New Boots

This adventure bike means that I will be heading off the beaten track a bit more. I really don't want to wreck my road riding gear by taking it into the dirt and anyway, bits of that kit are designed for off road use anyway.

Take my boots for example. 

My road boots are Sidi  Vertigos that I bought way back here. They are great on the road bike but they will get trashed in the bush. I began looking for some suitable replacements about a month ago. I wanted something that could be walked in, as well as providing decent protection. Waterproof would be nice but at the end of the day, nothing is truly waterproof so that wasn't a deal breaker.

I liked the look of the Forma Adventure boots but couldn't find any to try on locally(or at the right price).

Forma Adventure boot.

 I did find an end of stock TCX Track boot that was at a good price at one of the local bike shops. It was my size but I wanted one size larger to allow for foot sewlling when my feet get hot (because it will get hot in Oz) so I left them be.

TCX Track boot

I tried on some AlpineStar Corizal boots at the AMA Warehouse and liked the fit, style and the way the buckles latched but they didn't have the right size either.

Searching around the interwebs I found a pair in the size I needed (US10) at BikeBiz in Sydney (at a much cheaper price too!). A few clicks of a keyboard and they were winging their way north to me.

First wear of the boots was on last week's Tenterfield ride.

AlpineStars Corizal boots.

This is what they look like after two days riding.

Good looking(IMHO) and comfortable almost right away.

 Initially, they were very stiff which made it hard to brake or change gear but they very quickly softened to allow the right amount of movement. Hopefully this doesn't mean they won't have enough ankle protection but in saying that, I didn't want a pair of MX boots that would be all protection and no walking comfort. There is always compromise somewhere if you want them to be real world comfortable.

Not sure about the waterproof abilities yet as this wasn't really very testing weather, nor was the crossing deep. My feet felt nice and cool though as the water splashed the boots.

I was a smidge nervous about going AlpineStars again as the last pair of AlpineStars road boots I had (admittedly, bought in 1998), the sole came off. So did the sole of my Bro's last pair of AlpineStars. His were of similar vintage (SMX I think) so lets hope in the  last decade and a half  er, TWO DECADES (shit has it been that long?!!) their quality has improved somewhat.

I will keep you updated on what these boots are like in the long run.

The next bit of kit I want is a well ventilated adventure jacket/suit. My RST suit, being black, is just too hot to stand around in and shows the dust terribly. I suddenly understand why most of the adventure suits are some form of browny-beige! Watch this space as I search out a suitable er...suit...but don't expect a BMW product. I don't plan on selling a kidney to buy one.....

Oh. 

I didn't realise it at the time but my last post was the 400th since I started this blog back in 2010! I wonder how many original readers there are? Rarer than Unicorn poo I would imagine!?

Cheers.

Damn! I loved that bike AND those boots!

Where Does It Start ?

Earlier in the week Andrew Thomson from Bandit Rider wrote a post about where motorcycling started for him. He added a few early photos (pre colour?) and recounted books that perhaps helped sow the seed. 

One of his commentators reminded me of "The Mouse and The Motorcycle". I recall having this book read to the class by our teacher waaay back in grade 2 or 3 and loving it, what with the active imagination I had back then.

Anyway, in a roundabout way there is a connection here. I happened to be pouring over some old photographs the other day and came across a few of some early motorcycling. Of course, none were of my good self - clearly there were no cameras that far back in time.

I did find this little pearler of a certain Chillertek of "Road to Nowhere" fame whetting his ~13 year old appetite with some backyard-helmetless-frivolity. We.... he didn't need no stinking safety beanie.....

We... he used to valve bounce it up to near Mach 1 along the fence line then tip into that first left hander, all without touching the brakes.
Oh how the front tyre of the mighty Honda 50 used to drift on the wet clover......

It sure was puckering good fun. ;-)


The rest, as they say, is history.

Cheers Little Bro. Nice work.

Just Like A Mountain Bike - With A Motor

I was stooging around Perth, West Australia, the other day just minding my business.

My regular Swan River lap on a hired road bike was going according to plan but things were starting to heat up, temperature wise. 

You see, Perth had just endured a record breaking spell of hot weather only normally seen on the sun ward side of Mercury! 

The heatwave was officially over but it was heading for the high 30s again today. I was slurping plenty of water to stay hydrated but my mind was wandering. Wandering back to a blog post I read last week.

