May is going to be a stressful month. Mainly because I will head to the last remaining launches and they are very varied with the smaller niche producing manufacturers. Some flights I have to get myself and others not. Could easily become messy. Anyway, the first one is sorted. Derbi Mulhacen 659 is a brand new street scrambler from Derbi. Derbi is a Spanish manufacturer and the Mulhacen will be the largest displacement Derbi motorcycle ever! If I remember it correctly Mulhacen is the name of some mountains somewhere in Spain (will do my research for the article of course). Next week it's that gig in Barcelona and then a good week later it's time for the Delirio 1000. This is probably the one as a rider I am looking mostly forward to. The combination of the Ducati 1000DS and Bimota chassis (Robbiano's work) should be unbeatable. I can tell you now though that it will get a minus for high price. It has to be a million times better than Ducati Multistrada and S2R 1000 to justify the price tag. However, it's hand built and a work of art. So perhaps it is a million times better. We'll see. I just realised that after that launch it's a weekend, so to be able to do the Benelli's up in Pesaro I have to ride the Benelli's first. Pesaro is not that far from Rimini so I will speak to someone at the Bimota factory and perhaps arrive early and spin up to Pesaro on a DB5 or SB8. Sounds like a dream I agree, but someone has to organise the damn thing and that's me. Doing all these things is great, organising them is a nightmare! And then there's the Moto Guzzi Norge 1200. I have been waiting for it all year. That is the bike that I should have been riding on the 17th of May as that date is Norway's national day. But then I'm on Bimota's and Guzzi has still not sent out final invitations with final dates etc. When all this has settled come end of May I am picking up Triumph Rocket III Classic. I intend to spend a week on it and just enjoy life. Knowing the Rocket III it is slightly faster than other cruisers, but with footboards something that hopefully inspires me to take it easy. Because following the Rocket III Classic I shall be testing the K6 Gixxers. First a week on the 600 and then a week on the 750 (we're in June now). I realise that those of you that are fans of the Gixxer will have bought one by then, but for the doubters wait for my tests, video's and blog entries. It will be Gixxer mania around here for two weeks. TS

Time to return the very entertaining Kawasaki Z1000 today. It filtered the queues on M1, M42 and M40 like a king today. Give it a good dollop of throttle in first and second gear and the front rises towards the sky. Weather ok almost all of the way down to Kawasaki UK except South of Oxford where it started to rain. I arrived at Kawasaki UK only to find the poor Cagiva Raptor 1000 had gutted all it's rear shock oil whilst I was away on the Kawasaki's. I am going to find out which fat bastard sat on it from Kawasaki UK shortly:-) Anyway, with no damping at the rear it was a bumpy and long ride home. Ohlins from Kais suspension came to mind, but first the Cagiva needs a full service. New Suomy Extreme helmet is on its way and soon I will know how much more comfortable it is than my Spec 1R Loris replica. I am now finishing the Kawasaki Z stories. One will be a Z750 vs. Z750S and the other a Z1000 article with a Z750 cameo appearance. TS

What am I up to these days? I am making deals and signing contracts with major publishing houses all over Europe and overseas. I can also state that you win some and you loose some. Some people are easier and more fun to work with than others. I will still say no more about specifics, but please do read Superbike's excellent bullshit detector regularly. It is much good stuff there. I shouldn't speak too loudly as I might end up on the wrong side there in the future too. If you are in Australia you probably buy Two Wheels which I believe is the biggest magazine over there down under. Go straight to pages 56-60 and read my report on the crazy new Aprilia V-twin XV's. Check out the news in AMCN too. If in Belgium check out Moto 80 07/04 pages 20-23 and Motoren & Toerisme. If in France check out the excellent Motards-online.com site. If in Norway check out the best and biggest motorcycle publication, MC-avisa. If in Sweden MC-nytt is the best magazine and recently the best looking as well with the new magazine layout. In the US you just have to check out Motorcycle-Daily that publishes my stuff regularly and PRIMEDIA titles. In Greece you should have a look at the brilliant 0-300 magazine and many others. Soon I will publish Kostas Gazis's report from the Ducati GT 1000 world launch. It is good. If you live in China you can read my test reports in Mandarin on Hong Kong based Ibike.com.HK. Their presentations rivals everything else online. I have still not seen any other online E-zine with such good layout and presentation. In Germany there is only one Motorrad and that is Motorrad. In Spain Motociclismo is the kings of news whilst in Italy they all just steal whatever I publish. When I scoop them on Italy news they must be too proud to admit it. In Russia it is worth checking out Bikeland.ru if you are a Suzuki or KTM owner. Here in the UK only the best publications use my stuff and soon I will make sure full test articles will be published one way or the other. If you want to read the full reports about the bikes that I test I suggest you send you local bike mag editor an E-mail and tell them which freelancer you prefer to read! Please give me your feedback even if you think what I write is rubbish, good or just ok. I can take it. If you see any obvious mistakes then I should know about them. Today I received some gorgeous racing pictures of the DB5 from Bimota. I will soon publish some of those. Soon I will tell you more about the popular designer Hugo van Waaijen. He is a professional design engineer, and not someone just playing on his computer. More good stuff coming. TS

