An expensive coffee!!

It was a crisp sunny Sunday morning and I had a need to get out on the bike for a ride so the other half and I decided to head to Super Sausage Cafe in Potterspury, Nr Towcester for a coffee.

Did I mention it was crisp – yep it was a chilly morning but I was very glad to have my heated vest and heated grips.

Super Sausage Cafe

We headed to Aylesbury and then picked up the A413 out through Weedon, Whitchurch and into Winslow. There is a pub in Winslow called The Bell which does the most amazing carvery Sunday lunches – we have been known on the way back from a ride to stop here – to save me cooking dinner was my excuse ;-) but I have to warn you the portions are large so getting back on the bike and leaning forward after you’ve eaten is slightly unpleasant but so worth it!

We carried on out of Winslow to Buckingham and then headed on the A422 to Old Stratford and then hopped onto the A5 for the last little blat to Potterspury.

The roads out this way are a mixture of twisties and long sweeping bends with a few long straights so there’s quite a good mix of roads to keep everyone happy.

Super Sausage Cafe

Having arrived at Super Sausage we parked up and had a look at the other bikes in the car park. There is always something and someone interesting to look at / talk to. This is one of the best bits about riding for me, the social side – just chatting to people.

One thing I love about the biking community is that it doesn’t seem to matter who you are or what you ride, it is the fact that you ride that brings us together.

As all cafes etc are takeaway only at the moment, we ordered our coffee and, as we hadn’t had breakfast, we also had bacon baps and stood outside and ate and drank. The sun was shining, we had ridden our bikes there, we had coffee and bacon – perfect.

After an hour or so we decided to head home via a coffee stop so headed back down the A5 and got back on the A422. When we set off earlier the roads were a bit damp in places but by the time we left Super Sausage the roads had completely dried up and I was really enjoying the roads and my bike.

I find the more I ride, the more I need to ride. I get huge satisfaction from riding and I find it really clears my head. Quite often if I’ve had a heavy day at work I will get home, get my bike out and go for a ride. I always feel so much better when I get home again.

Adding air to find the hole

So we had come out of Winslow and were about half way to Whitchurch when the o/h says over the intercom that something is not right with his bike so we find a suitable stopping place and pull over. The rear tyre on the CB is flat. Bugger.

The o/h carries a puncture repair kit on his bike (me, I carry a mobile phone and have RAC cover!)

We couldn’t see anything in the tyre nor locate where the hole in the tyre was so the o/h used one of the air cannisters to put some air back in the tyre and we were able to see where the hole was.

The o/h then put a plug in the tyre and used the remainder of the air cannisters to get some air back in the tyre. We then took it steady to the nearest garage which was luckily only a couple of miles away and used their air pump to pump the tyre up to it’s normal pressure.

Plugging the tyre

We then had a steady ride home - no coffee stop :-( ! The air in the tyre was staying in which was good.

The following morning I took it to the chap that looks after our cars and bikes, Rob at Underwood Automotive, and asked him if he could check the tyre was okay and repair the puncture properly.

Unfortunately, whatever had punctured the tyre had torn the inside wall of the tyre and it was irreparable. Gulp! At least the tyre was half worn I suppose!

When the bike was ready to be collected the o/h took me in the car to the garage so I could pick it up. Well, when we pulled into the garage forecourt the clutch went on the car!! Double gulp!!

I suppose if you’re going to break down then breaking down at the garage is actually a really good place for it to happen. A friend of ours was at the garage too so my o/h got a lift home in a ‘69 Camaro and I took the CB for a ride to get some miles on the tyre!

Running the new tyre in  ;-)

So our ride to Super Sausage for a coffee cost a new back tyre on the bike and a clutch in the car. I have to say, although it was hugely expensive, it was still a great ride!

BK

Super Sausage Cafe

Underwood Automotive

The Bell Hotel

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Fitting my heated grips .... or not !!!

I ride all year round. Generally unless it’s snowing or icy I’ll go out for a ride.

Postie had arrived

In the colder months I do admit that I get cold on the bike, even with thermals on I’m still chilly. Last year I got myself a heated vest which the o/h wired into the bike for me - basically I plug it in and I get warm and toasty. Simple. I have to say it made a huge difference to my riding as I was no longer getting cold.

A couple of things you have to remember with a heated vest are:

No. 1: Never leave home without it on during the months of October through to May;

No. 2: Remember to plug it in! It does not work if it is not plugged in.

So that’s my body taken care of but my hands were still suffering so I got myself a pair of battery heated gloves. These gloves were amazing in the cold and kept my hands warm and extremely toasty but they were so thick that I did not have the feel of the bike that I get with ‘normal’ gloves and in the end I was not wearing them as I did not like the lack of feel.

