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 ‘n’ pieces, and smaller items of interest 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 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 buttons there. I hope you find it interesting!
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JANUARY 2010. Went for my first decent ride of the year today; to a favourite lunch-stop. Being a week-day, the major road towards the small town was busy with traffic, and I was being monstered by semi-trailers. Not pleasant. So instead of riding around the area near the town (there are some good riding roads) and returning the same way, I decided to make the rest of the ride a return home by a longer, but much more interesting, route; along roads that weren’t quite as busy and the traffic more friendly. Part of the route I chose was along what used to be a main interstate highway but is now a back-road that passes through some small country towns. So a relatively wide road with light traffic. It’s a nice ride. Then a bit of multi-lane highway, which allowed the XJR to stretch its legs a bit, some undulating 2-lane major road and a mountain pass. A good start to the year!
JANUARY 2010. Had a new set of tyres put on. The back tyre had worn down to the point of being illegal. The OEM Dunlops had lasted almost 10,000km, which isn’t too bad I suppose, although the flattened profile of the rear had been effecting the handling for the last 2,000km or so. I decided to up-grade to a good dual-compound tyre to improve the mileage, while also having good grip and handling. As I don’t like mixing types and brands of tyres, that meant also replacing the front, which had plenty of life left. For once the choice was easy. I did a bit of research after Tim wrote in asking for advice on what tyre to fit to his GSX1400. He was very happy with the Michelin Pilot Road 2 dual-compound tyre he fitted.
On-line forums had good things to say about them too. Then a friend, Rod, went through a long and thorough selection process for replacement tyres on his FJR1300. He too selected the Michelins, and was very pleased with them; in handling and feel on the road, and apparent rate of wear.The diagram in the photo shows the portions of the tyres that have different compounds. Grey is “medium” compound, the green a bit softer, and the blue a “soft” compound. Rod priced the tyres at many different shops, but ended up at one I suggested. So for me the decision had already been made, and I didn’t even phone around for the best price. I went to the dealer (David Fraser Motorcycles) and got a great price, so deal was done. Easy! (Thanks Tim and Rod!). What do I think of them? Well at this stage I’ve only ridden home on them, so taking it very easy. But the traits of ill-handling that the worn rear had created were now gone. I think they’ll be good!JANUARY 2010. When it comes to genuine accessories for your bike, the manufacturers seem to take a reasonable figure, then double it! Take these genuine accessories available for your new Ducati Montser 1100, for example. You can have a full Termignoni exhaust for just $2837. Add a steering-damper and it’ll set you back a further $1202. What about a magnesium front-sprocket cover? Yep, there you are, a snap at just $1639! (For a cover!). And on the subject of sprockets, if you want a rear sprocket with a couple of extra teeth, that’ll cost you $525. (Yes, you read that right!). And how about a snazzy red-coloured chain; at a cool $426. Of course you can also get those little items, like a set of anodised bar-ends for just $85; or an anodised steering-stem nut for just $83. And on it goes. After-market, anyone?
JANUARY 2010. In my article on tyres I suggested using sandpaper to remove the mould-release from the outer areas of a new tyre’s tread. My reasoning here was that the centre will scrub off okay as you gently ride along, but the outer areas only come in contact with the road when you’re laying it over. And you don’t want to be riding on slippery goo when you’re laying it over in a bend! So I gently sand those outer regions of tread. I did this to my new tyres the day after I got them. They looked better, but I could still feel a difference when I ran my finger across it; those outer areas still felt a bit gooey. I hosed the tyres to wash off any grit that had come off the sandpaper and noticed the water kind of beading on those outer areas of tread. So, while it looked better, it obviously didn’t do a lot. It seems that a more practical approach is to do the swerve back and forth thing (like a racer warming their tyres for the start of a race) when you can; like going down the road from your house. (The neighbours might think you’re drunk, but it’ll help the tyres!). And purposely laying it over further (by sitting up straight) at low speed around side-streets etc. I’ve been doing that today and it seems to be working better than the sandpaper method.
JANUARY 2010. I bought Two Wheels today. Except it isn’t “Two Wheels” anymore. I remember when it used to be, but it changed. First, if my memory serves me correctly, to “two wheels”, and then to “twowheels”. Well, now it’s “2wheels”. Yeah, radical isn’t it! But the mag has been updated a bit too. So they say. And one of the changes is that they are doing more articles for new riders. That’s a good idea. And on the cover of the issue I bought (January’s) under a heading about new riders it says, “Avoid the three most common rider errors.” Want to know what they are? Well, according to the article, the three most common problem areas for new riders are, “Left-handers, Right-handers, and Straights.” Right; so if new riders don’t turn left or right, and don’t ride straight, they’ll be fine! Actually it’s a good article and has some useful advice – for all riders.
