Here I ride with Wes from HFL on some of SoCal’s twistiest mountain roads as we put a stock Yamaha R6 and an Aprilia Tuono V4R through their paces and then stop for lunch and have a good old chat about the bikes and getting geared up for riding.

A great turnout of other motorcycle riders and custom bikes created the perfect back drop to some tasty tacos and live hill billy music while inside you got the full taste of what RSD is all about. Inspiring artwork from floor to ceiling you can help feeling the creative juices flow out of this place, this is not just a shop, its an inspiring trip into motorcycle heaven.

No longer just a custom bike builder, Roland strives forward into clothing and accessories to help you find your own unique style and become even cooler!

www.rolandsands.com

It was an early wake up after an excited sleep, at last I’d finally got my grubby hands on the most exotic cruiser I’ve ever seen – the Ducati Diavel – and I planned on riding this powerful machine from sun up till sun down.

For my chilly early morning start I chose the latest base layers from Alpinestars – the tech performance underwear keeps me warm, it’s lightweight, keeps out all the uncomfortable wind chills and the best bit is I hardly notice I’m wearing them as they fits right under my usual gear.

Now I can forget about the weather as the base layers keep your muscles warm, now all I need to do is enjoy the Italian beast and the open road ahead.

Now that’s what I call a perfect day!!

Fitting the upright bars to the sporty CBR now meant that the standard brake lines were too short and now I needed longer ones so i called my man Sandro at Galfer to see if he could help and I was told to bring the bike up to HQ for a fitment. Awesome! now I get new slick brakes lines and an expert to bleed my brakes, phew! that was a job I wasn’t looking forward to tackling.

At Galfer, brake expert Robert went straight to work and had new lines fitted in no time, he also fitted a new Accossato master cylinder and lever as I’d damaged the other one in the crash and it wasn’t worth taking any chances. It was a good thing, the Accossato system is beautiful, Italian engineering at its best, developed on the race tracks so the system is compact and feels amazing when I apply the brake.

Adding to its functions are a full adjustable lever which also has a crash pivot which bends up incase you drop your bike, very slick.

While I was there I picked up a brake line for the rear brake also, it keeps everything looking the same and gives me the same feel but the down side is that I have to bleed that line myself….

Wow, thanks to Galfer I’ve now made the already brilliant CBR brakes system even better, Now I’ve a cool master cylinder and lever, slim and lighter bradded lines, and when I think about all that weight I’ve already taken off this machine, this thing should stop in a nanosecond – man I can’t wait to ride this!

TBC….

Full Story and Photos below:

Ever since I attempted and failed at the 12 O’clock wheelie, my once brilliant ’07 CBR600RR has been as in the corner of my garage collecting dust.

A few times I’ve tried to get it road worthy again after buying an engine from a local salvage yard and getting the lads at Metric Method to switch the lumps and fire it back into life, but I’ve failed to get it any further myself.

Well by some stroke of luck my buddy Roland Sands has agreed to help me finally go the whole hog and get it ripping again, this time it ain’t just going to be a re-build, it’s going to be a Roland Sands Designed sick motorcycle and I’m going to be doing the work!!

Holy crap Batman, with me behind the wrenches it’s highly likely to fall apart but wow what a chance to turn this sorry looking dusty motorcycle into something totally unique and individual.

My aim is to make it lots of fun, a cross between a Flat-Track, SuperMoto, Supersport machine that’s comfy and I can also strap all my camera/camping gear to while still being able to enjoy the ride…. Roland, on the other hand, may have other ideas.

Anyway, the build starts today, I’ve already pulled off all the bodywork and will be taking the CBR over to RSD’s wonderful workshop this afternoon and the budget to get this badboy back on the road is $0 or as little as p0$$ible!

DAY 1: An email from Roland a few days before gave me clear instructions, basically strip off all the fairing, tail-section, plastics etc and bring it over, so I did just that. The poor and neglected CBR600RR was looking very sorry for its self in my garage as it was getting buried underneath an every increasing layer of dust, a bunch of its own crashed parts and 2 pool floaties.

After I’d dug it out and got it on the bench there wasn’t all the much work to do as I’d ripped the tail section off in my crash and the fairing was already stripped off. I did however removed the top fairing but left the air-intake and clocks. At the rear I just stripped it back to the sub frame, it was fairly easy and caused me no trouble. Soon the very naked CBR600RR was in the back of my van and on it’s way to Roland Sands Design and I was getting excited.

It turns out that my excitement would have to wait a few hours later than originally arranged due to the Pussy Wagon breaking down 3 times on the way to his shop. The first few times I managed to get it going again, then it died for good. The 3rd breakdown was less that 5 miles from the RSD HQ, so I called Roland and asked if he could come and tow me in, at least I’d be at RSD and could start work on the CBR.

Like a good fellow, he did just that and in no time I had Roland and Rodney at the side of the road with me. Rodney shook his head at me once again and said “So what’s up with it? What’s it doing?”, I then spluttered a load of words and tried my best to describe what has been happening and doing impressions of the pops and Kangaroo jumps I’d been doing down the road.”OK, fire it up, let’s hear it” said Rodney. I said “It won’t go, but I’ll turn it over anyway” and turned the well worn ’75 van key.

Like a well maintained and reliable vehicle my van somehow sprung into life and as I gassed it hard the powerful V8 climbed the revs and sounded awesome, no problems at all. Of course I was happy it was going again but felt like a total d*ck as Roland and Rodney were looking at me with that WTF look.

Once at RSD Roland wasted no time in pulling my CBR600RR out of my van and wheeling it in to his workshop where he instantly went to work on taking more things off the already naked CBR.

