I've just been round the East Cape of NZ (a total of 1346 km) with 3 great friends (Andy from Auckland, Richard from Ohaupo and Davey fr...

Just had a wonderful weekend.  On Friday, we hosted a Blackbird owner and his wife (Steve and Debbie Downes) from the UK as part of their mo...

Coromandel Peninsula, NZ Edit Pages There are few absolutes in life excepting the laws of physics (and some of those are a bit shaky to...

One of my close friends and Blackbird-riding buddies has developed a serious medical condition and is about to commence treatment.  I rode u...

The Blackbird with central north island volcanoes in the background I've been passionate about bikes since I was 5.  Sure, I love ...

Rode from Coromandel to Thames and back today to meet up with Paul from Kaukapakapa on his 1200 S Bandit (nicely set up with Ohlins and R...

Getting back on the Blackbird after the accident made me realise that I'd become a bit gun-shy. The seat height and high centre of grav...

I'd worked 50-60 hour weeks for over 30 years for my company in a number of challenging roles and after talking it over with Jennie,...

One of my Blackbird-owning mates, John Pritchard, suggested a 2 week tour of the South Island in 2007 and was just about flattened in...

What is it with me and new challenges? Maybe to convince myself that I'm not really getting any older, maybe because you only get one c...

In 2003, the lure of a fourth 1000-miler Grand Challenge started to surface for the most stupid of reasons. The previous 3 events on the B...

The responsibilities which go with owning one of the fastest bikes in the world began to dawn with the realisation that serious harm, either...

The great thing about Jennie getting an MX-5 was that it signalled a possible quid pro quo in the shape of a new bike after 7 years of enj...

In early 2001, the last of our kids trundled off to university. Jennie celebrated her freedom from not having to run young parasites aroun...

After 3 years of enjoying BMW ownership, some mates and I saw an article in a New Zealand bike mag about one of their staff having taken par...

Our eldest son Lyndon was keen to learn to ride and had permission from his mother and a couple of off-roaders were purchased so that he cou...

Joining the staff at Cranfield University left little time for anything else and besides, it wasn't long before I fell hook, line and ...