The plan for this weekend was to dedicate my time to my bikes. So yesterday I took advantage of the warm evening to give both of the bikes a little clean up. For some reason, don't ask me why, I decided that I really needed to take off the exhausts for the 1098s and give both of them and the undertray and damn good scrub. Turns out, it was a pretty bloody good decision. This is what I found.

From my estimates, this is a nice mix of baked on chain lube and general filth from the ride to Italy earlier this year. Since I got back, I've only really used the bike a handful of times, but bloody hell, this is terrible. I'm almost embarrassed.
With the exhausts off, I covered the pipes on the bikes with freezer bags which I rubber banded in place and gave the bike a good scrub down, cleaning up the cans separately. Thankfully, they went on as quickly as they came off. 
With a nice clean bike ready to go, I headed off to Box Hill this morning to meet my friend Martin who was kind enough to pick up a book from the Ducati Factory in Bologna back in July. I didn't have the space in my bag and if I did, it would have been ruined by the weather in Switzerland. Its a lovely book in both Italian and English and is filled with some wonderful photos from the museum. I'll have a read and get a write up in the next few weeks.

Whilst down in Surrey, I was able to say hi to a few friends and enjoy their tea. The coffee at Rykers really isn't that nice, but the tea and for that matter the chocolate brownie really hits the spot.
All in all it was really great to get out on the Ducati today. The bike felt good underneath me, even when having to ride through the London traffic. Its really a wonderful, albeit expensive bike.
I'm meeting up with my mate Dave tomorrow, who, if you read RiDE magazine, had his photo in this months issue. He was the silver fox with the ZX7R on top of the mountain. The photo is two years old and he's gone through four bikes (a ZX10r, a GSXR 750, a Ducati 1198 and V Strom) since then. Good old Dave. I'm going to take the chance of finally giving the 'Blade a proper run as so far she's just been used for commuting, so it will be good to get out in the country and scare the local wildlife.

The weather over the last few weeks has been a little...different. The overnight temperature has dropped a fair few degrees so I've been using my winter gloves on the way into work, but with temperature during the day back up around 20 degrees, I have to use my summer ones. Yes I know, not exactly the greatest revelation, but with limited space in my bag, having to carry a spare set of gloves just for the commute is a pain.
In other news, the exhaust that I ordered from Scorpion still hasn't arrived. It was supposed to be here on the 9th, but following several emails, it turns out that that it should finally be leaving the factory tomorrow. I knew there would be a two week wait, which I was fine with, but doubling that without a descent excuse is a bit poor. 
I picked up the Ducati today after dropping it into Metropolis to have the front discs replaced and tyres changed. As the Pirelli Angel GT tyres that I used to ride to WDW in July would be the perfect winter tyre, I want to get them on the 'Blade to replace the track focussed Metzlers that are on there at the moment. The Ducati uses a 55 sized rear, but the blade wants a 50. It shouldn't make too much difference, but I didnt want the waste the tyre on a bike that is likely to be sitting out November to March. The Honda goes in on Friday.
Finally, I thought I'd share this with you. Sarah took the picture a few weeks ago and I was just mucking about and well, I don't need a reason to act like an idiot.

Tonight the Ace Cafe in North London are hosting an Italian car and bike day and I would have loved to have gone on the 1098s were it not for two things. Firstly the weather. It chucking it down and secondly, I still havent changed over my front discs. You may remember that on the return trip from Italy I noticed that one of my rotors was loose, well since getting back three weeks ago, I haven't ridden the Ducati a single metre. I have however picked up some replacement discs. So not all bad

Its not like I haven't been riding you understand because that simply isn't the case. I've been using the Blade a lot and yesterday I think its fair to say that I gave it a damn good thrashing. This I think is only fair because as of this weekend I'm out of the country again, this time without a bike beneath me. So if the site goes a little quite, fret ye not, I shall return but just with a better sun tan. Stay safe

Following the trip its clear that my kit has started to suffer a bit. The leathers themselves are covered in the remains of all the unfortunate little bugs who just so happened to be flying around and found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. I could spend a bit of time and clean my leathers down, but I know, with some level of certainty, that I WILL get caught in one of the monster storms that are popping up from time to time. This attitude, although less than ideal, sadly doesn't really work for the inside of my helmet. 
A few years back I bought myself some S-Doc 100 helmet cleaner and have used it in the past, but the lining of my HJC was just crying out for a proper clean, so this weekend I removed the linings and stuck them in the washing machine. The side cheek panels came off easily, but the top wasn't going to budge without a fair bit of encouragement. Taking it out I felt I was going to break it, which is never a nice feeling, but eventually it came out and was intact. Thankfully the return installation process was a lot easier and today the helmet had a better fit and, not wanting to be too grim here, it smelt a lot better too.
This weekend also gave me the opportunity to give the 1098s a very quick clean. For a full on clean, I've got to take bits off, but this just gave me the chance to clean up a lot of the road grime that I'd be accumulating.

Today I got to use the FireBlade for the first time in over two weeks and following the sheer amount of miles I'd done on the Ducati, the Honda felt completely alien to me. It felt wide, with really high bars and if truth be told, a little heavy. I'm sure that in the next day or two, the feeling will return and I won't give it a second thought.

