Marc Potter
David Knight-spec Acerbis handguards ordered. A must after talking to a mate who just broke his hand after riding into a tree with no guards! Crunchy.
The official WoPEC logo for this weekend’s Northants enduro. T-shirts, mugs, pens and hoodies can be ordered in advance. Venue to be confirmed. Stay close WoPECers.
Shiny and ready to ride. Sadly I haven’t had chance yet as spent most of the week down at the London Motorcycle Show. Can’t wait to get out on Saturday.
KTM 450 EXC
The first meeting of the WoPEC (Woof and Potski enduro club) takes place at a green lane not to be named this Saturday. We’re planning a really hardcore day to break in my new 450 KTM gently. Reckon we’ll start with bacon sandwiches at mine, ride to Oundle for coffee, do a slight bit of green laning and back to the pub for lunch. Reckon we’ve got to break ourselves and the bike in pretty gently.
In all seriousness I’ve been trying in vain to join the TRF but the website doesn’t want to let me, and another secret WoPEC member has been planning the route we can take. But, it will definitely feature coffee, bacon sandwiches, and maybe even a pint of shandy to round off. And from the look of what’s happening outside, expect snow.
Finlay Potter (46) proves five year-olds can get red mist. His first overtake, his first time at a motocross track. Random big kid dusted and sent back to the trailer park.
Take one BMW metal top box, fire it down the road at 80mph and you have a bouncing bomb. Thankfully a kind passer-by picked it up and put it on the side of the road. I didn’t notice it was missing until I got to the office seven miles later. And amazingly it still works, didn’t come open and fitted back on perfectly. It only came off because I’d placed it on the wrack rather than securing it on properly.
The start of the five year old’s field racing world championship begins. My twin sons Max and Finlay hit the dirt. Max is seen here as a guest rider on Gareth Ashman’s Honda XR50, and Finlay takes his first proper ride on his Rossi replica Yamaha PW50. On it. Just look at Fin’s eyes.
New Rossi book now on sale
We just put the finishing touches to our new Rossi book. It’s on sale now in WH Smith and features our feature on riding with Rossi at the TT, and his incredible 100th MotoGP win at Catalunya.
Honda DN-01
Test rode a Honda DN-01 at lunchtime for the first time since the bike’s rain-lashed launch in Italy last year. It’s a fascinating bike with bags of technology, thumb shift gearchange, human friendly transmission and wacky Judge Dredd styling. But at £10,000 there’s few people who are going to buy it. As a motorcyclist it’s plain dull, but with a new rider hat on it’s absolutely incredible. It feels safe, almost uncrashable with its friendly power, ABS, linked brakes and dependable steering. You simply can’t get it wrong as a learner and that makes it brilliant. Sad then that Honda didn’t opt to put the technology into a bike that was more normal and with a lower price tag. Honda DN-01 engine in a Hornet style bike? Now that would be great.
As it is, the DN-01 makes real motorcyclists feel inadequate, like people are whispering and saying “look, he bought one, rich ponce”, and makes you feel like you’re going to get beaten up if you filter through traffic. And the riding position is plain daft for anyone other than a midget. Make it normal and we might, that’s might, buy one.
Paul Chapperton shakes on a deal to buy my 1992 Blade. Boo hoo.
Honda FireBlade sold…
I have a sense of feeling slightly gutted about selling my 1992 Blade, but it’s also mixed with elation as I can now sort out my overdraft and make the payments required for the decorators, house movers and mortgage for our beautiful new house!
The guy who bought it was made-up, and so he should be, Paul has got one of the finest originbal condition 1992 Blades on the road today. And I know that come next summer, and this summer come to think of it, I’m going to be missing the massive hole the Blade has left in my garage. And, with prices heading upwards, he’s also bought an investment.
The top box in action. Using the GS as a pick-up truck at last week’s Desmosedici day. It was so hot I strapped my leathers in a bag on the back and rode up in jeans. Top boxes. They’re geek chic, bro.
Love my top box
Went sans top box this morning and the old GS Adventure felt lithe and agile. Well, as light and agile as a 256kg fully-fuelled bike made of iron girders could be. The thing weighs about 5 kilos when bolted on to the back so it definitely affects the handling. But more than that it’s a lot more stable over the first of two hump back bridges on my way to work and jumps flatter. Just hope it doesn’t rain as my waterproofs are sat in my top box on the way home. Top box riders come in for a lot of flack but for me it’s a place to put my lap top and reminds me of when I basically lived out of my MZ Skorpion Sport Tour (mustn’t forget that bit), drank lots and slept on a mate’s floor, merely taking my washing home occasionally to my mum when I’d run out of pants.
