Keith Gooden
In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast…
Matt Sims
We’re talking about health one year on from my big scare.
Keith Gooden
In the news, the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show starts this week.
Matt Sims
And we answer your questions on tyres, insuring new motorhomes not on the DVLA database, and updates on licence weight limits.
Keith Gooden
Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans, brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.
Matt Sims
Remember to follow on your favourite podcast app and do please subscribe on YouTube. Brought to you by www.arobasecreative.co.uk,
Save on tickets to the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show 2025
Keith Gooden
This week is the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show 2025 at the NEC, 18th to the 23rd of February. Now, there’s two NEC shows, aren’t there? One in February and one in October. The one in October is the biggie. The one in February is still big, but not as big as that one.
Matt Sims
There are still five halls!
Keith Gooden
Yeah, the one in October is massively huge. Five halls at the NEC is big. I went to a show at the NEC which has nothing to do with motorhoming in November, and it was one hall. It filled half of one hall.
Matt Sims
Yeah, that’s normal for most shows at the NEC. I think this is one of the biggest consumer brand shows that the NEC host, the October show especially. But even this show, yeah, it’s massive. Many acres of motorhomes, campervans, caravans – a lot of accessory sellers at this show as well, and loads of tents. So there’s loads to see and do. It’s a great week.
Keith Gooden
You can save on tickets for the show from the 18th through to the 23rd of February at the NEC with the code MATT. Just go to mhmp.info/shows and put the code in, MATT, to save some cash.
Matt Sims
And come and say hi if you’re coming to the show. I am on stage three times a day. Twice a day there’s an Ask the Expert Panel. That’s at 11:40am every day and again at 2pm. So if you’ve got a question and you want to come and ask an expert panel, I’ll be on stage with a few other experts too, trying to answer all the questions. They’re great fun. I love doing them because you have no idea what’s going to be asked. Although we could probably wager the themes of the questions, couldn’t we?
Keith Gooden
Wi-Fi.
Matt Sims
Payload.
Keith Gooden
And travelling to Europe.
Matt Sims
Yeah. But if you’ve got some a question about something else, I’d love to hear it! Also, Wednesday onwards, every day at 4:30pm I’m going to be on the Camping and Caravanning Club stand on their little stage with Andrew Dickens. We are cooking up a dessert treat. And then throughout the show, we’ll be wandering around making content.
And I’ll be coming and seeing the team from That Leisure Shop who are in Hall Five on the Crespo Bo-Camp stand. So make sure you come and see them. I reckon it’s the most beautiful stand at the show. If you’re looking for outdoor furniture, tables, chairs, accessories – it’s amazing. Go and say hi to the team. Darren, Jude and Nicola will be on the stand all week, and I’ll be popping on and off as well. So do come and say hello if you see me, please.
Keith Gooden
Yeah, come along and see Matt popping on and off!
Matt Sims
You’re not coming this time, aren’t you?
Keith Gooden
No.
Matt Sims
We’ve not invited you along.
Keith Gooden
Not invited.
Matt Sims
You’re not welcome, not after last time.
Keith Gooden
Well, I’m sorry about that. Did they find my trousers?
Living one year on from heart surgery
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
And it’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe. So in this podcast, we’re talking about health, older people’s health, men’s health, because I don’t know if you were listening – about a year ago, Matt had a very, very scary heart, didn’t you?
Matt Sims
Scary heart? Yeah, well, I didn’t feel very well at the NEC show in February. There was a day where I really wasn’t very good, and for a few months, I’d been suffering with some chest pain and this awful cough that had gone on for 100 days.
And you’ve heard it all before, I’m sure, if you’ve listened to the podcast. I went to the doctor and, yeah, I ended up having heart surgery. I had an angiogram and two stents fitted, and that was, yeah, pretty much a year ago. Who knew?
Keith Gooden
So how are you feeling 12 months on, then?
Matt Sims
I’m still on loads of tablets. I’ve just come off two of them. I’ve come off Ramipril, so hopefully this croaky voice and cough are going to disappear in a few days or weeks. And I’ve come off Amlodipine, which is a blood pressure drug. I’m on something else beginning with C. I can’t remember what it’s called. So we’re trying to get my blood pressure down.
