As you will have seen I have been busy photographing the Rocket III Classic the last couple of days. Action pictures was on the calendar today, but more are planned. Today it's time to say something about the bike itself. Not much has changed since the 2004 Rocket III in terms of how it feels to ride. Big, majestic or just the King Kong of motorcycles. That torque curve that peaks already at 2,500 rpm is just so addictive! I want one for that reason alone! Our test bikes has been equipped with most of the extras you can get for the Classic. Large windscreen, custom made Rocket III panniers in leather, chromed crash protectors, more chrome and a sissy bar. What makes the Rocket III the Classic is the two-tone paint, comfy one-piece seat, stretched handlebars and big footboards. I have to be careful writing the blog about new bikes because before I know it I'm actually writing a test and that's not the point here. I have been a fan of the Rocket III since it was first shown even though it is not exactly belonging to the group of bikes closest to my heart. As you will have seen I crossover to any possible two-wheeler apart from mopeds and as a freelancer you have to really. But ever since I started writing about motorcycles I have ridden big cruisers as well as fast superbikes and sturdy offroad bikes. The first thing I try to look at is whether they actually manage to make me relax and start cruising naturally. The first Rocket III did not really do that naturally as the engine is so exciting that you just can't help yourself from using that throttle to its fullest. Rocket III Classic is only slightly different, but enough to have made me relax when riding the last few days. One box ticked already. Next is to ride it as much as possible really and the BBC weather ladies has told me that this part of the world will be blessed with some sunshine this week. So guess what, I'll mostly be out riding the Rocket Classic this week. There's one event I'll be staying in for tomorrow and that's the launch of Ducati D16RR in Mugello. I will stick it up on the news pages ASAP with all the technical details and the first official pictures from Ducati. It will be good, just how good is the question... TS

Time to pick up Triumph Rocket III Classic today from Hinckley. Then I might pop by Silverstone to catch Superpole before heading home. More laters. TS

Headed over to Manchester today for the opening of Dainese's first D-store in the UK. Shakey Byrne and James Haydon were there to put some BSB glamour into the event. the D-store is located in the middle of central Manchester and will rise the profile of motorcycling in Manchester. I parked the bike in the shop and joined the guys for dinner and bubbly all night long. Do those Dainese guys know how to party! I chatted to the Commercial director that had flown over from Italy and this autumn Dainese will launch a brand new safety jacket with some brand new features to protect your back and neck even more than today. This will be interesting and Dainese has worked on it for about 4 years as it is a very complex area to protect. TS

Published the latest from BMW today. I have had the story for quite a while now, but there are always some developments. In just a couple of days I will head down to Hinckley and pick up the latest version of Triumph Rocket III. It might look like a big old cruiser to you, but I can assure you that thing has got some torque and horsepower! I have ridden and tested the Rocket III the year it was launched and I loved it then for the share power and for beating R1's at the lights. The Classic should be a bit more relaxed and I will take my time and find the best spots for the photo shoot. Got the invitation for the press launch of Ducati Desmosedici RR at Mugello today. It happens next week ahead of the Italian MotoGP round. It will only be "unveiled" so I don't think I'll need my leathers with me unfortunately. Test of the thing comes later and that will be a treat! Weather has been miserable here in the Peaks the last few days, however the sun has just started shining again. TS

Bimota only had 6 Delirio's available and we were three groups that day. Luckily I was in the first group as a million things can happen to both bikes and riders on a launch. The roads around Bimota and Misano are gorgeous and perfectly suited to the nimble Delirio. We went very fast on the slowest parts where the DB6 almost handled that tight stuff as good as a supermoto, but the guide (test rider on a Bimota prototype Delirio) at front went too slowly at the faster sections. Again the thermometer exceeded 30 degrees and I almost melted inside my leathers. Luckily Bimota served ice cream when we returned to the factory. I had a late flight back home with the other UK journos to London Stansted. When we arrived at Stansted airport as the last arriving flight the queue was mile long and I got worried I would not make the last bus to Birmingham. I made it on the nick of time. Arrived Birmingham just after 03 o'clock at night and changed for the Manchester service. That one arrived in Manchester around 07:30 in the morning and then I got the train back to Buxton. We're on 19th now and a long journey finally over. When I unpacked I found out that I had forgotten my back protector back in Rimini. I have a spare back protector, but hopefully Bimota finds it and returns it before I need the one that fits my Alpinestars leathers perfectly before I pick up the GSX-R's next month. I almost forgot to mention that I also rode the DB5 whilst waiting for my pictures of the Delirio. Another lovely Bimota with a design both Ducati and Aprilia are envious of. TS

Hipp, Hipp.... Hoorah! Norway's national day and the first thing I did in the morning was to ride the Norge 1200 around Lake Como doing some tracking shots. Then I headed back got changed and ready for my transfer to the central train station in Milan (there are pics of that station further down in the blog) to catch the train further south to the beach resort of Rimini where Bimota manufactures some remarkable motorcycles. Completely painless and I even had time to hit the beach before the sun went down. Then went back to the hotel and almost finished the Norge 1200 article before dinner. At the dinner I tried to figure out why Roland Brown is a vegetarian and how Sergio Robbiano can exceed himself in the future. 08:30 in the morning we were told we would be picked up for our 09:30 test ride.

