THE OLD BLOKE'S BLOG
Welcome to The Old Bloke’s Blog! Well, it's more than just a blog actually; it's a blog combined with general bits of interest, and smaller items etc.It's a traditional type blog of things that I've been doing that will, hopefully, be of some interest to the reader too. But, as I said, it's more than that; it's also where I put items of interest that I've come across that aren't big enough for a separate article.It's set out month by month, going down the page - so for the latest entries, scroll down to the bottom.For previous installments in this Blog thing, just scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the button there.I hope you find it interesting!JANUARY 4, 2013. “It’s gonna be a long hot summer …” Well that’s what Keith Urban says in his song, and it’s what the weather forecasts say too. Today I experienced a bit of that. It wasn’t the first ride of the year, that happened yesterday with a late afternoon ride to a town about 25km away, had a cuppa then returned. But today there was a ride planned with a couple of riding mates. Predicted temperature where we were going was 30, and in regions around it even higher. I suspected that the temperature would probably go higher than predicted. For me, I reckon 30 is getting too hot to be comfortable. Up to that is okay, but 30 is uncomfortable and anything above that is way too hot. So I decided to pull out, I didn’t want to be committed to riding in high temperatures. (The other two riders were still going). Instead, I thought I’d go for a short ride and get back before the afternoon heat set in. Then I thought if I was going to do that I might as well leave with them then turn back at some point and come home. You can probably guess what happened, and I had sort of prepared for it anyway; if it felt okay I would keep going with them. Well, when we rode over the mountain it didn’t feel too bad. Then it got hot and I thought I should turn around … but then it felt okay …. You know how that varying temperature thing goes. Eventually we got to a point where it was further to go back home than it was to continue to our (air-conditioned) destination, so I kept going.
After riding for a bit over an hour we stopped under the shade of a tree in a small village. When I got off the bike I felt a bit whoozy. I hadn’t been sweating much, but I was feeling very thirsty. I went to a shop across the road and bought a bottle of cold water. That was better. The others seemed to handle it okay. The 20-minute ride from there to our destination was oppressively hot, and the sun scorched into my jacket. It was definitely way above 30 degrees on that section! I told myself I really should’ve stayed home.The air-conditioned bistro in the hotel we went to for lunch was almost like walking into a fridge! Nice! I even felt a bit cold. Lunch was good, and the conversation enjoyable. When we came to leave I checked the temperature for the general area. Yep, as I expected, it had gone over the predicted 30 degrees, although only by a degree or so. But the ride back wasn’t too bad at all. I had the jacket partly unzipped and the visor partly open for most of the way (more than I’d had on the ride to there), but it definitely felt cooler than it had been. Now they say next week is going to be even hotter! Anyone know where I can get a portable air-conditioner with a really long extension-cord? JANUARY 6, 2013.
Maybe this is the answer for riding on hot days – find a nice back-road with lots of shade, courtesy of surrounding bush. Fun riding, and nice and cool! This was so good that I went back and forth along the shaded road a couple of times before venturing off into more shaded roads. The getting there, to these sort of places, and back again in the heat is the only down-side; although in this particular case I didn’t have far to go to get there. JANUARY 13, 2013. My wife and I are spending a few days on the Central Coast area of NSW. (Going by car, not by bike). When we arrived at the motel I walked into the reception office and was greeted with the sight of a classic motorbike parked beside the desk.
Those of you who remember bikes of the 1950s might recognise this as BSA Bantam. It’s a 1952 150cc model. Very well restored, it apparently won awards when displayed by its previous owner. The current owner (proprietor of the motel) doesn’t display it, but gives it a brief run occasionally. Interesting! As my daughter said, “You picked a good motel for you!”It’s amazing what kids remember. I took this photo on my phone and sent it to both my daughters, describing it just as “a classic motorbike.” My youngest daughter messaged me back asking, “Is it a Bantam?” Neither of my two daughters are into bikes, so it surprised me that she identified this. However, I did have one of these myself for a few years, restoring it from a rolling frame and a heap of bits. It never quite got to the stage of being on-the-road though, but obviously my daughter recognised it from that. I’d actually forgotten until she mentioned it, but my daughter had helped me a bit with the restoration. She said, “I remember helping you sand back the petrol tank, and being there when you did a lot of the work. I remember you spraying it grey and painting the yellow oval on the tank. I loved helping you with it, and can remember being excited when it all came together; and being quietly upset when you sold it.” She would’ve been about 10 or 12 at the time (she’s 29 now). As I said, it’s amazing what kids remember, and you can never under-estimate the significance of time spent together with your kids.JANUARY 16, 2012. While holidaying at the Central Coast of NSW I called into Worthington BMW in Gosford and had a look at the new scooters. As you probably know, there are two models, the C600 Sport and the C650GT. Now, the first thing to tell you is that, despite the names, the engine in each is exactly the same; 650cc. Yep, it’s like the F650GS and F800GS that are both actually 800. With those there was a bit of history with the F650 name, but why they decided to call the Sport a “600” when it’s actually a “650” is anybody’s guess. I didn’t bother asking. Their answer would be some corporate spin about differentiating between the two models. Anyway, what you need to know is that they are both the same; not only the same capacity but the same power as well.
