02/08/2007 2008 Triumph Street Triple 

 

I've had a great day today on the 2008 Triumph Street Triple as the first journalist in the UK to be allowed to test the Street Triple on the roads. With both the Aprilia Shiver and Honda Hornet fresh in mind I was excited to see how the transfer from sportsbike to naked streetfighter would suit the 675. No one could do this better than Triumph since the original hooligan, the Speed Triple also came from Hinckley. But the Street Triple is better than Speed Triple on many important areas such as handling and pure fun! Wait for the test and videos, but enjoy the huge picture gallery whilst waiting. I should have the Walk Around and Onboard ready sometime tomorrow. I had a great day down in and around Hinckley and a lot of fun with Martin the photographer and in-house comedian. I am also waiting for some new Alpinestars kit these days. The Falcon jacket, a pair of the new 08 Supertech R's (hopefully in time for the Buell 1125R Laguna Seca gig later this month...), new gore-tex gloves and boots (the most useful kit here in the UK). My waterproof Roam boots has probably got more miles in them than any other pair of boots that I use and they have started leaking from a scratch on the left boot. Can't afford to amputate my feet from trench-foot just yet, so Alpinestars are rescuing me as usual with the creme-dela-creme of bike kit. Thank you Heather and Jeremy. Thanks to Dan at Triumph also for always sorting me out with the best of British! Martin; You're a genius with the camera! TS

 

    27/07/2007 I'm a rocker!

Some video from NYC for you below. The Rocker. Summer is usually a quiet time when bike launches are concerned. With exceptions as this is the time of year when Harley-Davidson and Buell usually launches the bulk of new bikes. With the Harley's done, attention will shortly fall on Buell's new 1125R sportsbike. I have received my ticket to San Francisco with a transfer to Laguna Seca already and I can't wait to go! In less than a month you can read about the new 1125R right here and see video of it etc. A big revolution for Buell this bike. I shall shortly publish more NYC pictures for those that are interested here in the blog. I am now only waiting for a green light from Triumph to head down to Hinckley to collect a Street Triple 675 for a longer road test here in the UK. Got news about the 07 BMW Megamoto as well. The UK press office has been given/bought or whatever only 1 single Megamoto for the entire fleet of UK motorcycle press. BMW is seriously underestimating its most exciting new bike of the year. If you're still interested by that time, I shall be testing it in September. If it could only stop raining first... TS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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21/07/2007 New York City

After two days on the road I am now back in New York City at the Hudson Hotel. Did a lot of work yesterday and this morning in York. Then we transferred from York back to NYC through the very dry state of Pennsylvania. In this Hamish town on the way back from York we stopped to get some beers, but that proved to be very difficult as it's only a very few outlets selling that beverage. We finally found one, but could only buy a case of 24 so we did. They're now on ice ready for consumption in Central Park. Knowing the Americans we'll probably be arrested and miss out on the Saturday night in NYC, but Ulf and I will give it a shot anyway. More later. TS

 

    20/07/2007

Did some more action imagery between Princeton and York on all the bikes in very pleasant weather. The humidity of yesterday had gone and it was just warm and nice most of the way. Today I also rode the 105th Anniversary Ultra Glide Classic and Bill Davidson joined our group for the final leg into York. Bill explained the new ABS system to me on the way and it's very interesting how Harley-Davidson keeps finding new solutions, re-inventing or customising the wheel all over again. Being 105 this year Harley was not far from actually inventing the wheel. But for the ABS system there's no sensor rings or other ugly external parts. It's all within the wheel hubs with magnetic sensors specially designed for Harley with some help from friends at the Brembo factory in Italy. Harley-Davidson's ABS system is not linked so if you use the front brake only your rear wheel still rolls whilst the ABS system deals with the front wheel and visa versa. Then we arrived in York and had a great time in the Softail assembly halls where there are no public tours. We were only the third group of external people, all from the motorcycle business, to have the Tour at the Softail assembly line. The official tours are all in the Touring bikes factory. The new plant in York is very high spec and sophisticated, a good and clean place to work in for the employees but still a factory at the end of the day. We were even allowed to use our camera equipment inside the factory which was great. I'll post some shots as soon as I have downloaded them from my camera. I am now sitting at the Sheraton/Four Points in York writing this and working like a madman to get copy in for deadlines over the weekend. Tomorrow morning I'm heading back to the Hudson in Manhattan and this time I will check out the nightlife in NYC on a Saturday night. Should be good! TS

