2012 Honda Shadow Phantom Cruiser on 2040-motos

Honda Shadow tech info

Type:Cruiser Stock Number:276 Phone:8663779662

Moto blog

Bahrain track days

A few months ago, expat (and ex racer) John Beddall made contact to ask if I fancied doing some track day instruction out in Bahrain.  After thinking about it for two seconds, flights were booked and a plan was put in place to look after around forty riders for a day at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).  Young Taylor Mac was also recruited to look after any tasty riders that I couldn’t deal with   The Brits out there love their bikes, however, quite a few locals also turned up plus a few others from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.  Most were on high end Superbikes, like S1000s, Panigales and RSV4s but there was also a healthy number R6s and new 675Rs.   Although this fabulous Hermann Tilke designed circuit is around ten years old incredibly it has never hosted a bike race.  The highlight of the year there is F1 but being owned by the Bahrainian Royal family, there is no desperate need for the circuit to operate as a profitable business.  The track reminded me of Qatar but much more interesting as some great undulations have been built into its desert location. We shared the track with Supercars on the day (20mins on/20mins off) and as you might imagine it was betty swollocks for seven hours in the 30 plus temperatures.  As usual there was a few offs with poor old RS1000 Aprilia mounted Andy breaking his femur early in the day.  Two other buddies appeared to swap bikes mid air in another incident but fortunately escaped unhurt.In the evening everyone stayed for an al fresco dinner in the paddock with the craic going on for hours as the Fosters kept flowing.   All in all it was a brilliant trip and it has left me thinking there could be cost effective ways of getting Brits out there for track days next winter.  I'll keep you posted.Cape Town next to make my racing comeback at the Killarney 8 hour on a CBR150 Honda.  Hopefully I can manage the beast, I'll post a full report next week.

Schoolboy Heroes

A wet and grey day in Calais in 1992 wouldn’t be the obvious situation for a life changing experience, but for a 11 year old lad on a boring booze cruise from Dover this is exactly what happened. Pockets bulging with funny money I headed to the Tabac for the obligatory bangers, dirty playing cards and some sweets.  Then it happened, I stood in front of the magazine rack and reached up, as if drawn by an external force.  At the time I wasn’t tall enough for Playboy or L’ Escort so settled for a copy of Moto Verte, the French motocross mag.  Life would never be the same again. Inside there was a double page spread, with a fresh faced Jeremy McGrath resting a leg over his #15 Honda CR125.  Sporting a pair of fluro MX trousers with a, now retro, bright white surname emblazoned jersey, and casting an eye over a seriously vast motocross park.  I stared at this Sinisalo advert all the way home, partly because all the articles were in foreign, but also because I was transfixed.  What and how do I become a motocross champion?

Honda EV-neo Electric Scooter to Begin European Trial

Honda announced it will begin a trial program for its EV-neo electric scooter in Barcelona, Spain. Already available in Japan under a lease sale program, the Honda EV-neo is designed to be a commercial delivery vehicle, with performance said to be on par with an under 50cc scooter. The electric scooter will make its European debut as Honda is providing Barcelona City Council with 18 EV-neo scooters at the beginning of July for a one-year trial.