My goodness, we do have a lot in common. And derail away, we are just having a friendly chat over common interest.

I began riding at 14 and have been riding since, both road and off road. I still have a few bikes, but osteoarthritus in my neck of all places has really put a damper on my riding habits. This is the 1st year in a long while that I have not had 12 consecutive months of riding in. The cold weather hits in earnest by December but I have always prided myself in taking a bike out regardless of the temps at least 1 day per month just so I can say I was out. I never had to go far, just get out. But this year I didn't start riding until Feb something, completely missing January. Like you my wife is priority and like you I am a self described bike nut! I love them, can't go long without wanting to ride, read about or watch videos on them.

So the bike. It is a Buell XB12 and there is a good story behind it... I had always wanted to road race. I had done some motocross early on and wanted to do some road racing back then as well but I could not afford 2 masters and then life hit and I couldnt do either. However, in 2011 I decided if I was ever going to road race I had better get at it. We have a road race track 5 hours drive from me in the next province. They teach high performance riding skills with the ability to gets one race license. So I determined I would take the course and get my license to race. But what bike? I decided the bike had to above all provide as great a room for rider error as possible. Which frankly led me to the Buell and the engine which was derived from a Harley Davidson. I had ridden HD's before and knew that engine wasn't going to do anything in a hurry which gave me a great deal of confidence as I knew I would not have to be overly concerned about high siding, which is a common error with new racers who get in over there heads and grab too much throttle on a modern 4 cylinder or high strung twin (like my VTR).

So yes that is a huge Ohlins steering dampner you see. Absolutely criticial on the bike once the tiller bars are removed and something more akin to clips are installed. When Eric Buell designed the bike, so the story goes, he wanted to mirror the geometry of a 250cc motogp bike. So when sitting on the bike, the front wheel dissapears below you and it seems you are just looking straight down over the bars. I forget the steering head angle but its very sharp. (I just did a quick Google search, apparently its 21 degrees). So without the steering damper the bike is extraordinarly twitchy.

The front rotor is massive and only on the throttle side. It is incredibly strong and with proper pads fading is not a problem. I ran EBC race pads.

The engine is a dry sump design, with the swing arm holding the engine oil. Tranny oil is held in the transmission itself.

The frame holds the fuel. I crashed the bike several times and can say that no leaks in either developed.

I finished the 2011 season with a few races under my belt but had to drop out in 2012 because of the osteoarthritus in my neck. But luckily I had gotten the experience of racing on a road track. I have tremendous memories of that experience.

You have some great riders in Aus. Mr 5 time world champ Mick Doohan. Gardner and Stoner. Too bad Stoner dropped out when he did. It would have been great to see him contnue during the Marquez era. And Phillp Island is one of my favorite tracks. Not sure if you follow Motogp, I never miss a race.