2008 March blog

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A gorgeous morning here in Manchester so I thought I'd head into the Peak District for a spin on the Speed Triple and then be back in time for MotoGP on BBC2. If I had only remembered to set summer time that is... Did a run on the Cat & Fiddle road, grabbed some lunch and headed back. An hour late for the Jerez race... Looks like Honda and Yamaha have got their house in order for the season start whilst Ducati have some catching up to do. More Speed Triple later and also Benelli TNT 899 from Italy this week. TS

Had to go all the way down to Jack Lilley in west London rather than Hinckley to collect the 08 Speed Triple today. It's not that bad usually, had it not been for cold rain and closed junctions on the M40 due to accidents. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to get around the closed junctions filtering! Arrived Ashford in Middlesex just a few minutes after Jack Lilley closes on a Friday, but Dave at Jack Lilley kindly waited for me. Jack Lilley's got a nice Triumph dealership with plenty of customised Bonnies, S3's and Rockets. I believe Jack Lilley is one of the biggest Triumph dealerships in England if not the biggest. So collected the Speed Triple now with new Brembo brakes and new suspension. Several more details have been changed since I last rode one last year on a factory ride out from Hinckley. A full brake down in my article later. More pictures when the weather is nicer! TS

I'm back in business, Alpinestars are still working on my custom leather suit. Ordered a new Suomy Spec 1R Araldic and will also try Suomy's new Racing motorcycle boots. Suomy knows that I am using the Alpinestars Supertech R's and to top those will be a tall order indeed! Tomorrow I pick up the 2008 Triumph Speed Triple 1050 for a week long test at Hinckley. On Sunday I fly to Bologna to attend the Benelli TNT 899 world launch in Pesaro. I have also received the invitation to ride the 2008 Harley-Davidson XR1200 in Valencia in April. Lots of good stuff coming in April. TS

Olivia Turley and I had only planned the first half of our holiday. Due to the recent troubles in Kenya we wanted to see for ourselves where it would be safe to go next. It involved having to get $1200 in cash at a Nairobi bank and hand it to the driver from our travel agency which was a pain. We decided to take the night train from Nairobi to Mombasa and then head into the rain forest of Shimba 45 minutes west of Mombasa for two days and then our last night at the Indian Ocean Beach club on Diani beach. The train ride was on first class, but this is still where we got closest to a Kenyan real life experience. I didn't fancy the food much, but the train ride was still a worthy and comfortable experience. We did plan far enough ahead to have a driver pick us up at every destination for security and we were glad we did this also for the arrival in Mombasa as the train stopped on the last station before Mombasa and would not move for another hour or so due to some technical problem. Our driver had been told in Mombasa and was already at this station waiting for us. The drive through Mombasa towards the ferry crossing to reach the south beach was crazy but still fun. It was 39 degrees Celsius this day in Mombasa! Then we arrived at the Shimba Rain forest lodge which is a stunning place! It's a tree top style affair where the water hole just in front of the lodge was flood lit in the evenings so that animals could be spotted. On our first day we enjoyed watching a big group of monkeys doing what monkeys do in front of us. We were then driven out in the safari vehicle for a short walk and a sun downer in the wild. On our way we spotted a large group of rain forest elephants. Omar was our guide on the safari and in this area they had to be armed in case we encountered elephants, buffalos or Leopards on our walk. The elephants were close, but no encounter on foot luckily. The next morning we did a longer walk down to Sheldrick Falls in closer to 40 degrees heat. I guarantee you that both Olivia and I appreciated the water falls cooling us down before returning to the pick up point. On the afternoon game drive we spotted the only two giraffes in the forest and the rare sable antelope as well as many warthogs and herds of buffalo (Africa's deadliest beast). But we missed the Leopard all together. 4 out of 5 isn't too bad though. Our driver left us back at the lodge for dinner and the next day he told us that he had met a Leopard on the way back to the village. He actually had to chase it off the road. Bad luck for us that we didn't see one then. We then spent the last night at the white beaches of the Indian ocean in the soaring heat just relaxing. The next morning we flew from Mombasa to Nairobi, grabbed a taxi to the Norfolk Hotel and spent the day there before we flew back to Europe. Probably the best and most exciting holiday I have ever had even without any motorbikes involved. TS

