Modern Vespa

There will be a "progressive" ride starting from the Maidstone Services at Junction 8 of the M20 at 9am on Sunday the 15th of August and will take us all to Hastings for a quick cuppa or Ice Cream and then back to Maidstone to a lovely pub for lunch.
Later on you are all invited back to my gaff for tea and biscuits.

Koks and alike are very welcome.

Bill X

Count me in subject to weather and last minute work.... 8)

yes. even though i've developed a deathly fear of blind corners

Don't be silly, of course you haven't. You were just having a "not-in-the-zone" day. And I've just seen what time the ride is starting. I am unlikely to get out of bed that early on a Sunday. (I'd be surprised if Jim's alarm could wake him too!)

Lightweights......i've gotta do 100 miles just to get to the start.
Up with the larks I will be......

Well I'm happy to put it back an hour for all of you late risers but my theory is to miss all of the traffic on the way ( and back from) the coast.

I've just ridden the route again and tweaked it with a ride down by the Military Canal between Appledore and Rye.
What a stunning road and quite quick as well.

I've also found a rustic cafe and a modern one on Hastings Seafront where we can quench our respective thirsts before we ride home.

Bill X

Very likely, though I'm finding that at the moment I'm getting up fresh as a daisy at 06:45. Strange but true.

trying .... desperately .... to ignore .... double-entendre in ..... jim's post .....

<shock> This is Gentleman Jim! Chuckles came from the corner though...

How is Chuckles anyway? Send her my bests x

B'stards!

I'm tail-ending, BTW, but don't let this put anyone off

Well volunteered, that sets me free to be as progressive as the Hornet will allow!

I've reserved a table for 8 of us at the pub in Maidstone for those of you who would like to dine.

Numbers numbers numbers.

Bill X

Anyone checked out the weather forecast for this weekend?

Sunny intervals, 18 degrees, sayeth the Met Office.

For now...

Now back in the UK, yes wiil be there all coffee'd up at 09:00. Looking forward to it!

Good Man Jim. Welcome back to the UK.

I'm sure you have many good tales to tell.

Doing a dry run tomorrow evening just for a laugh.

Bill X

So that'll be, what, seven recce's so far?

There, there, I do understand.

This is the 3rd ride on this route because the first two rides needed tweeking.

You'll understand when you see it Jim.

You can join me and Alice tomorrow evening if you fancy.

Some of it is just straight and fast but there are some wonderful fast bends thrown in.

I'm thinking tea and a bun on the seafront then a "gentle pootle" to the pub for food.

Those of you who don't want to wake with the lark are welcome to join us at the seafront or at the pub near Maidstone.

Hey, you've gotta do a couple of dry runs. Rather than, say, rely on a sat-nav to sort it all out

Very nice ride last night. A few showers, but contrary to my expectations Bill does not actually shrivel up and melt in the rain

Looking forward to doing it on Sunday with a few more people!

Hi,

Since I bought my ET4 in May I haven't been on a proper ride . Only home-work work-home. So, I was just wondering if there is a place there for a 125cc or r u guys goin on motorways (only CBT here)? Don't want to slow anyone down 8)

woocash

unfortunately this ride involves motorways - we're meeting at Junction 8 of the M20. it's also going to be a 'progressive' ride - which might mean you having to wring the poor ET4's neck to keep up What do others think? Is there a 'work around' for an L-plated 125, or is it maybe a better idea to wait for the next ride?

There's no actual motorway involved; Maidstone services are accessible from the A20 as well as the M20, and the ride itself is A and B roads all the way.

As far as speed goes, I'll be at the back to scoop up any stragglers so there's no need for anyone to go flat out in an attempt to keep up.

However, this has been flagged as a 'progressive' ride. 'Making progress' doesn't mean going breakneck fast but it does mean you should feel confident about riding in a group, cornering, handling junctions and so on - it's more about your ability than the scooter's.

Has to be your judgement call, really - if you go too far out of your comfort zone you're likely to be tense and not enjoy the ride. And I'm sure somebody will be organising a more 'scenic' ride soon...

The A20 is a very nice road - much better than the M20 (death by lorry anyone). So if you have the choice take it.

I concur with Alice - group riding is more difficult than the equivalent blatt by yourself at the same speed.

My take - this progressive ride is frankly for those with 'advanced' capabilities - there will be plenty more cropping up that's be L-plate friendly. In fact we normally go out of our way to ensure they all are, but this one's a bit different.