There’s lots of other stuff too; including an article from Mr. Smith. That article will, sadly, be the last one you’ll read from the redoubtable journalist. He passed away late last year. I’ve been reading his unique columns for as long as I can remember buying Two Wheels (um, “2wheels”). I don’t buy it often these days, but when I do, his column is one of the first things I read. He will be greatly missed – by those who knew him, and by those of us who enjoyed his writings. 
JANUARY 2010. I'm writing this up-date in a motel room in Batemans Bay on the south coast of NSW. (Ah, the wonders of laptops and motels with wireless internet!). No, not here on the bike - and no, that's not me on the left! I'm here on holidays, in the car, with my wife. But being on hols in the car doesn't mean I can't look at bikes! Today I went to a local bike shop - the only one remaining in Batemans Bay. (A Honda dealer that was here closed recently).
The shop is called LetzScoot, and began life as a scooter hire business about 3 years ago. Now they've expanded to selling scooters too. It's a great shop with a good range of Vespa, SYM, and others. They advertise their showroom as "unique" and it is. It's fitted out like an old-style building; one wall has a set of fake windows looking into an early scene of a scooter factory. And there are photos of famous people on scooters - including the obligatory "Roman Holiday". The owners are keen scooter riders (Vespas) too. I was talking to one of them, and she was extolling the virtues of scooters; the convenience, ease of riding, luggage capacity, etc. "I can carry six bags of groceries!" she said; adding that she'd also carried pot-plants and other unlikely objects home from the shops. The photo above comes from their web-site, and conveys the sort of fun-riding they want to emphasise with the scooter lifestyle.It was interesting "stepping into the world of scooters", and I was very tempted to take one of their scoots for a ride. But I didn't have any gear. (I sometimes take riding gear on hols, but didn't this time). They do have helmets, but I wasn't keen on using someone else's helmet, as well as having no other gear. Next time! Next time I might even hire one for the day. (Click here for contact details).JANUARY 2010. The holidaying and briefly looking at bike shops continues. At Queanbeyan I called into Dahlitz Motorcycles, where I took the first Suzuki Bandit I rode for a test-ride. A few 2nd-hand bikes and some good prices on new ones and accessories. V-Stroms were in good supply - new and a couple of 2nd-hand ones.
At Goulburn I found Chris Weekes Motorcycles; the local Yamaha dealer. They were closed when I got there, so all I could do was look through the window. Only a small shop. Stock seemed mainly sports models (R1 and R6) and dirt bikes. A couple of years ago they did a good job - and charged very little for it - for a reader and riding-friend who had trouble with his bike as he was traveling through. What intrigued me about the shop was their location - right next door to an undertakers! (Is someone trying to tell us something?).JANUARY 2010. You’ve got to admire Honda. The top-selling bike for 2009 was a Honda – albeit the ubiquitous Postie bike; but they also scored 4 out of the top 10 in the best-seller list. Their HART facility is spreading across the country, and a Safety Advisor programme has been rolled out to most dealers. In addition, they continue to be major sponsors of The Snowy Ride, which raises thousands of dollars each year for cancer. Successful, and caring for its riders and the community; you’ve gotta admire that!
FEBRUARY 2010. Motorbikes are safer than shopping-malls! On Australia day I hadn't done very much; nothing very patriotic, sadly. Apart from flags on the house and the car, and I was wearing an "Australia" T-shirt. In the afternoon I thought I might go for a ride. Then I reconsidered - do something more social, get out amongst the people, (display my "Australia T-shirt"!). So I went to the local shopping mall to buy a magazine and have a cuppa. I was coming up the escalator and when I got to the top, the escalator grabbed my shoe-lace. I staggered forwards as it tried to eat my shoe. I yanked against it, and as the lace shredded I went crashing heavily to the floor, landing on my right hip. Bit of bleeding, and a lump the size of a cricket-ball. I ended up in a medical Centre - to make sure none of the fragile old bones were broken. (Thankfully, they weren't!). A week later the lump is still there (official daignosis - a haematoma), and I've got bruising that is increasing - now from my hip down to below my knee. (What made it worse was that I had my keys in that pocket, so they were between my hip and the steel-plated floor). Now, had I gone for a ride....! I mean, even when I had my tumble off the bike, I didn't have a mark on me! Yep, safer on a bike!
FEBRUARY 2010. There's a new show on TV you might be interested in. It's on Monday nights on Channel 10 (or your local equivalent) and called "Ross Noble's Australian Trip." Ross Noble, as you probably know, is that curly-haired Irish comedian. The idea of the show is that, while on a recent Australia-wide tour with his stand-up gigs, he decided to ride a bike to each gig. (Sound familiar? No prize for guessing where he got the inspiration to do that!). So he saddles up a BMW R 1200GS with a set of hard-panniers and heads off around Australia. Yeah, it's a bit like Charlie Boorman meets Billy Connolly! He's not quite as funny as Billy Connolly, but there are some good gags in the show and he does ride a bike - not a trike! You've missed the first show, but there are several more episodes to come. It's got a bike in it, and it's a trip around Oz, so it's got to be worth watching, right?
