2003 Honda Shadow® Spirit 750 745 Cc on 2040-motos

Moto blog

MotoGP should return to Suzuka

Suzuka was always one of the great circuits; unfortunately the Japanese track was dropped following the tragic death of Daijiro Kato in 2003 as the course was deemed too tight and dangerous for the rapid four-strokes. Owned by Honda, Suzuka is a magical place combining arching S-bends from the start of the lap, high-speed in the middle and finished off with the technical and oft racing deciding final chicane, the location of many fantastic last lap battles. However the death of Kato, and Honda’s major hope of a Japanese champion, placed a dark cloud over the 5.807 kilometres of tarmac.

Used: MOTOTENT by Lone Rider

Since wild camping in the UK is generally regarded as trespassing, I opted for a crowded campsite in the heart of Sussex, open fires allowed, to see if the MOTOTENT is worth the £399 price tag. On the face of it the MOTOTENT is essentially a two man dome tent with a porch, Well I can pick up one of those up from Argos for £100 or less. Also I was struggling to understand why you would buy a tent that you can sleep in and store your bike in overnight, certainly in the UK most places you are likely to stay are fairly secure campsites.

Back in the day, the All Japan 500cc Championship at Tsukuba

This ‘you tube’ gem sent to me recently brought back some funny memories from the scary but incredibly exciting days of 500cc two stroke racing. This particular race was the final round of the All Japan 500cc Championship at Tsukuba Circuit where I enjoyed a head to head battle with national hero Tadahiko Taira. Yamaha’s favourite son at the time, ‘tie wrap’ as we liked to call him, was taller and better looking than most Japanese riders (maybe a war baby?) and went on to win nearly everything in Japan during his career.