Patrick McConnon

It’s been a while. However I now find I have a bit of time on my hands. My bike and I had a falling out. Well I had a faling off and broke my leg. Full details can be found on www.journeytorussia.co.uk Anyway I’m in a cast and looking forward to a few weeks of restriction. If I were a politician of 1980’s vintage that perhaps would have been welcome but I am unaccoustomed to this lack of freedom. If it was anything other than self inflicted I would be spitting sparks

So draw a line under the past and look ahead to getting better.

It’s not all bad. Tony Blair looks like he’s leaving then again Gordon Brown doesn’t exaclty tick the box mind…

Wow! Loads of stuff going on so not been around - there is life outside of the Internet and I’m pleased I can say that!

In summary…

Career change on the horizon

New kit

Dog news

DIY

Ducati woo’s

So stay tuned for more soon!

Well Excel is still a topic of conversation on Londonbikers.com. The general opinion is it lacked substance and was far to sterile. Let’s be honest here. If BMW didn’t have such a large amount of new models and Ducati wasn’t trying to launch the 1098 neither would have been there so without them what do you have? A jumble sale - with not a lot of bargains as the stands cost an arm and a leg.

Looking at my purchases - some good stuff but not a lot.

I think Ali Paly is dead, the excel machine has defeated them with a slick sales pitch and we were sucked in and duped by the adverts.

I can see there being only 1 show in London soon - there simply isn’t enough room for 2 so close together.

Now to put things into perspective…

A young lad shot in Streatham last night 16 years old and a 15 year old stabbed in Hampshire somewhere. What the hell is going on?

I honestly don’t know what to think.

Went to Excel today along with Matt and Stace and others. Not sure about you but I’m not sure it was worth the £16:00 entrance fee. Yes Excel is a good venue with good road links but I think it lacked a little soul.

It lacked a few bike manufacturers too and of those only Ducati and KTM appealed. Hhhhhmmmmm Ducati. Now people who know me and know my Ducati will snigger at this. My ST2 although to me a lovely bike is at best slightly flawed as there always seems to be something that needs doing. But despite all this I don’t care. I love my ST2.

However I adore the 1098 though. I gazed at it today and I am quite taken. More so that the 999 and previous models - there is something special here almost 916ish. The tri colour paint job worked so well….

Matt summed the show up quite well in 2 ways. He said ‘You know the shows not up to much when most of the women visiting the show are better looking than the promo girls’ and secondly ‘There’s a great bike show in London but the problem is it’s in 2 locations and held one week apart’

I think he was right on both counts…

It’s fixed! It’s finally working - thank god! 

However now with winter so mild I’m sweating my things off as it is just so hot in my house. I can’t turn it down as A) The dog has chewed the radiator valves - Bless and B) My girlfriend (in common with many females) can’t cope without heat (that was tongue in cheek….honest)

Been a good few days though - out and about on the bikes and all that. I wore my open face helmet today. If you know what I’m talking about then I know some would say it’s bad but it’s a nice feeling on a mild day to have some air on your face. I don’t wear it often though, however I know many people hate the idea of open face helmets - but it’s my choice.

 Lastly really touched by people’s generosity. My trip is in aid of the Everyman Charity. It raise money for beating male cancers - a cause close to me. Anyway we have just giving page and within one hour of launch we had recieved £100. Here’s the link: http://www.justgiving.com/journeytorussia Please take a look and if you can give something to our cause.

Well it was working but as my toes toched the floor this morning I noticed it was a little cold again and checking the radiators showed my heating problems had come back. I await British Gas. Things were looking good on Monday - house was warm. I’ll keep you posted.

Cleaned the bike. Looks nice and clean now - very nearly threw it down the road when testing the brakes following the clean yesterday but thankfully all was well.

Onto to something else now. I’ve been following the trial of the 21st July suspects realting to the attempted bombings. One thing that’s struck me was the amount of CCTV footage the prosecution is presenting in evidence.

I know that in the UK we are filmed a lot but this has really opened my eyes to exactly how much film of us there is of us going about our daily lives is recorded. It certainly makes you think doesn’t it.

I normally subscribe to the view that if you’ve done nothing wrong you have no need to worry. However where do you draw the line? Road pricing will store a greater amount of our movements on databases and then possibly used for various reasons. Is this right?

Well it’s taken its own sweet time but finally a post about bikes and biking! Saturday dawned sunny and clear and any biker worth their salt would don their kit and go out on a day like this and that just what I did!

So under the pretence of checking mouse traps (hey! it’s not my fault I have odd facets to my life….) I headed out on the Ducati. I will get around to a sort of ‘who I am post’ soon - but take it from me I have a Ducati ST2 and a Honda Africa Twin. So anyway off I went. Or didn’t…

Battery was flat so I had to jump start it but once I got it going off I went. Went into London - pottered around the shops played with the traffic and home! Met up with some people I know and generally had a lovely day - snack and coffee on the bike. It was all good as people say.

Note to self - the Duke needs a wash…

2 Words! Central Heating! So day two and what nugget of bikerlore will I talk about today? You guessed it - nowt!

Woke up this morning and I was cold - always a bad sign when you’ve central heating at home. I suppose It’s the old story, if I ignored it everything would’ve been fine….Well today it wasn’t and I’m freezing! Even the dog stayed in his bed - he had the right idea.

So phonecalls later the gas man is coming out to see me on Monday - meanwhile I think I better find the switch for the immersion heater and a blanket. Stay tuned….

Why start my blog today? Who knows? Spare 5 minutes I suppose. What’s even odder is that feeling a bit under the weather so to speak the bikes are at home having a rest….So much for a biker blog….

Anyway! There’ll be more info to follow about me and what I do for a laugh. There’s lots going on - There’s a a trip to Russia planned -  find details at www.journeytorussia.co.uk - and then there’s a couple of forums I’m part of www.londonbikers.com and www.xrv.org.uk.

Lastly I’ll put my slant on what’s going on in the world - mostly bike related so stay tuned for views on the City of Wesminster, Bus Lanes and fuel spillages and commuting too!