After a last minute frantic search for my house keys, I headed up to Moto Rapido in Winchester to have an ongoing problem with my clutch looked at. Before heading up, I was already fully aware that the clutch plates were on their last legs, but the issue that got it booked in was that I was experiencing inconsistency at the lever in terms of pressure and biting points. In an attempt to cure this, I was already down two aftermarket clutch slave cylinders and some hours in the workshop.
With the bike dropped off, I had arranged to use one of their demo fleet to get me to work and I opted for an 821 Monster over the 1200 Multistrada. I'm sure the latter is a great bike, but its not my kind of bike, so the Monster it was. I'd already ridden one a few years back and can remember being frustrated with extremely limited options regarding foot position. Sadly, this was still very much the case. For those with large feet (like UK size 7 and above) there is nowhere you can go due to the pillion footpegs and exhaust hanger impeding your heels, which in turn means, for me at least, that there isn't a great deal of options in terms of how you can sit on the bike.
Its such a shame because the 821 Monster looks brilliant, sounds brilliant and at its heart, has a fantastic engine.
A few hours into my work day, I get a call and it was bad, really bad news. With the exception of the master cylinder and the hose connecting it to the slave, I had to buy an entire new clutch system. Everything. 
The report reads 'Found Oberon slave cylinder has been stripped and not assembled correctly. Face with locates pushrod is loose and not sitting in line. Signs that this has made contact with the chain. Clutch push rod bent and anti rotation pin missing, with the incorrect pin used to hold the push rod. Clutch hub badly notched along all surfaces. Barnett clutch basket has badly broken up; steel shims missing from one edge and rattling. Clutch set badly worn, tags excessively worn away. Some sliding plates are dished. Replaced complete clutch assembly.'
The report also makes note of an issue with the plunger in the clutch lever, which can cause the clutch to drag. I'll be digging around in my tool box to see what I can dig up.
I can see that the bent push rod was a cause of my big off in 2012, which then caused the problems with the clutch slaves. The rest sounds like wear and tear, but to get it all in one hit was less than ideal. All in all a very expensive day and my fear is that its still wonky at the back of the engine, which will cause the chain to strike the slave again. Only time will tell.
The team at Rapido were fantastic and the bike does really feel great. It's also notably quieter, which the neighbours should appreciate at the very least.

Work has been crazy busy leading up to last weekend, so I ended up driving the car more than I would have ideally liked. Sometimes needs must and this week I was able to return to commuting on the bike and the last two days have been polar opposites in terms of weather and riding achieved.
On Tuesday I had to return a key to the local council and took the Ducati into town for the job. The sun was up, the wind was down and it was a lovely, lovely day. After dropping the key off and grabbing a coffee, I planned my route back to work. The direct route was primarily dual carriageways, which didn't appeal, so in what can only be described as 'stealing a ride' I took the much more desirable scenic route. 
Riding out in the mid morning sunshine, the roads were quiet and the Ducati and I had a field day, but I can't say the same thing about some of the bugs we met en-route. One of which can be best described as 'full'. 
After the joy of yesterday, today was windy and rainy. Not being afraid of the rain, the Ducati and I headed back out and the Rosso tyres she's sporting are fantastic in the wet. I was maintaining a good speed and making good progress despite the damp conditions and both wheels dealt with any surface water brilliantly. I didn't have a single moment where I feared I would loose grip. That's confidence building right there.
My mate Dean and I are all booked in for a trackday up at Rockingham with Bike Magazine in August. Dean also has a black 1098s so it should be a good laugh. The only downside is Rockingham is at least three hours from home. Looks like we'll be sharing the driving.

Looks like the recurring problem I was having with the clutch on the 1098s hasn't been sorted after all. How very irritating! 
For the last two to three weeks, I have just been riding the FireBlade. It started when the weather turned and from then, it was just the bike I went to each morning. Lately the Blade has been sounding a bit rattly, so with fantastic weather, I got the Ducati out instead and it quickly became apparent that all was not good with Bologna's finest.
My clutch has been very, very, very slowly been loosing pressure, highlighted by a little free play at the lever. When it was serviced back in March, Artur bled the system thoroughly and lever was rock solid, but within a few weeks of riding, the free play came back. Leaving the bike for a few weeks certainly hasn't helped as even with a period of inactivity, the level of free play has increased and the biting point has moved closer to the bar. 
You can see from the above that something is mixing with the chain lube and slowly dripping down onto the lower fairing and top of the sidestand, which in the past was put down to a leaking seal behind the front sprocket. In a strange twist, the level of free play doesn't actually stay constant and when the system is hot, the biting point moves back away from the bar. All very confusing.
So what to do? Well, I'm all booked in at Moto Rapido in a few weeks so they can have a look at it. It could be that the clutch assembly is on the way out, or that the master cylinder needs a rebuild, but that wouldn't account for the loss of pressure at the lever. It's a nice little Italian mystery, one which I'm looking forward to hearing the solution.

