Apologies for the lack of updates this week. In reality, I haven't been up to much in terms of biking, I've just been spending some quality time with Carolina and committing myself to some other projects.
On Monday I did manage to get over to the Wareham bike meet and say hi to a few chaps, which was a good excuse to ride the 1098s if I'm honest. I'm worried that air is still getting into the clutch system somewhere and I'm concerned the source of the problem is the new clutch slave. Previously when I had this problem, after much back and forth and replacing of parts, it was the bearing in the front of the pressure plate which was causing this issue. Have checked, but this seems okay. I have a good look but I'll need to take some bits off the bike and see what I can find. 
In the meantime, here are a few little snaps from the day.

The other project that I've been working on is the Docbike project in collaboration with Dorset Police and Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. I've been working through their website updating and tidying it up. I didn't want to go in all guns blazing and delete all the hard work that had been done before, but in reality it did need a few little tweaks made. You can find out more information here www.docbike.org, where you can also donate money to help us deliver a fully qualified trauma doctor to the road and help deliver life saving skills to the classroom. Okay, pitch over.

In FireBlade news, I'm getting increasingly concerned about a noise at start up. Previously the bike was mechanically reasonable quiet, so any changes are fairly evident. At the moment the sound of my Scorpion exhaust is a little overpowering, so at the weekend, I'm going to swap this over for the original can and make a recording. Sadly the other recording equipment I have is my phone, so this will have to do and I will keep you updated.

​In the meantime, for my UK readers, if you're not working, have a great long Bank Holiday weekend.

I like Poole Quay bike night, but for regular readers, this isn't a surprise. Normally the type of bikes and indeed the bikes themselves, are the same, but every now and again, something unusual, or rare arrives. 
This week I actually took the Ducati onto the Quay and followed a modern take on the Brough Superior through the gates. Rare and expensive, I liked the bike, although others weren't so keen. In my opinion, it would make a nice addition to any garage.​

I picked up the 'Blade today after dropping it in last week for a valve check and a few other jobs. The chart to the right shows the workings of the guys at Conquest and despite what some people say about the FireBlade, I needed 8 new shims as they were all tight. Speaking with Howard it would appear that the slight clacking noise is the clutch basket on its way out. For a bike with nearly 33,500 miles on the clock, I could well believe it. On the ride back to work this afternoon, it was clear the bike was running much better with the filter and oil changes. It feels like a different bike, but that could be because I had been riding the BMW 650GS around for a few days.

Once home I let the bike cool for a few hours and then put all the bodywork back on and for good measure, gave it a nice clean. Apart from the damaged rear fairing, she looks pretty damn good for a bike made in 2002.
Caroline's nephew Carlos Jose was able to take some photos of Dr Ian Mew from the Docbike last week and he took a few snaps of me for good measure. The photos of Ian were really good and I have a feeling I'll be calling upon his services in the future. He sneaked in a few little behind the scenes snaps too.

With the FireBlade still on the shop, I took the Ducati down to the first 'Manic Monday' bike meet at Wareham Quay. For those who haven't been to Wareham, the Quay, in my opinion, is pretty much the only reason to go there. The town, which does have a supermarket does have a few little shops and banks, but its certainly not a town that you could spend more than an hour exploring, unless you want to sit by the quay and enjoy the sunshine.

Friday was an interesting day, but in fact the fun actually started the Wednesday before. The plan was to do an oil and filter change, an easy procedure, before I took the bike up to Conquest to have the valves checked as per the service schedule. Taking off the bodywork, the oil leak, which I had hoped had been fixed, clearly hadn't been. The oil level really hasn't dropped that far, so the leak is clearly minor and it looks like the oil is coming out as a fine mist, spraying the inside of the fairing. I took off the R&G cover and cleaned up the area, but without the right gasket to hand, I saw no point in doing the oil change. The gasket replacement is also dead easy, but as it was going in on Friday anyway, I've asked Stu and the team to do it on my behalf. Lazy I know.