Yes I know it's not a race, but...

forecast has changed light rain at the starting point, heavy rain in hastings. bleh. might not be as 'progressive' as we'd planned.

Oh I don't know...

And the weather forecast always changes anyway.

i'm looking forward to it...well apart from the sunday morning alarm clock wake up call.

ok. cool. no worries. maybe next time then. I don't get a Sunday off to often, tho... Just fed up with riding on me own. I guess we can meet up at the Ace Cafe sometime. Have a good ride. Hope the weather gets better...

woocash

I'm only a maybe based on this weather.

updated forecast: sun hurrah.

as jim said, most of our rides are non-exclusive - this one's a rare exception there'll be more coming up, for all engine sizes and abilities. watch this space.

Sorry I bailed out folks, weather wasn't great here at 6am this morning so I decided to give it a miss. Hope you all have a good ride.

what a fascinating day we had

all systems appeared to be 'go' when we met at the motorway services this morning - jim, alice, dave, myself, and mr. dog and five very elegant GT/GTSs. a quick coffee and a chat and off we set. Ten minutes up the road, my odometer had just turned over to the 20,000 km mark .... and at that precise moment the Hornet mysteriously died a quick check revealed that no fuel was getting to the carb - a roadside repair was ruled out and recovery services were called. fortunately jim had stalled right outside a golf and country club with a well stocked bar cafe, so we left jim in comfort to wait for the recovery van, and pushed on.

unfortunately the brief delay had pushed us over the watershed for weekend traffic, so the ride wasn't as progressive as we'd hoped, though there were some gorgeous, memorable sections where we were able to attain very satisfactory speeds. i'll let bill tell you exactly where those were. if we can get the timing right to avoid the traffic, it's a route worth riding again

a quick cuppa and a bun by the seaside in hastings, and we set off again for maidstone and bill's local for lunch. Jim was on his way home by this time, and true hero that he is, offered to return on the GP800 to join us for lunch. We arrived at Checkers pub in good time, settled ourselves, ordered lunch, when who should turn up but Fay Presto! Looking more glamorous after a 70mph dash down the M2 than I do for a night on the town She regaled us with stories and magic tricks and a we had a very merry luncheon indeed. there were four utterly miserable bald-headed pointy-nosed brothers/mates sat at a corner table opposite us, who scowled and made sarky comments every time our table got a bit too lively after a delicious lunch we all made our way back by separate routes - Alice and DaveLondon headed down the M20, Fay and I down the M2, and Jim went off to enjoy a slow pootle back to his.

returned to find yet another dead frog in the kitchen, courtesy of the evil kitten of death apart from that it was a wonderful day

As genie has said, I never made it to Hastings - the incredibly reliable Hornet just slowed down and stopped about 8 miles after I'd met up with the others - after dashing down 65 miles of motorway. Fuel starvation - not the best thing to diagnose at the roadside without a full set of tools - so having established it was nothing obvious the recovery folk were called, and I sent the others on their way. As usual I'd forgotten to bring a phone, so Bill lent me his. I had a very good coffee at the bar while I waited.

Nice guy in the recovery van, lashed down the Hornet properly, and we had a good chat on the way back along the motorway with some inevitable queues on some stretches. Had enough time to grab a sandwich, then I jumped on the GP800 and hared off yet again back down the 65 miles of motorway to meet up with the others at their lunch stop - to have a couple of pints (too late for lunch) and to give Bill's phone back. Hurrah! Fay Presto honoured us with her presence, and a good Skoker's chat ensued.

I rode back home a random but zesty tiny back-roads route, Gertrude served me well.

Oh major thank you's to Fay for making it to the pub, Jim for making back to the pub, Alice for being a brilliant tailender and David for buying the biscuits.
Plus Genie for doing a far better write up than I ever could.

The fast sections were between St Micheals through to Appledore ( Where Gandalf lives ) and then the really fast bit was along the side of the Military Canal on the way to Rye.

God I love that road and I love even more the chicanes that you can "straight line" at around 65mph.

I think we should give an award to the best comedy breasts for the nice lady at the Rainbow Cafe which had Gingham table clothes and prize tit of the day to the moron who decided to do a 8 point turn in the road works while we were riding through on a green light.

I'm a bit ashamed of the Hornet for letting Jim down while we were just getting things moving but I'm starting to think that it got jealous when it saw the Ventilato. Bad Hornet.

Keep us posted on what the problem was won't you Jim.
Well done on your good news by the way. Wink Wink.

If anyone want's to do that route again in the next couple of months just ask.

Thanks again all.

Bill XX

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