Neevesy Bikes Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/neevesybikes
This was my 1st Podcast which was actually recorded back in November 23 and is available on Spotify and I’m working on Apple soon:
I really enjoy this format and hope I can continue doing it so please feedback below and let me know what’s good/what’s bad but try to be constructive! ha
Big thanks to the legends at RPM Technik for letting us shoot this in your awesome space 🙂
B b a little sound check there Michael please testing one two three one two three yeah yeah yeah yeah probably yeah yeah I’m a bit close yeah an average males length between you and the mic would be right we’ll be good is that is that the test they do is that how big
You we’ve already started smaller hands well um here we go then this is uh this is it this is the first one wow welcome HED well I mean to be here at the beginning of your journey the beginning of all things it’s like it’s like a Lord of the
Rings quote that’s it so uh so yeah we have um Michael nees with us uh the stalwart of motorcycle journalism in the UK um are you probably the oldest running continuous motorcycle journalist probably full-time yeah employed I think there’s some Freelancers that have been going a little bit longer than me including your
Very own Chris MOS yeah I mean he’s been going a long time yeah um there’s the Alan cath carts of the world yes he’s been going since motorcycles were invented probably and you’ve been MCN the whole way yep since 2002 so how did you get
Into that I won my job in a competition you won your job won my job in a competition I mean I’ve I’ve been I’ve been into bikes since I was 16 I’m not one of these people that grew up with bikes um more cars more than anything
Which is why it’s so cool to be here today surrounded by Porsches yeah I should just jump in and say we are we are at uh RPM Technic which is in just outside Alsbury and uh there’s a fantastic selection of Motor Vehicles here um so we hopefully we’ll get a little walk
Around in a bit so a big thanks for for them uh to allow us to sit upstairs in uh in their little uh showroom and a nice little uh 92 93 yeah well we were again we were just ch we we both had a 964 911 didn’t we and uh the the crime
Of selling it or getting rid of it well you WRA yours r a tree I put mine into a lampost just to save the hassle of selling it do you know what it’s kind of just take the insurance money exactly yeah the uh the liftoff over steer got
The better of me they were they were quite um AG so yeah we should say both of ours were turbos weren’t they so the turbo to and um below 3,000 RPM there was nothing there was it it was just gutless it was like and then all of a sudden halfway
Went a roundabout in the rain this massive single boost turbo would kick in and just absolutely throw you off exactly into the into the undergrowth which made for an exciting vehicle yeah exactly it wasn’t the easiest thing to drive but bloody hell what a thing yeah
I got I always wanted one my my dad had a few when we were growing up not because he was wealthy but he just he managed to buy some old clonas 911s were quite cheap um sort of in the late 70s and early ‘ 80s when he had a couple and
Um I always I always wanted one and I could never afford one but the reason I got mine was through some compensation from for an injury basically so I had a really bad motorbike accident on the road in 94 and uh got a good payout the the most
That you could get without losing your legs basically without an amputation so it was it was a decent but I was I was really badly injured uh and I got this compensation money 97 and decided to be sensible with half of it and I put a deposit down on the house and stupid
With the other half and I bought a 9911 T which only lasted me about a year and a half unfortunately but yeah one of my big regrets not not keeping that but I think that if ID have kept it I think the decision to leave my old life down
In Ramsgate where I used to live and join MCN where I won this competition I think might have been harder because um there was this this competition called road test Idol and um I’d always I’d race when I was younger and always wanted to be involved with riding bikes
For a living and always thought that dream was unachievable and it definitely was then perhaps not not so much now in this new era where we we can talk about more you know um influencers and instagrammers or whatever but then it was completely unachievable and this thing came up in
MCN during the summer of 2002 to they needed a new Ro tester basically rather than advertise it in a normal way they ran it as a competition win your dream job as a road tester and they badged it up road test Idol and that actually was was that before pop Idol well they
Stolen the idea and they even had the same logo and just substituted pop for the days before copyright exactly so um I thought BL going and I’d actually applied for a job at superbite magazine who who’d adverti for a root tester normally and I got a thanks but no
Thanks from that and I thought and then this thing came up in it uh MCN you had to fill out a coupon which do you prefer bikes or sex 50 words so completely arbitrary uh and Dem Um send a picture demonstrating Your Love of bikes so I I
Sent in a picture of me on a track day uh at Len Hill circuit on a 916 close to your half yeah yeah and um there was a series of knockout rounds I think about 3,000 people entered and then it was Whitt down to knowing what I know now
About MCN they would have probably just thrown most of those entries in the B couldn’t be bothered to read them well you can’t go through three and also judge somebody if they’re going to be any good at a job you know 50 words bites or sex so it was pretty lucky that
I got through to the first 100 where they started this proper knockout kind of rounds and it started off as bike Knowledge Test and it got Whitted down to feature writing Road riding prowess some track riding stuff at California super bike school and then it was Whitt
Down to three finalists so did you actually do the tests so that you actually actually had to do stuff yeah okay so and this is before video days although some of the process was actually filmed on a Mena motor show called bikes allowed do you remember
That I I’ve seen a couple it wasn’t Richard Hammond on that no it was he might have been on some Mossy was on a few was he because there’s a every now and again an old menam Motors video pops up on YouTube about some random bike
Something like a test from the ’90s or whatever so yeah I think Louise Brady do you remember her she but anyway so some some of it was um shown on that so as leading up to you know me getting this job I I got closer and closer and
Thought you know this is the sort of thing that doesn’t normally happen to people you know I thought BL I might I might get this job so I spoke to my I was working for a sign manufacturer as a project manager at the time down in
Ramsgate and um I said look I’ve entered this competition I might win it I probably won’t but I might win it and uh So eventually these the three finalists got featured in the paper with a telephone number and it was a public vote so all my friends and family just
Ringing ringing ringing so was I probably to get rid of me yeah yeah and um 200 a minute that’s it yeah exactly and one Friday morning I was in the uh kind of filing room at this sign company and phone went and it was MCN and said
You got the job so they said the thing and what year was that sir this was 2002 um about September time and they said two things number one we want you to start a week on Monday because we want to put you through some journalism training and number two we thought that
Some spotty 16y old was going to get the job and we set aside money for a spoty 16 16y old and I was 32 at the time I had a this job in ass sign company was a decent job and I thought oh c I couldn’t
Actually afford to do it but I thought if I don’t do it I’ll regret it for forever so I said yes and you know suddenly started feeling nervous I to go and tell my boss you know I’ve got the job I’m leaving and then sort of the end of that
Week gave my company car back packed all my belongings into my car and drove to peterb where the office is and did you still did you still have the turbo then I had cuz I crashed it I had a Lotus elisee oh right okay yeah so my Turbo my
My broken legs had turned into a Porsche and then the Porsche turned into a Lotus so I basically just crammed as much as I could into this little roller skate of a car yeah and lived in a Travel Lodge in petor for about 3 or four weeks while I
Was doing this training and I remember the first night CU I didn’t actually go into the MCN office I went into a training room to be a journalist thinking God have I done the right thing you know you know I just thought I’d go straight in and sit on a Fire Blade and
Go and race around a track exactly yeah here’s the keys mate what you think yeah so it was it was a strange introduction to being a journalist and I really think from day one I’ve kind of had imposture imposter syndrome because of it you know because I didn’t get into it properly it
Was always a world that was I thought you had to be a national level race racer to do it University level journalist obviously you don’t it’s ch that is that is staggering to hear that you have impostor syndrome because from from me feeling we we we’ve come into
This this world as for very different environments I definitely felt like I had imposter syndrome you know when I went from riding around on a uh a GSXR through London shouting at taxis to then suddenly being on a launch of uh KTM or whatever down in Spain and you’re kind
Of like and and that was just at the the the the sort of transfer point now it’s we’re used to aren’t we we we there’s often in fact manufacturers often run a a press group and a influencer group don’t they yeah but most these events
Now so it’s just a common is what it is but then you know you’d be on the plane and you almost hear The Whispers like what’s this guy doing here he doesn’t deserve to be here like what’s he done yeah I was like nothing mate but you
Know I give I’ll give it yeah and now look now now I’m on a podcast yeah exactly but now we kind of feel like the dinosaurs because the manufacturers really have turned turned you know to look for their online presence is more important than you know it it’s such a
Crazy like just hearing you talk about MCM back there in the late 90s and and the ughs when you when you got the job there and obviously you’d been reading the magazine and you’ve been into bikes that whole time yeah the amount of money in the industry back then the amount of
Weight that those big magazines had yeah and this is only really 20 years ago and the decline as such didn’t really start happening until the last eight years probably yeah so it’s just the whole industry has gone through this crazy transition and everyone’s a little bit
What’s going on I think even even you that impostor syndrome you talk about I think even you know traditional Journal like media companies and now oh we need to be a social media side and I think they don’t know what they’re doing no but I think as the older I get the more
I realize that most people most companies most uh people you look from the outside think oh they got their [ __ ] together they don’t really know what’s going on most people are just winging it yeah and and when you figure that out and you think and you realize that the
Person you’re sitting opposite on a table trying to impress is probably trying to impress you just as much yeah yeah you’re like oh okay everyone’s just everyone’s kind of talking a bit of of um yeah not talking [ __ ] but like just trying to make the best of their
Situation yeah um but yeah it’s mad to hear that you you felt felt that and you you still do I still do because you know I’m surrounded by really intelligent people in in my world in MCN because I I don’t really have a lot to do with other
Road testers most of my kind of interaction with my colleagues uh designers and sub editors and editors and clever writers so I still feel like this you’re pretty much the only road to I mean there’s Carl now with Carl Stevens who’s just joined us now yeah top lad yeah top lad exactly
But yeah when I when I joined rotes was they were like Heroes to me when I was reading um well even MCN but PB in the late 80s and early 90s and two wheels only two wheels only fast bikes those those guys were as heroic to me as the
Races so I remember going on my first launch which was a z000 in uh 200 end of 2002 yeah and it was I don’t if you remember I going to pop this microphone a little biter so do you remember the the z000 had the kind of the twin stacked exhaust
Coming out each side the first one 2004 the Widow Maker yeah yeah so we went I went on that launch but I didn’t have to do anything because MCN had already been on a sort of a a secret launch in Japan so I just went to you know just fil my
Feed exactly and it was in sento we flew to sento and I was thinking God is this an actually you know this is and and In fairness to MCN when I joined it didn’t make me make the tea once I done my journalist training I was straight out doing a job
But I remember seeing all the other journalists you know and remember being in a reception of the hotel at sento when everyone had just laid their crash helmets out on a table before we went out for a ride and recognizing everyone’s custom Lids it doesn’t happen
So much now no one’s got them I don’t know I mean I’ve got an eesy rep somewhere shared the AR I did I think didn’t they with your with your plants in it yeah but I just remember seeing um John kley Sonic he was Sonic Warren pole Chad
Chad who I later work with just thinking bloody hell you know this is unbelievable and I still feel like that now and it’s and again that it’s not not only those magazines and those Publications I think let’s rewind a minute I think the whole indust the cause for the industry change is
Financial because again back then and this was way before I would even I didn’t even pass my bike test till 2008 right like I was you know just wasn’t interested um but just looking back through time you can see where the money stopped being pumped into these the big
Magazines because that was if you were if you’re Yamaha DTI whatever where would you put your money you you’d smash it all into these mags yeah yeah which is why they had decent budget to do amazing stuff and they were these Legends as you say and um the launches were you know it
Wouldn’t be unheard of to get a private jet from Honda would it and be flown out to you know wherever whereas now you’re lucky to get a sandwich on your Ryan Air flight from Luton at 4 in the morning yeah the whole the whole industry has has changed and that that kind of
Um that that that glamour if I I suppose yeah I mean I’m I’m I’m lucky because I didn’t experience the glamour so I don’t think what’s missing but do do you ever sort of th when you you know you got three flights a week that’s probably average for you isn’t it three
Destinations yeah you know you right up at 4 in the morning train on head you ever think what happened do you know I actually probably missed the real glamour I think the real glamour was in the ’90s when there really was you know unlimited money slushing around but I
Did kind of did get the when I joined MCM was selling uh maybe 145,000 copies a week it’s massive isn’t it Bike Magazine would be 100,000 so yeah there was a lot of money in the coffers there and fast bikes fast bikes I don’t know what they were saying but they would
Have been big wouldn’t they but we had a lot that’s the one I remember and I was really into bikes it was just the one that sort of was that for that for me felt the Renegade one it was a bit more yeah exactly bit more like they did
A couple of videos with like shaky and stuff you leg aren’t they I mean we can talk about YouTube and algorithm and blocking and you know all that sort of stuff later but yeah they’re still on there you want to go and search them out I think the thing that’s thing
That’s changed the most with regard to the money side of things the manufacturers launches are pretty similar for me I think the days of the first class travel were a little bit before my time although there still were those trips I remember going to Philip island flying there with Suzuki for the
K6 GS6R 750 and 600 first class you’re being flown on a private jet on a mellin launch so you know you get the odd bit and it does sound spoiled to say okay I don’t want to take a Ryan Air flight at 4 in the morning and have a crappy
Sandwich cuz a lot of people people would dream of that still wouldn’t they who have got their jobs they’re living they’re living for their weekends and we get every day is a weekend for us we’re lucky they they would but just you know when you got to do it three times a week
It it is difficult it is hard work it is you know and then you’re I’ve got to say something different about this bike and you it’s it’s not it’s not easy I mean I’m again I’m lucky because the way I end up doing it is I jump on the bike I
Put a camera on and I say what I say and then there might be a bit of a round up at the end if I’ve missed anything but that’s pretty much that’s pretty much it um but if you have to if you got a proper job and you’ve got a write
Several stories based on the same bite for different Publications it must be quite taxing that’s what’s changed the most for me is the amount of work at a launch really you know before it was just we always had to turn things around fast because MCN are weekly but um you
