THE OLD BLOKE'S BLOG

Welcome to The Old Bloke’s Blog! Well, it's more than just a blog actually; more of a blog combined with bits ‘n’ pieces, smaller items of interest etc.

It is 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 above, it's more than that. It's where I put items of interest that I've come across that aren't big enough for a separate article.

For previous installments, just click the buttons above. I hope you find it interesting!

JULY 2009. Yamaha have released a special-edition of the XJR1300. It’s a kind of tribute to Valentino Rossi. He’s won 3 championships for them, but he’s never put the number “1” plate on (he likes to retain his usual “46”). So Yamaha have produced a bike with a big “1” on it in his honour. But why the XJR? Well, Rossi rides one! Yes, you’d expect him to ride a Yamaha wouldn’t you, but rather than the more likely R1, or FZ1, or even the MT-01, his choice is the XJR; and apparently he loves it!

He has an R1 too, but says, “I have an XJR1300 which I find more relaxing to ride on the road than my R1, which is too fast.” In a previous interview I read, he said something like, "It makes good (wheel)spin!" In all respects other than the paint and a “Yamaha” badge on the tank, it’s as it was before. And if you don’t want to ride around with a whopping great “1” on your bike, (I wouldn’t!), it’s still available in black. I reckon the silver-and-black paint scheme looks great! I like the gold wheels too. Click here for more details and bigger pics.

A road test of the XJR appeared in a recent edition of AMCN. In the specs they describe the rear suspension as "monoshock." That has appeared in a test before too. A typo by the magazines? No, it comes from Yamaha's web-site, which has the typo in their specs of the bike! You'd think someone at Yamaha would've picked up on that by now, wouldn’t you! And also the magazine editors would've realised too, when listing the specs – especially when both tests referred to the twin Ohlins units in the text of the report.

JULY 2009. Mat Mladin has opened a new retail outlet at Narellan, west of Sydney. But you don’t have to live near-by, they intend doing a lot of their business on-line. The store is called Bike Gear Warehouse. They claim that it's the biggest motorcycle accessory retail warehouse in the Southern Hemisphere! (A big claim! But they claim it to be 6,000 sq m). I will take a run out there one day for a look. Click here to go to their web-site.

JULY 2009. Good bikes, good weather, good roads and good company. Could it get any better than that? Well, maybe the weather could’ve been a bit warmer, but other than that it was a top day! I had offered to take Russ, who hasn’t been in the area for too long, to a panoramic lookout. The roads around the area are great biking roads too. He invited his brother (who I hadn’t previously met) along for the ride too. We were all about the same age, and had similar riding-styles. As I said, good roads and good company! The bikes were a Suzuki GSX1400, Honda VFR800 and my own Yamaha XJR1300. The day was mild and sunny – a perfect winter’s day (apart from a bit of wind, but it wasn't too bad). Our route took us up into the Southern Highlands region of NSW, and it was there we noticed the air become noticeably cooler. The VFR had a temperature-gauge which can be switched to read air-temperature, and along there it was reading about 8 degrees, with a low of 6 as we passed through some heavily shaded sections. Stationary at the famous Robertson Pie Shop, it told us the air-temperature was 10. At that stage I swapped to my winter gloves, which I’d been carrying in the top-box. (Funny how you feel the chill more once you know how cold it really is!). Anyway a most enjoyable day!

JULY 2009. We hear so much about the typical scenario of a car turning in front of a bike, well today I was involved in the reverse – a bike turning in front of a car! I was in the car, trundling along through a small village on a road that went nowhere. Coming towards me, also traveling slowly, was a young guy on a bike. We met at an intersection with a road coming in on my left. The bike had its blinker on and began turning into the side road. I was only doing about 40-50kph, so when it became obvious the guy on the bike somehow hadn’t seen me, I stopped easily. As I did, the guy on the bike suddenly saw me, and propped. He was directly in front of my car when he stopped. I just gave him a smile and he whizzed off up the road.