Well after a long 10hr ride from Colmar in France (its just South of Strasbourg) yesterday, I finally returned home yesterday just before 17:00. Wow, what an adventure. One blown fork seal, one seized clutch and even running out of fuel made sure that the holiday was memorable. I'll write up a proper review of the whole event in due time, but in the mean time, here are a few pics of my time riding across Europe on utterly the wrong kind of motorbike.

World Ducati Week - Day minus 1. Well there is good news and possibly bad. The good: My luggage options seem to work really well, with no obvious clashes between the three bags. I've had to strap my rain suit to the front of the tank bag, which then sits on the steering damper and key, but doesn't effect the handling of the bike in anyway. Now the bad: I fear that neither of my radiator fans are actually working. On my little test ride, the temp got to 107, but they still didn't kick in and I'm sure they're supposed to start when the temperature reaches 105. To be honest I can only see one, and now, a day before the trip, I don't have the time, or in fact the knowledge to investigate it. Not good and I'm not happy and there is nothing I can actually do. Not exactly the mind set I want to be in.

Hey guys, I'm back. Sorry i've pretty much been away from my PC for a week so couldn't update things as I went. To mark this somewhat small and insignificant milestone, I've got around to building up the FireBlade page, which is now under the My Bikes - Past and Present banner at the top of the page.
Today the new owner picked up my Ducati Monster and I wish her all the best with it and hope it gives her a great deal of fun and enjoyment. For me though, that chapter is over and I'm enjoying getting to know my Blade more and more.
In book news I've added a review of The Limit by Michael Cannell, which although not actually about bike racing, its still a fantastic book and one thats well worth your time.
In Ducati crash news, the parts have been ordered and the bike is scheduled for the workshop at the start of July. The damage could have been a whole lot worse and thankfully the engine seems to run fine, but only a proper ride will confirm everything is alright after the rebuild. I hope so as in a month, I plan on being in Italy.

These things always take longer than planned, but thankfully, despite the early start, basically all I had to do was yesterday was to collect two bikes and bring them home. My original plan was to be near or at Silverstone to collect the Ducati by 10:00, but that turned out to be the actual time I left the house with the van packed and ready to go. I'd picked up the van at about 08:15-08:20 and picked up the straps I needed, but I had to hang around until 09:30ish to collect the planks I was going to use as a ramp. A quick dash home to collect my stand and some cushions and the two hour 'delay' was complete. So in the pissing rain I headed up the M1 (via Scratchwood services to get a half decent cup of coffee for the journey) and made my way to the Northamptonshire circuit for the 2nd time in five days.
The journey went well and by the time I'd reached the A43, the coffee had run out and the rain had stopped. The Ford transit I had borrowed was, once I'd got used to it, incredible easy and comfy to use. Quite fancy one to be honest. Would be very useful. Anyway, I pulled up to the circuit, explained why I was there and was directed to the Experience Centre that had been my bikes home since Monday afternoon.
I wandered into the garage and there, just where I had left it, was my bike but it was now joined by the track instructor bikes and a few race cars including a striking Aston Martin. As the circuit was live, I had to wait for around for 30mins until a few of the mechanics were free to help load my bike, so I killed the time by reading a magazine, texting my mate and eating an expensive, but disappointing burrito thing. It was 12:30.
Soon enough the bike was in the van and strapped down. It was the first time I'd had to do that and to be honest you could tell. The main thing was the bike was secure enough for the trip across to the M40 to where the FireBlade was waiting.

The sun was shining now and Graham Norton on BBC Radio 2, who had kept me company on the Northbound leg, had handed over to Tony Blackburn and I trundled across and down the M40 listening to poppy sixties music and for the first time since the previous Sunday, feeling very positive.
A reasonably quick collection of the Honda followed and Rob, the man who sold it to me, helped by loading and securing the bike in the van and I was back on my way home on the M25 when Mr Blackburn handed over to Dermot O'Leary at 15:00.
I eventually got back to Metropolis where Mike helped me unload both bikes and we propped the Ducati on the Abba stand and wheeled the FireBlade to one side. I took the planks and van back, walked back to my car, drove home, sponged a lift back to the shop and rode the Blade back home. It was 17:30. It had been a long day.

So the damage to the 1098 will be assessed at some point in the next few days and despite the weather being superb down South today, all I did was gently ride the Honda to the petrol station and filled her up. To be honest I wasn't really in the mood and my arm still hurts from the crash.
Over the next few days, I'll re-jiggle the website a little bit and get my FireBlade page up. In fairness to the bike, I'm looking forward to getting to know her.

Well if everything goes to plan tomorrow, I should have the FireBlade in the garage, the Ducati in the dealership for repair and some money in my pocket following the sale of the Monster. I've arranged to hire a van tomorrow morning from local van rental firm Wheels www.wheelsltd.com for a very reasonable fee and the plan is the head up to Silverstone, collect my thoroughly busted up Ducati, drive over to Oxford, pick up the FireBlade and bring them both back to Barnet. If I have time, I'll try and arrange a coffee with my mate Neal who lives in Wantage, who always has the ability to make me smile and at a time like this, I will really need it. Cross fingers it all goes to plan.