2007 January blog

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Arghhh! I am so pissed off of waiting for the new DSLR that was meant to do its duty immediately on action shots of the Rocket III Tribal! I ordered it on Amazon, it was quickly dispatched and I could track it online through Parcelforce. Then the parcel disappeared into thin air... So a week later Amazon sent another one. It has also disappeared! There must be a secret depot for valuable items due to be flogged on eBay somewhere on the drivers route. Anyway, a couple of days ago I did a few static shots halfway up the Cat & Fiddle road with the old 8 Mega Pixel camera. It has done its duty by now, but still enables me to do some decent static shots. But due to the camera not showing up I postponed the appointment to change to loud pipes as I want to document it with the new superior camera. So hopefully this week... Tomorrow Yamaha will take some sort of decision on their part in the Bob-sleigh stunt. Mr Claudio Castiglioni's PA called me today with some quotes from Casti on the Husqvarna affair. As expected there was not much he had to say about that matter. TS

I am now one step further in planning the motorcycle stunt on the bobsled track in Lillehammer. Both Yamaha and BMW are interested. It might even be possible to ride an R1 with spiked tyres up the track... More on this spectacular stunt later. Got the 2007 Honda CB600F Hornet world launch in Portugal confirmed today. It will happen soon. Tomorrow I will ride the muscle cruiser I am in possession of down to the Triumph dealer to add some more lively pipes. Read all about the Rocket III right here in the blog. At the end there will be a big feature about the Rocket III. Hopefully the biggest ever written. Now I'm going back to that Bond film that I am watching to study the old Yamaha offroaders on the snow and ice in Cortina. TS

Got the pictures from the 2007 BMW K 1200 R Sport shoot from Gary today. The weather was not quite on our side and I called my article "Blue Hurricane". You can read excerpts from it by clicking on the link above. That one done and dusted I'll talk about the next one. Just in case you are interested in that sort of stuff, the R1 we'll be testing is black. Now you know and black is a pretty cool colour. My calendar is clogging up at the moment and I am adding March dates now. The latest I might do is to cover the Daytona Bike Week in Florida. I am speaking to Harley-Davidson to see what we can cook together from that annual mega event in the US. I'll be looking at some new Alpinestars gear the same week as I ride the R1 (early Feb) and I might cover that small event too to see what's hot and what's not in 2007. More later. TS

I could finally publish the story about the Victory Vision Tour & Street on Friday. The Harley fans are already slagging off the Vision as expected, but Victory deserves credit for daring to launch this biking giant with futuristic styling! Anyway, now you know why I visited Long Beach in California in mid December. During the weekend I purchased a new DSLR camera and lenses. It's a nice 10.8 megapixel with anti shake and state of the art auto focus. Can't wait to start using it and the Rocket III is the first bike out. There's a couple of cool Rocket III events coming up with Triumph in the next two months. One in France and one in London outside the Ritz. The Ritz gig is sketchy yet, but it involves the TV show Britain's next top model. And who am I not to be there with my Rocket III Tribal and 13 gorgeous woman? On Thursday I have booked the Rocket III in to get some performance parts added. Such as a loud exhaust. Gary Freeman have promised to get me the K 1200 R Sport images by this evening so there will be another little update later tonight. Today I arranged to pick up the 2007 Yamaha R1 in about 10 days. I am talking to Yamaha to get one of those R1's as my next 3 month longtermer. There's a host of new bike launches in Spain during the next month. I'll try to be present at some of them, but the rest will be done on UK or Italian roads instead. We are talking the 07 Honda CB600F Hornet, KTM 690SM, Suzuki GSF 1250 Bandit and more. There's a lot of stuff going on and I'll most likely mention them in the blog first. Congratulations to French KTM factory rider Cyril Despres for winning the Dakar race by the way. TS

Reached Manchester airport at 06:28 this morning for my 07:00 Lufthansa flight to Munich. My mission today was to test the new BMW K 1200 R Sport. My photographer Gary Freeman flew in from London and we would meet at the airport before heading to BMW to pick up the bike. I was really late and parked the Rocket III and ran in to the check in desk still in full leathers. I whacked my passport on the counter and asked whether I had time to remove my leathers and check it in with my luggage. The Lufthansa clerk looked at me with gloom in his eyes and said that I had time. Then I ran through the fastlane past what seemed to be thousands of people queuing for security. British security at airports must be the least efficient in the world! Wankers! Anyway, despite arriving late I was seated in the aircraft at 06:45. Not bad I think since I left home 06:15! Then the flight to Munich was really filled with turbulence and high winds from the bad weather in Europe. Flights to Frankfurt had been cancelled and a few had chosen the Munich option in stead. The plane was pushed up and down and sideways by the high winds and then we landed safely in Munich. Hooked up with Gary and rented a car before heading to BMW just around the block almost from the airport. It's a high tech facility that serves the press with both cars and bikes. First we shot the three K-series bikes together and then we headed out to find suitable places to shoot. The weather was awful with hurricane strength winds. I looked out for flying trees whilst riding as 11 people had died since the storms started in Germany. The new Sport is basically a K 1200 R with half a fairing. It's a compromise between the R and the S basically. Going slowly for the photographer in the high winds was worse than going fast. Stability just increases the faster you go! Just what I needed on this day really. More about the bike in the forthcoming test. The first English test of the bike by the way so pretty exclusive. Now I am home in the UK waiting for Gary to finish the pictures and send them over. TS

