Instead of heading out on two wheels, today was a day for doing a few little jobs that have been pending for a while. The first only needed doing after I managed to knock off the top vent from my Arai and the second was something I'd been meaning to do on the Ducati for a few weeks, but I'd just been too lazy.
Checking on the Arai website, I found that Crescent Suzuki in Verwood were the nearest 5 Star Arai dealer so I ordered the vent through them. Crescent has long been associated with racing Suzukis and remains a Suzuki dealer, even though they currently race Yamahas in World Superbikes. I'm sure the £15 I paid for the vent will go a long way to their success on the world stage.
The replacement was nice and easy and the vent came with a stencil so you knew exactly where to place it. Pretty handy it has to be said. Oh and don't worry, I did clean all that road crime off before I fitted it.

The second job was to fit my Kriega tailpack converter to the 1098s. I'm really not a fan of riding with a rucksack and when it's unavoidable and riding the FireBlade, I've tried to make sure all hard objects are in the tailpack instead.
Riding the Ducati, I've avoided using the tailpack for a few silly reasons. After my Italy trip, the tailpack I used scratched the tail and I've been keen to avoid a repeat of that; secondly, I have a fear the underseat pipes would melt the straps and my stuff would end up under the cars following me. I know silly really.
Having fitted this before onto the FireBlade when I was going to and from Surrey three days a week, I was familiar with the installation, but for peace of mind, I checked out the Kriega website where they have great instruction videos. Happily enough, the demo bike was a stealth 848, which you can check out here.
All said and done, including the air scoop covers, it was 25 minutes. Time well spent in my opinion.

Finally today, I'd like to thank Phil Harrison of the Youtube channel Phil O's Garage who joined me last week for a ride. He's put up a little video blog from our day out. By all accounts he couldn't use too much of the footage as we were, erm, how shall I put it, making progress, which is why there's mainly town riding. You can also see for most of the day I was pretending to be Ben Spies.

Like Led Zeppelin in December 2007, the winter of 2016 decided to make a quick short comeback this week, bringing a few frosty mornings to the South Coast, annoying every biker by doing so.
I vowed to myself a few years back, that I wouldn't take the bike out when the temperatures were close to freezing. Doing lots of rural riding, I theorised that it would be all to easy to hit a really cold spot on the road and end up in a hedge or worse, under something coming the other way. As a result, the riding this week has been a little limited, with the car subbing in on those colder mornings.
Saying that, the riding I have done has been pretty good. With the FireBlade taking most of the honours this week, after fixing a small oil leak on the Ducati (loose oil cooler hose), I took the 1098s out this morning on what I call the Wimborne-Shaftsbury-Salisbury loop. If you ever find yourself in Dorset, this route makes use of some of the best roads in my local area and doesn't take all day either. 
The weather was chilly and overcast and the BBC weather team say that today's weather will be the best of the weekend, so setting the alarm and getting out nice and early, what followed was a little over 2hrs of great riding punctuated by a Neros coffee in the middle.
Traffic was very light and any vehicles en-route were quickly and easily dispatched, becoming smaller and smaller in the awful vibrating mirrors of the Ducati. 
Its only really when riding out alone like this that I can really accurately assess my riding and I feel that I'm getting into some bad habits regarding road reading and position. All to often I find myself in positions that are limiting my view, turning into corners too early and not picking up the vanishing point properly. All these are combining to a ride that could have been better, smoother and easier.
As with any problems, acknowledging them is the first step to correcting them. My riding plan for this year is now to really work on where I put the bike in the corners to maximise that view of the road ahead. Maybe its time to give Rapid Training another call.

I can't remember the last time I spent all day in the saddle and I certainly struck lucky today. 
I had arranged to meet my mate Phil up near Newbury in Berkshire and the weather gods really smiled on us today. I've known Phil for several years through online forums and social media etc, we got on really well and a friendship soon formed. We had talked about going out for a ride a few times beforehand, but they never materialised, until today that is. 
I left the house just after 09:00 and went the back way up past Salisbury and Winchester and got to our meeting point at Tothill Services early enough to grab some food and a coffee. I saw Phil arrive and he was on his freshly restored Yamaha FZR600 (you can watch his restoration on his Youtube channel) and after joining me for a coffee we headed out.
First stop was Moto Rapido to pick up some bearings and then it was down to Poole Quay via Salisbury, Cranborne and Wimborne. The weather was perfect - warm, still and bright.