Everything is still very suppressed. I get really tired, get really breathless, and that’s all quite new for me. Even putting the bins out the other day, I was pushing them uphill, and it was just exhausting. It’s like, what is going on? So, yeah, I’ve become very mindful of what’s going on inside my chest, Ihave to say.
Keith Gooden
So those are just some of the changes you’ve experienced. Anything else?
Matt Sims
As I say, I’m very mindful of what’s going on in my heart. And it does cause a bit of anxiety. I never really had it before. I’m doing cardiac rehab at last, which is a weekly class, and they put you through your paces with lot of cardiovascular exercises, and they monitor your heart rate, your blood pressure and so on.
And there’s always a presentation. You sit and watch a presentation for 20 minutes, half an hour on diet and so on, and one was around mental health. And it is quite scary, really, on reflection, when you’re told, “You nearly copped out there, mate.”
And I didn’t have a heart attack. Most of the other people in the class – in fact, all of them have had a heart attack, and some of them are younger than me. And I think all of us agree it’s quite grounding. Let’s call it that. And some are really quite affected by the mental impact this has and being told, you know, focus on your own mortality.
Keith Gooden
You are mortal, after all. Because you go through life, don’t you, thinking that we’re going to live forever. I’ve got some news on that a little bit later on. Now, you spoke with Andrew Dickens at the Manchester show. He’s had a similar experience.
Andrew Dickens
So we’re on the food and travel stage here, and our job is to tie in with all the tour operators, interviews with people that do those tours, adventurers, explorers, authors. But at the same time, we tend to cook a dish or do a bit of a lovely drink with them as well at the same time. It’s a lovely format.
Matt Sims
And what kind of things have you been cooking up?
Andrew Dickens
Oh, goodness me. So on the drinks front, we had someone who was talking about Florida the other day, and we did a rum cocktail on that one. That was really nice. We’ve got Stuart Maconie, the broadcaster, coming on in about 20 minutes’ time.
And we’re talking about his book, which is The Full English. It’s a tour of England that JB Priestley did. He recreated it. And this time, we’re actually going to be doing a proper old school Bakewell pudding from scratch live on stage.
Matt Sims
I’ve seen a preview of this. It looks amazing.
Andrew Dickens
Yeah, we do have a hero. Yeah, you’ve always got to be sensible.
Matt Sims
And what have we got here in front of us?
Andrew Dickens
This is a Native American msikwatash, which is basically a little bit like a vegetable broth, so corn, lima beans or butter beans and squash just with water, a little bit of wild garlic, a bit of pepper, tiny bit of salt. It’s absolutely delicious.
Matt Sims
It smells amazing.
Andrew Dickens
Yeah, and it’s thousands of years old. This was actually made by particular indigenous groups called Narragansett, Wampanoag and Algonquians. Apologies for any mispronunciation.
Matt Sims
I had the great pleasure of sharing some cooking with you up here. And we were talking about going to Europe and the changes that might happen this year, and you did some amazing chorizo. That was phenomenal.
Andrew Dickens
Yeah, it was because you’ve obviously extensively traveled Europe in a motorhome. So we did Spain, and we did Padron peppers, we did pan con tomate and we did chorizo in cider, which was fantastic.
Matt Sims
The chorizo in cider was just phenomenal.
Andrew Dickens
Yeah, and it is a Spanish thing! It’s such a simple thing, but utterly, utterly delicious, really, really nice. What have you been up to?
Matt Sims
I’ve been talking to folks about what’s happening in Europe this year, possibly, I think we’ll be talking about it again next year! I was talking about getting good internet on the move. It’s a real problem for many people.
They want to get internet access in their motorhome when they’re traveling. And so I was talking to people unpacking all the hardware options and the dark world of SIM cards. Very nerdy, but it was packed. It was great, really good sessions. Loads of great Q and A. In fact, in one of the question and answer sessions, another audience member was able to answer the question someone else had.
Andrew Dickens
Outstanding.
Matt Sims
First hand experts. It was really good.
Andrew Dickens
You mentioned Wi-Fi, which is something that’s really important for people on the move now. But have you actually found a solution for it? That’s the issue.
