Bikes, Tests, Money and Sunburn.

Well it's been a while since I've said anything so I thought I'd better start yapping.
Luck seems to have come my way, in the form of a little RVF 400. Or has it? I'm still undecided about that.
I've always wanted a Honda 400 to begin with once I get through my bike tests. CBR, VFR or RVF, I wasn't too fussed which. Last friday morning the aforementioned RVF arrives at the garage I work at, wanting an MOT. Unfortunately we were so busy, unless he wanted to wait about 3 hours we couldn't get it done. So he said he'd come back in a few days, and I thought about how much I wanted one of those bikes, and fantasized about the man returning in a few days claiming it was for sale.
Well he did.
After hearing that this was exactly the bike I was looking for, he offered the very good condition MPH converted RVF for £2,000. And thats where the problem comes up. Technically, I COULD afford this bike, though it would mean having around 30 quid left in my bank account. Insurance would cost around the £350 mark, if paid in installments. The good points about this is I have a place to store the bike until I have passed my test. Also, I think my bike lessons and tests will be paid for by my boss, as he needs me passing this to do MOTs on bikes. Another good point is in September I'll be off the crappy apprentice wage I'm on now and start earning some real money, refilling my bank account, and maybe getting my insurance paid off in one lump.
My bike lessons and tests, however, are on hold until the other apprentice at work gets through his. I really don't know when this will happen, theres a been a few setbacks and I'm not sure when I'll be put onto my lesson and tests. On a plus note, though he always said he never wanted a bike "because they're crap" and the bike license was for MOT purposes only, the other day I caught him in the bottom garage with the CB500 we have there, simply saying "I've got the bug now." He then proceeded to spend the next hour replacing the oil and cleaning the bike.
Soooo....I'm thinking should buy this RVF, this bike I've always wanted and have no money for 2 months, or not buy it and try to wait for another one locally to show up. Working where I have for the past 9 months, this is the only one I've seen.
In other news, John wanted to go out on the bikes tonight and find somewhere to do a bit of a photoshoot, to get some pictures of the bikes and maybe some better ones of ourselves for this blog. However, after spending Sunday down at Croft watching the Touring Cars at which I expected rain more than anything else, I feel like I've been irradiated in the boiling sun, and as a result my face appears to be trying to emigrate from my head. Needless to say I'm not feeling very photogenic (is that a word?), and since my arms have undergone the same treatment, I don't even want to try to put on my bike jacket. Despite it's own feelings to the contrary, I like my skin to be ON my arms. Oh well. I'm just glad that my burns will heal.
Anyway, enough of that, I need to go and plot my bank acccount's downfall.

edit: Apparently my employer isn't going to pay for my bike lessons and tests now, because the other apprentice is costing him too much with retests. So, it's gone from "I've never had anyone fail" to "how are you paying for your lessons?". With the price of the bike added with my car's insurance, tax etc coming up in October, I wonder if I'll be able to get riding this bike at all this year.

Ever been on a bike?

Our followers are growing and i just want to say thankyou to everyone thats following and watching too.
One of our followers recently told me about a great idea to get more people into biking.
There's a promotion at the moment where non-bikers can get a free one-hour "taste" of riding - it's called Get On www.geton.co.uk
anyone you know thats interested in bikes but hasnt ridden before let them know so we can spread the wonder that is biking.
I have also been looking at getting some new bike trousers, i was thinking of getting some leather pants at first but have now decided to get some draggin jeans, ive been looking at the silverback and next gen jeans. the prospect of paying 200 quid to get a pair of jeans ive not seen worries me abit but i guess i can return them if i need to.
The weather and work is stopping me riding as much as i like to. saving for the 600cc ninja has started, looking forward to riding it in a few months.
take care all and ride safe
John

Excuses, Excuses

Well, the British summertime has come and gone, apparently. From blisteringly hot days of being stuck working in a garage, and riding while wearing winter gloves becomes some form of masochist self-torture, to cold, dreary, rainy days where you'd rather sit in a car with dodgy windscreen wipers.
I could complain about anything, I am British after all.
So my days of pottering about on my bike that thinks it's bigger than it actually is (maybe its all the Project Hate I'm listening to while riding) have come to a bit of an end for now. Searching local shops revealed no summer gloves so I ended up ordering some from ebay (had i known i was going to Newcastle on my only Saturday off in a fortnight I wouldn't have bothered) and here I am, still waiting for them to arrive. And now it's raining. And my bike's stranded in the garden while the patio thingy at the bottom gets built. Want more excuses? Theres scaffolding around the house, meaning I'd have to walk round the whole street because my crash helmet won't fit out the garden door.
Ok, I'm also just lazy, but I really do want to get back on the bike. While I can't get as fast as in my mighty Micra, and I usually get annoyed with trying to pull the bike into the garden in it's current state, I do enjoy the ride a hell of a lot more than in a car. The short-lived triumph of beating every car away from lights. The minor sense of accomplishment that follows every corner; shifting weight on a bike and feeling it lean into, and rise out of corners is so much more rewarding than just turning a wheel.
Anyway, for the time being I'm taking a relaxed approach to the whole going-across-Europe thing. Around the end of August-ish I should be getting put through my big bike lessons and tests, as part of my employment. So because of this I've got a sort of "it'll all work out" attitude, but partly also because I'm letting John do all the worrying and, erm, work. Hey, this was all his idea.

i love to talk about bikes

a quick post today, i met some great guys at work today (no names), we started talking about bike, it turned out he had amongst others a gsxr1400 and a busa. but the more interesting thing was he told me he had a tomtom with stereo scala headset with mp3 connection and he has told me the audio is quite clear and it works really well. he basically has the exact setup i want and had confirmed it all works, looks like thats what ill be getting
apparently using the scala and tomtom directions can still be heard clearly at 150mph, im guessing that was on the autobahn or maybe a test track because obviously no one is allowed to to that kind of speed on uk roads.
take care friends and ride safe
john

work gets in the way of my bike

im on the only day off in whats worked out to be 14 days, meaning ive had hardly any time to ride or blog, i will be trying to make up for it in the future.
physically there hasnt been alot happening with the trip, we have decided the trip is going to be taking place in june/july of next year and that we will be setting a more exact date towards the end of the year but again that isnt really new.
on the communicator front i decided to probably go for the scala since most of the bad reviews about it are about the lack of sound, and i found a guide on hard wiring a set of in ear headphones into them and i feel im good enough with electronics to give it a go. the scala set that comes with the tomtom is only a mono one and wouldnt be what i need anyway.
i want to thank the people that are following and the people that are watching us but not following for whatever reason, i know there have been problems when people are trying to follow and hopefully that is now sorted.
an update on the hardware side is that i decided to get a netbook this week, with the 10.1" screen its gonna fit well into the panniers which will let me take loads of pictures and video while we are away and it means i can update the blog on a day to day basis. the price that i paid for it too i couldnt say no. on a technical note ive done away with windows on it and am running ubuntu which is running really well.
ill try and update the blog more often
john