Well today was a fairly productive day. The sun was shining, so after an early morning visit to the gym I knuckled down to setting the 1098 up for its winter hibernation. This was pretty much a full panel off cleaning job which as is always the way, was easier said than done. I chose to clean the bike with the panels on to start with, then dried the outside and took the side panels off to clean the engine. I had a few problems with some stuck fasteners which added to the problems. It really is amazing how something so little can add so much time to a simple job. Anyway, once everything was cleaned, I ran it up to temp and them treated the engine to a coating of ACF50 to tide it over for the winter months. I had originally planned to give the panels a coat of wax as well, but that will have to wait until later in the week, when I'll add some fuel stabiliser when I top up the tank. The other job that I didn't get around to, was setting up the muscle stand, bought a year ago, which is still in the box. So, although I didn't do everything I wanted, I did enough. After a run to the petrol station, I parked up the bike and popped the cover on. Whilst out there, I also gave my new Monster a little clean down as well. Not that it really needed it. Again, I ran it up to temp and gave the front and sides of the engine a coating of the ACF50 to help protect it on the daily ride into and out and London. As the sun was shining I took the Monster out as soon as the 1098 was home. I have noticed some issues. For example, when cold, the engine really struggles in the low revs. I talking misfire here, not just struggling to make power. Once up to temperature the bike feels and sounds great. I originally thought I'd be able to use my magnetic tank bag with the Monster, but alas, I can't. Bugger. Anyway, I'll be ordering up some new Kreiga straps to use my tailback on, but in the meantime, I'll keep using my rucksack. I think I'm really going to enjoy learning to live with the Monster. Here are a few pics of the bikes together, plus the most important part to any bike cleaning session. A nice cup of tea
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This is just really a site news update blog post, mainly just to say that my Monster page is now live. You can find it under the Ducati heading and both the Monster and 1098s pages should appear in a drop down menu. To match this up, I've also renamed the Kawasaki page as well. The Monster page is pretty empty at this time, just some bike specs, a few photos and a brief history of the Monster, but in time, I'll add to this to match it up with the other bike specific pages on the site. Here's to the next chapter in bike ownership. Stay safe
Well today didn't quite go exactly to plan. That's to say nothing seriously bad happened, but I think I would have liked it to go a little differently.
First the ride into work this morning on the 1098s was fine. It was dry enough to be able to ride and I made it in without incident (with the exception of the blind van driver plodding along around Smithfield meat market) to the car park and locked the bike for its usual stay. On the ride back the roads were just packed, certainly a lot busier than I have experienced on a Friday lunchtime, which meant I got stuck in it. This resulted in the bike and myself getting really hot; the bike however wasn't taking it out on the surrounding drivers. Anyway, shortly after getting home I was able to get a lift to Metropolis to pick up the Monster. I was there for about 20mins just chatting with the guys before handing over the money for the bike. The new tyres and fitted grips were both on, although the original R&G grips had been substituted for a different set. To be honest, I wasn't that bothered as the grips that were fitted on the Ninja showed signs of serious wear after only a few months, so lets give these a go. The weather at the time was good enough and to be honest, I wanted to the ride the bike I had just bought, so I headed off for St Albans to have a coffee and make a few phone calls. As I pulled up, the sky was getting noticeably darker and rain drops were starting to fall. By the time I left it was raining a little heavier, but nothing serious....well for the first 5mins anyway, because no longer had I hit the main road out of town, the heavens opened. I don't mean it started to rain, it flippin chucked it down. 