Know now you’re feeding the MCN machine you’re Fe feeding the social media machine the YouTube machine the web machine the other magazines as well well and there’s a lot less of you there right yeah exactly so you I’m doing more but um with regard to the amount of
Money to spend the the kind of the test that we instigated ourselves has changed a lot you know back in 2003 or four if a new ZX6 came out for example and it came out in December we’ think nothing about loading in the back of a van and driving
It to the south of France to to test it because you just can’t do that now no so they’re the days that have gone and that’s that’s what I miss that those are the bits I love Yeah and we still try and do that on 44th we
We try but you you’ve got to take the the hit on the finances because you it’s not you can you can fiddle the books as much as you want it’s you’re not going to make the money uh unless you’ve got a very decent sponsor behind you that’s
Going to pay for it and it’s and it ain’t cheap you know flying somewhere is ridiculously cheap these days you know you can you can jump on a playing for 100 quid cheaper than the car park when you’re there cheaper than the car park at Gatwick yeah or luten if your car
Burns down there a fire um so but we we we still try and do that because that’s what the magic is for me about doing these things it’s it’s the camaraderie it’s the laugh and as soon as it stops becoming that and you end up on the
Trudge it doesn’t matter if you’re on a plane to Sunny Spain or if you’re on a train to St Albans in November you’re still going to work aren’t you yeah exactly think uh yeah it’s a shame that that it’s become expected that those big jobs don’t happen um but you know you
Still occasionally get to do nice things I mean it’s all nice obviously yeah um but I suppose just quickly sorry it’s it’s like because everyone we all love bikes yeah which is why if you want a job in the bike industry be prepared to earn 30% less than your mates yeah
Because there’s always someone around the corner who would do the job for less than you because they want to ride bikes and that is the that’s what that’s what the the industry Personnel have had to deal with over the last 20 years has gone well
Yeah the money is drying up but if you still want to do the job and you love it you’ll make it work and it’s like well I do really like bikes exactly and then you’re sort of just stuck there aren’t yeah yeah um well you couldn’t do this
Job if you didn’t like bikes because yeah for maybe for the first year you could you know the because the travel’s Fantastic you know you get an opportunity to travel the world and ride all these bikes but once the bike stop being fun you kind of just left with
Travel’s no fun is it after after a while and no I’m getting I’m getting particularly uh I find it particularly difficult to travel these days I I I find particularly since the whole pandemic thing as well it just feels that the airlines are struggling the airports are struggling everyone’s out
To just take your money and it’s so common now for the afternoon or later flights to be cancelled moved delayed it it’s you know it it’s becoming a real hard SLO to travel now it’s not like oh great we’re going to the lounge and we’re going to do some stuff and the
Plane’s always on time it’s like oh well it’s late get used to it it’s like everyone expected plane you’re lucky you’re lucky you’re flying anywhere yeah you know we’re still here we’re still working for you yeah you’re lucky to get a ba I mean ba sandwich you know on a on
A flight now is like a wet well you don’t even get that packet of crisps in in a Chris British bloody Airways no we um launches I suppose are about maybe a third of my working life really going to point this more into your mouth okay there we
Go yeah yeah launch season for me is probably it gets earlier and earlier sometimes it starts in August for the next year’s bikes and ends sometimes in May so most of my kind of winter spent doing launches but then during in the summer we sort of instigate our own test
And sometimes we do some really cool stuff to we we’ve got to just think harder about making it work for the the funds that you’ve got um you know if we can for example in the summer we did um a week in Sicily testing some Adventure
Bites and some sports bikes and if you can organize the logistics in a way that you can spin a lot of tests out of those same bikes and situation then you know you can still get to you still get to have fun and enjoy enjoy the reason you’re a road
Tester yeah I remember we when we did the the first R1 the road bike to race bike yeah videos down in Al marer we had two other tests there so deatti were and Lucia on the SP Street Fighter yeah and was it BMW who was who else was on was you you were
Testing the f900 weren’t you yeah we had yeah we had a few days on track with the with BMW for the f900 so we had it was like do you know what actually we can make this work so we we traveled down there we rented an
Apartment for a whole week cuz we were there amazing apartment actually in Al Maria do have you stayed in Al Maria town that uh no cuz you never do on launch you st hacker or something yeah same it’s it’s like Spain with no English people it’s it’s rare it’s very
Rare because you as you know you travel everywhere and it’s like Doos but it’s like a real working town it’s it’s amazing it’s really cheap good value so if you’re a top holiday tip Elmer is and the circuit not bad either I mean I it’s a good question actually I
Mean Al Maria is one of those places like oh you have to Al Maria but it’s a tough tough test track isn’t Al it’s not an easy place you can’t turn up there on day one and go I’m going to go really fast around here whereas herth or somewh
Like that you you kind of by the first few sessions you you know roughly what’s going on and you could just sort of so blind isn’t it Al Maria yeah um one of your favorites though isn’t it because I feel I’ve been there quite a lot so I
Feel like I Haven an advantage over other people because I do know it pretty well yeah and it’s not for a skill Advantage certainly not it’s more it’s like I know where the I know I know this bump I know this I know that and so I I
Do I do like it for that reason but I guess in fact one of the questions we had last night was um what’s your favorite track in well I think I guess that’s the world so it could be you can be talking about Len Hill yeah or Philip Island
Well it used to be Len because it was my local track I only lived about 15 miles away in Ramsgate so I kind of that was my first I’ve never been it that’s the one that’s also got the sort of Muddy cross rally cross Stu it’s kind of a
Mirror image of BR hatch actually strangely and almost the same size I think BR hatch is a mile .1 Len’s just under a mile right okay and almost in the same place yeah it’s not far relative yeah so that used to be my favorite chat just cuz it was close but
I would say now it’s hard to choose a favorite it would be the the top five would be Mello one of your favorites as well Philip isand BR GP uh no burgering the full track the N life the N life uh and herth I’d say yeah there’s definitely two in there I
Would choose is herth and Mello I mean I’ve never really done I haven’t done many sort of what we’d call flyaways on the world super bow circuit so I’ve done quite a lot in Europe but very little I’ve never been to katar which is crazy because that’s like a road testers yeah
Back Garden isn’t it I mean everyone’s at catar aren they all the time I I think probably because it’s cheap if not free to hire from the manufacturers because they just want people to go there um which is why everyone gets shipped out shipped out to to katar but
Yeah I’ve never been there I did Abu Dhabi yeah that’s good was that a Bridgestone thing was a bridge Stone no I didn’t do Chad was on that one Chad was on that but that I mean that’s not it’s not a bike track that it’s right
Angles and it’s pretty clumsy on a bike it is Clumsy but fantastic experience yeah it’s like being in a video game isn’t it yeah it’s just on off on off on off I mean the first one two three four corners down to that hair pin’s quite
Nice you get some nice sweeping I mean it’s amazing the difference on what circuits suit motorcycles and how much fun I mean have you ever done Kota as well yeah that first section of Kota is similar yeah it was ironic cuz um when we did uh Abu Dhabi it was the launch of
The first panagar the 11 99 I bet that was an absolute Pig ground there was yeah but it was strange because it was so different to the 1198 that it was I mean it was better than that around the track he had a lot of advantages we we took I mean this is
You know when we had more money we took Neil Hodson with us as a kind of a guest tester yeah uh to give his opinion as well um but then Kota we did the 1199r for that one and that was yeah the coat is similar it’s quite clumsy it’s
Not really a bike track it’s two Corner double back that first section looks really nice yeah like the top of the track sort of after turn one which looks horrible but then you sweep down that two three four left right left right left right and it’s all the colors on
The track but like Abu Dhabi you know painted curves and the blue yeah andard what that in fact that’s that’s might you did Thea yeah that might be wi right up there with one of my tracks as well and when I first got there or you
See it on World Endurance don’t you and be like God that looks like a nightmare how you know where to go all these lines everywhere but actually it’s a really nice circuit to ride I really enjoyed that we did been there twice once on the launch of the 2012 F3 MV Augusta mhm
Actually the week leading up to going to Abu Dhabi so that was a good week very yeah but the bike wasn’t great the mvs there was their first go at um 675 was awful and then well before that I did a launch of a Benelli Tornado do you
Remember that with the little fans in the back yeah and it was with what year was that must have been 2003 or four something like that it was the first full production bike because they made a limited edition that they racing super bike and again funny you mentioned that
Belli T I was talking I think might been well we were chatting about Budget Buy battle bikes because those tornadoes for a long long time were like two grand sat right at the bottom of the sports bike Market cuz they were just weird and unpopular and rubbish yeah uh but now
They’re like 12 Grand no yeah yeah cuz they couldn’t give them away they were just stuck in dealers for ages weren’t they I guess it’s oh it’s rare it’s rare super rare yet cuz no one wanted it yeah yeah I remember being in the pit Lane
With or in the pit area with Adrian Morton who designed it he used to work for mvy austa as well I know Adrian he’s a yeah so he he did the new uh super super yeah one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was still wet behind the ears
And I had to write my test when I was there in between sessions yeah which I later found out that’s going to be the norm it wasn’t a oneoff and I made a mistake of showing in my words which I’d never do now because I always think when
I when iite I’m not I’m not a natural-born writer so and I have to write really quickly which I I still find a struggle now so I’ll write a draft which I is my undercoat and then you check it again and you put your you
Know if I had if if I had weeks like if I was a magazine journalist to craft it it would be amazing but at some point you got to stop putting your top coats on and just just hand it in and I showed Adrian Morton my words in his undercoat
Stage and [ __ ] hell it it just cringy when I think back at and he just looked at it and sort of humored me oh that was all right but it must have been awful I’ve never shown anyone my words since you no scar but adri he’s a nice he’s not
Nice guy he’s not like a he wouldn’t have no no not at all really really nice guy and really enthusiastic and a really good Rider and yeah it’s again it’s it’s it’s funny hearing your vulnerability because or what you you perceive vulnerability because I I don’t want to
Blow too much smoke up your ass but I see you as the consumer professional I see you as you you never say the wrong thing um of course opinions are subjective and it’s very difficult to remain you’re a sports bike guy you know whatever you don’t like this you don’t
Like that um but I yeah I I see you as the industry like the the journalist the goto one like I honestly I don’t think in terms of bike review reporting I don’t think there’s anyone that’s nice to say to you to be honest I think from
Day one my first big proper test was the 2004 Fireblade one underseat pipe which was a big deal for Honda then CU it was the RCV style wasn’t it yeah and it was kind of that first of the generation what was what what rivaled that bike it
Was the underseat P R1 wasn’t it the first Ed X10 and the just just getting into the yeah the K5 came and ruined it and it was Peak Peak super bike frenzy for everyone wasn’t it yeah that one had a slightly like fatter belly didn’t it
That one and then it got sort of revised on 20067 yeah I remember writing that and thinking I’ve never ridden any other Fireblade what am I going to say there there’s 10 T of thousands of Fireblade fans going to be reading this the only thing you can be is is honest you know
If you feel a certain thing you just say it like you say everyone’s got the same opinion there’s no right or wrong way to review a bike and the other the other big Advantage we’ve got at MCN is that we’re allowed to say what we want about
A bike you know you can cre so a lot of people ironically think that MCN is in the pocket of Manufacturers and we have to say certain things when the opposite is true you know especially back then we were big and bad enough to if Honda said
Well we’re not going to advertise you with you anymore because you’re giving us a bad review we’re just on your way kind of thing where a lot of smaller Publications or individuals could never do that all Freelancers who want to go on the next launch so I think you know
From that day forward my test have always just just been honest and I suppose it comes from the experience of being a road Rider and having raced before not at a really high level but you know being a to have your feet in both camps as a racer and a road rider
That’s kind kept me in good stead all the way through yeah delivery uh delivery uh you have to go through the other door mate we’re just uh hang on that’s the delivery yeah find someone down there we’re just recording up here so you go door that be appreciative yeah yeah over the years
I’ve just just gained gained experience I’ve done more and more racing you know since 200 I race between two uh 9 888 and 93 and then that big accident I heard on the road stopped me so what what go let’s go back to that accident
Briefly um so what happened it was uh it was a it was I basically rode into the side of a Volkswagen Polo that was turning across me yeah and did you try and go through the hole in the middle of it exactly well I course the hole in the
Middle of it on on my rgv250 oh beautiful bike and I was in hospital for three months the wheelchair for a little while so just smashed my legs up basically and my wrist and all all sorts of things and I drop foot for about six years afterwards so I couldn’t
Ride between 94 and 200000 what is drop foot so it’s where you can’t you can’t lift your foot up yeah so like a tendon issue yes it was it actually nerve damaged up up near my knee okay so I had to wear a splint in my shoe so I
Physically couldn’t ride but that started to come back and um yeah then I started riding again into 2000 and then got the MCN job in 2002 so when I the other thing when I started as well I wasn’t really up to the speed I used to
Be so it was kind of a gradual gradual start so so I raced then and then between 2004 and now I’ve raced every single year yeah so you know and being in instructor at the Run haston Race school so you can kind of use those sensibilities of been a to push a bike
And understand what it’s doing but also know people’s everyday fear about r in a bike you know you talk to a racer they they can’t even relate to how people feel cuz they don’t they don’t know people are scared to lean into a certain cornal yeah and if you’ve never lent
Over a bike as far as you inverted commers need to lean it over you’re not going to know where that limit is no and the the brave stupid whatever you want to call them people that you know early on in the track days they sort of some
People are naturally gifted as well I mean we’ll get on to that in a minute but if you’ve never lent a bike over that far you don’t know how how it goes there what it’s going to do it’s caus is terrifying yeah um so yeah so racing
Racing cor I mean so you raced every year every year this year is actually the first year I haven’t raced right okay covid kind of put us it kind of stalled it really and it’s never really start yeah we won’t get into that this time but yeah so yeah so just raised the
Club level really I think if I’d have had again a bit more confidence I would have gone into National level and probably been a to be a mid pack super stock Rider or something something like that but but would you have felt satisfied with that though no because
The other thing is when you’re sort of an amateur racer you’re relying a lot on the help of your friends and family yeah and it’s incredibly expensive really expensive at the beginning your friends and family have got a big appetite to help you but you know I think a club
