25 December 2009

Stinkiest Cheese?


Stinkiest Cheese?, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.


16 December 2009

14 December 2009


Hythe seafront by winter. Not immune from the ravages of the arseholes and their spray cans.
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13 December 2009

Hilly


Hilly, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

7 December 2009

Cooper Motorrad


Cooper Motorrad, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

Cooper's had an open day for the release of the S1000RR. Loads of bikes on display and loads of free food.

Nice Shiny New Bits


Nice Shiny New Bits, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.



Nice Shiny New Bits, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.



Nice Shiny New Bits, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

A few of the nice and new shiny bits that were fitted after the accident. Now I have to work out how to keep them as nice as they are now.

1 December 2009

Campania

Posts that would have gone on here but sadly this blog didn't exist back then.

So here's a link - http://invictamoto.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Campania

However, what I do have are the photos taken whilst we were there and stored on Flickr.

27 November 2009

GS and St Nicks Rally

It looks as if I will miss the rally again. It's a week tomorrow, but I am bikeless.

The GS is still at Cooper Motorrad and not ready for collection.

I needed to collect it this weekend as I have no time in the week. Sadly I have to work and getting to Tunbridge Wells before or after work is a no-no. So I am f*cked.

I missed it last year as I was Tom and Dick.

There is a window on Wednesday as I have a medic appointment. There may be time after to get the train if it is ready. Fingers crossed.

20 November 2009

MRA!

Blimey.

 

I ordered the screen online at about 3.30pm yesterday and it arrived today at lunchtime.

 

I can thoroughly recommend HPS and their service.

 

 

http://www.bikehps.com/mra/

17 November 2009

The repair story

Where to start? Following the accident or should I say incident, with the Polish girl on the Honda back in September, the GS went into Cooper Motorrad for repairs.

They had quoted for a new screen as the MRA fitted is broken in two places. But as a BMW dealer they couldn't order a non-standard part.

After a few weeks it has been decided that I will order and pay for a new screen and claim it back via Carole Nash.

Cooper's will deduct from the invoice.

At last.

12 November 2009

Art on the train


Art on the train, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

Visualised by me. Created by Morris Pina.
With some input from Karen Hamer.

9 November 2009

Vodafone

After call after call waiting in queue after queue to speak to a human call centre person my billing problem is finally sorted.

By logging on to Facebook.

Amazing.

2 November 2009

Mont Cassel

On the "Wipers 2" trip our first stop was ostensibly for a coffee and this extended to frites for lunch and then a walk up to Mont Cassel to walk off a few of the calories.

The steps up to the heights above the town are a bit overgrown and in UK with our greater "Elf and safety" culture they would have been closed years ago. The French get on with it and even let their dogs crap on them too.

Talking of closed. At the top is huge hotel building boarded up and decaying. The Mont is in fact a narrow ridge, no more than 100 metres across at the top. On both sides are panorama tables pointing out places locally and fancifully, places further afield like New York, London and Leeds.

There is also a windmill that judging by the electric sound was not being powered by the wind any more. The plain below is littered with mills.

During WW1, Cassel was the HQ of the British Army fighting in the Flanders area. The statue is to Marshal Foch, who took over Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies in Spring 1918 and led the Allies defend against the "Kaiser's Offensive" that Spring and then the Allied attacks that forced the Germans back to almost the pre-1914 point.
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GS @ Bayernwald

Not a theme park, although it sounds like it may be, but actually a recently rediscovered (in the 1970's) formation of trenches from WW1.

These are around Messines Ridge to the south of Ypres. The trenches point northwards as this area was part of the bulge to the south the city.

Entry is supposed to cost €1.50 per person but when we got there the gate had been wedged open and there were some other people already inside.

The GPS location for the site is N50.80135 E2.87708.


More reading http://bujold.co.uk/html/bayernwald.html
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Amazon




26 October 2009

Nippy Normans Stand Extender


Nippy Normans Stand Extender, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

The bike leans over a bit far so I had a look on the web and posted a question on the BMW Club site and this was suggested.

There is a thicker one but I opted for the smaller one. Let's see how it works before it's time to lock it away for a few months.

