Today, the FireBlade clicked past 40,000 miles. So what better way to mark this milestone, that to take the long way to work on a dry and unseasonably warm January morning.
When I bought her back in 2014, she had just over 16,000 on the clock and had appeared to have lived a fairly sheltered life. I will freely admit that throughout the years I haven't fallen in love with the 954 as I've done with the 1098s, the ZX7R or the Z1000. I have however, much preferred her to the little Monster. It may not be a relationship of pure passion, but it has been one of practicality.
The FireBlade has done nothing wrong and despite the odd breakdown (snapped chain etc), she's been reliable. She's taken me to and from work without complaint; into and out of the city and across the countryside whenever asked. She's carried luggage, taken the worst that the UK weather has to offer, been taken to a track and fallen over in the van, but still she has welcomed me back every morning when I've opened the garage door.
My 954 FireBlade is a perfectly good motorcycle. Its more than quick enough, comfy and has a decent sized tank to boot. You can't really ask for more, or if you do, it may be considered a little rude.

The plan was to take the bike to work all week. However after a particularly long Tuesday, which included drives to and Portsmouth and then, two hours later, a drive to and from Heathrow, Carolina effectively banned me from taking the bike. All I can say to that is, thank you Carolina! The weather conditions on Wednesday were biblical. It was unpleasant even in the car, so who knows what it would have been like on the bike. Extremely strong side gusts, driving rain and vast levels of spray would have made the ride dangerous let alone un-enjoyable.
Thankfully the weather yesterday and today were much more agreeable and taking the long way home today in the dying winter light was a real highlight. Dry roads and high enough temperatures meant I could explore the ride and blow a few cobwebs away. 

​With a good ride under the belt and a warm bike parked safety in the garage, I took the opportunity to apply a fresh coat of chain lube to the bike. Since signing up to be an XCP Ambassador, I've been trying out their products and I continue to be highly impressed. Having used a mixture of Motul C4 and WD-40 chain lube for several years, I really like the way the XCP goes on. Where the Motul is pretty think stuff, the XCP is very similar in consistency to the product WD-40 produce. This though, is where the similarities change. When using the WD-40, the underside of my tail fairing has been coated with a fair amount of lube that has flung off away from the chain at speed, which isn't the case with the XCP. Although its thin, its sticks well to the chain and as I don't need to use that much to get a good coverage, it stays put too. Win, win really.

A mix of really heavy rain and the need to take too much stuff to work, limited the amount of riding I did this past week.
I did manage one really good long ride though and when I say good, it was only really the journey there. An earlier rain shower and damp greasy roads meant the ride back was one of restraint rather than one of progress.
In the few rides I've had, I've been able to pull together some further thoughts on my Held Twin gloves. Their construction is good and, despite some contrary opinions, the visor wipe is excellent. As one would expect for the money, they have remained waterproof and there is nothing to suggest otherwise. Using the thicker 'warm' chamber there is still plenty of feel for the controls and I don't feel they are restricting my movement too badly. Yes, if I compare them to my A-stars GP gloves, its like night and day, but for a bulky winter glove, its acceptable. Sadly though, I am disappointed with the amount of warmth they provide, especially around the end of my fingers. 
Since leaving London at the end of 2015, I no longer ride in sub-zero temperatures. Any signs of a deep frost is too risky, especially if riding on exposed country roads, and doubly so with a safer alternative available. If the temp is above 4 degrees, I'm usually good to go, come rain or shine. I don't have heated grips installed, so when riding out in temperatures of around 6-7 degrees, getting cold fingers is noticeable, surprising and ultimately, disappointing.
I'll experiment using both chambers of the glove (they come with a dry and a warm labels) to see if there is any real noticeable difference and its user error rather than the glove and continue to update you with my findings.

After a week without a ride (yes I could have taken the 1098 out, but she needs a new chain and is wearing the wrong tyres), I got a call from the shop to say my FireBlade was fixed. A faulty alarm had cut the engine and was thankfully a (reasonably) cheap and easy fix.
With a new year now underway, I thought it long overdue to replace my tinted visor on my Arai Chaser. Recently the Pinlock had failed and with a heavily marked and scratched visor, a change had to be made.
Previously I've gone for the mirror finish, but this time opted for a plain black one, mainly down to price. Sportsbikeshop were selling the black visor £20 cheaper than the mirror, so it was really a no brainer.
On the topic of visors, I stick with the genuine article and will never buy secondhand. Scanning Ebay you can find sellers advertising new visors at £20 or less and my personal viewpoint is that they are £20 for a reason. Yes, with a genuine visor, you are paying more for the name, but there is a reason they have that name in the first place. I've been hit in the face by stones when riding and would hate to imagine the visor failing under those circumstances.

