The Build
Preparation
Getting Started
The Chassis
The Bodywork
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
December 2007
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
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Racing
Anglesey June '08
Cadwell July '08
Tuesday 21st March 2006
OK, a bit of stuff about the bike. As I said, I haven't ridden one for 19 years, so when I went out shopping I didn't even bother asking for a test ride, in fact if they'd offered I'd have said no as I didn't have the confidence!
Shopping round for insurance was fun. "So, you last rode 19 years ago? And you don't have any no claims bonus? And you're buying a group 17 (out of 17) bike?". Of course everyone was mad keen to insure me. The first quotes were around the £1500 mark, but I eventually managed to get it for £800. The bike was delivered on Monday 13th February and to say I was a bit excited would be an understatement. I gingerly set off on my first ride in the dark on dry roads but of course it started raining within 5 minutes! Even keeping the revs down to 6k the thing felt ballistic, but even more astonishing were the brakes. The slightest hint of a squeeze on the front brake lever had the front end diving with massive deceleration and much sphincter twitching on my part!
Come the weekend I went out for a spin with my friend up the road, James, who has the Suzuki GSX-R1000. It was freezing cold, the roads had damp patches and were covered in salt. I was terrified, but after over a hundred miles over some of the finest biking roads in the UK around Llandovery, Brecon and Builth Wells I was starting to get used to it and was grinning to myself inside the helmet.
A couple of weeks later out on the same roads the engine was starting to loosen up quite noticeably becoming much more free revving and picking up much quicker. She went in for the first service at 630 miles last week, and last Sunday was actually the warmest driest day since she arrived. I had a blast round the Gower peninsula which has some beautiful countryside with some nice challenging roads with loads of contours on them. I've learnt to be very careful over any sort of crest - a bit too much gas and the front wheel's up in the air. The handling's fantastic - the main differences between the Factory and the standard Mille or RSVR are Ohlin's forks, Ohlins rear suspension, an Ohlins steering damper and lightweight forged wheels. Oh yes, and loads of nice carbon bits :-) The ride's very compliant and smooth but with great stability, the bike's never felt anything less than rock solid even over poor road surfaces, crossing white lines etc. I'd better dig out a couple of pics ...