First to go was the front air-intake, soon followed by the rear sub-frame, I was starting to feel a little apprehensive about what I was seeing, Roland and his team were starting to get excited, I felt that was a bad sign.

Before cutting it up or taking it further Roland went into his office large stylish office and started putting his skilled hands on paper, with-in an hour I had 2 concepts in my hands and we were both in favor of the minimal Mad Max looking CBR.

It was already getting late, RSD was closing down for the night but before he left to go home, Roland couldn’t help himself and cut up the sub-frame. Now the re-build had gone past a point of no return, it was now never going to be a standard CBR600RR again.

And as RSD closed up and everyone went home for the night Charlie and I jumped in my van and hoped for a hassle free journey home. Instead we got pops and splutters, black smoke and a distinct smell of fuel, my van was not well. After talking to it, making mini prayers, all while wearing the battery down with each failed starting attempt, I finally admitted defeat and called the Missus for a ride home.

It had been quite a day, thrilled to finally get the CBR to a point of no return and I now have total belief that it will be recreated and I’ll hopefully soon be riding it again, and then despair at my van, unfortunately this time it’s going to take some professionals to nurse the Pussy Wagon back into life, I pray soon and for the right price.

Right now Charlie and I are trying to keep warm in the dark van, Charlie’s thoughts are of warm-doggy-dinner while my head is full of ‘Project CBR’ and I’m already excited about coming back to RSD tomorrow and doing more to the project….if I don’t get picked up soon I’ll be camping outside…

Day 2: Yes I did get home but it was late and didn’t didn’t seem long before I was back at RSD HQ, this time it was Saturday lunch-time and the place was very quiet. This time I turned up with some of the parts I’d stripped off, like the tank cover and seat plus a few stunt parts that would transform the riding position.

The boys at Freestyle Ingenuity make crashing a motorbike look easy and affordable, their cages and risers transform any Supersport machine into an indestructible stunt machine in just a few easy to install items, I got hold of some of their instant risers which work on your stock triple-clamps, too easy.

Well it sounds it, but lining them up, marking it out (thanks Roland!) and then working out where your holes are going and then having the balls to stick by your doubtful hole punched marks and drill through your own triple-clamp isn’t that easy,  Anyway. I did just that and once you have 4 holes in your tripe-clamp it’s a bit to late to worry and I just hoped the risers would line up and all would be OK.

One side was perfect, the other side was about 1mm out so Roland milled it out Ghetto-Style and soon my handle-bar position had gone from clip-ons to up-right in one move. Roland then started to look through his spare handle-bar collection and found some sweet flat-track style bars which just looked awesome and I could instantly see the design sketch and my CBR coming closer together.

Roland went back and forth, placing parts on the CBR600RR and then taking them off again before deciding on keeping the tank cover on the CBR , so it looks like I’ll be slightly modifying that before adding some paint and he even liked the standard riding seat,  so I’ll be working with that and changing it up a bit.

I’m very happy to be keeping so many great parts of the CBR, parts that really work for me as a rider, like the chassis, the wheel base, seating and foot peg position, gas tank size and feel etc, the ergonomics of the CBR work for me and I am super happy although the machine is going to look very different, it still feels like a CBR.

During the rest of the day I started to take off even more protective rubbers and bits of plastic from the bike and seeing the sketch and real thing come closer together while Roland worked on his old Championship winning TZ250, the poor thing had once been immaculate but was now beat-up and was being turned back into an immaculate state once again, this time by the racer himself.

It was a good day of getting my hands dirty, ‘Project Budget CBR’ is looking good and once home I slept like a baby and dreamed of motorbikes again…zzz

Day 3: Today I first popped into my local motorcycle dealer Long Beach Motorsports to buy a battery for my CBR as the original one gave up a long time ago while being stood for so long in my garage. Instead of getting the big, heavy original one I went for a smaller/lighter battery that gave out the same power.

It was a smart purchase as now I can make area where the battery goes smaller and this will help me create a clean shape and much more compact sub-frame.

After Long Beach Motorsports it was then onto Metal Depot where Roland said I’d be able to buy all the metal I wanted and he wasn’t joking, this place had stacks and stacks of metal, all different sizes, shapes and grades. My job was to get some sheets of Aluminium (Aluminum)  so I picked up 2 x 2ft sq sheets of 1.25mm and 0.95mm for the making of the brackets, mounts and other stuff.

Once back at RSD it was all about making templates out of card and then getting them the correct size/shape before transferring the shape to the sheets of aluminum. Once I had the template drawn on the alloy it was then a case of roughly cutting it out on a band-saw and then getting it closer and closer to the correct shape on the belt sander.

This whole process might sound easy but it was a bit more difficult than I expected, I’m not sure if it was difficult or it’s just because I’ve never done it before but after taking mm off at a time in the sander, going back to the bike, trying to make it fit, marking it where it doesn’t etc etc I finally made a sub-frame under plate, many hours after I’d started.

In a way taking my time definitely helped as the plate did fit well and gave me confidence to make other plates and brackets. The down side was it took me most part of the day so I was hardly making rapid progress. However I did go on to make a battery box and a rev-counter/clock bracket but the battery box was a bit wonky and I cut too much off the clock bracket so I’ll have to make another one of those another day.

The original exhaust is very heavy, quiet and ugly so I brought it along today to see if it could be modified in anyway, after a few discussion on what could be done from the guys at RSD, the silencer was chopped off and the rest of the pipe now comes out of the side. It looks awesome but also looks like it has the ability to make your ears bleed so we’ll see if that stays or goes later.

