The first real test

Well the first ride out on the VFR turned out to be quite a big one which allowed me to fully enjoy and evaluate the bike fully.
The first part of the journey was all motorway across country to Kilmarnock, this is usually long enough to start getting cramp in my left leg at just over an hour but not on the VFR, I arrived feeling fresh and ready for a bit of A n B-road scratching so after a quick mug of tea me an Al saddled up and set off for Girvan on the West coast to sample the fish 'n' chips. I have to say that the weather was fantastic, best it has been for a few weeks with bugger all wind and glorious sunshine the miles just rolled by with not too much traffic on the roads to contend with we arrived in Girvan to the gentle aroma of dinner wafting down the high street from the chippie!

Looking at Ailsa Craig from Girvan harbour

After lunch we followed the coast road down to Ballantrae which is a wonderful stretch of tarmac filled with flowing bends to get the juices flowing which the VFR just took in its stride. It is easy to see why the VFR's are labelled the best all round motorcycles as they just adapt so well to anything that's thrown at them.

End of the line Ballantrae

From Ballantrae it was back to Girvan along the same stretch of tarmac and then off to North harbour motorcycles in Ayr following the coast road with a trip over the Electric Brae which the road side plaque describes better than I can.

After a look round North Harbour it's not hard to understand why less and less people get involved in biking these days, to be fair to them a lot of there stock is very very nice but it is expensive and hard to justify when you consider I paid two grand less for my brand new Peugeot 207 than what a second hand VFR 1200 fetches these days!!!

After we left North Harbour it was time to return to Al's for a mug of tea before the trip back down the motorway to sunny Burntisland by the sea, over all journey covering 255 miles and I just started to get a bit of cramp in my left leg ten miles from base but apart from that I arrived home for tea an medals feeling great and very pleased with the new bike.

One in an one out

After a year of Fireblade ownership the time has come to part company and go our separate ways, the process was sped up somewhat by the offer to do a deal with Allan on his VFR 800.

So here she is the latest addition to the stable a 1998 VFR 800 in all it's lovely redness with 18,000 miles on the clock she is barely run in!

Riding her back from the west side to the east of the country I have to say that it's bloody awesome and defiantly rates as one of the best motorcycles I have ever had and I don't say that lightly, it is just a pleasure to ride and after we have a few more miles under our belts I shall try to put into words why I enjoy riding this bike so much.

Mot time

It seems to have come round very quickly but that's me had the Blade for a year now, so time to put a mot on it. After a good check over all I could find was a sidelight bulb blown in the head lamp, although why its called a sidelight when its mounted in the middle of the fairing I will never no, but with said bulb replaced I was feeling fairly confident of a pass so booked it in for this Friday. Typically Friday duly arrives and after it being fine all week its pissing down with rain!!! so I have to get my romper suit on and head and head off for the testing station.

I arrived with no drama on route although I did see a twerp go into a roundabout miles to fast and exit it backwards, I was glad to be far enough back for it not to cause me any concern but you really do have to question the mentality of some of the idiots that drive on the roads today!
One hour later I am clutching my freshly printed certificate, its stopped raining and I have devoured the best bag of chips I have had in a long time and now the sun is out for the ride home, all in all a good trip me thinks and the bike is fit for purpose for another year.