JULY 2009. In the item on the Yamaha XJR1300 above, I mentioned how Yamaha made an error in the list of specifications on their web-site; stating that the rear suspension was “monoshock” rather than “twin spring / damper units”. And magazines had used this incorrect information in their road-test specs. I thought perhaps I should correct this. So I sent Yamaha an email pointing out the mistake. A couple of days later I got an email from Yamaha, which read: “Thank you for your information, we shall correct the rear suspension description on the web-site for the XJR1300 and change it to 'swingarm.'” What?! "Swingarm"? I was about to send off another email, but discovered that Yamaha use that term to describe their “twin-shock” rear suspension. As if other bikes don’t have a swingarm? I sent them an email anyway, suggesting they change their terminology; to "Twin Shock", or "Twin Unit", or "Twin Spring-Damper Units". A couple of days later they sent a reply which read, “I agree that adding 'twin shock' to rear suspension spec would be more descriptive. However, specs are supplied by Yamaha in Japan and they are keen to keep things uniform across all distributors.” Oh well, I tried! At least the main error will be rectified. Makes you wonder about the people who write these things though doesn't it!

JULY 2009. On my previous Blog page, there was an item on an Oxford tail-bag I’d bought and set up to use. Well, I never actually used it. And having since fitted a top-box I thought that rather than use the strap-on bag, I could use the old Ventura rack and bag. When I bought the top-box I had to buy a new top-section of the Ventura rack – the low “sports-rack” – otherwise the lid wouldn’t have opened; so I still had the old bag and rack. If I bought another mounting-plate, I could then put the old rack on for trips; which would give me the top-box plus the old Ventura bag. The top-box wouldn’t open, but it’s easily removed, so I could put general luggage in that and stuff that I need to get at on the road in the Ventura bag. The advantage of this would be no ocky-straps etc and I’d have the luggage off the bike in about 30 seconds – with about the same time to re-load. So I sold the Oxford bag on eBay and bought a new mounting-plate.

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Setting it up should’ve been easy but …! Because the top-box has to be tilted up to clip onto the plate, the box hit the rack, not allowing it to clip into place. I moved the mounting-plate back a bit, but still no good! I could’ve moved it back further, but that would’ve placed too much of the box overhanging the rack for my liking. So I thought of bending the top section of the rack forward slightly. I tried, but a lack of muscle and appropriate clamps etc prevented that from working. So I took it to an engineering shop where they were able to carefully bend the top section forward so that the box now clips into place easily. What a hassle! But I think (hope!) it’ll be worth it. With a trip coming up soon, we’ll see how it goes.

JULY 2009. The trip I mentioned above was with a group, Ratbags (they're not, they're nice people!), to The Entrance on the central coast of NSW. Unfortunately the luggage system didn't get a run, because I went in the car! I'd had the flu all week, so thought it wise not to do a trip on the bike, especially with the second day forecast as possible rain.

On the trip up I was wishing I was on the bike - it was a beautiful day! The next day I knew I'd made the right decision - it was drizzly and cold. No, COLD!

It was an enjoyable time though. A caravan park (Dunleith) right on the waterfront (the photo on the left was taken from the front verandah of our cabin). The staff were very friendly and helpful. A courtesy bus was booked to take us to the local Bowling Club for dinner (and good conversation), where tables were reserved for us.

The next day it was on to Pelican's Wharf, which was the rendezvous point / lunch-spot for everyone. On the left are some of the bikes that came. (Some who lived a little closer, made a day-ride out of it, riding there and back on the one day). Another top spot, and it would be beautiful on a warm sunny day. Unfortunately the day was dull and cold. Plenty of interesting bikes to look at too. And friendly owners to chat to. Congratulations to those who organised it - you did a great job and it was a good event!

AUGUST 2009 Ah the joys of winter riding! (See photo below). Actually it wasn’t as bad as it looks when I rode past; although it was cold. This was in the Southern Highlands of NSW.

I hadn’t been there for a while (too cold!), but a check on the current temperature indicated 13 degrees, just 3 degrees colder than coastal areas, with light winds; so I decided to go for a ride. The difference felt greater than 3 degrees though, and my hands were cold even through my thick winter gloves. But there was no ice. Thankfully!

Spare a thought for our southern neighbours. Tim, from Tasmania, wrote to say that, where he lives, the current temperatures rarely get above 10 degrees. A bit cold for riding, or even tinkering on the bike in the shed!

AUGUST 2009. Old habits dies hard. Or stupidity blinds you to the “bleedin’ obvious”! For longer than I can remember, I’ve used the combination of speedo and tacho as a quick on-the-move check of tyre pressures. I think I’ve even mentioned this as a tip on the site here. You take a reference-point of the bike doing a certain rpm at a particular road-speed. Sit the bike on that particular rpm, and note the speedo reading. If the front tyre is under-inflated the speed will read higher than normal; if the rear tyre is under-inflated the speed will read lower than normal. I’ve continued doing this on my current bike. After having it for almost a year, today it finally occurred to me that this won’t work – because the speedo is driven off the gearbox! I knew that! So why have I been doing the old speedo / tacho check? Like I said, old habits. Or stupidity!