Towards the later part of the day I took off the tank, air-box etc as I want to re-locate some of the wiring harness and in doing so I just loved being able to see the steering damper and carbs…It made me think of exposing it somehow as I love being able to see mechanical/moving parts on a bike.

Now there isn’t a fairing on the bike I need to cleverly hide some of the wiring and plugs as modern bikes seem to have wires going everywhere and they look ugly and untidy.

Well, the CBR project is on and going in the right direction, it’s a bit slow but that’s because of me and my skill level… but I am so stoked that I am finally working on my own custom build, doing many things I’ve never done before and learning loads about my bike.

It’s also be invaluable to start this project at RSD and be able to turn and ask Roland, Rodney or Aaron if I should do this or how do I do that…It wasn’t supposed to be this way but as the Pussy Wagon broke down, my bike has been stranded and that gave me the chance to get a jump start on getting more advise as well as a few tricky things done. Anyway, my van is now ready for the road again (big cheers from all at RSD who will be glad to see me go!) and I’ll soon be cutting the RSD cord and taking my CBR home to continue the project.

Week 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7….

Taking the CBR home and trying to do things without previous knowledge or experience slowed the CBR project up tremendously, I found myself doing more head scratching, pondering and doing things wrong than going forward.

It was only when I was totally by myself I realized how useless I really am at working on motorbikes, soon the bike wouldn’t start and yes, I had no idea why… So I took it down to Metric Method and they had the engine running in less than 10mins which just goes to show you what real mechanics can do…

Anyway, while at home I did manage to get rid of the heavy steering lock/key and replace it with a small switch, I hate keys and are forever losing them so now I’m better off, I did the same for the Off/Run switch as well. Now I have much less bulk and 2 tidy switches, making the bike a bit lighter while also losing some clutter.

It was the 1st time I had ever had to solder wires, connectors etc so after watching a YouTube tutorial on how to do it, I had a go and to my surprise everything turned out OK.

Finally when Roland had some room at the RSD HQ, (this week) I was back to cut out a load of brackets and start mounting things where I need them. It was so good to be back around people I could ask…”Errm how do I do this?? Shall I do that?? and even though I’ve spent the last 2 days only cutting and grinding brackets, its great to go forward and not around in circles like I had been doing.

As I left the workshop last night the rev counter was now now in place and the # plate had a cut out for one of the lights, there is still loads of work to do but its getting there…slowly…

The next morning the CBR was sat in a pool of fork oil due to a leaky seal, not the best start. In no time I was getting stuck into cutting out the 2nd headlight hole and then working out a way of fixing the lights to the # plate and fixing all of that to the bike.

I know all of this sounds easy, and yes, it probably is but I’m a novice at this kind of thing and none of it seems to come easy. I’m also slow, mainly because I want it to be right and to fully understand everything I’m doing, the few things I’ve rushed have ended being a disaster and sending me backwards 2 steps, so I’m careful to avoid those if possible.

To help avoid those kind of things I luckily had my friend Martin (from Warrs in London) staying at mine for a few days and to earn his keep I bought him along to help. Wow what a result, not only was Martin getting on with figuring out the electrical bits (I have no idea about anything electrical apart from changing a plug) he also threaded parts and took a few shots along the way, just perfect!

Lots was going on around me, bikes, fabrication, a rat bag of a Goldwing being delivered to Rodney – the hectic RSD operation is constant motorbikes, motorbikes, motorbikes, as much as I love that! – I was definitely getting in the way.

But it was smiles at the end of the day as the CBR project had working lights, # plate brackets made and now I can move onto the tank cover and rear end.

Roland jumped onboard and said “This thing is going to be FUN!” he just loves the new riding position and how light it feels, and the big grin on his face was enough for me to know that I’m on the right track.

We are making progress….

Now that the front # plate/light set up was all in place I turned my attention to the tank cover. Initially the plan was to toss the cover and run a bare tank, but Roland liked the bike better with the cover on as the bare tank is kinda ugly, with some simple trimming the cover cleaned up all the unsightly bits.

Amongst RSD’s scrap bits of metal I found some mesh which will look awesome as a fly screen and will also match the mesh on the # plate, this stuff might also come in handy for other bits.

The std CBR rear brake light, turn signal set up is bulky so I’ve integrated the whole thing into one light from Clear Alternatives and then I cut it up some more, made it even smaller and now it’s bare and exposed in every way. I’ve a small place planned for it to go under the seat so it keeps the back end as short as possible.

Before the day was done Roland came down to look at the progress and then picked up a grinder and went to town on roughing up my CBR in every way possible. It stared out as a small grind up on my radiator so that it matched the big scrape I’d put in the frame from my crash. But it would seem as though Roland really enjoyed roughing up someone else’s machine because as soon as that was done, he quickly moved onto the brake calipers, rims, engine cover and even the swingarm!

By the end of Roland’s grinding frenzy my CBR looked like a bike out of a Mad Max movie and looks a million miles away from the gleaming Supersport bike that it once was.

That’s perfect for me, I don’t like clean new things anyway, this CBR was becoming my perfect machine…

After chopping up the tail section of the exhaust system and dismantling the exhaust valve cables, I now had an unwanted and free spinning valve in the bottom of the exhaust system which needed to be removed.

This had been a job I’d been putting off for a while but its no problem now as I’ve Martin on my team and I’m at RSD, in no time Martin had my CBR outside in the morning sun and the exhaust system was off in no time. We did try are few different ways to get the valve out of the exhaust system but to no avail, the only option left was to cut it up.

I wasn’t sure how possible this was going to be, it seemed like a big deal to me, cutting it up and welding it back together but Aaron assured me that it was no biggie and to mark a few lines on the system and then I used the band saw to cut it up.

