Duchess & The Duke

https://admin.headliner.ai/the-duke-duchess-mp3

Uyi

Hey, guys, welcome back to another episode of The Point of View. I'm your host, Uyi Agbontaen ... In today's episode, I am joined by Lily Allen, not the Lily Allen. You're thinking about this? Lily Allen is a motorbike enthusiast and bike brand ambassador.

Uyi

... We discuss a bike journey and some of the issues women have to do within the bike community.

Lillie

It's all good.

Uyi

It's all good.

Lillie

Okay.

Uyi

How have you been?

Lillie

Yeah, all right. Yes. Not the real one or the real one, but not the real one.

Uyi

That's saying nobody knows. Nobody knows. It's fine. We're not even recording this video. So I could say you are alien.

Lillie

Yeah, exactly. Nobody would know. She's changed her accent a little bit.

Uyi

Yeah. Do people ever say to you, I mean, you're here all the time?

Lillie

Oh, you have no idea. Because unfortunately, she just came to prominence in high school, didn't she? Sort of. High school my age, everyone was like, oh, Lily Allen sing as a song. I was like, oh, you know what? Just shut up, please. It just got really annoying.

Uyi

Can you sing?

Lillie

No. Oh, God, no.

Uyi

Okay.

Lillie

In the shower uh and in my bike helmet when I'm flashing down the motorway where no one can hear you. But no, uh I can't sing. So she's got that one up on me.

Uyi

Has it died down now or do you still get it?

Lillie

I uh still get it a little bit. It's quite handy, actually, if you want to book a restaurant or something and you say It's Lily Allen.

Uyi

It'S like, oh, did they ever ask?

Lillie

I have had a couple of people ask, like, is it for Liliana? And it's like, well, yeah, because that's my name. But if you're asking, is it for the Lily Allen, then yes.

Uyi

What can they say when you turn up the ID?

Lillie

Yeah, actually, my ID is not Lily. I know.

Uyi

It's just all a big complication really is a Lily short for something. It's Elizabeth. I say, fair enough.

Lillie

I can't really blank that. Really.

Uyi

Unfortunately, I don't know if Lily Allen is actually Lily Allen or if it's or something.

Lillie

I don't actually. I've never done research about it. It could be Lilly. Lillian. I don't know.

Uyi

Lillian.

Lillie

Could be. It could be Elizabeth.

Uyi

Lily is a popular name.

Lillie

It is. It's a great name.

Uyi

It's still a popular name.

Lillie

Yeah. It's nice, isn't it? It's sort of easy to say.

Uyi

Very easy to say.

Lillie

Right.

Uyi

And it gets you into places quite clearly, so no problems with that. How have you been, Billy?

Lillie

Yeah, really good. Thank you. Super busy. Lots of stuff going on. Work bike.

Uyi

Yeah, a lot of stuff. Can on bike.

Lillie

Yeah, they're pretty much the only two, but sort of take a lot of time.

Uyi

The last time I saw you, I think lots have changed between when I saw you before and now. Mhm and the big thing is that you have a motorbike now.

Lillie

Correct.

Uyi

And you've got like, really into it.

Lillie

Correct.

Uyi

Tell me about that.

Lillie

Wow. Yeah. It's been a whole whirlwind, actually, of a journey. I did my CBT in 2017 and I had my small one to five motorbike, to be honest. I just got sick of taking public transport everywhere and I thought, I don't drive and I just wanted some freedom for myself. I've always been around bikes. People who I've been around have always had bikes and I thought, Why not? I'm going to give it a go. And um since then it's just been incredible. I think I have the kind of personality where if I do something, I always try and give it 100%. Whether that's dance I used to do for hall dancing, I mean, jujitsu I was there kind of quite solidly for two, three years or however long it was when I was younger.

Uyi

I never saw many female riders and now there's a lot.

Lillie

There is, yeah. It's amazing. It's amazing. There's a massive group of us and um I don't know whether that's just.

Uyi

Did you know about going into riding or not really.

Lillie

I didn't really know anything, to be honest. I knew that I enjoyed being on a motorcycle, but apart from that, I didn't know anything about the scene or uh who was riding, what you could do, where you could do. I was kind of quite naive, to be honest with you. I just kind of learn on the job and see where it takes me. Uh but it's really brought me into contact with a lot of people and a lot of really good friends now and a lot of female riders, which is amazing. It's so much fun and it's great fun to have, like, a group of girls. I mean, you have your group of girls, you can go to a Bot uh on the Sprunch with on a Sunday, or you can go out with to the clubs, whereas our group of girls is, let's meet at this petrol station at 09:00 on Sunday morning and go for an absolute Hoon. And it's brilliant. It's brilliant. So, yeah, I had my one two five for a while, about just over a year. And then I did my Dust license model one mod two, and I got a Yamaha Mt nine, which I had for goodness. Is it two years? Yeah, it was just over two years. I had it and that was incredible. I mean, that was the bike where I kind of like, really?