Matt Sims
Yeah, loads of them. In fact, we’ve launched a product at this show. We’ve launched a little portable router. In fact, we launched Monday, just before the show. And awkwardly, we sold out!
Andrew Dickens
Straight away?
Matt Sims
In a day. In 24 hours and 12 minutes, we sold them all. So we’ve come to the show with three empty boxes. We’ve got another load arriving this week. So yeah, it’s a fantastic little solution for getting internet in your motorhome. No drilling, just lick and stick it to the window, shove a SIM card in that’s going to work where you’re going. And it just works! Easy.
Andrew Dickens
Perfect. In our session, the other thing I loved was you mentioned about traveling Europe with the old triangle. I think that is changing – that little product you had…
Matt Sims
The beacon.
Andrew Dickens
The beacon was fantastic.
Matt Sims
The V 16, yeah. So next year, in January ’26, the red triangle is not going to be recognised in Spain. You’ll have to have a V 16 beacon. So for anyone going to Spain, that’s going to be a real issue. So they need to make sure they’ve got the right kit.
Andrew Dickens
Love that. Well, I always like doing these things with you. And actually, we’re going to be doing something at the NEC in February, aren’t we?
Matt Sims
I know! We’re going to be on the Camping and Caravanning Club stand. No idea what we’re doing yet.
Andrew Dickens
Do you want me to tell you?
Matt Sims
Go on. Do you know, do you?
Andrew Dickens
With you, we’re going to be doing a proper old school Yorkshire rhubarb crumble with a proper made custard. We’re doing it on the barbecues.
Matt Sims
Are we going to do homemade custard?
Andrew Dickens
Yeah, yeah, on the barbecue.
Matt Sims
When are we doing that?
Andrew Dickens
It’s going to be lovely. Well, if you’re up for it, every day.
Matt Sims
Every afternoon.
Andrew Dickens
Every afternoon, late afternoon. Although, actually, I think we probably are going to have to be a bit careful. You know, with me with food, I love food, but it’s everything in moderation. Especially when it comes to a health point of view as well.
Matt Sims
Well, I want to talk to you about that. So you’re going to try and slow down a bit this year, because you were quite poorly last year, weren’t you?
Andrew Dickens
Too much work, too many jobs, and I ended up at one point with quite a serious lung infection, which I didn’t really know about. I knew I didn’t feel right. Anyway, I ended up at A & E, and I can’t tell you – I’ve never experienced a heart problem, but that was what I thought it would be, and I was really worried.
Went in, luckily for me, the NHS were amazing, and it was just a great experience. It turned out I had a lung infection, which I was on the back end of, but they had to give me antibiotics to clear it. I’m really grateful that I did finally go in and get that checked out. So that was my little scare. Yours a year ago was something quite different, wasn’t it?
Matt Sims
It was a year ago, yeah. I wasn’t very well when I saw you at that show, yeah, and I was coughing with a chest ache and a shoulder ache. And Jude, my other half, got me into the doctor’s, and the GP said, “I’m really not happy, Matt.” And I went to A & E 15 hours later, had heart surgery, an angiogram. I had two stents fitted, and the surgeon said, “I reckon you were three days away from a fatal heart attack.”
Andrew Dickens
I mean, that’s a sobering moment, isn’t it?
Matt Sims
I was lying there, and I thought, “What? Really? Is this something I’ve done?” And I’ve actually got hereditary coronary heart disease, and it’s sticky cholesterol which is untreatable. It’s called lipoprotein A. We all have it, and mine’s very elevated.
And we’re waiting a couple of years before there’s any medication. So I’m well managed, lots of tablets. I rattle if I jump up and down. But I think the key here was, you’ve got to get to the doctor, haven’t you?
Andrew Dickens
Yes, yeah. This is a bloke thing, isn’t it?
Matt Sims
It is. I’ve got this passion to try and encourage men to talk, to have this conversation. To talk about their health if something’s not quite right. Just tell someone and go and see a GP.
Andrew Dickens
Yeah, without getting too into detail, I had to be really pushed into going getting my prostate checked out. But you know what? Get over it, people. Yeah, we need to go and get it done.