AUGUST 2009. An interesting ride today – and one of longest distances I’ve done on a day-ride. The really interesting bit was a loop of about 120km west of Sydney through Picton, Camden and Warragamba. Most of it was on secondary back-roads which weren’t exactly highway-smooth. The AirHawk helped!

Some good biking roads, and interesting places. Passed through little townships like Silverdale and Werombi that seem to be just a couple of dozen houses, with a couple of shops. You wonder why – or how – these little hamlets continue to exist. Went to Warragamba Dam, which I hadn’t been to for years. Also passed by Oran Park. Ah, the memories! I used to go regularly in the 70s to watch car racing – Geoghan, Moffat etc. I’ve been since, but not often. (You can’t see much in the photo, but this is the entrance to Oran Park).

AUGUST 2009. I was riding along a major two-lane road in the left lane. Cruising along enjoying the ride. Suddenly there was a deafening scream in my ears! “EEEEEEEEEE…” What the hell!? “EEEEE…AAWW….EEEEE….AAWW..” A police van shot past me, obviously on its way to some urgent matter. Now, the lane I was in was coming to an end, so I was soon going to have to change lanes. The police van was obviously sounding its siren to warn me it was there so I wouldn’t pull over into its way. Thinking of my safety. But they nearly scared me to death in the process!

SEPTEMBER 2009. Today I dropped the bike! It's the first time in over 30 years of riding that I've put a bike down on the road! It ended up a stationary fall, and thankfully, did minimal damage. Still very sad to see the bike lying on its side on the road! I'll have the story (with a few extras on these type of things) on the web-site soon. Look under "Happenings" for "Going Down - Gently".  Oh yes, and I survived the incident okay too. Didn't do the old back a lot of good, but I was okay; and unlike the bike, escaped without any scratches or marks at all.

SEPTEMBER 2009. I missed going to the annual display-day in southern Sydney by the Classic & Enthusiasts Motorcycle Club. A local group (Ratbags) had planned a ride through National Park to the display. That would've been a good ride, and I was planning to go, but then the wind came! Overnight gusts had been recorded at over 100kph, and the morning of the event the wind was gusting at around 80kph and above. I expected that the display would be all but cancelled in that; although sometimes in the city the winds aren't as bad because the buildings break it a bit. I had considered driving there but the wind was so strong I decided against that too. But today I got an email from one of the group saying they had gone. Brave and hardy souls! The wind had made the ride "interesting", and there was a lot of tree-litter on the road through National park. (I would think riding through there would be quite dangerous - some of that tree-litter could come down on your head!). Anyway, apparently the display was great and there were a lot of bikes in the parking-area too. (More brave people!). I'm wishing I'd gone now! Although I wouldn't have gone on the bike!

SEPTEMBER 2009. I went for a ride today - the first decent ride since my little "off". I actually felt a little nervous before I left, but that soon cleared once out on the bike again. However, I was ... how would I describe it? ... "more aware of potential dangers". Now, I'm always aware of dangers, and always ride cautiously (some might say I'm over-cautious!), but today I was more aware of how suddenly things can go wrong, how quickly the unexpected can happen. Maybe that's a good thing! As I said, I'm always very cautious, but I suppose you do get a confidence, or a feeling to some degree at least, of being "bulletproof". Events like that fall prove how easily things can go wrong. So maybe it was a good thing. In a way.

I just had a look at, and a sit on, the new Triumph Thunderbird. The much-anticipated new cruiser from Triumph has finally arrived!

It's good to see a cruiser that doesn't do the Harley-clone thing. Other than that, to me, there was nothing overly striking about its appearance. And that radiator looks a bit, well, big!

Man, it is heavy! Dry weight is 308kg, and you feel every one of them! Cruisers often belie their weight because the beef is all low down, but this felt very heavy. And it has just 63kW to haul all that weight around. More encouraging though, is the torque figure, of 146Nm. That's quite a lot from 1600cc.

Apparently they're already sold-out until February next year.

OCTOBER 2009. The subject of tyres has been something I've been looking at with a riding friend, Rod, recently. He was up for new tyres on his FJR1300. Apparently the Dunlop Sportmax that he used to use aren't available now. He was looking at the Michelin Pilot Road 2. Impressive tyre; and had glowing reports from people on the FJR-owners forum. I was particularly interested because I'll be needing tyres before too long and am thinking of going with the Michelins too.