 

    19/07/2007

5 O'clock in the morning is so bloody early! But after a couple of cups of coffee I was ready to ride. The whole group then walked over to Central Park where all the bikes were waiting with former NYPD officers as our guides through New York City. It's a city where you can't take too many liberties anymore and hence we were not allowed to do any kind of riding shots in the city itself. Only static by the Brooklyn bridge. I would have loved some night shots riding the Rocker through Times Square but will have to save that for some other time. For such a big and busy city the traffic was rather civilized particularly since we didn't actually start riding until early rush hour! New York City is nowhere near as difficult nor hectic as neither Paris nor London and much slower. But that suited me just fine onboard a 2008 Harley CVO Dyna Wide Glide and Rocker C. Due to that gas blast the night before we had to alter the route a bit, but it didn't cause us any major problems. After passing Times Square, the Empire state building (we weren't allowed to do any burnouts or anything unfortunately...), Brooklyn Bridge, the awful city tunnel (we were not allowed to filter...) that leads to Ground Zero we headed through the Holland tunnel over to New Jersey side and Ellis Island. After having the biggest bloody packed lunch ever (good food!) we started doing tracking shots with the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline in the hazy background. When all that was done and dusted we started on our journey to Princeton where we stayed over the night before setting off to York and the Harley-Davidson factory there. Princeton is a beautiful place with a very distinct architecture by the way. Today I rode the Rocker and Rocker C, Fat Bob, Nightster, CVO Dyna Wide Glide, CVO Softail Springer 2 and Road King 105th Anniversary. Thanks to Jennifer Gruber for being a sport. TS

 

    18/07/2007

Travelled from Manchester to New York (Newark) this morning after a 2 hour delay with Continental. Then a transfer from the airport to the Hudson Hotel just next to Central Park south. It's a pretty cool hotel designed by Phillippe Starck. It had been heavy showers in New York earlier in the day and it was really humid. The first thing that I did after checking in was to head into Central Park for a walk and to chill out a bit after the 7 hour flight. Then I hooked up with the UK journalists that had just arrived back at the hotel from JFK. In the afternoon we all headed into a theatre in Chelsea where Harley-Davidson held the 08 model year presentations headed by Bill Davidson after he entered the stage on a Fat Bob. The Motor Company are very proud about its heritage and is celebrating with several gorgeous 105th anniversary models. We were told that we would head out to a nearby diner just after 5 O'clock in the morning the day after so I switched to soft drinks and went to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel after the presentation. No party in New York City just yet...

 

    17/07/2007

Dear readers, I have been a bit quiet lately. Simply because I have been very busy getting some new business in from places that are unknown for me in relation to motorcycling. We are talking places like Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Russia, Turkey and more Eastern European countries. The biggest newspaper in Yemen even got an E-mail from me today! Not that I expect a lot of Middle eastern newspapers to show a great deal of interest in motorcycles, but Harley-Davidson, Ducati and Triumph seems to be of interest globally. As you know I'm heading over the pod again tomorrow morning to ride the 08 Harley-Davidson models in New York City and later to York, Pennsylvania where Harley's largest assembly line is located. On Thursday the schedule is packed quite tight and I'll be riding one of the new bikes from xxx very early in the morning! I'm not going to give to many details about the schedule right now as we are living in sensitive times, but it's packed full with spanking new Harleys, well known places in Manhattan, photography in the City and on the way to Princeton. Then on Saturday I will write at least one copy before hitting the Meatpacking district with force! As soon as this launch is over and done with I promise you that there will be no more American bikes until the Buell 1125R launch next month at Laguna Seca. First I have the Triumph Street Triple, then I promise I will test a Japanese bike. Probably the Honda CBR600RR as I'm longing for a sportsbike now. TS

