Dinkoman.com

Hey all, I finally ordered my Go Pro HD! It should be with me in about a week’s time so I will be able to create proper videos finally. I’m going to keep it recording most times I’m on the bike as a sort of security purpose – both insurance wise and video content wise. I often see quite funny things happening while I’m riding around and some of the moments I’ve missed have been priceless, such as a guy reversing into a traffic light he had just repaired in front of a crowded bus stop haha. Still laughing just thinking about it haha.

I’m hopefully going to get some kind of Dictaphone voice recorder to record audio properly as well as the Go Pro won’t really do a good job of speech. They are apparently bringing a microphone out though later in the year so that should be better. I’ve still got the Portugal article to post as I’ve got some really awesome images and video from that trip.

Life is going well at the moment, everything is all set for moving to the coast after tomorrow and I’ve got the Majorca trip to look forward too in a few weeks time. I’ll be there for two weeks without a bike so am trying to figure out if I can hire one or not. Financially I am ok as I’ve just sold the camera and can buy the stuff I’ve been wanting to for a while. Not much else really, apart from the fact that I might attend the Motovlog Europe meeting if I can get my finger out of my ass and actually make a vlog haha. Seems like a condition to me!

Let Summer Begin! Future gear! – Summer can now officially begin in my life! I’ll be in Portugal in the next week and once I come back from there it is only a few (3 I think) weeks until myself and a friend (it went from 4 to 2 in a matter of hours) depart for Amsterdam – liberal capital of the world! Once that is done we’ll be doing a few camping trips both on the bike and walking/trekking/moaning about walking in mild heat. I’m not sure on these dates as it simply depends on when people have “enough money” to go camping… I’ll be in Majorca for August and then I’ll be moving house across the country to live by the coast in Scarborough. That will sum up my summer quite nicely. Now you’re all probably thinking – what the fuck does this guy do?

Besides all of these things what do I want out of this year in terms of possessions? Well, I’m looking at updating my summer gear now by getting a new leather jacket, boots, gloves, helmet and armoured vest. There isn’t anything wrong with my old ones besides looking a little shabby after 2 years of use but I’d like a change to something a little more flamboyant seeing as I have a completely different bike and riding style compared to what I had a year ago. I’ll list the gear I’ve been looking at below, yet as well as buying these things to improve my personal look I would also like to purchase some accessories for my bike; starting small I want to get some wheel stripes, a tyre pen, and some anodised valve caps. This should cost about £10 so no big investment there, however once that is out of the way I would like to get dual headlights, some anodised renthal bars, new mirrors and a Beowulf exhaust – this will set me back around £230 although after this the bike will be complete to my exact specifications (half is done already).

The gear I am looking at is the following (sorry for the massive list):

The KBC VR 2R Alien Red - £150 ($250)

Or the Icon Speed Cretin - £190 ($300)

Teknic Hellion Jacket - Really hard finding this - £150-299

Teknic Hellion Gloves - I love these but can't find them ANYWHERE!

Spada Vortex Moto Gloves - I'll settle for these £45 ($65)

Red Route Kevlar Jeans - £100 ($140)

TCX Boots - £125 ($175)

Motorcycle Armoured Vest - £65 ($100)

So English people! We finally have nice weather! I went riding around for a few hours on some of the twistiest (still not a word yet eh?) roads in the world – certainly in England, the notorious “Snake Pass” which is a couple of miles from my house (luckily). I covered quite a few miles (can’t remember the actual number) and all of it was solo of course – seeing as everybody is at work and I don’t have any friends near me who have large capacity machines. Solo is ok though as it lets me set my own pace, I’ll let you decide what that is!

They don't call me the Terminator for nothing...

The ride had roads ranging from fast sweepers to tiny back roads which have nobody on them. I do have video footage but it is once again pointing to the floor haha, I really need to get that sorted for the summer so I can showcase my inane talent to you guys (slight sarcasm is intended). I put the video camera in half way down the twisty back roads as I got ABSOLUTELY SHIT FACED BY GREEN FLIES! They were in my mouth, my nose, and one bastard even got into my ear! It was like riding through a hail storm and I and the bike are now covered with the bloody things. Besides from my quite brisk riding and general moaning and spitting out of green flies the footage is quite entertaining even though it is looking at the floor. The ride has reignited my love of back road bashing and I will be doing a lot more in the future. I actually jumped up off of the road on one part (LINK HERE) which is noted in the video by a “Weee!” sound coming from my mouth haha.

