"AlpineBiker" – Touring in the Alps


  • Motorcycle rescue services

    Posted on by Paul

    Back at the turn of the last century in the UK, the AA or Automobile Organisation was formed. I was surprised to learn that originally it was formed to “combat police persecution” of motorists. These wonderful guardians of motorists rights would patrol the roads with the purpose of warning AA members of police speed traps, their members being  identified by an AA badge attached to the front of the vehicle.

    Now this strikes me as a very enterprising organisation, especially since it was formed in 1905, so clearly even back then the motorist was being singled out as a “victimised ” element of the population.

    Apparently the service began with its “scouts”  using cycles, then started using solo motorbikes in 1912, and eventually sidecars as pictured in 1919. These sidecar outfits were known as RSO’s (Road service outfit) and allowed their riders to carry tool kits, petrol and water, thereby being the perfect vehicles to assist in roadside breakdowns.

    Of course, over time,  progress and technology, bikes were overtaken by the practicality of using cars and vans with their increased tool carrying capability. The AA stopped using bikes in the late 1990′s , but in more recent times has started to use Vectrix electric scooters on the city of London streets.

     

    As with anything in life, there is competition, and the competition for the AA was the RAC, the Royal Automobile club, which in fact was formed in 1897, preceding the AA by some 7 years.

    Initially named the Automobile Club of Great Britain, this was another organisation campaigning for the motorists rights, and most specifically against the 14mph speed limit which had been imposed in 1896.

    It also organised the first Tourist Trophy (TT) race in 1905 and governed motor sport in the UK, gaining the name Royal in the title in 1907 under the patronage of King Edward VII.  It also organised the first ever British Grand Prix at Brooklands in 1926

    Roadside patrols began in 1901 and like the AA used motorbikes until the 1960′s before changing to 4 wheels.

    I was only going to put up a couple of pictures for this post, but as with anything, research uncovers some interesting facts! Hope you enjoyed this very short history lesson?


  • RC45- SOLD

    Posted on by Paul

    Sorry if you were interested in buying, bike is now sold.


  • The job market- a social commentary

    Posted on by Paul

     

    This post isn’t remotely bike related, but it’s a subject close to my heart, and as it’s my blog, I’m free to post whatever I like, so here’s my take on the job market and the trials and tribulations of job seeking.

     

    Anyone tried to get a job recently? Used the services of a recruitment agent?, or should I say, had the good fortune to find a recruitment agent who is prepared to talk to them? No? Well the market is tough out there as I’m sure many of you know.

    I was fortunate enough to have had a very good job earning a high salary and with a good benefits package. For several reasons I’m no longer in this position, and naively thought my experiences in both product and man management would make me an attractive catch for a progressive company, well how wrong could I be?

    The first realisation of how difficult it would be, came after the very first interview I had after leaving that position, when I was informed by the recruitment agent that my experience and seniority was actually a negative for this particular company, as not only were they offering a lower salary, but I was actually taking a backward step seniority wise. Now I don’t know how many of you enjoy man management, but I can take it or leave it, and I was quite happy to take a bit less money and be more hands on again, but it appears you can never go backwards, it creates mistrust and a belief that you’ll jump ship at the first opportunity for more money.

    So having established that companies are suspicious of anyone taking what appears to be a backwards step with their careers, I then found that my age counts against me too. Hoping to find an international position just over the border in Switzerland from my French home, I found that once you turn 50 you’re persona non grata, any potential employer sees you as an added cost to his business because they have to make increased pension payments so younger employees are favoured.

    Next comes your chosen industry. I have had the “misfortune” to work in the mail order and automotive industries, which to any recruitment agent means you have operated out of the “mainstream” fields they recruit for, and therefore your skill set will be too difficult to sell to their clients, so you come up against a roadblock again. Are you starting to see a recurring theme here?

    Recruitment agents are a law unto themselves, you are either a red hot potato or not worth the time of day. I once registered my CV on the biggest UK agencies website and got an email from them a few days later, telling me that I hadn’t got the job I applied for but please keep checking their website for future opportunities! There was no note of the job title I hadn’t applied for, it was clearly a standard letter, and it occurred to me that this was a first, being rejected for a job I hadn’t ever applied for, beat that!

