Some time ago I watched the Achievable Dream - a good series and plenty of food for thought - some of which was put into action today.

A friend has recently bought a Ducati Panigale V4S - a nice bike with a cheerful burble from the pipes. Today we went out for a ride but before we went I asked him a simple question - did the dealer set the bike up for you? Well obviously they were too busy counting the money as they didn’t so we recapped that section of the Achievable Dream - Part 2 section 2 - and went through what and why.

The handlebars were pretty well right from the start in both terms of level and position. Good start. The levers were both set for people with hands like an orang-utan - which my friend is not so they were adjusted. Much easier.

Now onto the brake and gear levers. Both too high and uncomfortable to operate. Both adjusted - the gear lever had to be done a second time as he wasn’t sure if it was better or not than before - half way in between got an “ooh, that’s good”. Everything tightened up. And off we went - total time to fiddle with the bike? 20 minutes (but you knew that already from the thread title). One happy rider, more comfortable and less tired. I did put a cushion for his backside in one of my panniers that he didn’t know about but even when pressed he maintained he found it a comfy seat.

It would appear that Grant may know a bit about these motorcycles things……

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.

A friend has recently bought a Ducati Panigale V4S - a nice bike with a cheerful burble from the pipes.

I can honestly say this is the first time I've ever read of someone describing the Panigale as 'nice'. Damned by faint praise..?

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

It is a stunning bike, just not my cup of tea. The exhaust note is beautiful, really deep and throaty even at tickover - I couldn’t hear my engine at all when we started up and had to check the tacho to see if the engine was running. It is too single purpose for my liking - my mate reckons that mine (Moto Guzzi V85) is more a pair grand-dad’s slippers.

Jealous? Moi? Yes, a little. We were parked up and a couple of Ducatis rolled by us and both riders gave the Panigale second long looks - it was either that or they were looking at the V85.

One surprising thing was the lack of range that the bike had - we weren’t running at a blistering pace ad the bike till struggled to do 100 miles / 160 km. I knew it has a small tank but I didn’t realise it was that small.

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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.