Motors Motorcycle Mayhem

The mod 1 training session I had yesterday afternoon felt like a complete and utter disaster. The part I was most apprehensive about - going from my piddly little CBF125 up to a 650cc Suzuki Gladius - was actually the best part of the afternoon. The Gladius was an absolute pleasure to ride: handles well, plenty of torque available even at low revs, corners like a dream... It was so much better than riding my little CBF, even just being able to get from 40mph up to 70mph in such a short space of time was an absolute delight. But it felt like the training session was a complete disaster: I didn't get a single thing right all afternoon and I was constantly being picked up on things by the instructor. I got super stressed about it when I came home yesterday evening, and this morning I was convinced I was going to fail.

But I passed on the first attempt. I managed to absolutely nail the U-turn - I think it was the best I've ever done - and the slalom/figure-8 felt a hell of a lot easier than it did yesterday. I did have to repeat the avoidance test because I only got up to 47kph on the first try; I was convinced I didn't get it on the second attempt either, but I was just over the target at 51kph. I kinda stared blankly at the examiner when he said I'd passed!

Thank f- mod 1 is over!

 

Well done !

 

Cheers

 

Well done man, sounds like a productive day for you.

I remember the first time I had a go on a 600, I had only and still have only had 2T 125s (running anyway, I have a 4T atm for breaking) and I was lost, it's a different world, so much easier to ride, so relaxing, the first time I was able to stop constantly "rev-watching". Not to mention my current 2T is having compression issues, so taking off from traffic lights on a 600 made me smile EVERY time!

 

I rode a load of Harley's new Softail bikes in Catalonia last week. Not usually my kinda thing, but fun all the same



Edit: and I think I have an invite to ride Ducati's new Monster 939 next month in Rimini. That's all I can guess it'll be, as all they've said is that it's a naked bike. The 821 isn't euro4 compliant, so it'd make sense...

 

Hmmm, you don't happen to live in "chatter manor" do you?

As I'm looking for a new urban transport (having changed jobs recently), I've been thinking about buying an Innova ot a tricity or the likes.
For test reasons, I've now been loaned a 50cc two-stroker Gilera scooter.
Oh boy, it's been over 20 years since I rode a scooter. It's fun, but boy are those wheels small.
I'm about as fast as with the car, unless there's congestion, then I'm quicker with the scoot

 

haha no, but i know them both well!

 

Well greetings from a fan then

 

If anyone's wondering what we're on about, there's a rather good biking podcast called Front End Chatter. It's well worth a listen. Martin and Simon are stupidly knowledgeable and dead easy to listen to.

 

A very enjoyable listen, easy to understand (even for me as a foreigner) and very, very entertaining.

 

Passed my Mod 2 at the end of August, when i came back from holiday i went and brought a Yamaha XJ6 for a good price.

been riding it pretty much every day to get more experience. will probably be laying it up soon for the winter

 

Had two lessons this week on Monday and Tuesday ahead of my Mod 2 test. Both lessons I was constantly being picked up on things I'd done wrong and by the end of the second lesson the instructor had more than a few stern words to say about my observations - it didn't help that he had to stop me from changing lanes into a poxy little Audi with a fart cannon exhaust and wheels that were way too big for the wheel arches. (I'd checked and didn't see anything, so I thought it was safe to change lanes - the next thing I hear is "stop, STOP" on the radio as I nearly drove into the aforementioned car). I was a nervous wreck by the end of the day yesterday.

This morning I was convinced I'd f'ed up the test altogether, almost as soon as I left the test centre: not doing shoulder checks early enough, leaving too large a gap in slow-moving traffic, stopping too close to cars in front, going too fast around hazards like parked cars in built-up areas, indicating too early, and I was sure that I'd exceeded the speed limit once... I was positive that if I managed to pass then I would have squeaked by with the maximum number of faults allowed. But I passed with zero faults and the examiner reckoned it was a "lovely bit of riding, couldn't ask for better". Utterly gobsmacked.

So I went out and signed on the dotted line for a Honda NC750X earlier:



Pre-registered late last year with zero miles on the clock. Well OK, that's a lie - it has one mile on the clock from where it's been pushed around the store and garage . So much nicer to ride than my CBF 125, if it wasn't for the fact that I'm utterly shattered after getting up at 0530 this morning I'd still be out on it!

