By August 2015 I’d had my Tiger 800 for 18 months and the rear shock was sha**ed.

Potholes were bouncy, high speed curves on major roads were …   interesting…

I picked up this Nitron shock from a colleague. It had done 1600 miles and looked like new. When asked, I learned that a “shock sock” was de-rigeur for maintaining the “good as new” look.

Here’s the old vs the new.

Here’s an R&G ShockTube (£25)

And here’s the result.

The handling is transformed. Sometimes I find myself hunting out the potholes and irregularities, something I wouldn’t have dared before.

How brilliant is it when your kids (or their partners) are into bikes 🙂

When Dave called and asked for my recommendations for a first (post Direct Access) bike, I immediately went “Street Triple”

Unfortunately, funds wouldn’t stretch that far and after (briefly) flirting with the prospect of a Hornet 600, we decided that a CBR600F was the answer.

This is an 04 plate CBR600FS that I rode home from Windlesham on 8th August 2015. This model was the first fuel injected CBR600 and was the stepping stone between the carbed CBR600F and the race replica CBR600RR which came a year later.

It is more sporty than the CBR600F (but not as much as the RR).

The only problem remaining was Dave’s lack of a full motorcycle license…

In the garage.

And all covered up.