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

10/07/2007

 

   

 

 

02/07/2007

Terror attacks has been on the news this weekend with bombs in London and Molotov coctail doctor dudes in Glasgow. Well educated my arse, perhaps in the Koran but not in much else. Lesser educated people pulls this of every week in Iraq and Afghanistan. And why the hell Glasgow? If they really were clever they'd isolate England in all of this. Certain Republican elements would still have been happy to be neutral at the very least and this can only support the British armed forces in my point of view. But I couldn't care less apart from the fact that no life was lost (thankfully) and the fact it will disrupt travel plans this summer. I am dreading the airport security queues already. I usually try to smuggle a lighter or matches with me. Sometimes security confiscates it and sometimes they don't. But I do feel like I'm living in a stupid new world when I have to remove my flip-flops to get them scanned as happened in Minneapolis. One of the major reasons for wearing flip-flops is just to keep nice and cool, travel light and to avoid having to bloody scan my shoes! I don't enjoy flying at all and haven't for some time. It's just a necessity to get to places I want to and need to be. Prepared some videos of the 2007 Triumph Bonneville America and Harley-Davidson XL1200R Sportster this weekend and published today. Whilst waiting for the 2008 Suzuki reports this evening enjoy this first... TS

 

 

 

  

   

29/06/2007

Because of the New York City gig with Harley-Davidson I sat down to think of which other major cities I have ridden in the world. London, Paris, Milan, Munich, LA, Dublin, Cape Town, Istanbul, Barcelona, Copenhagen are just some and now I get to add NY to that list. Today I added the video from the ride with Victory in Minnesota and Iowa on the Vision Tour and Street luxury tourers. Introducing on that video the latest song from Nonchalant UK featuring Charlie W Allen. It's a world exclusive just like the video itself that shows the Vision secrets. Charlie's my friend and I'm heading to his send off party to Paris this weekend. He'll be teaching students from the New York film academy how to sing and tackle stage fright for a couple of months. Might have time to visit him after the Paris Expo. Enjoy that video anyway. TS

 

 

 

  

   

25/06/2007

I have had a date for quite a while in my calendar for the Harley-Davidson 2008 model year launch. July 18th is that date and it all happens in New York and York this time. I can't wait to finally ride a motorcycle in the Big apple. The theme will be cosmopolitan and that reflects one of the new motorcycles that we will ride in NY. Pretty cool stuff I'm sure you'll agree. TS

 

    24/06/2007 Brighton in the wet

One week ago I rode 300 miles in 35 degrees in America, today we rode almost 300 miles in 12 degrees and constant showers from Brighton to Manchester. I was soaked before I had done 100 miles and made the first stop at Oxford services. At least we had tackled all the London A23 and M25 traffic now. But just when switching to the reserve fuel the America died on us on the soaked M40 motorway. Great I thought, could be in the shit now! But this is not the first time I've had a carburettor bike stop on me in the wet and it only happened after 110 miles of constant riding. Left it for a couple of minutes and started the engine fine again. But it happened once again just three miles away from the services we needed to stop at. Luckily it did start again this time after a couple of minutes too. The cause is obviously water that has penetrated somewhere it shouldn't be, but I don't know exactly where that would be yet. Will get some expert advice from Triumph later this week. We were absolutely soaked and freezing so had to make the stop a long one to dry up a bit and have plenty of warm drinks. I spent at least 30 minutes in front of the blow driers before moving on. Same story on the last stop just after Birmingham, but now the Bonnie behaved as it should and I didn't run it all the way down to the reserve either just to be safe... Arrived the final destination tonight in West Didsbury, Manchester at night and poured a warm bath to wake my ice cold and wet limbs back to life. I think I can say that this is the longest journey that I have ever done where I have been soaked almost the whole way. Not very pleasant when it rains every single mile of a long journey. Where did that English summer go? Hopefully it'll be back again soon... Tor