This past weekend, I headed up to London to spend time with my folks, which included spending the Saturday at Lords cricket ground watching England play South Africa. Lords remains a very special place to me and it remains one of the few sporting locations that I've been able to return to numerous times across the years. Since dad retired, watching cricket together one or twice a year, has become the thing that my father and I do. He's never 'done' cars and has certainly shown no interest in bikes, so this is the sport we bond over. So the question I had last Friday, was 'what is the most most suitable way to get me to and from London?' In reality the car would have been more convenient, but with some amazing weather on hand, I took the FireBlade instead.
My original plan was to get some nice cross country riding in and then head up into London via Box Hill in Surrey, the A3 and the A406, but I swiftly became inpatient and after hitting a bit of the A272, decided to take the more direct route and headed straight up the A3 at the earliest opportunity.
After stopping for fuel and a bit of re-hydration, I headed into the belly of the beast and was immediately taken aback by the marked increase in speed cameras, both average and static.
The real benefit to riding a bike in London has always been the progress you can make through the traffic and I was able to take advantage of this to a certain extent, but I found myself being overly conscious of watching for cameras and not actually paying attention to what was going on around me. You may read this and think that I was caning it through the streets of London, well I wasn't. I kept my speed down, but still I found myself distracted and I'm a fairly experienced rider.    

The cricket on Saturday was enjoyable as always, but I had to use the bus to get there. Being used to just getting to my destination and cutting through queues, the bus is certainly a different, albeit convenient experience. With time on my hands, I was able to look around and see just how the city has changed. Shops empty, buildings removed and just a general grimy feel to the place. I'm sure its always been like that, but it takes living away from the capital to really spot it.

Sunday started early and at the time I really wasn't to know just how long a day I had ahead of me. Reading through some social media last week, I spotted that my old dealership were arranging a ride out, so I thought I'd pop up and say hi before I headed into Central London to have breakfast with a friend and former colleague at 10:00. Well, I waited and waited, but they didn't show up in time, so I had to cut my losses and head out. While there, I did have a quick chat with three riders who were off the to the Isle of Man. Hope they all got there safe and have a fantastic time. Perfect time of year for it.
After a really great catch up with Bill, I started heading home. My planned route was out of Farringdon, along The Embankment, through Parliament Square, and out via Battersea and Wandsworth. 
As the road layout had changed, I ended up going through Waterloo, Elephant and Castle, Streatham and Brixton. Thankfully traffic wasn't too bad, but the omnipresent restrictions and constant speed changes (they've dropped the speed to 20mph across much of the route) were a constant distraction. Look, I'm sure that the councils have the best interests of their residents in mind with these overly zealous restrictions, but drivers who are more concerned with drifting a few mph over and therefore staring at their speedo, are far more dangerous that travelling safely at a set speed, like you know, 30mph. I would be interested to see the data that has justified this idea. Who knows, maybe the council are blatantly aware that this reduction will see an increase in speeding fines and are using this as a way to bolster their revenue. You know, its a possibility. In fact, I'm expecting one next week. Not because I ripped it through the streets, but because I was unlucky and / or was trying not to get hit by car drivers in fear of their licence.
Getting through Wandsworth, I find a huge line of stationary traffic, which went to prove that I've still got the very slow speed filtering skills in place as I was able to make good progress. Turns out the A3 was shut and with temperatures already high, I was feeling exceptionally hot and getting annoyed.
With no clear diversion, I ended up just following my own sense of direction and ended up riding through Richmond Park, past a legion of cyclists all out making the most of the weather. Finally past the closure I was looking forward to a good bit of riding down the A24, A272 etc and was planning on heading up to Salisbury to enjoy the route between there and home. So I get to Box Hill and its shut for roadworks! Already hot and getting hotter and annoyed by the A3 closure, the red mist started to descend.
The diversion was something in the region of 20-25 miles and took me towards Guildford. Lots of traffic, cyclists and other bikes out there and I just wanted to break free from them and get out onto clear road. 
Running out of fuel and needing a drink, I stopped and took stock of where I was. I calmed down, headed back out and then found what I was looking for. I haven't ridden the A272 in lovely warm summer sunshine for a long time and it was great to reconnect with, what is for the sake of argument, the best biking road in the South East. Despite being hot and getting tired, the ride was brilliant and the bike felt fantastic underneath me, responding well to my requests.
Arriving at the A31/M3 junction and having been on the bike for the better part of 4-5hrs by this point, I decided on the direct route home. With traffic going the other way, leaving Dorset and heading home after a weekend by the coast, traffic was pretty good.
Finally I arrived home to a smiling Carolina waving from the kitchen window. She looked really happy and was a welcome sight following a long, hot and adventurous weekend.
Its now Monday morning and I have to head back out to Salisbury for work. Looks like I'll finally get to ride that great road after all, just 15 or so hours later than originally planned.

​

Apologies for the lack of updates for a few weeks. No real reason, just busy at work and enjoying time with Carolina.
Following the heat wave from a few weeks back, the weather has turned cooler and, especially last week, was more unsettled. See 'unsettled' read 'rainy'.
I got caught out a few times and as I've said before, I don't mind riding in the rain. Its a totally different mindset and one which isn't necessarily about drastically cutting your speed. With smooth inputs on the controls, there is still plenty of grip available and its a case of trusting whats beneath you. The bike will move around as the tyres move on the standing water, but you can still carry a decent pace and with decent rubber on, the grip is there. Visibility will be reduced and everybody around you will have slowed to a crawl and oil is a big issue, especially out on some rural roads. The ride is about maintaining your observations and being conservative. I not saying you can ride as swiftly as in the dry, far from it, but just because it's wet, it doesn't mean that there is nothing to learn or nothing to enjoy. 
On a dryer note, yesterday Carolina and I had the opportunity to head to Poole Bike night together and having not been for a while, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. The weather was reasonable and the crowd was fairly large.

Bike meets are funny places. They should be about heading down and seeing whats around, but often you see riders head down, park up, grab some chips or a  cup of tea and then just sit by their bike looking at it in stoney silence. This makes me feel a little uncomfortable when wandering around look at them, especially if its something attractive, different or special and I want to take a quick picture. I don't know, maybe that's just me.