I liked the look of 600 (on the left) better than the 650 (the bottom two photos). There’s something about the chubby-cheeks look of the bodywork at the front of the GT that doesn’t appeal to me. Oddly enough I also liked the seat on the 600 better; it seemed more comfortable to me.
Interestingly, the seat height is a tad higher on the 600 but it feels lower because of the shape.
Different situation if you’re on the pillion seat though; the pillion seat is much better on the 650. It’s very plush.
There are other differences too; the 650 screen is electric, while the 600 is manual. The 650 gets a few other fancy do-dahs.
The seat and grips are heated and it also gets tyre-pressure monitoring. These are optional on the 600.The 650 GT is undoubtedly better for pillions, but I’d prefer the 600 for solo riding. On-the-road price for the 600 is about $15,500 and the 650GT is about $17,500. That’s a fair bit of money for what they are. You can get a Suzuki Burgman 650 on the road for a couple of grand less than that. Perhaps because of that, sales have been slow to begin with. They’ve been on sale for about 6 weeks now, but Worthingtons haven’t sold even one yet.While I was there, I also had a look at the Moto Guzzi Norge, and was reminded again how much I like this! I haven’t ridden one, but the ergonomics are great and the seat is superbly comfortable. 
And here’s one for the, What were they thinking?” department! The radiator cap on a BMW K1300R. Okay, so you’re not supposed to check the level of the coolant by taking off the cap, but when you do need to add some coolant it makes it very inconvenient! I tried removing it and I couldn’t get my fingers around the cap enough to twist it. And even if you did, I doubt there would be enough room to lift it clear; and you wouldn't be able to fill it anyway. So to remove the cap you’d have to remove this whole side-panel. Clever – NOT!JANUARY 16, 2013. After leaving Worthingtons I decided to pay a visit to The Old Road Café. Readers who live around the Sydney / Central Coast area will be familiar with this. It used to be called the Road Warriros Café and was a very popular stopping point for bikes. Kind of like the local equivalent of London’s famous Ace Café. Kind of. It’s about 20km south of Gosford on what used to be the old Pacific Highway until it was by-passed by the expressway many years ago.
The road was a very popular one for bikes as it was constant twists and turns. Sadly it was neutered by being restricted to a 60kph speed-limit. Anyway, it closed a few years ago. I’m not sure what happened next, I think it reopened a bit further down the road, but that then closed too. Well it is now called the Old Road Café, and reopened some time during mid 2012. As you can see, there’s not a lot of signage outside, and it’d be easy to miss if you didn’t know it was here. Inside there’s a lot of motorcycling memorabilia including an actual bike. I intended having lunch there but it was a very hot day and inside they didn't have air-conditioning; and not even any fans. My wife wanted somewhere air-conditioned so we left and went back to Gosford.JANUARY 25, 2013. Motorcycle Trader magazine has been busy building a café-racer project bike.
Click here to go to the front page. Click your BACK button to return to the previous page.
Click here to go to the previous Blog page.
There is a competition running where they will give the bike away to some lucky reader of the magazine. (I hope it’s me!). The bike is based on an early model Honda CB750, but just about everything has been changed. Most of the work was carried out by TT Motorcycles. If you click here you can watch a video of Brian Brown of TT Motorcycles telling Motorcycle Trader’s Guy Allen what modifications went into building the bike. Fabulous looking thing, isn’t it!JANUARY 26, 2013. Australia day. Despite predictions of rain it looked fine, so off for a ride. I put on my "Australia" T-shirt (made in China), my riding jacket, gloves and boots (all also made in China) and my helmet (made in Japan). Oh, but my riding jeans are Draggin' Jeans - made in Australia! Then I got on my Japanese motorcycle and rode off.
