me and tom on the Buell

having his Ulysses serviced so I tagged along with my 9 year old Son Tom riding pillion. He fits on the back of the CityX just fine. I wear a set of love handles and he just holds on to them. I hardly notice him clinging on so check he’s still there every so often.

Anyway, back to Blackbear. They had loads of bikes there yesterday so I was sitting on all of them. The Buell 1125r is one real ugly bike. For me its just too aggressive. I’m sure it rides really well but I don’t think I could live with those are inlets on the sides. The red version looks like a lobster! I also sat on a few Harley’s, specifically the Nightster (nice) the XR1200 (saddle too hard) and the Night Rod Special (oops, anyone got a tissue). Loved the Night Rod. Its a lovely bike but at £12000+ its out of my reach and would be too long to store in the garage as a 2nd bike. One day eh. You never know. I also sat on the Ulysses XB12X. This is the low road orientated Ulysses and I have to say that it could be a good replacement to the CityX one day. Things like the sofa for a saddle, luggage, under seat storage, bigger screen and heated grips make it a serious contender for the great British summer, sorry meant to say winter…

Time to leave so Tom and I donned our helmets and gloves and set off back towards Cambridge taking the long way home as usual. We cruised at 60 – 70. The ride home was great. We stopped off at Ultimate Bike Gear in Papworth to see Mike. No reason other than to say hi. Mikes a good guy and doesn’t mind us popping in. Tommy loves looking at the gear too so it gives us both a break.

Really pleased with the Buell CityX. Its got enough grunt to be fun whilst being light enough to manage when one has short legs. Its still returning 50+ mpg without caring how I ride and is an easy bike to clean. Its pretty crappy in the wet but I just have to wear the right gear to keep my back dry.