My leave has gone in a blink of an eye, it’s not been the best of leaves I must admit. The weather was bad for the most of it but first things first.
I got home and the first thing I had to do was go and pick up Cameron’s new bike. It’s a stunning looking machine and just needs a bit of TLC to bring it up to scratch. We got it home on the back of a trailer and for a change the weather was good.
We took the fairing off to give the bike a really good check over and a very needed clean. For the most part the bike is in great condition, it needs a new 2 stroke oil tank and that’s on order. We replaced the spark plug for the correct one and Cameron ordered new stickers for the bike. The old white stickers are off and new red ones are on, the lion heads look great and the Aprilia racing stickers are a nice touch. Over all it’s been a great purchase and as long as he takes his time and learns his road craft it will be the start of many miles covered on two wheels.
My second task was to take my pride and joy for a new set of tyres. In the end I went for a set of Dunlop Sport Smarts. Not the cheapest tyre on the market but I was hoping they would perform as well as the write ups have lead me to believe. I was up early and yes it was wet and still raining, so I took the dog (Rossi) for a walk in the hope the sun would come out if I gave it time. By the time I had got my leathers on and warmed up the bike the rain had stopped. The roads were drying out quickly and the sun was quit warm, I arrived at Suzuki in Glasgow and I had an hour to wait while the tyres were changed.
The Sports Smart is a good looking tyre and I couldn’t wait to hit the road. I turned right onto the M8 and headed for Lock Lomond. The roads are good around the Loch and heading out to Fort William. By the time I had got home the tyres were scrubbed in and I was off the edge on both sides.
I was really impressed at the speed in which the tyres warmed up. I took it steady as I entered each corner and dropped in a bit more each time. It didn’t take long and I felt really at home with my new rubber. This was my first time on Dunlop’s and so far so good. The bike feels really planted, there’s very little movement when exiting the corners and the front feels firm and steady under heavy breaking into the corners.
It started to rain again on my way home and I didn’t feel the need to slow down. I took the back road home and was able to push quit hard into and out of the corners even though the roads were wet. I pulled up outside the house and the first thing I did was check out my new tyres. Not a fanny line in sight and still very warm despite the wet roads.
After hosing her down to get the grit and grime off, I put my baby away for the day and just hoped the weather was going to be better tomorrow. I needed to go into Glasgow for some gear and to confirm my track day had been booked and to have a look around the Ducati garage. I also wanted to make sure my test ride on the new Diavel was still going ahead.
I should have put money on it, it couldn’t have been any wetter, I went back to bed to give it another hour and then I took Rossi out. It’s May !! Why is it so wet ? I wasn’t going to change my plans and off I went. As I got closer to Glasgow the rain stopped and it wasn’t too bad. I really liked my new tyres and as I added mileage the better they seemed to get. My confidence was climbing with each bend and I was getting harder on the gas out of each corner.
Business done in Glasgow I set out to Loch Long, a real fabulous ride. It was trying to rain, the roads were wet but I was still getting the power down confidently. The front tyre was very responsive and the feedback was inspiring. The front wheel was lifting coming out of some of the bends and that was a first for me on wet roads.
I only had one more day to get a ride in before we went on holiday, the weather forecast was looking good and I might just be able to get some dry miles in. Time will tell.
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