11 September 2009

Damaged beak


Damaged beak, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

What happens when you hit a Polish bird up the backside.

Align CentreMore scraped beak, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

It could have been worse. Now need to get an estimate for repair.

The other bike was a Honda Lead 125, it came off worse.

Radioactive Arse?

Maybe just magnetic. Back on the train. Had a weekly season since Wednesday.

First ticket wouldn't work in machines so got a new one. Second day and it has packed up too!

I assume my arse is doing something to the magnetic strip!

Why my arse? I keep it in my back pocket away from phone and ipod.

10 September 2009

Pashnit Forum

A great way to check out motorcycle travel tales and share advice is on http://www.pashnit.com/forum/index.php

Sign up and share your motorcycle touring stories.

1 September 2009

Normandy Trip - August 2009 - Day 4

Bank Holiday Monday and it's time to pay the hotel and set off.   The trip I planned was to avoid the motorway and take the coast road as far as Honfleur.

Due to a problem with the Garmin not charging on the bike it decided to die before we had really got to where we wanted  which included a crossing of the Greenwich Meridian. As we approached Houlgate I saw that 64000 miles was about to pop up on the odometer, and so I 
stopped for Claire to take a pic of me!


From here it was on into Honfleur.  Parking up in the centre of the town where I saw a couple of other bikes. It was okay until we had to get away and I had to ride along the pavement and squeeze through the barrier at the end.

We had a walk around the harbour and took a break in one of the cafes, sitting in the burning heat of the day.



The harbour area is a mass of cafes, restaurants and gift shops.  With the Garmin not working and the deadline of the Shuttle ahead of us we reluctantly set off.

Finding the Pont de Normandy was easy enough as it is signposted, and with there being to wind it was a joy to ride across.

From here it was a motorway run all the way back to Coquelles and onto the Shuttle.  Just one stop for petrol and as it was BH Monday the roads were busier mainly with British holiday makers on their way home. We bought some baguettes and made another stop at an Aire to eat them.  

All in all the trip was very good and the ride along the Invasion beaches is one I can recommend to anyone.


The full set of pix can be seen on My Flickr Page 

31 August 2009

Normandy Trip - August 2009 - Day 3

The plan had been to include Pegasus Bridge into the main beaches day but as it turned out it's a good job we didn't as Day 2 was pretty full.

We had a late breakfast and we set off for the Bridge a little later that anticipated.  The new bridge was open and we had to wait in a long column of traffic waiting for it to close.  I have to admit to being a little underwhelmed by the place.

We parked alongside the Gondree cafe with a few other bikes The cafe was full of British tourists having lunch and we had a drink across the road before we decided to move on to Ouisterham.




Pegasus Bridge, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.



Pegasus Bridge, originally uploaded by Invicta Moto.

Read more here.

The weather was a bit chilly and we had a walk through the village near the casino and had lunch! We always have lunch.

We had a gentle ride back down to Caen and parked the bike up round the corner from the hotel and went in to change into civvies.


Once dressed in our non-biker clothes we had a walk around the city again in search of Old Caen.  Most of the city was bombed during the war and there was a little bit near the castle that was from the middle ages or so.

Enjoying an expensive beer and menthe a l'eau


Our thoughts turned to food but the Moroccan restaurant still wasn't open and so we had a walk down to into the town via the Abbaye des Dames.



In the end we opted for a cheaper meal!  Across from the Cathedral was a simple, but very popular, kebab house. For the price of a starter in a restaurant we ate like, well not exactly kings, although it was very tasty. It might look a little pink but it was fully cooked and for €6.50 it came with frites et un boisson.

Once this was knocked off we went in search of an ice-cream for pudding. Then time for bed.  Tomorrow was the last day of the trip and we had to be off home.

29 August 2009

Normandy Trip - August 2009 - Day 2 (Part 2)

These are some additional photographs taken on the Normandy Trip.

German bunker at Juno Beach

Longues Battery

Broken barrel at Longues Battery

Destroyed gun at Longues


The Sherman Tank looking out to sea above Arromanches

Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches


Beached section of the Mulberry Harbour.

Me and the GS at Bernieres sur Mer by my lovely wife Claire.

