To quote Bruce Campbell from The Evil Dead 3 (yes I know that's not the exact title) 'Well, hello Mr Fancy Pants!'. The Mr Fancy Pants in the particular tale is of course, our friend winter. For motorcyclists, winter remains one of the top three most unwelcome sights. The other two being blue lights behind you and Knobby McKnob Nuts pulling across your path when riding along.
We've been fairly lucky in the UK this year, with Autumn remaining defiant well into mid to late November, but over the last few days, winter finally stood up and said enough's enough delivering sub zero overnight temperatures.
To celebrate its return, I've now got to treat the 'Blade with some ACF-50, but to do it properly (something I didn't really do last year) the panels need to come off....all of them.
So in the first stage of my Matt vs Winter, I've given the outside of the bike a good clean, with the express intention of getting the panels off, washing it again, treating it and then putting it back together.
I'm off work for a week soon, so this will be one of the main jobs that I'll do, the others bike wise, will be to sort the front calipers out and put the Ducabike rearsets onto the 1098s.
The weather chaps on the telly are saying its going to drop to minus 4 tonight in rural areas, which, well, is where I live, so if that kind of temperature persists, I won't be doing a whole heap of commuting by bike this week. Don't have any heated kit and for what is in effect a two hour commute, it would be too dangerous.
If you're out there riding this week, stay safe people. 

Well hasn't the weather just been a joy to behold. Rain, wind, wind and more bloody rain. How utterly rubbish...and how utterly British of me to talk about it. Oh well, too late now. 
After three days in the car, I just needed to get out on two wheels today. The forecast wasn't favourable, but I was determined. So I got ready and left the house just before 06:00 to find......no rain, warm(ish) temperatures and dry roads. Bring it on! More like late September than mid November.
Now I'm not going to say that my commute went really quickly, but what I will say is I shaved 25mins off my best time from door to door....and that includes a petrol stop.
The bike felt good, I felt good and it was just great being out there riding frankly. Yes, it was 99% motorway dullness, but, it was so much more engaging that the four wheel alternative.
The ride home was in completely in the dark, which isn't wonderful. There was lots going on at work and an important story I had to stay on top of, so I got to commute back home in rush hour proper.
The M3 was solid from Winchester all the way down to the M27 due to an accident....on the opposite carriageway. No restrictions on my side...none. But still everybody slowed down. Why can't people just drive past? Why do they have to slow down and have a good old look? Are their lives so devoid of any excitement that a smashed up car becomes the highlight of their day?
How about paying attention to what you're doing. I know, its a radical idea, but who knows.

With the mild start to November continuing, its still a perfectly feasible option to take the bike to work at least once a week. Where as during a 'normal' November I'd have to worry about the cold as well as the arrival of darkness, its now just the latter which causes concern.
This week, I varied my route to work as this would actually allow me to ride the bike on roads more suited to two wheels, leaving the monotonous ride on the motorway for the trip home.
This week, despite being 'dry', conditions were still tricky, especially under trees and on the faster, twistier roads, with greasy patches evident.
With the leaves finally falling from the trees, they add yet another dynamic to the ride. You don't want to me hard on the brakes, or on the gas for that matter, with one of the wheels relying on the grip of damp leaves to keep you facing the right way.
I picked up a post from one of my Facebook friends. Chap called Ben who lives Hampshire way and rides a similar FireBlade to mine I think. He put up a post thanking a driver for the 'game' during his ride to work.
As motorcyclists, we've all been there. In the right conditions we come across something sporty, on four wheels and usually expensive. We quickly decide to, shall me say, tag along for a bit. It is one of those little joyous moments, where you know matey in front has their foot firmly planted to the floor, but no matter how they try, they can't shift the little headlight in the mirror.
Sometimes they keep trying , but the rest of the time they pull over to the left and you just breeze past on a machine worth an absolute fraction of theirs. 
I had this very situation this week with an Audi RS6 when riding the 'Blade. Now my bike probably cost the same as the wheels, which is why it was probably so much fun. If you want comfort, buy a car. If you want to hunt Porsche's, Audi's and BMW's get a bike. Car fast and bike fast are rarely the same thing.

It would appear that since moving down to the South Coast, I've been slack with the blog updates and then find myself subsequently apologising for said quiet spells. I wish I could give a better explanation other than I've been either busy with work or just too tired because of work. Its not very 'blogger' really.
A friend of mine even emailed me to check if I was okay as there had been a lack of updates. Thanks KM, yes I'm fine thank you. Great to hear from you. Its been far too long.
So I've applied for my press accreditation for Motorcycle Live this year, so cross fingers I'll get some positive news. I made a huge error last year and could only get there on the afternoon of the second Saturday. It was chaos in there. This resulting in not actually being able to see the whole show and getting extremely fed up with being unable to get the access I would want, i.e photos etc. This year I've booked a week off work and booked a hotel about half a mile away for the Monday night and I'll be up there on the Tuesday. Nice and quiet thank you very much.
On Wednesday this week I had to head back into the belly of the beast for a meeting in Southwark and something happened to me that has never happened to me on a bike before. I had my foot run over in Brixton by a Private Hire Minicab. Both aiming for the same spot, he's come into my lane, but as it was just one of the rear wheels, my foot was fine. In fact the side of my bike probably and hopefully, did more damage to his car. I signalled that everything was okay to the driver, which looked like it pleased his passenger somewhat. Funny thing is, I had my foot run over again twenty mins later whilst waiting at the Elephant & Castle Roundabout. Numbnuts next to me could tell the different between a red light and a green and moved forward on red (we we sat there for about three mins) and rolled forward 5ft, running over the same foot. This driver was unimpressed that I started tapping on his window to tell him he's nearly crushed my foot, but he got out of his car and everything, not actually realising, or in fact actually questioning why I was tapping on his wondow. Tool. I love London. Its just so.....hostile. The only sign of damage was the toe slider being slightly pulled off my Alpinestar SMX boots. Never wear trainers on bikes people. Proper boots all the way.
Before my London trip, I headed to Doble Honda in Coulsdon, South London, to pick up some official caliper seals for the FireBlade. At £111 for the complete set for both calipers, they weren't cheap, but I know they will fit and they will work. Sometimes paying more, a lot more in this case, than ebay is worth it for peace of mind. I'll get around to rebuilding each caliper in due time. I will say, thats one seriously impressive dealership and I've I find myself still employed in the area, the Blade will certainly be booked in for a decent service when the time comes.

On the ride out of London and on the way home I just stuck to the major routes. The twisties in the dark being dazzled by the frankly totally unnecessarily bright car headlights, in the wet, was, in my mind, utter stupidity. I was left fighting through traffic on the A3 and M27 instead and when I got home I was tired and both my hands were hurting more than they have in some time. I felt old. To say I was glad to get home is an understatement. The bike it utterly filthy, but the rain hasn't stopped long enough to clean it. Cross fingers for tomorrow.
Stay safe everyone and I'll try and get more updates to you at a better frequency.