 

 

 

  

   

23/06/2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Checked in to our hotel in Worthing close to Goodwood with the Harley guys and Erik Buell late last night. After breakfast this morning Olivia and I headed from Worthing to Chichester and Goodwood on an 07 Harley-Davidson XL1200R Sportster leaving the Triumph Bonnie America at the hotel. Pillion comfort is not exactly the same on the Sportie as on the Bonnie. But the 1200cc V45 is still slightly more inspiring in standard trim than the 900cc parallel on the Triumph. The Bonneville America is very smooth whilst the XL1200R Sportster vibrates and makes more noise. We arrived at Goodwood, got our passes sorted and walked around the paddock area. Spent the day watching the Harley-Davidson XR1200 and XR750, Buell XBRR, Wakan 100, Confederate Wraith B120, BMW F800S Stunt bike, ex MotoGP Ilmor, Ducati race bikes, MV Agusta R312 and Vyrus bikes in the paddock and on track. Interviewed Erik Buell again. Unfortunately he couldn't race his XBRR at Goodwood as he had broken up an old injury in his knee. Possibly whilst testing the new Buell dirt-bike... Alan Cathcart has been told to bring leathers to Laguna Seca in August whilst Mr Buell told me that there's also a dirt-track at Laguna Seca... Will be exciting to finally get to know what sort of bike/bikes Buell will launch at Laguna in the end... I will be there to let you know off course. You never know who you'll bump into at Goodwood and one of the more exciting encounters for me was Pierre Terblanche. He was not at Goodwood on official duty for Ducati, but as punter. So had a chat about the Hypermotard project and motorcycle design in general. Pierre's currently working on three new projects for Ducati. This was my first visit to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and I was in good company as this was the first year for both Erik Buell and Pierre Terblanche as well. Could easily become an annual event for me this. Luckily we got some sunny spells in between today before the thunderstorms arrived. Not much else to do for me then but hang out in the press room waiting for the showers to die down. It cleared up a bit by the afternoon and we headed back to Worthing to swap bikes back to the America and make our way further East along the coast to Brighton to visit friends. Tor

 

 

 

  

   

22/06/2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed

Right, moving very fast now and am today heading down to the Goodwood Festival of Speed on the Triumph America to check out events there. Should be plenty to photograph and do there. Updates coming. Then on Saturday I leave Goodwood for a couple of nights in Brighton before heading back to Manchester again. Next week I pick up the 2007 Honda CBR600RR for something different... See you around! TS

 

    21/06/2007 08 Victory Vision Tour and Street

I'm back after having ridden the new Vision Touring bikes for about 500 miles in Minnesota and Iowa. The paradox is that all the material including my riding impressions carry a June 25th embargo! So despite one of the major secrets about the bike being revealed in American magazines right now I can't tell you until Monday! If you're in the states you can just pick up the latest issue of Motorcyclist where the advert on page 4-5 will tell you exactly how big the new engine is! Beats me! I will tell you about the launch day-by-day below, but wrap up what I can say now right here. It's been very hot in the Minneapolis area only broken up by some passing thunderstorms on Sunday. Early this morning we headed back to Minneapolis from Spirit Lake in Iowa in about 35 degrees Celsius (95F was the hottest I could read on the Vision display). We did mostly motorway miles today cruising at between 60-80Mph most of the way. We also visited the Victory factory this morning (after an early morning shoot Alan Cathcart, Cycle World and I attended) before riding 200 miles back to Minneapolis. The schedule has been very tight since it started on Monday afternoon and there was no downtime whatsoever scheduled in after the final leg of the ride. Just straight from 35 degrees hot weather into this weird Casino between Minneapolis city centre and the airport to get changed for the return flight (8 hours + for me). Then I found that our touring guide, Robert Pandaya (Indian Frank Zappa look-a-like) hadn't kept his promise to get my disc with my images ready for my return flight. That basically means FedEx after the official embargo and not as good service to you guys as usual. The launch itself has been great, but I am seriously worried why the photography service was much poorer on the 8 Million dollar Vision launch than on the 2007 model year line up launch last year in California. This is called shooting yourself in the foot. Hopefully I'll have some good shots, but only after making an effort to get them. So I believe that we all made our return flights in the end despite the surreal visit to this Casino in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, I asked myself several times what the hell am I doing here getting changed from riding clothes to flying clothes in a public Casino! So anyway, my return flight to Amsterdam was on schedule, taxied out to the runway and then reported they had engine problems. That took 2 hours to fix and I was now worried about my connecting flight from Amsterdam to Manchester. 11 hours later I was on my flight back to Manchester that I just made and now I'm here writing this. Pictures coming, but I can't use any new Vision shots until on Monday, yawn! Tor