Rac’s career probably never lasts more than three or four years mine’s lasted ridiculous amounts because of the job I’ve got and I’ve I’ve had really good opportunities and sponsorship and do you manage to sort of subsidize some of those costs through well I suppose they would still sponsor you privately anyway
Because you are nothing none of my racing overtly goes in MCN so all the sponsors I’ve got is just and it’s the same at any level I think the even the the you know Paul bird bless him and the you know the big sponsors in BSB do it
Because they enjoy racing they don’t really get anything out of it doesn’t balance the books does it no and there’s you know uh not to well it’s very interesting where the money comes from m to go to race to have a race team I mean because you look at it on paper and
There ain’t no way you’re going to make your money back no at all so you either do it passionate for passion um or if you need to lose some money out of your company out the books you know without without that stuff I I don’t think and
It’s I don’t think it’s limited to motorcycle racing I happens you know all all levels of car racing Club racing whatever it’s without that there would be a real hole m in the motor the motor racing scene yeah um so we got to support your local drug dealers exactly
Yeah get out there get down on the streets yeah exactly not saying they’re drug dealers but there is you know of course it’s just like a there is a somewhat nefarious Dark Side to it behind the gloss the glamour at that level at that level and you know because
You can’t you just can’t I can’t see how the money works out like why would somebody any sponsor give more money to put a tiny a mid-range sponsor not talking we’re not talking high level brand sponsors we’re talking oh yeah I’ll put a sticker on your bike for 10
Grand for this year yeah that no one’s ever really going to see let’s face it or or pay that much attention to when you could sponsor an influencer who you know might might have um 10,000 100,000 followers and speaks directly to them and goes hey this is actually the
Product blah blah blah blah yeah yeah I’m not saying that’s a good or bad thing but it’s almost how it’s the same way how the journalism industry has evolved and changed and reduced its saturation of money because this other whole digital things come along it’s like I mean you still
Get the old school people who are like no we’re going to advertise in this and that’s the way we’ve done it for years and that’s how it’s worked but that that time if those older companies don’t evolve then they’re going to be left behind um and I think yeah the racing is
Quite similar yeah exactly in that in that respect it hasn’t jumped on the it hasn’t embraced the new technology whether you like it or not I mean I’m I still don’t even know if I like social media exactly you know I’m I’m kind of I’ve been prickly about it throughout
The whole thing because there’s something underlying which I fundamentally disagree with um however do the positives outweigh the negatives yes I think they do but there’s some serious issues and uh concerns for young People’s Health you know these kids sitting on Instagram all day going oh
Look at this guy he’s got you know he’s just bought a brand new 916 SPS and the guy’s got everything and he travels around the world but that’s so far from the reality and I try and be pretty honest but it’s so far from the reality
Of what daily life is yeah exactly um yeah with um you just going back to the racing sorry I went off on a tangent there social we get back to social media biscuit this is like uh gole box isn’t it where they have the the bowl of of
Cakes you ever watched that I I I don’t have a TV anymore ah well I have a TV but I don’t have a TV license I refuse to pay the BBC any money I’m done that’s fair enough um yeah I’m only able to raise I’ve got a
Handful of of close friends that help me out financially and they don’t get anything out of it other than the enjoyment of being involved so I’ve got a A friend of mine called Bob who basically looks after my bike I’ve got other friends SE seen him on Bob Bob Bob
Stockley he basically prepares my bikes for me um there’s a company called prime factors racing that give me my BMWs to race and a few other sponsors that come along to the race meetings you know sometimes we get to race abroad we’ve done some really cool endurance racing
At Mello Aragon misano and they come along it’s like a little holiday event for them and yeah that’s the dream and endurance race of Mello I mean I think amazing what you know what it’s like I mean yeah I only ridden it in semi anger recently this year your times are good
It wasn’t bad was it it wasn’t bad um I mean I I crashed at the end of it but that was a a technical fault yeah exactly um but what what a circuit we H did the thing called was it called the something Milli was 100 no it couldn’t
Have been 100 miles 500 miles but it was it worked out like a 3-hour endurance race and I was racing there on an s000 RR and sometimes in endurance racing you’re sort of clock watching a little bit watching your pitball watching like dont’s got got an actual clock and if
You’re if it’s a hard race it drags but Mello used on a checkout at sabur you’re like it must be 4:00 now you look and it’s 10 1 exactly you know that was just magical racing at Mello and we we ended up finishing first in class and third
Overall against a load of Hot Shot races as well but yes I’ve had some good times racing but it’s kind of dwindled away a little bit unfortunately you know just through situations what kind of situations well I think um we we were going to do an endurance race this year at Brand hatch
On my s000 with no limits but it was over subscribed we couldn’t get in it is we because we were looking at doing um insurance and no limits is the only well it’s the they they call themselves the home of urance racing now don’t they because they they run them effectively
With the national series um but yeah you can’t get in anywhere no I mean race padic are full club race padic and track day padic and it’s expensive so you think well why can’t someone else another company go well we’ll we’ll do an inurance series as well I mean who
Knows maybe there’s I think the circuit high is so expensive now isn’t it yes uh and you know msv they pretty much own almost every top level circuit the UK now don’t they so you kind of it is a bit of a uh what’s the word competition Monopoly Monopoly that’s the
Word yeah um but you know that’s the way things are you got deal with it you but yeah I’d love to do it and well we should get it we should do it we should uh we should do a special one but I’d much prefer to do it in Spain or
Somewhere because exactly you got sunshine well Italy Italy is the best place to race cuz they walk around in their dressing gowns in between races a little shower you never see that at Cadwell no talking ring would you want to see it no you would want to see it at
Cadwell February what about your racing because you did some on the CF Moto didn’t you yeah that was the first time I’d ever got on a grid and so this was in the Super Twins in1 and they were they were looking to to promote their brand I mean it’s
Funny CF Moto back then I was like who are these people but now 2001 yeah 2001 um so sorry 2021 uh 2021 so and and in CF Moto was kind of like who are these people but they you know whatever uh but now they’re in like mot GP they’ just been
Bought by KTM I think or heavily heavily that’s right financed by KTM they they’re working with Yamaha now um but anyway so they had this bike to to to test and Jack Thompson at the time he was um their marketing guy he’s a competent racer himself uh and he was like well we’ll
Give you a bike well we’ll run a bike for you if you want to enter it and just do do a vid I was like all I’ll give it a crack and uh I didn’t expect anything of it to be honest I was just sort of
Like I’ll see what it’s like and didn’t really take it that seriously uh first round Donington Park the bike was was not ready to put it nicely um not that I would really know what a race bike really was and I was interested in that as well because you
Get give like get here’s a here’s a a topspec bike someone’s put some Olan suspension in it doesn’t make it a race bike does it you know it’s very they they are fine tuned um tiny window of of perfection and outside of that window it’s really
Difficult to ride yeah and I we like people who just s you know the sofa Racers they’ll never understand that it’s like oh my M’s got a fire blade as well fast come on it’s like yeah but you never that can be down to a tire
Pressure as with were seeing a Moto GP now I mean ridiculous isn’t it but anyway so um so I was interested in the whole thing I thought yeah cool I’ll give it a go and um yeah I I really quite enjoyed it did you get the bug I I
Did I did but I think the worst thing I did was put it on pole position at Cadwell park because you then it’s a whole weekend racing so that I think qualifying was on the Friday and it was the end of the end of
The day Friday so then you got to go to bed thinking [ __ ] H yeah I’m on it here I’m on it I’ve got could get my first could get my first win here I’m I’m and it’s going through head what am I going to do off the start and I know
It’s only Club racing a twin but it doesn’t matter the adrenaline is still there and everyone else in that yeah there’s a few you know people at the back that just hanging out just cuz they want to go and ride their bike but it’s a competitive you know it’s a it’s a
Battle it’s hard work so then you’re like trying to think of a plan anyway work woke up raining piss wet never never done a lap of Cadwell in the rain had only probably done about three laps of Cadwell prior to that anyway it wasn’t it’s so far away from me I didn’t
Tend to go up there very much and I I’ve done very few UK circuits I’ve done way more abroad stuff uh so anyway yeah sort of yeah started and um fell off at partk corner I think I think I made it halfway around um but no
And then I beat myself up about it and then you get sort of like and I think I do have the bug for racing and I like it and I think I I have a I’m all right at it I think there’s a natural ability that’s underlying there but I’m 45 years
Old now I’ve just started doing it it’s kind of if You’ have started when you’re 15 yeah maybe you might you know get there so so yeah I’m too competitive and I’d beat myself up about it and um it would become not fun and and it strikes me that you this
Is why I think you still can do it because your mentality is so good I’ve never seen you get flustered I’ve never seen you if you do you hide it very well I’ve never seen you get angry I’ve never seen you lash out or make the wrong decision it’s calm you’re very calm
Person to be around actually and it’s very you know uh it’s easy to be in your company and and I think that that mentality helps an awful lot and if you’re having a like if for some reason your bike’s not working you’ll just go well bik’s not that good this round
Let’s get through it and uh we’ll try again for the next one like whereas mine’s like bike’s not working push it harder push it harder fall off yeah but it sounds like your weekend was full of excitement did you have many nerves yeah I mean it’s it’s scared the [ __ ] it’s
Scary I’m really nervous it is very scary like get pulling out onto the grid like you’re looking at the clock 10 minutes you know 5 minutes right Helm it on warm the bike up get it down Paddock like we’ve got everything you know yeah queuing up with everyone
Once the light goes out it’s all right but that that sort of sighting lap and and sitting on that grid waiting for the red flag what’s going on and it is yeah scary yeah um will I launch it will I stall it will I get hit
From behind you know there’s a lot of yeah exactly danger but it’s the thrill is is close to unbeatable um doesn’t matter what you’re riding you could all be on 125s that you just bought from the shop down there not even race bikes The Thrill Is and just to finish no matter
Where you are you’ve taken a check of flag that feeling of elation and relief and all those kind of things and that lasts about 15 minutes and it starts yeah and then you start getting nervous for the next one yeah yeah yeah but I did all right I did yeah couple of
Podiums couple of seconds but the car the field was very strange because in the super twins as you know there’d be a lot of people pre TT season would turn up with these ridiculous like 80 grand dafabet type you know proper production bikes you know I don’t think the the
Twins class was supposed to be quite so uh expensive but with the the farquar and all of this stuff building is amazing they are amazing Bikes let’s face it amazing bikes and they would turn up and just sort of rinse the field and then not be at the next round so you
If you got a Podium you were lucky that the good bikes didn’t turn so you’d kind of look at the entrance list and go [ __ ] but yeah that’s a good good results when I when I first started I was hopeless it was it was a typical story of riding on
The road I had a GSXR 750 J in 1988 when I was 18 and thought I was Schwans yeah because I could perfect his crossed up Schwans wheelies right okay yeah and uh thought I’ll have a go racing and I remember going to br’s hatch and in practice just getting absolutely rinsed
By everybody just thinking because you have to go around corners fast on the track don’t you you don’t have to do that on the road and actually broke my my foot in practice that was my first i’ never even made my first race and then
After that I raced an RGV 250 for a couple of years in 250 prod race him again wasn’t brilliant but then when it rained I’d be Podium or win it and I thought well there’s obviously something here and then just got better in the dry
As well and uh I suppose my Peak racing would have been 2011 to 17 maybe won a championship and you know finished I did uh race some kind of s000 RR since um 2010 HP4 was 2014 I finished I won the mro championship in 2012 and finished top
Three in the gp1 thundersport in a couple of years after that but yeah it’s a shame it’s fizzled out a little bit but now if I go on a grid with a super bike and you’re surrounded by 20 30y olds who want to be Marquez I haven’t got that hunger
Anymore so I quite like the idea of classic racing yeah yeah I’m I’m I’m actually building um I’m not doing it because I’m useless but uh Griff AP work shops so a pril a specialist Griff Willie up there he’s um we’re building like a a project bike about out of an
Old RSV milr ah which is probably one of the best value super bikes you can buy I mean you can still pick an r model up for three and a half Grand bit of a tcy one comes with ol’s fork Oz Wheels carbon fiber Italian v twin wow rotx 990 engine very solid
Yeah amazing things to ride like really engaging like if you want an engaging ride that that isn’t as expensive as a 916 yeah go get one of them and a lot of knowledge on that bite because there used to be a one make race series for it
Didn’t there so people know what makes some tip I know there was a tono cup wasn’t there there was an RS there was a melee thing as well yeah yeah 2003 or four something like that yeah I mean again that was before I’d even paid
Attention to it I was going to say so you started riding in 2008 did you yeah Road riding what made you start um I I crashed I had a car crash weirdly well actually just rewind just before that so I I had my brother was well into
His wanky scooters so his right um mods type you know the the mossy kitted Lam bretas and Vespers and stuff so uh his M he was mates with some guy that built them and we were like oh yeah I’ll have a yeah come on kiss one of those let’s
Build one and I just really wanted to sort of put it in the office on on display like a cool thing uh in my Soho office oh yes and uh yeah oh great bloody bloody got a bloody veser and um anyway it’s bright painted it bright lambini orange this with like a really
Cool graphics on the side and but because we wanted to put a I think it was was a 180 kit or a 170 kit in it or something you needed a full license to drive to ride it so I that process started uh and I just passed my test and
But I wasn’t I wasn’t planning on being a motorcyclist and then I had a big crash in a brand new 2008 BMW M3 um which i’ i’ I’d sold some shares in a business and I was like oh go treat yourself you get this thing it was that the first of the e92
The V8 yeah it was the first convertible and it was it was a canceled order and there was there was hardly any around anyway I was like yeah have it and then uh I took my girlfriend at the time who turned into my wife uh on a driving
Holiday through France and we’re like and my beautiful new car and everything was brilliant what color it was carbon black although it didn’t have the shadow line uh kit which was it still had the Chrome window which made it look a bit crap anyway uh but I remember I remember
We stayed in a campsite on the first night um and uh it was it was such a strange thing we stayed in this campsite and uh not only with these French guys who love their Motorsport as well they’re like oh m m and I like yeah it’s
Cool yeah you know give it a REV and um but a bird I woke up in the morning and a bird had [ __ ] on the rear quarter I was like [ __ ] bird [ __ ] and I had a napkin with me and I started cleaning it off but badly and I scratched like tiny