After an extremely nice lunch and ice cream (can you beat an Italian lemon sorbet? I think not!) we started making our way back to Winchester, where we were due to part ways, via the A30. The section between Shaftsbury and Salisbury is one of the best biking roads in the South East. With very little traffic thanks to the nearby A303 and A31, the A30 is almost as busy as a country lane and therefore is perfect for bike riding.
We got to Sutton Scotney Services after I just about managed to navigate through Winchester where we took stock of the day and said our goodbyes as we watched a very large man leave on a very small and very noisy old Vespa. We both agreed it was an excellent day and that we will be doing something very similar again.
My original plan was to just head down the A34, pick up the M3 and M27 and cruise home, but the exit I chose didnt have a roundabout and I found myself heading back to Salisbury and for the third time in one day, I found myself riding down my favourite roads in the county, which were so much more rewarding than the motorway. See, I struck lucky.

Its always nice when you ride to the MOT station, chat with some friends and ride out with a nice new MOT certificate in your pocket. Well, thats exactly what happened to me this morning. 
I headed down to Bournemouth Bikes to a) get the MOT and b) have a look around their new smart as you like showroom. Its really nicely put together with lots of space to walk around look at the bikes and comes with a lovely waiting area with a telly and a good coffee machine. They are having the official opening of the new showroom tomorrow, complete with former MotoGP rider Michael Laverty in attendance. Their website is www.bournemouthbikes.com and if you pop down, tell Mike I said hi.
Parked outside was the bike you see below. A proper streetfightered FireBlade, complete with a car back wheel on the single sided swing arm. It was amazing and totally spotless to boot.

With the good, often comes a little of bad. I clipped my Arai on my desk at work and after a quick look, thought nothing more of it. Then, when I get home, I notice that my top vent has disappeared onto the A35 somewhere. Regular readers will know this isn't the first time I've inadvertently littered a Dorset trunk route. Must break this habit.
Bit of a pain really, but there is an Arai 5 Star dealer near me so as I'm heading out to meet Phil, of Phil O's Garage, for a long overdue catch up tomorrow, I may pop in first thing before meeting up to see if I can order the right part.
Until I get it though, I'll be heading out in my HJC instead. See, this is why you should have more than one lid good readers....either that, or do what I did, just buy it because you fancied it. 

After taking advantage of an early finish, I thought I'd make use of the sunshine and head down to the Quay for a bit of Poole Bike Night fun. I got there a bit early, rode onto the Quay and was promptly told off by a marshal. 
Despite it being a tad annoying, I just rode around the corner and waiting the 10mins by Pizza Express making full use of their wi-fi. I know - cheeky. Once the bikes were officially allowed back in, I parked up...right where I had been before. Bit of a pointless exercise, although I did message Carolina while I waited, so far from a total loss.

One of the many reasons I like the Quay so much is the sheer variety of bikes on show. Every sub culture is present and for me, the best bike tonight was a really fine example of a Jelly mould Honda CBR 600. So many of these were sold and very few were looked after, that it was nice to see, what was in effect a cheap bike when it came out, being really looked after. 
As Im sure you've worked out, I'm drawn to the weird, wonderful or unusual. The latter often takes the form, like the above, or an older mass produced bike that is is just fantastic condition. I see lots of modern cutting edge sportsbike and yes these are really nice, I mean, just look at the yellow R1 below, its just an epic machine, but its the Foxeye FireBlade, the Moto Guzzi, the RD350 and the RG250 that make the Quay worth a weekly visit.

Ask a biker with a basic amount of mechanical knowledge about their bikes 'What is the most annoying job to do on your motorbike?' and I'm fairly sure the majority of the time the answer you'll get back is 'changing the blown bulbs'. 
As I'm a fairly normal sized man, I'm not blessed with tiny little hands, unlike a certain current president, so its always a squeeze getting my mits into the tiny spaces the bike designers leave for access. Therefore changing the bulbs on any vehicles, car or bike, is a royal pain in the backside.
The 1098s has its annual MOT coming up on Friday and both of my little side lights have blown. Despite them causing less illumination than a match, this would be a fail, so I had to change them. As luck would have it, I had a brand new set in my toolbox which saved me a trip to the store. Result.