Uyi

You fell in love?

Lillie

I fell in love with it and with motorcycling. And it really kind of opened up what I could actually do on a motorbike. I did my first track day on it. I did sort of three or four track days on that bike. I um went up to Scotland by myself on a kind of a solo tour.

Uyi

Where from London.

Lillie

From uh London initially. So I went from London to Snatterton, which is in Norwich. Anyway, it's up that way towards Norwich North when you're in London? Yeah, pretty much. But I did. So I done a track day and then I stayed overnight at a friend's house locally. And then from the track day, I went up to Scotland and had two weeks going around Scotland and then came back to London.

Uyi

How's the weather?

Lillie

You know what I had back to back Sunshine for the two weeks.

Uyi

I'm telling you, it was like this year when I moved to Scotland, it has rained.

Lillie

I open the curtains every morning and I thought, oh, God, I've got to prepare. I've got my rain too. I'm prepared for it every single day. It was so hot that I couldn't actually zip my suit up properly because I was just bored in a bag. Ride madness. Unfortunately, the rain hit me when I was uh coming back down on the motorway. So it was one of these named storms. So I had like perfect weather for the two weeks. And then just as I was coming down the motorway, literally the wind was so strong, I couldn't actually get the bike past like 60 miles an hour because the head wind was so strong. It was terrifying. Wind, rain. And I remember I literally got there and I sort of was like my gloves had dyed my hands because it was so wet and it was just horrible. It was horrible. But uh actually uh being in Scotland, it was amazing. Yeah, massively. So, yeah, that was a brilliant bike and the bike was incredible. So I had that bike and then in April this year, I had an offer, somebody that I knew in my circle to buy it from me. And I've had my eye on um it was either going to be a BMW S 1000 RR, just like a beautiful sports bike, or the KTM Superjuke 1090. And I decided just to, what the hell, you only live once. Life is short. And by the Super Duke. So I've had that since end of April. Now it must be about 90.

Uyi

How many CCS was your last bike?

Lillie

It was just over 858, 54 or something.

Uyi

I think you went from.

Lillie

The 1290 is specifically uh how um was the jump from one, um two, five? Uh i had so many people tell me, don't go for the nine, it's too powerful. You won't know what to do with the power. It's dangerous, blah, blah, blah, blah. Uh but honestly, no issues. No issues. And I think it was mostly because I had a couple of lessons when I was doing my Das. You obviously do your Das on a larger motorbike. So I was doing it on a 600 or I can't remember if it was a Kawasaki Six N or something. And so it wasn't really a jump from a one, two, five to an 850. And also the bike is only going to go as fast as you make it right. You're the one in control of the throttle at the end of the day. If you want to keep your traction control on full ABS, on your riding modes on rain. So it's sort of absolutely the least powerful. Then that's absolutely fine. And then you can go at your own pace. But it was absolutely no problem. And I'm glad that I actually listened to myself and sort of thought, no, I'm going to get the Nine because it's the bike I want. And everyone's saying, Perhaps you should get the Seven. Perhaps the Seven will be better for you. But I know if I'd have got the Seven, I would have got bored of it after a lot less time than I got bored of the O Nine. That's just a waste of money in it. And then the jump now to 30 minutes and the jump now. Yeah, people are asking me quite a lot, what's the comparison can you do? Like a video explaining how you find the KTM compared to the Yamaha? And honestly, it's just impossible to compare the two bikes. The Yamaha is a triple engine, the top 90s, a V twin, totally different engines, both very talky, but there's just no way of comparing the kind of the power uh delivery or the feel of the bike. But it's very enjoyable, I can tell you. I think I've done about 3000 miles on it since April, which is nuts, right?

Uyi

You must like wearing the bike.

Lillie

Any excuse. I'm just like, yeah, I'll do that. I'll go there.

Uyi

I had a bike for a little bit, if you remember.

Lillie

Yeah, I do remember. I do. Have you still got it?

Uyi

Well, it got stolen. No, because I live in London. Um i remember when I got my bike and it was an April here. So it was amazing.

Lillie

It wasn't an RSV four.

Uyi

It was.

Lillie

Was it an RSV before?