Clearly this has been the highlight of my day and with the weather set to flourish I can only pray that I have enough fuel to ride a lot more this next week before I leave for Portugal (Honda Pantheon 125 2T here I come). I almost forgot to say this but on Saturday I went to a Ducati dealership launch at SMC Bikes, Sheffield. It was quite a fun day altogether with good bikes, lots of people and Carl Fogarty was there. I’m currently in negotiations with certain companies about sponsorships for my motorcycle gear so I hope that works out as well. All in all most things are looking up, a complete shift from a month or so ago! It’s amazing what the sun and a fast ride can do to alter your mood.

Stay safe out there guys and remember to pull plenty of wheelies.

Well I thought that I may redeem myself from a few weeks of neglect on the articles by telling you some important future projects I have in mind. One in particular which is not AS personal as the others – so here goes.

About two years ago from now I wrote a satirical book and sent it off to some small self-publishers. They liked it and I thought that was it. I had talks but decided that I wanted to self-publish the book using a service I had found. I set a release date for the 2^nd of April 2010 and proceeded from there. To make a long story short… I never released the book. I found that my life, outlooks and writing style had altered so dramatically over the course of time that the book seemed “immature” and “irrelevant” if you like. I haven’t decided whether or not I will release the book in future as a sort of “memorabilia” item if anyone wants to buy it.

However I have decided that I am writing a new book, several in fact! The books vary and won’t be targeted to an “audience” as my last one was. I am writing the books for me – as a project and a memory. It links in with my other projects that I have been doing well and to understand the concept you need to really understand those. I have taken a picture (or more) every day of my life for the last two years and it is incredible looking back in my massive catalogue and finding out exactly what I was doing on that particular day. It seems nostalgic and a little before my time considering that I still have a long time to live (if all goes smoothly) but it is great looking back and reflecting on what life was like even just a year or so ago. This is the main reason I will be creating the books – more of a photo album of my life than anything else. Of course I will publish these and you would be helping me out greatly if you did purchase one be I wouldn’t even be bothered if nobody did. I did it for me, and I am happy.

I am going to create a series of books on the places I have visited/will be visiting in my life. I like to think of them as tour guides with a personal touch. They will contain only a short amount of text, probably about 5000 words but will include a large amount of high quality images. The other book I will be creating is a riding tips book which will catalogue my journey from a motorcycle newbie to an experienced everyday rider who has battled through 1 foot snow, hail storms, rain, thunder, heat and everything else and loved every minute of it. I don’t claim to be the perfect rider or the most experienced by far but the information I have to offer is both valuable and comical. I will travel to the site of my first crash, the time I got knocked off and all of those heart stopping moments – writing, reflecting and taking pictures as I go.

I’ll also be creating another book or so about various topics, such as the Ultimate Destinations to Smoke Cigars Outdoors in the Peak District. A mouth full with very specific intentions but it has been a project I have wanted to do for a while haha.

Apart from this I don’t really have much else to say for the moment, my life is going well now, I have fully recovered from my stomach illness and am about to leave for Portugal, Amsterdam, Mallorca and a few camping trips (by motorcycle of course) this Summer. Plus when I get back I’ll be leaving to live in another part of the country (by the sea).

“I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.” – William Allen White

* Sorry for the monologue but I get carried away sometimes.

In the Executive Box at Wembley Stadium. Article coming soon i promise...

I am alive! Sorry about the length of time between updates recently but I have been sick quite badly. Hopefully that’s all out of the way now and I can get on with what I want to do. More important news however is the fact that I now own my beautiful Honda Hornet! Here she/it is in all her/its glory! I’ve got a few modifications I’d like to add to the list; some which are expensive such as an aftermarket exhaust and twin headlights and others are minor such as rim stickers. All in due time though.

The ride is extremely different, going from a cruiser to this… I love it. It turns you into a hooligan (a safe one I may add) and just gives you an exhilarating feeling of energy. I’ll do a review sometime in the future but for now let my excitement speak for itself. I am also going to try to stick my camera in there again (my helmet that is) and start “vlogging”, which I have been saying for the past 3 years now haha. Thanks for sticking with me through this time.

Also any name suggestions for my pretty beast?

* Portugal is now booked for May/June and Mallorca for July and August. Amsterdam to be booked for in between them and I leave in September. HECTIC!