 Author of said blog, Mike, (BMW GS1200 owner/rider) had been for a test ride on the new Honda Africa Twin. It is an adventure bike that has been promised for a while now but was short in the actual delivery. Well no more! Honda has finally released it to a public that has until now had to make do with massively overpriced, overweight motorcycles that are purportedly for "on and off highway" use. 

I have been eyeing the BMW 800GS and the Triumph Tiger 800XC for a while but they are too heavy, too expensive and too road oriented for my taste so I have just sat on my hands, despite having a good look at the BMW during our tour of New Zealand in 2014.

Where am I going with all this I hear you ask? Well, I am going to take the bikecycle back to the hire shop - which happens to be right near Dale Britton Honda....

I thought that I might just pop in to see if they had any Africa Twins on the floor. You know, just to see what they look like in the flesh. 

Well, I was pleased to see that they had two in fact. One was the base model in silver and the other an ABS model in Honda Tricolour. There was another scruffy looking bloke sniffing around them, so we took turns at ogling each bike.

Chatting to Dale Britton himself confirmed my suspicions that this bike was generating much interest. Dealers had to beg Honda for demo bikes as the actual release date for the Africa Twin here in Oz isn't until May. The rest of the world has them NOW. The caveat for dealers to get their mitts on an actual bike was that they were under no circumstances to sell the demo bike lest they be shut out of the supply chain for 12 months! Tough stuff for people who earn their crust by selling motorcycles to punters like me......

In spite of this, he insisted I take the nice, shiny ABS model for a test ride. I came up with all sorts of reasons not to but really, I was bursting to throw a leg over it. I just needed to return the treadly and get changed into some motorcycle friendly kit, not the bike gear I had on. I would return!

And return I did! The obligatory paperwork took all of 30 seconds to complete and they pointed me at the Africa Twin, burbling away just outside the front door. I threw a leg over and tried my best not to wobble out into the traffic.

I needn't have worried, I felt at home almost immediately. The throttle was light, but not too light so it was easy to be smooth despite me not having ridden a motorcycle for maybe 4-6 weeks now. Being in a strange city, on a strange bike didn't feel that daunting because this bike was easy to ride. It felt like a big soft mountain bike.....just with a lot more GO than I can provide.

In finding my way down to the Swan River I had plenty of stop/start work at lights and left/right as I flowed through back streets down to the river. The bike felt typical "Honda". 

Smooth, polished and a little bit homogenised. 

The bike has good standover height. At 178cm(5'11") I could touch the ground easily but not quite flat footed both sides though. There is a height adjustable seat option but I am not sure what the demo bike was sporting. Either way, I felt pretty comfortable with the size of the bike and the layout of the cockpit. The bars were comfortable and despite my short 45 minutes on the bike, I am pretty sure that a long day in the saddle would be easily accomplished without needing to be hoisted off by a helicopter at the destination. The seat felt, well actually, I didn't notice it at all, so it must have been ok.

Long, it isn't.

The instrument cluster is pretty basic compared to most new bikes. I didn't have time to sort through the menus, what with trying to take photos in traffic err..controlled conditions....

I mentioned that the bike felt soft earlier. Well, getting on the gas saw the nose rear skyward. Not that the front was lifting off, just the back was squishing down. Backing off and braking firmly sees the nose dive like a football player at the World Cup. To be fair, this may be perfect for off road use, something I didn't get to try being in the centre of Perth. If it IS too soft I am sure it can be set up to suit the road a little better without compromising the off road capability.

I had read good things about the aerodynamics of the screen on various blogs and reviews in that the AT doesn't buffet your head around. I found the BMWs we rode in New Zealand to be terrible in this regard despite there being different screens fitted to the bikes we hired. They were all bad.

The only place to try the Africa Twins aeros was along the Swan River while riding into the Fremantle Doctor. My 70km/h plus the Doctor's 40km/h gave me a virtual 110km/h headwind and I am pleased to say that the result was a quiet, smooth ride.

I negotiated some more city traffic, finding the bike easy to filter at the lights. It was a hot afternoon, maybe 37C (99F) but the engine didn't give off an uncomfortable amount of heat even with the cooling fan cycling on and off.

I thought that I was pushing the friendship by now and made my way back to the dealership. I managed to surprise myself by finding the dealership pretty quickly. Being handed the keys to a brand new bike, in a city on the other side of the country to where I live, with no escort to lead me around was outstanding customer service. I know when test riding bikes here at home they will not let you out of sight, so kudos to Dale Britton Honda for trusting me with their one precious demo bike.

My thoughts? 

I must say I don't get excited by many motorcycles these days. To me they seem to be all about "more". 