I decided on a particular hotel in the Southern Highlands for lunch; an old building that has strong links with the past and displays photos, like the street scene shown here, on its walls. Then it was across to a nearby historic town, to appreciate some more architectural history and listen to some good ol' Aussie music. (Hang on, now they're playing Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers!). Then I paid a visit to the historic site of Bong Bong, the first settlement in the Southern Highlands. Nothing remains of the township and military station that existed there in the early 1800s, now there is just an obelisk marking the memory. Interesting to visit and stand in the spot where it all began though. All in all I thought it was a good way to enjoy Australia Day!FEBRUARY 6, 2013. Thanks to Rod for sending this to me. It’s an interesting comparison carried out by an American magazine on three popular sportstourers. There’s a Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki. The Kwaka goes under a different name than its local counterpart, but the Yamaha and Honda are the same bike (and same model designation) as local. Click here.
FEBRUARY 6, 2013. In my article “Terms And Tricks” I addressed the subject of lane-splitting, debunking the myth that some people have that it is totally legal. It isn’t. But it soon will be; if you live in Sydney, and for a trial period only at this stage. Take a look at the NRMA’s on-line article on this. Also of interest are the many responses from their members.
FEBRUARY 7, 2013.
Well this is confusing! (It looked like there might’ve been some roadworks just past this, so maybe the 60 sign was for that? I first saw this about a week or so ago, and it was still there today, so it isn’t a one-off mistake just on the day). I wonder which one the police would enforce? FEBRUARY 25, 2013. Another weekend with the bike staying in the garage! It seems that we are having constant rain! Or the threat of anyway! Luckily, I have managed a couple of rides during the week over the past couple of weeks, or else I wouldn’t have had the bike out at all! (I shouldn’t complain though, we’ve had nothing like the floods that some of you have experienced!).
FEBRUARY 26, 2013. I just read a small piece about the Australian long-distance riders or whatever they are called (the people who do the Iron Butt rallies in USA etc). They are doing a coast-to-coast ride next week, from Coogee in NSW to Coogee in W.A. A distance of 4,000km, which they are to do in 50 hours. Hmm, I reckon I could do that trip in, oh I don’t know, maybe a couple of weeks! Seriously though, I’ve always had concerns over this sort of long-distance riding. To my way of thinking, no matter how well-prepared you are, it can’t be safe.
MARCH 9, 2013. Triumph certainly know how to do new model launches! For the official press-release of the Explorer they flew a bunch of journos to Adelaide and sent them north to Uluru, camping out along the way. Then a different bunch of journos rode them back the other way. For the new Trophy tourers they went even better. They flew an assorted bunch of journos, and their wives, to New Zealand and took them on a one-week tour around the south island. Not a bad gig! Their wives were invited because with the Trophy they’ve put a lot of effort into accommodating a pillion (heated seat, long grab-rails etc). So a week’s touring through New Zealand – as I said, not a bad gig is it! Sadly, The Old Bloke was not on their invitation list!
MARCH 10, 2013. Incredibly, it is 10 years today since the death of Barry Sheene. He was just 52 years of age when he succumbed to his battle with cancer. Barry, as I’m sure all reading this will know, was a high profile very successful racer. And his exploits – and injuries – on the track have been well-documented. In Australia he became best known as a motor-sport commentator; and was hugely popular. He had that larrikan nature that we in Australia love, and also knew what he was talking about – something often lacking in motor-sport commentators! The current edition of Australian Motorcycle News has a great tribute feature to him.
MARCH 12, 2013. I was going through some old music I had and came across a song I’d written about 20 years ago.
It was just after I got back into bikes after a very brief break when I sold my trail bikes. At the time I had a Yamaha SR250, which was a road-bike with a sort of semi-chopper-ish type style.The previous owner had fitted a handlebar bikini-fairing, and I subsequently fitted a pair of panniers. It was very under-powered, struggling to do more than 100kph flat-strap; wind affected it badly; and it wasn’t terribly comfortable. So I actually didn’t like riding it much, but I did like owning it.So I wrote a song that reflected how I felt about it at the time. Here is just one verse and chorus.I think of my bike as a Harley,
Though it’s just an old Yamaha.
I don’t ride it very often,
And I don’t ride it very far.
I’m getting old now I suppose.