But the more we looked, the more confusing it got. Some people on the forum reported quality problems with tyres made in Thailand. This isn't exactly new. I've been using Michelins on my cars for many years, and every now and then stories come up about lack of quality with tyres made in different countries. (Michelin make their tyres in various countries around the world - only a few are actually made in France). I did some checking too, including asking a reader who had chosen the Michelins for his GSX1400. They got a good recommendation on the XJR Owners forum too, but again, suggestions of problems with Thai-made units surfaced. Forums are great places for spreading information, but great places for spreading rumours too! Local bike shops and mechanics reported not having any problems, and in general had trouble keeping up with demand.

Eventually he decided to go with the Michelins; and ended up with two Thai-made tyres. Just after he got them we went for a ride that included some highway running and then a run along a great section of road that has tight narrow hairpins, some moderate corners and a couple of high-speed sweepers. He got off at the end of this smiling broadly and said, "They'll do me!" He said they felt great! And being dual-compound should give good mileage too.  

OCTOBER 2009. Sometimes the unplanned rides end up being the most enjoyable. I went to a lunchtime get-together with a group at a pub just over 50km away. After lunch the guys from my way headed straight home, but as it was a beautiful day I decided to go further. I did a loop out through the edge of a city and then back to a small town for a coffee stop. Along the way I rode along the tightly-twisting, steep mountain road I mentioned in the test of the 07 Triumph Sprint; which I hadn't ridden over on anything else. I enjoy that kind of "exploring", deciding on the route as you go, turning down a side road to see where it leads to etc. Having a cuppa I started thinking about extending the ride home again. The direct route home from there was about 55km. But I could take a loop down through the Southern Highlands - a distance of a bit over 110km. Yeah, still a nice day, and it's an enjoyable ride through there, so I went the long way. So a 50km ride home became a 120km ride home - but a very enjoyable ride!  

OCTOBER 2009. After Keith sent in the photo of the Verdel bike (see Feedback page), I went looking for some info on it, and came up with some curious bikes myself.

The bike pictured here (which I’d reckon is obviously a custom-one-off type show bike), is powered by a 7-cylinder Rotec aeroplane engine. The story goes it was built by someone called Jesse James (yep, true apparently!). The photo here was taken at a bike show in California.

But my web-surfing brought up some more information on radial-engined bikes. Between 1921 and 1925 the Megola motorcycle was produced in Germany. It was powered by a 5-cylinder radial engine, of 640cc, mounted inside the front wheel. (Yes, a front-wheel-drive motorbike!). There was no transmission, and no clutch. It was a direct-drive. To stop you had to turn off the engine. (Sounding better all the time isn’t it!).The sports models managed a top speed of about 140kph – yep, all in one gear! For some reason (I wonder why!) they weren’t very popular, and only 2000 bikes were built.

NOVEMBER 2009.The BMW test-fleet was in town. I did a couple of test-rides (reports coming soon!), and had a good look at a couple of others. I was very surprised by the two K1300 models they had there. (Both the S and R models). I’ve sat on the S, briefly, before and of course found it very lean-forward sporty in riding-position, but this time it didn’t seem so extreme. More like a sporty-type sports-tourer. What really impressed me though, was the comfort of the seat! Soft and spongy, almost like a gel-seat. Amazing, for what is a pretty serious sports-bike! I hadn’t booked a ride on either of those because I kind of dismissed them as not being suitable for us old blokes, but having sat on them, I wish I  had tested one!

NOVEMBER 2009. Stupidity in advertising. Or, more correctly, a “road-safety” campaign aimed at motorcyclists. It’s produced by the Transport Accident Commission of Victoria, and uses shock-tactics. Click here to have a look at it.

As you'll see, it begins with a motorcyclist mounting his bike and riding out of his driveway. A voice-over says, “Motorcyclists have 38 times the risk of death or serious injury.” Now from the moment this bloke leaves the driveway he is an accident waiting to happen! The first reaction to this would be, “Well, if he rides like that he’s a dead (no pun intended!)-cert to be killed or seriously injured!” The Victorian-based motorcycling press, quite rightly, have strongly criticised the ad. Rob Blackbourn of Motorcycle Trader described the ad in these words. “On one hand the vast majority of riders see it as an over-dramatised insult, while on the other, it conveys a rather frightening – and quite unrepresentative – image of motorcyclists to those who do not ride.” And that’s the annoying thing; the ad does nothing! Except perhaps, as Rob Blackbourn said, to present an image of motorcyclists as idiots! Stupid!