Today turned out to be a sunny and gorgeous day so I saddled up on the Tribal and headed out. I stopped at the Aviation viewing park at Manchester airport. This is one of the resting grounds for the iconic Concorde supersonic aircraft. The cruising speed for this magnificent piece of engineering was 1.320Mph. The Triumph Rocket III cruises at somewhat slower speeds. I went there to see if I would be allowed to take a picture of the two together. I would not be allowed with the Rocket up-close to the Concorde today without permission. So I walked and shot a few pictures to see what could be done later with the bike. Even the 2.3 litre Rocket III is dwarfed by the 11 metre tall and 61 metre long aircraft. I once parked a MV Agusta Brutale beneath a dry-docked Sunseeker Yacht in Poole, but the pictures didn't turn out that well. Anyway, I will get the permission and do the shoot, but I'm not sure how it will look like. On my way back I picked up MCN just to verify how little they actually know. Some wanker US magazine have leaked or sold pictures from the exclusive Victory event in Long Beach last year where the new bike was presented to selected media. Now I didn't see any MCN journalists there... I told Victory that this would happen regardless of Embargo's and repercussions. So I was not surprised. But the guys in America were a bit surprised and I got a phone call in the middle of the night. I thought it was that nutcase from Rofo headgear that keeps pestering me to publish info about his pretty useless motorcycle drinking hat (or whatever). But it was my friend at Victory motorcycles. This is a huge event for them and I understand how disappointing the breach of that embargo is to the Victory team that has been working hard on this project the last 6 years. Anyway, I am keeping my part of the bargain regardless and will only publish when agreed with Victory. You don't have to wait long now, but I still can't specify the date. My coverage of the new bike will be much more extensive, accurate and intimate since I have actually spoken to the people that built the bike face to face. I think I will publish in the range of 20-30 pictures of this bike on a dedicated page and around 2.000 words. That is Victory's award for involving me in the project and letting me see it so early. If you live in the US this is particularly big news. Check out your breakfast shows on television and Raptors & Rockets for the first full glimpse and proper insight. TS

Been some activity on the news front today. Everything from the smallest bit of information to the biggest. Some more launch schedules are almost ready now. Aprilia Shiver 750, Gilera Fuoco500, Moto Guzzi 940 Custom etc coming up. I am one or two steps further regarding the bobsled stunt too. I have gone from airing the idea into serious talks with BMW and Chris Pfeiffer. Now I have to let them take a decision before approaching others. I still want the Yamaha WR450's there too to make sure of some historic accuracy regarding the James Bond stunt from For your eyes only. I hope we don't hit too much beurocracy in Norway... I have a couple of very important phone interviews to make tomorrow. They could lead into the No comment zone, but you'll see tomorrow.

Alright, it's hard going this early in the new year to get back to my productive self. But I'll be there soon and I have a lot of new material coming up this week. Very shortly there will be big news and  great new first rides coming up. They call me "Adventure Tor" in the US now after my latest feature in Motorcyclist. I haven't had a chance to see the magazine myself yet, but I have an idea of how it looks like. Anyway, check out the February issue and don't hesitate to give me some comments on that feature. I am waiting for some better light to take more pictures of the Rocket III Tribal. I will also head into the Peak District and to the Cat & Fiddle and do some shots on the way. When that's done it's time for some performance modifications. I want the Rocket III to be loud and can't wait to sort that upgrade out. I produced a Triumph Rocket III medley today as a tribute to the bike that partly inspired the name Raptors & Rockets. I have added the video under the news section and now here. Enjoy! TS

BMW K 1200 R Sport test has now been organised. I'm not going to give you the exact date just yet, but very shortly the photographer and I will jet over to Munich... I am waiting for official dates and news about the new Buell SuperTT and Harley-Davidson XR1200 launches these days too. Q1 sometime for the Buell is the word. I have approached Yamaha and BMW for bikes for the bobsleigh stunt. They'd be ill-advised not to join as this will be a big PR event. And that was the morning gone, then I saddled up the Rocket III Tribal and headed into Manchester city centre to shoot some static's of the bike. It was still a bit wet and when I gave it a proper handful I was sideways Flat track style on the 320kg Rocket III! It was really fun! Don't forget that the Rocket III will rip up the tarmac on a dry day... Two of my friends have already stated that the Tribal is the coolest bike they have ever seen! And I admit that it is a pretty cool bike to ride too. In the background on some of the shots you can see the new Hilton skyscraper in Manchester but don't ask me about that orange question mark. It just suited the bike perfect in orange... TS