Thoughts of danger in my head,
But motorcycles are in my blood,
And that Yamaha is in my shed.
I actually owned it for a few years and enjoyed tinkering with it, but later replaced it with bikes that I did ride more much often and a lot further. MARCH 23, 2013. In July last year (click here and scroll down the page to July 21) I led a group of bikes on a visit to a dementia-care facility close to where I live. This had been inspired by a story I read in the local paper about a volunteer there who one day rode his bike in there and found that it attracted quite a bit of attention from the residents. So I figured that if they were interested in one bike perhaps they’d be interested in a whole bunch of them there. So I phoned the place and they thought that was a great idea. So I organised a group and we rode out and lined up the bikes in the garden area inside the complex. A couple of months ago I got a call from the lady there who arranges these sort of things, asking if we could put on another display for them. So a few emails later we had a group of riders promising to take part.
And today we did the ride and display. It was a beautiful day, and we had a good roll-up of bikes, with hardly any two bikes the same. Big variety! We had a police motorcyclist join us, which was great, as one of the residents there was a former police motorcyclist. He remembered his old police bike and even his service-number. The staff were very appreciative of our visit there and treated us very well too, putting on a sausage-sizzle type BBQ lunch, with lots of cool drinks, tea, coffee etc. After we left we went for a ride to a pub at a scenic location down the coast. A very enjoyable day, and another where we can be satisfied at having done a little bit of good in our community. 
MARCH 30, 2013. There is an ever-expanding range of Chinese built machines hitting our market. We might assume that the industry is big over there, but how big? Tonight I read that China’s production of motorcycles amounts to around 25 million per year; that’s around 68,500 per day! About half of those are for the domestic market and half for export.
MARCH 30, 2013. My son-in-law – the one who I jokingly suggested was trying to kill me with his Kawasaki KX125 (and later with the Aprillia RS125), and then had a Suzuki GSXR750 for a while – has bought another bike.
He’s got back into dirt-riding with a Kawasaki KX250F, a 4-stroke 250. This photo was taken on a mobile phone today by one of his mates while he was out riding. APRIL 1, 2013. Easter, a few days off, so a chance to go riding – if it wasn’t for the rain and the traffic! A couple of the days – namely Friday and Sunday, are taken up with family and church commitments, but that still leaves two days to ride.Well the rain stayed away on the Saturday, but there was a national meeting of Jaguars nearby, so I had to have a look at that! Back home, had a late lunch and then, with the sun still shining beautifully, I went for a short ride.
Monday there was a ride scheduled with a group that meets in a nearby town. 
Our route was going to miss the worst of the returning traffic, so it should be okay. But the day dawned rainy, so the ride was cancelled. Then by about 11.30 the skies had cleared. My phone beeped – the ride was back on again! We had 5 bikes leave for a short-ish but enjoyable ride and then lunch at a popular café. A good ride a good chat with the others and then ride back home. It was an enjoyable day, and stressed the point that you don’t need to ride a long distance to enjoy a few hours out on the bike.APRIL 6, 2013. Here’s one for the ever-increasing number of Yamaha XJR1300 owners. If you are looking for cheap parts, and good advice, here’s one to bookmark. Victor Drummond is a long-time owner and enthusiast of these bikes, and also the earlier Yamaha FJ range. He hails from W.A. but will gladly post whatever you need. And even with the postage, you’ll probably save money compared to what you’ll pay at your local dealer. Joe, who told us about his new XJR1300, put me onto Victor’s site. Joe said he was most helpful and delivered quick service. Oh, and there are service-manuals that you can download free from his site too. The web-site is at http://yamaha-parts.victordrummond.net/ Browse the site and check out some of the prices.
APRIL 12, 2013. Here's something that will be of interest to all those people wanting to avoid ethanol in their fuel - which is probably all of us with bikes! Just today I discovered that one of my local servos (the closest to me actually) is now selling straight unleaded, not E10, which they've been selling since it was first introduced. (I use 95 in the bike, but the car takes 91; and I won't use ethanol). I was told that up until late last year the regulation for servos was that at least one grade of petrol they sold had to be E10. For almost all servos that was the 91 grade. But late last year the government repealed that legislation and so now some servos - including my local one - are changing back to the straight unleaded again. So keep an eye out; it's likely that some of those servos that used to only sell the ethanol blend of 91 will now be selling the straight stuff again.
APRIL 15, 2013. The Prime Minster’s partner, Tim Mathieson, is a biker. Who knew?