Uyi

And I remember there was a guy who was a bike mechanic and I take the bike to his bike shop and it's serviced and stuff. And he said to me, like, maybe, let's say three months before he said, Be careful, bikes are getting nicked a lot and I don't have a garage, so I just kind of street parked it. But I did, like, everything I could do to make the bike secure. So I got this Almax chain, which is my Kryptonite. You cannot break that chain.

Lillie

You can really hurt someone with that chain.

Uyi

Like, there's no way. I divided my research, I bulletproof it and I thought, okay, no one's going to be able to break this chain. Park in the street, tied it to an impost. I was about to go onto the bike, like, no uh bike. Oh, um my God, just a wheel.

Lillie

Oh, no, um you're joking.

Uyi

So the chain works? The chain works because they didn't take the wheel, so they took the wheel off, right? So they must have really wanted the bike. I had uh the bike for maybe a year and I just had my first child, so my wife was like, you need to get rid of your bike every day. She was saying, this is dangerous, is dangerous, and so.

Lillie

Uh.

Uyi

Put together a team. I hate heights so much.

Uyi

And the crew assemblies are the worst part.

Lillie

How are we going to stop it?

Uyi

With a little help from some old friends.

Lillie

Rick Sanchez, you son of a bitch.

Uyi

Need some people for a thing. Glar, my name's clear these days.

Uyi

I play piano. Hey, Glee, play your piano?

Lillie

I quit.

Uyi

And the names glory.

Lillie

Sanchez, you son of a bitch.

Uyi

Suppose I had a job that didn't care if you've done time or whatever's going on with your confusing ass hands?

Uyi

So, yes. And then after that, I was like, Well, I haven't got a garage. So I was like, I'll only go and get another nice bike and I'd go through the same thing again. So then that's why I was like.

Lillie

Okay, that's a big risk.

Uyi

That was the thing. How do you keep your bike safe?

Lillie

I don't have a garage either. I kind of kept it in, like, a parking compound and it was chained and it had a cover on it and had a chuckle um on both my bikes. Dislocs, et cetera. The nine was fine there. Apart from the fact someone nicked the cover, they didn't Nick the bike. The cover I'm well annoyed about, because that was a Stormix, an Oxford Stormix cover, and they're like really good covers and someone nicked it from then I thought, I'm a bit uh worried now about leaving the bike here, mostly because someone's obviously seeing what's underneath the cover, and then they're going to come back. And I was sort of paranoid for a while, so I moved it, and then I sort of obviously got the 1290s. My landlord has been kind enough to put a ground anchor in again. It's as much as you can do in London without having a lot garage and touch wood. It's been fine. But I've known people who've uh had bikes nicked in garages. They've had cameras, they've had everything. And people are so brazen nowadays that they literally don't care. You just got to do what you can and try as best you can to not have that happen. I mean, getting a tracker is a massive sort of weight off your mind, really, because you can at least see when it's moving. I mean, you just kind of have to nudge the bike and you get a phone call straight away.

Uyi

Really?

Lillie

Is this, you know, the bike? We've had an alert and whatever. So that's a big kind of weight off your mind. But you've either got to accept the risk and do everything you can to negate that from happening or you say, no, it's not worth it. So I'm not going to get one. And that's kind of sad in a way, especially if you really enjoy it.

Uyi

Uh i was just getting into riding with the RSV Four.

Lillie

I took one out the other day I rode my friend's RSV Four 1100. It was amazing.

Uyi

It was an amazing bike and a nice bike.

Lillie

It's beautiful.

Uyi

I had a few near misses.

Lillie

Yeah. Unfortunately on a bike it's not if you fall off it's when unfortunately have you come off? Yeah, twice. Once I was coming out of a car park. It was at work uh actually at my old job. It was sort of a blind entrance, but not really. But there was a van parked right on the edge of the entrance. So you couldn't see what was coming down the road. And I was kind of walking the bike out like trying to look around this van. And as I swung out, a woman was coming in a four by four and she just totally took me out, broke my wrist, which is not right now. And then I also had an accident about a month after I got the Nt nine as well on the Afore city. But that was totally my own fault and it was really embarrassing. But that's another risk that you take when you decide to get a um bike.

Uyi

And I see now you're really big into the bike riding scene and you joined a riding group.

Lillie

I did, yeah. I'm part of the original Slow boys.

Uyi

How did that come about?

Lillie

Just through friends. Yeah. That's just kind of another group of people to hang around with and ride with. So that's been a really good experience. You have friends that are also not part of the groups as well. So it's sort of a massive mixture of people.

Uyi

How often do you go riding nowadays?