'Real wrath of God type stuff...fire and brimstone coming from the sky, rivers and seas boiling, forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from the grave, human sacrifice...dogs and cats living together...MASS HYSTERIA!!' I was quickly soaked and again, my boots filled with water. Really not good. It got to the point where my feet were so cold and wet, they hurt. Gotta get some better boots soon. So my first ride on the Monster turned into a wet ride of endurance. The plan had been to take a few photos and do a nice little write up of the first ride, but that's pretty much gone out of the window now. That lovely valet that the bike had doesn't mean anything now, which is annoying. The Monster is now just as dirty as the 1098 its parked next to in the garage. Handy I'm home alone this weekend, I've got lots of scrubbing to do. Today was dry, albeit a little chilly, which meant I could actually ride the bike today and not just point it in 'Juan Direction' (look it up on Youtube - trust me) and bobble through wet greasy London streets. With the aforementioned Monster arriving tomorrow, today was the penultimate commuter ride for the 1098, and thinking about it, probably for 2013. The plan over the weekend it to give it a full 'panels off' clean and put it away for winter. Judging by the look of my front tyre, that's definitely for the best. I called up Ducati Insurance www.ducatiinsurance.co.uk today too, just confirming my cover start from tomorrow for the Monster, so as the bike already has some tax left on it, I'm all legal for tomorrow. Yesterday I mentioned getting my pictures back, so here are some photos of the photos, which is a little ironic don't you think. Anyway, the first one is three pictures of me at the Ron Haslam and Chris Walker Race schools and the middle one, is me on the 1098 at Silverstone. I'm not sure where I'm going to hang it, but I was worried I'd loose the photos or never get around the getting them framed. The second one is a picture of Neil Hodgson from 2003 on his Ducati 999. I just love the monochrome look of the picture and the black framing works really well. You can just see that the leading edge of the frame is white as well which really complements the picture.
Hi there, sorry for the lack of updates the last couple of days. Real life has been getting in the way and I've been off the bike for the start of the week. Handy really judging by the rain I drove through both Monday and Tuesday.
Very briefly then, I'll be picking up the Monster on Friday, so I'll be updating the site with a new Monster section. I've got my pictures back from the frames, so tomorrow if I have time, I'll get some photos of them up on the site. I think they look great. Expensive, but the quality of the work shines through. Still haven't heard back from my RoSPA examiner, which I'm less than happy about and staffing issues at work have placed a spanner in the works for my visit to Motorcycle Live. I wanted to go during the week when it would be quieter, but it looks like I'm going to be going at the weekend instead. Oh and finally, the Ducati reached 12000 miles today. That means the Desmo service is due. Damn. Yesterday I had the afternoon free so popped down to Box Hill after work to meet a friend for a coffee. We were supposed to meet up on Wednesday, but they cancelled on me at the last minute. In all honesty, I would have preferred going earlier in the week because, well, it was sunny on Wednesday. Yesterday, it was chucking it down. Thankfully I was wearing my rain suit and following on from the problem with my feet getting wet, went for some Sealskinz waterproof socks www.sealskinz.com/UK/. What a great product. In this country, they seem to be aimed at walkers and cyclists, but are perfectly suited to motorbiking too. My feet stayed dry all day.
Thankfully when it was time to leave, the rain had stopped, but as it was Friday rush hour, I really didn't want to fight town traffic on the A3 and A406 on wet roads, so I did something that I very rarely do, In fact I try to avoid it at all costs, but yesterday I rode home on the M25. As I was riding along filtering, a rider on an Aprilia Tuono Factory pulled up behind me. Realising I was going slower than him I started looking for a place to 'pull over' in the traffic to let him past, but before I could do that, he'd already changed lanes and was weaving, at speed through the 20mph traffic! This got me thinking. Everybody has an opinion on the best way to ride. Me, I'm Rospa trained, but that doesn't mean I always ride that way. Watching this bloke race to his almost certain doom I was thinking that I could right up a few 'How to's' and publish them up on here. Covering elements like filtering on motorways and riding in the City. I know there are plenty of books and DVDs out there, but I'll try and put my own little spin on things and see how they work out. Anyway, I eventually got home in the dark yesterday, cold and a bit wet and it was only 17:30. When do the clocks change back again? |
MeMy name is Matt Brown and I'm a UK journalist formerly based in London, but now calling the South of England home. I've been riding bikes since 2007, but got hooked straight away. Nothing gives me the feeling of freedom, even when stuck in a city. In 2010 I became a RoSPA gold rider, but when it comes down to it, I'm Just a normal man, riding his bikes as often as he can. Archives
April 2019
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