Anyway, last Sunday he led a group of bikes from the PM’s Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, down to Canberra to raise funds for a charity called Hagar, which rescues children sold in sex-trade. The ride went through Kangaroo Valley and onto Canberra, where Tim stayed in that other PM’s residence, The Lodge. Good one, Tim! A very worthy charity indeed! For more information, or to support the charity, visit Hagar Australia at http://hagarinternational.org/australia.APRIL 16, 2013. With winter coming on, this article on how to survive riding in the cold might be timely.
APRIL 18, 2013. This could be useful. Another on-line shop, selling parts and accessories, but there seems to be some good bargains to be had.
APRIL 21, 2013. This is Marc Marquez, on his way to becoming the youngest ever winner of the premier class of world motorcycle racing, at age 20.
(That’s Pedrosa in front of him, but Marquez was to overtake him later). Dragging the knee is what everyone does, but here Marc is dragging his elbow! Apparently his suit is fitted with small elbow-sliders! No, he’s not the first one to do it (I remember a shot of Casey Stoner with elbow on the deck), but it’s still pretty extreme!APRIL 25, 2013. On Australia Day I rode to a couple of small but historically significant places. So on ANZAC day I thought I’d do the same sort of thing.
I spent most of the day at home, but in the afternoon I went for a short ride. I rode to a small War Cemetery. There was no-one there. Although a few small flowers and some cardboard crosses were indication that someone had been. There were just 12 headstones. I looked at the ages – 33, 24, 26, 18, 18, 18.... The oldest was 55. All died in WW2. It was quite moving to be there alone and just reflect.MAY 1, 2013. Today Michael and Karen Nieuwendyk climbed aboard their Moto Guzzi Norge outside Randwick Children’s Hospital and, together with about 30 others riders, began a ride around Australia. Now, you might not think that there’s anything too special about that; a lot of people ride around Australia, but this is a very special ride.
It’s been organised by the Steven Walter Foundation, the same people who run the annual Snowy Ride. This ride around Australia is an additional fund-raising event, and is the second such ride that has been held. After the first one, back in 2010, the logistics of organising such an event had the Steven Walter Foundation saying “Never again!” But they decided to do another one.The logistics of organising the event probably aren't any easier, but they seem to have done a great job of it! The ride will cover about 14,000km and take 34 days to complete; with riders due to arrive back in Sydney on 3rd June.I don’t know Michael and Karen well, as they live quite a distance from where I live, but I have contact with them through the Christian Motorcyclists Association, of which I am a member and Karen is Secretary. Karen said, “We decided to go on the Around Australia Ride, with the intention of raising as much money as possible.” They need to raise a lot of money too. Just to enter the ride required an up-front payment of $500 for the rider and $250 for the pillion, which was to cover administration expenses such as booking accommodation, arranging meals etc. Then on the fundraising side the organisation has set a target of $5,000 for each rider and $2,500 for pillions. They’ve made a good start to this though. A primary school in their area held a market day that raised over $2,000 and other donations came from their church, the local RSL club and a local business. They have also had support from their family and friends. I would like to say that it is a great thing that they, and all the other riders, are doing, and I wish them all a safe and successful journey.For more information on the Snowy Ride and the Steven Walter Foundation, and to follow Michael and Karen’s journey, click on the links below. (You can use these links to make a donation too, should you wish to do so). Links:
The Snowy Ride: http://www.snowyride.org.au
Steven Walter Foundation: http://stevenwalterfoundation.org.au
Karen’s Blog of the ride: http://knieuwendyk.wordpress.com
MAY 2, 2013. There are some advantages in not being a lunatic! Today I took the bike in for a service. I had done part of it (oil change and some checks), but I had the mechanic do things like balance the fuel-injection and replace the plugs. I would’ve done the plugs myself, but the centre two can’t be accessed without taking off the tank, so as the tank had to come off (or lifted up) anyway to do the fuel-injection I let him do that. Not much for the mechanic to do, so not big dollars for it. Less than $160 had me back on the bike and riding away. I liked that; there are bikes that cost a lot more than that for a minor service!