The plan therefore on Friday was to get the Blade up to Three Legged Cross, via Moore Speed Racing to pick up a new PiperCross air filter. It's never a good idea to try and do too much in a short period of time and I found myself fighting through traffic to make up time. 
Just after I got to MSR, I got stuck behind a BMW at the lights as there wasn't enough space and the red mist dawned.
After the lights changed, I made my views clear and at the next set of lights, the same BMW was now behind me, blue lights flashing. Note to self, don't make hand gestures at the Police.
So, in what was my second meeting with the Dorset Police No Excuse team in around 15months, I was actually face to face with the same officer who stopped me the first time, who also recognised me too.
As per the previous meeting, the discussion was perfectly civil and I was given some good advice after I accepted responsibility for my poor actions. The other officer, big chap with a seriously impressive beard, mentioned that my MOT was out of date. This I was genuinely surprised at as Im usually very good with my paperwork. Thankfully no points on the licence or a fine and in fact being stopped turned out to be a good thing. As I was heading to the shop to have some work done, stapling an MOT on at the end, was no extra problem.

So, with the FireBlade safely delivered to the shop, the guys let me borrow a BMW 650GS to get me back to work. Initially, I hated this bike. Not as much as the TDM900 which was a real piece of rubbish (heavy, slow, no soul and no fun). I felt the BMW was slow, wide, tricky to grip with the legs and with a really rubbery front brake. However, on the way home from work, I really got on with the bike and actually enjoyed the much slower relaxing approach to riding. I've got it for a few more days, so will give it a little review as soon as I can. 
To celebrate todays MotoGP result, I gave the Ducati a good scrub down too. I won't spoil the result and I'm going to take the Ducati to a new bike meet in Wareham tomorrow just for fun. The Ducati isn't perfect at the moment and I need to sort out the bodywork and improve the rear signals after I had to butcher them to pass the MOT earlier this year. Anyway, the bike looks good from a slight distance and I still love her as much as when I first got her.

Well, the oil leak I thought had been sorted, hasn't been. Clearly coming out as a fine mist when the engine is getting hot, which may explain why we've struggled to find it source. I was planning of doing my oil and filter change in preparation for the air filter and valve check taking place on Saturday. Without a new gasket to hand, I don't see the point in draining the oil and replacing the filter, only to have the oil drained again in a few days time.
Knowing its got the leak and with the bodywork off, I'll need to take the Ducati to work tomorrow. The only problem is that I'm not happy with the amount of play on the clutch at the moment. I've bled the system at both the master and the slave cylinders, but I'm still not happy. 
So as it stands, the bike is sat in the garage with the lever tied back against the bar and hopefully that will clear most of the problem. Must remember to put it all back together in the morning before I head off to work however.
Speaking of work, I mentioned in a previous post that I've been offered a new voluntary role working on the DocBike project, a project to bring a qualified Doctor to the road on an official motorcycle. You can find out some more information here www.docbike.org and I join the team as the Director of Communications. What I'll be doing is reworking the website and updating their social media channels. A very exciting project and yesterday I was on an impromptu photo shoot. I'll keep you updated when I have more to tell.

To quote the brilliant Tim McInnery playing Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth: "I put a quote in my diary today...It simply says.. bugger". I knew I'd been flashed by the speed camera, but a man can hope. The calculation has traditionally been 'speed limit' + 10% + 3' and being flashed at the very limit is actually fairly ironic. If I take a step back, I have no ground on which to complain. I was caught going too quick and I accept that and if I'm being honest with myself, I deserve it.
I last received points back in 2005 I think it was, when, after buying a new car, I got 6 points in the space of eleven months, which was a bit of a pain and of course I went on a driver awareness course last summer for undertaking. Again, my own fault and yes, very naughty.
Will it change the way I ride? Being totally honest, probably not on the whole. I'm sure it will certainly remove my somewhat blase attitude towards speed cameras, however when out riding the lanes, I still plan on riding them in the same swift, but safe manner.
I firmly believe that the 'Speed Kills' message put out by the government is incorrect. I'm firmly in the 'inappropriate speed kills' category. This day, my riding wasn't dangerous and I was well aware of what was going on around me. I see this as just one of those things, as annoying as that is.