Still no luggage on the morning of the 16th. We were up early and our safari flights was due at 10:30 from Wilson airport. So the taxi driver was instructed to take us to the only shopping centre open so early on the way to the domestic airport. What did I need? Pretty much everything, T-shirts, shorts, socks, underpants, deodorant and you name it. Most of all I missed my Buell 1125R safari hat that I got as a launch gift at Laguna Seca last year. Then we flew from Wilson airport (loved the lack of security, felt like going on a bus!) to the Mara Serena air strip which was stop number 3. The weather was gorgeous and at 1625 metres above sea level 30 degrees just feels pleasant. That very same afternoon Olivia and I were treated to our first game drive and we were effectively on our first safari. On the very first drive we were driven close to Lions, Hyenas, Elephants, Buffalos, Cheetahs and all sorts of antelopes. Three of the big five on day 1 was promising! Back in time for a sun downer which usually consisted of a G&T chased by a Tusker beer. This is life! The next morning I found out that I had no more battery left in my video camera and that my charger was in the main luggage which still hadn't arrived. Great! We saw more of the same on a different route where a family of a Cheetah mum and two cubs up close were the highlight. I stood up in our Toyota Land Cruiser and spotted a fully grown male lion and his brother on the other side of our vehicle. It's simply a priceless experience being so close to the wild life and it's pretty much only in Masai Mara where you can get so close to Lions in a vehicle without windows or armed guard. The Masai Mara borders to the Serengeti, but there are no physical boundaries, the animals roams freely in between the Mara and Serengeti plains. But certain places in the Serengeti the lions will attack the vehicles as they are not as used to them in the vastness. The Mara has the highest density of exciting wildlife on the planet! On our third day at the Mara Serena safari lodge my luggage arrived! Yes! I could have a shave, I could stop using Olivia's Malarone tablets and use my clothes and charge batteries. This morning we were treated to a champagne breakfast after the morning game drive by the hippo pool in the Mara river. That was fantastic and whilst hippos and crocodiles basked itself in the water next to us we were enjoying champagne and omelettes. On our last game drive in the Mara triangle we finally spotted two black Rhinos! Still we haven't seen the elusive Leopard whilst others staying at our lodge had already seen it! On our way back to the safari lodge the heavens opened up on us and Simon our Kenyan driver drove the 4x4 Land Cruiser as if we were running for our life's. Maybe we were as the alternative would have been spending the night in the open. Anyway, we made it safely back to the lodge. TS

Olivia Turley and I landed on time in Nairobi at the Kenyatta international airport. The flights from Manchester to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Nairobi was comfortable enough, but there's no hiding the fact that I don't like KLM. Last time I flew KLM was to go to Minneapolis with Victory. Then my luggage was left in Amsterdam. KLM haven't changed much since then as my luggage was left in Amsterdam again whilst Olivia's had arrived. Luckily I'm on holiday this time, unfortunately my Malaria medicine is in my luggage. We checked in at the Stanley Sarova in the centre of Nairobi. No luggage would arrive that night and we were heading on a flying safari to the famous Masai Mara next morning. Looks like I have some shopping to do or spend time in 30+ in jeans. TS

Booked my flight to Barcelona for the 2008 Ducati Monster 696 launch next month this week. Also received the invitation to the 2008 Benelli TNT 899 launch in Italy next month. I also have April fully booked with roadtest of the 2008 Triumph Speed Triple 1050 and Thruxton 900 as well as two weeks on the 2008 Yamaha R6. All action in April I can assure you! So to prepare for all this I am going on Safari in Kenya during Easter. I leave early tomorrow morning with Olivia. First Amsterdam, then Nairobi, then Masai Mara before we end our holiday in Mombasa. I'll put some stuff in my blog here when I return. I have topped up on vaccinations (£90 straight into my body!) and spent £70 on Malaria tablets. Should be a good one if I can avoid the big 5, Black Mamba's and Nairobbery! Back on the 24th. TS