 

 

 

  

   

20/06/2007 Victory Vision in Spirit Lake, Iowa

Woke up at 6 O'clock with no alarm clock as I was eager to get checked out from the Graves 601 hotel, have a Starbucks and a fag and stuff my face with some eggs and bacon before riding out of Minneapolis on the Vision Tour at 8 O'clock. After having a coffee on the outside of the hotel whilst the guys were rolling the Visions out I had my slow mo' breakfast. Then headed back to the room to collect my bags that were to be transferred to a resort at Spirit Lake in Iowa whilst we rode there on the Vision tourers. Remembered to put the Victory Ipod Nano in my pocket to connect it to the Vision Tour sound system. A glorious day already I headed down to the bikes outside and picked one fully equipped one immediately and adopted it. Got some expert tuition on how to connect the Ipod and all the other Vision Tour functions. My bike was equipped with the adjustable windscreen, heated grips and seat, Satnav, stereo and radio receiver. All set to go! When all the journos (some with very little launch experience, the sort that will delay everyone at a press conference by asking tech details that always are in the press kit...) had picked a bike we rolled out of Minneapolis in the morning rush hour. First impressions was of a big but very manageable bike for its size. Not too different from the Honda Gold Wing or Triumph Rocket III Classic in that department then. I felt comfortable in the big seat straight away and looked forward to a long ride. 300 miles was scheduled crossing the Mississippi river several times down towards Iowa. Riding along the Mississippi was probably the biggest novelty for me during the launch. The big new 106 cubic inches (1734cc) V-twin thundered below the low seat and provided instant trust in low gears and easy cruising in sixth gear. The linked brakes felt like a powerful and ideal solution on the Vision Tour. On the motorways I played around with the cruise control to rest my right hand. The Vision Tour was stable enough to use cruise control with no hands at all speeds and always deactivated either by the use of the clutch or brakes. We did several photo stops on the way where only two photographers covered the whole group of 30 bikes where only half were journalists. I knew at that point that I had to organise something with the photographers on my own later. Unless I wanted very few shots of average quality. Victory had forgotten about the art in all this I think! Beautiful photography is very often just as important as the written word in this setting. If you expect a photographer to shoot motorcycle journalists like a Black water sniper merc shoots terrorists then you're just going to look like a turkey in the end. Reached Iowa in the end and Staff sergeant Pandaya kept shouting out orders about us having very little time to get to the MY08 presentation at Maxwell's Beach cafe. That's because we had made sure we got some good photography for you sir. Whilst having dinner at Maxwell's I had to run out and shoot that gorgeous sunset you can see on these pictures. Then after dinner Victory showed us all the new 2008 models. Which I can't tell you about until some time in July. If I forget to publish it by then, please remind me guys! Victory wants to show its dealer network before we go public with this you see. Spent the rest of the evening getting quotes from the key figures in the Victory team and drinking with Andrew Cherney (Motorcycle Cruiser) and Mark Tuttle Jr. (Rider). Cheers guys! More riding tomorrow. Tor  

 

 

 

  

   

16/06/2007-21/06/2007 With Victory in Minneapolis

You're going to love this when I finally will be allowed to publish material from this mammoth launch in the states. Victory Vision Tour Minneapolis picture gallery below.

