The Suzuki Van Van. There I've said it. I'm seriously considering getting a second hand 125 Suzuki Van Van to use purely are a commuter bike, which frankly is pretty much all it would be good for. Looking around at adverts you can get them from about £1200+, which may seem like a lot of money for not very much bike, but my thinking is it will be cheap as chips to run, insure and tax. It will certainly be easier than riding the Ducati into the City that for sure. It's not something that I'm going to rush into, but its certainly on my mind. So much so that I popped into the local Suzuki dealership in Finchley yesterday after work to get a brochure. To my surprise Tony, a former mechanic at North London Motorcycle was there and we had a little catch up. Tony has really helped me out in the past and I one of about three mechanics I completely trust. He's a good man and a great mechanic. For me, that trust between mechanic and rider is invaluable.
In Ducati news, on the ride home yesterday I could feel the front brakes felt really notchy when coming to a stop, which was a little concerning. I was a little apprehensive about taking the calipers off as I'd read that the Brembos use stretch bolts. After a quick reassuring chat with Artur I popped them off and had a look. It turns out, that despite changing the pads at the end of last season, one of the pads on the left caliper was pretty much down to the metal. This happened on the Ninja once before and I had originally thought it was down to a sticking piston or something. I was also worried that the crash back in June had done something to the calipers, so I'm glad it was a simple fix.
What followed was a strip and clean exercise. I was using Performance Friction pads, but only had a set of EBC pads lying around so I had to use those instead.

A little bit of copper slip around the outside of the pads and a little bit of fiddling and the pads popped straight in. What follows now is several trips worth of gentle braking to bed the pads in. I've used EBC pads before on previous bikes and even on my car and have pretty much always been happy with them. I will be interested to see how they compare in terms of wear and feel to the performance friction and brembo pads that I've used in the past.
I've got a nice ride planned for tomorrow as I head off to Poole to spend the weekend with the lovely Sarah. The last time I had a long ride thou, I had to get the train back. If lighting strikes twice I may just have to see it as a sign.

I knew I shouldn't have cleaned the bike yesterday. The forecast said there was the possibility of showers in the afternoon, so I thought I'd risk it. It has pretty much chucked it down all day, resulting in a very wet ride home. Part of my usual route has been closed for roadworks for a few days, so I'm having to take a little detour. It was on this detour about a mile from my house that I had a massive (well it felt like it was massive) slide from the back. I was manoeuvring  past a slower car with the bike leant a little off centre and the back wheel let go. Not enough to highside me thankfully, but enough to make my heart race. After that the bike felt like it had a puncture as the back wheel felt like it was wandering around the place at even the most sedate of speeds. I stopped as soon as it was safe to check the bike and all seemed well. I checked the pressures...twice over the course of a few hours and all seems okay. Maybe I just picked up a film of some street grim, so to be safe I'll take it very steady on the way to work tomorrow. 

Without doubt, the worst thing you can do whilst riding, is to ride angry. Feeling aggressive, I mean really aggressive, can lead to disaster. Leaving London today, it seemed everybody and everything was really annoying me. I didn't have a great day at work, too many people taking too many liberties in my opinion, which meant I was stressed even before I had to fight my way through traffic. I really need to realise just how dangerous it is. The silly thing is I know EXACTLY how dangerous it is. I have to report on accidents and the death of motorcyclists on a daily basis. I was a statistic myself back in 2011, but what I really need to do is distance my riding with any lingering anger. 

The stomp grips I ordered finally arrived yesterday. I took just over a week from order to delivery, which frankly I thought was a little poor, especially as the stockist claimed they were in stock at the time of order. I guess that's the risk you run by ordering online. I'll get them on the bike in the next few days. Before I even think about it thou, the Ducati really needs a clean. If I were to use one word to describe my bike at the moment, that word would be 'filthy'.

After the humidity of yesterday, today's ride home was a far more pleasant affair. It was still hot, but it was far less sticky. The bike is performing well and I find myself quickly getting used to riding it again both in and out of town On Monday afternoon I put about eight litres of fuel in the bike, which although wasn't brimming the tank, I felt it would be enough to get me through until Thursday afternoon. So you can imagine my surprise/shock/disbelief when the fuel light came on today. Thankfully, there is about four litres of fuel between the fuel light and vapours, so I knew I was okay. I'll fill up on the way into work tomorrow and I'll make a note of the amount of fuel the tank takes, mainly just to be sure that there's nothing wrong with the tank and fuel sensor following the rebuild

The last few days, the weekend included, have been a little crazy. As you already know I was expecting to be able to collect the freshly painted tank and nose cone on Wednesday, but this was delayed until the Friday. I had to drive to Wales for a wedding, so I had to quickly head out of London, pick up the tank and nose cone, drop them off at home and then head off. I was initially very pleased with the results, but noticed a less that ideal finish on the nose cone on Sunday when I started getting things together. More on that a little later. Anyway, I wasn't prepared to leave the tank 'loose' by the bike for a few days so I quickly connected it all up and popped it back in place before I headed out into Friday traffic and headed to Wales in the car.....which took nearly four hours, culminating in a £6.20 fee to cross the Second Severn River Crossing. Yeah, welcome to Wales.
After a rather hectic Saturday and a detour to Ross on Rye with Sarah on the Sunday, I headed back to London via the A40 and Gloucester in the early afternoon. The journey went quickly enough as I was listening to the radio commentary of the Open, which is just me harking back to my former life, a time before I was ruled by two wheels and an engine. When I have a few days, I could quite easily head back that way on the way, heading into South Wales and some great riding roads.
I finally managed to get back home around 17:00 and during one of the warmest afternoons/evenings of the year. Slowly but surely it all started to come together and you can see my progress in the photos below. As I mentioned earlier, the finish in one area of the nose isn't perfect, but this may polish out, so the next time I clean the bike, I'll pay it some serious attention. I had some real trouble with the left fairing, mainly due to the Samco hoses, which make the internals a little wider, and the side panels also seemed a very tight fit due to the additional paint layers on the tank. Finally at 20:30, I tightened the final screw, wheeled it out of the garage, fired it up and rode it the 200ft down the road. All seemed well so I went to bed happy. Hot and sweaty, but happy.

