Summer is now over. Here in the UK the clocks went back an hour this past weekend, resulting in cold early dark evenings. Today is Halloween, but it would appear that nobody checked if Summer had read the memo.
The weather today is just amazing, more akin to early May than nearly November. Yes, it was marginally chilly first thing, but now, as I write this, its perfect outside. You can just see how clear the blue sky is in these pictures. Unexpected to say the least.

In other news, as I recently accepted a new job that will mean much more riding at night down unlit roads, I've recently invested in a brand new Oxford Hi-viz waistcoat. It may not be the coolest piece of riding gear I own, but it should make me much more visible on the roads, especially if the worst should happen and that is my only concern. At just under £40 is was neither the cheapest, nor the most expensive version, and it is elasticated and zips up the front, therefore removing any unnecessary flapping that can plague some of the cheaper alternatives when they come undone. Been there, done that, very annoying for all involved.
Last week I had a very quick visit from Mark White of Performance Bikes fame, who came and picked up the 1098s, which is being used in a comparison piece with the 959 Panigale currently being run by John McAvoy. I was a little cautious as the bike is far from perfect, but was happy to help.
My real hopes are two fold. First I hope the bike does itself proud and secondly, a cheeky little blog mention would be really cool. Watch this space.

Very very quick update for today. Just like last year, I completely forgot the anniversary of the site. So, I know its a bit late, but as the site is now over four years old, I'd like to thank all my friends and readers who have helped make this site a success. A lot has changed over these four years, but I hope that the heart and soul of the site has remained the same. Here's to the next four years and beyond. 

Noticing that my chain was a little 'loose' lately, I set about tightening it in the usual way. So far, so normal. Whilst the back end was up in the air, I decided to have a quick check of the rear wheel bearings. Grabbing the wheel at the top and bottom and oscillating between hands creating a little bit of lateral movement, the wheel shouldn't budge. Yes, you guessed it, there was a few millimetres of travel, which meant that the bearings were on the way out. As these would only deteriorate further, a change was required and not confident in my own abilites, through a lack of experience and the right tools, I called a friend.
Kevin is a local mobile mechanic and I have been meaning to give some work, so I gave him a call and he was able to pop round a few days later, brand new bearings in hand. Fantastic.
Kevin is a really great guy and didn't mind me watching / helping him where I could, so not only did I get the bearings changed over for a extremely reasonable rate, but I learnt a few little tips along the way. You can see from the pics below that I took the wheel off in readiness, which meant Kevin was able to get straight to work replacing the bearings. Kevin has a website www.m-v-s-solutions.co.uk and if you're after a top quality mechanic who comes to your house or work, Kevin is your guy. He didn't even complain about the coffee I made him. What a gent!

Well that was a weekend pretty much filled with biking experiences. The weather was good and the roads, despite being a little damp in places, had enough grip and little debris to make the riding worthwhile. 
​With an appointment in the north of the neighbouring county this week, I decided to do a dry run, in order to fully understand the requirements should repeat journeys be required. The weather was due to turn in the afternoon, so I was hoping I'd make it back in time.​​ So fully suited up I headed out to enjoy the riding.
The FireBlade felt pretty good as we darted across the countryside. There were still plenty of bugs that ended up smeared over my visor, even in October and it felt great being out on what was one of my longer riders since leaving a job in Surrey earlier this year.

After grabbing the obligatory coffee and a snack, I headed back home via a slightly different route, which included the A30 West from Salisbury to Shaftsbury. This really is a brilliant road and worthy of any riders time. With the weather starting to turn, I made the quick dash home, getting there safe and dry, twenty minutes before the heavens opened.
On Sunday I was invited to the beach races at Weymouth and it was pure and utter madness. Totally brilliant madness, but madness still the same. Riders kept lapping the course on the seafront, trying to put in as many laps as possible in a 15-25 minutes time limit. The skills of the riders on display, ranged wildly, with some clearly excellent motocrossers, riding the same course as casual riders. In a word, it was brilliant. Same time next year? Oh very much so.

This week, my biking has pretty much been limited to short little rides to the shops. Long story which I won't bore you with.
In other news, our press release for the first Dorset Bikerdown! course has picked up some really good traction and its great to be able to get the message out there. Bikerdown! is a really brilliant course and I urge every rider to find a local organiser and spend an evening with their team. The skills that are taught can really help save somebody's life before the emergency services arrive on scene and that has to be worth two hours of your time.

Earlier this week I got an interesting request from a journalist I know, who works for Performance Bikes regarding borrowing my 1098 for an afternoon in order to compare it to the current 959. Now, normally I would jump at the chance, I mean, who wouldn't want to see their bike in one of the best bike magazines in the UK, but she isn't great at the moment and I know it. I've written about my clutch a few times and there are a few additional issues, like the indicators and I really feel that its a bit scruffy up close. The phrase I've been using is 'its good from a distance'.
I would be a little worried about the clutch lasting or performing well enough for the bike to make a good account of herself, but saying that, if he does come back to me, I'm going to really struggle to say no.

As we move rapidly into October, the traditional biking season is drawing to a close here in the UK. The temperatures are starting to drop towards single digits overnight, which will mean that cold icy starts to the day are not too far behind.
Despite this, there is still lots going on bike wise and yesterday I headed back over to the little Wareham bike meet. It was chilly, but the dying light from the sun made for some interesting sights on a Monday evening.
I was able to wear my one piece leathers yesterday and it may well be one of the last times this year I get to wear them. With that in mind, I'll get the cleaning stuff out of the cupboard, give them some of my time and hope that I fit in them again come spring time.

Well, even if I do say so myself, our first Dorset Bikerdown! seminar was a huge success. Held at the Safewise Centre in Bournemouth, we had a full house of participants, with riders from every sub group you can think of. 
I wrote up the event on the official blog, so you can have a little read of that here. Apologies if it comes across as a press release, because thats exactly what it is. The Docbike Project presents Dorset’s first Bikerdown! Course.

In the meantime, here are a few little snaps from the event.

There are two more events this year, one in November and December. I must say a huge thank you to Mike at Bournemouth Bikes www.bournemouthbikes.com for his support and the supplying the first aid kits. The future is looking very promising indeed.

I finally got the Ducati back at the weekend and to be fair, they did a good job, putting in more work than they actually charged me, which included exploring the clutch problem. On the ride home the bike felt pretty good, including the clutch.
Taking the bike out again yesterday, the clutch was back to being a bit close to the mark. I know that the plates etc. need to be changed over the winter and I'm planning on sourcing a good slipper clutch, if finances allow, ​so that may solve the issue. This will be the first item on the list of what I will need to do and will include change of grips, improved rear tail lights and levers.

Yesterday's Wareham bike meet was a quiet affair, but the weather was good and there was no reason not to go. Despite being it being Autumn, Summer is doing it's level best to hang on, so these kind of afternoons and evenings will start to become rare from now on.
Tomorrow night is the first Bikerdown! Dorset event, which I'm really looking forward to. Will keep you updated.