 

 

    15/06/2007 Triumph America

 

    14/06/2007 Triumph Bonnie America

I try again! This time with full waterproof suit, fully charged Motorola S9 stereo Bluetooth headset for music and in good spirit! Shit weather today as well, but not quite the monsoon like conditions of yesterday. The Bonnie America is the only modern Triumph that I have not yet tested (apart from the Street Triple 675, coming soon...) and I can now give you a few first impressions of it. I knew the engine would be well muffled in standard shape so that was no surprise. The America feels fairly light on its toe without being a particularly lightweight motorcycle. The front feels very willing despite it being slightly raked out and it steers well. The seat and forward mounted foot controls are much more relaxed than a sporty T100. I still felt a touch of decent handling when I upped the pace a bit in the Peak District. Due to very heavy winds and unpleasant weather I only stopped very briefly and shot two shots of the bike on the way back from Hinckley. More pictures coming soon. TS

 

    13/06/2007

Even an experienced motorcycle journalist can make stupid decisions like planning to head all the way from Manchester to Hinckley in monsoon rain only wearing jeans and leather jacket. I had planned to pick up the 07 Bonneville America today, but it started raining heavy just after 10 miles riding. So decided that I couldn't take 90 odd more miles of this as I was already soaked. So I stopped, gave Triumph a ring to reschedule for tomorrow, wearing my Gore-Tex stuff rather than jeans. TS

 

 

  

 

09/06/2007

It's not all motorcycling all the time even though the weather has been perfect this weekend. Went camping with gorgeous Olivia this weekend. Some walks in the Peak District, good food (not ducklings) and fresh eggs in the morning. Can't get better than that! TS

 

    06/06/2007

I have been surrounded by builders and electricians this past week finishing the new bathroom in the house that I live in. One guy came in and started building a new wall first in the bathroom. Then he would stop working as the electrician needed to do some work before the builders could finish. Then the electrician got ill for the first two days in his life (or so he said...) and a half finished bathroom just stood there. Then he would finally arrive and finish some more work, but only enough for the builders to continue. So the next morning the builders are back until they run out of tiles. The next day they came back with more tiles and finished. Then a couple of days later the builders arrived again with a frameless bath screen, but couldn't mount it until the electrician came back to do something more. Then the electrician came back and finished his end, but told me that we couldn't actually use the new shower until another guy with a special certificate came back and fixed the fuse box. Today the builders mounted the screen so now I only wait for the fuse guy. Efficiency is the clue here. Next Wednesday I am picking up the 07 Triumph America. The America is the missing link in my Triumph portfolio and a reader requested this test from me this morning. So now I'm going to do just that. Fuel injection is due for all the Triumph Classics from next year so it will be sort of the last new carburettor fuelled motorcycle that I will ever ride. I have also arranged for UK road tests of the KTM 690SM, Honda CBR600RR, BMW HP2 Megamoto and G650 Xchallenge in June/July. June 16th I fly from Manchester to Amsterdam and from Amsterdam to Minneapolis for the 2008 Victory Vision Tour & Street world launches. July 18th there's some Harley-Davidson stuff brewing. What and where info coming soon. Then when I arrive back from the US (June 21) I head straight down to the Goodwood Festival of Speed to cover events. And I just got what I suspect to be a very important Buell date at Laguna Seca in California in late August. I have strong reasons to believe that this involves the first ever liquid-cooled Buell motorcycle. That's very significant and in the backroom I hear whisperings about Rotax engines... A Buell with a 140bhp liquid cooled V-twin on Laguna Seca? That's irresistible! In between all this I will also test the all new 2008 Triumph Street Triple. It will be a busy summer, I am already having the time of my life here in sunny Chorlton. But this summer looks set to beat all records! I know that my lifestyle is enviable, but it's been a long way to get here. Hasta luego! TS

