So after not getting around to writing up a year review for the end of last year, I thought I really should tackle it this year. With people saying 2016 was one of the worst years ever (which in reality is a very bold statement) I felt that although my year was filled with ups and downs, I sit here now, looking back at what I felt was in fact a defining year in my career and my life.
The year started out not knowing where my career was going. I had a month left before redundancy started and I needed a new job, preferably closer to home. The weather at the start of the year dictated a less than exciting journey, but by the end of the month I’d secured a new role within the same company and a warm spell meant there was much more fun to be had on the hundred plus mile commute.

​In February I received an email from a friend of mine, offering me the chance to try out the new Pirelli Rosso 3 tyres. As it would be rude not to, I’ve spent the best part of the year riding these tyres on a mix of road and track in a variety of conditions. I think it’s fair to say that I am a huge fan of these tyres. They have lots of grip in both the wet and the dry and they have worn really well. Right now the rear has pretty much had it and I have no concerns at all about fitting a new one in the next few weeks.
March and April… Ahh you bastards! The weather has taken a real turn for the better and Carolina and I, who I had started seeing in February, took the car over to Horsham to see their Italia Festival. The weather was fantastic and so was the company and the vehicles on display. Lots of classic Italian cars and bikes and some cracking food to boot. Sadly my Ducati had thrown a hissy fit and a faulty sensor stopped the ECU recognising the gearbox was in neutral, which made the bike un-rideable. 

​Not wanting to be left out, in the middle of April my Type R ate its main drive shaft bearing, dumped all its oil and promptly became un-driveable and uneconomical to repair. Excellent! This left me with long commutes with just a motorbike for company. I needed another job closer to home if only for my sanity’s sake
By the end of May I had secured a new role in what seemed like an exciting company. What made it all the better, was it was only 6 miles from my house. Gone were the two and a half hours rides to work, replaced with a 15min dash. That feeling when I got home after the last monster ride was very strange. I knew that if I kept doing those sort of distances, something bad was going to happen, but each and every ride was an adventure and made me appreciate the build quality of the FireBlade.
During the summer I booked myself onto two California Superbike School days. They may appear to be expensive, but they are worth each and every single penny. The quality of the lessons and the teachers really is beyond reproach. It was on the way back from my first day at the school when the FireBlade fell over in the back of the van. One smashed mirror, a cracked rear fairing and a dented tank was what I had to show for it. The fall also tripped the tilt sensor, so I had to strip the front of the bike, which was made worse by the mess a previous owner had left the wiring in.

​The summer was amazing for me. Amazing weather, lots of good riding, some great bike meets and a trip to the BSB were the clear highs. The afore mentioned topple, a speeding ticket and an oil leak were the lows, but this was quickly put to the back of my mine after an amazing holiday to watch the MotoGP at Misano with Carolina.
Then at the start of October I was made redundant. The company that seemed so exciting was going nowhere fast and looking back in hindsight; being told to leave was the best thing for me. About two months before I left a good friend of mine quit after she was treated so badly while there and the place really wasn’t the same afterwards. It became a real slog just to get through the day and the office felt like a morgue. Thankfully at the start of November, I joined the Fire service, which heralded in a decent length commute, the opportunity to finally replace my car and an employer that presented a world of possibilities.
The year ended with a great trip to Motorcycle Live at the NEC with Carolina and we are both moving forward together in 2017. Next year promises to be full of new challenges, new discoveries and most of all, new opportunities. I’ve been thinking about replacing the FireBlade again, so who knows, maybe after two and half years I’ll replace her with something different, maybe a Suzuki for a change. I have no intention of getting rid of the Ducati, which itself finished 2017 in the pages of Performance Bikes magazine.
So although 2016 was a bit of a rollercoaster, it’s all come good in the end. Here’s to another exciting year on two wheels in 2017. Stay safe and I hope to see you out there.

Welcome to the fifth and final part of my Motorcycle Live 2016 review. Previously I have discussed Honda, BMW, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Triumph, Aprilia, Ducati and Moto Guzzi. Today I'll quickly run through the rest.

KTM
There was a good showing from KTM and when I was there, Bradley Smith was on the stand signing autographs. Their range of bikes were good and its a shame they've stopped making the RC8R, but with their MotoGP project in full swing, there are rumours of a KTM MotoGP machine available to the public. Now that could be special. Most of bikes seemed to have a updated front headlight display, which gave them all a great identity. KTM remain an exciting brand and this was represented by the size and scope of what was on display.