    Of course if you get a reply at all you’ve done well. Most insulting is to receive your CV returned to you, followed closely by the standard letter “ we have nothing matching your skill set” (and never will), your name being spelt incorrectly, or even addressed dear sir or madam, a clear sign no-one has ever looked at it, or can’t be bothered to delete the inappropriate title.

    Also insulting is to be contacted by an agency, who clearly thinks you’re the real deal, then find you’ve either earnt too much or are too senior, and who then brazenly ask you for your assistance in providing them with a list of “more suitable” former colleagues who would be! I can’t write what I wanted to reply on this occasion, needless to say I didn’t provide any names.

    This probably seems like a rant about recruitment agencies, and perhaps it is, but the reality is that 9/10 jobs are inaccessible unless you go via an agency, so if you can’t get them to champion your cause, you’re going nowhere. I personally think that companies should handle their own recruitment, as it’s so easy to lose the key elements of the personal requirements of the job, which are only fully understood by the employer. How many times I wonder does real talent ideal for a certain position get passed up, because the recruiter has misjudged or misunderstood the brief? Chinese whispers, the job starts as A and recruiter believes they mean B?

    I’ve had interviews scheduled, then withdrawn the day before, as companies cut back. I’ve been told one position I applied for had over 1300 applicants! I had one interview with an extremely high end vehicle manufacturer who declined to pay any expenses, so I was left out of pocket to the tune of €400 for a flight from France to the UK, car hire, petrol, and an overnight hotel. When you see their most expensive car sells for over £1.2m, you’ve got to ask why they couldn’t afford even a token payment?

    Then you find a company who has looked for 5 months to find their “ideal” candidate, where you sail through a phone interview and are invited for a face to face, ostensibly with an offer to follow, and then they, or their recruiter decline to pay a mere £150 flight ticket, unbelievable!!!

    My final tale is that of a recruiter who did not respond after 6 weeks and several chase letters, asking if he had even received my CV? I eventually had a reply from someone after I sent an email to their general office address, and was informed he’d been on holiday, for 6 weeks?! Come on, who are you trying to fool?! Who can afford 6 weeks off in this day and age? I suggest that anyone who isn’t missed after even 2 weeks hasn’t got a job worthy of the name, or their contribution to their business is negligible.

    In the interests of a balanced commentary, I have of course come across a few good ones, those who have sought to assist my search and actively looked on my behalf, but there aren’t that many of them! I have a friend who was working with a recruiter and I asked why my CV didn’t get more interest, and it seems they have so many, that everything is put onto a database, and if a few keywords come up in a search then you might get lucky, otherwise, you’re just one of maybe 10,000 (literally).

    So frustration rules. It’s tough out there, and getting tougher, but if anyone reading this cares to offer a position in some form of product management, and isn’t scared about the fact I’m over 50, I’d love to hear from you! As parting words, if you have a job, hang on to it for grim death, and if you’re looking, I wish you luck, you’re likely to need some!


  • Laverda

    Posted on by Paul

     

    If you’re into motorcycle history or biking, you’ll more than likely know of or have heard of the original fire breathing 1000cc Jota from 1976. When it was launched it’s top speed in excess of 140mph was awesome and made it the fastest production motorcycle of it’s time.

     

    Fast forward 35 years and the name Laverda is all but forgotten, having been purchased by Aprilia in 2000. There was a plan to create a new range of bikes with the Laverda brand, with the idea to market them as a range and with pricing above that of Aprila models, in the same way that Lexus is sold as an the upmarket brand of Toyota. The first stumbling block was that Aprilia also bought Moto Guzzi at the same time and decided to channel their efforts into Guzzi not Laverda, which meant the Laverda range was effectively stillborn, although seeing how Guzzi is performing today, you have to say that decision seems well justifed! When Aprilia fell on hard times and were themselves bought by Piaggio, the brand got shelved and all that remains was a concept bike Aprilia created, which featured the Aprilia RSV-R engine and was called the 750SFC. This bike appeared all too briefly in shows in 2003 but never made it into production.

    All of this brings me to a recollection of my own experiences with Laverda motorbikes. More years ago than I care to remember, I bought a Laverda 750S. I had been looking for a “sports” motorbike for solo riding to run alongside the Blackbird I used predominantly for touring with my wife. My search for a smaller, lighter and sportier bike didn’t have a real direction, so it was with an open mind that I listened to my friend Karel’s suggestion that I take a look at  Laverda. At that time Laverda were going through yet another financial crisis and were either for sale or in liquidation, so their bikes were being sold at stupidly low discount prices, but you had to take some uncertainty about the future availability of spare parts if you bought one.