Well today really wasn't my day. It didn't take long after leaving the house this morning, before I heard myself say that I should have taken the car. After being stuck in traffic following an accident yesterday, which delayed me from a really important meeting, one that could, and indeed still may have the ability to change my career, I'd seen enough of the inside of my car for one week and wanted to take the bike. However, not long after leaving the house did the heavens truly opened and coupling that with the road spray, conditions were far from ideal.
Powering through the rain and spray, the amount of water had little to no effect on the amount of grip from the superb Pirelli Angel GT tyres. I was making good progress through the traffic and hit the dual carriageway, when suddenly the bike lost all mechanical power. The HISS immobiliser light and the engine management light were flashing and thankfully I had enough momentum to reach a lay-by. This particular dual carriageway has no hard shoulder and I'm really thankful to have reached sanctuary and I'm sure a few people who I previously passed chuckled to themselves too.
Soaked on the outside, but thankfully dry on the inside thanks to my Rukka and Held kit, I called up the AA again and recovery arrived within about 40mins. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my mate Steve who spotted me when heading the other way. He turned around and came back to see how I was. A great friend indeed.
The bike is currently sat at Bournemouth Bikes, my local shop and I'll keep you updated with my progress.
In somewhat sillier news, I was asked to take some photos by the team at XCP for their internal collateral, so I thought it only right to have my bikes in the pictures too. The impromptu shoot also resulted in a few pictures with Carolina's family who are staying with us too. Every cloud and that.

Well, look at that, it's January 1st. So, as tradition dictates, I'd like to wish all my readers a very happy New Year. 
I'm not a believer in New Year's resolutions as I feel that if you want to make a positive change in your life, you just have to do it. Why wait for an arbitrary calendar date to give you permission, or act as the catalyst? Saying that, I'm really aware that I haven't been blogging much these last few months and there a few reasons for this. Mainly, there has been quite a bit going on in the 'real world' so I haven't been able to dedicate a huge amount of time to the site, which pains me to admit. As we move into 2018, I fully intend to get my mojo back and really push the site to new heights.
With that in mind, I'd like to give a quick summary of the 2017 Motorcycle Live show that took place back in November at the NEC in Birmingham.
Motorcycle Live remains the premier bike show in the country and is well worth the journey. It took us about three hours to get there, so we stayed overnight nearby, therefore limiting stress and fatigue by not trying to do everything in one day.
It would be very easy to go into a very long winded detailed review of the show, but instead, I'm just going to say that it was really enjoyable. Going midweek allowed us greater access to all the major manufactures who were displaying their latest models, but whats really great is Motorcycle Live gives smaller companies an equal opportunity to raise the profile of their bikes, accessories and reputation within the industry.

The show isn't just about eye candy though; it gives visitors a great opportunity to pick up a bargain, or find some clothing your local dealers don't stock. Looking to change my Rukka R-Star gloves, which I've been using for a few seasons now, having tried on gloves from Alpinestars and Dianese, I wanted to try on some Held Twin gloves . I'd read very favourable reviews and the Twins have received a RiDE magazine recommended rating, which in the UK biking scene, carries some weight.
As you can probably tell, I picked up a pair. They are a double lined Gore Tex winter glove, with good armour and leather/textile construction. I've only worn them the once (Christmas present) and they fit nicely under my Rukka Matti jacket and their combination of wrist strap and cuff restraint secure them nicely to my hands. This is especially important as, although I did like the R-Stars, I could easily pull them off without undoing the wrist strap. Apart from that, they were excellent, being warm with a good level of feel for the controls. As there is still a little life left in them, they will become my spare set and in the meantime, I'll keep you updated with my progress with the Helds.
With the Christmas and New Year break, I was able to dedicate some time to cleaning the FireBlade after using it in a variety of conditions these last few weeks. With a mixture of very cold clear days and warm rainy ones, the roads were filthy, which as you may expect resulted in one very dirty motorcycle and some very dirty kit.

I set to work using a mixture of the usual cleaning products and was really interested to see how  the XCP range would cope with the grease and grime that had built up on the bike during these harsh conditions.
After cleaning off the 'loose' mud and dirt with a sponge, I used the XCP universal cleaner to tackle the grease and grime that had built up on and around the chain. Cleaning the chain has never been a nice job, but its necessary to help maintain it's longevity. I sprayed the XCP Universal Cleaner all over the chain, waited a few minutes and then tackled it with a cloth with some more cleaner sprayed on. I was never expecting a 'light swipe and its gone' approach, but was still really pleased with just how quickly and easily the grease came off both the wheel and chain. I was so pleased, that I even broke the 1098 out from under its cover to give its wheels the once over and they've come up like new. Very impressive.
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