Got those shots I was waiting for from MCN photographer Ian Jubb this morning. I wasn't supposed to tell you about that, but then MCN insisted on being credited, which is fair enough so it's common knowledge. What isn't fair is that those two shots are going to cost me money for each additional publication. I'll have a chat to my man at Aprilia UK when he comes back from Eastnor Castle over the weekend. Jubb did a good job getting that wheelie shot as it wasn't a place where you would normally wheelie anything. I had so little runway in front of me when landing that I just made it before jumping into the bushes. The RXV would probably have made it, but it would have freaked me out! Whilst talking about photography, I'll meet up with Gary Freeman to do the action shots of the Tiger 1050 just over the weekend. Thanks to Triumph for letting me keep the Tiger. You'll have it back before Xmas! The Tiger is eating the miles as if it was nothing. I have done some really economical runs by now too and the range dramatically increases to more than 200 miles before running out of fuel. That's pretty good, but you never touch the ton even doing that sort of boring riding. Riding with the offroad helmet on the motorway forced me to ride slower and wear a balaclava under the helmet. It was still cold. Speaking of the cold, just received some new riding gear today. The Scott Gerona Gore-Tex jacket is a fairly stylish piece of kit and the white matches the white Tiger. So I'll use it for those shots. I am also talking to four-five American advertising agencies at the moment on what we can do to make this site really profitable. It deserves to be profitable and I need more cash next year to pay for Gary Freeman's work and the designers. Because I will keep them all busy! A little piece of info I have held back from the Milan show was when I met Claudio Castiglioni on the MV Agusta stand. He was chatting to Dr. Herbert Diess from BMW-Motorrad. When I asked to take their picture Diess backed out. He said that he was afraid of me speculating. Right, and so you should for not being honest with me! What's going on BMW? World Superbike cooperation perhaps? In-line four supersport engine chat? Or just friends? Whatever it was, I'll find out. And for the record, I'm no paparazzi, because then you would have seen the shot already. By: Tor Sagen/Photo: Ian Jubb/MCN and Tor Sagen

Big day today when Aprilia World services UK launched the 2007 RXV 450 and 550. It's mainly the engine that have received modifications compared to the 2006 we rode in Sicily earlier this year. A slightly lower seat with a more rounded profile is a rider friendly modification. The terrain we rode the RXV's on today was completely different from the dry gravel and grass we rode on in Sicily. Today was a typical UK Autumn day with ice cold and moist air in the morning (the grass was extremely slippery) followed by some heavy rain after lunch. Many of the 2007 modifications have been done to smoothen out the engine delivery to make the RXV's better on just wet mud and grass which are two of the most slippery surfaces on this planet (apart from snow and ice). I was freezing cold by the time I arrived Eastnor Castle in the Midlands. I rode the Tiger 1050 down wearing full offroad gear, which let's a bit more air through than my Goretex stuff. But I knew that after a couple of laps on the RXV's I would be more than warm enough. Eastnor Castle is gorgeous by the way and I have never, ever ridden dirt bikes in such a place! It's like a boys dream to get to plough up the grass in a castle park. And we call it work! It was a real treat by Aprilia. Anyway, we went on a sighting lap in a big Land Rover first. A few challenges here and there in the form of slippery downhill grass and mud sections followed by steep dips and tight bends. Looked pretty cool and I couldn't wait to have a go. The revised V-twin engine really have improved throttle control, but more in the article about that. I passed a good number of fallen journalists around the track (Enduro terrain), but that was more due to lack of offroad experience than anything to do with the bikes. Or it could have been the SAS that took them out as they were training in the area. Some of you will have spotted that there are new decals for 2007 too. More white around the lion for a more exclusive racing image as Aprilia explains. Whilst waiting for my wheelie pictures around the track you'll have to settle for the static's that I shot today. TS