 

 

 

  

  

04/06/2007

Got an early start to the week today. Woke up at 06:00 and finished the videos from the Shiver launch, Bandit 1250 and GSX-R1000 tests. I have added the Shiver onboard video 2, the launch and press stuff video from Italy and the Bandit 1250S with village idiot, photographer and sales guy Martin Leyfield in it below. Enjoy! Tor

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

01/06/2007

 

 

   

26/05/2007 More Shiver

 

    25/05/2007 Shiver-time!

Breakfast at 08:00, then a short briefing and off we went on the Shiver's into the mountains by Cison di Valmarino. The route included a steep climb with numerous hair bend corners. Even hair bend corners inside dark and moist tunnels with one way drive. Nothing the SL750 couldn't handle though. Shortly after this we stopped for the first photo session. Milagro usually know what they are doing with motorcycle photography, and this Aprilia gig was no exception. However the background seems to be very green and similar on most of the shots. Everyone sort of agreed that the Shiver was not a true wheelie machine, so had to settle for a few shots that will look very similar to everyone else's. But it doesn't matter, Aprilia have bikes based on this model for the future with a more aggressive power band. Time and time again I scratched my knee sliders hanging off with only one foot on the footpeg. I didn't notice until I got to see the pictures and that tells a story of a very stable chassis! I thoroughly enjoyed cornering with the Shiver, but I had the Ducati Hypermotard fresh in mind and the Shiver could never completely live up to that machines ability in and out of the corners. The SL750 Shiver still appealed a lot to me and is definitely a motorcycle that I would happily own myself. I was riding with the complete corps of UK journalists today and no one crashed! That's just brilliant because most places on this route would have been very dangerous to crash. Headed back to the Castle Brando for lunch and a press conference and then out again for a second session on faster roads. I did see around 207km/h on the fastest stretch of road and there was a little bit left. I reckon around 240km/h as the real top speed. I am staying in Italy until tomorrow so after a shower and a change of hotels (to a 3 bedroom beautiful flat!) from the Castle to Villa Marcello Marinelli. I had dinner with the Aprilia staff until ze Germans started to arrive. Did my interviews in peace and quiet and got some very interesting information. Tomorrow morning I will ride the Shiver on my own through the mountains until my transfer to Venice airport in the afternoon. Great! TS 

 

 

   

24/05/2007 Manchester-Liverpool-Pisa-Florence-Venice-Castel Brando

Turbo tourism and travelling today to get to the 2007 Aprilia SL750 Shiver international launch in Italy! The usual story, 10 minutes late for check in to my 06:30 flight to Venice from Liverpool. Looked around and found two other flights to Italy that morning, Milan and Pisa. So ran to the Ryanair ticket desk and asked to be placed on the Milan flight instead for a £50 extra. No places left... Pisa then? 1 place left and I bought it. So the order of the day would be travelling from the West coast of Italy to the East coast and Venice. Final destination was Castel Brando about one hour north from Venice and I had all day to get there. So arrived in Pisa and bought a train ticket from Pisa, via Florence to Venice. I am actually glad it worked out this way rather than my original plan because I got to see a few places that I haven't seen yet. It was 35 degree Celsius by the way so preferred to stay in the shade. Arrived in Florence and had about an hour to piss about until my Eurostar train journey to Venice was due. Was quite tired after getting up so early for nothing, so slept for most of the 3 and a half hour train journey, but woke up in Bologna. In Venice I spoke to Aprilia on the phone and decided to hook up with the UK group of journos that would arrive at the Marco Polo airport a few hours later for my transport to the castle-hotel. Grabbed a bite to eat and a drink in Venice watching the gondoliers bringing tourists around on the

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