Matt Sims
You’ve got to do it. It’s not just men, is it? It’s women as well, of course. But blokes particularly, I find it doesn’t come naturally to us to want to talk about our health.
Andrew Dickens
Correct. Absolutely right.
Matt Sims
Stiff upper lip. Just crack on. Get on with it.
Andrew Dickens
Because I think we all kind of go, “Oh, we’ve just got to press on. Just keep going. Keep going, keep going.” But actually, do you know what? At some point, if you leave it too long and you’re not there to keep going, what was the point of any of it?
Matt Sims
Exactly. Of course. Well, I’m glad to still be here a year later.
Andrew Dickens
Did you do any dietary changes? Did you kind of reduce anything?
Matt Sims
I’m trying to fast now. It’s been a long year, having gone through all this treatment. And so I’m trying to do a lot more walking. We’ve got the treadmill uncovered with clothes.
Andrew Dickens
Was it a clothes hanger?
Matt Sims
Yeah, I thought it was, but it’s actually a treadmill, and it works!
Andrew Dickens
I love it.
Matt Sims
So I’m trying to do 10 minutes to half an hour on that every day, if not outside, and trying to get my cardio function back up.
Andrew Dickens
I’m on the same program. Mine is much more walking to get things going, stretching out, more sleep. That’s the one – forcing myself to go to bed earlier, actually getting some sleep. And then, of course, the other thing we can do is – like I said, I’m not against a treat. I still have treats.
But I have to say, when you can do stuff like this, when you can get really proper, delicious, healthy food, that’s what we need to be focusing on, whole food, from scratch. That’s what we need to be doing.
Matt Sims
Fresh foods. Yeah, yeah. My son calls us an ingredient house because there’s nothing packaged in the cupboards. Love that.
Andrew Dickens
That’s a really, really good place to start, isn’t it?
Matt Sims
He doesn’t love it. He’s 16 and hungry. “I just want chocolate. Dad.”
Andrew Dickens
I don’t mind it – a little piece of dark chocolate every day is good for you.
Matt Sims
Dark chocolate, yeah?
Andrew Dickens
But what you don’t want to be doing is shoveling in pounds and pounds of the other chocolate. I don’t mind a bit of the other chocolate now and again, but you’ve just got to keep this stuff in moderation. It’s a real key thing. Are you going to make it a bit of a mission to try and get blokes to actually take a bit more care of themselves?
Matt Sims
I’m constantly on that mission, talking to people about it. There’s this thing called the stent club. I didn’t even know existed, and I’m in it. I’m a fully fledged member. Mine’s faded now, but yeah, I’ve got two of them. I may have to have another one. We’ll see. I’m seeing a consultant again in a month’s time, so we’ll see what happens. But you take care of yourself as well.
Andrew Dickens
You too.
Matt Sims
Make sure you do.
Andrew Dickens
And actually, we should say – you lot out there, take care of yourselves as well.
Matt Sims
And if you’ve got some kind of pain or irksome, you know, niggling thing going on in your body, don’t ignore it. Go and get it checked out. You never know. Mine was a cough and a dull ache in the shoulder, that’s all it was.
And I was three days from a fatal heart attack, I’m told by the surgeon, who said in a thick Irish accent, “It’s pretty bad in here, Matt, I’ll fix it for you now.” I will never forget that line. So yeah, do please take note – go and get checked. Thanks, Andrew, for doing that. It’s great to talk with Andrew about men’s health and getting others to engage in the conversation. Keith, you’ve had some challenges as well recently, haven’t you? You went to the doctor with something really mild.
Keith Gooden
Last summer I was, funnily enough, editing our podcast, and I actually got the most awful cramp in my leg. I mean a cramp like no other. And it was the hottest day of the year. I was in a fairly warm room, even though the windows were all open, but I got this appalling pain like I’ve never felt before, this cramp in my leg.
Matt Sims
Well, you were suffering with this last October as well.
Keith Gooden
That’s right. And so after a couple of months, you know, I just thought, I don’t know, I had a slipped disc and a little bit of nerve pain. It was going to take a couple of months to go, and it was going. But in the end, I went to the doctor, and the doctor said, “Yeah, okay, we’ll send you for an X-ray and have a look.
