So what biking goodies did Santa bring everybody this year?
The first of my goodies isn't specifically bike related but it does benefit the Monster so...
At this time of year, I hate opening the garage door and immediately seeing condensation form on all the Monster's shiny surfaces and my chrome spanners, etc. So I got one of these dehumidifiers from Machine Mart:
Plugged it into the garage and after just a few hours it had reduced the humidity from 80% to just under 60% and the machine's reservoir contained about two mug-fulls of water.
Also, as per every year, I got the latest edition of Motocourse.
As usual, I think the technical articles are more interesting than the race reports. This year, there's a fascinating piece by Neil Spalding all about how Ducati, (amongst others), have used an external flywheel, the weight of which can be increased or decreased to suit individual circuits. Because the flywheel is external it can be changed without breaking the MotoGP 'sealed engine' rules. Here's a photo clearly showing the external flywheel on the GP14 Desmosedici.
Finally, something I've wanted for a while now is Tony Foale's book on chassis design.
I was looking for a paper copy, but they've been out of print for ages so I went for an eBook instead.
It's a fascinating read, if a bit heavy going - full of 'moments', 'vectors' and formulae, but also some very illuminating diagrams. After 40 years of riding, I finally understand the mechanism by which trail and castor work! No doubt I shall be quoting it at length and boring everyone on the forum in future posts!