Josh Brookes is ready to return to the 2014 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship with Milwaukee Yamaha and the Australian has been cramming his time back home with activities since the end of the season.

In the latest rider blog, Brookes speaks of his first chance to ride a Yamaha on track in Australia and of his hectic past few weeks since returning home. Over to Josh:


"As always I haven't really stopped and I could do a blog that went on for miles, but as soon as I flew home to Sydney after the season finished I literally was back on a plane and spent the day in Melbourne for a suit fitting for my friend Wayne's (Maxwell) wedding. After that six of us went to New Zealand for five days which was cool and then we had another night in Melbourne before coming home.

"I was back at home for a few days and then I went to Philip Island to go and do some riding for a few days. It was handy as I got the chance to ride a Yamaha R1 and an R6 and I was really impressed with both, especially as it was the first time I had ridden one. They were not like my Milwaukee Yamaha spec, nothing special in terms of that, but it was good to say I have now ridden one so that was positive for me. The lap times were Superstock equivalent and close to those in Australian Supersport so it is all relative and for me, it was more about having a go. The guy I was with just wanted some general feedback on suspension so I was able to give that and in return I had some good time on track.

"After that it was back home again and off to Wayne's wedding in Victoria. It was in a really cool place where we did some jet-skiing and cool stuff. I don't really like dressing up, especially at weddings, but Wayne had a bit of influence over the day which was cool so we had a great house where we all stayed and hung out together and I scrubbed up ok! It was then the trip back home and then went to see my brother who lives five hours away from us and we all went motocrossing with our friends. There were some real Aussie mates there that joined us including kangaroos, wombats and lizards!

"I have also been building a rock climbing wall which is 90% there now but where I have been so busy since I started it, currently it is on the back burner because the next bit is to do the inverted section - I will be back on that soon! I have also been building a go-kart and playing with stuff in the garage.

"All of it is keeping me busy so we are ready for next season. That's all for now...Josh."

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