Norton
Norton showed up with their new V4 RR Superbike and its certainly a striking looking bike. The stand that they showed the two bikes on, was not. The bike was up on a circular pedistool with really limited viewing positions and only four access points. I guess it sounded good in practice, but in execution, is was just stupid and very crowded. They did however make up for this stupidity by have a range of their TT race bikes on ground level, which were as amazing as you would expect.

Ariel
Ariel had a great display, showing a range of their machinery, including two Atoms. The standard road car and the off road Nomad. The Ariel bikes do look great, being dominated by that amazing naked frame, but there in lies the problem. Those exposed beems are right where your knees sit and it just felt really uncomfortable when on the bike, which in my view, kind of goes against the cruiser style approach. Wearing leathers may overcome the issue, but wearing kevlar jeans could really highlight the problem.

When all was said and done, Motorcycle Live was a great show. The only main manufactuer who wasn't there were MV Augusta, which isn't a good sign. Motorcycle Live really is forging its place amounst the top shows in the world, which is very exciting from a UK perspective. 
After a somewhat flat experience in 2015, it was great that 2016 hit all the right notes and I'm genuinely looking forward to next year now. The even better news is that there is a whole years worth of riding to fit in beforehand. 
​I'll leave you today with a few more pics from the show.

Its time for part four of my Motorcycle Live review. Today lets look at Triumph, Aprilia and Moto Guzzi.

Triumph
I think it is fair to say that there was some serious metal on the Triumph stand this year. Still riding the retro wave, Triumph continue to build upon their heritage to great success and judging by the sheer numbers of bikes on their stand, they don't appear to be slowing down. Along side an array of custom bikes including the super charged white Thruxton owned by Carl Fogarty, Triumph were showing off the new additions to their Bonneville range. The T100, a smaller version of the T120 (according to Bike magazine) sat alongside the Street Cup which is an out and out cafe racer. The Street Cup is certainly bang on trend and looked good with its two tone tank and dark finish.

Triumph also showed off their new Tiger Sport as well as a full array of their off road adventure bikes.

Aprilia
There was a time when Aprilia were throught of just as highly as Ducati. This is no longer the case, especially in the UK where poor factory support to the dealer network has resulted in those very dealers being very scarce across the UK. Which is strange because they still make some serious machinery. Their RSV4RF is compact and purposeful and is the latest in a line that have been at the very front of WSBK racing for several years and this spirit has been brought forward in the shape of their new Tuono 125. It does appear that this should really be a winner. An entry level bike with Italian flair and design, what could go wrong? 
Their stand was finished off with some top quality racing equipment too. Always helps when you have a pretty small range I guess.

Moto Guzzi
Within the same family as Aprilia, Moto Guzzi make very different machines. They have been refining their V7 range for years and their bikes are lovely. This year though it wasn't the V7 that stood out, it was the monstorous MGX-21 Flying Fortress, decked out head to foot in carbon. It was certainly different and I would assume will attract the same sort of person who likes Lamborginis. Saying that, the Gallardo was something very special.
Like their sister brand, Moto Guzzi capped off their stand with some beautiful, and I do mean beautiful, like in the Sophia Loren from the 70s sense, race machinery.

Well its time for part three of my Motorcycle Live review. Today, lets have a look at Yamaha and Kawasaki.

Yamaha
The most important new bike on Yamaha's stand this year was easily the new R6. In a time when journalists, especially in the UK, are hailing the end of the 600 super sports, it was really interesting that this was one of the bikes that was generating the most buzz at the show. The tech blurb about the bike is promising traction control and a quickshifter and its redesign brings it right in line with the latest R1. Could Yamaha be looking at moving in on Honda's territory in Moto2?
Its also really great to see Yamaha building on the success of their MT brand, and taking this progress forward to breath new life into their sportsbike range. Speaking of the MT, the bike is this year joined by a super trick SP version, which comes fitted with a Ohlins electric racing system. Yamaha are calling this the R1M of the MT range, but for me, it kinda goes against everything the MT is supposed to be. The reason why the MT10 is so liked is because its under ten grand. You start adding more bells and whistles to the bike, it starts to dilute the purpose of the bike. Saying that, Im sure the SP is lovely.