Lillie

I tend to ride probably every weekend.

Uyi

Right.

Lillie

To be honest. Yeah. Most weekends I'm kind of out either both days or just one day, obviously, depending on the weather.

Uyi

I used to hate the rain as well.

Lillie

Yeah, I'm just not. I mean they say that if you've got the right gear then the range shouldn't bother you. Really.

Uyi

I never had the right gear.

Lillie

I wasn't like trench everywhere. Yeah. And it's really my own fault because I have so many friends who are like, you need to get textiles, you need to get something. But I don't know, I've just never done it really. So it's my own fault. But to be honest, riding in 31 degree heat is not fun either. Honestly. We kind of have a rule when it gets to like 28, 27, 28 and over, it's not worth it. Even when I mean, you're in levers and there are things, there are items that you can buy but are not levers that have as much protection, like Gortex things, Kevlar Kovac jeans, Knox, which is a brand. I'm not sure if you've heard of Knox armor, but they have some really good like summer gear. They're just like kind of armored shirts, et cetera, which are fine, they're available. But again, bike goes quite expensive. It depends on your budget. I do have an armature. But I just like the feel of leathers. I feel kind of a bit more safe. There's been huge debates about who wears a one piece or not. I have a one piece, let's suit. I mean, I have a one piece.

Uyi

Isn't that really like tricky though?

Lillie

It's a right pain in the ass. And if you want to go to Lu or something, then, I mean, say goodbye half an hour of your day. It's just very good protection. You can get a two piece, but sometimes if you don't dip your two piece together, the two piece will ride up or pants might ride down or whatever. And at least in a one piece you are totally protected. And also now if you go on a UK track date, the only thing you're allowed to wear is a one piece. It used to be a two piece that you could zip round all the way to the front, but they've got rid of that piece. I got one piece just so it wouldn't even be to go on track. But to be honest, if I'm going on like longer rides, I always put it on. And also what's really nice to see nowadays is that companies are catching on that uh there are more female riders that require gear to fit females because even if you're a guy, it's a real pain in the ass to find a suit that fits correctly because the sizes are all different. If you have slightly different sort of measurements or whatever, then it might fit your legs, but it might be really short on the body and you're kind of hunched over like this when you put it on and especially if you're a woman, there are a lot of the big branded suits out there that are just made for uh your standard size and a lot of us are not standard sizing. And if you're wearing a leather suit, you want it to be tight because if it moves around it's not going to protect you on a slide or in a crash. But there are a lot of sort of companies now that are really catching on to that and some really nice jackets. Really nice one pieces. I have a friend, Ruby who's Ruby ride on Instagram and she does a lot with brands and trying to kind of get the idea of a more diverse women's gear out there, whether it be like armored hoodies or um covert jeans or kind of high waisted jeans that you can literally get off the bike and go to the shops. And it doesn't really feel any different that you're wearing kind of gear. But again, it's still going to protect yourself.

Uyi

It'd be a massive market for it.

Lillie

Totally. If you do it right, if it's the right kind of stuff and it's really top quality, you've got your top quality protection. I think it's like Ce approved or something protection, then yes, there's a huge market because I can guarantee you go to bike stops, bike cafes, bike shops, and their range of men's gear or kind of unisex gear or whatever will be massive. But if you want something that's uh a bit more fitted, you might have, like one corner of the shop that's got a few jackets in. And also they're all pink.

Uyi

Oh, really?

Lillie

A lot of the lady's gear has pink on it, which is great if you like that color. But I have an Orange bike that's going to work for me.

Uyi

It is pink.

Lillie

Yeah, exactly. But again, I think there are a lot of brands that are actually catching on to that. Just because you're a female biker, it doesn't necessarily mean you want pink stuff. As I said, some people might really like it, which is totally fine, but I'm not one of those people perfectly.

Uyi

What I notice is on Instagram when you see riders, a lot of the time, it's female riders. So actually, there's an opportunity for the bike brands. There is to really market their products.

Lillie

There is. There are a couple of brands that we sort of come into contact with who, like I said, are doing a really, really good job on that. There's Rst Moto who do a lot of race suits. I think they've just brought out a new range of ladies one piece suits, and they look incredible. There's a company called Held, and I have a Held one piece, and the leather is very soft and it's very fitted. It fits amazingly. And I know a lot of girls have the Held suits because they fit so well. So there are companies that bring in stuff out there, but there's still a lot of work to go, I think, with um that. But I think as well, with Instagram, there's uh a huge tool for brands and companies to market themselves and to get out there, because, as you said, there are a lot of girls on Instagram who ride who have quite big social media presences.