A gorgeous day today in the Peaks. Carlos and I went out riding the Kawasaki Z750 and Z1000 between the borders of Derbyshire and Cheshire today. We did two rounds on the A54 and A53 and made the necessary stop at the Cat. Thank God Carlos was riding behind me today as the number plate on the Z1000 fell off. If he had not seen exactly where it blew off I would never have found it again. But I did find it and used the rest of the Duck tape in my backpack to secure it. Good as gold! Troy Bayliss did the double today and looks unbeatable for the championship. WSB is coming home to Italy and more specific Bologna again. I think Ducati need those victories really badly. All the best to them and keep fighting with that grunty V-twin. It's no small feat beating the GSX-R1000 and remember a 999cc V-twin is doing it week in and week out now. Forza! TS

Got the invitation for the Derbi Mulhacen 659 street Scrambler launch in Barcelona today. From what it sounds we will be riding the bike in Barcelona so there should be some great photo opportunities. There are some great intrigues going on in the background now. Back stabbings, hypocrisy, envy, pride and a big gay man is angry with me. I can be a rude bastard if I want to, but only if the other part deserves it. I have not decided what exactly to write about this yet, probably not much, but it would be very entertaining. I will leave it for now to brew. TS

Got some good action shots of the Kawasaki Z1000 today with Claire. The Z1000 is really impressive as a Japanese streetfighter. the old ZX-9R was never known for its good midrange and some of that is evident on the big Z too. Top end is great, but I'd still like more oomph from the word go. It is miles and miles better than the Z750 though as this chassis is on the heavy side and horsepower and torque is really needed. It is not better than bikes such as Aprilia Tuono R and Ducati Monster S4R, but a hell of a lot more fun than any other Japanese naked. And in the looks department it even rivals the Italians. I really like the looks of the Z1000 and I hope they don't ruin it with the expected update in a year or two. Kawasaki did ruin the looks of their ZX10-R, but I can't imagine any Kawasaki designer letting the same thing happen to the Z1000. Even in 2006 the big Z does not look dated at all. Just make it lighter, add more torque and its sorted. I got word from Moto Guzzi today that the Norge 1200 launch has been postponed yet again. This time from late April to some time in May. May is already a busy month for me so I really hope there will be no clashes. TS

Time to return Kawasaki Z750S today. I am not too sad to see it go, but hey it's cheap as chips! On the way down to KMUK I stumbled upon a big lorry accident on the A515. One of the lorries had ended up in the ditch on the side of the road. Glad I wasn't around when it happened. Did some offroad riding with the heavy Z750S to get around the accident spot and headed south to drop off the Z750S and pick up the Z1000. Z1000 is a completely different animal. More purpose-built and very few compromises. First impressions are very good. Suspension is much better than the 750 and the old ZX-9R continues it's duties in a modified version on the Z. Bumped into Rob Hoyles at Kawasaki and had a quick chat. He was picking up a ZX-10R for a track day whilst I was picking up a Z1000 for hooligan fun. Speaking of hooligans, Chris Moss was unfortunate at a recent tyre launch where he had an accident on a BMW R1200GS. Broken arm and some other rather serious injuries has put the loud Northerner out of business for a while. Before I continue I shall send him a "get well soon" E-mail. Get well soon Mozzy!. TS