NOVEMBER 2009. The Christian Motorcyclists Association, of which I am a member, held its AGM at a member's house just a few kms from where I live. So I went along. There were people from all over the state. Bikes ranged from a big Suzuki cruiser to a couple of Vespas. And a few cars ("quad-bikes"). It was good to catch up with people, and meet some I hadn't met before.

After the meeting we went for a ride (of course!). Up a mountain, down a mountain, with a run along a little-used road through bush-land inbetween. It was well-organised too, with a couple of stops to re-group, and on every corner someone would stop as corner-marker. An enjoyable ride, with nice people!

The following day the group attended a church service that met in a local school building. (The out-of-towners had used the school to camp in overnight).

We were made very welcome, and a couple of members took a small part in the service. It must've been a somewhat strange sight for the regular church-goers to see these people (men and women) walking in dressed in biker gear, or CMA T-shirts etc.

One, seen in the photo at left, said, "As Christians we're a bit unusual; and as motorcyclists we're a bit unusual". Sums it up pretty well!

NOVEMBER 2009. Sadly, I decided not to go to the Sydney Motorcycle Show this year. Too hot! Other commitments meant that Sunday had to be the day I went. A couple of people I spoke to had gone on Friday and said that it was oppressively hot inside the Showground Dome at Homebush. So with temperatures forecast to go to 41 degrees, I decided not to go. A pity; I always enjoy going to the show. (Click here to read a light-hearted story on a previous visit).

Reports from those who did go varied a bit. There were quite a few negative comments. Apparently more displays are going down the "Do Not Sit On This Motorcycle" route. I get a bit annoyed at this. The bikes are there for people to look at and inspect. Sure, most of the people who sit on them aren't going to buy one, but that's not the point; it's displaying your product and getting your product publicised. The teenager who sits on a Ducati is going to love the experience of doing so, brag to his mates, and maybe one day he or one of his mates will actually buy one. If they don't get a sit on one they'll sit on something else and be drawn to that. Yamaha was one new offender at this. (Previously they've been fine at allowing you to sit on their bikes). One person said the attending reps weren't very helpful either. There was one story I heard of a guy wanting to sit on an R1. When he wasn't able to, he went to the Honda stand, sat on a Fireblade and put down a deposit on one. On the up-side, I heard good reports from their Owner's club (Club Y), and was told that the Yamaha merchandise was plentiful and quite cheap.

One person said that he found Suzuki and BMW the best in terms of helpful staff and presentation of their products (and allowing you to sit on them!). Anyway, still disappointed not to have gone; maybe next year!

NOVEMBER 2009. Some people make you wonder! I was with some riding friends on a major two-lane a few kilometres from where it turned into a narrow winding mountain pass. Having set the day's itinerary, I was leading. We were following a big table-top truck with a couple of cars on it, then a small hatchback, and a pick-up. I didn't want to have to crawl up the pass behind this lot (especially the truck), so was looking for an opportunity to overtake. As we approached a long straight I was ready to go. By the time we got to the straight and the on-coming traffic cleared, the truck had sped up. The following vehicles had too, but not as much as the truck. So the whole convoy was now going faster and more spread-out. Normally I wouldn't have overtaken, but I thought if I do it gives the guys behind me a chance to go too, either now, or later on somewhere. So I pulled out and wound on the throttle. Past the pick-up. Speedo swiftly climbing the dial. Past the hatchback. Speedo still swiftly climbing. Hmm, they really are spread out now aren't they, and that truck is going at a fair clip. To pull in behind it would seem to defeat the purpose, so I kept on going. I was now very seriously over the speed-limit, so modulated the throttle a bit to stop me from looking like a complete speed-freak hoon (which I probably seemed like anyway!), but still allowing me to get in front of the truck before running out of clear road. As I pulled in I looked behind and the other guys were somewhere back in the traffic. No matter, there was an over-taking section on the pass, so eventually they'd get past the truck there and I'd just wait at the top for them to catch up. So I kept on going and had an enjoyable traffic-free run up the pass.

