Born in 1986, I have spent the majority of my life in Buckinghamshire, England. From 1998 to 2004 I attended Waddesdon C of E Secondary School for GCSE’s, AS-Levels and A-Levels. Following this I completed a three year BEng Honours degree in Motorcycle Engineering and Design at Swansea Metropolitan University, Wales. I achieved an Upper Division Second Class Honours degree (2:1), narrowly missing a First by just one-percent. During my three years at Swansea, I discovered a talent and keen interest in Computer Aided Design (CAD) , a discovery that would ultimately guide my career choice. My Final Year Project, the modelling of a Yamaha TZ250 race bike, reflected this.

After completing University I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to work a four month contract for a CAD/PLM contracting company. The position open to me was for a Computer Aided Design Engineer at the Honda Racing F1 Team. On completion of the contract in December 2007, Honda Racing F1 Team offered me a position within their IT department, working as a CAD/CAM Support Engineer.

My interest in motorcycles took off at the time I was taking my GCSE's. Like most sixteen year-olds, I decided I needed more mobility and freedom. I passed my CBT on a 50cc moped in the August of 2002. After this, I covered around five thousand miles on a Sym Jungle moped and gained a years' no claims bonus, something that was shortly to prove invaluable. In May of the following year I decided that it was time to take my motorcycle test, knowing that I would soon be wanting a higher capacity machine. Due to the road experience that I had gained through riding my moped, I decided upon a three-day training course with my test on the fourth day. I took my training and test on a little Yamaha SR125 and I passed first time with three minor faults. Pretty respectable I think! Later that year I passed my car test. Four minors this time, mainly for showing ‘biker tendencies'. Fortunately, my examiner was an avid motorcyclist, great for breaking the usual uncomfortable driving test silence, and calming nerves! Despite my instructor's best efforts to convince me that ‘Driving Is Fun', when asked what I prefer, I have to say the bike wins hands down!

Although initially I had my heart set on Honda's NSR125, I soon realised that to buy a decent example would mean that I would not be able to afford to upgrade after a year. I was advised to look for something bigger, as with the road experience that I had gained on my moped, and a test pass under my belt, it is likely that I would have quickly outgrown the NSR's abilities. With this in mind I abandoned my search and decided to save for a few more months with the view to look into the 400cc market.

I finally settled to looking for an NC30. By luck, on a visit to a local Honda dealership, a salesman mentioned that a colleague of his had an NC30 that he might be willing to sell. Well, he was. I have had the bike since July 2003 and I love every mile. My NC30 now primarily enjoys summer miles in an effort to keep a fine UK spec example in top condition. As such the bike is an all-year round hobby for me; riding during the summer and maintaining it during the winter.

V4 Power came to be for several reasons; primarily the original design was my final piece of A-Level ICT coursework. I quickly realised though that there was nothing else on the internet serving as an NC30 information centre. Uploading it began to seem a reasonable idea. Since its launch in summer 2004, interest in V4 Power has blossomed and a lot of hours have been put into development. The site underwent a major overhaul in October 2006 where it took the form it has today. My intentions with V4 Power are to provide as many NC30 resources as possible in one place. I hope by doing this I can benefit both owners and prospective owners alike.

I've endeavoured to incorporate the answers to the questions, and the advice, I wish I had had easy access to whilst looking to buy my NC30. Questions on what it's like to own one, what it's like to ride one, and obviously what to look out for when looking at potential purchases. During my first few months of ownership, there was still an awful lot of information that I wish I had had, especially when it came to maintenance. I've tried to incorporate this too.

V4 Power isn't purely for NC30 riders. I'm very into getting anyone and everyone into motorcycling, so I hope it aids those who are thinking they would like to learn to ride with what they need to do, as well as stirring interest in those who are just a little curious! I hope V4 Power can also be a source of general interest for all of those who share my passion for motorcycling.