Bumped into a riding instructor last weekend. Not literally, though, I'm pleased to add. The road had been closed by a big accident and we'd all been forced into the same coffee/petrol stop together.He had one pupil with him on a 125 Yamaha custom

This road (the one in the video) was a previously unseen, super-steep mountain pass which needed first gear for the hairpins and second between them with an occasional grab at third on the quicker sections. It was the sort of road that pumps up your

with the mountains. All the roads are surfaced with special low-grip tarmac and all the roads are infested with cyclists. It's as if you encounter the leading group of the Tour de France every few hundred metres. Pedalling Pests. Great way to test the ABs and how

Done quite a few miles with boy number one this sunny weekend. He's now got thirty or forty hours of on-road practice on his L-plated CBR125 and things are looking pretty good.But have you ever tried to teach a new rider awareness? It's a tough call

To be honest I had my doubts. The the very thought of off-roading 260kgs of Super Tenere adventure bike fostered strong feelings of self preservation. Was this really a good idea?The Yamaha Tenere experience is run by a Welsh family who need little

Just read this great book by Norm deWitt. It covers all the greats of American road racing, specifically the riders who went on to make an impact outside the USA - the source of much rich material.deWitt's personal relationship with all these riders

travel Marzocchi front forks, race-style plastic and a seat height up in the clouds.  Time for a test ride.The track (the circuit, not the bike), if you can call it that, was hardly ideal for a bike on knobblies, but it did let me get a feel

When it’s minus nine outside, riding motorbikes should be the last thing on any sane person’s mind. Riding them off-road, nearly two thousand feet above sea level seems even more stoopid.But that’s where I was a week last Saturday. The day

Well, after several months of eager anticipation, that day has arrived. My 2011 Repsol Blade has finally rocked up. She'll be accompanying me this year on a voyage of track days, real road racing spectating and on my 200 mile commute between

perfect for fast road use.With the Power Commander 5 fitted and the fuelling sorted my 2011 Blade performed as well if not better than the 2012 version. A surfable tsunami of torque from tickover to the redline – the perfect power delivery for making