Little not even a scratch but just like a I was like blood scratch the thing anyway 3 hours later um we pulled over for a coffee in the middle of nowhere heading down to Anese and uh got back in the car roofed down let’s go the back way into town we’ll take
Some nice roads pulled out wrong side of the road and just wasn’t aware of it because I was in my car rightand drive vehicle mhm uh KY and my wife at well girlfriend at the time we were just you know music on Just no other cars around so you if
There’s no that’s often what triggers you I’m sure you’ve done it we’ve all sort of gone oh [ __ ] but it’s only when you see another car or a sign you go oh wow I’m on the wrong side we must have been driving for a good two or three minutes cuz there was
Not a lot of traffic around and then anyway just went around this corner and then all of a sudden what’s that and just plowed straight into this VW polo yeah and absolutely po yeah Polo yeah yeah bloody things everywhere they so um yeah and uh yeah it was head
On head- on absolutely absolutely rinsed it I wasn’t we weren’t speeding we were just cruising it wasn’t like a but the closing speed still pretty tast if you’re both doing 50 mph you scrub 20 off of the brakes but it’s good 80 mph you know and and and the polo I mean you
Know this was a big V8 brand new car this was and the other one was a small little sort of yeah uh anyway and then uh yeah it was it was a pretty traumatic experience for me actually I’m still feel very affected by it it’s it’s a
I’ve got this like a guilt complex which I’m sure a lot of the sort of depression and anxiety come probably fed from some of that um which we can talk about later but um yeah so I hit the uh hit this car anyway sort of like well like got out
Had two broken ankles didn’t know it at the time it sort of like in it and you know got out saw this other car there and uh couldn’t see anyone in the driver’s seat so I sort of walked up to it and this poor kid was just like
Doubled down like bent over in the foot well just pissing blood and just like like like and I was like oh my God like his head had hit the wind screen he wasn’t wearing a seat belt um but you know regard I was like he’s he’s gone
Yeah so I I I thought I genuinely thought I’d killed him for 3 days in this Hospital in in an and I remember very very very clearly it was the 2008 Olympics on telly yeah and I was just sat in this hospital and uh oh God it
Was so traumatic thinking I was just in tears and and I remember just thinking don’t care about the car couldn’t give a [ __ ] just please please I don’t want to and even if it he was you know dead I’d be like well turn me to prison yeah I’m
Done and on the third day cuz and any nurse that came in I was like how’s the other guy how’s the other be like oh I don’t know and I asked the ambulance driver on the side of the road like who had attended to Katie she she was all
Right like bashed up leg and stuff um I was like how’s the other guy and he sort of looked at me and did a sort of 50/50 with his hand and I was like Christ so and then I remember being put in a separate trolley thing in the hospital
And I heard this woman wailing in the in the reception I was like that’s his mom oh my God and uh but anyway on the third day saw him outside smoking a [ __ ] so um how relieved and and and yeah and that was it that was like the je had taken
Our passports and you know so I got you know went down there had a conversation what happened and it was just like happens all the time really happens all the time but I think uh he interestingly so he wasn’t wearing a seat belt um and it was apparently his mom’s car this is
All you know what I can bad French English translation but what I sort of understood uh and I it was a Sunday in France and I think he might have had a couple of drinks in him as well so it kind of got resolved
As go away M he’s going to go away and there’s nothing more of it never even got a claim from the insurance company wow nothing so surprised I’m not surprised it’s that’s been with you all this time yeah I I mean and actually interesting I was in
Ane um where did we go yeah I drove down went on went to Mello and I drove past the crash site stopped and had a little bit of a a moment a bit of a moment to sort of calibrate and um and actually an off camera we were talking about the car
That I wrote off which was my M3 yeah and the insurance company amazingly I bought gap insurance didn’t even know I had it it was 300 quid but when the payout came it was they offered me like 15 grand less for the car um and that’s
Where I said I swore I’ll never buy another brand new car gap insurance covered it and then I went and bought the 911 Turbo out the back of that um but before the 911 Turbo yeah sorry so this is how I got into bikes I I went
Through a period of probably about three or four months while the insurance was going through of feeling so bad and guilty that I was like I think I’m going to ride a motorbike because I can’t hurt anyone as badly yeah and it yeah it it so I I suppose thinking about it that
That that trauma led me to motorcycles and yeah still gets me going today mate honestly imagine horrible horrible experience um but yeah so that’s what got me into motorbikes and I had a a 6 600n Bandit right blue blue one uh very much like the Alpine budget b battle
Bike we had uh and that was it I got the bug soon as you go off above a 125 or a 170 whatever scooter and you you do that first pull onto a slit Road even on a 500 C old heavy bike they are fast aren
They like you get that like what the hell is that yeah and then that was it and then I bought CBR 600 RR and then so you didn’t go ever have a moped no only that little thing cuz because at the I was 30 29 so I did I just did a direct
Access so I didn’t have to go through that that phase and then within a year I was on a Repsol Fire Blade no yeah and were you into bike racing did you watch GPS uh when the rep so yeah I I did um
Yeah I got I was I did like the look of the bikes but I wasn’t technically clued up at all so before before you started noticing bikes there was no I I can tell you I I noticed I I tell you the first time I did notice a
Bike before I’d ridden uh and before I passed my test as I was uh heading driving through waybridge area I used to live in waybridge and uh there was two bikes flying towards me and one and I remember the the headlights very clearly one was what turned out to be a VTR SP2
Honda RC51 and the other one was a zx7r bright green Pure White and I just thought wow they are they are they are awesome yeah and uh and now I’m lucky enough to be able to own both of those bikes that I not the exact ones um but yeah SP2 VTR
And a7r it was that that just they just looked so so mean so every time I look at them I’m like I remember that time yeah ex driv down the road and seeing yeah interesting yeah so now in a situation in so our journey through biking is quite different isn’t it yeah
But we’re almost the similar places now because your you’ve got a YouTube channel that’s almost on par subscribers wise with the MCN Channel we’re both we’re both kind of in the same kind of place video land aren’t we and got into it in a completely different way yeah
And I think I think that makes I think that makes for better understanding of uh of what people want I guess and it makes a more interesting and diverse community of where people you don’t want 200 people to be turning up from the same place because guess what the
Content will be the same because they’ve been taught the same they’ve learned the same and they’ve dealt with the same scenario so I think um I think it’s good and I think if there’s one thing that I’m quite proud of I guess it’s when
When I met Al from 44th who was at the time working for fast bikes and we just did a couple of silly interviews of you know Baron von Grumble you know what you do and then we ended up going down to port for one of their super bike of the
Year T Sports spot spotties as I used to call them where I met Gary har sea for the first time Bridgestone Gary and um a love bloomed there but uh but yeah so that that was that was a great trip and and got chatting and then we 44 teeth
Was born out of the sale of fast bikes uh to Morton I think yeah and Al didn’t want to go and and do that so we’re like well let’s try something uh and again his traditional to a point journalistic background CU he started a similar time to me and I think he also
Won his job at fast bars okay but in a less uh formal way I think they were going to start a competition but maybe didn’t go through it as as deeply as weed do you think they saw how you how MCN did we’ll I think Al joined in a
Similar way yes yeah I think maybe a year or two behind me so we’ve been we’ve kind of grown up together as well so it’s interesting to see see his journey and how he’s ended up yeah it’s it’s it’s kind of like a uh there’s there’s a what do they call that point
Where everything sort of comes to a convergence or something I think it’s all being dragged one way or another to to this point where you have to consider all of these options but but yeah so so then so 44 teeth was born out of that kind of thing and uh I definitely feel
That we were part of an industry change M and I think through through luck or judgment or whatever and just reading the signs of what was happening we had this Perfect Blend of blogging this whole new era yeah and traditional journalism to help with the brands and
And the manufacturers because you got to get in with the manufacturers I mean now now it’s it’s easier if you got a big following to be honest you can probably just ring up whoever and go yeah I’m so and so can I borrow a bike and they
Probably say yes yeah exactly um but at that time we had nothing so and it was like you’re what you’re you’re an influenc you well in fact the term influencer didn’t even exist when I started it was you’re a vlog a vlogger yeah a vlogger a vlogger and uh and
Anyway we we yeah we we were lucky enough to to create what we created in 44 teeth which was this blend which feels like the traditional magazines have now been trying to play catchup for the last six or seven years to create what we had or what we what we started
Um and now this is that that seems to be where we’re at you need a de you need a degree of professionalism and Industry uh knowledge yeah to be respected enough I mean look sure there’s a load of uh influencers out there who have got massive numbers but let’s face it don’t
Really know that much about how to ride a bike industry you stuff how how things work they’ve just got a massive following which absolutely fine by me doesn’t bother me um but I think you’ve got to get that Magic Window it’s like the operational window of a race bike
Yeah exactly you know it’s it’s a very difficult thing to tiptoe around and keep the the the the fans happy with the slightly Renegade approach to things but not go too far that the manufacturers go we’ve got to disassociate ourselves with this because there’s so much fear now
Uh and this cancel culture we’re in that it’s it’s it’s put 44 teeth in quite a difficult position I mean we could have over the years made a lot more money and a lot more growth by being more acceptable yeah but it’s not what we wanted and this is why I
Have this sort of prickly relationship with everything because I’m like well that’s not how people talk it’s not how the reality of Bloks down a bike Cafe talk about yeah [ __ ] so but yeah I’m quite proud of I think how we at least instigated that change in the industry
Which I think is for better yeah absolutely so was there a time before you met Al when you were doing your Vlogs that you kind of wanted to enter the media world the motorcycle media world or was it complete accident by chance you met Howen the ideas fled yeah
No complet CU I that’s what I wanted to do more than anything and that’s why I still doing it now because it’s my dream job I was quite I I think I was quite uh arrogant about the whole thing actually I a guy who used to work with
Me called olle he had a olle 333 was his YouTube channel and he said Chris you got to start you got you got to do this this blogging thing we put it on YouTube and make videos I like you what sharp like what what a loser I’m not doing
That and um it it felt I eventually started doing it because I kept kept getting sort of I was bored of traveling in and out had like an hour and 20 minute commute each day on the bike all weather’s on my gorgeous GSX r000 bless it and um it was
Boring and you almost I almost wore a camera to regulate don’t speed you got a camera on you don’t want to get pulled over and busted blah anyway so I thought I’ll just do this thing and I had a very Cavalier don’t give a [ __ ] attitude which was opposite to the the bloggers
That were in that field a lot of them anyway because they I think they did care quite a lot and I think I had this accidental Cavalier yeah I had a great job I was earning loads of money I was had a production company in SoHo I don’t
Really need it so I didn’t even really um talk that much about motorcycles in fact in most bloggers didn’t talk anything about motorcycles motor vloggers they just talked about life and that’s what I really really liked I like the communication and talking about problems whether it’s or or or silly
Things that happened you know I remember one video called alcohol induced knob chat which was just a a discussion about these weird Scandinavian axe throwers that I met the night before and we were talking about shower or grower you know but they call it a sports [ __ ] or a
Blood coock and stuff like that and and that that to me was entertainment and the fact that I was riding a bike was cool but it wasn’t a bike review no and I always resisted I found it it’s so e compared to having entertaining and engaging conversations like that I find it so
Easy to go and knock a bike review out it’s boring so actually the answer is probably no I don’t particularly like doing bike reviews um I prefer the entertainment side of things I think and that comes through in the videos isn’t it I I think so it’s an entertainment
Channel isn’t it first and foremost yeah I mean if I’m struggling for Content it’s it’s so easy to go I’ll just go do a bite review on this because it’s easy you’ve got a format to follow yeah how does it ride how does it feel how much
Is it what does it do what category is it in you can you can follow a formula which is why there’s so many channels out there which do that very same thing because it’s pretty easy yeah but if you want to step it up to really entertain
People enough for them to come out of their way to buy a Cinema ticket to go watch you cocking around on on the big screen and you know travel 200 miles that’s an achievement and that that I’m more proud of than any bike review that we’ve done did you ever envisage you’d
Be have your stuff on a big screen no so last year was the first year of doing this wasn’t it yeah um and it was it’s the best thing we’ve done financially and for enjoyment it ticks all the boxes um it’s not easy to make money on YouTube as I’m
Sure you’re probably yeah finding out um but it’s handy for a bit of pocket money to help tide you over um and again from in recent years my my production company dead pixels which I I ran for quite long it’s still going I still do occasional jobs but it went from having
Six or seven staff in SoHo to now having a little unit with no stuff just Freelancers as as and when full of motorbikes and with that it’s come a massive pay cut like massive yeah but you’ve got to ask yourself the question what’s making you happier and at this
Point in my life it’s motorcycles and I’ve got to stop feeling guilty about not abandoning that side of my life because I think it’s helped creatively I used to Direct TV commercials done a load of like Motion Graphics and stuff and produce video and animated content which
Is why I think which shows in the the videos that we make it’s got a different sort of feel to it and and so without that previous life I wouldn’t be here yeah exactly so I can’t discount it but um yeah it’s that to to get to then now be
Seeing the light that there is a financial Avenue to to go to actually make I’m not like I don’t care if I don’t end up being a millionaire but it it’d be nice to to be paid yeah enough you know and now you can go okay well
Actually it could work and it’s not the cinemar the best thing about it is completely separate to sucking a Brand’s dick to go hey we want to advertise your product it’s irrelevant it’s a direct contact between you and the fans and YouTube’s irrelevant as well because you
Don’t have to play by their rules and their silly games that they play oh you can’t say that you can’t question that you can’t do that you got to do this you got to make it safe you got to make it all Al so they can sell advertisements
On the back of your videos um so you don’t have to play the algorithm game either we’ve done the hard work in creating a fan base which is so loyal which is incredible yeah that they want want to come and see us and uh so you you’ve got a direct relationship with
Them they pay you directly it works well and we’re going to have a good time we do q&as and it’s not just the film that’s one thing making the film but it’s it’s a brilliant laugh you should come well there’s there is one in we were going to do petza but they don’t
Have an A I think there’s how far are you from Norwich uh not nowhere’s far too far Hull there’s one in Hull it’s near Chad that one is it oh don’t go to that one definitely come along but how have you seen YouTube change since you