The welds and bolts were a bit tougher than expected and after wearing all the teeth off the band saw blade, Aaron handed me the angle grinder with an annoyed face. Not only was I getting in the way, but now I was F***ing the workshop up, not great. Anyway, the angle grinder did the trick and the lose valve was finally out, all that was left to do was clean up the surface around the welding area and hand everything to Aaron.

There was a lot of welding to do, the list of brackets and plates had been mounting up and now it was finally time to bring all of those pieces together and take the build to the next level. It seemed like a big deal to me, welding this and that, here and there but Aaron made light work of my list of jobs and had everything done at an incredible rate. I love seeing beautiful workmanship – welding is art as well as a function and thanks to Aaron my bike was being skillfully worked on and the welds were perfect.

Soon the bike was being assembled and I got a better understanding to what we’d done and where all the time had gone, it hadn’t been easy getting this far and there was still a fair way to go.

As soon as Roland saw my bike coming together he was focused on kicking me out of the door and getting rid of me and all my mess the second I was done. Even though he told me where to go in a short and rather direct way, I didn’t care, it had all been worth it as my gorgeous CBR600RR custom project was a step closer to reality and I couldn’t help but feel overjoyed.

Now back at my place I’m focused on keeping the project rolling forward not backwards, not easy as Martin’s visit is now over and the only other person in my house that seems happy getting his hands dirty in the garage is Giacomo and he hasn’t started talking yet….

Fitting the upright bars to the sporty CBR now meant that the standard brake lines were too short and now I needed longer ones so i called my man Sandro at Galfer to see if he could help and I was told to bring the bike up to HQ for a fitment. Awesome! now I get new slick brakes lines and an expert to bleed my brakes, phew! that was a job I wasn’t looking forward to tackling.

At Galfer, brake expert Robert went straight to work and had new lines fitted in no time, he also fitted a new Accossato master cylinder and lever as I’d damaged the other one in the crash and it wasn’t worth taking any chances. It was a good thing, the Accossato system is beautiful, Italian engineering at its best, developed on the race tracks so the system is compact and feels amazing when I apply the brake.

Adding to its functions are a full adjustable lever which also has a crash pivot which bends up incase you drop your bike, very slick.

While I was there I picked up a brake line for the rear brake also, it keeps everything looking the same and gives me the same feel but the down side is that I have to bleed that line myself….

Wow, thanks to Galfer I’ve now made the already brilliant CBR brakes system even better, Now I’ve a cool master cylinder and lever, slim and lighter bradded lines, and when I think about all that weight I’ve already taken off this machine, this thing should stop in a nanosecond – man I can’t wait to ride this!

* Photo’s marked with  * or just the good one’s – Taken by the very talented Kevin Warren at Digital Press Images – Who was in town and came with me to visit the awesome RSD Workshop

Just around the corner, leaned up again a tree I found a motorbike with a ‘Free’ sign on it!!!

Seeing a sign like that against a motorbike was like a dream come true – now the rusty Yamaha is back at my place and I’m inspecting it closer, this could soon turn out to be a nightmare.

It was the fact it was ‘FREE” that made me take it but I am a Yorkshireman and don’t like to see anything go to waste.

I’ve no idea what year this bike is but its suffered from a hard life – the engine is locked solid, both tires are flat, the seat looks like a big piece of cheese and you’d better of had a fresh Tetanus shot before touching anything…

Well, it is mine now….one man’s give-away junk is…. another man’s junk…..

There are many questions going through my mind…Will it ever run again??? Is the engine totally finished?? What the hell happened to this poor machine??? Is it junk??? If so, how long will it burn for???…. We’ll soon find out.

It’s easy! Just watch his video and tell me what time it says on the kitchen clock when Max his playing with his son Leon???

Email me the correct answer to: admin@motogeo.com – 1st correct answer wins the T-shirt!!

Good luck!

Correct Answer: 6:20 – Winner: Christian Martinez, UT, USA – Thanks to everyone who emailed!

Growing up in a home without motorcycles, Max Biaggi didn’t even see a racetrack until he was eighteen years old, but as soon as he saw the Vallelunga circuit near Rome, he immediately fell in love with the sight, smell and sounds of racing.

With the help of his Father, Max started 125cc Sport Production racing and decided he’d put everything on the line in pursuit of his dream – becoming a motorcycling world champion – several years later Max and Aprilia would become 250cc world champions.

Now, after competing at the top fight of motorcycle racing since 1992, Max Biaggi opens up and lets you into his life away from the racetrack as he prepares for another season of World Superbike racing with Aprilia and the RSV4.

I’ve known Max a long time, we first met back in 1996 in 250 GP’s and I know that there is much more to him than just what the media portray, so it was fun filming him away from the racetrack and showing you that there are two sides to everyone.

Good Luck in 2012 Max!

Awesome Photos by: Clive Challinor and Max Biaggi archives

From the snow covered mountain tops of Italian Alps to the muddy trails of the humid Malaysian mountains, through days of baking sun on the back-roads around Africa to the driving rain of the Yorkshire Dales, its safe to say that I’ve ridden in just about every climate and weather condition that you could think of in my Durban gear.

From the first moment of putting on the Durban Jacket and Pants to then taking them off after living in them for over three-weeks in Europe, the Alpinestars adventure gear has felt nothing but comfortable, protective and ready for anything I ride into.

When I go away on trips I hate carrying loads of stuff, it just weighs me down, of course you have to carry the bare essentials but I detest having to carry any more than really necessary, I especially don’t want to be taking different types of riding gear for different weather conditions.