It was a warm day, and I was wearing my summer jacket with the wind-liner zipped in. As I got towards the top of the pass, the expected cooler temperatures weren't happening, so I thought I'd pull over and remove the liner. Imagining the other guys being stuck behind the truck as it crawled up the pass, I thought I might just have time to whip the liner out before either they, or the truck, caught up. So I pulled up and removed the jacket. I was fumbling with the buttons and zipper of the liner as the other guys pulled in. And I was putting it into the top-box and as the truck and the following traffic passed. By the time I got going, we were stuck behind the whole procession again! As I said, some people (I'm sorry to admit!) make you wonder! From then on I rode in a much more reasonable manner!   

NOVEMBER 2009. I went for a short ride today, with a coffee stop in a nearby town. As I pulled on the helmet and jacket to leave, there were a few spots of rain. Nah, won't bother with the wet-weather gear, it'll pass soon. Well, it rained pretty heavily and my jacket got very wet. I copped a lot of spray from other traffic too. When I got home the bike looked as if it been showered with mud! I haven't had a bike looking that muddy since mny trail-riding days! So I had to wash it. The jacket and jeans had to have a wash too. At first I thought it was just road-spray, but when I looked at our car, which was parked on the front lawn, it looked like it had just competed in a wet rally! So the car had to get a good wash as well! Yep, dirty rain! Apparantly there was a lot of dirt in the air and it came down as muddy rain.

NOVEMBER 2009. You might have seen those Tyre-Pressure Valve Caps advertised. The idea is that they constantly monitor your tyre's pressure, appearing a different colour as the pressure drops. Sounds a good idea - an instant visual check to see if your tyre-pressures are okay. But how do they work? I assumed that they would have to act as the actual valve. In other words, it is then the cap that holds the air in, not the valve. I emailed the company to confirm this, and yes, this is correct. Hmm, I suppose they're safe, but I think I'd prefer the air to be held in by the valve, not the cap. Something to think about if you're considering getting them.

DECEMBER 2009. I always like to take part in the annual Toy Runs, but this year I decided to go to a different one instead of the local one. The local one is always enjoyable, but as it proceeds through suburbs, the group tends to get split up by traffic lights. At times you can almost be riding on your own. At other times you're crawling along or stopped, waiting for the others to catch up, which can be hot on a hot day.

The one I went on left from a town about 70km away, and proceeded to another town about 20km from there.

It was well-organised by the local Ulysses Club. I'm not sure what they did with traffic lights, as the only two we encountered  were green when I got to them. But the pack stayed together anyway. All other intersections they blocked off so the procession stayed together the whole way.The bikes rode basically two abreast along the highway at around 60kph - 70kph. When we got to the other town it was straight through, with all side-streets blocked, at a constant 40kph or so. Then we turned into the local Bowling Club.

Of course it's always good to see people lining the side of the road waving and taking photos etc.

The Ulysses Club had also organised a sausage-sizzle, with sandwiches being just $1 each! (It cost me more for my drink than it did for the food!).

As usual, there was a wide variety of bikes on the run, including a couple of very rare old vintage bikes. And some nice people to chat with also.

The weather was beautiful, so I decided to come home by a longer route that took in a couple of mountain roads. Very enjoyable! A great day, and I think I'll do this one again next year.

DECEMBER 2009. I had my last ride for 2009 on the last day of 2009. A short(ish) run to a popular bike-gathering spot. Not many bikes there. Weather looked a bit iffy, and I got a few sprinkles just after I left. (And it was more dirty water from the sky again!). Thankfully only a few sprinkles. My favourite couple of coffee spots were closed, so stopped at a McDonalds on the way back. (Went to their McCafe and had a McCuppa!).

I’d been for a ride a couple of days before and did just over 200km. I usually fill up at the end of each ride but didn’t that day. Today’s ride was to be just under 100km. I figured the bike should do that on what was left in the tank. When I got to my McCuppa stop, the bike had about 270km up since the last refill. And it went onto Reserve while I was inside having my cuppa! (Just as well I didn't have a meal, it would've been empty when I came out!). The bike was parked downhill at the back, and leaning left on the stand, and the gauge always reads lower at that angle. So when I switched it on, the gauge showed lower and the "Reserve" came on. (And once it's on it stays on). I rode about 35km to a servo near home, getting to just over 300km. Pulled into the servo and put 15.4 litres in. The tank is supposed to hold 21 litres with the reserve coming on at 4.5 litres. So in theory, it should take 16.5 litres to fill when the Reserve comes on. I did 35km after that and only got 15.4 in. (I'm very careful filling it too). I think the gauge does read a bit low, and also the tank probably doesn't hold as much as it states. Anyway, it was interesting to clock up 300km on a tank. Consumption worked out at 19.5km / litre, which is pretty good.