The Rubber Hits The Road...

Had a great day yesterday. The school I've been working at for the past few weeks didn't need me so I had a bonus day off. My mate Joshi and I had been talking a lot about going on motorcycle ride together so it was great to finally put our plans into action.

After getting the train into the city, Joshi picked me up on his bike. After a quick zip down the motorway we stopped at a mates house to collect my 'steed' for the day- a sweet little Kawasaki Ninja 250cc. After not being on a bike for over a year I was pretty nervous, so we decided a few lengths of a quiet street were in order. Thankfully all my lessons can flooding back to me and we were soon ready to hit the road.

We headed straight for the motorway- the quickest way up to Mount Dandenong. It got my blood pumping to be chugging along at 100 (kph not mph) but it was nice to be driving in a straight line while I got used to the bike. The smile that had been plastered on my face for a few brief seconds was wiped away when I looked at the dash to see a red light! Driving at 100kph in four lanes of traffic is not the time to pull over! It wasn't the oil light, it was a 'speed' light. I'd never seen a speed light so was trying to figure out what was going on. I couldn't tell if the bike didn't like going this fast, or if it was simply there to help the rider check their speed.

A few minutes later we were off the motorway and in a never ending sequence of traffic lights. This was a good chance to chat to Joshi and he assured me the light came on at 80kph to stop people speeding.

All the traffic lights were really testing my clumsy clutch control. Despite a few stalls I was starting to get to grips with this little lightening bolt. I was loving it. And the farther we got out of the city, the more beautiful the roads became. After a nice warm-up on the bike it was so fun to get to the twisty roads that climbed the mountain. Granted we were taking it pretty slow but it was still a lot of fun.

A burger and chips at the lookout over Melbourne was a great rest before we saddled up and headed for home. I'm just gutted I didn't bring a camera so I don't have any pics.

Now I just need to find a bike for sale in Nottingham so I can get all the paperwork in place before I return! :o)