It's that time of year where we wave goodbye to our families and head off to distant lands for the sake of skids, wheelies, and general evaluations of the new metal. As hard as we make this sound to those at home, the truth is it's perhaps one of the high points of the job, with the actual hardest partit's full of unknowns, and the pressure's on you to get your head around a package, both technically and physically, super-quick. It's essentially speed dating, but with motorcycles. In the UK's warmer months, you can take your time to learn what a model's all about, but time is a luxury on these gigs, especially when it's your turn to do something ‘impressive’ on a photoshoot. You can feel the eyes of your mates, the industry, and sometimes even the locals burning as you pop the clutch and hope the front wheel is going to lift in the way you want it to… and when it doesn't, there's nowhere to hide – not even in the bar at night. It's all part of the fun, and it sharpens your mind, that's for sure. The other thing you do is to accelerate your learning about a product. I find myself making so many mental notes that I bleat them out in abundance to a voice recorder the minute I stop for two seconds. In all honesty, a launch is only that first taster session, often governed by the destination and the schedule you're subjected to, but most brands nail the formula. In 20 years of doing this, there are only a few gigs I've been on when I've asked myself what the hell I'm doing there or what I'm meant to take back from the launch, other than a few blurry photos and a potential hangover.