Started you say it’s changed a lot yeah wild I mean I think I’ve interesting to see what the date of the first video I put up with but it was probably 2011 right so we’re probably 12 going on 13 years into it and it was a wild west
Of anything goes which was very appealing actually because we were still in the the the controls of Television media and then suddenly this hey you can do what you want like you can be who you want to be and in fact the the very name YouTube was putting you right on the
Telly yeah and it was this like wow this whole new thing um and it seemed that the videos you put out back then they didn’t have like nowadays you put a video out and it Peaks day one and then just flatlines yeah and that’s it you
Don’t seem to get any unless it’s a particular thing that you might have stumbled into this window this tiny performance window where one or two videos will just keep going but most of them hit this thing Peak turn off and I’m I’m I don’t know the ins anounce of
It it’s a dark mystery I don’t think anyone really does but you it’s a concern these days whereas before it wasn’t you put a video out and if it was good it would get watched yeah would you make decent money off of it the beginning no the money is better now
Right like without a doubt but the Hoops you have to jump through to get that money ends up affecting your content because you end up shaping it to be commercial which ends up being down of what you yeah quite dry and and nothing’s going to you can’t
Change the world on YouTube anymore no um and that is completely counter to what it I thought it was like Hey you mean I can I can help not that I want to tell people what to do or educate them I don’t I’m not you know I’m trying to put
Words into people people’s mouths or minds but you felt like you could make a bit of a difference whereas any off off topic slightly controversy or even just doing those touring videos like the the permission to talk stuff you can see algorithmically that YouTube’s just not interested and because it can’t I think
It’s because it can’t sell stuff against it it’s difficult to sell stuff you know as you know when you you upload a video now you have to sign a a submit ratings and all of this stuff oh no it doesn’t contain any of this so make sure it’s
Safe for advertisers and I think if you did a exhaust review or a motorcycle review even that’s likely to be better up there particularly if you’re not riding it because again for some reason YouTube doesn’t particularly like well you got a video pulled from the Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RR launch something
That wasn’t dangerous Well we’ we’d we’d much prefer to take it being pulled we got uh like a Black Flag we got we got a an absolute fingering for that yeah on the same level it was like categorized as dangerous ignment or something no yeah yeah it’s on the same level they
They categorized it as uh uh on par with explaining how to make an explosive device like an IED and you’re like hang on and all it was was Boo the overtook not on a solid white or anything that’s right well we were in a all in a train together yeah
Yeah we weren’t doing anything wrong and who and this is the bit that absolutely terrifies me because who made that decision what happened fair enough if it was like a competitor that was like I hate these guys I’m just going to complain about everything which I’m sure we get but
We we we didn’t even know for a month what it was that caused that Community guidelin strike it’s a big deal can you talk to them or they impossible to get hold of impossible to get hold of after after trying I think six weeks later we
Got a Time code of what the problem was cuz I was like was it something boy said was it you know what the hell was this um yeah and then we eventually got a Time code and we’re like it’s an overtake and the car coming towards
Didn’t flash or it wasn’t even like a oh that was close or anything so it’s terrifying that there is that control uh aspect and I’ve known other creatives that have had uh time taken out of their videos wow cut like sections of of video without YouTube even telling them
Shortening it to get rid of certain things wow and that is scary isn’t it just scary but but we’re here we’re all conforming because we all want to be a successful YouTuber yeah um so this is my prickly predicament because it enables me to do this and talk and put
Alternative uh points of view out there I guess but also you still have to tickle the balls the main man yes and and it’s just it’s distasteful yeah so you going to carry on with the YouTube stuff yeah yeah yeah but I’m just going to carry on and do whatever [ __ ] I want
And but it’s almost a launch pad for you to do other things now yeah I think so and this podcast you know I don’t know where this is going to go I don’t know what’s going to happen but you know what I’ve got loads of other difficult stuff
In my life when I add another one yeah exactly yeah make the day go for faster didn’t it yeah so what’s what’s the fundamental difference between the things you do for 44 teeth and for your own channel and your own social media um I guess I stopped um I pretty much
Stopped doing all pretty much all bvg stuff when 44 teeth started getting a bit of a run MH um for numerous reason not out of purpose but the time to do that and run the day job at the time and do my own stuff it was like let’s just
Focus on this and you know and get it done but I think I don’t to be honest I don’t know what the difference is going to be it’s kind of I I do feel like I’m at this point in my life now where I kind of
Need to [ __ ] or go off the pot and and I I’m desperate for a direction that is is more clear and positive but I’m again amazingly fortunate enough to have a lot of strings in my bow and all of them the this fork in the road all of
The paths are pretty good yeah you know I could go I could focus on that one and that would be amazing or focus on that one but one thing I’ve definitely learned you can’t focus on no that’s right so that there is going to come a time I mean we’re actually talking about
Um with another friend of mine rxy Jimmy feta uh he he does some stuff for us uh and we’re gonna we’re looking at setting up an agency type deal um world exclusive uh where I I think from the knowledge we have of the industry and of motorcycles and the
Respect that we have out there it just seems like a natural step because we’ve worked with so many brands that sadly don’t have it like they they have they’re tied into oh sorry we can’t do that because the agency we’ve tied into this agency and the agency’s got no idea
About even how to take a photograph of a motorcycle we I’m sure you’ve been on a launch where you’ve got a photographer clinically an excellent photographer skill but the bike looks they don’t know bike they don’t know bikes then they’re just going to take a picture which you you’re going to go I
Look [ __ ] there I’m not going to put that up but the bike looks amazing yeah it does look amazing I’m not going to put that cuz it looks sh yeah exactly I look like I’m you know a Duffer like outlab whatever yeah um so so I think that’s an a longer term natural
Progression for me to start doing that because I don’t want to be Jeremy Clarkson’s age still slogging it around fair enough if I had as much money as I probably will yeah but this is motores so you got to turn it down a bit it just it feels like you
Know I’ve got to the businesses that I’m involved in there’s got to be a way of of not being a key man in all of them like you’ve got to be able to go hang on actually we could start this company which then um uh operates on
A a more staff basis so so if in 10 years time I go do you know what I want to go and buy an island now and fat enough you can sell your businesses because nobody’s going to buy a business that nobody’s going to buy the Baron von
Grumble channel for example it’s you yeah exactly so so I think that channel this one that we’re on now will always be here a piece of me deciding whatever I want to do at the time is right to do so however I evolve that’s going to be
There whereas the other stuff like the 44 teeth or uh whatever bike sausage which is another thing got all these other little things they need a cohesive um structure so uh who knows what’s going to what’s going to come of that but ultimately we’ve done the hard work
Which is getting the audience and doing that we how long’s it been now almost 10 years now which is kind of criminal actually that we’re still at 300,000 subscribers I think we should be way above that yeah yeah but again it’s because we haven’t taken this next Leap
Of we need people to help us do this because you can’t do everything you can’t no me and Al can’t shoot the video edit the video be in the video uh manage the emails do our tax return that it’s just so timec consuming just editing hours and hours and hours just flies by
And now I mean I’m I’m in the just started doing we we were looking at getting an Editor to do budger by battle 7 for us but uh it’s just going to be too much of a task if you weren’t on the the job it’s very difficult to see what
What it was so giv instructions is as timec consuming as actually doing it isn’t it yeah and uh so I’ve just started laying that out now so that’s going to be two months probably did you work together in front of a computer doing that uh I’m a bit he does a bit
Yeah depending on what other roles we got to do yeah yeah so and and what’s your what’s your plan then because your your channel um Ney bikes YouTube uh I really like it thanks mate I think I think what you’ve sort of stumbled into there and I know we had a chat off
Camera of how you stumbled into it is a is a again a really nice little performance window of to the point as I said you’re very calming and easy to watch and I think that that’s why a lot of people can just go oh know I’m going to put the
Kettle on and just have that going there you don’t necessarily have to watch it either no that’s the other good thing you can just sort of sit there and and have it going in the background and it and it helps people who like bikes and yeah well stumbling into it is the the
Right term because I’ve been I think I’ve had my channel going since about 2012 and predominantly to produce racing blogs for when I was racing yeah as a little bit of a thank you to sponsors and just it never really got any views then I started doing every year uh a
Road testers diary and it was kind of I remember but on that first uh z000 launch that I did I was with a kazaki PR guy and he said I always take pictures of you know the the launch so I can reme you know remember and that sort of stuck
With me and I I take video clips of every job I go on even if it’s a little road test down the road and at the end of the year I Cate all the little like my own diary and I used to put my own favorite music that meant the most to me
That year on it yeah so it was the channel was never monetized I just used to do it as a bit of fun and then last year I decided to do a little uh um video on how I got the job cuz it was a
20 my 20 year anniversary and it got a lot lot of views and a lot of interests and I suddenly thought cuz in MCN I’m I’m kind of in a bubble where I don’t I’m just I’m just in This radest brilliant bubble but I don’t really sort of have any interaction with anybody
Else any readers or anything the only interaction I get is the comments on our videos where they’re not necessarily that kind with MCN because people are when it comes to a big organization or a company like or a football team people can be quite vitriolic towards you but
If it’s an individ ual then they’re not they’re generally quite kind as I’m sure they are CU because 44 teeth is is you and L yes but it’s also and I think this was a negative as well it’s also still seen as a company so you have the
Negative of that like like this is why big companies need influencers and individuals to help grow their perception because a company’s never in my opinion a duo or a trie or whatever is never going to have as many dedicated followers as an individual yeah person exactly
Um let me just this is about to run our battery and I just want to I’m just going to stop recording and then start again are we going again yeah well we’ll just go till that battery runs out there’s one dble left but it’s probably going to be about 10 minutes or
Something and then we’ll going to have a PE break and see see where we’re at so with um yeah so I did this video explaining how I how I got my job got a lot of views and I really a lot of positive cont um comments and it kind of
Made me realize that you know I’ve been riding bikes for professionally for 20 odd years I’ve probably ridden every new bike since 1990 I’ve got all this knowledge and experience with motorcycles and the industry that I never really talk about you know it’s there subconsciously every
Time I do a road test I draw on that experience but I never actually talk about it with anyone so I decided to make a few videos of just looking at Old MCN when I first started I kept every single MCN I was in and because I didn’t
Think the dream would ever last ended up stopped doing it in like 20 20 or something when the stack got too high so I went back and talked about certain road tests and mik you know not just what the bike was like but what you know
The industry was like at the time what was going on at the time and then started to get a lot of questions in the comments and then inspired by Justin Hawkins of all people watching one of his videos by accident and he was doing his Q&A and Justin Hawkins is he’s the
Um the darkness singer I’m not really a Darkness fan that’s it but he’s a really interesting guy and people were just asking him questions and I thought well maybe I could do a similar thing for bikes so MH I end up ended up doing these weekly you know thanks for asking
Videos where people ask questions and yeah you can just give them your benefit of your experience I’m jealous of that if I’m honest because it’s it’s one of those like oh [ __ ] that’s a good idea because it’s it’s not again it’s it’s so difficult to go out if you want to go
Out and do a motorcycle review or you want to go and do a proper feature you need people are so critical about sound video but you need a professional both of those disciplines you need time you need whole day sometimes two days you got to get a hotel somewhere you need
Money you need all this stuff and I’m not saying you should never do that but it’s it adds like labor and intensity whereas that thing that you’ve got there is you can just you can do it with a phone you exactly you you don’t you don’t have to have this amazing stuff
And uh yeah it’s brilliant and that’s a perfect example of I think what the type of content that YouTube is feeling safe to promote there is no dangerous writing there is no loud exhaust there is no yobbish sort of stuff even if you drive around like Miss Daisy it still seems
That whether it’s the audio quality YouTube’s just not interested whereas opinion pieces and personality um that is a is a is a favorite and you can see it in your in your video like reflection of your the views are so much higher aren’t they yeah in those ones so yeah
Yeah it’s a dark art for sure but it’s a it’s a great I really enjoy I enjoyed doing my first MCM video I think was like 2006 or something like that so at the time none of us knew what we were doing none of us have been taught s you
Know how how do you present you know I guess the only references back then would be Top Gear or or something like that there was no other YouTube channels so it’s kind of taught ourselves as we’ve been going going along and doing my own videos has helped me with my MCM
Videos you’ve seen launch environments it’s very hard to make a video at a launch and how and how was uh how are MCN with your own stuff um well I make sure it doesn’t conflict with anything I do at MCN so I’d never do a a new bike
Review for example yeah um but you know I talk about what I do at MCN in my videos they haven’t told me not to do them it’s got I mean it’s got to help them isn’t it and this is why we off camera were saying actually that that it would be
Difficult to do because we want to do a podcast on 44 tth but at the moment we got so much going on and it’s so hard for us to be in the same location and you really need if you’re going to if we’re going to do it right on on a scale
That 44 teeth should be doing it it needs to be committed like at least one a week smashing it out um but it would be I don’t think MCN would be particularly happy if you were on a 44 Teeth podcast no exactly so but this is the beauty of having your own individual
Outlets like you may you may start a business and do whatever in your future with motorbikes or whatever but you’ll still always have neesy bikes yeah because that is you exactly and um and I think the value particularly from what MCN get you know how many times have you
Said MCN in this podcast yeah and so it’s part of it’s it’s an extra feather in your hat yeah and hopefully they feed each other yeah you know well it’s the same way that that this channel feeds 44 teeth you know with I’m pretty without you know when we had that Kickstart with
44 teeth where I’d already had a pretty decent following I think I had 100,000 subscribers on YouTube when 44 teeth was started so it was like Hey I’m doing this thing yeah so we had that influx the the PE the party started you don’t have to sit there being the lonely guy
You know just drinking a p like hey yeah you’re here for the party you know there was already a bit of a Vibe which was useful and and I think and people who are too insul go oh no I can’t do that with them they’re the enemy yeah yeah I