Kawasaki
I will freely admit that I have always liked Kawasaki stands at the bike show I've gone to. Their marketing team just gets it and they really play up the green and black trademark colour scheme to great effect.
With several new models this year in the shape of the new ZX10RR, Versys 300X, Z1000R, H2R Carvon, Z900 and Z650, Kawasaki were able to pull in serious numbers of visitors to the stand. As you can see in the video above, the H2R was still their centrepiece, but what was different this year, was they had an H2 road bike that you could actually sit on. With a serious pricetag, a lot of riders wouldn't get to see an H2 on the road, let alone get the chance to ride it, so being able to actually get on board and get a feeling for the controls and layout of the bike was hugely popular.

Alongside a great little display of title winning race bikes, Kawasaki were showing off the 2017 BSB JG Speedfit bike that was unveiled at the start of the show, along with a little display of some classic machinery. Not too sure on the astroturf though?

Welcome back. Today its part 2 of my Motorcycle Live review and we'll be looking at some of the offering from Suzuki, Royal Enfield and BMW.

Suzuki
The biggest news of the year that came out of the Hamamatsu factory was the release of details of their 2017 1000cc GSX-R Superbike. Still clearly a member of the GSX-R family, the vast majority of improvements are internal with the biggest external cues to the new bike are the monsterous exhaust and changes to the light cluster. I will admit, I've never ridden a GSX-R although I have flirted with the idea of picking up one these last few years, mainly as the offers that were available from local dealers, were seriously tempting. In reality, before this update, the GSX-R had barely changed since the K7/8 released in 2007 and this bike is being touted as the most important Suzuki since the K5 standard barer. To give it some context, the K5 is what BMW based their world conquering S1000RR superbike on. Only time will tell if this bike will reignite peoples interest in the blue brand, or whether this bike will still be knocking around in 2027.

However, for me, their most interesting and most important bike was sitting two bikes down. Sitting in the shadows of the new 1000cc bike, was Suzuki's little GSX-R 125. This is the bike that will go head to head with the already great Honda CBR125R and Yamahas YZF125R and will become young riders first foray into sportsbike ownership. Looking at it sat on the stand, it certainly looked smart, with the nose dominated by a bulbous headlight. The MotoGP inspired paintwork won't hurt either, with only Honda making a mini race rep these days.

Suzuki are very keen in embracing their heritage. Like Honda, a copy of their MotoGP bike was in the middle of their stand, rotating away, giving everybody a close up look of its amazing lines. But it wasn't just the modern machinery that was on display. For the last few years, Suzuki, who clearly understand what owners of classic bikes need, introduced their Vintage Parts Programme. To celebrate this brilliant concept, for the last few years they have been building a brand new bike using new parts available through the programme live through the show. This year they were making a Katana Endurance Racer, which looked fantastic when it was finished.
As part of the same stand, which was nicely placed next to their new bikes, there was an excellent collection of their former race bikes, with a few of Barry Sheene's bikes and some of their endurance racers thrown in to. A fantastic collection.

Royal Enfield
Royal Enfield are pretty much at the forefront of retro biking. Their bikes have barely changed in design, with a few exceptions to accomodate for emissions regulations, so it was nice to see their take on the Adventure bike, the Himalayan, sitting opposite their little hipster stand. Buying an Enfield is, for me, a lifestyle choice, not a motorcycle choice. The bikes are crude, tiny and their build quality isn't up to the standard of the Japanese giants. Saying that, you cannot deny there is something about their little cafe racer bike the Continental GT.
I very much doubt I'd actually own one, but you can see how they will make people smile.

BMW
Most of the press regarding BMW after Motorcycle Live was sadly due to the theft of several of their TYCO race bikes from after the event. Their stand at the show was one of the busiest, only second to Ducati in terms of consistant crowd numbers. 
The only real new bikes on show were the G310GS and some additions to the R-NineT family. The mini GS is a strange one. Having ridden a 650GS earlier this year, I have confirmed with my inner monologue that I don't like small GS bikes. If you want the modern GS experience, you need to buy one of the big bikes and the reason they are so successful is their road presence, speed and ease of riding. The mini GS is of course a marketing exercise and a great way to introduce rich learners to the badge and it will work. The bike will no doubt be great for buzzing around town centres and with a 'lofty'​ perch and the right badge, it will certainly attract people despite its lack of actual potential.

The remainder of their range are all subject to little tweaks and minor updates. The 1000RR is still an absolute weapon and I did like the R-NineT specials that were on their stand. The bike looks great in the metal and with BMW's expansive catalogue you can make the bike your own really easily, which is the idea.