More power, more speed, more weight, more cost, more "cred". The Africa Twin represents a bit "less" to me. It isn't uber powerful, it isn't a supertanker, though it isn't a featherweight either. It isn't a pose, it is meant to take on adventure. Sure, it makes compromises in what specification it can have but I must say that I feel that Honda have worked extremely hard on not allowing compromises to affect what it can do.

This is just an initial opinion and just my opinion. I do want to ride the DCT version of the bike which may be easier said than done. Finding a dealer willing to risk sitting an auto on their showroom floor, possibly to be stuck with it might be tough. Also, I need to get some dirt under it's wheels before I go making any rash decisions.....

....but it took a long while to wipe the sh#t-eating grin off my face..............

Cheers.

Skid Lid

Since I ambled back into motorcycling about 2 years ago there has been a need to update my gear as so much of it is almost 20 years old and/or clapped out. New boots, gloves and jackets have been procured to add some protection quality to areas where it was obviously lacking.

This unstoppable safety criteria met the immovable economic reality when it came to my skid lid though. Well, my little used Arai Quantum e stilled looked a million bucks even if the comfort lining was disintegrating, covering my noggin and shoulders with a sort of sticky, black dandruff. Nope, once I had it cleaned up and smelling fresh again I figured that it would do for the time being.

But.....Chillertek and I have been planning a motorcycling trip to New Zealand for next February and I knew in my heart that I would need a new helmet for that trip. His post regarding his helmet replacement project saw me revisiting the fact that my helmet was made last century! 1998 in fact was the year of manufacture and even doubling the conservative 5 year life recommended by the manufacturer saw me 5 years past replacement date. Yep, I reckon I got my money's worth there! Here it is below in June 2001 sitting atop my new R1 on a ride across the Fleurieu Peninsula . Both bike and helmet were new.

After much internet searching, telephone discussion and the fact that my brother got off his backside and bought a new helmet (I'll let him tell you about that) I felt ready to bite the bullet.

So I was off to the only bike shop that is open on a Sunday here in Queensland, the new Motobarn accessory warehouse. I had a firm...ish idea of what I wanted to spend and a couple of helmets in mind. These being a Shoei and a Shark.

I had issues with both though. The Shoei was blowing the budget and while the Shark was in the ballpark, it just didn't fit right and have that quality feel. That is when the salesman asked if I had seen the Kabuto range? "No, I didn't need a small tractor, I needed a helmet" I replied. No, Kabuto, not Kubota! "Oh, well no, clearly I have not", was my response. He proceeded to show me the range and I must say I was pleasantly surprised! They looked good, were very light, all the moving parts had a quality feel to them and it fit just as snugly and comfortably as a helmet well over twice it's price!!

I know that "you get what you pay for" in life and many say that if I don't spend a gazillion dollars on a lid then I don't value my safety, but if you want to push that line you would be driving a Volvo anyway, not riding a motorcycle.

Yes, there is a point where the marketing bullshit walks and safety meets cost. I "feel" that this helmet will balance that equation out but obviously really won't know until I actually get to try it out on the bike. I will keep you informed as time progresses, meanwhile, say hi to the Kabuto Aeroblade III.

Quality feeling vent actions, pinlock ready and inexpensive replacement visors. And VERY light.

Hopefully many miles of hassle free comfort lie ahead.

Cheers.

Views In Sid-Ney

In emerald city today for work and I spied this unusual cycle in William Street. Anyone have any idea what it is? A hint, it had Yamaha on the right engine cover.

Thanks in advance.

**Newsflash**- Motorcycle Gets Ridden!!

Yep, you heard it here first folks. After the deluge that was yesterday, today dawned crisp and clear. It was time to get the bike out of the shed and go for a ride. Even if the ride was only about 4 kilometres(2.5mi)!

The reason to gear up for such a short ride was because local bike shop "Team Moto" were putting on a test ride day at the Mt Cotton Driver Training Centre. Being literally a stones throw from my house I couldn't not go. I had no intention of buying a new bike and I had missed out on booking a test ride as well but a work colleague was test riding some of the bikes so I thought it a great chance to nose around the training centre.

Walking in I immediately had a delicious steak sandwich thrust into my hand, with a cursory "would you like that?" thrown in afterward. "Would I??!!" "Heck yeah". I wasn't there to test ride but I could sure help them out by eating their steak sandwiches!

After finishing the food I went in search of Matt, a current Sprint owner. Not seeing him, a quick text informed me that he had been at work until the wee hours and decided to give it a miss today. Well, his loss....and all that!