After learning the hard way, I’ve now got it down, a few simple items and the job is sorted, I can pack my bag with a few riding essentials and know whatever I ride into, its OK, the job is covered, my gear can handle it and thankfully I’m not going to get soaking wet and be shivering myself to sleep ever again.

Here are my favorite things about the Durban Gear

Jacket: There are so many great things about the Durban jacket!

My Stuff: The Durban jacket has loads of pockets, I’m able to carry my smaller more personal items close to me (Phone, Passport, Wallet, Toll Tickets etc) in the chest pockets as well as bigger items (camera, food, maps, etc) in the waist pockets. All have been easy to open and close, and I’ve ridden with total piece of mind that my things are safe and secure. The huge pocket on the back can carry anything you zip out of zip off or even even carry something else if needed – very handy and I didn’t notice it when loaded.

Getting Hot?: The sleeves allow you to totally regulate your own temperature, so if the zippered air intakes and rear air exhausts aren’t cooling you down then the detachable sleeves will. They have also got a multiple fit adjustment allowing a tailored fit to your own arm size.

Safety: Comes with lightweight & fully removable CE certified elbow and shoulder protection and a high visibility reflective stripes and if you want neck support it accommodates the Bionic Neck Support also.

Thirsty?: It has a 2 liter bladder pocket – now you can drink and ride!

Dry?: No problem as nothing is getting passed the ultra-lightweight and removable Paclite® liner, this liner kept me warm and dry in every riding condition.

Weight: Thanks to it well designed construction which uses weight saving materials throughout, this jacket will never weigh you down.

Pants: Hard wearing and robust

100%: 2 external 100% waterproof pockets keep things dry no matter what conditions you are riding in.

Support: The pants come with a removable bib and braces which I just love wearing as they keep you snug and secure as well as warm and dry. The Articulated rear panel offered further comfort and ease of moment which I find is absolutely essential when you are riding your motorcycle.

Comfort:  These pants are lightweight and extremely comfortable, especially in the knee area thanks to the Vector knee construction and lightweight knee protectors, which give great freedom of movement and ease of maneuverability.

Physical: No problem, just get down and get riding – these pants can handle any water-crossing, freezing mountain hilltop and driving rain as well as sweltering temperatures and intense heat – the air intake and lightweight removable Paclite® Shell keeps you dry as well as allowing you to regulate your own temperature.

Robust: The most hard-wearing areas are made from leather or Superfabric® for that extra abrasion resistance.

Adventure: Made to go with a Adventure/MX/Enduro and Touring style riding boots, all you need to do is decide which works goes best for you…
Sum it up: I’ve been all kinds of places and ridden over 15,000miles in my Durban gear and its still going strong – apart from in need of a good wash, its ready to go and be my trusty companion on my future motorcycle adventures.

Photos by: Luca Merli – Italy

Austria – Switzerland – Italy

The final part of the Lucky Bastard’s Motorcycle Tour #2 is here, it is the final event of the tour and the final search for some cracking motorcycling roads as we go to our final destination – Mugello, Italy.

Seth and I stayed in Eisenerz for a couple of days after the Erzberg Rodeo as I had hurt my back and needed to recover, plus we needed to do laundry, Seth had worn his pants and t-shirts both ways while my dirty washing bag was starting to move, make noises and try and walk off by itself.

Luckily we found a brilliant and very old guest house (Alpinclub-Eisenerz) just outside the center where the owner Regina more than looked after us, plus allowed us to clean all our clothing and re-charge from the dismal weather we’d had to camp in for the past 3 days. After that would we set off to Switzerland (Where we would meet up with my good friend and riding partner from part of my Lucky Bastard’s Motorcycle Tour #1 – Alex) and as we went we looked for the most interesting roads to get there. We did but even though the roads were great, they were also well used, full of trucks and cars, and really made the day’s ride a long and difficult one.

However, the weather had turned, it was now glorious and it was great to be back on a motorbikes, seeing sights and clicking by more miles. The highlight of the day was reaching a mountain top, seeing a spectacular view of waterfalls, valleys and meeting a pair of bikers from the UK who were also on a LBMT of their own! We rode up and down the amazing bends of the Gerlos Alpenstrasse before crossing into Switzerland via Lichtenstein.

We were heading towards Zurich but didn’t make it and bedded down in a small place called Murg which was near a lake and looked on my map as good as anywhere. As it turned out it was a great place to stop for the night as the closed campsite (it was after 9pm) was right on the water, so we snuck in and set up camp, the night sky and morning sun rise was just fantastic.

Unfortunately I cannot share photos of the guest house and day, night or morning as my SD card failed as I downloaded in the morning and I lost all photo’s, totally gutted and hugely disappointed… it hurts to think of all the good memories lost

That morning I spent many hours uploading video footage while my friend Alex rode through 650miles of pouring rain from London to arrive in Murg and meet up with Seth and I. Oh yes, now the LBMT#2 became 3 riders and all good friends! Sweet!! – Switzerland to Asolo in Italy was the plan for the day and the roads we had planned out gave us all reason to feel excited even before we had done a mile.

Poor Alex had ridden in pouring rain from the second he set off from London, the dark skies, driving rain and even thunder and lightening had followed him all the way, when he did ride out of it, he’d stop for gas and it would catch him up and by the time he got going again he’d be wet riding once again.

Finally just outside of Zurich he got away from the wet stuff and as he arrived in Murg, it was dry. I was making full use of the campsites wifi and was uploading loads of huge files so Seth and Alex had to sit around for a while and wait, by the time I’d finished it was pouring once again, Alex had brought the weather with him….

So, for the first part of the day it was a wet one but soon as we jumped off the motorway and towards our first mountain pass of the day, the roads were thankfully dry and we could peel off our wet suits and dry out.