Uyi

Yeah, uh I would say bigger than a lot of men, unless the men are professional riders.

Lillie

Yeah, I would agree. Actually, I do know quite a few guys who have a social media presence, but the majority of it is women. So it's a huge market for kind of brands to get in on that, I think.

Uyi

So where can people find you on Instagram?

Lillie

So my Instagram is Duke of Blonde, which is my bike Instagram.

Uyi

How have you found the whole Instagram engagement now? Because you've got quite a bit of a following.

Lillie

Uh i mean, I set it up when I got my one, two, five. So it was only like three, four years ago, something like that. To be honest, I have a love hate relationship with Instagram. I think it is brilliant to bring people together. I mean, I wouldn't have met half the people that I know now without social media, especially in the bike scene, but I think it can cause a lot of problems. I think it can be very toxic because even in the bike world, you're kind of projecting the absolute best side of yourself. If you went on a track, you're posting the absolute best picture that shows the best body position, your best knee down picture. Whereas actually you might have had three or four sessions where you rode like a sack of shit, whatever. That's how it is. But like everything, like every kind of industry, I think on social media you see the absolute best, the best. And as a new rider, you might think, I'm never going to get like that. Did you feel like that when you I think I did feel like that slightly, but I think I was more inspired by it. Like, I saw a load of people and especially some of the girls that go on track. There's my friend who is username Kate on Instagram. I have another friend, The Chronicles of Claudia. Again, Ruby, these girls who go on track and they're incredible. Their body position is incredible. The way they handle the bike is incredible. And I kind of saw it and I was like, I really want to do that. It really inspired me when I was just on my little 125, but I think it can breed a uh lot of toxicity and jealousy, I think in some parts as well, unfortunately. But for the most part it's been very positive for me. And I think if you are, I say genuine, uh but I think anyone who has to say that they're genuine isn't genuine. Do you know what I mean? That sounds really weird.

Uyi

No, that makes perfect sense.

Lillie

I think if you have to kind of preach something to the world, then actually there's an issue in the first place. But I think if you stick to showing who you are on Instagram and kind of be honest um and genuine or whatever, then it will grow naturally as mine has. I mean, it's not the fastest growing page, it's not the slowest growing page, but it's grown very organically and naturally sort of across my bike journey, which I think has been really cool as well, because the more things that I've done on the bike, the more people who have interacted with me and got in touch with me. And now I have a really strong group of friends who mainly just do track riding. And there's guys and girls and we always go and we have a laugh and we try and book this particular days together. And the guys are so encouraging and some of them will give you tips and pointers because they were riding in fast group and I'm still in novice group at the moment, but I probably would have never met them had it not been for social media and had it not been for the fact that I did a track day.

Uyi

What'S the difference between an office group and a fast group experience?

Lillie

And how fast you can go on track.

Uyi

Basically because there's a restriction or because you can't reach.

Lillie

No, it's just skillet riding. So if you do a track day, in my opinion, I think if you do your first track day, even if you are fast on the road, if you're a fast road rider, you should always start a novice because there's a lot of track etiquette that you need to know that doesn't happen on the road. You need to know the line of the track. If you've never done the track before, you need to know where you're going. It doesn't matter if you're really quick on the road. You always have to start in novice until you actually get to know it and then can kind of increase your speed and increase your skill. There is a massive difference between novice in advance.

Uyi

Historically, the bike quartz been quite male. And obviously now we talk about lots of females. And you said a reception has been really good from the male side.

Lillie

Yes, mostly. I mean, you do get obviously the odd people who are sort of neanderthalish in their perceptions of you as a female biker. You mentioned the whole leather situation. There are lots of things about that where it's like, I like to see you in lever and blah. I can imagine it's just a suit to get over it. There are a few guys that you come across who, I don't know if they feel threatened that you're a female on a bike or they feel threatened because, I don't know, you might have posted a lap time that you've done and they are slower than you. And you get people like, for example, when I got my 1290, I had a guy messaged me. He was like, oh, yeah, I could still pass you though. And it's like, all right, cool. Take you and your ego and jog on. You do get people with very large egos who sometimes, I don't know, they just can't handle it. They can't get it into their brain that you can still be a woman and ride a bike as fast as anyone else can. Luckily, all the guy friends that I know, like I said, are very supportive and I don't think that I'd even kind of mix with anyone who had that viewpoint. Anyway, what I find is the real issue in social media comes from guys who, for example, if you work with brands, if you work with a couple of brands or whatever, and they send you something for free, for example, to show to your followers, you might have a big following, they might send you something for free to review. You might get to go on a test ride on a bike to review it for them to do a Vlog or something. And people, this is not just guys. People in general get really salty about that. One of my friends got, uh I can't remember what it was. It was some kind of product. Maybe it was a helmet or something that she had sort of signed a contract with and she was sort of reviewing this product and demoing it and showing it to her followers, et cetera. Working with the brand, there were people that were messaging us saying, oh, I've been riding for 15 years or whatever, and I've never got something like this. It's just because she's got massive tits and these brands want to work with her. And it's like, so firstly, you're telling me that if someone came to you and said, do you want to have something for free to demo? So you say no.