We’ll do some blood tests as well, because we haven’t done blood tests in 10 years. So let’s see what’s happening.” Did the blood test. I was called 24 hours after the blood was taken, “Come and see the doctor.” I went to the doctor, and he says, “You’ve got diabetes, type two diabetes.” I went, “What are you talking about?”
Matt Sims
From a cramp.
Keith Gooden
We still don’t know whether the cramp was a trapped nerve because it was a hot day, or whether it was something called diabetic neuropathy – diabetes and type two in particular can affect your nerves, and it’s quite dangerous, because it can affect the nerves in your heart as well, and the thing will stop, I said, “But I can’t have type two diabetes.”
“I eat fairly healthily. I like a biscuit and cakes and stuff like that.” They said, “No, not only are you diabetic, but you’re dangerously diabetic.” And they said, “This is what you can and can’t do.” So now, basically, I eat sawdust and lick a plank for tea every night.
Matt Sims
But you have lost loads of weight. You’re off the pot noodles, aren’t you? At last!
Keith Gooden
You can’t eat processed food because processed food contains lots of hidden ingredients, and most hidden ingredients are either sugar or salt. And so you think of something which isn’t processed, but there are certain brands of cheeses, for instance, which are marketed under a brand name. And if you look on the ingredients list, you’ll see that they’ve got hidden sugar in them.
And so it can be things that you don’t even think will affect you, but the sugar content is higher than it needs to be if you are diabetic. So they’ve given me some pills. I take them, and then I’ve had to control my diet, which is eating non-processed food. So if I have chicken soup, I have to make the chicken soup myself. And if I use stock cubes, I have to check the stock cubes for hidden ingredients and stuff like that. And so yes, I have lost weight. About a stone.
Matt Sims
It shows.
Keith Gooden
But what I’ve got to do is lose the weight around my organs. Middle-aged men in particular build up fat around their internal organs, and your poor old pancreas is the thing which gives you the insulin, which turns the glucose into fat or energy or whatever, and keeps your body’s chemistry in kilter. And it gets bit worn out and it gets a bit tired, and this is where you get type two diabetes from.
So they scanned me. I’ve had… oh, heavens knows how many scans. And you know from them how stressful that can be, because you’re thinking for a week afterwards, “What are they going to find?”
Luckily, all they found was a middle-aged man’s insides! But I’ve got this diabetes, type two, and the doctor told me, “If we don’t control it, this can have very serious ramifications for you in the next five or 10 years. You could have a heart attack, you could have a stroke.” And this is not just the usual…
Matt Sims
You can lose your sight.
Keith Gooden
You can lose your sight. This is the usual, sort of, “You’ve got to be careful of this.” This is, “If you continue at this level of blood sugar, this is what will happen.” So it came as a shock.
Matt Sims
So are you spending your entire time now reading the ingredients on everything you consume?
Keith Gooden
Well, you get to learn it after a while, don’t you? But you know, I eat brown bread and stuff like that. But if I’m picking up something new off the shelf in the supermarket, yes, I do. I check the back and see how much carbohydrate and how much sugar is in there. Biscuits and cakes are a complete no-no.
What the diabetic nurse told me is I can have a tea cake. Tea cakes are good because they don’t contain much dried fruit, they don’t contain much sugar. But apart from that… I was in a hotel last weekend, and I had breakfast, and so I had some fresh fruit, and then I thought, well, I have a bit of toast, and I had a bit of jam on the toast.
But you have to learn the scrape. So you put the jam on, and then you scrape it off until you’ve just got enough on there to taste it, and then you put the rest of the jam by the side. So you’ve got to have a lot of willpower, but the way I look at it is, with this diet, these things are poisonous to me. So would I drink bleach? No. So now I can’t eat too much sugar.
Matt Sims
My granddad refused to acknowledge this. He was given the same diagnosis as you, and said, “I’m not giving up all the things I love, cake and sugar.” I mean, he had a very sweet tooth, and guess what? He died a year later. He had a massive heart attack and just refused to accept that this was his new reality. So when are you getting reassessed?