The first pass was Flüelapass which is a 2383 meter climb which took us high and towards out first sight of snow. There were many other bikers on the road, mainly coming the other way so we knew it was a great biking road and loved by many, at the summit we saw a guy with the largest yellow tank bag I’ve ever seen, he struggled to reach the bars!

After a quick stop to high5 and take a picture it was on to the next pass, the Ofenpass a great series of uphill corners that at the summit it is 2149 meters and a wonderful sight welcomes you as the view of the snow capped mountains in the distance and the motorcycle hanging above the cafe is sure evidence that this road was made for bikers.

There wasn’t that much on the road, some cyclists, few cars and the odd bus which mainly took the weaker cyclists to the top and dropped them off so they could free-wheel down the other side, the rest of the traffic was motorbikes. Again it was high 5′s, huge grins and another summit photo before we were off on our way again and on to the premier pass of the day, possibly in existence…the Stelvio Pass.

At the base of the Stevlio on the Swiss side is a tiny and narrow village, a sharp right in the middle of town with a sign high up hardly makes you believe this could be the famous road, half a mile up the road and after already a few aggressive corners, there was no way it wasn’t, look up and see the road switch back and forth you soon realized that you were going to be climbing and corning for quite a while.

Once out of the trees the road did open up a bit more, but not much, it was corner after corner and they weren’t fast corners, more like hairpin bends, up hill hairpin bends at that. For some reason the dry and sticky tarmac turned into a gravel road, only for a mile but it was enough to easily fall down, which I nearly did after getting on the gas a bit hard out of one of the corners, the back-end kicking out more than a bit and getting my full attention.

Once we were back on the good road, it climbed, climbed and climbed high up the mountain, when you got a chance to glance down at what you had ridden, the view was just spectacular, it was hard to believe that you just come up such a road, it look more like a wiggly string of spaghetti.

Almost at the summit you leave gorgeous Switzerland and step into Italy and at the top of the Stelvio you are welcomed by glorious Bormio sign which is covered in signatures, stickers and people who have reached the summit of this magnificent road before you, bloody brilliant! so we added out mark and enjoyed the moment together, our stupid grin had just got bigger.

The ride down the other side was even more treacherous, sharper hairpins, 49 or 50 in fact, very narrow and steep. You’d think it was a single track road but it’s not, cars, bikes and even the odd van and cyclist will be heading your way but no one is traveling fast, it’s a slow road and one that must be taken carefully as if you get it wrong, the small wall and dramatic drop would only end one way.

At the bottom and with the snow capped mountain in the back ground we all stopped for one last photo, I somehow managed to balance my camera on some rocks, stick it on the timer and a cracking photo came out with our 3 great machines and 3 very happy friends all smiling inside and out, a fantastic photo with awesome memories.

The ride from then on to Asolo was a gentle one, we left the Stelvio behind but it will be forever with us and arriving late in Asolo we showered and then ate at a local Italian restaurant where we all told tails of our motorcycling adventures of the day and fell asleep with smiles on our faces.

Asolo to Mugello – ITALY

Waking up in Asolo is always a happy time, firstly because of the fact I’m at Alpinestars HQ,  then there is an amazing bakery just down the road which has amazing choice and causes instant drooling. On top of that Alpinestars have Tetley Tea if you don’t want an Espresso, the sense of motorcycle history is all around and the sun always seems to come up, it the perfect start to any day.

After sleeping next to Alex on a shared bed (I was in my bag) packing up our gear, taking what was possibly our last good shower until we returned home (we’d stayed the night at an Alpinestars apartment),  the boys went into old Asolo center on top of the hill while I got into motorcycle talk with Gabriele. By the time I met up with them it was just before lunch, they’d already had ice cream and looked very settled outside the cafe and in the Italian sun.

As soon as Alex spotted some Pasta being eaten, lunch was then ordered, which we guzzled fast and then we all hit the road in a flash, it was a late start to our riding day in which we had to cover many miles, especially if we wanted to fit it in all before sun set.

A man came up to me as I parked the Tenere and said the bike looked incredible and like one from the magazines, tested, dirty, ridden and enjoyed, I told him he was very right, we agreed it look superb as an Adventured, Adventure bike. Gabriele on the other hand wasn’t as sure, he was left with a big dirty mark outside his office doorway, the overnight storm had washed some of the Erzberg orange dirt off – leaving a big dirty puddle as it cleaned the muddy bike off a bit.

It’s never easy leaving such a beautiful part of the world but we were soon off and now heading for Venice. Of course we took the back roads all the way, through Castelfranco and then out onto the glorious little island of Venezia. If you have never been to Venice, it’s well worth the trip, few make it onto the center by their own wheels but there is a big motorcycle park on the island, but a small motorcycle is better suited to Venezia than the 2 huge Adventure bikes and a Sport Tourer as we found out.

A quick stop for photos, see a few sights and top up with gas it was full steam ahead to Bologna and the fantastic road we’d all be talking about, discussing and getting excited about all day, for Alex and I it was more like all year as Bologna is the start of one of the most magical motorcycling roads in Italy, even the world.

Getting to Bologna was a pain in the ass, the road we’d chosen was littered with traffic and many Trucks, we opted to turn off for quieter roads and more fun, we got them but then got lost, still it was better coming up on loads of lorries and hearing ‘clear, clear’ clear’ through the ScalaRider intercom that all three of us were hooked up to.

At the end of the day it all worked out and soon we were in the dead center of Bologna, we cut through all the buses and cars and then on to the narrow streets where we rode amongst the motorbikers of the city, riding through ancient archways and on the cobbles, it was brilliant.