Uyi

Exactly.

Lillie

Are you going to say no to that? No, you're not.

Uyi

Exactly.

Lillie

So why are you getting salty at whoever he is? Just because she's got a nice pair of boobs like that literally has nothing to do with it. It has nothing to do with it. What it does have to do with is that she or whoever, male or female, is not just a rider. That whole working with brands side of Instagram is a whole different skill set. Your marketing, you are working with brands. It uh might be your full time job working with people sort of on social media to grow your social media account. I know we have this word influencer or whatever, and I'm not kind of a massive fan of that word, but just to use it for the sake of this conversation, if you're an influencer, that's kind of a job, right? Yeah. Okay. Yes, you might have been writing 15 years, but are you actively uploading posting, uh interacting on your Instagram every day and working with brands? No, you're not.

Uyi

Exactly. Do you have a following that brands are actually going to want to know that you have the user base that's going to be interested in what you have to say.

Lillie

Exactly. So why are you getting nobody's taken away from you that you're riding 15 years and you can get your elbow down on track? No one has taken that away from you. But what you're not doing is using that to go and work with brands. So why are you getting salty that brands are not contacting you?

Uyi

Yeah. That is the negative side of social media.

Lillie

Yeah. And it happens. Unfortunately, it happens a lot. And you see it quite a lot. But the main thing I always say is that you're telling me that if so and so offered you a jacket or a phone Mount or whatever, you'd say no because you wouldn't. Of course you wouldn't.

Uyi

But you're still getting salted at it because people there's a lot of hate. There's always hate and jealousy. It's more of a reflection of the person making a comment on the person who's actually putting the hard work in.

Lillie

Right.

Uyi

Putting the hours. And now they built themselves to a point where people want to work with them. And it's because so and so hasn't done that. And now they feel in bitter because that could have been me. But you didn't do what that person did.

Lillie

Exactly. So there's a lot of that. And as I said, it's not just from guys, you get it from everybody. But I think, like everything, you take everything with a pinch of salt. And unfortunately, as I sort of said to a few of my friends as well, if you have 500 followers, you might have, I don't know, 2030 people who are haters. If you have 50,000 followers, you're going to have two to 3000 people that hate us.

Uyi

And they probably are probably the ones who I think when people troll, I think it's normally a minority of people who troll, but the trolls are very loud.

Lillie

They're very loud. And Unfortunately, I think as well, it's kind of human psyche to hold on to the negative.

Uyi

Yeah, true, true.

Lillie

You might get so many compliments and so much positivity, but I think it really takes a lot of willpower and a lot of strength to block out what someone said. That's negative.

Uyi

I think you're right. Yeah. We're social animals, so we uh care about other people's opinions. And it's great hearing someone praise you. But most people take to heart when someone criticizes them rather than when they praise them. It's a tough one. And I guess the bigger your user base becomes, the louder his voices become as well. It's a hard one.

Lillie

And again, with social media, it kind of gives everyone the opportunity to share their opinion. And I'm sorry, but some opinions do not need to be shared with the general public. But they can share it because they can sit behind their keyboard and they're not going to get any consequences.

Uyi

Yeah, the keyboard warrior, right.

Lillie

Keyboard warriors. Then there's going to be no consequences. Come back on them.

Uyi

Has that been a learning curve for you?

Lillie

To be honest, I've been quite lucky and I have not experienced that much kind of hate from trolls. Like I said, I know loads of people, regardless of follower base, whether you've got 100,000 followers or 5000 followers, that have had some real nasty encounters with trolls on social media. And you just have to take it in your stride. And just remember that, as you said, a lot of the time, it reflects more on their personality and um on them than it does on you.

Uyi

If someone's given you negativity just like, just cut out.

Lillie

Yeah, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. And you also have to remember that whatever you see on social media, like social media is not real life. At the end of the day, it's not. People on social media see what you want them to see. They don't know what's going on behind the scenes. People have so much to say, but they're just commenting on that one portion of your life that you are sharing. And why uh should that one little portion and that one little comment affect your whole everything else that's happening. It's just not real.