A gorgeous day in the peaks today! Everyone's on holiday and out on their bikes. But also in their camper vans and loads of Sunday drivers around. Police too, so Easter is a time to just enjoy the weather and tour around the old familiar roads. Carlos and I didn't exactly tour today, but we are always sensible anyway. Rode both Kawasaki Z750S and Z750 today and we got the picture needed in perfect weather. We ended up at the Cat & Fiddle as usual and I had a chat with Les the train driver again. This time he had brought out his pride and joy, his 1971 BSA Firebird 650 Scrambler. Have a look at that gorgeous and very rare bike. Les is the proud owner. he even let me sit on it! I might do yet another Scrambler special after I have ridden the Derbi Mulhacen in Barcelona in May and will make sure to include Les's BSA Scrambler then. Happy Easter! TS

Picked up Kawasaki Z750S after returning the FMX 650 to Honda. Appalling weather the whole bloody way and despite the Scott all weather gear (Narvik) and my Goretex Dainese gloves I got pretty wet. First 200 miles in wet and cold weather and then the same going back. I stopped at Oxford services near Oxford and had a loong and tall coffee. The weather had improved a bit and I used my spare leather gloves the rest of the way back from Oxford to Buxton. I have to say that I hated the FMX going down, but it's purely down to the fact it's just not made for motorways and transportation stages. every 50-70 miles I had to refill with petrol and at the end of each tank I kept my hand on the reserve tap so that I wouldn't get killed if I ran out when passing a lorry due to fuel running out and to avoid that powerful engine breaking making the car behind ram me doing 60mph. The Kawasaki Z750S is another beast all together. I noticed how shite the suspension is straight away. The bike feels heavy as well with a iffy front end. However, fuelling, engine and seat comfort is great. That's the first impressions anyway. They might change by the time I write the test. The test this time will be a comparison between the S and the naked. Watch out for that one! TS

Today I have been investigating news stories, had a look at the latest CG's designed for me (they are very good and based on hard facts). I also found out that Suomy don't make the Xaus replica helmet anymore. What a shame as it is a very cool design. So I'll be having the Extreme Dragon in stead. Got the action shots I need of the Honda FMX 650 today too which is good as it has been dodgy weather for several days now. Tomorrow I'll return it home to Honda and then head over to Kawasaki HQ to pick up the next test bike. Watch this space for pictures and reports of the Kawasaki. TS

All the Moto Guzzi stories are now finished and I will soon have some time to update everything including MotoGP again. I can't wait to see what will happen in today's race in Doha. Can Kenny jr or Casey Stoner really beat the works Honda's? Been out on the FMX 650 again and it really is a funmoto. A bit heavy for a supermotard, but still fun. Weather just can't settle for us here in Buxton at the moment so still no action pics. I am soon expecting to take delivery of a new Suomy Extreme helmet to complement the Loris Spec 1R. I have asked for the Xaus replica as it's got a cool black and white design. I like Ruben Xaus as well and his all or nothing riding style. This year it really is all or nothing for Ruben as he's financing his own racing in WSB. Good luck and let's hope the helmet deal can bring some cash in at least. So buy the Suomy Xaus replica and help a struggling racer must be the message. I'll stick a picture up later. TS

Looks like the KTM RC8 1150 video's has been popular as it has slowed down the system a bit. Download the high res version now as I'll remove it soon. Will soon head out on the Honda FMX 650 until I can download my E-mail again. TS

Returned the GSX-R1000 today. I just can't believe how easily this bike can do 180+ Mph! On our secret test straight it just accelerates and accelerates until there's no more road! It just picks up revs and makes brutal acceleration feel like smooth. Good thing Suzuki took it off me again so I don't get into trouble. Headed straight down to Slough to pick up Honda FMX 650 from Honda UK. A bit different you could say. Our test bike has got a few accessories such as hand guards and a sticker kit.

Writing, writing, writing... But I also took the GSX-R 1000 for a spin. Weather a bit unpredictable here in the Peaks at the moment. A mixture of hailstorms, sun and rain constantly it seems. At one point whilst doing stills I got all those three within 5 minutes. I guess it's the name of the game. TS

Back in the saddle again on the GSX-R1000. It will be a fun and easy article to write as the bike is so good with almost no weaknesses. I am really struggling at the moment to get good action pictures of the bike so I am crossing my fingers for tomorrow... TS