Coming out the other side of the city we took small roads and lanes than looked right and the first major junction we came to a blue sign across the road said ‘Futa’ – left, this way. Happy days, it was a straight run into the magnificent hills of the Futa Pass.

As we left Bologna behind we got many a riding lesson from the locals and picked up many tips of how they get around this city on 2 wheels and it reminded me a lot like London, Alex’s home turf. Motorbikes, Scooters, Mopeds, they all work here, even an old man on a motorized wheel-chair was faster than some of the cars, the center of Bologna was old and beautiful, a wonderful city and the home of Ducati, the Futa Pass being their local test track and the road we would be on in a matter of minutes.

As the busy traffic fades, the Futa Pass starts, the twists and hills give instant motorcycling freedom and it is the Futa’s brilliant demands that give you great satisfaction to ride. No two corners are the same but many are similar, the speed and rhythm to corner is a long dance that only gives you a chance to catch your breath as you slow down for villages, traffic or the locals residents as you click by the miles and towards the summit.

Sat at the back of the pack the visual was just brilliant, I watched as my buddies nailed the turns while the crisp ScalaRider intercom allowed me to hear the joy and excitement coming out of Alex and Seth’s mouths while they were riding the non-stop corners of the Futa Pass.

We stopped off once again at the Summit, of course to get some photos but to also chat about the road we’d just taken to get us to that point as the Futa’s corners are just the best. As soon as I saw the look on Alex’s & Seth’s faces I knew we were all thinking the same, that was amazing, so much fun and quite possibly the best road we’d ridden together so far. On top of that my 2 riding partners had improved their own riding skills tremendously, each helping bring the other one on and I tried to offer some help if I thought they needed it.

All of it had come together, now we were riding the Futa SP65, all enjoying being on a motorcycle, all having the time of our lives and doing it safely and smartly.

After the obligatory photo the three of us breezed down the other side got our 1st look of Mugello from above and soon picked up our 1st Mugello race circuit sign, just perfect.

Having lucky enough to have been to Mugello a few times, I knew of a good Italian place to grab food and recharge our batteries whilst telling tales about our riding day. Many good times had been had today, we’d ridden some fantastic mountain roads in 2 days and now we were at Mugello for the MotoGP, no one could take the smiles off our faces, not even Seth’s as he got hen pecked for having fun.

After filling our tummies we headed for the P2 car park, it’s just outside the track, has some security and is floodlit for most of the night, last year Alex and I got robbed in our sleep there, we hoped for better this time. To be extra careful we put our tents up against the hedge, made a tight triangle out of the three tents and then put our bikes in between the tents. After that we tided ropes and bungees around the bikes and back to the tents and then locked ourselves in the best we could from the inside.

Ear plugs were needed as the MotoGP beer tent was open and pumping loudly, security dogs were barking and a high-speed train was ripping past at all times of the night just a short distance away.

By morning it would reveal that our fears of robbery were correct as our bungees and ropes from around the bikes had been removed, the side of Alex’s tent was un-clipped and pulled up to expose his fly sheet and then that was tampered with. Seth’s tent was un-zipped and his door way partially open and thankfully they’d left me alone, either beaten as they couldn’t quickly penetrate our camping security or disturbed.

In the morning we were a bit down about the fact we’d been f*cked with again in the dead of night but soon it was back to smiles after it was confirmed that nothing was missing, we had a delicious chocolate croissant & Cappuccino at a local cafe bar and Alpinestars came through with passes.

Once we got our bikes and valuables inside the track and only left our bare essentials in the tents we felt 100% better, it was our own victory and the weekend was just beginning, Mugello MotoGP here we come……

After the MXGP, it’s on to Erzberg in Austria for an extreme Enduro. The only thing between me and the next awesome event is about 1,500miles (2,400km) and a few countries to ride through, all good, I’m riding a wonderful motorcycle and don’t need to be there until Thursday morning.

So, looking on the map, the best way for me was to go back the way I came, hardly a problem seen as I’d ridden in on the BEST motorcycle road I’d ever ridden, however there was another way around the Picos de Europa National Park so I intended to go and find out more about the wonderful place.

The same beauty was on show as I rolled up to Riaño, only this time it was sunny, really sunny and looked even more gorgeous than before. So this time I switched sides and rode the other way around the National Park and I was instantly stunned by the views, the beauty and again, motorcycling roads from the gods.

Instead of climbing high and into the clouds, this road mainly stayed low cutting through the hillsides and it seemed like I was going down hill most of the time. Once again the corners were non-stop, coming at me like never ending computer game, but this was no game, it was real and the sights combined with the amazing corners was like a dream, just magnificent! And joins the the other side of the park as my #1 road = 1st! (sorry but they are both truly brilliant, wonderful and very special).

With all of the amazing sights around me it was easy to glance up and, take a look and find yourself missing a corner and facing trouble so my eyes were focusing on what was coming up as this wonderful road left no room for error.

Once out of the National Park, I didn’t go straight to the main road, instead I switched and ran across the the N-621, again on a brilliant road but there were a few more cars but the views were spectacular all the same. Once I hit Santander I was well behind my schedule of getting to Austria so I hit the fastest roads I could find and clicked by the miles, I wasn’t bothered as I’d had more than my cornering fix for the day so I didn’t care about hitting the Peage, anyway my mind was still switching left and right although I was going mainly straight for hour after hour, tank of gas after tank of gas long after the skies had gone dark.

My bed for the night was well out of Spain and into the south of France, finally bedding down next to a country road and grinning myself to sleep. Once again I’d found a very special motorcycling road and felt very fulfilled and extremely lucky.