Uyi

So if you're looking at social media thinking this person is living the absolute ball alike, well, that's what they're showing you.

Lillie

Yeah.

Uyi

But they're going through the same things that you're.

Lillie

Exactly. And to be honest, they probably posted the one picture in 100 pictures that they actually think they look decent. And now they're probably sat watching Netflix with a double chin on their bed watching TikTok majority of us. I do follow some people now who, you know, there's like Insta versus reality pictures where people show the light filtered image and then they show actually what they look like taking that image. I follow a lot more people who are doing stuff like that. And I think it's kind of picking up a little bit now people showing the kind of the reality thing. And it's so refreshing because it's like you look at the instant picture and you're like, oh, my God, she has the most amazing body or she looks incredible. Her skin is amazing.

Uyi

Yeah. And then she shows the next picture.

Lillie

And then she shows the next picture and it's like, oh, my God, she just moved to another side of the room that had different lighting. She looks like me.

Uyi

People watch TV because they want to escape.

Lillie

Yeah.

Uyi

They want to hear that reality. But then at the same time, people get, oh, my God, this person has a perfect life. I wish I liked them. But you didn't go to watch that because you want to see someone who has exactly the same life as you want to see someone who's having a life that you can't live. I think you just have to filter. I try and stay focused on the positive things rather than having all the negative things. Right. So if you're body conscious, then maybe don't have your Instagram mhm with lots of people with amazing bodies.

Lillie

Exactly.

Uyi

Make it work for you.

Lillie

Yeah, exactly. I think you have to be sensible enough and mature enough. I don't know if that's the right word, but to make those decisions, not to follow those types of people. I mean, I made that decision on my personal Instagram. I followed loads and loads of fitness women, and there was a time where I was going to the gym quite religiously. But I'd still kind of look at these pictures and think, oh, my God, I'm never going to look like that. And that really got to me. I mean, I've never been a body confident person in sort of my entire life, but I felt like I recognized it was actually quite damaging. That's another thing as well. If you're built sort of one particular way and you're following somebody or looking at somebody who has built a totally different way from you, how is that healthy that you're looking at this person and thinking, oh, my God, she's got my ideal body, but just physically, the way your bones are built and the way you are unattainable, it's unattainable. Uh and how is that healthy? That's not healthy.

Uyi

There's a whole different debate about mental health and these archetypes that people see and they want to be and you idolize things, and adultery is not always good because your idols, they're not perfect people anyways. But then also, if you can't even attain, if you're like five foot free and you're following an NBA basketball play, it's like six foot seven, well, that's never going to happen.

Lillie

No.

Uyi

Right. The odds are stacked against you. It might be possible, but it's not very probable that's going to happen. Like reality and just going to be happy with who you are.

Lillie

That's it.

Uyi

What's your dream bike?

Lillie

Goodness. I think I have it, actually.

Uyi

Oh, wow.

Lillie

I always wanted.

Uyi

You are happy now.

Lillie

I always wanted a 1290. You know what? I was happy until I money was no object until I would, but I was happy with it until I tested the RSV four. And then I was like, damn, I really want. Well, no, because I wouldn't get rid of the 1294. An RSV four.

Uyi

Okay.

Lillie

I would have an RSV four.

Uyi

And.

Lillie

I need a big ass Gary. No, I'd have an RSC four for track. I think it's incredible. But like I wrote H two, I wrote my friend's H two as well, which was like a whole. I mean, there's no experience like that. It's like you're riding a rocket.

Uyi

So was there ever a bike you ride for? Holy shit, this is scary.

Lillie

Yeah, it was a.

Uyi

Horse. Why did you run 9 seconds flat? My dad was driving so much torque, the chassis twisted coming off the line. Barely kept her on the track. Uh what's your best time? I've never driven her. Why not?

Lillie

Uh yeah, but it was only scary because it's really heavy and trying to maneuver. It coming out of junctions and stuff. No junctions. And also it was Ruby's bike probably say it's one of the most recognizable bikes on social media. And I thought if I drop this pressure was massive. But actually in the faster sweeping corners, you can feel the weight only because it's literally like the supercharger comes on and it's like suddenly I'm doing a ridiculous speed that I'm not going to comment on because obviously it was.

Uyi

Why would you get a bike and go over to speed limit? Why would anyone do that?

