Since we picked up this bike we've been working hard on all its upgrades, but it’s never actually been ridden properly. We needed to get it out on a track to give it a good test. I couldn't wait!

A track day was booked at Brands Hatch – one of my favourite circuits. With the winter on its way this was going to be the last decent opportunity to get out on a race track this year.

It was nice to get my own number on the bike :)

The first couple of sessions were tricky. Although the sun had come out, the track was 2.5 degrees C, wet from the day before and I had slicks on! Lucky for me, by the 3rd session, the track was completely dry and I could really start putting the bike through its paces.

The bike went really well. There were a few carburation issues, but nothing serious enough to stop me from riding it properly. With the bike being completely different from stock, there was a lot of tweaking required as far as suspension components go, but by the end of the day I was hitting some good lap times.

All in all, I was happy with my first time out on the bike. There’s still plenty of work to do, but I am confident that the initial work we have done has made improvements to the bike.

Time to start work on the engine!