The finer details of John’s
vlogging HQ revealed
Honda FireBlade special
‘This is the bike that started it all- a 1995 FireBlade special I called
‘The Beast’. It is a 1995 Blade
frame with an RSV swingarm,
Öhlins shock, OZ wheels and
various 2005 Blade parts including
the 1000cc motor and forks that I
had anodised to look like Öhlins
units. It has a bit of almost every
Blade in it as the yokes are 954
and there are other bits here and
there. I never had a complete bike,
I just bought various parts online
and made them work together.
The whole project took about
three years and I vlogged the
entire thing. The bodywork is
carbon customer-spec RCV with
a Honda RS125 seat unit on a
custom subframe and with a
carbon cover over the tank. It’s a
lovely bike, but I don’t use it that
much and I am considering selling
it. If another good project bike
comes up I’ll probably get rid of it,
but I will certainly miss it, so
maybe I won’t actually get rid...’
Old shite boxes
‘Small garages get cluttered very quickly and after a clear
out when I removed a few old units that took up too much
space I was left with lots of bits and bobs, so I bought these
wall-mounted boxes from Aldi when they were cheap. They
used to be neatly arranged, but that didn’t last long.’
Knee braces
‘Bad things happen with
knees when you are riding
off-road, so I bought a
proper pair of 661 knee
braces that have a metal
support in them. They cost
about £90. Hyper-extending
a knee can lead to years
of misery.’Vlogger tactical vest
‘I call this my ‘vlogger tactical vest’, but it is just an Ogio
mountain bike rucksack that has loads of pockets. When
you are vlogging you need a camera, spare camera,
batteries, spare batteries, drone, mic, you name it. This
keeps everything nice and safe as well as easy to find.
It’s much handier than a rucksack, but my mates take
the piss and say I look like an armed copper...’Engine lift
‘I bought this for swapping the engine
on the Blade and while it was handy at
the time, it doesn’t get used much any
more. It is brilliant for jacking up
motocross bikes, but the Abba stand
has taken over from it now. It was
advertised for £20 in a local newsagent.
I popped out for a pint of milk and came
home with an engine lift – result!’Tu r n t o p 9 2
for John’s
KTM Super
Duke R