Keith Gooden
I get reassessed in February and August. You have to do a urine test to make sure your kidneys aren’t failing. I’ve got to go and have an eye test, as you said, blindness is a big thing. I’ve got to check my feet, because of diabetic foot – where your diabetes affects your blood flow. People lose blood flow into their feet, and their feet literally – and I’m not joking about this – they fall off. They start to rot and they have to be taken off in surgery. So all these things are now my reality.
Matt Sims
It’s quite scary, isn’t it? Mine just swell up. So that was deemed to be caused by some of the meds I was on, swollen ankles. I put my shoes on, they don’t fit! I thought, “What’s going on here?” And my feet are swollen. So that’s why they’re starting to change my meds.
I’m back in in February as well. I’m due to see a heart surgeon. What they really want to do with one of my heart cavities is stent it again, but it’s quite high up in the arterial system. So they said, “Normally we do a bypass, but we’d rather wait till you need a triple heart bypass.”
And I said, “Thanks very much. Do I need one of those?” She said, “No, no, no, not yet, but we don’t want to go in twice.” So it’s this dichotomy now. What do we do? So I’m due to see a heart surgeon hopefully at the end of February, and we’ll take a view on what’s next. So there’s still some issues there. My advice is, Keith, don’t get old!
Keith Gooden
Don’t! And that’s the thing, and that’s why we were discussing it, because you’re tuning into a motorhome and caravanning podcast and camping podcast, and you’re thinking, “What are they going on about?” And the reason is, the majority of our audience are around our age. I’m 65. He’s 35…!
And you know, as you get older, even though you don’t think it, you have to get checked by the doctor. You’ve got those aches and pains, you’ve got to go to the doctor and make sure that they’re nothing more serious. They usually aren’t, but sometimes they are. So we’re talking directly to you about this.
We want you to be healthy and enjoy your motorhoming and caravanning, and we’re just telling you our experience. So I’m sorry if you’ve been bored by listening to our health stories, but we think we’ve got something to offer you!
Matt Sims
We have. I mean, yours was a leg cramp, type two diabetes, mine was a cough, coronary heart disease. So, you know, my message is, as Keith said, if you’ve got something going on, go and see the doctor. I say this on stage, and you see all the ladies nodding and looking at their husbands.
And you see the husbands going, “Oh, yeah. Okay, then.” We don’t talk about it as blokes our age, and we need to. And if you’ve got anything going on, please don’t delay. I know it’s a nightmare getting a doctor’s appointment. I’ve said it before, go and see one. Get the appointment. Go and see them and get checked.
Keith Gooden
And by the way, embrace the technology that doctor surgeries and your GPs are using these days, because if you can’t get a face-to-face appointment, they might phone you, or they’ll ask you to send a photograph, or they’ll ask for a description of your symptoms, and then they’ll look at it.
And they’ll call you for a blood test, and it’s then that the doors to the treatment open. So don’t say, “Oh, I can’t get a doctor’s appointment. I’m not going to bother.” Persevere. The GPs, the NHS are doing a fantastic job.
Matt Sims
They are, yeah. Just do it. Just do it.
Audience Q&A
Keith Gooden
It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
Matt Sims
And I’m Motorhome Matt.
Keith Gooden
It’s brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe. It’s time for our Q & A, our questions and answers. He’s the expert, Motorhome Matt. If he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll ask somebody who does. So you will get an answer! Keith Midwinter is in Worthing.
Keith Midwinter
My name is Campervan Keith. You may remember me from an earlier phone call when I didn’t tell you where I lived. Well, I live in Worthing, West Sussex, which is very cold today. My question is about tyres, punctures and pumping tyres up. What’s your opinion on these gunks you put into campervan tyres to block them up should you get a puncture?
I know they’re not effective for the side wall, but because we’ve got a new vehicle, and it’s not got a spare wheel, I want to be able to cover it for a puncture. And also, should I carry with me a spare tyre?
Or is it just as well to carry a spare wheel with all the weight it carries? As well as all that, additionally to that, do you know of a sensible battery operated inflator that will go up to 70 odd, 80 PSI and do all the tyres on the vehicle without running out halfway through or taking hours for it to happen? Is there one that you’ve got in your back locker that you can recommend? I’ll keep listening to the show. Love it very much. Speak to you soon.
