I walked the three miles back to Metropolis on Saturday afternoon, ready to pick up the bike Mike wanted me to ride to Bikefest, a charity day run by Herts Fire and Rescue in Stevenage. Expecting to be riding something big, Mike instead wanted me to ride up with the Hyperstrada, which I had no problem with as I liked the Strada with its screen and slighty lower seating position. I didn't have to worry about the panniers either so I was happy and headed off to the petrol station. Thankfully this time I managed to escape without the aid of the AA Man, but this pleasure was short lived as when I got home I saw a nice nail sticking out of the rear tyre.
'Why I oughta.....' a quick call to Mike and a new plan was hatched. I returned back to the dealership, taking it pretty steady it has to be said, and rode off with the Hypermotard instead. Almost identical to the Strada except for the rear sub frame, screen and seat height. Also its an utter hooligan.
Sunday morning and I left the house at about 08:15 heading up through Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City and Knebworth towards Stevenage. It was during this ride that I really noticed how snatchy the fuelling was, especially when trying to hold a constant throttle, coming down the box and using some engine braking. Less than ideal, so in order to smooth out the ride, I was thrashing it everywhere, which was, I will be honest, enormous fun.
I arrived around an hour later and after parking up, I wandered in and found Mike setting up, wiping the bikes down and getting ready for the day. I was actually really looking forward to spending the day there. Its always nice to talk about bikes with people, especially Ducatis. Spending the day with a friend also helps, otherwise it could be utter torture. We played around with the layout of our little area, which was really understated compared to those of BMW and Suzuki who were there being represented by two local dealers. Mike felt, and rightly so, that the Diavel Carbon would be 'the' bike for us, so flanking it with the Hypermotard and a Tricolour 1199 Panigale, we utilised a concrete walkway to stop the bikes from sinking during the day.
Sunday morning and I left the house at about 08:15 heading up through Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City and Knebworth towards Stevenage. It was during this ride that I really noticed how snatchy the fuelling was, especially when trying to hold a constant throttle, coming down the box and using some engine braking. Less than ideal, so in order to smooth out the ride, I was thrashing it everywhere, which was, I will be honest, enormous fun.
I arrived around an hour later and after parking up, I wandered in and found Mike setting up, wiping the bikes down and getting ready for the day. I was actually really looking forward to spending the day there. Its always nice to talk about bikes with people, especially Ducatis. Spending the day with a friend also helps, otherwise it could be utter torture. We played around with the layout of our little area, which was really understated compared to those of BMW and Suzuki who were there being represented by two local dealers. Mike felt, and rightly so, that the Diavel Carbon would be 'the' bike for us, so flanking it with the Hypermotard and a Tricolour 1199 Panigale, we utilised a concrete walkway to stop the bikes from sinking during the day.
We broke out the old shop banner and tied it to the van, just so we could get the Ducati shield on display, I got the black coffees in and we were ready for the day. We met lots of very interested riders who, as predicted were really drawn by the Diavel, handed out loads of cards and pretty much just helped promote the brand and the location of the Barnet dealership.
With the clock striking 16:00 we packed the bikes back into the van, I suited up and headed home on the Hypermotard. Seeing as I have been without a bike for over a week, I took the opportunity to take the slightly longer way home, which is where I encountered the local council doing all it can to kill local motorcyclists by gravel surface dressing the A1000 just North of Potters Bar. If you don't know what gravel surface dressing is, its the cheapest and worst form of resurfacing. To do the job properly, the contractors peel away the top three to four inches of tarmac from the road and replace it with lovely fresh, smooth grippy tarmac. Gravel surface dressing is when you resurface the road with loose gravel and tar but without stripping away the original surface. It's designed to let the traffic 'bed' the surface in, which leaves absolutely masses of loose gravel and stones on the road, which are normally only washed away with heavy rain. Now this is great for cars and lorries as they created two distinct paths in the surface. Bikes on the other hand have to ride in the other vehicles wheel tracks, seriously restricting the available road space, especially on the bends. Evil stuff.
As I had the Hyper with me, I used it for work this morning. Hopefully the thunderous Termi exhaust didn't wake anybody when I left, but there's not a huge amount I can do about it now. After a fairly dull eight hours in the office I heading back out of the London, ready to deliver the bike back to Mike. With the correct fuel map installed, the Hypermotard would make an awesome city bike. Its fun, agile and quick. The only downside it that it encourages you to misbehave, the tank is tiny and there is no room for luggage. But lets me honest here, who needs to worry about that when the fun factor is so high. So at 13:30 I handed the keys back and my little two day biking oasis came to an end. I hung my jacket up, put my lid away and I now I'm back to waiting, waiting for my bike to come back. The part needed to fix my Ducati left Italy this morning. It feels like its been a long time, but it will be worth it I can assure you.
As I had the Hyper with me, I used it for work this morning. Hopefully the thunderous Termi exhaust didn't wake anybody when I left, but there's not a huge amount I can do about it now. After a fairly dull eight hours in the office I heading back out of the London, ready to deliver the bike back to Mike. With the correct fuel map installed, the Hypermotard would make an awesome city bike. Its fun, agile and quick. The only downside it that it encourages you to misbehave, the tank is tiny and there is no room for luggage. But lets me honest here, who needs to worry about that when the fun factor is so high. So at 13:30 I handed the keys back and my little two day biking oasis came to an end. I hung my jacket up, put my lid away and I now I'm back to waiting, waiting for my bike to come back. The part needed to fix my Ducati left Italy this morning. It feels like its been a long time, but it will be worth it I can assure you.
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