PMC

Sorry... got a bit excited for a minute to see something coming up in August (when touch wood, I'll have my licence), but I'm at a music festival that weekend I guess I'll have to hope for a bit of a late summer that spills into September...

My Granddad I remember him telling me about how him and his mates used to lie flat on their bikes and ride them down hill to try and hit a ton! And putting wire wool in the exhaust to make them flame Later in life he took his entire family on holiday on his bike... He would wear a large rucksack back-to-front, Grandma pillion with another rucksack, Great-Grandma and three kids (including my Mum) in the sidecar. Inspiring! 8)

You got a full licence Luke? Sounds like it wouldn't be illegal (we are talking about a 125 here!), so long as you tell the insurance man.

Unfortunately I won't be getting a bike until August (just in time for the summer to come to grinding halt). Once we take our test in July, we are straight off for a 2 week holiday - we'd better both pass!

I can't find a link, but Arai were complaining the test focuses too much on side impact, they believe this is an unlikely secenario as your shoulder will hit the deck first (this is one of the differences between car racing lids and bike ones apparently) *This is all from memory though so take it with a pinch I mean, seriously, how dare they design the test to check areas Arai don't design to pass! Quite surprised the XR1000 came out lower than the Raid II - I thought they were the same shell, just with different vents, spoiler, etc. Oh well glad I bought the Raid II then - 4 star and a perfect fit will do me

Glad you're OK. You do look surprisingly unscathed compared to the bike - are modern bikes designed to disintegrate to absorb some of the impact like car's crumple zones?

Are you selling in London or York? If you are selling in London, try Gumtree.com - its a free classified ads site with a big London following and I sold my car quickly through Gumtree. Only word of warning is because it is free to list, it attracts the lower end of the market and prices tend to be a bit lower than elsewhere (great if you're buying though...). Seeing as you are only set to loose £70 on the price you paid though - I'd give it to the dealer and spend your time finding a new bike. Did the dealer say he would take it without the tax being renewed?

Well done mate its good to read stories of success while I am counting down the weeks until mine.

@stu_m I have to admit I know very little about the racing, but here is the quote from BIKE: So basically they're a bit tight And the cynical would say they are only bothering as a promotional tool.

There is an article about it in BIKE magazine. Apparently they have to sell it in order to compete in WSB. Most of the european superbikes a fair bit more expensive than the japanese ones. The BMW HP2 is like 5K more - but this one, which won't have BMW's odd styling or crazy suspension tech will be direct competition in the same price bracket. Coming 2009.