This beats any fancy holiday
My wife and I split our August leave this year to cover childcare following holiday club closures. So a two-week 'staycation' seemed like the perfect opportunity to get my eight-yearold daughter into biking. After a successful shopping trip to kit her out, she can’t get enough and we’ve been out every day, even if it’s just for bread! The intercoms are a great way for me to know she’s OK. I’m not sure she realises we can both take turns to talk though. The next generation of biking enthusiast is born. Next year we are planning a camping trip on the bike. A good excuse for me to invest in more biking gear. Christian and Beatrix Lippiatt, email
HRC need to start again
The mighty HRC have always held the belief that it is their motorcycles and technology that wins races, and therefore the bikes are more important than the rider, so much so that Rossi jumped ship to join Yamaha, as he felt the rider was just as or more important than the bike and wanted to prove it. Fast-forward 16 years and for the first time in a long time, there has been no Honda on the podium in the first six races of the season, highlighting the fact that maybe the rider is just as important as the technology, otherwise there would still be Hondas swarming the podium, even without Marquez. Dan, email
Guard your details
I noticed that in last week’s issue you have a supplement encouraging new riders. This is a grand idea. I would advise anyone taking their test to be careful when posing with their pass certificate on social media. It shows personal information that criminals can use. If you want to show off your new-found freedom, hold the certificate with a finger blocking your driver number. Matt, email
Big Suzuki needs a diet
Why do Suzuki insist on making the V-Strom XT so overweight? After all, it’s only a V-twin but weighs in at 247kg while the KTM 790 is a lightweight 188kg. It beats me, especially because at a distance both machines are almost identical. Roger Gill, email
The 790 weighs a claimed 189kg 'dry' – the V-Strom, with its much larger engine and physical proportions, weighs 247kg 'kerb'. So the real disparity is more like 30kg and largely explained by their somewhat different scales – Ed.
Follow the biking dream
I have just read the letter from Dave in Newbury where he says disabled bikers are being discriminated against. It is very annoying if he is not being helped correctly! Now I don’t know the nature of his disability but in my experience, I had no issues in taking my test in 2000. I have a paralysed right arm due to an RTA in 1980 when I was 17. In 2000 I decided to get my licence after reading about other riders having done just that in MCN. I bought a Husqvarna 610e supermoto and swapped the throttle to the left bar and very easily piggybacked the front brake master cylinder above the standard clutch lever using a Ducati 916 clutch master cylinder and lever. Worked very well. Then I rang a training centre in Medway and with no hassle booked my direct access course of CBT and 2-3 days training with a test at the end. Insurance was and still is very easy to get. I have been riding for 20 years now and with the help of the NABD I converted a Honda CB1000R in 2013. Do not give in Dave, the advice is out there and most bikes are convertible. Contact the NABD on 0844 415 4849 for help. Get on it. Gary Swift, Maidstone
Size isn't everything
After passing my test last year, following years of debating it, I bought my first bike – a Street Triple 675R. Lovely bike but in one year of ownership I only managed 700 miles. I thought I’d be on it everyday, rain or shine, but for some reason I never got on with it. Roll on June this year and I sold it, and while I decided what to get