Keith Gooden
Cheers, Campervan Keith. We appreciate that. He’s in Worthing. Motorhome Matt, first of all, let’s deal with the one about inflating the tyres. He needs 70 to 80 PSI that will run off a battery.
Matt Sims
So we do sell one at www.thatleisureshop.com. It’s a Maypole one, and it will jump start your car as well. And I took a tyre on our old Range Rover from about five PSI in a video up to its correct pressure, which was, I think, 50 PSI.
And it used about 20% of the battery. So whether it would do all of your motorhome tyres, all four from flat to full, probably not. I would consider, then, a 12 volt one that plugs into the accessory socket in the van.
You might need an extension cable so you can get to the back tyres from that point. But it’s worth considering a 12 volt one. If you do plug one in and use it, keep the engine running just to keep the battery charging.
Keith Gooden
And he’s asking about tyres that are supplied as well to car drivers. It’s in the last 10, 15 or 20 years, isn’t it, that car manufacturers have been not supplying spare wheels and have been supplying all sorts of bits and pieces, like he says, gunk or whatever to get you home, or maybe even one of those that will get you home tyres. But he makes a good point, because for motorhomers and caravanners, keeping that spare is a lot of extra weight.
Matt Sims
It is a lot of extra weight. And if you’ve got a spare wheel and tyre, on the continent, you’re meant to have a jack and wheel brace, as we’ve discussed before, to enable you to change the wheel. So on that point, do you just take a spare tyre? If payload is limited, then yes, I would take a spare tyre and call a tire fitting company to come and fit it. At least you know you’re going to get the right tyre on the van.
In terms of the gel going in, I have got this on our motorhome. I’ve got it in my car, and I’ve got it on my motorbike, and I’ve used it for years. I love the safety feature it affords me, that if a nail goes in the tire, it will self seal. I know tyre fitters often don’t like it and complain about it. Their complaint is it can block the inflatory valve, so it can cause that to gum up. It can damage tyre pressure sensors.
So if you’ve got those on the dashboard, it can cause those to fail, and it’s a messy gunk they need to clean up when they’re repairing a puncture. But I have to say, particularly on the motorbike, I do like the peace of mind it gives me. And if I see a nail in the tyre, I do go and get the tire repaired. I don’t rely on it.
And I am a nerd for checking my tyres. I think it’s the advanced motorcyclist in me where I will regularly check tyres before I ride the bike every time. And on the car, I’m checking them at least once a week, just a glance round, checking tyre treads, cracks and nails in the tire. It had a nail in the tyre – I’ve had two recently.
The tyre goes flat, and it’s so easy to miss. And if you’re going at speed on the motorway, that’s when a blowout can be caused. And of course, this gel won’t save the day then. It’s only going to repair a puncture. It’s clever stuff, and I’m sorry to any tyre fitters listening. I like having it in my van.
Keith Gooden
Can you recycle tyres after using them? When the tyre fitters take the tyre off, do they take it back and maybe recondition it?
Matt Sims
Yeah, the tyre can be recycled. It’s just a green gunk that is running around inside the tire.
Keith Gooden
That seals as it rolls.
Matt Sims
You know, when they fit the new tyre, you have to reapply the gunk. So they’ve got to clean all the rim up, and it is a mess, I have to say. And I understand why they don’t like it, but as I say, for me, the peace of mind it gives me is worth having it.
Keith Gooden
Lewis is in Rotherham. He says, “We took a policy out with Ripe in April and purchased a new motorhome yesterday. We asked to transfer the insurance to our new vehicle. I contacted Ripe prior to collection, who said they needed the van to be on the DVLA database before they would ensure the vehicle, which they advised would take 24 hours.”
Matt Sims
Lewis goes on to say, “The dealer advised that they only register the vehicle once we are on site for collection and registration happens straight away. We decided to go ahead with collection, as per the dealer’s advice.They registered the vehicle and Ripe then refused to insure us to drive home. They told me to ring the DVLA to ask them to update the database.”
