Great day on Saturday with the kids to celebrate my birthday. Started with cards in bed and then a nice big breakfast together, took Orla to ballet (equals me drinking latte and reading Kate Muir) and we all went for lunch at the Spencer Arms in Chapel Brampton, very nice. Then a drive in the country with some off-road action, a walk by the canal and home for hot chocolate with marshmallows. Homemade Macaroni Cheese for tea, and mint ice cream for dessert: all stuff they like. I have no idea what I expected to happen on my 40th, especially with Mrs G away, but it was really nice to be with them for the day in peace - perfect I think. Also enjoyed a long chat with Sammy later, while Sarah and I drank champagne and she played Nintendo. One of us must be low maintenance!

So now fortysomethingness is here for the next ten years, and already it is undeniably different seeing my name with (40) next to it. Spotted it in my profile on Photobucket tonight and it made me jump. There is definitely a sense of being less young, but that may just be coincidence. My eyes have been killing me the last few days and ‘leaking’ in my sleep, never happened before and I am putting it down to a 40-itis virus! Would also explain the constant tiredness at the minute; I must be under the weather as I never need a huge amount of sleep every night.

The good side of forty is that it is a kick start, a mid-life boot up the arse to get back to doing stuff you like and get some of the long-standing personal and domestic issues sorted out. So I have recently gone back to the dentist and have a month’s worth of appopintments arranged. I cleaned out my old Jeep and that is going to be welded and put back on the road in the next few weeks, and I will probably sell my 4runner. Sorted out some charity shop stuff from the shed, as we are knocking that down soon, so we’ll have one more job off our building list. Then the gym is beckoning. All these things are driven by forty, I’m sure of it. As was cleaning up the lane which runs down the back of our house today - proper ‘old man’ stuff.

To welcome middle age and round the weekend off in style, I went out for a ride today in glorious sunshine, practising my cornering. A quarter pounder and cheese next to a dual carriageway later on never tasted so good. Dentist tomorrow (well, today I mean) and I am dead excited: means I get to take the Monsignor to Banbury again. That’s what I am calling the Monster by the way, because not everyone is a fan, he has a few old-school quirks that are a bit irksome (jerky mid-corner carbs and cranky old suspension), but he makes me smile on a regular basis and it all feels good for the soul!

Looking through the various bike boards, it seems there is a growing discontent surrounding the eBay process versus the rewards, with more than a few people advertising stuff below expectations, to avoid ‘having to do the eBay thing’.

I’ve been doing the eBay thing for quite a while and for me, the buzz is still there. OK there are a few timewasters on the site, but then there always have been. The upturn in keyword spamming is a pain in the rear, as are the idiots advertising Porsche 911s for £3k Buy It Now with a phone number to call - in Borgovenia et al. The fees are a total rip-off, as are the utterly despicable Paypal charges, but then, if you want to play the eBay game, you have to pay your way. Fretting about it gets you precisely nowhere: it is what it is and no one at eBay is about to drop the charges. I don’t like them, but I do OK on eBay, so I pay up.

With the arrival of the Ducati, I’ve been buying bike bits on eBay for a few weeks now, and I’ve had some really killer results. Having paid over the odds at Hein Gericke Northampton for some Alpinestars SMX waterproof boots (£170, but I felt I had to, as the guy let me try on loads of stuff and there were other customers he could have sold to), I vowed to buy the rest of the kit I needed secondhand, and save some money.

Used bike gear is everywhere, and some of it is utter rubbish. When I had my Bandit, I had some good gear and some crap gear, and the crap gear ruined the ride.  Even things as silly as the wrong socks can freeze your feet and spoil the experience, so this time around I want only top notch stuff. Me being me, I don’t want to pay through the nose. (more…)

Have been using my new 750 Monster quite a bit lately, despite the foul UK weather, and I have to say it is a really great little machine.

The riding position is not as scrunched up as you would imagine when first sitting on the bike at a show or in a dealership. It’s very comfy, though it does encourage you not to ride the rear brake/gearlever, as they are quite steeply angled downwards ahead of the pegs. Handlebar controls are all nicely placed, particularly the dim/dip switch, and I like the way the indicators work. Same as Jap stuff, they just feel better. You can clearly see the flashers themselves from the riding position, so you know if they are left on. The headlight is great - no idea whether I have an uprated bulb in there though.

My first two rides were quite jerky. The clutch is right at the end of its travel (suspect worn out plates as slave cyl looks fine) and there was a bit of play in the throttle. I stripped off the airbox last night, checked a few hoses and adjusted everything: cables, routing, bar angles, throttle mech and head bearings and hey presto! Took it to the dentists in Banbury today and it rides a dream, no more on-off throttle bumping around corners and so smooth. Had it up to 75 which is the fastest I have been on it yet. 45 mph winds meant it was really blowy but the position is fine for it, though I may fit a small bikini fairing to alleviate the blasts. Settling the throttle down also helped with pains in my right hand, now I am not so tense there it is a lot better (i am suffering from a pulled thumb muscle at the mo, all ties into computer problems and overuse).

I am leaning more too, takes a while to get back into that, especially on crap tyres! The lighter bike (40 kilos lighter than the Bandit) means I am lots more comfortable with it under me and every ride is another step forward. I also fitted some bargain Road Racing mirrors that I bought on eBay, they are great. Not a sea change over the stock, but they are loads lighter and easier to use: they stick out a bit further and are better for a quick glance. They are anti-dazzle too so good at night. Plus they are black anodised aluminium, and very attractive! Pic below:

Three weeks from that birthday and a purple Ducati arrives in the garage, my first bike in six and a half years. It can’t be my mid-life crisis as I had that last year (and the year before, now I think about it). Unbridled enthusiasm for the new arrival is matched only by the happiness of having an excuse to wear muscular bike gear outside the house again. Maybe there is some truth in the notion that non-essential bikers are principally poseurs. It could be true of the matching leathers crowd, but I didn’t get into bikes for posing purposes.

I started riding in August ‘98. No real idea why it took that long, I suppose it was residual “not under my roof”, and a succession of interesting old cars, cheap fuel and company motors. Back then, I was living in south London and driving to work at a west London car showroom every day - not the optimum solution even ten years ago. One rare day off, I tripped over an internet ad for a Gilera Runner 125.

This was a scooter, but not as we knew them.  It was a decent size, with mini-superbike tyres, more stable with decent suspension, looked comfortable and was quick and economical. At last, grownups could whizz about London without becoming Vespa-riding fashion victims, or having to squeeze themselves aboard scrawny seventeenmobiles. My local dealer, Hamiltons of Streatham, had a ‘98 R-plate in stock: silver with 1800 miles and mint. I bought it, got myself an Alpinestars jacket and Shoei lid as part of the deal and had the scooter delivered to Crystal Palace for Compulsory Basic Training. (more…)