Dakar is now well underway and the guys are now in Africa. It will be exciting to follow them through to Dakar in Senegal. I am now back in the UK. I have picked up my longtermer from Triumph, a Rocket III Tribal and I have been to my favourite place in Manchester, Matt & Phreds the jazz-club. All that means that I am now really ready to work again. Bring it on, Italy, Germany and France are next! TS

Last weekend in Norway this. And what a weekend! I have finally had time to get back into the great winter sports where Norway is the number 1 nation in several disciplines. To tell you the truth, I haven't been in Norway for 2 years now. To spend quality time with my family and friends has been the number 1 priority these two weeks. And I have managed to do so! I guess I am the only one to applaud that now, but I feel that I have had the right to do so after a year with extreme working conditions. Everything about my life is pretty much extreme these days and it will only continue with more force than last year. I will be absolutely relentless in my search for news stories and first rides. I can taste blood and I'll soon be coming for more. I have rested, but so have my sources and next week will be important for the rest of the year. I am going to speak to everyone again, wish them happy new year and all that, but most importantly, see what's new in motorcycling in 2007 and 2008! So, what did I do this weekend? Well, I met up with an old friend from my army days in Telemark bataljon. Glen and I have created havoc on snowmobiles in the deep Norwegian forests since we met more than 10 years ago. Since last time he has produced two children, but he was sort of more pre-determined to be an early family man than I. We headed up to Kvitfjell to do some hard-core skiing to make sure both my legs or even worse my hands would be crushed into two or more pieces just at the start of the new season. Luckily (Kvitfjell is one of the steepest and fastest skiing resorts in Norway) it was foggy and not too cold so we decided to try bob-sleighing instead! And what a good choice! Check out the video! The Taxi bob at Lillehammer Olympia park belonged to the Prince of Monaco originally, but now it's in Lillehammer. The track was built for the 1994 Olympic Games and it's very fast! The Bob-sleigh reaches a speed of 120km/h and 5G's! Those 5G's are not comfortable at all as the Bob-sleigh shakes the hell out of you and then you're pushed into the hard seat with the same force as in a fighter jet! But what a brilliant experience and ten times as frightening as any rollercoaster in the world! Highly recommended for any adrenaline junky! It would have been impossible to do an onboard film in the real-Bob, so I filmed in the Bob raft which is slightly more humane. It still reaches speeds of 80km/h, but with soft verges that makes it more of a roller coaster trip rather than the more Sadomasochist Bob-sleigh! So my mind started to work and I am now going to arrange to ride a motorbike up the very same Olympic bob-sleigh track. Madness, but it was done in the Bond film For your eyes only in the late 70's. I think one of the stunt men died during the filming, but that doesn't prevent me or anyone that I work with from performing some crazy action. All that is left to organise is: bikes, an extra crazy stunt rider or pro-rider, permissions, photographers, film crew etc. But it's there for me to do, so it will be done. All this was Saturday morning by the way. Saturday night was spent enjoying the Idrettsgalla in Hamar and the following after-party... TS

Ok folks, holiday is over and I have slowly started  to do some work again today. I am still in Norway for another week, but then I'll fly back to Liverpool and John Lennon airport. There's a motorbike waiting for me there, but I am considering getting someone to pick me up so that I can do some shopping here in Norway. The poor Cagiva Raptor was packed pretty tight with one suitcase and a big backpack with Xmas gifts and clothes. I strapped that suitcase on really hard and secure, but there was not enough room for my bollocks when riding. So I had to stop quite often (seriously I did!) to get the blood circulation going again even though it is a short ride. As soon as I arrive back home in Manchester again I have to get my Italy trip organised. But even before that I am picking up the first long-term test bike of 2007. The plan now is to do 3 month longtermers, one cruiser, one sportsbike, one touring bike and one naked. They will be rated and tested, modified for some extra performance, extra luggage and if I'm lucky one of the absolutely gorgeous woman I've met in Norway during Xmas will be a sport and pose for me! At the end of the year (that's one bloody year from now!) I will do a big feature with pros and cons living with the different bikes. We'll do the dream start and kick off everything with Triumph Rocket III. I'll not just ride the standard Rocket III, but also the new Classic and one fully tarted up version with sports pipes. I know how they sound in that condition, but I can't wait to ride one that breaths freely! On Monday 8th I'll collect the first longtermer. I want to end the year on BMW's new HP2 Megamoto and I'll try to squeeze in at least one Japanese bike in between. I celebrated new year in Oslo this year by the way with a stunning view of the whole city from a restaurant called Ekebergsrestauranten with some old school friends. You can't do much better than that in Oslo. I almost forgot to mention, I have also arranged so that I'll get the new Dainese "neck" jacket. The one with extra neck protection. This will be the next big thing in motorcycle safety after the back protector. The new version have been tested by 150 riders and with their feedback Dainese have made improvements accordingly. This jacket will be available by the end of January and we'll be testing one. TS

Happy New year!