Think they’re there they’re strangling themselves I think there’s enough there’s enough to go around and it’s just another social media Outlet isn’t it you know you can you can have your own Twitter account and Facebook account Instagram and YouTube’s just a are you big on socials how how do you what’s
Your well I suppose you know being there at the beginning of Facebook you kind of people are naturally nosy aren’t they well I am I like to see what other people are up to then you kind of got the you one of the stalker do you have like fake face Facebook accounts
They have to dig out your ex-girlfriend but now I I enjoy I enjoy Twitter because it’s kind as a news source I never really get involved too much with you know conversations or anything like that but if you’re you know really into motorbik Racing for example you can you can get the stories
From the horse’s mouth so short as well it’s like I just want to blip I want to I want to I want to know yeah I’m not not so ke on Facebook anymore um no don’t think anyone it seems it seems like quite uncool I mean I I deleted my Facebook
Account five years ago now probably something like that and sometimes I regret it I’m like oh that would have been quite useful but whatever it’s gone um but it almost seems a bit like the kids are like oh my mom’s on Facebook exactly you know it’s a bit yeah
Dreary it’s a bit oh Mom and Dad are here you know so I’ve joined Tik Tok recently but I don’t really understand that I don’t understand that so I don’t theth I don’t really feed that we’ve got a Tik Tok Channel as well that again um
Rxy was like you guys need a Tik Tok because we we we were working with uh some new brands and they were like right so what have you got on this following that following and what’s your Tik Tok and we’re like we don’t have one yeah
Yeah why not and I don’t think and again it’s difficult cuz does it does it matter is is our audience going to be on Tik Tok yeah is it the same group of people isn’t it and is it the same group of people but I mean I see Tik Tok as
Just you know underage teen girls mainly uh I don’t I don’t and it’s like well what what are they going to want to watch our exactly stuff for probably so is it irrelevant I think at this stage perhaps yeah but then is it going to grow I don’t know um so does social
Media help uh 44 teeth’s YouTube channel at all yes um but most of the video like it would be it would still be 90% of what it is if we didn’t post on the other socials because YouTube is a I think I class that one is slightly different
That sort of that feeds its own monster yeah um it feeds itself because it’s got its own if you get a video in the sidebar of YouTube You’re golden so that’s the goal yeah so but YouTube’s got to like it for that but it has its
Own way of dealing with things and it is I mean look I complain about it but it’s a very impressive system and uh and it’s inverted commers free I mean they take half of our Revenue which is a lot of money and then they can’t be bothered to
Tell us why we got our video exactly declined so I do get frustrated with it but it’s it is a it’s an incredible thing and uh I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do the adventures I’ve done without it what’s your most successful 44 teeth video how do you define success
Uh okay let’s do views views I think it’s probably one of or a couple of the mega tests right um yeah so the so the big super bite test which we haven’t done in a few years um mainly because the there’s not many left no you know they
Becoming more relevant as well because they’re so good they are so good if you’re testing a prilia BMW and dati they’re all amazing just buy the one you fancy yeah what type of Personality are you I think that’s the key you know and I mean yeah I get I get criticized for
My apparent bias towards BMW quite a lot yeah but that’s just because I’ve ended up at liking their products more than the other ones and it’s difficult to um uh why should I not get to ride the bike that I want yeah you know and just
Because on a test I’m always as bi as unbiased as possible you have to be but you can’t help liking the one that you like and I think that’s important as a piece of commun communication particularly if You’ got Al who’s a bit more flashy and racy and wants to have
The the Multistrada for example rather than the GS that’s what that’s what arguments are about that’s what that’s what going for a ride with your mates and having a having a dig at someone oh you got the old man GS of you well it’s carrying all your luggage mate exactly
You know it’s it’s just it’s just BS and um so if anything I go harder on BMW on launches and uh on other reviews and stuff just because there is this perception oh Chris loves loves BMWs well I do but it’s Al it’s almost like
If your kid is you you’re the soccer dad uh manager of the team you know under under 15s whatever and your kids in the team you can’t be seen to give give kid a good so you go you go hard on him and um yeah some things BMW aren’t very
Happy with me but you know that’s that’s that’s still I mean the GS for me is still the bike I I would never want to give up because it enables me to do things and that’s more important than setting a fast lap time yeah exactly it’s interesting you’re talking about
What you know your friends think about bikes as a road tester you can can never really give your opinion on bike a bike’s looks cuz it’s so subjective isn’t it so you only ever talking about a bike’s merits or or otherwise but I’ve got a kawazaki h2sx this year as a
Long-term test bike and it’s fine but it’s ugly as Sin and uh I was on holiday with my friends and none of them even wanted to sit on it so offensively ugly but you can’t say that in a rot test because no someone might I did get in
Trouble with Kawasaki though I did um I did say I can’t remember where it was I think it was on a test but it might have been unusal was I did say that most Kawasakis look like a alien craft has crash landed into a prosthetic Factory exactly and they weren’t very happy with
It but now it’s become this like of in joke and and but most people would kind of agree they’re not the most beautiful things it’s like it’s like an alien wear gaming PC that’s what that’s the brand Direction they’ve gone down and that’s absolutely fine and if you if you I’m
Sure if they wanted to make a more beautiful panagar esque beautiful design thing they could if they set their mind to it but that’s not the direct design language that they’ve chosen to to represent but are there any beautiful Japanese bikes at the moment an R1 in
Race trim looks beautiful it does look beautiful yeah but no ugly no they’ve all got this sort of mechanoid like robotic like I mean I quite like the whole Dark Side of Japan Mt stuff that that yam’s putting out oh and that new mbra xsr 900 GP that looks nice that
Looks pretty cool but again that’s a very acquired taste and if you’re not into old bikes you’re probably not going to you’ll be like what’s that weird yeah exactly um so yeah I mean that might be because why European bikes are so successful now I mean 10 years ago most
People still buying Japanese it’s a safe option but now European bikes have come on so far and they’re beautiful a lot of them yeah you’re right and and and maybe that’s a slight reflection in society where everyone most people can’t ride a panic gly to its limit me definitely in
Most people can’t like I don’t think anyone probably can unless you’re Moto GP Rider yeah yeah so so then the performance of any of these things which is as you know youve we’ve done it you do these tests and the lap times are like within yeah half a second normally
Covers the top three bikes doesn’t it it’s not it’s tiny tiny margins so you might as well buy something that looks good especially when you’ve got the social media world going oh you got a new V4 oh isn’t that beautiful that is I mean that is it doesn’t matter you’re
Not going to get to the shops any quicker no but it looks absolutely drop dead gorgeous and it’s the bike to have yeah yeah if you turn up on a ZX10R brilliant bike yeah yeah but you’re not going to get the Kudos because it’s not as pretty and it’s not as influential
And in this world of keeping up with the Joneses sadly we’re raising an army of people who are very concerned about how things look so yeah maybe it is something to do with the lack of Japanese um products but then performance-wise it’s actually generally the Europeans that are on top
Top of the tests as well isn’t it so it’s not just um it’s not just how they look no exactly um and what is up with their abs systems and they’re so I mean you know better than anyone the R1 standard ABS is Virgin on dangerous on
Track I think it I I think it’s beyond virging on dangerous it it absolutely is dangerous and um I just don’t see how the catti’s system is incredible the new BMW systems incredible um not so bad that’s kind of halfway hous yeah but why why can’t yeah just turn it off just
Give as a button to turn it off that’ll do yeah because if you’re riding close to other riders with that ABS you don’t know if you’re actually going to stop or not no so you end up I I do this thing on a Japanese bik I’ll I’ll at least
Roll for a second before hitting the break yeah just to sort of yeah you can’t go just to get don’t know it’s going to be there you don’t and and it’s it’s terrifying yeah yeah yeah but I’d agree with you about the GS I think that’s probably I I don’t want to like
It but no but it’s when you ride one it’s just brilliant it just it’s an enabler and it’s and and there’s nothing cooler I think it’s cooler pulling you know a proper minger of a wegie on a fully loaden GS than it is on any super
Bike yeah yeah cuz it’s a monster the adventure spec M look at that and and now and you mentioned this on the video was it last night about how even those that you’re a sports bike guy but even you know the performance level of these middleweights and Adventure bikes has
Got so good now that it is at the same street performance level as super bikes maybe Beyond because more accessible more accessible easier to ride softer more compliant and they they often come with better tires I more more British roadworthy tires bigger front wheel yeah you know they
Are amazing these new these new what about the new GS what do you think on that yeah I think well I had a bit of a because interestingly I was on the launch recent I you were going to be weren’t you yeah and I think they did a
Bit of a a bit of a a bit of boooo really because they BMW UK and dealers weren’t expecting that bike to be in the dealerships as soon as it was we got invites two months before the event like oh Wicked and I love a GS love it super
Excited and then about a week and a half before I started seeing these videos pop up on YouTube about bikes and dealers and I was like yeah uh hang on aren’t we aren’t we the Press aren’t we supposed to do we not having exclusive and um and it’s like oh okay
Well hang a bike like that the they the press or the influencers whoever they’ve chosen to market the bike need to be the first ones to ride it because otherwise what’s the point of turning up frankly if you know Billy big balls or whatever his name is on YouTube has just gone
Into a dealership in Germany taken a bite out doesn’t matter if it’s in Germany we’re a global language they all speak English and he’s done his review and sucked up all of the sort of content it’s like where’s the exclusive there what are we going to do and um this
Touches on the launch fever I guess we we spoke about earlier the hard work nature of it it’s like do I want to get up early travel to the airport go out to Spain for three days I know it sounds like first world problems be away from
The office loads of other stuff to do come back downtime edit that’s a week it’s a week for that bike when actually um I could could go to the dealership take one out in a real world scenario which is a bit like your MCN 250 it’s very different riding a bike that you
Just get the keys to and go off on it then you have day of pampering massaging and it’s those launches do affect you because you sit there and you hear all these amazing stuff about the bike and you can’t help but going oh quite fancy
One of those ex you can’t help it can you so it’s a very different proposition and and um yeah so I I just said to B I like I’m really sorry but I just feel like I can’t afford to come out and spend three or four days with you doing
This when I could do a just the same job maybe inverted commas a better job yeah when you’re not riding around riding around with you know ducks in a row everyone’s videos are the same Germany were out there a week before the UK anyway there’s no embargo on it yeah
Exactly so I didn’t go it was interesting when we were there cuz we were late on in the launch schedule ah right so sorry about that the battery just uh what to do to change over and we took advantage of the local cafe and had
Um I had a tuna fish jacket potato a lovely little chicken wrap I was quite jealous of your rap I think that was the way to go yeah anyway where were we BMW gs’s what’ you reckon new one yeah I mean again I think I talked about my
Bias for BMW but I I am a l I’m not disappointed with the bike but I’m a little wary let’s say of the direction they’ve chosen to go I think maybe they are trying to chase the top level Sport Line headlines of multi sters KTMs because a lot of people have you know
It’s oh it’s not as fast as a multi Str it’s not this it’s not that but that’s not to me what a GS is and a GS is an enabler which lets me travel all the world um and there’s billions of accessories wherever you are in Europe certainly there’s always a really good
BMW dealership nearby they can run on you know low crap fuel they’re just they’re the Workhorse that is comfortable long range and uh a really nice place to be the new one is excellent like dynamically it is I I guarante if you put them on a track it’ll be considerably quicker yeah than
The than the outgoing model if that’s what you want to do with the GS uh I would argue potentially it’s not what you want to do with a GS but it’s great to have nonetheless but I think it might be to the detriment of the the existing
Consumer uh and I don’t know if that’s what people actually asked for in the Gs and it’s it’s definitely a lot firmer and a lot racier to me it feels like a massive super motor yeah um yeah what about you I think for um the kind of
Person that enjoys a GS the the current one is is perfect there’s there’s not a lot of things you could improve other than maybe things like an electric screen some people like adaptive cruise control instead of the standard stuff yeah I mean the electric screen this one
Does have an electric screen doesn’t it um and it’s and it’s actually pretty good like why is it taking 20 years to appear on the flagship model when it’s been on an RT since 200 God knows yeah um but yeah it’s uh yeah some of I think
They’ve taken it in a sportier direction and I don’t think the average GS owner is going to really want that I think they is a little bit of a step back in Comfort the seat Comfort it’s quite a hard seat after a couple of hours the
Ride is quite firm did you did you find a difference we were just talking off camera about because uh I don’t I don’t know what it recorded actually but I wasn’t at the launch I did the UK thing did you find a difference between riding
The bike out in Spain with the glitz and the the glamour of EasyJet uh to the reality of a miserable day around Peterborough um it’s kind of double-edged Sword really I mean yes when you’re in Spain in a nice location riding on nice roads you have a different experience than riding around
The MCN 250 which is I mean we actually had a good day for it but just normal everyday roads um there’s the advantage of us doing an MCN 250 we did it against the old bikes that is’s an immediate comparison whereas when you ride a bike in isolation you’re not quite sure what
The so difficult isn’t it yeah no bike modern bike in isolation is bad is it exactly I think what what a launch is really good for us for MCN and for the magazines is um being able to immerse yourself in that bike you know for the time of the launch speak to the
Engineers and really it’s BMW’s only chance to to sing from the rooftops of that bike and and and you know dive deep into what it’s got after that that’s gone then they move on to the next thing did were they talking about its sportiness or it’s was it was that they
Were proud of its um lack of weight which is a good thing that’s always a good thing it is but it’s 12 kilos lighter than the old bike we put it on a scales M the the the weight figure they give is a billy basic bike the ones we
Had which I think one you wrote the tramontana option 719 weighs 261 kilos in real life right fully fueled fully fueled so still a heavy bike but it does feel lighter more agile than the and generally smaller I’d say quite a lot smaller Slimmer smaller tank yeah the
Both bikes do the same MPG more or less right obviously the old one can go further it’s the Le big what about the gearbox because I’m some of the some of the G even the same model they can feel quite different like it could be exactly the same year
Of manufacturer but a gearbox feels a bit clunkier on one to another that is a bit of a downfall some of the bikes I’ve ridden from BW in the past but I feel my current 1250 is a bit smoother and generally just a rounded softer bike to
