Since it stopped raining, the first few days of 2013 have been more like March than January, with unseasonable warm temperatures and roads unburdened with the familiar powdery remains of the local councils somewhat overzealous salt spreading. Despite the morning being a bit damp and well, grey, I opened the garage door, moved the ZX7 out of the way and unshackled the 1098. The plan for the morning was pretty simple. I’d been given some vouchers for an independent department store a few miles away and I thought I’d take a bike to go am have a look. After going the long way round I rocked up to a very quiet town centre just before 09:00, parked the bike by the window of a coffee store, grabbed my morning fix and had a look around the shops. There were lots of nice things, but as I was wearing my leathers and only had my rucksack with me, I was pretty limited in what I could do/buy. I really wanted to see if they had any trainers that took my fancy, but they didn’t have a sports department anymore, so seeing as I had the rest of the morning free, I just carried on riding. Oh the hardship. Heading North, there were usual selection of metal boxes on the road, but for every Prius (horrid thing) and Focus there were some gems hidden out there too. I saw a Bristol, a gold mark 1 Fiesta, (which are very rare these days as most have been wrecked when being used as a cheap first motor) and even a late fifties or early sixties Chevrolet Corvette which cut a dashing shape in silver. It was good to see that I wasn’t the only bike out there too. The two wheeled highlight of my morning was seeing a red 600ss heading from Sawbridgeworth to Harlow. Maybe Ducati owners aren’t as precious as most riders think we are
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Hi there. I've been doing a few little updates to the site. The first of which is a 'Mods and Sods' section to the 'ZX7r years' section, where, as the name suggests, I've listed the modifications that have been done to the bike.
On the rather interesting and very cool note, my local dealership has now been converted to being a Ducati dealership (like I really needed another reason to go there) and I popped in today and they've already got some great looking likes in there. Three Multistrada 1200s, three monsters, two 848s, an 1198 and a Diavel and two 1199 Panigales. I wonder what my chances of getting some test rides are? But the most exciting news today is that I now have a logo, which you can see on the top left. How cool is that? Massive, massive thanks to my good friend Mike Livesey, who has set up his own website http://absorbingauthors.weebly.com/. It has nothing whatsoever to do with motorbikes and is directed to writers, or people who want to get into writing. Please go and have a look and let him know what you think. I didn't think that my first ride of 2013 would be on the Ducati. I ride my Kawasaki all year round but yesterday with a free afternoon, clear skys, warm(ish) temperatures and two days of heavy rain fall that had washed any remaining salt from the roads, the Ducati made an appearance from underneath it's cover. It felt like March, not January, but it was just a quick ride, nothing special, nothing too sporty or energetic, but more of a ride that helped me remember. It was clear on the ride that the clutch is pretty much shot, with lots of slip throughout the ride. At the end of last season I ordered all the clutch parts and they arrrived in the dealership just before Christmas. Hopefully they'll all be on in a few weeks now that things are returning to normal after Christmas.
On Saturday the Feb issue of Perfermance Bikes arrived and there on the front cover is a gleaming red Ducati 1098 ridden by John Urry, who just happens to have to same leathers as me. Reading through I found that one of my letters had been published. It wasn't anything serious, more of a responce to riders moaning about having to take off their helmets when filling up. My suggestion was three words long. Pay. At. Pump. I didn't expect it to be published, must have been a quiet month |
MeMy name is Matt Brown and I'm a UK journalist formerly based in London, but now calling the South of England home. I've been riding bikes since 2007, but got hooked straight away. Nothing gives me the feeling of freedom, even when stuck in a city. In 2010 I became a RoSPA gold rider, but when it comes down to it, I'm Just a normal man, riding his bikes as often as he can. Archives
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