So yesterday was the first time I rode into London for work in a little over two weeks. It was also the hottest day of the year. At one point, the external temperature sensor indicated it was 34 degrees, with the internal sensor claiming my bike was up to 110. I thought both my bike and I was going to explode in a ball of fire and sweat. Thankfully, that never happened and I got home safe. It felt great to be riding, but I realise that I really need to tweak the suspension, making it a little softer for the city riding. The plan is to make this a temporary measure as the City is no place for a big twin, so depending on my situation come October and the amount of money (not very much) that I may receive from my insurer, I may start looking for something as a winter ride. A ZX9? Another Hornet? a KTM? There's no rush thou

Plans, the folly of man. I should have realised that when I was told my tank and nose cone will be ready by Wednesday, what they actually meant was 'we'll be half way through the job on Wednesday, more likely Friday'. What a flippin pain. Yesterday I got both fairing panels ready thinking I'd be able to get cracking with the little re-build this afternoon. But now they are sat by the bike waiting to go on, but I can't do anything with without the nose cone. Driving in Central London really is doing my head in, it really is. Its still hot in the car, even with the air con on. Its not unbearable by any means, its just I'd much rather be riding through the City instead. On a slightly more positive note, I have sourced a brand new right mirror to replace the broken one and I picked up a new tank pad too. It just my luck at the moment that during the warmest weeks in over two years, I'm unable to ride. I get the feeling that when I can ride again, its going to rain.

I called West Midlands Police today to see if there was any news regarding my bike, but sadly the situation is exactly as I left it last Sunday morning, i.e the bike is still missing. I had my call with the insurance company this afternoon as well, which was a very friendly affair. They just wanted to ask me some questions about where I left it, when I last saw it etc. It didn't last long, but hopefully things will move fairly quickly from here.
In Ducati news, I picked up the paint from RS Paint in Welwyn Green and took it down to the garage and while I was in the area I picked up a replacement bar end from Metropolis. I spend far too much time down there me thinks. They reckon the painting may be all finished by Wednesday, which means I should have the bike back on the road before the end of the week.

I think today went well, but it could have also gone a little better. I met Mike at Metropolis at 08:00 and we rode to Hoddesdon, me on the Ducati Hypermotard and Mike on the Monster Evo 1100, where we spent the day at the Vintage car rally alongside the Ducati Strada team with their fleet of demo bikes

To say it was hot was an understatement, it was roasting. Before the day, a route had been devised by a fellow customer at Metropolis which having ridden before, I led out the two Ducati fleet riders on the new Ducati Hyperstrada so they could get an idea of the route and see if it was suitable. Both Paul and Matthew were vastly experienced riders and to be honest I felt a little nervous, but I'm not really sure why. It was decided that the route, although fine for a small group, wouldn't be really suitable for the larger groups that they could accommodate so as Paul knew the area a bit, quickly came up with an alternative, which took in a greater amount of dual carriageways to the North and East of the little Hertfordshire town. I then spent the rest of the day with Lynn and Mike talking to customers, staying out of the sun and just enjoying the day.

The fleet drew a good amount of interest, but the take up of rides was a little slow. We all thought that the heat had a lot to do with it. Today wasn't the best day to get dressed up in all your gear, but all those who did really enjoyed their rides. 
A few familiar faces popped by and had a chat as well as some members of the DucatiForum, which is always appreciated.
16:00 came around and it was time to pack everything up and head home. After helping to get all the Ducatis in the vans (basically I just wheeled a select few down the road), Mike and I headed back to Barnet and this time I opted for the Monster 1100, which made it three different bikes in one day.
Was the day a success? I'm not sure really, but I think that time will tell. I'm not so sure that a Vintage Car show is the right market place to advertise the Ducati brand. The bikes were certainly popular,that there is no doubt as we saw lots of very happy people, but the vast majority didn't seem to be the usual Ducati fanbase. I really hope that Mike's hard work generates at least a few sales from today and I also hope that I did some good work too. At the very least we introduced the Ducati brand to people and I guess that was one the main reasons for being there.

This weekend plays host to the Goodwood Festival of Speed down in West Sussex, which I have been going to since 2005. This year fate has conspired against me and I won't be going. I delayed buying my ticket as I had applied for and subsequently got an interview for a position on their www.fortyonesix.com website, but sadly this was not to be. Then I crashed the Ducati at Brands Hatch, which is taking up any spare money that I have. Thirdly the theft of the Kawasaki last weekend really put an end to any idea of going. The Sunday was a possibility, but there is no way I was going to go in the car. I did that in 2005 and 2006 and it took over three hours to get to the A3. That's one great way to ruin a great day. So this year I'll have to settle for the Goodwood Breakfast clubs and the Revival in September.