Sorry I've been away from the blog this past week. Most of my time has been taken up with my car, mainly as one of the rear calipers seized and destroyed the disc in the process. Yeah, thanks for that. The ironic thing is the day before I received a pair of new EBC front brake discs for the 'Blade as one appears to be warped a fraction. As is almost tradition, the clocks going forward hasn't signified summer, but very windy and rainy conditions. That's just great man!

Today was a good day. I got to spend the day with Dorset Bikesafe refreshing a few of my skills in the classroom in a very entertaining and enjoyable environment. Part of the course that is offered by Dorset Police includes an emergency first aid for bikers course, where we're taught some simple, easy to remember skills that could help save somebodies life. I cannot recommend this two day course highly enough and after the theory today its the ride out tomorrow. 

Still being relatively new to the area, I met up with my buddy Lucinda, who I know through work, who helped me find the location in Wimborne and then afterwards, showed me some of the fun roads in the area. 
Great way to spend a free Saturday in the Springtime. I've got a whole summer of exploring to do. Can't bloody wait.

So I've had the whole weekend to myself which has given be ample opportunity to get out there and ride. Therefore it will be no surprise that I rode exactly zero miles. My bikes spent the whole weekend like this.

I did however spend a little time breaking in my Alpinestars Atem leather suit and watching the 2002 WSBK season on DVD. You forget sometimes just how good Bayliss and Edwards were in their prime. Its a real shame that their talents were never converted to success in MotoGP.

I managed to spend the evening chatting with the Dorset Bike safe co-ordinator this evening who invited me over for a chat. Chris is extremely passionate about what he does and BikeSafe on the whole, so much so, that I have offered to help him out where I can on the Dorset Bikesafe events. This will amount to making the tea no doubt, but if this one small thing, helps get the message out, then I'm there. You can follow him on Twitter at @dorsetbikecop and as Bikesafe Dorset on Facebook. 
As promised a few days ago, a little bit of kit news. I picked up my new visor for my Chaser V, which cost me a salty £90, but as it's pinlock fitted, its perfect for those bright chilly mornings. The other news is that I've bought another HJC. Lids Direct had the Ben Spies Austin rep up for £165, but I sourced a 20% discount code meaning the lid was only £135. Bar...gain!! 
I've put up a more words in the 'My Kit section', but first impressions are extremely positive.

Well it would appear that Spring arrived on Saturday. I was up in Birmingham seeing Sarah and as the weather was so nice we headed over to Bridnorth in Shropshire. There's a little cafe/restaurant there called the Bridge View and I can highly recommend their sausage and bacon toastie. Its awesome. Anyway, as we were driving about it was so great to see bikes back out on the road. For the last few months I've felt like I've been out there alone.
The weather tomorrow is looking so good that I might just have to take the Ducati to work. I put a few litres of fuel in in yesterday via a fuel can, which is more than enough to get me to the petrol station. I've checked the tyres, the battery and the chain so it should be good to go. Cross fingers. I think the neighbours are in for a surprise in the morning.
I've got a little bit of kit news as well, but I'll wait until tomorrow as I need to sort some decent photos first.

Well its March and Spring is pretty much upon us. Winter is having a few last grasps at the cherry before she is put down for the next eight months. All in all this winter has been okay really. Cold as you would expect and for me at least, only one minor experience with the snow (I know my friends in the North of England had far more cold weather than me). So, with that in mind, there no time to waste.
My trip to Moto Rapido on Saturday was interesting. It utterly chucked it down all morning, so by the time I was actually standing in their showroom, I was leaving puddles of dirty rainwater behind me. They were very helpful and gave me some suggestions in regard to the problem I was having with the battery box. They also suggested a group of mechanics much closer to me, who would also be able to help me out, Road and Race Performance in Verwood.
Once I had got home, dried off and the rain had stopped, I cleaned up the 'Blade and got to work on the 1098s. After a fair bit of persuasion I got the side of the battery cover off, without ripping it to shreds and managed to charge up the battery. I took the opportunity to replace the comfort connector as the fuse had gone. In typical fashion, I only realised this after I'd pulled the old one apart to remove it. Not the end of the world, but a good lesson anyway. A quick call to the ever helpful Artur helped with a wiring question and then I was able to down tools.
The wiring on the left side it a bit of a mess, what with the alarm, the new comfort connector and the rest of the loom vying for space. Its also fairly dirty on that side which wasn't helped by my crash nor my trip to Italy. Tidying up that left side is one of the jobs I'd like done before the season really gets underway, but in the meantime, I'm going to get hold of those boys in Verwood.