Keith Gooden
He says, “The DVLA says it was registered in my name, and the database takes up to seven days to update. Having just part exchanged our vehicle, we were no longer the registered keeper of that vehicle, so we couldn’t drive that home either.
After many nervous hours, Ripe agreed at the last minute before the dealer closed to put a note on our account and said we were insured to drive home. Otherwise we would have been stranded 80 miles from our home. Do you know who is in the wrong here?” Is there any wrong or right to this?
Matt Sims
I’m not sure there’s any right or wrong. Well, we sent this to Ripe, and they came back with this answer. They said, “Hi, Lewis. We’re so very sorry you encountered this experience. We totally get how frustrating that will have been. I actually remember you as I was the one who arranged for the notes to be added onto your account. The issue was caused because we were unable to override the information back from DVLA, because the process was all system led.”
Keith Gooden
“However, following this situation, we were able to change this process to allow us to override it and insure a van before the 24 hours when DVLA have it on their system, if the owner can provide us with the DVLA confirmation.”
“Having feedback such as this is really important for us so we can constantly improve the experience for our customers. We hope that since this issue, you’ve been happy being a Ripe policy holder. Thanks for your feedback – from the Ripe team.”
Matt Sims
Yeah, that was Mel at Ripe. I love that. I love the fact that Mel’s answered and Mel was the one that dealt with this when the query came in. We always big up Ripe and we say they’re real people in a real call center in Manchester. They truly are.
And if you’re stuck with anything like this, because we’ve had a number of people say, “Well, I couldn’t get insured by Ripe,” because they weren’t on the electoral roll, or whatever the issue was, they failed the credit check. Well, there isn’t a credit check. It’s just about being on the electoral roll.
Talk to them. Ring them. Have a chat with them. They are a super helpful team, and I take my hat off to Ripe for changing their protocol in order to accommodate this, because this is a real issue for this chap, as it is for many. So if you’re stuck, give them a call.
Keith Gooden
Absolutely. And get 15% off your insurance premium with Ripe by using the code, MOTORHOMEMATT. That’s one word! Use it over the phone, or simply click the link in the description. Robert Syms – or is it ‘Sims?’
Matt Sims
If it was Sims, it would be spelled with an I, like mine. The correct way!
Keith Gooden
He spells his S-Y-M-S.
Matt Sims
Incorrect.
Keith Gooden
Robert Syms, no E – or is it ‘Sims?’ He is in San Miguel de Salinas. That’s St Michael of the salt, isn’t it? He’s originally from Newcastle. He says he now lives near Alicante and got into caravanning. He said it’s amazing.
He’s just sold his caravan and is now looking at motorhomes. “The EU B licence is set to increase to four and a quarter tonnes, but I’ve not seen when this will come into effect. Can you shed any light?” He’s seen a beauty Mizar CI garage. Have I got that right?
Matt Sims
You have, yeah!
Keith Gooden
But it’s 4.1 tons. Motorhome shopping, he says, is v stressful! Mucho stressful!
Matt Sims
So the European driving licence is under review. It’s not going to happen. It’s under review that it could happen. And you’re right, the B licence could be raised to allow you to drive four and a quarter tonnes, which you could get into your Mizar without having to take the C1 test. We did an episode on this recently.
Our UK driving licence is about to change. It was a live presentation I gave at the Warners show. It’s a whole episode, and it was a brilliant Q & A that followed it as well. It’s from the Malvern show.
So go and check that out, because it’s a potential that if it’s introduced in Europe – and there is no time scale set for this yet – then it could be that the UK Government adopt the change, and we here could drive four and a quarter tonnes as well.
Wouldn’t that be great? But at the moment, I’m afraid you would have to take the C1 test. I’m watching closely to see what the European Parliament do. And if they do introduce this, we’ll make sure you know first.
Keith Gooden
Thanks, Robert. Can I call you Bob?
Ask Matt
Keith Gooden
Okay then, Matt – how do people get in touch?
Matt Sims
Bob Sims! We’d love it if you did. If you’ve got a question, please record it. You can do so at mhmp.info/askmatt. You can hit the orange button and record your question. Tell us where you are in the world, or if you’d rather not record it, you can fill in the form and we’ll read it out.
Keith Gooden
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Matt Sims
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