JANUARY 2010. I don't know exactly what it is about the Yamaha XT250, but I like it! I'm on holidays (as in having a break from work) at the moment, and had a day out at a big shopping centre in another town with the wife. While she looked around the shops I drove to a nearby bike shop. Ah, much more interesting! It was a Yamaha dealer. So I looked at the bikes and browsed around. And I went over to the little XT and had a look and a sit on it. And, as I said, I like it!
Maybe it's bringing back memories from the old trail-riding days (which was what got me started into this motorcycling caper!), but I think it's more than that. The riding-position is upright (of course), and feels very natural. But even the seat - which is quite narrow, as befits the type of bike - is quite comfortable really. Soft spongey suspension (good for off-road, but good for rough bitumen roads too!). Maybe I should clear a space in the shed and start writing to Santa .....!
FEBRUARY 2010. It’s been a long cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere; and it seems some motorcycle designers have started going stir-crazy. Either that, or they’ve been bunkered down and eating magic mushrooms!
Exhibit A: The Yamaha EC-f. This is one of those concept “This is what you’ll be riding in the future!” type things. It will make its Australian debut at the Gold Coast Motorcycle Exhibition this month. It’s described as a “scooter” (why?) and is fully electric. It’s powered by a sewing-machine motor and a couple of rechargeable torch batteries. (Actually a .6kW – that’s “point-6” – electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack). The name? Well the “E” obviously stands for “Electric”; the “C” probably stands for “City”, and the “f” ? Well, I’d guess at “f***ing stupid!”Exhibit B: Unlike the Yamaha, here's one that is actually a production model and we’ll probably see it here sometime. It’s the latest from Harley Davidson, and called the “48”. No, I don’t know what “48” refers to; and no, it’s not the capacity, just to save you reaching for that conversion-calculator. This comes from the same designers that were responsible for the Nightster and the Dark. (Yep, magic-mushrooms or whacky-tobaccy for sure!). It’s based on the 1200 Sportster, and Harley describes it as, “Riding low with a slammed suspension and featuring the classic 2.1-gallon ‘peanut’ fuel tank.” So another one where they’ve chopped the suspension-travel down to almost non-existent. I note their use of the word “slammed” in there – which no doubt refers to what happens when it hits a pot-hole! And a fuel-tank capacity that, probably thankfully considering the ride, forces you to stop every hour to re-fuel. In further moves to put form way out there in front of function, they’ve fitted a fat high-profile front tyre as well as mirrors that are under-slung from the low-ish bars. So you won’t be able to see what’s about to run over you when you suddenly slow to try to muscle it around a corner! FEBRUARY 2010. Okay, I was having a bit of a shot at Harley Davidson in the last item, so let me even things up a bit. Harley recently issued a recall for certain 2008 and 2009 models. Okay, so what’s good about that? Well, take a look at the reason for the recall. Here’s what they said. “The fuel tank front mounts may distort in reaction to severe frame damage from a frontal collision. This condition may cause a fuel leak at the weld of the front bracket to the tunnel. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire, which could lead to injury or death of the rider. We have voluntarily declared this a defect related to motor vehicle safety (Campaign 0141) to allow us to formally recall all affected motorcycles. The remedy is to install a left and right hand brace provided in the recall kit, between the front mounts and the frame. These braces are intended to reduce front mount distortion during the crash conditions described above.”
I wonder how many manufacturers would consider that a “defect”? Their response could easily have been to say that in a head-on crash of that severity, anything could be expected! And the chances of the rider sustaining “injury or death” would be pretty high from the actual crash itself, without anything that might happen after it. Still, I suppose if the rider was lucky enough to survive the head-on frame-crunching prang, having his mangled pride and joy burst into flames would be a sad sight! Anyway, I reckon it’s a pretty admirable move by Harley to call this potential damage a defect and fix it for nothing! FEBRUARY 2010. There have been a few sneak-peaks from Milan at the latest models that are due to hit our showroom floors soon. One that caught my eye was the Suzuki GSX1250FA. It’s a big-capacity fully-faired sportstourer; something that is lacking in the Suzuki line-up. In reality, it appears to be little more than a Bandit with a full fairing and optional hard luggage. Still, I reckon a Bandit kitted out with touring equipment like this would be a good thing – especially if they tweaked (softened) the suspension, and perhaps redesigned the seat, to aim it more towards the touring side of the sports-touring equation. It’d also give buyers an even wider choice of Bandit models. As a friend said, “With Suzuki’s realistic pricing it should be a big seller.” No word at this stage on when (or if) it is coming here though.