Get on with I know it’s an adventure and I do think that when they bring out the adventure version I think that’s going to be a a very different Affair it’s not just going to be the current 1300 with a big tank I think it’s going to be much more
Rangy I think G generally the new bike is is sharper isn’t it stiffer it’s more urgent on the throttle and the gearbox is kind of feels crisper we didn’t have any problems with it feeling bad no but there’s we we part of our test was with ailon and there’s
Still that big gap between first and second it’s really hard to be smooth with really diff it’s such a that’s a funny thing yeah that’s that you never un if you unless you’ve ridden with ailon you they don’t know when you’re going to shift so you have to do this
Like oh hang on hang on yeah um and I had a few Mis gears actually between fourth and fifth at the launch and and here right okay I’m not sure if it’s just drop foot not um putting it in positively enough but maybe yeah so it’s
A great bike like you say but I don’t really was it asked for that’s that’s I think GS owners asking for it no no I think it was again you know just chatting [ __ ] with your mates down the PB oh your bike’s a slow old tractor it’s like all right well it’s carrying
All your [ __ ] you know exactly it’s the donkey but I love the donkey and it’s not a donkey that sounds derogatory it’s brilliant you sink into it with the body workk wraps around you it’s smooth the engine is more mellow on the old one feels nicer yeah it’s more live I think
It’s like anyway I think on paper the new one’s better in real life the experience it gives you I think the old one is still brilliant here’s a question though would if they’re the same price which one would you buy I think if I could take the electric so they’re both
Band both brand new bikes zero miles I think the old one if I could have the elect Electric Screen Off the new one yeah the wind protection is far superior much better and if I could maybe have the adaptive cruise control I wasn’t a fan of that to begin with but when you
Ride a lot with it it does make life easier yeah but they’re the only two things they’re two little toys it’s got the bike itself I think I probably still have the old one and it looks substantial do looks like a big Tonka toy it just yeah I like and I like the
Adventure with all the rails and stuff over it I’m not sure about the new luggage it’s a bit executive anyway anyway still a good bik it’s still yeah it’s still going to be fantastic I mean speaking of BMW rack yeah which is actually how he pronounces I’ve heard him according to
My video yeah um and everyone was like even top rack can’t pronounce his own name uh BMW I mean on the face of it you think why what’s he doing I mean I understand there’s a political reason behind it maybe they didn’t have his tummy tickle by Yamaha enough really
When it came to the MotoG GP they gave him a ride on that bike didn’t they and perhaps it was like you know you can have a go but there’s no future in it yeah and just quickly on that point btia didn’t do very well at the weekend did
He really surprising like World Super B times yeah he said he wasn’t he was injured still from a high side at herth yeah cuz he was doing good times in previous tests apparently yeah but to race with those GP riders that no those real unusual bikes inside out yeah
Totally but it’s kind of he was he was having a bad day and maybe top rck just had a bad day on his GP GP of I mean if we don’t see top rack GP I will be really upset I think trest it’s almost like it’s gone now like that that was
The time and as you said it is a travesty I think he is the most talented Rider across any discipline right now and what he can do with a bike even though it’s so wild and you’re just like anyone else you’re just like they’re going to fall off any minute yeah yeah
But he just never does he just doesn’t do it it’s just incredible so I think moving to the BMW he will make it he will make it go around that corner yeah and I think what he was upset about the Yamaha it was just the power the BMW’s
Got the power we’ve seen that in BSB as well with with Haslam’s bike it’s got the power he can’t stop it just can’t stop and if you want anyone to figure out how to stop a bike it’s it’s him is it stop rack it’s stop rack has got ugly
Yeah so and maybe BMW got something up their sleeve I don’t know they seem to be pumping a lot of money and a lot of support into this I think ginoli might be testing for him right okay so because now Suzuki they’re out of ewc apparently
Yeah although I did get a message this morning from someone saying they were back in so yeah yeah I mean that’d be a massive coup for him wouldn’t it you know he developed probably the best MotoG GP bike of recent times I don’t know did he the Suzuki as he bowed out
It Won Won a load of races and then Suzuki pulled a plug on it that’s a travest which is just Madness but yeah in I mean and they don’t even make a GSXR in Europe any no yeah and I think apparently the ones in the states that’s just Old Stock anyway
They’re just getting rid of them so no GSXR line and two years ago they were mot GP Champions world champions of the hardest most ridiculous fair enough it was a CO season but still yeah everyone you’re still all on the grid together on the grid together exactly yeah One races
Yeah so but I it be great to see your top R but he wasn’t allowed to do the recent test was he no and that’s pathetic isn’t it just come on yeah come everyone else because I did watch Johnny Ray’s um little blog on his his Channel
About having fun on that yeah well at the fastest time yeah so but that’s another world super B Rider that you wish had have gone to motor GP and foggy even maybe it does I wasn’t that interested that then so I don’t really don’t really there’s always been that
Debate who are the fastest Riders super bikes on mot GP Bautista didn’t do the world super bike cuse much good by finishing last but no other things going on didn’t he no but then he I mean he was in GP before wasn’t he he sort of
Took a step down went to Super B I think he’s just found an amazing coupling with that bike yeah um yeah but it might be different next year with the combined weight it definitely is going to be different with the combined weight and and that the whole the motor GP tire
Pressure thing what’s your what’s your opinion on that so this is for you don’t know there’s like a minimum uh tire pressure that they’re allowed to run for apparent safety reasons which has been advised by Mitchell to not run it any lower so now they’re checking the when
They come in y uh if they’ve been cheating in ver commers I think um they’re obviously doing it to save their you know getting sued in case yeah Mitchell and are yeah 100% yeah and they’ve they’ they kind of arrived in this situation because the bikes have
Evolved so fast with the ride height devices and arrow and I think it’s put in too much pressure on that front tire so yeah they’ve got to run it but surely you said say this is what we advise and here it is in writing do not
Run this pressure lower than that if the Rider and the team decides to do it it’s up to them isn’t it exactly because now you can’t like everyone was really struggling in the last round because of the temperature Tire like track temperature ambient temperature and you saw that the like well Martin couldn’t
Ride the bike because he’s obviously one of them that runs it lower yeah exactly so what I mean it’s just like tire pressures make and then and they don’t want to crash they don’t want to fall off they don’t want to yeah have their Tire run out any earlier they don’t want
A penalty in that way but if they want to take the risk if you don’t want to take a risk don’t ride a motorgp bike I mean there’s there’s got to be there there’s got to be another way of dealing other than penalizing people three three positions or something three seconds or
Something like that three seconds yeah 3 seconds race time if you’ve seen to flout the lowest pressure and how and the pressure CH I mean listening the cometary the pressure changes so massively anyway like you could just be unlucky with the weather exactly and then suddenly you’re in the danger zone
Aren’t you so you got to then make it the bike harder to ride I more likely to crash so a lot of crashes at the weekend yeah yeah probably because they’re all running their pressures higher than they normally would so what’s safer yeah cuz they’re falling off anyway and that
Could uh determine a championship couldn’t it absolutely could yeah in fact it whiffs a little bit of I love DTI but it does I feel a little bit said this on our news show it’s a bit like the Empire from Star Wars you know they I don’t think
It’s fair to anyone else to have eight bikes on the grid I think that’s I think that’s a massive advantage and it feels like they are going to do whatever they can to get their Factory Rider to win yeah which I understand but and I would do the same yeah Absol absolutely
Because they’re playing to their advantages it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the right thing to do and and I I really hope there isn’t a situation where that tire gets inflated on Martin’s bike and it gets 3 second pen because that’s the kind of thing I could almost see happening and you just
Think I’m not to you know that that’s a a a crushing uh assumption that someone might do but it would be an easy thing to do wouldn’t it yeah it would particularly when they customer bike it’s not like it’s not like they’re going to ask Honda to do it it’s within
Their control to go should we take a risk on the tire pressures yeah let’s take a risk exactly but I don’t know about you but can you even get your head around the tire pressure changing when you’re following another Rider as amateur Riders yeah something as as fine
Tun as a few PSI raises and lowers a I don’t think I’d even notice no and B can’t even get my head around why that happens in the first obviously it does but they they’re at such a high level it’s hard to relate to isn’t it I mean
How how much does it change it’s got to be quite a bit yeah I mean they they CU they go out almost flat they do yeah which is why turn like the first corners or like the first laps are really difficult yeah um so it’s got to it’s
Got to change by at least from cold going out at least what 6 PSI you at least yeah I probably noticed that would you I think you probably I think you definitely it’s almost like going into a wet corner one isn’t it yeah yeah but then if your minimum pressure but surely
The minimum pressure must be set for that term one that opening lap right that’s the minimum pressure set by mellin because it’s only going to over increase yeah yeah I don’t know it’s complicated rules and green p and again that last world superbite race top rack
Just and then just on that little bit and you just think oh really if it was grass it wouldn’t have made any difference I know rules are rules but what a what a sad ending s end to one of the best best races yeah I think I’ve
Ever ever seen exactly what was it something like 50 position changes or something yeah Amazing Race yeah definitely the best best racing to watch at the world super B is my favorite category and it’s more relatable because it’s like you can still go out and buy
An R1 you can go and buy I mean I know they’re completely different B so anyone that actually bases their buying choices on that is probably not wise yeah CU they’re completely different things but yeah it’s amazing yeah I mean for years th000 CC group tests you’d have Z x10s
Coming last in our tests yeah because you know they’re a little bit wooden and not so good compared to theat for ex they geared to do like 200 mph and it’s the first gear is so long yeah but at the same time Johnny raised world champion when people like why you you
Know why are you saying that you must be getting Brown envelopes well yeah I mean we often discussed if we’re allowed to do a the next Mega test or whatever I know you got to test it as the factory as it comes yeah you get I mean you’re
Going to tie yourself in knots if you don’t do that but even if you got 3 or 400 quid to spend on some some bits because if you put a proper chain and sprocket gearing set up on that ZX10 yeah it would be it’ be and change seconds two seconds quicker yeah and
Turn the ABS off exactly two seconds lap quicker yeah yeah so and then it would be right up there with the rest of them so definitely which again they can change their gearing as well but the Europeans seem to be geared a lot shorter than the Japanese for some
Reason I don’t know why they do it our ones the same massive and the bikes are roomier generally yeah the catties are more comfortable aren’t they it’s amazing now better around the track as well the the jumping on the new V4 is is like getting in an armchair and it’s
Like what and it’s become such a good road bike as well compared to the what it used to be and compared to the Japanese competition so why do foot pegs need to be so high and screens need to be so low on blades and Z x10s because
You change that anyway if you’re racing yeah yeah I was going to make a height assumption then but I probably won’t I’ll get myself in hot water should we um should we do some questions I’ve got some I asked let me just grab my phone I asked
Um I asked the minions last night okay uh well I said I stated I was seeing you on the Instagrams on the Instagrams yeah so I haven’t picked any just yet but I’ll just flash up a couple we’ll do a we’ll do a quick fire uh to the show
We’ve been going for quite a while now so um yeah let’s finish off right how do you do this no uh well a lot of responses you’ll be pleased to know um oh this is actually this is the first one I’ve read and this is actually quite
Good so this is from this we want quick answers is here quickish uh ped Buck 90 hello this is for you so if you were to choose a budget bike battle what bike uh what would the bike category be oh not one that you’ve already done anything
Anything you want to do uh Maxi scooters Maxi scooters t- Maxes I love myself at T-Max the TX t-x Tech max te techmax one my favorite bikes amazing I’ll go big scooters big scooters to roome Big scooters to Rome yeah I’m in do you want
To come on the next one would you be allowed to come on the next one is that a conflict oh I think it might be a conflict yeah what if what if you just took a holiday yeah maybe I’ll ask the boss um there’s another one that’s very
Similar if you had four grand to spend on a BBB bike that’s the thing at T-Max they’re quite expensive still aren’t they yeah yeah uh best this is from WJ Vore very catchy name hello there uh best road bike to convert for track bike use I guess we’re talking sort of
Current crop I anything whatever s000 R cuz it need so little do into it to be a track bike it’s got fantastic brakes gear Rings pretty much spot on more or less just put some tires on it and off you go suspension is brilliant hey I’m not going to complain with that no
Um best bike you have ever ridden from Paul ham hwam 942 Ross’s M1 shut up yeah it’s got to be that yeah what what year 2006 the camel colors so just because of the whole experience you know just actually because the good thing about riding a
Bike is it’s just you on the bike once you’ve rolled down pit Lane no one can tell you what to do or how to ride or whatever and it was a a journalist test that they used to do at the end of the Grand Prix season and I’m out on track
With a load of other Grand Prix bikes so you sort of living your MotoG GP dream for a few Laps on then that’s something that stopped these days as well you don’t get that stopped the last one was 2007 when I rode the whole all of the
990s and all of the 800s and then in the second year of 800s they stopped it it was when they went to the control Bridgestone that might be a reason because you can’t ride them slowly can you because they need the heat in them
And it was becoming a little bit of a a circus really you know a lot of people were riding the bikes it used to be you know back in the day in the late ‘ 80s Alan cathar used to ride race bikes it pretty exclusive and then that kind of
Got bigger and bigger but yeah getting to ride the full set of bikes and riding Ross’s bike and seeing his little ninja turtle on the top Oak and a doctor down the screen and there was a PlayStation sticker on the tank and like this is amazing wow and and they all felt like
The best versions of the road bike so his felt like an R1 but amazing Nikki Hayden felt like a blade ones that are slightly different Suzuki had a V4 then so obviously that didn’t feel like a g6r but the kazaki felt like the best said x10r the deatti felt like a
999 yeah that’s pretty special man i’ I’d love to have the opportunity to ride a proper race bike like we all think we can build track bikes in our garage but we we can’t and I would just love to be able to feel what a proper bike should
Feel like like a world super bike doesn’t have to be a GP bike No in fact I think a GP bike would probably be a Step Beyond but like a or a BSB bike something that’s abs like sorted set up for your weight you got a rider you got
A tech in the garage it’s like right we’re going to do this do that I just love it because you could I would love to know what how easy they are to turn how amazing the brakes are how stable they are and how you know because apparently they’re a lot easier to ride
Well that’s the thing that that’s the thing that is the big surprise how easy they are to ride at your pace obviously when you ride at their Pace they become animals but but they’ve got the best plusher suspension they’ve got the grippiest tires they’ve got the most Progressive brakes they’ve got beautiful