But getting back to the lunatic thing. I’d checked the brake-pads but he looked at them too. He was amazed at how little they’d worn. At just over 32,000km he expected them to be getting low, but they are only half worn at best. “You mustn’t be hard on the brakes!” He said. I told him I wasn’t, but as the brakes are pretty powerful I didn’t need to be; a gentle squeeze is enough to pull the bike up. “You probably use the gears too.” He suggested. Well, yes, I do. He said, “Some people just fly up to the lights then pull the clutch in and slam the brakes!” He later commented on other things – like the plugs, which were a perfect colour and the electrodes almost like new, and the lack of wear on things like the chain etc. “You must ride really gently!” He suggested. Well, I don’t pussy-foot around, but I do mostly ride fairly smoothly; although I frequently give it a good blast of acceleration – that’s always fun! And I always overtake quickly. But, while I do ride it quickly at times, I don’t go down the road on the back wheel either! In other words, while I do enjoy the power of the bike, I don’t ride like a lunatic! And that obviously pays off in terms of making the consumables last longer and keeping the bike in general in good condition. MAY 5, 2013. Today a visit to a classic bike display. I generally prefer to drive to events like this rather than ride, as then I don’t have to lug all the gear around with me. But it was a cool-ish day, so I decided to ride. I locked my helmet to the bike and it was cool enough to wear my jacket (undone) while I admired the bikes. Then after I ended up going for a long ride home. A good day!
There were some great machines on display! The blue Yamaha RD250 was given to the owner by his brother-in-law, who was about to take it to the tip. It’d been sitting against the outside wall of a shed for about 25 years and was so rusted that when the now owner came to pick it up the wheels wouldn’t turn and it had to be dragged onto the trailer. He was already involved in the vintage bike scene, having a much older BSA (also on display today), and said he didn’t even know what an RD250 was when he got the offer! (But some club members said he should take it). The orange and white bike is a BSA Bushman; a trail-bike version of the famous old Bantam. The owner had done a “no-expense-spared” restoration, and when not on display at shows like this, it lives in his loungeroom at home!
Actually it was a good weekend. Yesterday I’d been for a good ride with a couple of mates, then today I ended up doing almost the same ride again going to the bike display and back home. MAY 16, 2013. There have been movements in the top spots at the bike magazines – as you are probably aware. The Bear left Australian Road Rider and started up his own magazine (again!), called Australian Motorcyclist. In his chair at Road Rider is well known bike journo and former editor of AMCN, Mick Matheson. Both magazines seem to be going okay. Australian Motorcyclist, being a new publication, will take a bit of time to build up, but The Bear has a loyal following of readers and many have taken up the new mag.
Back at Australian Road Rider, things have changed, but the changes seem to be working; according to its current editorial, the March issue was the biggest selling issue ever! And subscriptions, having been in a steady decline for a while, have been on the increase. One of those renewed subscriptions was me. I let my subscription go a year or so back, but I like the new mag, and a good deal on subscriptions got me back. One of the biggest changes for me have been the road tests: I have for a long time thought they were a bit light-on, but now they are very detailed. Good to see! Also there are more columns, which I like.At Motorcycle Trader, former editor Greg Leech has gone to edit a car magazine. The top spot has been filled by Grant Roff. That’s interesting, because, while the name was acknowledged as a contributor in the general info section, he was known as Spannerman – as he ran the mechanical advice column. “Spannerman” is still there, so he now works for the mag under two different names. (And, as far as I know, still writes for Two Wheels under the name of Groff). Interesting! MAY 25, 2013. Having mentioned the movements of editors at magazines above, I thought it might be worth mentioning the new magazine, Australian Motorcyclist. This is the new magazine by Peter “The Bear” Thoeming. Readers might remember his first magazine, Bike Australia, which he left to start up Australian Road Rider, which he left to start up Australian Motorcyclist. Well that’s the quick summary anyway, there was a lot of wheeling-and-dealing in the background behind all that no doubt. Anyway, I have just had a look through (or am having a look through) the first 3 issues, thanks to a mate who gave them to me to check out. And I’m quite impressed! I suppose I expected a clone of ARR, but it’s not. ARR has continued with a similar look and layout (but more features and columns, as I mentioned above), but Peter’s new mag looks different. I suppose it had to.
