Breathing Space

Inhale......whew! It's been a while since I written anything here. Ever since I got back from India, work has been coming in hard and fast. There were times when I felt that I would simply sink and drown from all those reports and designs that I've been doing. I've even taken reports back home to work on them in the evenings and weekends, which I think is a very bad habit and need to stop. Strangely enough, this weekend seems to be free from all work, which is good. It was one of those things where I thought ' oh crap! I'm gonna have to do some work', but then the work seemed to wrap itself up by Friday. I hope this will be the case for next weekend....and all the weekends after that!

So what did I do today then? Well, I went for a bike (motorbike) ride. Today is one of those rare winter days where the skies are blue and the sun is shining. Usually its grey/cloudy and raining/drizzling. Speaking of motorbikes, I don't think I've written on this blog that I've bought a new bike. Well, newish anyway. I bought a 2006 Yamaha MT-03 sometime in November last year.

Yamaha MT-03 .....sexy rear end isn't it?

Its got a punchy little engine and a very agile and compact chassis, great for filtering in traffic! I bought it for the primary aim of commuting to work in the winter. I couldn't bear to see my Cagiva being caked in road salt (very corrosive) and cack and getting wet all the time. And being italian, the Cagiva tends to act up from time to time (especially in the cold). Hence the need/excuse for a more reliable machine! So the Cagiva was stored up in a friend's garage and I used the Yamaha to go to work.

Nice and compact

However, although the Yam is very nimble and torqey, it is not very smooth. It has got a very lumpy engine, punishing you if you're in the wrong gear. And it has got massive vibrations on the seat and handlebars. Hence I'm thinking of selling it already. Strangely enough, the previous owner contacted me a few weeks ago to ask whether he could buy the bike back sometime in late Feb or March as he misses it. And I told him 'sure! why not!'. What a strange twist of fate.

And in the best colour as well!

Anyway, so I swapped the bikes over today, storing the Yamaha in the garage while I rode the Cagiva. And it was fantastic! Riding another bike made me realise how good and rumbly the Cagiva was. Although it wasn't as nimble as the Yam, it was more stable. And its got that really terrific and addictive V twin boom when you open the throttle. It brought shivers of delight to my spine!

If you don't ride a motorbike or don't like motorcycles at all, you're probably thinking I'm a crazy/sad person. Maybe you're right, but at least I'm having fun........Exhale.......