What an amazing and unexpectedly glorious day. Its nearly the middle of November and it was dry, sunny and the temperatures were in low double figures. I had a meeting up in Wiltshire scheduled for mid afternoon and after a long week, I was able to start my day a fraction later than usual. I'd checked the weather and being a week since I last rode (the fateful FireBlade chain escape of 2017) I was happy that there was no road salt down fired up the Ducati for what is most likely one of its last few rides of the year.
Hitting the roads at 09:30 meant there was very little traffic and for the most part, any residual moisture on the road had evaporated. There were still some damp sections, mainly in the middle of corners and under the trees, but knowing this dictated my style of riding and the lines I was taking. To say I had a blast was an understatement. Having been stuck in cars all week, this was like being unchained. Little did I know, it was going to get better too.
Just before lunchtime I got notification that the scheduled meeting needed to cancelled, which then freed me up for the afternoon. I was a little concerned I'd be riding in the dark on the way home, but with a free afternoon and plenty of hours in the bag, I left the office at 14:30 and headed back out into beautiful sunshine, cool air and clear roads.
An impending career change is likely to result in a very different commute and days like today need to be grabbed with both hands. With the the temperatures dropping, being able to shamelessly enjoy riding my favourite bike, on my favourite road was an amazing feeling. The FireBlade will get used throughout winter (once she's fixed of course) and once the councils spread their road salt in earnest across the highways and byways, the Ducati will be tucked up nice and warm over winter. 
What a great end to the working week and if the weather stays like this a little while longer, roll on Monday morning.

It was all going so well. Yesterday I spent most of my day riding from one side of the county to the other and back again. I had two meetings with journalists helping me promote the awareness campaign I'm launching next week and I took the FireBlade as I wanted to a) have a little fun b) get to where I needed to go fairly rapidly.
The ride to Weymouth (on the south coast of Dorset) was interesting. Patchy fog and a chill in the air meant that visibility wasn't the best, but lower traffic levels made it a little less hectic. 
With the meeting done and journalist happy, I took a scenic route across the county to Christchurch, near the Hampshire border on the very east of Dorset. After stopping off for a little lunch I popped into Smart Riders, a local store and part of the Infinity chain to look at winter gloves. My Rukka R-Star gloves are starting to give it up, with a seem coming through on the right index finger, clearly being worn down when I wipe my visor. 
So with the second meeting in the bag by 1630, I headed back home. At a set of lights I pulled up next to a yellow Suzuki GSX-F 600. A quick nod to say hi, we waited a few minutes and when the lights changed, we left. They took the lead and I followed. About a mile later and after a series of bends, I lost drive. It felt like I'd hit a neutral, but then couldn't seem to get it back in gear. Through my earplugs, I heard a bit of a clunking/grinding noise and thought that my gearbox had gone. With a bit of momentum on my side, I found a safe place to stop and called the AA (which is totally not ironic following my post earlier this week). Looking at the bike I could see the problem. My chain had made a break for freedom and I can only imagine how bad that could have been if the Suzuki rider was following me instead of the other way around.

Looking around the front sprocket, I couldn't see any serious damage. The cover was still there and there was no oil pissing out of the side. I'd been lucky. I called the AA and I was home an hour later. Turns out they were just around the corner at the time of my call which was handy. Rare too. 
With the bike all strapped in, we took the short drive home and found traffic levels surprisingly low, which for us, was a good thing. Could my luck hold?
With the bike in the garage and some decent lighting, I was finally able to look at the extent of the damage. When the chain went, its whipped itself up and out when passing the front sprocket, striking and shattering part of the engine case, the spacer and cracking the mounting joint on the sprocket cover. There was still no oil seeping out so the case was still intact, and although pretty bad, it could have written off the engine.

I'm now left with a dilemma. Full on fix, or a fix that will be good enough. In reality, the bike is worth more to me as transport, especially as we enter the winter months. If I can get away with a fix that doesn't require the engine to be split, that's the most likely path I'm going to find myself on. However, this would be a great opportunity to have the engine refreshed completely by a specialist, breathing new life into the bike in terms of performance and longevity. There is nothing stopping me undertaking the latter option in 6 months time when the Ducati is likely to be getting more use.
Ironically, the FireBlade is due to have some engine work done in about three weeks, usually service stuff, valves, filters etc. so I'll have a think. One thing I know for sure; I need a new chain and sprocket set as my last chain is probably in a hedge somewhere, or buried in the grill of a silver BMW.