I swanned over to the rego desk and was informed that "yes, we do have plenty of openings". I saw my chance to test ride a Tiger Explorer 1200. Pity it wasn't the 800 as thats the one I am really interested in, but steak sandwich thieves can't be choosers.

Feeling a bit nervous about it, with my sum total of 4km motorcycle riding for the year, I though I might be a little ..um...rusty.

Sitting astride the beast I felt like I had been plonked on the back of an elephant. It was huuuuge and in a nice shade of blue. I played with the controls etc while some bloke faffed on with some rules for the ride. Something like no overtaking, no speeding!? and blah blah. Luckily I had thought to put my ear plugs in before he began so I wasn't too distracted while playing with their bike. I just nodded vigorously whenever they looked at me....

The second thing I noticed was how light the throttle was. It was too light! I am no arm wrestling, cow puncher but even with my strength I found it very hard to be gentle with the throttle....No,no, I mean it! It was sooo sensitive.

The little road course that is the driver training centre has corners that go on forever. Some are off camber, some tighten up and some open out. All designed to challenge the student. But, it was race track smooth and I was having FUN. 

The Tiger Explorer was just so smooth. And powerful. And easy to tip in. And, would you believe it, awesome to ride! I have always known that a good rider on a dual sport bike can clean up a sports bike rider in the really twisty stuff, but a very small part of me still didn't want to believe it. Today, I knew I was easily faster on this Tiger than I would ever be on my R1 and it seemed effortless. Maybe that is the difference in 10 years development. Maybe it is just a new bike versus one with 29 000km on the clock. The only thing that unsettled me a bit was that I felt no feedback from the bike. It was too smooth! I couldn't feel the tyres working or the suspension suspending or the brakes braking or the engine er..reving. I am sure I could get used to it but the ride was very homogenised. Nothing a pipe and some more riding time to explore limits couldn't fix though.

Your next question is likely to be the one I ask everyone else when they ride a new bike. Especially one that they have an interest in. Do I have "newbike-itis?" Hmmmmm. Tricky question especially as my wife reads my blog and I need to be very careful here. I think I will answer that I need to try the Tiger 800XC (the one with the 21" front wheel) to confirm my medical condition.

Many thanks to Team Moto for putting the day on. There were plenty of smiles in evidence as guys jumped on the fleet of test bikes that were on offer.

Cheers and thanks for checkin' in.

R is for Riding

And the 1? It might be for the number of times I get to ride it per year! Well, almost.

I actually managed to up the ride percentages for the year today. After a quick mountain bike ride early this morning, I came home to pat the kids on the head before shipping them off to school. I then sat down to a coffee and nutted out a ride route.

I had been thinking about a lap of the dams. That is, out to Fernvale-Esk-Kilkoy-Mt Mee and back but the prospect of doing Fernvale-Esk so soon after last weekend wasn't overly appealing. Neither was filtering my way through Brisbane from the north side.

I have been avoiding the Gold Coast hinterland due to constant whispers that the Police have a heavy handed presence when dealing with motorcyclists. I guess they want to keep them off the Advancetown road. It is a very sweet piece of racetra...er...tarmac and I am sure plenty of wanna-be racers have wiped themselves out on it over the years. But, it is a Monday. It is a bit showery looking, so not a very inviting day for riding. Perfect!


View Larger Map

 I must say, after gearing up it was nice to thumb the starter button and have the engine turn over at a rapid rate before bursting into life. The new battery seems to be doing the job.

The other nice thing I noticed was that it finally felt natural to sit on the bike. The controls fell readily to hand, my throttle control was pretty good and it felt normal to tip it into the first few corners. As I have mentioned before, I was slightly afraid that after 7 years off the road bikes I may have fried the brain cell that was responsible for co-ordinated riding but it seems he was just slacking off, possibly watching the cricket while downing a tinny or two.

Getting the boring bit out of the way didn't take long at all. I took it easy along the Advancetown road to get my eye in and to just have a recce of the place. I hadn't been along here for a few years and while the road surface was a bit choppier than I remember it still had the wide surface with the fun, tightening 40km/h (25mph) bends that can catch the unwary out. But I was fine because I am very wary these days.

Moving along through Natural Bridge I noticed that the cafe' was closed, but that could just be because it was a Monday morning. I was soon at the border crossing into New South Wales. The old tick gate is there but these days the surveillance is done by fixed cameras. Human contact has gone. I guess if you break the law they just send you a fine at their convenience.

