Friday was an interesting day, but in fact the fun actually started the Wednesday before. The plan was to do an oil and filter change, an easy procedure, before I took the bike up to Conquest to have the valves checked as per the service schedule. Taking off the bodywork, the oil leak, which I had hoped had been fixed, clearly hadn't been. The oil level really hasn't dropped that far, so the leak is clearly minor and it looks like the oil is coming out as a fine mist, spraying the inside of the fairing. I took off the R&G cover and cleaned up the area, but without the right gasket to hand, I saw no point in doing the oil change. The gasket replacement is also dead easy, but as it was going in on Friday anyway, I've asked Stu and the team to do it on my behalf. Lazy I know.
The plan therefore on Friday was to get the Blade up to Three Legged Cross, via Moore Speed Racing to pick up a new PiperCross air filter. It's never a good idea to try and do too much in a short period of time and I found myself fighting through traffic to make up time.
Just after I got to MSR, I got stuck behind a BMW at the lights as there wasn't enough space and the red mist dawned.
After the lights changed, I made my views clear and at the next set of lights, the same BMW was now behind me, blue lights flashing. Note to self, don't make hand gestures at the Police.
So, in what was my second meeting with the Dorset Police No Excuse team in around 15months, I was actually face to face with the same officer who stopped me the first time, who also recognised me too.
As per the previous meeting, the discussion was perfectly civil and I was given some good advice after I accepted responsibility for my poor actions. The other officer, big chap with a seriously impressive beard, mentioned that my MOT was out of date. This I was genuinely surprised at as Im usually very good with my paperwork. Thankfully no points on the licence or a fine and in fact being stopped turned out to be a good thing. As I was heading to the shop to have some work done, stapling an MOT on at the end, was no extra problem.
Just after I got to MSR, I got stuck behind a BMW at the lights as there wasn't enough space and the red mist dawned.
After the lights changed, I made my views clear and at the next set of lights, the same BMW was now behind me, blue lights flashing. Note to self, don't make hand gestures at the Police.
So, in what was my second meeting with the Dorset Police No Excuse team in around 15months, I was actually face to face with the same officer who stopped me the first time, who also recognised me too.
As per the previous meeting, the discussion was perfectly civil and I was given some good advice after I accepted responsibility for my poor actions. The other officer, big chap with a seriously impressive beard, mentioned that my MOT was out of date. This I was genuinely surprised at as Im usually very good with my paperwork. Thankfully no points on the licence or a fine and in fact being stopped turned out to be a good thing. As I was heading to the shop to have some work done, stapling an MOT on at the end, was no extra problem.
So, with the FireBlade safely delivered to the shop, the guys let me borrow a BMW 650GS to get me back to work. Initially, I hated this bike. Not as much as the TDM900 which was a real piece of rubbish (heavy, slow, no soul and no fun). I felt the BMW was slow, wide, tricky to grip with the legs and with a really rubbery front brake. However, on the way home from work, I really got on with the bike and actually enjoyed the much slower relaxing approach to riding. I've got it for a few more days, so will give it a little review as soon as I can.
To celebrate todays MotoGP result, I gave the Ducati a good scrub down too. I won't spoil the result and I'm going to take the Ducati to a new bike meet in Wareham tomorrow just for fun. The Ducati isn't perfect at the moment and I need to sort out the bodywork and improve the rear signals after I had to butcher them to pass the MOT earlier this year. Anyway, the bike looks good from a slight distance and I still love her as much as when I first got her.
To celebrate todays MotoGP result, I gave the Ducati a good scrub down too. I won't spoil the result and I'm going to take the Ducati to a new bike meet in Wareham tomorrow just for fun. The Ducati isn't perfect at the moment and I need to sort out the bodywork and improve the rear signals after I had to butcher them to pass the MOT earlier this year. Anyway, the bike looks good from a slight distance and I still love her as much as when I first got her.
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