The cover looks a bit down-market to me, compared with ARR, but inside there are things I like better. I always found the index of ARR frustrating. I still do. It’s all set out in sections and that’s logical and easy, but I think what I found frustrating were the photos with a corresponding page number. Look at the eye-catching pic, then try to find the article in the index. Is it under “Bikes”? “Travel” perhaps? No? I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but I found it confusing. AMM (which is how The Bear has started referring to it) has the index listed in two columns; which I find easier to scan for articles. Tests are mostly written by Stuart Woodbury, who’s test reports I like, and the usual product reviews, tour stories and other interesting features are all there. It’s a good read! MAY 30, 2013. Here are a couple of links to an on-line newsletter Team Moto put out. The first one is a list of 23 roads that are “must ride” roads. Hmm, I haven't ridden any of them! No, not even the Great Ocean Road, which is about the only one of this lot that I'll ever get a chance of riding! Actually I'm not sure I'd like to ride all of them – that one next to the title in the wet looks a bit dangerous. Anyway it's a fabulous collection of very interesting roads!
The second one is of race / rally driver / motorcyclist Stephane Peterhansel riding a Yamaha R1 - over a sand-dune! Wow! This guy is talented!JUNE 1, 2013.
A check of the radar showed that rain was coming. But I figured I just had time for a short ride before it arrived. So off I went. Only a relatively short ride, and I got back before the rain arrived, but riding through scenery like this makes it worthwhile! (I guess I’m lucky to live fairly close to scenery like this!). JUNE 2, 2013. Here’s an interesting thing: in Sweden learner riders can ride anything they want. There’s no 250cc limit, no LAMS restrictions etc. Ah, but it isn’t quite that easy; the learner has to be accompanied by a licensed rider (on another bike). Peter, a new reader who lives in Sweden, explains. “When you are getting your license you can either take lessons at a driving school or you can practice privately, riding with somebody that already has a license (and has had it for a minimum of five years). You are not allowed to practice on your own. Most people tend to combine the two, to keep costs down. Also, people who don't take any school lessons fail the final test to a much higher degree. The funny thing is that as long as you are accompanied by another rider (on a motorcycle of his own) you are allowed to practice on basically any bike you want, as long as it is street legal. Want to learn on an R1 or VMAX? No problem. Just don't forget to put on your helmet and wear your bright yellow vest where it says you're learning.” That’s interesting! Great to hear from a reader on the other side of the world too! Thanks for the email, Peter! Peter is currently “learning” on a Yamaha XVS 1100.
JUNE 3, 2013. On May 1 above, I mentioned Michael and Karen Nieuwendyk beginning the Steven Walter Fund’s Around Australia Ride to raise money for the charity.
Well, today, right on schedule, they arrived back. A fabulous trip, but a demanding schedule (14,000km in 34 days, including a couple of rest-days) and weather conditions that varied from scorching sun blazing down from a cloudless sky at over 40 degrees, to rain and wind at less than 10 degrees. There were a couple of “minor” incidents, including one rider who went down and cracked a couple of ribs (but was bravely back on the bike a few days later), but no major accidents, and everyone arrived back in Sydney safely. Well done to all!JUNE 8, 2013. Mick Matheson, editor of Australian Road Rider, is off on another adventure – Ferris Wheels’ first bike tour in Iceland.
In a post on the magazine’s Facebook page he wrote, “Five minutes into this morning's ride and this is what we saw...” It looks like an enjoyable road (nice flowing turns), but I can’t see Iceland as being an enjoyable place to ride. A bit cold for my liking I think!JUNE 12, 2013. Another photo from Iceland, taken from Ferris Wheels’ Facebook page.
I commented that I was starting to see why they decided to run a tour there, to which Mike Ferris replied, “You gotta get here Elwyn – it's simply stunning! Words cannot do justice.” Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever have the money (or the stamina!) to get there now, but the photos are certainly impressive!JUNE 15, 2013. And now for something completely different – well very different anyway. It’s a new helmet design, made right here in Australia. The big difference with this is the way you put it on. Instead of pulling it over your head as normal, there is a door at the back of the helmet and you put your head in through the opening, fastening the door behind your head. One advantage of this is that the helmet can be made a much better fit around the chin area. Interesting concept! No word yet on exactly when it will be available, or how much it will cost. For more information go to their web-site: http://voztec.com. (Thanks to Rod for sending me the link to this one).
JUNE 22, 2013. Speaking of helmets, today I bought (or ordered to be precise) a new helmet. My old one has passed its use-by-date. No, it’s still in good condition, but has passed the “7 years after date of manufacture” rule. Over my many years of riding I have had a preference for Arai. I’ve owned other brands, but I like Arai: my current helmet is an Arai, so I had a natural preference to buy another one of those. But I was prepared to consider other brands – especially as finances are very tight in The Old Bloke’s household at the moment.