Across the border the road deteriorated into a bumpy goat track. Pretty much what you expect when you ride in NSW these days. But it was still fun.

At Chillingham I turned right onto the Tyalgum Rd. This was new territory for me. I am pretty sure I have never ridden through Tyalgum before. It gets a good mention on the local motorcycle forums so I thought I had better see what all the hype was about!

The road into town was twisty, narrow and a bit bumpy. It was however, deserted. This made for a fun ride and the 13km to Tyalgum were dispatched quickly. A quick look around town and it was either the pub or a "mumsy" looking little coffee shop for morning tea. 

Can you guess which one I took?

Yep, too early for the pub and I was after a nice coffee.

Consulting Mr Thoeming's and Hemma's conglomeration over some raisin toast and a cuppa was very pleasant indeed, despite the rising humidity this morning.

I was still a bit undecided on the route (despite what I said above) and finally decided to head down to the Kyogle road and duck out to Uki for a look. This bit of road is another gem of northern NSW. Today the traffic was against me and I basically trickled along, stuck behind various trucks and cars for the ride out and back.

I made my way back through Murwillumbah and headed out the Chillingham road to retrace my path across the border. This is a very pleasant little ride, despite being stuck behind traffic most of the way. From Chillingham to the Springbrook turn off the roads were pleasantly deserted.

The short link across to the Springbrook road is very nice. Unfortunately it is signposted at 60km/h making it a very "watchful" section of the ride.

The Springbrook road itself is just how I remember it. No, it is even better! Many of the corners have been repaired and are now superb "hot mix" ashphalt, making them as smooth as a racetrack! 

Even though I was going downhill and I dislike downhill bends, I was having a ball again. Well, until I caught a conga line of cars. This time I just pulled over and waited for them to get away from me. Then as the next car that was coming along behind me appeared around a bend, I headed off again. Not perfect flow, but I was working with what I had and it was nice.

From Mudgeeraba it was onto the motorway for the trudge back home. I must say, I think this is the sort of sport bike riding that I can handle. About 4 or 5 hours of saddle time or 260km(163mi) interspersed with coffee and photo stops seemed to work well and stops my various bits from complaining too much.

So, two rides for the day. One motorised and one humanised(?). Perhaps the perfect balance? That should see me through the next few days at work. 

Now its time to put my personal bike washer to work.

Cheers!

Man Cave

Every man needs a place to go where he can work on his toys, "sharpen the mower blades" and generally have his little piece of serenity.

I finally managed to negotiate mine about this time last year as a part of some general renovations that were being carried out. Of course, being a tight arse and knowing exactly how I wanted it set out, I tried to be as involved in the build as possible. This ensured a Man Cave at minimum cost and maximum quality (in my opinion).

The process was documented in excruciating detail. Being the humble Man Cave Owner that I am, I will only subject you to a fraction of the hard disk filler that was recorded!

What got me thinking about my Man Cave's path into being was a bit of time spent in it this afternoon. I was just tidying up a bit and planning for some service work on the R1. I have had these odds and ends on hand for a while now and am hoping to service her and fit up the new braided brake lines next weekend.

While doing this I spied an old picture frame in the corner. This gave me an idea for what to do with my 7 year old's first school project. He was so proud of putting together a small talk and photo collage about a walk we did to the top of Australia last year and I thought it needed a better home than the front of my beer fridge!

So, a short time later I had it framed up and hanging from the Cave wall. I think it looks pretty damn good and know he will be chuffed when he sees it hanging there.

While I am at it, this is where my R1 resides. She is a very patient girl, only having been outside three times since she moved in on the 13th of January.

A blogger that I follow in sunny Oregon recently put out a photo challenge for her followers to take a photo of themselves at their blogging station. Now, in the interest of not scaring anyone, I decided not to put my ugly mug in peoples faces and therefore feel guilty about the outcome when people threw themselves under moving buses.....

No, not for me. But I do have a challenge for my motorcyclista (and cyclista) followers to post up where your motorcycle (or bicycle) lives. After the above blog, it isn't hard to work out where my blue beast lives, but I would be interested to see where you keep your bikes. So, please put a link to your blog in the comments section below and tell us where your toy lives.

Edit: These are the links that have been posted so far in the comment section. Thanks for your contributions and remember it doesn't matter where you keep your bike, be it in a shed or on the street or in your room. Post a picture up and be proud!

Chillertek

Trobairitz

Andrew

Rob Mcglinn

V Star Lady

Erik

mq01

bobskoot

Circle Blue