Arrived at London Heathrow 03:30 at night and at Terminal 2 there is one cafe open 24 hours. A saviour as I was hungry. Started talking to this eccentric guy that told me he was a rough sleeper. Apparently he was a former bodyguard of Richard Branson, but now his only two friends were Jack Daniels and Coca Cola. He was roaming around Heathrow because it was fairly cold outside. He was not a begger and had his wallet filled with £20 notes. poor old bastard. Well, anyway, I arrived at Milan Linate a few hours later and no Guzzi ladies in sight so had to grab a taxi to central Milan where the Norge 1200 press conference were held. Just after the press conference we were transferred up to Mandello for the first ride of the Norge 1200. Guzzi also showed us its newly developed electrically adjustable windshield that will be available on two of the Norge 1200 versions. Even high up in the Alps I noticed on the Norge instruments that the ambient temperature was 31 degrees Celsius. Very hot in other words. Had some very tight deadlines on this one and stayed at the Moto Guzzi factory after the first ride to wait for the photographers to get my disc together so that I could E-mail a few straight away. Everything takes time in Italy and I just made it back to the hotel in time for the bus taking us to dinner, but no shower for me until before bed time. Stressful stuff and for no other reason than slow moving people (Milagro could have done my disc first for instance) and a frustratingly slow LAN at Mandello del Lario! 

I will have none of this nonsense, no bike and complicated logistics. I am letting the train or bus do the driving and my leathers will stay dry until I'm in Italy. More blog on Friday. TS

I am in logistical hell! Listen to this: Flights from London Heathrow 07:05 in the morning to Milan next week, Meaning that I will be riding down from Buxton at about 3 o'clock the night before, park and get changed, press conference Guzzi Norge Milan, transfer Milan-Mandello-Dynamic launch Norge 1200-to the hotel, write up article and send pictures as deadlines are looming, day after transfer from Lecco in the alps to Milan central train station, train to Rimini, ride Delirio, press conference, hotel to write about Delirio, transfer to Bologna airport, land at London Stansted (not Heathrow) then get a bus, train or taxi and go to Heathrow to ride my bike back to Buxton. I will have two nice articles with me back though. Buxton had gorgeous weather today as well as yesterday and I have been riding. Met up with Carlos, the guitar man, at the Cat today to enjoy the great weather. Tomorrow I will publish the story about the new Aprilia 750cc triple. It will be great that bike! TS

Yet another gorgeous day here in the Peaks. Aprilia is busy making good use of that 100.000.000 Euro investment with a new 750cc triple engine and a new 1200cc V-twin also built in-house. No Rotax in any new machines! Official invite came through today for the Moto Guzzi Norge 1200 world launch and I am just waiting for the flight puzzle to be sorted out. I already have flights to Bologna for the Bimota world launch of Delirio the following day, but now they are suddenly pretty useless as I have to arrive one day earlier for the Moto Guzzi gig. And a new transfer from Milan to Rimini has to be arranged rather than Bologna-Rimini. I knew it would happen in this way as mentioned here in the blog earlier. Next I have to arrange to fly over and do the rest of the Italian bikes, Benelli Tre-K and MV Agusta F4 1000 R before the end of May. I am now booked to July with test bikes from Triumph, Suzuki, BMW, Honda, Buell and Harley-Davidson. It is a good mixture of supersports, adventure bikes and cruisers. It has been a while since I tested cruisers here in the UK now and I am looking forward to it. TS

Yet another hot day which suited me fine. The exhaust on the Mulhacen also gets very hot, but it was fun riding around in Barcelona. Got some pictures done in the morning with a group of Italian journos. After the riding we headed to the press conference and got to know more about Derbi and the future plans. More on that later. Flew home via London to Manchester and now it's time to write the article. Next launch is Moto Guzzi Norge 1200 17th May in Mandello. TS

Rode my bike to Manchester airport to catch a plain to Zurich and then Barcelona today. Barcelona is the location for Derbi's launch of the firms very first large displacement motorcycle, the Mulhacen 659. It's a street Scrambler with the Yamaha 660 single. Weather was gorgeous everywhere today from Buxton to Barcelona. After arriving at the Torre Catalunya in central Barcelona I got some exclusive info from the Piaggio rep regarding different brands. More on that under the news section later. Tomorrow it's time to ride the Mulhacen around in Barcelona. TS