A couple of the guys I ride with fitted heated grips on their bikes and they were raving about how good they were and basically rubbing it in every time we arrived somewhere with their warm hands.

Where to put the bracket?

I was beginning to think these might sort my cold hands dilemma.

Last month I was coming back from Cornwall, some 350 odd miles, in what I would describe as horrendous wind and rain. To say I was cold and wet is an understatement. Although it turned out my waterproofs were not waterproof, my body itself was actually not too cold with the heated vest on. It was my hands that were cold. By the time I got home the decision was made that I was going to order a pair of heated grips.

Once I had dried out, the grips were ordered.

Postie arrived with my grips and now all I had to do was fit them. Hmm….with my garage skills being rather on the limited side, this was my first hurdle.

I did actually take them out of the box, saw the wires and skimmed over the instructions and then decided to put them back in the box.

I asked the o/h if he would like a little job. Uh oh, that turned out to be the wrong thing to ask – apparently he thought it would be a good idea if I learnt how to do it myself.

Bracket shaped & painted

Darn. Normally when parts arrive for the bikes/cars I usually just leave them on his workbench and then miraculously they are fitted without any assistance from me. That way really works for me. I knew I should have just left them on the workbench.

So into the garage I go. There is a bracket that you have to fit to the bars which the controller attaches to and I had to decide where it should go on my Z.

When I bought the CB it came with heated grips and the chap that fitted them adapted the said bracket and fixed it to one of the mirrors and, I have to admit, it is a neat job so I unfortunately said that I’d like it how the CB one was fitted.

I say unfortunately, because now I had to go into the spider infested workshop so said bracket could be heated and bent to shape and then painted black. Heck, how was I going to get out of this???

I am pretty amazed with myself that I lasted a whole three, maybe four minutes in the company of the spiders before I asked the o/h if he would like a cuppa and some cake – yes please he says. So I left him in the workshop and headed inside.

Old grips being removed

After about half an hour or so, the o/h comes in and asks what’s taking me so long, he’s already bent the bracket to shape and is just about to paint it. At this point I admitted that I didn’t have cake so I was baking one but he could carry on, I didn’t mind and with the promise of a home baked cake coming, o/h was happy at that – phew!

So with the bracket now fitted - it’s surprising just how long it can take to make a cake ;-), I slipped the tea and cake on the work bench and slipped out the front door to take the dog for a walk.

I tell you, it’s just like those bike washing fairies – I take the dog for a walk, come back and the bike is sparkling clean, polished and put back in the garage.

I came back from walking the dog and my heated grips are fitted and working and ready for my next ride. How cool was that!

The next morning I put the heated grips to the test on a ride out. OMG!!! They are amazing. I can’t believe the difference they make.

New grips all fitted :-)

I arrived at our breakfast stop and my hands were warm. Why have I not had these before??? 

I really like the fact that my hands were warm and I still had the feel of the bike through my ‘normal’ bike gloves. Perfect.

The next bike I buy, it’s first purchase will be a set of heated grips. 

OMG what a great excuse to buy another bike ...

BK

Oxford Products

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Moto2 Pre-race Briefing 

2020 Round 14, Valencia, Spain, 13-15 November

triumph@motocom.co.uk

A look back to the last race – Europa Grand Prix

• The first of the Valencian double-header (followed immediately after by the finale in Portugal) was incredibly tricky as the weather meant no rider got any true dry running until race day

• Even then the track was still damp and there were several crashes as a result, namely Sam Lowes whose exit from second position on lap 16 meant that Enea Bastianini now leads the World Championship

• 
  Marco Bezzecchi took his second race win of the season (and 2^nd of the Triumph era) and set the fastest top speed of the race, in doing so winning the inaugural Triumph Triple Trophy!

Winner: M. Bezzecchi #72 Pole position: 1m 38.936, X. Vierge #97

Fastest lap: 1m 35.584, H. Garzo #40 Top speed: 277.2km/h, M. Bezzecchi (WUP)

Race lap record: 1m 34.820, T. Luthi (2019) Circuit best: 1m 34.461, J. Navarro (2019)

A look to this coming race – Europe Grand Prix

• With a potential maximum haul of 50 points remaining from the last two races, just 29 points separates the top four so the next two races will see an intense battle for the championship

• In contrast to last weekend’s race, this weekend the weather is forecast to be 20 degrees and dry in Valencia with just a two per cent chance of rain, so unlike previous back-to-back races at the same venue, data gained last weekend might not be quite so relevant

• Having rarely been out of the top three last weekend until his crash, Sam Lowes will be looking to make amends and retake the championship lead

• Bastianini and Lowes are just six points apart. Each has three wins this season, but Sam’s now had three 0 scores to Enea’s one – who can hold their nerve for the last two races?

Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph

• Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) is the first winner of the Triumph Triple Trophy!

• He’s scored points at nine races this season, including the double of top speed and pole in Jerez and top speed and fastest lap in Austria

About the Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph

• The Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph runs alongside the Moto2 World Championship in 2020, recognising that there are more stories of success from a GP than simply the race win, and will award one rider with a Street Triple RS at the end of the season

• Points will be awarded to the one rider at the top of each of these categories (or multiple riders in the case of a tie): fastest top speed of the weekend, pole position, and fastest race lap

• Fastest top speed: 7 points for the fastest rider / riders in case of a tie

• Pole position: 6 points for the rider on pole

• Fastest race lap: 5 points for the fastest rider / riders in case of a tie

The Triumph Moto2™ 765cc race engine is a development of the class-leading Street Triple RS 765cc road motorcycle and produces more than 140PS and the same visceral soundtrack

Join the social conversation: #PoweredbyTriumph

2020 Valencia race information: 2020 Moto2 Grand Prix winners:

Rider	Victories
E. Bastianini	3 - SPA, CZE, RSM
L. Marini	3 - SPA, RSM, SPA
S. Lowes	3 - FRA, ARA, ARA
M. Bezzecchi	1 - AUT, 1 - VAL
T. Nagashima	1 - QAT
J. Martin	1 - AUT

Winner: M. Bezzecchi #72

Pole position: 1m 38.936, X. vierge #97

Fastest lap: 1m 35.584, H. Garzo #40

Top speed: 277.2km/h, M. Bezzecchi (WUP)

Race lap record: 1m 34.820, T. Luthi (2019)

Circuit best: 1m 34.461, J. Navarro (2019)

2020 Moto2 World Championship top ten:

Pos	Race #	Rider	Chassis	Engine	Nation	Points
1	33	E. Bastianini	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	ITA	184
2	22	S. Lowes	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	GBR	178
3	10	L. Marini	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	ITA	165
4	72	M. Bezzecchi	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	ITA	155
5	88	J. Martin	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	SPA	125
6	87	R. Gardner	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	AUS	101
7	45	T. Nagashima	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	JPN	85
8	16	J. Roberts	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	USA	80
9	12	T. Luthi	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	SWI	72
10	97	X. Vierge	Kalex	Triumph 765cc	SPA	70

2020 standings – Triumph Triple Trophy #PoweredbyTriumph:

Pos	Race #	Rider	Nation	Points	Team
1	72	M. Bezzecchi	ITA	74	Sky Racing Team VR46
2	10	L. Marini	ITA	30	Sky Racing Team VR46
3	22	S. Lowes	GBR	27	EG 0,0 Marc VDS
4	88	J. Martin	SPA	23	Red Bull KTM Ajo
5	16	J. Roberts	USA	18	American Racing
6	33	E. Bastianini	ITA	17	Italtrans Racing Team
7	12	T. Luthi	SWI	14	Liqui Moly Intact GP
-	42	M. Ramirez	SPA	14	American Racing
9	97	X. Vierge	SPA	13	PETRONAS Sprinta Racing
10	87	R. Gardner	AUS	12	Onexox TKKR SAG
11	45	T. Nagashima	JPN	10	Red Bull KTM Ajo
12	23	M. Schrotter	GER	7	Liqui Moly Intact GP
-	99	K. Daniel	MAL	7	Onexox TKKR SAG Team
-	62	S. Manzi	ITA	7	MV Agusta Forward Racing
15	44	A. Canet	SPA	6	Openbank Aspar Team

2020 Moto2 calendar:

	Date	Race		Date	Race
1	8 Mar	GP of Qatar, Losail	9	27 Sept	GP of Spain, Barcelona
2	19 July	GP of Spain, Jerez	10	11 Oct	GP of France, Le Mans
3	26 July	GP of Andalucia, Jerez	11	18 Oct	GP of Aragon, Aragon
4	9 August	GP of Czech Republic, Brno	12	25 Oct	GP of Teruel, Aragon
5	16 August	GP of Austria, Red Bull Ring	13	8 Nov	GP of Europe, Valencia
6	23 August	GP of Styria, Red Bull Ring	14	15 Nov	GP of Valencia, Valencia
7	13 Sept	GP of San Marino, Misano	15	22 Nov	GP of Portugal, Algarve
8	20 Sept	GP Emilia-Romagna, Misano

BK