Kick-start your spring

At this time of year, as the clocks go forward and crocuses poke their elegant heads through the soil, we are thinking about the fine weather and the days of ambling rides to come. This year, of course, after the last 12 months we’ve endured, we are all looking forward to these days with even more enthusiasm than perhaps we ever have before.

However, if you’re anything like us in the OBM Shed, even those weeks and months of staying at home won’t mean you've got everything done that you wanted to – and we imagine that many of you have embarked on new projects which will see re-fettled and restored motorcycles rolling out into the spring sunshine.

This enforced time away from the road means that those essential checks for your motorcycle are even more necessary than ever. You know you cannot assume that time has stood still for your bike as it has for you! Somehow, even in the cosiest of environments, nuts and bolts mysteriously loosen (or, worse still, belligerently seize!), rubber perishes, and, like all of us after a long winter, your bike can need a little tender loving care to ease its aches and pains.

Please make a point of casting a careful eye over your motorcycle from end to end because this year it needs that care and attention as much as ever.

But above all, look forward to that first glorious long ride of the year – the one that will blow away the cobwebs and make the last year seem like a bad memory... the one that will see you once again raising your hand to passing riders and meeting up with friends long missed... and the one that will make you remember just why you love your bike so much!