Pressing F5

Thanks to Red and Jen at Two Tone Racing I have a couple of tickets for Lydden Hill this weekend. Dan and I are going to make the trip down there on Saturday and enjoy the sights and sounds once again (Brands Hatch a few weeks earlier)… can’t wait!

Expect more photos and even some mp3s this time.

The question I’m asking myself once again is… do I want to do a rookie season?!? I think you know the answer… :)

Lydden Hill links:

Lots of bikes, noise and FUN! It was the BMCRC-MRO bike racing championship this weekend at Brands Hatch. Just about to go to bed and my grin still hasn’t worn off, but then neither has the ringing in my ear!

Here are some pictures :)

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Some of the photos are of Racer Jen :), who has her own blog…

Some guy is looking for bikers to join them on a trip around the world… a la Ewan and Charley.

So I’m sitting here asking myself… why don’t I join them!?!?!?

Around The World 2007, Start Uk. Company Sought

I found this interesting account of a couple motorcycling in Iran on the HorizonsUnlimited website today. Reading it makes me want to hop on a BMW 1200GS and disappear for a long long time…

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/

Technorati Tags: motorcycling, Iran

Bikes, babes and… thats it actually.

Photos and comments to follow shortly. In the mean time enjoy these friendly bikers :)

Updated with photos ;)

My future bike, the new Kawasaki Z1000

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A few random ones…

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Technorati Tags: biker babes

Liz and I were on our way to London to meet a friend when I took the wrong turning. So fine… hardly a biggy. Except that doing a u-turn with a full tank of petrol, tank bag, liz as pillion and tired legs was never going to end pretty.

I dropped my bike! Its scratched! :(

I’ve just woken up to the news on Radio 4 that Richard Hammond from Top Gear (BBC) has had a nasty crash whilst trying to break the British land speed record in a jet powered drag car.

From Wikipedia:

At approximately 5:45pm BST on 20 September 2006 Richard Hammond was seriously injured in a car crash while filming for Top Gear at the former RAF Elvington airfield near York. He was piloting a jet-powered Vampire car, which is theoretically capable of travelling at 370mph, in an attempt to break the UK land speed record. He was said to be travelling at 280mph at the time of the crash. He is being treated at the specialist neurological hospital Leeds General Infirmary and is currently in a serious, but stable condition.[1] BBC reports suggest that he was air-lifted from the crash scene unconscious.[1] North Yorkshire Police have said that they “received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield.” [3][1].

Sky News reports that he was driving a Vampire jet car powered by a Rolls Royce Orpheus Turbo-Jet Engine; the very same car that currently holds the landspeed record at 300.3mph [4]

ITV News reported that Hammond had broken the land speed record and was on a last run, filming extra scenes for Top Gear, when the accident took place. Hammond’s family are with him, along with doctors and Top Gear representatives who were there when the accident took place.

Shortly after 11:30pm, Leeds General reported that Hammond’s condition was “stable.”

A quote from Dave Ogden from Event Fire Services, present at the scene of the accident, as broadcast on Sky News that evening: “He was just doing the final run of the day – I don’t know quite what happened – but the parachute deployed. There was quite a lot of smoke and the car veered off to the right and on to the grass, and it overturned several times and it came to a halt a couple of hundred yards in front of us.”

Technorati Tags: crash, car, Top Gear, Richard Hammond, speed record

So its been only two months since I’ve had my shiny orange Kawasaki Z750 and to be honest, I’m hooked!

I’ve enjoyed every moment of riding a motorbike. Right from the start when I did my CBT on a Honda City Air (125cc) with Ride 2 Freedom. The combination of power, acceleration and adrenaline make riding a bike an addictive experience.

I started by biking life back in June 2006 when Liz had organised for me to take my CBT a day before my 26h birthday. Shortly after the CBT a number of one to one lessons followed including the booking of my test four weeks later.

As you would expect, I started to buy many of the available bike magazines in the UK including MCN, Ride, Performance Bikes and Bike in attempt to learn more about riding and specifically to find the best and most suitable first bike. Many magazines recommended nakes sport bikes as a great option for first-time buyers. So with that in mind I came up with my shortlist:

After a while of reading plenty of magazines and checking our the “on the road” prices it dawned on me that the Kawasaki Z750 was a good deal. not only could I get it for £1300 less than the RRP price, but Kawasaki were also offering a 0% finance deal for 3 years. Effectively meaning I’d pay less for it than quoted anyway.

Two weeks before my test I decided I’d go for the Z750. I ordered it through LLoyd-Coopers in Watford and had arranged to pick it up the day of my test. Confident? No,… just desperate!

Two weeks after that I’d passed my test with one minor (something about approaching a the round-about) and a huge HUGE smile. Several hours later I was nervously riding my Z750 home.

Technorati Tags: Yahama, Kawasaki, Susuki, Honda, Motorbikes, Z750, CBT, DACS