    The local dealer was a couple of hours away, and Karel and I rode over to have a look and for me to take a test ride. There were half and full faired versions of the 750S, with interesting looking specs: multi adjustable Paioli forks, Marchesini wheels, Brembo brakes, aluminium beam frame, fuel injection, water cooled parallel twin making 92bhp, 185kg weight, and a top speed of 140mph. On paper not too bad, although not exactly earth shattering bhp figures, but hey, with a 6000chf discount off the normal price, it seemed a reasonable buy.

    The test ride threw up a couple of odd things which I put down to character and me not knowing the machine, but in hindsight should have taken as warning signs. The engine stalled a few times, needed to be revved hard with all the power above 7000rpm, but it was very light and flickable. It juddered a little being a twin, but as it was the first time I’d ridden a parallel twin I probably thought they all did that?

    A week later I’d bought the bike and rode it back home via St Cergue, which is a pass with 73 bends in 9kms,. All was going well except that by the time I arrived at the notoriously tricky pass, it had started snowing! Normally an unknown bike and snow would put the fear of god into a person, but the bike handled so well, and gave such great feedback in it’s handling that I felt super confident and got down safely and in one piece.

    Time passed, the first service was reached, and I made the forum recommended cable adjuster fitment which improved throttle response. I loved the handling, but the more I rode, the more cracks started appearing in my appreciation of the bike. It stalled, a lot! The engine was without doubt, after BMW’s K1200 offering, the worst pile of junk fitted to any bike I’ve ever thrown my leg over and ridden. Strange then that a race team in the UK seemed to be doing well in a production series with a similar model, but I guess theirs was hugely modified as it was impossible to imagine anyone riding this model and being anywhere other than at the back of the pack!

     

     

    I think the final straw came when my R6 riding buddy Ian took it for a ride and very quickly gave it me back declaring himself to be less than impressed and stating it wasn’t really very good (politely worded). Soon after it was sold, having been in my possession for a mere 3 months and 3205kms. Still, I sold it for the same price I’d paid for it, so other than the cost of a service and the throttle mod, I’d had 3 months of free biking, but it has the stigma of being the worst bike that I’ve ever owned and for the shortest period of time.

    As an aside to this story, Karel was the proud possessor of 750SFC which he loved, equally agricultural in performance and with parts harder to find that rocking horse manure, he loved it’s recalcitrant nature and difficult handling, only letting it go when he moved to the US and found it impossible to export it there.


  • The Stelvio Pass

    Posted on by Paul

    The 2760m Stelvio Pass is a popular destination for many motorcyclists, drawn by the lure of  it’s 48 hairpin bends. In July last year I took a group there and filmed our descent. The day was very cloudy and you can see from the pictures and the film how we were riding in and out of the clouds, which whilst looking picturesque, meant it was quite cold!

    The 48 hairpins are challenging as the road surfaces are not great and the bends VERY tightly radiussed and steep, and if something comes the other way, especially coaches, it can get a bit hairy. I’ve heard lots of stories of people dropping their bikes mid bend as they underestimated the gradient or were riding too slowly and were baulked by a vehicle coming the other way.

    If you’ve never been then you’ll probably enjoy the ride as an experience, but the hairpins are hard work and you’ll be glad to have reached the bottom in one piece, so be careful how you ride. The best option for me is to approach from the Bormio side and then descend the Umbrail Pass into Switzerland rather than descending the 48 hairpins.

     

    Please click on title below to view film

     

    Stelvio- film

     

    Visit alpinebiker.com website for details of 2012 tours

     


  • “La Tremola” (San Gotthard )

    Posted on by Paul

    “La Tremola” below, is the original San Gotthard pass .  Unique in being paved from top to bottom it not only looks spectacular, but is also  special to ride.

     

    This film shows a descent of the 2108m “Tremola”  down towards Airolo during July’s  Mountain Passes tour. Check the altitude and scenery at the circa 2.40 minute mark. The pass you can see above is the “new” San Gotthard. The paving creates a bumpy ride and causes the apparent jerky movement of the film, the camera lens and picture looks slightly misty due to previous rain. The film shows the big gradient drops and tightness of the hairpin bends.

     

     

     



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