100 mile trip to the MUSE gig at Wembley

[Guzzista_Joe]

Anyone thinking of going to the new Wembley stadium at all? I travelled by Cali for the Muse concert on Sunday and I found out a few interesting points to consider...

 

I was looking forward to a nice 100 mile round trip ...actually, it turned out to be 140 miles in the end...on the Cali, the trip was a breeze, two up and with a bag of stuff on the rear carrier.

 

It is when you are on a motorway that you realise what the thinking behind the Cali is. Although it is styled like a cruiser it is nothing other than a fantastic tourer.

 

Comfort is ok...the Jackal has an awful seat, anyone who rode one will know this, but Ruby, my missus and passenger, was perfectly comfortable. She had a perfectly padded seat and the backrest meant she was able to adjust her seating position if she needed to.

 

For me, the rider, I could sit behind the huge Isotta screen in a bubble of still air and just let the bike do the work. We tore through the Dartford tunnel at a terrific rate (toll is free for motorcycles) and the sound in the tunnel was a delicious rumble.

 

On the open road, the gearing and tuning of the motor means that you have most of the available power in the mid range, just where you need it...in top gear, at 75-80 mph it is just purring and you can feel it settle into a characteristic sweet spot at 80 mph.

 

If you come up to a parsimonious Sunday bimbler, invariably in a Rover, or a bloody lorry, a grip of the throttle sees you shoot from 80-100 mph in the blink of an eye, crisply, progressively and, above all, easily. Once you have skirted the obstacle you are then free to settle back down into that sweet spot again.

 

Incidentally, if you travel to Wembley ignore the sign that directs you to Jct 16 as this is inexplicable and must be some kind of official prank intended to piss everyone off. I had briefly studied the map the night before and knew the best route was M25 north to Jct 23, then A1 to Hendon for the A406 and then on to Wembley itself...see? no need for bloody Sat Nav...I had a 10 year old map and 3 markers to remember...how easy is that, why spend several hundred quid on a useless bloody gadget!

 

Had we followed the official "advice" we would have found ourselves going right round the M25 from "3 o'clock"at the tunnel, to "9 o'clock" for Jct 16 then being faced with having to cross London on the M4 and all roads through Chiswick etc...nightmare of all bloody jokes...OI TRANSPORT MINISTER SORT IT!!!

 

Once off the M25, the traffic is a 'mare. However, the slim design of our favourite motor means we have the pleasure of quite a narrow motorcycle…the result? A long distance tourer that can handle city congestion…try getting through weekend A1 traffic Mr BMW or Bedpan European rider! We made great progress; so much so that I could feel the slight twitches of Ruby’s knees at the back. Ruby wasn’t used to the Cali’s ability to carve up traffic.

 

We arrived at Wembley so easily, it had taken less than 20 minutes from the M25, and were struck by two things:

 

1:- How impressive the new stadium is…you can see it for miles.

2:- What a dump the area surrounding the stadium is…we have built this state of the art, impressive edifice and placed it in a place that to call it a shit hole is to play down how bad it is…think Basra or Beirut on a bad day and you are not halfway there.

This really is a sad fact but you think of visitors from abroad travelling to this wonderful stadium they have probably seen images of and wondering if they have been demonically transported back to the Vitorian age….oh, this was in daylight…dodgy looking locals have set up impromptu “car parks” and stand in their dirty fluorescent bibs trying to direct you in for “just” £10…I wonder how many found their vehicles intact when they returned…because they would have had to go back there at night…scary!

 

They should have levelled off the whole flipping area and created a vast open green space around the whole stadium, like they have done at the Allianz stadium in Munich where you don’t have to negotiate armies of little urchin gremlins who are so obviously there for the thieving…bastards.

 

Still, no such hassle for us, I had phoned Wembley’s car parking sub contractors during the week…twice…you see, I am a seasoned traveller in Blighty and I know that you need to confirm what somebody in a contact centre tells you…I had done that so no worries for us…or so I thought…

 

When I phoned they told me that yes, it is perfectly fine to bring my motorcycle, go to the green car park, it is right next door to the stadium and costs £5. (You may think that’s a bit steep for a few hours, but do remember you are parking in Beirut so it is a small charge if it means it’ll still be there on your return!

 

The Cali drew many an admiring glance as it weaved its way past all manner of slow cumbersome traffic, including several Harleys that would not have got their front fender through gaps that the Cali tore through. We arrived at the green car park in the shadow of the stadium’s arch to be told by the gormless barrier operative that bikes aren’t allowed in that car park…I need yellow car park he tells me, but I confirmed this on the telephone, twice, I retort…nope, he maintains, it is yellow car park which is right round the stadium to the opposite side.