Normandy Trip - August 2009 - Day 2

Day 2 – The D-Day Beaches

Saturday dawned bright and sunny and after breakfast we made sure the SatNav had the route in and we were off out of Caen.

Me, the GS in Caen
Me and Baloo outside the hotel
I have to admit that as the basis of the route I used a waypoints file that was posted on the BMW Club forum enhanced from the Major and Mrs Holt’s Pocket Handbook to the D-Day Landing Beaches. If anyone is interested I’ll post the file on the forum once I can get it off the unit, this is the one that I downloaded plus some places they didn’t get to!

From Caen centre we headed out past the Castle and towards Ouistreham, better known to the British as a cross channel ferry port. Brittany Ferries run a service from Portsmouth.

The first stop was just to the south of Colleville-Montgomery and a bunker, dedicated a national monument to the Suffolk Regiment that took this one codenamed “Hillman” and another just down the road codenamed “Morris”.

Hillman Bunker

Hillman was attacked on 6th June 1944 by the 1st Suffolk Regiment, supported by C Squadron 13/18 Hussars, A Squadron Staffs Yeomanry, two batteries from 33rd and 76th Field Regiments Royal Artillery, 246th Field Company RE and a machine-gun platoon from 2nd Middlesex Regiment.

Hillman Bunker

Hillman was outflanked to the north, where high grass allowed an approach to the minefield area surrounding the bunkers and barbed wire. This was cleared by the RE, and a path made through the wire by Bangalore Torpedoes. A Company of 1st Suffolk’s then charged through the gap, and entered the bunker area, but came under such heavy fire that they lost the company commander and had to pull out. Sherman’s from 13/18 Hussars then came up, and a second assault carried the position. However, in the process two tanks from 13/18 Hussars were knocked out and the Suffolk’s lost two officers killed, along with five men and 24 men wounded.

GS @ Hillman Bunker

From here we had intended to go to Pegasus Bridge but I changed the route and we could do the bridge area on Sunday. Instead we went straight into Ouistreham and the Grand Bunker Museum.

La Grande Bunker Musee Ouisterham

The bunker is on four floors and was the command post for the batteries on both sides of the Orne and in the event of invasion was supposed to protect the river and the docks that extended as far as Caen. In the grounds are some vehicles as exhibits plus a landing craft.

La Grande Bunker Musee Ouisterham

La Grande Bunker Musee Ouisterham

La Grande Bunker Musee Ouisterham

We had a look round and a few photos and then set off along the coast further along Sword beach towards Lion sur Mer.

The plan was to cut inland to take in the radar site near Douvres la Déliverande. At Lion there is a monument to the Royal Marines known as the "Sun Dial", and alongside it there is a Churchill Tank.

Churchill Tank - Lion sur Mer

GS @ Lion sur Mer

Sadly the radar site was closed and there was no one there to let us in. We also didn't get a chance to photograph it, but it looks pretty complete.

From the radar site we returned to the coast with a first stop at Intermarche for petrol. A mistake as it turned out but one I wasn’t to know until later in the day.

The petrol/gas station was on automatic and I filled up the tank with €17.26 worth of 95 unleaded. Later when I checked my pre-paid credit card, I had been scalped for €70. I have a receipt for €17.26. Attempts to get the money back are being chased internationally with the company. As an aside, MasterCard were completely useless and offered no support or advice.

After the fuel stop we had to virtually ride across the road to the first stop of the afternoon session.

This part of Juno beach was assaulted by the Canadian forces and the bunker on the seafront is now a memorial to their exploits. Plaques on the side commemorate the regiments that took part.

Canadian Bunker - Bernieres sur Mer

Canadian Bunker - Bernieres sur Mer

Canadian Bunker - Bernieres sur Mer

The bunker is on a dog-leg in the seafront and the gun slot is angled to provide a field of fire in one direction only and is protected on the beach side. It does provide fire across the entire beach from the sea to the small dunes on the land side.

From Bernieres we moved a short distance up the coast to Courselles-sur-Mer. This was a strategic point as the town straddles the River Seulles. Both sides of the river mouth were heavily defended with pillboxes and bunkers.