As expected it was a fiddly little job, but one that needed doing. As I was there I checked all the other lights, horn and tyres to make sure I'd be okay and my only concern now is my front tyre is on the wear limit, but the tread appears to be legal so cross fingers I'll be fine. 
With the bikes out I gave them both a wash the noticed that the main headlight had blown on the FireBlade, which really is sods law as I don't have a spare one of those in my toolbox, so its over to the store after all.

I don't know what it was, but it could explain why my neck has been hurting. A bike, leathers and a helmet splattered with bugs are usually the sign of some great riding and for me, this is very much the case.
The start of April has been really nice. The mornings have been a little chilly in places, but every ride home has been in warn sunshine on dry roads. What more could you ask for? 
I haven't been riding at all at the weekends as, for the time being at least, I'm getting my biking kicks just undertaking the commute. The fields near me are a sea of yellow as the rapeseed starts to bloom and I've been sharing the miles between both bikes as I dart between the hedges.
Since its breakdown a few weeks back, the Ducati has been good as gold, starting easily but still demanding full commitment to the ride, whereas the Honda is just easy. One minute you could be poodling along and the second, pushing it through the corners, getting an increased degree of lean surrounding by the sound of a screaming inline four engine.
Easter is a few days away now, which means that the roads near me are most likely going to be busy, as people head to the South Coast for some well earned rest and relaxation. With that news its unlikely that I'll venture out too much on the bikes, but never say never. In reality I should take the time to remove the remains of the bugs who had no idea what was coming.

It was the first Poole Bike Night of the year last night, which locally, has been the unofficial start of the biking year. Held every Tuesday evening from the start of April to the end of September, the event, the largest continual annual event in Europe regularly attracts riders from across the South East. So, there was no way I was going to miss the first one.
Getting there early, Carolina and I decided to sit down outside and grab some food as we watched the bikes roll in. It was quiet at first, possibly because the skies looked a little threatening for a time, but it soon picked up and there was an excellent turnout.

This year there were fears that the event would have to be scaled back due to a lack of marshals at the event, but thankfully the local businesses rallied around and organised some additional people to ensure that the event took place. 
Locally there is a lot of friction around the event, with many accusing the council of using us as a tourist attraction and taking an unfair percentage of the proceedings. Politics aside, the event seemed to go well, with lots of great machines on display. See you down there next week perhaps.

If there is one thing that I really don't like about riding my bike, its the getting changed. I don't mean the putting on all the kit in readiness for a long day in the saddle, I mean its the getting changed every day when you get to work, only to have to get changed again at the end of the day and then again when I get home. This wouldn't be too intolerable if it wasn't for the fact, that 80% of the time, you have to get changed in the toilet.
Now I'm 6'3 and not exactly slim, so getting changed in a cubicle, especially when wearing the one piece leathers, is a bit of a clumsy affair. Then, to top it all off, there is usually at least one other 'visitor' in the room, so as I'm squeezing myself into my kit, I can hear the 'visitor' if you get my meaning.
I've yet to find an employer that has really good changing facilities and somewhere secure in which you can leave a change of clothes, so I'm pretty much always had my kit scattered in a few places - jacket hung up hear, boots in my lockers and helmet under my desk. At the moment, all my kits tends to sit unceremoniously in the corner looking sorry for itself.

In nicer news, the bike meets are starting to gather pace and I popped in at Wareham on the way back home. Some of the usual suspects were there and I got talking to Darren, a rider from a local club who I have never met before. He was riding a 1200 Bandit with a Busa front end and you could tell the bike was a workhorse, ridden all year round and in all weathers. It was a great conversation to be honest and that to me is one of the many benefits of my hobby. Bikes bring people together and it doesn't matter what you ride, how you ride it or when you ride it. Apart from the sheer thrill of riding, its this brotherhood that will keep me on two wheels for as long as I'm around.