Season’s greetings BikeReview readers!
Welcome to the summer stop over and update on what’s happening in my world. I’m finding my feet back in Perth. It’s been the perfect period of the year to return home and get my life back in order again in which I’ve loved making some longer term decision. For the duration of the last six years, I’ve moved house every six months. Even though my current rental in Scarborough is only on a six month lease, I know I’ll be hanging around. I can justify moving around the corner, just not changing city or country again for a while. I’ll be 30 next year and I think it’s time I stopped bumming rooms from mates and finding last minute places to live. I have my own house I’m sharing with a great childhood MX mate and I’m completely content. Plus every time I walk into our garage I smile, we’re doing OK in the toy department.
I recently visited the Melbourne Moto Expo which was a great event. The 2017 team launch was the purpose of the trip, but I’d say it was more of a team bonding session behind the scenes. Sometimes events like these can be a drag, but the MX and road riders, Honda management and Motologic staff are so cool the event was a pleasure. We also had a fitness assessment to get some base numbers for the year. I really enjoy the fitness and race preparation side, I loved getting the assessment done and challenging the MX guys. We’re all very good in different area’s and overall I’d say Honda have a very committed and impressive lineup of riders for 2017.
The trip east was good timing for me too, I got to catch most of my good Melbourne mates and see the Waters brothers racing the flat track at the expo. From there I headed up to revisit the Gold Coast (was my Australian base since 2009) and visit more friends as well as doing few weeks casual work too. It was a 3 week trip in total, although it was a little holiday I was eager to get back to Perth and setup the house I’d hardly stayed in. As always my summer of cycling has been epic and I’m getting to know the Perth crowd. I’ve been lucky to enter a few top races here and luckier to get some solid results. My leg is no longer giving me grief and I’m able to push the pedals fast enough to blow my hair back. That makes me happy. We’ve been given our team test schedule which looks as professional as ever and we’ll start riding the bikes again mid-January. Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like we’ll have the new CBR1000RR until around April, although we’re very hopeful we can start testing one a little sooner if Honda can comply. I’m excited and hopeful of a strong start to the season at WSBK.
For the relevant bike news, WA’s only circuit at Wanneroo has been closed for motorcycling. A big loss for the whole industry here and affects me personally too. Although I’ll always encourage safety, I can’t help but feel this decision was very irrational. I’m completely supporting Motorcycling WA in their dispute and confident they’ll turn around this dumb decision asap.
And in racing news, Mike Jones has the opportunity of a lifetime as he’s headed for the official Ducati Superstock team in Europe. Personally I’m really happy for him and I think that his opportunity is so important for the future Australian riders on the international stage. Through both Ben Henry and Troy Bayliss his found his own path to Europe. On the other hand I’m certainly jealous, I had to beg, steal and borrow for my opportunity there, which included Troy’s best efforts at the time (which I’m still very grateful for). Mike is 100% deserving of his place in Europe, but what I mean is “right place right time” “big performance” which is what he managed on the GP bike and know he’s set. The world is a funny place, I hope Mike takes over it, and despite my best effort I couldn’t quite manage it.
I really look forward to updating everyone post pre-season testing. Have a great summer on your bike.
BS.
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