On the east bank is a memorial to General De Gaulle who arrived here with the French soldiers under the British control. There is also a Sherman Tank.

In 1969, fishermen in the harbour of Courselles-sur-Mer in France discovered one of the Regiment's D-Day tanks. With the assistance of a local marine salvage company and the Royal Canadian Dragoons from Lahr, Germany, the tank was recovered from the sea where it had rested for more than twenty-five years. Thanks to an ambitious financial campaign by the Association and the Regiment, this "A" Squadron DD tank "ANEMIC was restored and dedicated, under the erroneous name of "Bold", at Juno Beach on June 6, 1971 as a Canadian memorial initially to the 1st Hussars and later to all those units that landed on D-Day. Photographs to follow as sadly the Samsung’s battery ran out!! Luckily Claire’s Sony Alpha DSLR ss more reliable.

Also at Courselles-sur-Mer, across the river, is the main Juno Beach Museum. For more reading please go here.

We parked up and we had a walk to one of the almost buried bunkers on the edge of the dunes. From the beach these would have been invisible. Once again, they featured the Tobruk Pit style of machine gun nest. I managed a picture of the museum on my BlackBerry.

Juno Beach Memorial

Juno Beach Memorial

From here we continued to head westwards along Juno Beach towards Omaha Beach.

In the dunes as you leave the Juno Beach Museum is a massive Cross of Lorraine dedicated to the French troops that took part in Overlord. Just around the corner is another tank.

On the way out from Juno Beach Museum

Once back on the D514 we headed towards Arromanches-les-Bains. At Asnelles we turned off the main road and down to find the beach to see if we could see the remnants of the Mulberry Harbour.

We were disappointed as the ring of concrete caissons is easy to see about half a mile off the land. Claire took some pix with her functioning camera and then he headed off up to Arromanches.

The next stop was at the viewpoint around the headland from the town itself. You’ll find a huge car-park and a viewpoint and the 360 Cinema. The queue was massive as we had arrived just after a couple of coaches and so we decided to take in the view and some pix of Mulberry.

Madonna & 360 Cinema @ Arromanches

I did manage to get one with my BlackBerry, but the quality despite supposedly 3.2 megapixels is poor. Remember when digital cameras aspired to be that good?

As well as the cinema there are memorials and a large statue of the Madonna.

From there we head back along the D514 into the town itself. As you enter the D-Day Museum is in front of you and there are limited parking opportunities to park a motorcycle. Some riders had mounted the high kerb to park by the museum. We had a tour around and eventually parked next to a large flower bed at the far end of the car-park. Once again we had timed our arrival with that of coaches; this time a mere six! I have been in the Museum before and we decided once again that the crowds weren’t for us.

After a coffee and then a crepe we had a walk to the top of the headland to where there is another preserved Sherman Tank – you know the drill – pix to follow!!

The spot actually marks the position of a battery that took part in an action during the Napoleonic War when they fired in defence of a convoy of gun boats being menaced by British warships. According to local history they won the battle, however, more than likely the British ships knew of the battery’s position and wouldn’t engage the smaller gun boats in its range. History is for the winners’ to write!!

By now it was well after 4pm and we wanted to get away to get to Omaha before it closed. But the next stop was at Longues sur Mer.

A most impressive set of bunkers housing the Longues Battery. In all there are four big concrete bunkers housing the large guns intended to fire to see at any invader.

The first bunker form the car-park is badly battered and the gun has been destroyed, although suspicious looking pipes still out of the ground in front of the firing area. The other three are in much better condition.

Time was getting on and by the time we arrived in the area of the Omaha Monument it was 5.55pm. A huge arrow points to the Monument from a roundabout and next to it... a sign... 4 kms and closes at 6pm!

In the end we head a little further to St Laurent sur Mer and the already closed for the night Omaha Beach Museum.

All in all I had planned a day that really needed two days. The weather was warm, 25°C, and despite the numbers of coaches with their large numbers of fellow tourists traffic on the roads was very light.

I will attempt to post the missing pictures form Claire’s camera and if anyone is interested I have two
waypoint files suitable for Garmin GPS systems that I can attach somewhere.