Well, Summer has ended, Autumn is here and Winter is just around the corner. Well that's how it felt at 04:30 this morning when I left for work. Crickey it felt cold! But that was it; it only felt cold, it wasn't really that cold in the grand scheme of things. I've ridden to work when it was -7 which I quickly realised was my limit. I could barely open my hands for twenty minutes after that one, but this morning, the temperature gauge on my bike's dash was claiming it was 8 degrees, so at worst it was just 'chilly'. My Alpinestars 365 gloves have never been the warmest of things and my Ninja had heated grips fitted for those cold mornings, but I'm certainly not going to fit aftermarket heated grips to the Ducati. That is the second least cool (excuse the pun) thing to put on the handle bars behind bar muffs. The 1098s front fairing isn't that great at protecting the hands from the wind either, so couple that with the first 'lower' temperature since Spring, it was certainly noticeable.
In bike news, the Metaltech Racing parts I ordered are on their way, just in time for the Ducati to be put away in a month of so. My front tyre is looking a little worse for wear, so I've ordered up a new Rosso Corsa too and I mentioned that I'm going to need a new chain and sprockets, which I'll get installed during the frankly excessively expensive Desmo service due at 12000 miles. Its worth nothing that thats less than 500 miles away.
You may remember I mentioned testing out the differences between performance fuels and regular petrol a few posts back. Well I've concluded the first step having burnt my way through several tanks of the new Shell V Power Nitro, which has included lots of town riding and some serious thrashing up the motorway. I'm now back on the normal stuff and as the fuel in the tank seems to last four days, I should be able to get some figures to compare in a few weeks.
Finally, I got a lovely email this afternoon saying that I have qualified for a press pass for Motorcycle Live at the NEC at the end of November, which is rather exciting. Pop on over to 'Out there, Riding' to read my review of last years show. I plan on doing something similar this year, so stay tuned.
In bike news, the Metaltech Racing parts I ordered are on their way, just in time for the Ducati to be put away in a month of so. My front tyre is looking a little worse for wear, so I've ordered up a new Rosso Corsa too and I mentioned that I'm going to need a new chain and sprockets, which I'll get installed during the frankly excessively expensive Desmo service due at 12000 miles. Its worth nothing that thats less than 500 miles away.
You may remember I mentioned testing out the differences between performance fuels and regular petrol a few posts back. Well I've concluded the first step having burnt my way through several tanks of the new Shell V Power Nitro, which has included lots of town riding and some serious thrashing up the motorway. I'm now back on the normal stuff and as the fuel in the tank seems to last four days, I should be able to get some figures to compare in a few weeks.
Finally, I got a lovely email this afternoon saying that I have qualified for a press pass for Motorcycle Live at the NEC at the end of November, which is rather exciting. Pop on over to 'Out there, Riding' to read my review of last years show. I plan on doing something similar this year, so stay tuned.
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