Another Dirt Scalpel

 I have been looking for another registered dirt bike so that we can get out in the state forests and national parks for some trail riding in the safety of numbers. A couple of weeks back I finally found another low kilometre SWM, similar to the RS300R that we bought in July 2022. I really wanted another 300 so that they would be interchangeable - and honestly as beginners, the kids and I would be well served by a pair of 300s rather than a bigger bike. 

However, there were no decent, low kilometre 300s to be had and nothing new either. Apparently dealers are waiting for a container to land from Italy. So, when an immaculate, super low kilometre RS500 came up I jumped on it.

Pick up time!

Why the SWM? These SWM appeal to me because they are based on the 2010 Husqvarna TE510 and 310 models. Both were cutting edge in 2010 so are still very well specced bikes today that retail for under $10 and $9K respectively. There is simply nothing in that price range that packs the performance of these bikes. KYB suspension. Brembo brakes. Whats not to like?

The 500 looks sexy in black and yellow.

What else is in the price range? A DRZ400? Not even close performance wise and anything from the Blue factory or Team Orange will set you back $6-8K more and be too hard edged for general trail riding. The only “risk” with the SWMs is that they are a tiny manufacturer with a very limited dealer network. I am taking a gamble with two of them but hope to be able to keep them running sweetly through the power of the internet and international shopping. 😉

Will took a day off work to come with me to pick up the 500 so we could go for a ride in the pine forests of the Glasshouse Mountains, just a 20 minute drive south of the bike shop.

He was pretty excited and a bit nervous. It was his first real trail ride….. and my first since we used to ride these trails way back in about 2006! (Funnily enough, on my 2006 Husky TE510)

This 500, based, as I said on the 2010 TE510 seems less tall than what I recall my 2006 being and the power feels tamer. Not weak, but tamer and more useable.

By the time we got to the Glasshouse lookout Will’s nervousness was gone and he was loving the ride! So was I just quietly. 😎

I have ordered a bash plate and some radiator guards for the 500 to help make it trail worthy and I have just stumbled across the O2 sensor delete plug via the SWM owners FaceBook page so will be ordering one for each bike. The Euro 4/5 rules make the bikes run very lean and consequently fluffy on small throttle openings/sharp openings and the O2 delete apparently fixes this.

Now to just find time to ride these things between work, ADV riding and mountain biking! I think I like having too many hobbies.🤔

Cheers.

My God! Look at My Gear!!

So, the new blue bike sitting patiently in my shed waiting for the rain to stop wasn't totally an impulse buy. No, over the last six months I have slowly had the motorcycling fires rekindled within. Between my brother getting back out on the road more and blogging about it, to some guys at work leaving the odd AMCN lying around the flight deck and my mountain biking acquaintance, NitroNick, with his toy shed, I have thought quite a bit about the many years that I  spent hurtling around this fine brown land on the back of a motorcycle. Some bloody good times, some pretty ordinary times too, but all great memories to me.

As I mentioned in a previous post, you can rationalise things away. Pretty much anything can be examined until it fits neatly into the pigeon hole you need it to. Of this I am certain.

Here is my thinking from early 2002.

Fat, dumb and happy. From here it was a short few months to denial, then resistance and finally on to acceptance.

Technically, I have only had a two year hiatus from motorcycles in total. My last bike being my hairy chested Husky TE510 (too much bike for me!!). The R1 went to a New Aussie from the Mother Country in mid 2005, so it had been about six years since my road kit had a work out.

Exhuming it from the cupboard to test ride the new bike proved a bit of a shock. My much used, much loved leather jackets were covered in mould!

Last summer here in Brisbane we had many metres of rainfall and ultra high humidity. Leather jackets and humidity are arch enemies as can be seen by this photo of my old Brando style jacket. Not sure what to do with this little number as it has given twenty two years service, but seems a shame to just give up on it. The jacket from my two piece suit is at the dry cleaners for a resurrection, but after purchasing that suit in 1993, I will have to pay pretty close attention to the stitching. The leather looks fine, but it might come apart like the proverbial "cheap suit" if I have the misfortune to rag doll myself along the tarmac!

My AlpineStar boots had been trying to shed their soles for years, so it was pretty much a no brainer here. Straight into the bin with those. I note that my brother had two pairs of AlpineStars over the years and both of his pairs lost their soles too. And it isn't like we were big walkers back in the day! Another pair will not be on the shopping list as a result. Time to try another brand.

My expensive, much love, little used helmet was a bit of a disappointment as well. The liner was dotted with mould, while the neck seal at the back was leaving little balls of black sticky stuff all over my head and neck. Bugger!!

Now, this puppy (an Arai Quantum e), while being a 1998 model worn by some Japanese GP rider whose name now eludes me, has had less than 15 000 kilometres of use and being in bloody good nick apart from the black balling issue, I will definitely be trying to breath life into it lest this return to motorcycling turn into a financial black hole!

Hang on. Isn't this one of the reasons I got out of it..............????

On another note, this is an anniversary of sorts for A.V.F.A. This being the 100th post!! Like most things in (my) life, I wasn't sure where this blog would go and personally I am finding it very interesting , every now and then, to go back and see where I have come from and see what I have done. I am under no illusion as to the insignificance of all these ramblings, but despite this insignificance, these postings are the content of my life and hold true to my very first post.

Thank you for looking in and I hope you get a laugh or at least a smirk from time to time. I know I am having fun. Thanks for tagging along........