Congrats on passing

 

In some actual Mayhem of the Motorcycle variety: Had a minor accident, severed a couple of tendons in my left foot but otherwise just bruising. Didn't get a chance to look over the bike, but while the engine was still running the majority if the plastics are gone (I'd actually bought a full set of spares recently anyway though), at least one rad is busted, and one bar is snapped right off. If the engine, transmission and frame are all OK it's probably worth repairing, otherwise for a £1200 20 year old bike I may just write it off.
Till the foot heals it's probably Scooty-Puff Jr. time too, unless I can find somewhere to rent an NC750S DCT without extortionate rates.

 

Ouch, that sounds pretty nasty. I narrowly avoided a serious accident last weekend and I was shaking like a sh***ing dog when I got off the bike.

Hope your recovery is a speedy one!

 

Looks like it will be a couple of weeks to get the cast off, another couple of months in a splint/brace & boot, then several more months to get back to full strength (no more standing on my tip-toes!).
The front camera caught me doing a hilarious crab-scuttle out of the road, which I don't remember at all (can only remember being on the pavement and trying to dig the killswitch out from under the bike where the handlebar had snapped off to).

 

So I'm 99.9% certain that some thieving little... person... tried to make off with my motorbike last night.

I parked, as I always do, pointing out of the driveway with the stand facing the wall. I came out this morning to find the bike lying on the floor on its left-hand side, the same side the stand is located. The only fairing damage is on the top of the tank - not on the sides - where it looks like it's slid down the wall. We had some really strong winds earlier this week and that didn't tip the bike over - last night wasn't as bad as earlier in the week. No bins or plant pots or anything like that were blown over, and plenty of people still had their bins in the street as the rubbish collection was yesterday evening. If the wind had blown it over - away from the stand - there would be fairing damage because that's what would hit the ground first; if the wind was pushing the bike on the opposite side to the stand then it would be pushed on to the stand harder, and the stand would keep it up. When I managed to get the bike stood up I notice that the stand had been lifted. So, if the wind did this then that means that the wind would have had to push the bike from behind hard enough to lift it off the stand, but prevent it from falling to the right (away from the house) and gently depositing it against the wall.

Fairing damage is minor but the steering lock is broken. As is the ignition switch, you simply can't turn the key at all. My bike has an immobiliser which detects the presence of a chip embedded in the key; this means that it's not simply a case of changing the lock, because there's the immobiliser to worry about too. Finally, when I was moving the bike into the garden this dropped out from beneath the handlebars:



The shackle lock was still attached, albeit wedged up against the front brake caliper.

It looks like someone has snapped the steering lock, tried to make off with it, realised there's a shackle lock, and given up. If they'd actually stolen the bike outright I would be less p!ssed off; as it is this could be an expensive repair, and my excess is not cheap.

 

The only thing worse than a thief is an incompetent thief.

 

I have permission from the landlord to install a ground anchor now. It won't stop anyone who is determined to steal the bike, but it should put off the opportunistic scumbags who want to rev the **** out of a "big bike" engine.

I'm dreading the repair cost.

 

So. The AA took the bike back to the dealer's garage yesterday morning and I had a call from from them later in the afternoon.

The handlebars are bent, the handlebar yoke is damaged, the ignition lock is knackered, and the part of the steering lock that was snapped is attached to the frame - meaning the frame is damaged. If I want to ignore the frame damage then I can get it back on the road for about £900; to repair everything is around £5000. The bike only cost £5500. I had another chat with the dealer today about how it would impact finance, GFV, PCP, etc, and I think the best thing at this point is to get the insurance involved - usually any damage to the frame is considered a write-off (much like chassis damage with a car I guess).

No. F'ing. Kidding.

If you want to steal it then how about you make sure you can actually f'ing steal it before you do enough damage to write it off! Getting rid of the shackle lock on the wheel should be your FIRST task!

Of course, the police ain't gonna do squat because there's absolutely no evidence left behind. Despite the fact that local officers probably already know who might have been responsible.

 

Hi all, been a while since ive dropped in here. Just to say hi and say that if any of you are MotoGP fans to give me a follow (links in sig). I am a photographer covering the series, if you buy Fast Bikes or MCN then you might have seen my stuff too.

Ride safe!