One thing I found was that shops seem to be stocking fewer helmets than they used to. Local bike shops weren’t worth looking at. I went to a large motorcycle Accessories shop (MCAS). But even their range I thought seemed less, proportionately, than they used to be. I’d done a fair bit of research prior to going to the shop, and had a few different brands and models I wanted to try. In Arai it was the Arai Vector 2. In Shoei, the Shoei TZ-X was what I wanted to look at. Then there were models from HJC, AGV and RJays that I wanted to look at. I tried the Arai first.
Yep, feels good; and the slightly different shape of the shell reduced the gap between chin and chin-bar a bit, which was a good thing (my only complaint with my current one was that there was too much of a gap here, which lets wind in). There are other differences too. The ventilation has been improved, with a larger more efficent inlet on the top and two, rather than one, outlet at the back. There are also miniature outlet slits on the side that are permanently open. A test report I read on the helmet rated the ventilation as “outstanding” and amongst the best on any helmet he had tried. The vents are a better design and easier to operate also.And the field of vision is broader with a wider opening in the front.Next the Shoei. Good helmet, but didn’t seem quite as comfortable on my noggin as the Arai. But a good helmet. The others I wanted to look at were ones that were a lot cheaper. Of the cheaper ones, I found that Rjays were impressive – they were cheap, but not nasty. Some other brands I tried were a bit uncomfortable, but the Rjays seemed fairly good. Not quite in the same ball-park as the Arai, of course, but not bad. The very helpful sales person pointed me at Shark. I’d considered them but hadn’t found one I liked (in design / appearance) when looking at them on web-sites. But there was one there that was okay. But the price came to within $100 of the Arai. I figured that for that difference I’d stick with my preference. Good helmet though! AGV was likewise – good helmets, obviously, but I preferred the Arai (or Shoei) and the difference in price wasn’t enough to deter me from my preferred brand(s).
The Shoei TZ-X is an excellent helmet! Just look up the details on their web-site; it’s impressive! In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that it might arguably be an even better helmet than Arai in some respects. One thing that has attracted me to the Shoei is the claim that it is 60% quieter than the TZ-R that it replaced – which itself was not known as a noisy helmet. But the one thing I noticed with the Shoei was that it seemed heavier. I couldn’t find any specifications on weight, although in previous comparative models, Arai has been a bit lighter. But I don’t think it’s actaul weight, I think it’s centre-of-gravity. If I bent my head forwards there seemed to be more top-heaviness to the helmet than there was with the Arai. If you’re looking for a helmet, I can recommend both the Arai and Shoei as excellent helmets. For a bit less money I can recommend AGV and Shark especially, and if you really want to save some bucks, I can recommend Rjays. That’s what I tried, but there are other brands – like HJC and Nolan in the mid-range, THH in the cheaper range, and so on – that are well worth looking at too. Retail price for the Arai is $649.95, the Shoei is $629.95 and the Rjays $179.95 (see what good value they are!). I bought mine while they were on an end-of-June special and saved around $70.One interesting thing was that when looking at the Arai I couldn't find a date of manufacture. This is something a lot of people don't think of, but I've seen helmets sitting on the shelf that have been 2, 3 even 4 years old! I asked the sales guy and he couldn't find it either. But the surprising thing was that he said no-one asked that! That really is something you should look at! After we both spent about 5 minutes pulling the lining back and looking everywhere he eventually found it stamped on the D-ring. Easy to see - when you know where to look! JUNE 22, 2013. Today my 8-year old granddaughter had her first ride on a motorbike. My daughter and her husband had bought a 2nd-hand Thumpster for her, but it was too big. Today she went with her Dad who was riding with a few mates. One of those mates brought along a PY50 (a cheap knock-off of Yamaha’s famous PW50) for her to ride. She did amazingly well! Before the day was out she was even getting a bit of “air” over a jump! (A bit too confident, methinks!). Here are some photos. (Allow the proud old grandad a bit of indulgence, okay?).
Parents take note: If your child wants to ride a mini-bike, this is the way to do it - with all the proper protective gear! Okay, maybe the shoes need some attention, but it was still an impressive effort from Mum & Dad. I've seen many children riding mini-bikes in T-shirts and shorts etc. (Actually, I've seen adults riding in that too!). The good thing about this too, is that if kids are going to ride, starting them out in full gear gives them the mind-set that you need proper gear when riding; so hopefully if they continue to ride, they will always wear appropriate gear.
