should be safe but perhaps the local cats are too close for comfort.

From the past...

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:35:00 +0000

A friend posted this on Facebook asking for info on when it might have been taken. It's in the 90's most definitely and the bearded guy if Dave Gearhart, part time resident of Fresno, on one of his summer trips from the US.

I'm centre stage.

I guess it was either 91 or 93 according to Dave. However! I have no real idea, although in summer 93 I left UK for a year in the Czech Republic.

Sun and Showers

noreply@blogger.com (Invicta Moto) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:02:00 +0000

Had thought about a day trip to Brighton on the train tomorrow. Weather needs to be good!!