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 Motorbikes As well as my mountain biking and 4x4s I have been a motorcyclist for more years than I care to remember.
Indeed motorbikes were another common factor between the three original members of Mad Cow Racing. Graham and Pete were the racing members with Graham having a background in Trail Riding, Moto Cross, Enduro and as a passenger in Side Car Cross. Pete raced as a Pasenger in Side Car Cross. I limited myself to a bit of trail riding and acting as Team Manager, Mechanic, Pit Crew, Marshal etc etc for the others. Pete and Graham both passengered in Side Car cross for a mutual friend Paul Lawrence. Paul sadly died of a stroke a few years ago at the far too young age of 60, his passion for his sport, great mechanical ability and extremely dry wit are all sadly missed.
The team have owned and riden a number of road and off road motor cycles, some of my recent ones are featured below.
My Recent Bikes
September 2009
After my CCM came off the road in August, I spent a month pretty frustrated without a bike, especially as Anne had just bought a new BMW F800R (see Annies bikes).
Then I received a flyer from my local BMW dealer SBW Motorrad (where Annie bought her 800 and I had previously bought my R1200GS) telling me about a deal on the F800GS. Now I had ridden one of these the previous year on a BMW sponsored track day at Mallory Park and it was fantastic, in in a situation where it should have been out of it's element it still got round the track at an increadible pace.
Well a test ride was arranged, and a deal was done with a free set of BMW panniers being thrown in and I am now the proud owner of not one but two motorcycles (yes I know only one works)!
 January 2009
New Year, new bike! Although the SV 1000 had been great fun, I wasn't using it that much as my neighbour and riding buddy sold his Suzuki TL1000R. I realised that I did really enjoy having a trail bike and as I had changed jobs, didn't need to commute on it any more (the SV wasn't the best bike for commuting anyway so I had stopped using for work in the Autumn).
So I decided on a lighter, more nimble trail bike. I had thought of a Honda XR400R (proper enduro bike, so very basic) or a Suzuki DRz 400 (slightly more road orientated). After some research and asking questions on various forums, I was directed towards the CCM 404. This is a 40bhp version of the DRz engine (33bhp) with White Power Suspension and Brembo brakes. So I discovered the CCM Riders Website and after a few posts I was offered a CCM 604E Dual Sport, which I ended up buying.
The Dual sport comes with two sets of wheels, one road wheels with very sticky tyres and one set of trail wheels with knobblies. The "trail bike with road wheels" concept is known as "Super Moto" or "SM" and originally came from France (no surprise really) and is a race class that combines tarmac race circuits and dirt tracks in one course and originally started with Moto Cross bikes adapted with small wheels, road race rubber and huge brakes.
This has now grown into a class of road bikes, mainly big 4 stroke trail bikes, with some manufacturers producing "off the shelf" Super Motos. Not many can be converted between the two uses, which is what appealed to me about the CCM.
 My 604 in Super Moto trim
Now remember I wanted something more nimble than my XT600E, so why did I buy another 600? Well the 604 is a full 21kg (58 lbs) lighter than the Yamaha and you can really feel it.
 My 604 in Enduro trim
Technically a British Bike as CCM (Clews Competition Motorcycles) are based in Bolton. However apart from the frame, exhaust and the (Renthal) handlebars, everything else is imported: A Rotax Engine (Austria), White Power Suspension (Netherlands), Brembo Brakes, Acerbis tank, seat, headlight and plastics (Italy).
In August 2009 I was riding the bike near Milton Keynes when it suddenly lost power and chucked out a veritable smoke screen of thick white smoke from the exhaust. I coasted to a halt and eventually when ome courtesy of the AA!
A strip down revealled that the bike had overheated and seized the cylinder.
 Whoops!
A second hand engine was quickly sourced through CCM Riders but to date I simply haven't had the time to install it.
July 2008
After a year with the XT, I got rid of my Land Rover Discovery II in July 2008 and bought another "ordinary" car and a 1990 Land Rover Defender to play with. As I now had a proper vehicle to go green laning, I decided the thumper had to go! This decision was brought on particularly when I was riding flat out on a dual carriageway and had to move over to let a Ford Fiesta get past!!! It was time for a decent sports orientated bike!
So after reading loads of reviews, searching the internet and a few test rides, I finally settled on a 2003 Suzuki SV1000S. A bit of a radical departure for me after a history of Adventure/Trail bikes, tourers and "sit up and beg" street bikes.
The SV has Viper cans and a power commander, makes a glorious sound and goes like stink (there is a Subaru Impreza owner who will attest to both of those facts after we met in the Weston Hills Tunnel on the A507!
August 2007
 Having secured myself a new job in August '07 after a period out of work I treated myself to a new toy, a 2006 Yamaha XT600E from Ford & Ellis in Chesham, Bucks. Although Yamaha stopped importing them in 2003, this was a parallel import brought in by TAZ Motorcycles in Peterborough. With only 2000 miles on the clock it was absolutely mint! Was a great stop gap bike and got used for a bit of green laning but to be honest was still a bit too big and heavy and really needed some decent tyres.
June 2006
 I got back into bikes in 2006 having been off
motorcycles for some years, I was "born again" as they say in June of that year when I acquired a BMW R1200GS on a personal lease plan from SBW Motorrad in Hertford.
The GS was a fantastic bike but as it was on lease it unfortunately went back to BMW after a temporary work contract ended in May 2007. I had it for only a year and never even got round to taking any photos of it. This one came from SBW's website after they put it up for sale.
To take a look at some of the bikes I've ridden in the past (with reviews) go to the motorbike archives
This page was last updated on Friday 30th April 2010
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