Lillie

Of course, I always thought maybe that would be for me, but it was an amazing experience riding it. It's a really kind of once in a lifetime experience to ride one like that. But I wouldn't get one. But I would get an RSP four. But as I said, I would not give up the 1290 for it because the 1290, it's so much fun. It's so much fun. So I have a Gen three, which is a 2020 bike. And on the Gen one and the Gen two, the seating position is very upright, like a super motto. But on the Gen three, they've made it more of an aggressive. They call it like an aggressive upright. So you're not set up, you're kind of a little bit more forward. So if you're going on a motorway, for example, yes, you still have like, wind drag, because obviously it's not a sports bike, but you can actually tuck down quite low into the tank and it's a lot more comfortable than going on the most way on the nine, for example. But because it is still a naked bike in the city, weaving through traffic, et cetera, it is so nimble. I mean, for the size CC engine, it is. It's a very light bike, so you can just move that around.

Uyi

That was the best way to bike.

Lillie

Sometimes uh I take taxes into work in the morning and I'm starting to have it and I'm like, and I can see the gap in the middle of the road.

Uyi

I'm like, that could be me.

Lillie

It could be me, but it's not because I was lazy.

Uyi

Uh i had so much negativity when I was getting my bike, right. Like everyone said, what are you getting a bike for? What are you getting a bike for? Do you know how they use the bike is how are your parents and stuff like that?

Lillie

So my mom was fine. And when I had a 125, when I told her I was getting the Mt nine, she had a panic attack, I think.

Uyi

Does she know the difference? You know about bike?

Lillie

Yeah, she used to have a little one in College, just kind of don't know if it was a 50 or a one to five or something, I don't know. But she used to have something. And like I said, we've always had kind of family friends with motorbikes, so they've always been kind of around the family. She couldn't really understand why I needed that much power on a bike in London, which was fair enough. It's a fair comment. Didn't tell her, actually, when I got the 1290 that it was a 1290, I just told her that I had got another naked bike that was nicer than mine. And then I just turned up on it one day uh in Wales.

Uyi

She heard you come in, that's a big bike.

Lillie

We're doing this, aren't we? My dad is not really a motorcyclist at all, but he actually called me when I told him I had my bike and he was like, oh, have you ever taken a pillion passenger? And he was like, oh, do you reckon I could go on pillion? And I was like, yes, dad, yes, you can. That would be so uh much fun. I'm yet to do that. I've still got my pillion pegs on because usually I take them off because I don't like the way they look. But I've kept them on for now because I'm waiting for when I can take my dad on the back.

Uyi

Yeah, that'll be cool.

Lillie

I took my brother on the back this weekend, actually. He's not going to like, we've seen this. But I took him from mine in West London to Victoria coach station, and I could sort of feel it, like holding onto it. He was like this. He was shaking like a leaf. I wasn't, like doing anything uh silly.

Uyi

Are you sure?

Lillie

No, honestly, because I was really careful. I was like, look, it's scary going on Pilling if you've never been on Pilling before.

Uyi

Very scary. I wouldn't want to go on Pilling anyway. No, I see some people on pill under like, what the hell?

Lillie

What are you doing?

Uyi

Yes, and they're like holding on anyway.

Lillie

Especially on sports bike. So, like a little perch. I kept saying, are you all right? Are you okay? And he was like, yeah, it's funny because I gave my spare helmet, which is an AUV. And the visor, like clips in you have to kind of push something in the chin to release the visor. But he didn't know and I didn't tell him it was really hot. So he got off and he was like, get this helmet off. Get his helmet off. And he was like, bright red in the face. He was sweating and he was like, I couldn't open the visa. And I was like, oh, sorry.

Uyi

He won't be riding anytime. What lessons learned. It will be a better experience if you'd uh had.

Lillie

Yes. Hope so.

Uyi

Cool. Let's see. We have done over an hour.

Lillie

Really?

Uyi

Yeah.

Lillie

Goodness.

Uyi

Yeah. It's been good.

Lillie

Yeah, it has. Really enjoyed it.

Uyi

I enjoyed it.

Lillie

Didn't even realize.

Uyi

Yeah. So where can people find you? I know you mentioned it before. Mentioning again?

Lillie

Yeah. So best to follow my bike Instagram, um which is Duke of blonde. All one word because I have a Super Duke and because I'm blonde. If anyone is wondering um where that name came from, but, yeah. So Duke of blonde is the best place to reach me.

Uyi

It's been good.

Lillie

Thank you for having me on. Yui.

Uyi

Thank you for being on it.

Lillie

No problem. Lovely to see.

Uyi

Okay, guys, that was Lily Allen, as always. You can find details about her in the notes. I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Uyi

Looking forward to seeing you guys again in two weeks time.

Uyi

Peace.