Not much to say about today. Half the day on the XB12XT Ulysses before rushing off before lunch on a City X back to Monteblanco for my transfer by car down to Malaga again. Felt sick after lunch at Monteblanco and after just making my return flight from Malaga to Southampton (no Manchester evening flights...) I cold sweated the whole way back. Food poisoning definitely, but I avoided actually being sick. I had about 2 hours to chill at Southampton airport before my turbo prop took off towards Manchester. Not that often I get to fly in a prop powered aircraft so that kept me entertained on my 45 minute flight to Manchester where my girlfriend picked me up in her brand new Renault Megane. Knackered and ill for the rest of the week. TS

Arrived in Seville yesterday after a long car transfer from Malaga airport. Our hotel in Seville was this medieval catacomb type building. Usually you just pick up your room key at the reception and find your own way to the room. I guarantee you that even with a map you are guaranteed to get lost in a maze of underground corridors linking a dozen or so different buildings together. The Buell group all seemed to be accommodated at the far end and I got lost each bloody time whether I was heading out of the room or into the room. Charming at first, but I did start to swear a bit when I had been lost for a while for the 5th time. If you want to try it it's called the Juderia hotel in the old Jewish quarter in the old town. I did film it which I'll add to the videos soon to be published. Anyway, my alarm was on at 05:45 to have time for a shower and some breakfast before the early 07:00 transfer to the Monteblanco circuit 1 hour away from the hotel. The Americans seems to like the sunrises better than Europeans. I ended up having to throw some slices of bacon in between two pieces of bread and eat it on the transfer as I was lost and confused again finding my way from the room to the pick up. Arrived at the Monteblanco circuit (finished March 07!) just when the sun started to rise. Quite a cold morning, but by the time my group started the track riding it was a very pleasant 28 degrees! We headed out onto the roads first on the 1125R's. Craig Jones was my group's guide which was fun. I promise you that Craig was not pulling any wheelies or anything, but everyone else did. Craig mentioned that he had never guided a group of journos where everyone wheelied as much as we did before! The 1125R is practically made for such antics. The torque and power band just lends itself to instant wheelie power from 100km/h in second gear on the throttle! Use the clutch and it comes controllably straight up too! Gotta love a machine like that! I didn't change the tape in my video camera since the KTM RC8 launch unfortunately, so some of the good stuff has been pixelated and mixed in with the orange bike. Particularly when doing sudden acceleration and stuff. I still have some good stuff that can be extracted from the filming. A South African in our group managed to crash front to front with a car after the photo shoot. Luckily he did so at probably less than 20MPH and didn't hurt himself. The whole front fairing on his 1125R came off though. yesterday MCN's Trevor Franklin had a bad one at the circuit too we heard. He broke his thumb and hit his head. Get well soon mate. So we wheelied all the way on the lovely and fast Spanish roads all the way back to the Monteblanco race circuit. Grabbed some lunch and got ready for the track sessions. I rode the 1125R prototype at the Laguna Seca world launch last summer so I knew what to expect. Specifics in my article to be published soon. All I can say now is that I really enjoyed the track sessions and I felt really fast today. The whole track session was red flagged for good just when I did my last warm up lap for my onboard camera film due to a Dutch or Belgian ham-fisted journo seizing the engine in his 1125R by fucking the engine in first gear all day. There was no oil spillage or anything on the track. The guy was safely away from the circuit and there was no reason whatsoever to red flag the session. For you guys it means missing out on a fast onboard lap. Buell, like KTM last week, doesn't seem to be able to extract the same flexibility from the track marshals as Ducati is able of. Hence, no tracking shots on the circuit, no wheelie shots down the straight and all in all less picture material to use from an event. A little hint to whoever organises the next one is that you don't need marshals on the circuit when doing a tracking shoot as there's a car with photographers watching your every move and should you crash they can pick you up and also call for help. I am a bit fed up trying to push to get it my way at these launches, so I just do it less and less. After all, it's ultimately the manufacturer that looses out if my stuff isn't brilliant. Tor