Power delivery the just the throttles are just like butter and because the bikes know where they are around the track the bikes will only have enough power for that first gear hapin and no more only have enough power for that third gear corner and no more they’re
Just just beautiful to ride they’re not they they’re as far away from a gnarly like home tuned super bike or Club racing bike as you could ever get yeah yeah I can imagine and that’s what happens when you got the best of the best components set up by the best of
The best people and you know that’s what by the best Riders well if anyone out there wants to lend us a couple of World Super bikes we’ll uh we’ll do a couple of laps um what else have we got here on my list uh benai just says you’re a
Brilliant guy oh thanks Ben yeah um read that one out again uh a brilliant guy yeah uh best so this is from shyam SC best way for a beginner to get into track riding best bike best UK track do any courses I mean there’s quite a lot
To digest there but I think the the general how to get because I get that question quite a lot how do you get fast it’s a shame the Ron has some race gos finished now because that was a really good introduction into track riding in a really safe environment that stopped now
Unfortunately um why did it stop because well Honda used to support the school and I think Honda pulled out which is bit of an institution really I think it was going for 26 years and it kind of dealt with new New Riders new track Riders Road Riders who wanted to
Go on track and but I think now is really to you know there’s lots of novice only track days I think they’re a really good thing to go to even if you go and check one out before you actually go and ride just so you can get a feel
For the place and they’re normally quite low pressure in terms of bike you want something there that is going to be easy to ride not eat tires you know something middle weight something small yeah it’s funny I used to advise people to get like a 600 or something like but
Actually something like an s000 yes they are ridiculously quick but you stick that bike in Rain mode or something yeah and you could ride that all day with the safety features and everything around so I think Electronics has got such a part to play exactly I I don’t know I don’t
Know what to advise people to do these days but there an interesting kind of new breed of bikes like the R7 and the 660 and now g6r um but the trouble is with those the track day groupings don’t really suit those bikes I think the grouping should
Be more capacity and power rather than ability yeah there’s there’s always someone on an s000 that’s going to Wallop you down the straet and then stop 10 you know 20 M too soon before the corner you it so your CF Moto you race would you really want to take that out on a
Fast grp track day it’s full of r1s you’d be wincing the whole time i’ I’d take a GS I i’ like I like they would get past you would they no put the paniers on yeah I like in Practical bikes on track I think it’s fun because again for me particularly UK it’s
Different in Spain or somewhere hot and sunny and almost always perfect track temperatures and condition but I think in the UK it’s it’s so there so busy as well it’s so difficult like on Modern UK track days I’d just take something stupid and just have a go because it
Doesn’t matter what you’re on anything is fun at the limit isn’t it or near the limit in fact you could argue that a brand new R1 won’t be as fun as an old an old Milli or something fun for three laps before it absolutely knackers you out and then yeah and and
And then you get you go back and oh you weren’t faster than the session before what’s going wrong with the bike and you get caught up in your own head just go and ride something yeah exactly so so best way for beginner to get into track riding uh novice track days novice track
Days or a good group of mates and appropriate tires a lot of people just stick race tires on their bikes for they’re just hard to manage they only work in certain conditions and yeah get get appropriate tires that’s a good one and then don’t buy I mean yeah anyway I
Was talking about tires and people who buy them off x- race teams and then ride them down the cafe what are you doing oh I’ve got these you know these Leon Ham’s super bike tires great well good luck around that corner over there TI designed to work at 80 degrees and above
Absolutely yeah yeah yeah a good a nice sporty Road tire is absolutely perfect wouldn’t it um here’s a good one from Beamer Spirit most fun road bikes currently on sale road bike currently uh I’d have to say I mean it’s not big uh super AES obviously that’s an obvious one isn’t it
M10s are really good fun but I think the um sort of new breed of middleweights probably the most fun because they’re not too over the top a KTM 890 juk car really good fun m9s that kind of was a 990 Juke out now they’re getting bigger aren’t they
Exactly yeah bigger than the original the original was 950 yeah and pretty much the same horsepower I think yeah I mean hyper motards they’re good fun but really impractical what you think newti one yeah um I don’t know is it I don’t I don’t know either but then there there’s they’re supposed
To be going to Motocross soon aren’t they D they announced that yeah so again the the sort of the emperor the Empire is expanding really quite rapidly which is which is great yeah but it does seem like they’re taking they’ve got a lot of investment or infrastructure or whatever
They’re doing they they’re going all in which is great um do I need a big single daati I don’t probably not but I can imagine it’s going to be an amazing yeah um and if if you’re a dicti customer because let’s face it those bikes ain’t cheap so you’ve probably got
A panagar anyway and a Multistrada so why not stick a hooligan bike to couple ofs smash around the lanes exactly and I think you know if they can sell it they’ll make it what’s your favorite fun bike oh God ask me questions like that I’ll be here forever um
I’ve I’ve my my my idea of fun has changed a lot in recent years and it was always a super bike and it was always a you know getting that Max that thrill and the rush of the pure speed but the way the roads have evolved the dash
Cam wave of people just the way I mean when was the last time you saw anyone just even overtake a car like a car overtake a car on a on a normal Road it just doesn’t happen antis just it it just and even if you do someone’s
Flashing you oh you maniac so it just the the the paranoia of going fast fast has totally drained yeah yeah you want to have your fun at low speed and all the modern super bikes are so capable that below 120 mph you might as well just be whatever just pottering along
Because they just don’t even feel that fast so so I guess I’m I would lean towards an older bike um for a more character yeah uh I’ve definitely got into older datis recently low well Inver is low capacity there were super bikes at the time but they’re still only 110 120 brake
Horsepower um so yeah I think fun is a different yeah it’s just got a different connotation to me but and again wheelies and stuff you get banned in this country if you’re in the States you know if you don’t understand how strict it is if you
You put POA wheelie in front of a policeman here you’re you’re going to going to lose your license yeah exactly um and so the consequences are so bad so for whatever fun you might have the guilt for the next three weeks going where’s that letter going to come
Through the post box um so I think yeah chilling on an old 916 probably be it can’t be the sound of a 916 no proper deatti sound yeah I actually recently just acquired a 999r as well which was a bit of a left field choice but again it
Was it was a good price and it’s one of those how do you I mean it’s a it’s a we’ll we’ll have a uh I’ll do some video on this anyway but it’s a how do you follow the 916 in terms of beauty and design widely regarded as the most
Beautiful bike ever made you got to be left field don’t you yeah and then you come up with a 999 I think time’s been kind to the 999 I think I think it’s been exceptionally kind to it like you look at it now and you go H it’s not
It’s not classically beautiful no but it’s got a a very interesting face on it and actually you take away you on a race bike you smooth that headlight out it is a ducatti quite clearly that you can see it but it’s just the sort of headlight configuration but um yeah I think it’s
One of those things that’s been kind and also they didn’t sell very many M especially the r bikes the expensive ones so as an investment type product yeah the rarer the bike the more money you can ask for it so goodby mine’s leaking mine’s leaking oil already but
There we go it’s only a little wee we um what else have we got we’ll do a couple more and then here’s a good one you touched on earlier what inspired the helmet design and that’s from bainy 301 oh bainy well like I always wanted to be a
Journalist always wanted a custom pained crash hel used to Kevin schwanz I used to want a Schwans lid when I was younger I got one of those but um the design was designed by Rich art who’s a yeah really good painter Birmingham way I think and
And it was what I wanted was it was inspired by Fat Boy Slim concert on Brighton Beach where he beamed a smiley into the sky so I asked him for a smiley in the sky and he came kind of came up with that plus plus the stripes and then
Actually made a replica of that helmet in 2005 yeah and um we couldn’t have this they had a smiley one side Union Jack the other side but you’d have had to pay a royalty to the smiley man to produce it is that still really but it’s
An emoji does he get does he get a lot of money every time you so we ended up breaking it up into half and half half like half a disco biscuit a disco biscuit interesting okay but when they sold it you were at a Fatboy Slim concert exactly so they
Weren’t allowed to um the the the eye and the mouth came separately in a sticker pack in yeah so so it wasn’t a smiley yeah so that’s that’s where that came from and I’ve kept it ever since and it’s quite distinctive it’s nice I like I like
I like consistency I’m still waiting for I mean I got got my first custom helmet last year the the pink one with the and and yeah which I kind of I like design and stuff so I sort of put a design together and got Liam at LDC designs to
To paint it up for me and it’s nice having a a bit of I don’t like race rep helmets from other people I don’t want to look like Danny pedosa yeah yeah I want either my own thing or a or a plan it’s a nice feeling picking it up every
Time I still I still love it yeah yeah yeah well I took my race rep my full-on race helmet on budget by battle on an old RT so it was perfectly perfectly suited yeah well look man we’ve got um battery’s about to go again so um it’s
Been an absolute pleasure flown by it has flown by see this is why I like this I could do it I could just do it all day scratch the surface we haven’t Scrat we have to do it again yeah I’d love to do it again well yeah thank you so much for
Coming down mate no problem thank you for having me yeah good luck with it I’ll see you on the next one yeah brilliant right and thanks thanks guys for watching listening wherever you are and also because this is the first one apart from maybe a test I’m going to put
Up with my mate Charlie um feel free to comment like anything’s annoying to you apart from us obviously um or anything you think that you want to change we I’m pretty new to this so we we’ll we’ll get the system right um but failing that we can travel around wherever with this
With this get up and um you know get whoever we want so anyway thanks again man no worries thank you take it easy that’s a wrap a chicken sees a wrap ID thank you mate
44 Comments
Welcome! This was my 1st podcast recorded back in November and I loved it! Really want to do more and obviously need to learn the craft as I go but please feel free to point out things you liked/didn't like and what you would love to see in the future – please try and be constructive! Who would you like to see? I think interesting people, who like bikes – rather than bikers who are interesting.. if that makes sense! hahah
Honest feedback.. Guest should get >60% speaking time.
Fantastic bit of content Chris and what a great first guest! Cheers both
I 1st saw this and thought yawn 🥱
Well what a great interview and insight of you both. 👍
Great conversation listened to while cleaning the bike. Really enjoyed it. Keep up the great work 👍
Bikes between 100 and 120 bhp for uk roads. That is the sweet spot. any KTM 890 will. I have the SMT, and it is perfect for the streets, especially back roads..
Neeves has been the idol in the motorcycling journalism arena, glad you managed to get him on, MCN with him became so much better. Great podcast, would be nice to see some BSB/WSB racers interviewed maybe Troy baylis definitely a favourite 👍
This was fantastic, long form bike content is just great to hear and as an Aussie, I still gel more naturally with Brits than Americans. Love highside/lowside but this instantly felt more like two of my mates chatting than watching a show on the TV and I think that's a good thing.
I can't believe Neevesy had imposter syndrome! He is the absolute pinnacle of motorcycle journalists.
I loved this BVG! 👍🏻
Really enjoyed the podcast Chris , Micheal you both have interesting views on bikes how the bike industry works and life so thank you I look forward to the next podcast cheers 😊👍
Haven’t even started it and I know it’s going to be a hit. I’m an American long time BVG/44T supporter and would love you guys to do podcasts with all the moto-characters I’ve met via YouTube over the years. Jizzy.
LET NEEVES TALK MAN!!!!
Ooo this is a nice surprise 👌🏻
Loved it Thank You !
loved it , didnt look like a first go ,looking forward to more !
Spotty 16.. I was 21
Got to meet and ask you questions at the Edinburgh budget bike screening and my question was if you’d be releasing new content on baron channel to which you made several innuendos and I’m so glad to see there’s been a few videos since! Love the pod cast format 👌🏽
Love the bit where Chris is telling Neevsey how easy it is to knock out a bike review and Neevsey doesn’t even flinch.
Awesome talk! Bring Mossy the legend next! Chris for the next one try setting the mic levels before you start the talk and once you are happy with it hide that damn thing somewhere.
I am an AV engineer and you are like me, you want to make sure the quality is spot on but that recorder on top of the table becomes a distraction and your focus should be on your guests. I would suggest you set up a second portable recorder as back up just to record the ambient sound. You can always use that in case something fails. The zoom h2n is great for that or even your mobile phone. Great work man I’m a big fan.
Great stuff Chris, excellent podcast and Neevesy was interviewing you a lot of the time, what an enjoyable 2 hours, Neevesy is such a nice chap, keep up the great content Chris.
Great stuff. Neevesy is one cool customer. 👍
Loved it!!!! Could I ask for the a standard question to all guest “what is your favourite brew / drink when on a bike out for a ride”
Just listening to two gentlemen talking about bikes perfect
Those chip and pin machines are nightmare
(Quality pod btw)
My best 2 hours of 2024 yet ❤❤❤
Winging it is a way of life.
Fantastic listening – thanks, guy's
Think your first podcast should have been BVG meets BVG, Neevesy, what a guy, he goes up in my opinion every time I see him, was just a passenger.
Brilliant! Love this Not sure who was interviewing who! Well done both of you! 2 genuine Guys sharing stories. Fantastic. Must be good because this is the first video of actually commented on in 3 years! Looking forward to the next one👍🏼
Definitely do the “Scooter to Rome” for next BBB and Neevsy must be a Special Guest.
Brilliant as always
Looking forward to the next one
Listening to this as I work and clean my Super Duke in my garage. Such a good listen and good luck with it Chris
Love how Neevesy goes from interviewee to interviewer. He is great at putting others in the limelight. He is also the reason why I decided to buy my 22 panigale v4s, insane bit of kit.
Neevesy is top of the pile among moto journalists. Total class.
Sorry to say, but you might as well give up now that you’ve had Neevesy. You’ll never top him. But if you want to aim high, get Keanu Reeves or Mark Knopfler.
When you start so on fire with Neeves, you gotta keep the blaze going for a couple episodes so I’d say at least staying in the YouTube realm Chris Northover and Ryan Fortnine. They’re definitely most interesting people that like bikes that have the following to get clicks. Wouldn’t mind seeing someone like Richard Hammond because I’ve never gotten to hear him really talk about his passion for bikes because of his popularity in the car world. After that I’m not sure because so many others either have a podcast, are very brand loyal, or have a language barrier. But definitely a great start with the quality throughout. Only criticism I’d give is just edit the cuts with the battery instead of drawing attention to it.
Brilliant….and I never comment on anything
😊 top idea, really enjoyed this, he’s so humble and a genuine guy!
Excellent 👌
❤ very entertaining interview of both of you by each other nice work thank you
Really enjoyed hearing from a 90s legend and Chris you weren’t bad either 👍
Turned into an interview of Chris 😂
Congrats on a successful first podcast! Looking forward to more. And your lready in Joe Rogan podcast length 😂