 

Bugger that I think and spot another member of staff further in with a walkie talkie, he must have more know how as they have entrusted him with a radio so I drive past the first gormless individual…to find another shit-for-brains, who also states that green car park is not for bikes, I need red car park…aaah, red, so the office says green, the chap at the gate says yellow, and this fella’s saying red…excellent stuff, I bet this sort of crap doesn’t happen at the Allianz stadium in Munich!

 

I wasn’t going to take this lying down, I have Latin blood in my veins, and it was beginning to simmer…get your supervisor here please…a piece of my rapidly evaporating mind was given but he informed me it was actually York House where bikes park…he must have been a supervisor because this dude had a headset with his radio, not just an ordinary walkie talkie like his soon to be (hopefully) admonished underling and mister personality at the gate.

 

We find it, park, go to gig, enjoy Muse, ride home…fantastic… the Cali is as good in town or on the open road and, apart from a slightly sore butt from its awful saddle, I am in total admiration of its capabilities…my only wish is that other things were as well thought out and designed as my motorcycle.

 

And if you want to know about Muse, click this link:

 

http://guzzista.wetpaint.com/page/Guzzista+Rock+n'+Roll

 

...incidentally, one final point, Wembley's pathetic website (looks nice but no useful info) tells you the stadium is a "Public Transport Destination" so leave your shitty cars n stuff at home and follow the utopian dream of new London transport planning...thell that to the thousands of pissed off punters who were told by public announcement that there would be no Metropolitan Line into London...peachy, stranded in Beirut at that time of night with no public transport from a public transport destination hahaha...like I always say...You're better off by Guzzi, to poke fun at the old tube slogan!

[GuzzBun]

Excellent recount Guzzista Joe - highly amusing! I train-in to Lunnun most days and see the New Wembley - had no idea it was the topping for a pile of crap!

 

Thoroughly concur your observations of a Cali - I've had two (91 Cali III and a 97 1100i) both were consummate tourers with a real thirst for cornering and so responsive to input - oddly enough as I was riding my Breva 1100 in to Lunnun this morning, I reflected on its very bad throttle response, and toyed with the idea of trading it in for a new Cali - something about the Cali that demands total pleasure. I'm off to France in July on the Breva - this will be it's final chance to impress - if it fails then it's exchange-for-a-Cali-for-you-my-girl!

[Guzzista_Joe]

Haha...thank you, you're welcome!

 

Do you remember when cd's first came out? I remember "experts" on Tomorrows World saying that they were much better than our trusty old records and, unlike vynil, a cd would last forever...then I thought, how can they say that? no one's had one long enough...

 

Well, I wonder if your Breva will fit that bill too...old Guzzis took years to bed in and mature which is why they were kept by their owners for many years and why so many of the old 'uns are still running around.

 

I wonder if the new generation Guzzis will also take time to mature and evolve in the same way...I guess time will tell...'cause no one's had one long enough yet!

 

I'll be interested to hear about how your trip to France goes actually because I've been thinking of doing the swop in the oppo direction when the time comes to replace the old Jackal!

 

Oh and, incidentally, if you are interested, it'd be cool to feature your trip on our site ( www.guzzista.com ) as we are all about people's experiences of riding real bikes...enjoy the trip and thanks again!

[Martin Barrett]

I went to see the Football Conference playoff, Brother in law is an Exeter fan. They would have come down to see them play Stevenage (where I live) but when it became likely they would make the play offs they deferred their visit till then. We drove 30 miles to the end of the tube line(stanmore) and then only 4 stops.

 

The stadium was okay, I wouldn't go any further than that.

 

The Step mother's work relocated to that area, she'd agree with your assessment on the quality of the area. It was one of the factors that lead her to take early retirement.

 

 

I've biked on a couple of occasion to see bands in the 80's at the arena, but normally it's public transport on the rare occasions I head into town.

[Guzzista_Joe]

...harumph! we missed out on the play-offs by a point , I'm a Gravesend fan, we're now called Ebbsfleet United because some dudes built a train station in the area and it sounds more Eurostarry...100 years of tradition changed, just like that but that's progress I s'ppose...

 

I agree Wembley isn't as radical as some others...like for instance the japanese one that allows them to drive the pitch outside for watering and sunning and then drive it back inside for matches and that was built for 1/4 of the price of Wembley...or the Allianz stadium I kep going on about...or even Dartford's new ground with its renewable energy things...or burgers...I dunno, something's renewable anyways...why's everything so much more expensive for us?