Next stop is more loads more twisties in the South of France then onto Monaco where I’ll be meeting up with a buddy of mine who I used to race 250′s with, he is a lot faster than me, hence the reason he lives in Monaco and how I now spend most of my time sleeping in a tent, I hope he let’s me take a shower at his place as I am starting to wiff a bit….

The next morning I took off an hit the French countryside, the sun was blazing and it was a gorgeous day to ride a motorbike. My plan was to be in Monaco later that day so I spent a good few hours going here, there and everywhere, taking roads with lots of bends in them and staying off the main roads as I knew I’d have hours on the Peage later and be surrounded by cars, trucks and lots of maniacs.

Somehow I came across a cave, it was wonderful to see and ride through, my best tunnel yet, hope the photos give you a feel of what it was like, after it was more and more french countryside before hitting the motorway and trying to get to Monaco before it came dark.

I just managed it, hours and hours of motorway riding, oh how boring and it was also busy and I had to be careful as some car drivers just used their vehicle as weapons and couldn’t care less you were on a motorcycle.

Anyway, finally in Monaco and I met up with my old 250cc buddy who is now the current World Superbike Champion, Max Biaggi and his gorgeous family. I’ve not seen him for about a year and in that time he’s had a son, Leon, who looks like a champ already.

Thankfully he let me use his bathroom so with a quick freshen up we headed off to a friends beach party as Monaco was celebrating the start of the summer….how lucky, one minute I was on a motorbike, smelly and I was thinking of where i should get a cheap bit of grub and the next I’m at a flash party with free food and drinks!! HeeHaaa!

Max let me stay at his new apartment (which he has not even stayed in yet as it’s being refurbished) so I slept on the balcony and enjoyed the views and atmosphere of the unique place. Next morning I was awake before sunrise and hit the roads early to get in some serious miles of 2-wheeled fun before meeting Max for Breakfast and updating MotoGeo.

After a tasty Cappuccino & croissant  I left the glitz and glamor of Monaco and headed off to Asolo Italy, the home and HQ of Alpinestars and where I’d be meeting my old home town friend Seth who is still in a bit of recovery after he broke his back in a MX fall last year.

For sure it scared him and after the accident, he sold his bikes and went back to a normal car life. But after seeing how much enjoyment I have been having, riding here there and everywhere, he couldn’t stand it any longer and bought himself another motorcycle, a BMW sports tourer in fact. So, Seth set off from Holmfirth, England on Monday and by the time I arrived after my rather boring motorway ride to North Italy, he was waiting for me with a huge smile and many stories of being back on 2 wheels once again, brilliant. That night we ate fresh Pasta and planned the next stage of the journey, a 500 mile journey to Erzberg, Austria.

Next morning it was gorgeous weather in Asolo and made even better when Alpinestars donated some brilliant sports touring gear to Seth, a special Birthday present to him and one that really made him feel better after having a rather rough 12 months.

The day looked like being a cracking one and as we headed off to Austria, the vibe was good. Then the tables started to turn, firstly because of the route we’d picked was riddled with traffic – Trucks, cars, Motorhomes and some motorcycles that didn’t like to pass anything. It was a struggle and no matter which way we went, many others seemed to be on the road ahead of us and if that wasn’t bad enough, it then started to get cold, then turned windy, then came the rain.

Next was a road closed sign, a diversion that took us high up into the hills, behind trucks and traffic, around many slippy corners and after being on the road for 3 hours, got lost more than a few times, we’d hardly gone anywhere, got soaked and were slightly down beat.

Next was a fuel stop and a re-think, a new road picked that took us into Austria and this road was brilliant, again, many switch backs that went high up into the mountain but we couldn’t ride it they way we’d like as it was very slippy and was raining.

At the top we met loads of other bikers on the Austrian boarder, they all looked rather stunned, we hoped it was because of the awesome road they’d just taken but in our conversations with them it was because of the terrible weather they’d gone through in Austria and Germany to get to the boarder, oh dear.

We rode into Austria and it was no lie, almost immediately it was pouring down and wasn’t letting up. By the time we took shelter by some trash in a super market car park we were more than soaked. The roads were terrible, loads of standing water and the car drivers weren’t slowing down much so we decided on staying put for a while and see if it would brighten up a bit.

2 hours later there was a break in the clouds so we took off but really just rode straight into more bad weather and as we’d still got 300+ miles to go, it was a case now of just getting on with the job and trying to get to Eisenerz (Erzberg) or close.

It was a sketchy ride, HGV’s were on the road with loads of Caravan’s and the spray coming off these vehicles was immense, the ride wasn’t one we’d like to repeat, it was hard going and slow.

Eventually we called it off around 9:30pm, we were now only 30miles away but it was now dark, riding in the wet at night wasn’t something I wanted to endure as we were both hungry, tired and in need of some hot food and hopefully a better bed than our planned camping.

The stop was in Amont where a very friendly man wearing lederhosen outfit helped us get food and a room in a local guest house which although smelt a bit off, had terrible bed sheets, we had to sleep next to each other, plus the heating didn’t work was almost like the Ritz compared to the thought of pitching our tents and shivering to sleep.

Next morning the weather had improved quite a bit, the roads were still damp and it was spitting with fine rain but that was 100% better than yesterdays conditions and we rode a great rode all the way to Eisenerz where the first sign we saw was a picture of a motorcycle and the iron mountain looked straight at us. Mega, we’d made it, at times yesterday it was difficult to imagine ever getting here but it was a joyful sight seeing the town for real instead of a name on a soggy map and the iron mountain looked increddible, the excitement of the Erzberg Rodeo beings from here, what a proper good do!