FEBRUARY 2010. I notice that the latest edition of Road Rider magazine now has a “My Bike” segment, where readers are encouraged to write in with stories of their bike. Sounds familiar – I think I’ve seen a web-site that does that. Oh yes, this one! Nah, I’m sure it’s just co-incidence – and there are other mags and web-sites that do it too; so the idea ain’t exclusive to The Old Bloke!
MARCH 2010. The photo on the left is of a 1993 BMW K75 RT. I came across this when I visited the home of a car and bike enthusiast with a group from a car club I belong to. The interesting thing about this is that it has traveled over 1.2 million kms!
Apparently the previous owner rode it to work and back each day – a round-trip of some 230kms. So I suppose that would’ve knocked up a few kms! Plus he went touring on it as well. It’s a lot of distance! (That's an average of over 1300km per week!). I don’t know what work has been done to it, but it looked pretty good!
MARCH 2010. I came across this one on a British bike forum. If traffic is a worry, then this should do the trick! Or what about those slow cars that amble along at 20kph under the limit? No problem, I reckon they’d get out of your way quick with this one! As someone on the forum said, “I suppose it beats using a horn!”
MARCH 2010. I've often heard that people in Britain don't travel long distances. I've heard this from Australians who have spent some time living in UK, and also from people who grew up in Britain. The sort of distances we would do on a day-outing they are horrified at - to them it's often further than they'd go on their annual holidays. So I wondered how far they ride their bikes. What would be a typical day-ride for our British bike-riding compatriots? To find out I posted a question on a British bike forum. I asked how far they would ride (a) in an afternoon ride, and (b) in a day-ride that would include stopping for lunch.
The answers were interesting. You can read all the replies by clicking here. (And if you do go to the page, remember the replies are in miles, not km). But to summarise, half-day rides ranged from about 50km to buy a paper, to around 150km - 300km. A full day out saw most respondents clocking up anything from 200km to around 500km. A couple of people mentioned their longest day rides, which were, in order of distance, 800km, over 1200km, and a whopping 1400km! (He said the day ended at 3am the next morning). Of course, these distances are just from the people who replied, and may or may not be representative of the biking community as a whole, but it was interesting. It's good to see our British biking brethren out there enjoying their bikes! MARCH 2010. Now here’s something for us old blokes! Have you ever wished you could have air-conditioning on your bike? Well, yes, of course you have! There are always times when you’re uncomfortably hot or uncomfortably cold. But air-conditioning on a bike – too silly to even think about! Well, maybe not! EntroSys has developed an air-conditioner for your bike. Well, more for your body than your bike. Check it out at the EntroSys web-site.
MARCH 2010. I was running late (nothing unusual about that!). My riding-friend was due to arrive two minutes ago, and I still wasn’t ready. It’d been a bit of a rush all morning. I’d been delayed by a couple of phone calls, then I decided I should check the tyres, and then because we were going a reasonable distance, and where the roads weren’t all totally smooth, I decided to put the AirHawk on. It was warm and humid and, rushing around even in just a T-shirt, I was hot. My mate arrived, I put the gear on and we left. Cruising down the highway I relaxed, we were on our way. Cool air blowing through my DriMesh summer jacket ….. ah, yes, it’s good to be out on the bike!
APRIL 2010. It’s happened again! I've joked before about Australian Road Rider having articles on the same subjects as recent ones on my web-site, and they’ve done it again! Except this time they (just) got in first! I had just finished my article on pillions, when, on the same day I published it to the web-site, I went out to check the mail and got the latest edition of ARR. Hmm, what’s in it this month? Pillions! I couldn't believe it! And, even more of a coincidence, like mine it was in response to a question. It’s a good article too. Of course mine is better – because it was written by you, our readers, not just one person! (Well, I’ll say that anyway!). Of course it doesn’t matter; as I said, it’s a good article. And too much information is better than too little! Also a good issue in general, with some interesting stories and tests.
APRIL 2010. Deep down I think I’d still say that, to my way of thinking, a mid-size sportstourer is the ideal practical, sensible, all-round bike. But, when I went searching for a new bike for myself a couple of years ago, I ended up with a big-bore naked! So not my ideal bike? Probably not; but gee, it’s good! A day-ride today, with varying conditions and riding-styles, had me thinking again just how practical these big old retro-style bikes are; and how good they are as a genuine all-rounder. The riding-position – upright and comfortable; and a comfortable seat. A gentle cruise along main roads at, or often a bit under, the speed limit – pleasant and relaxing. Pulling away easily from 1500rpm around town. A couple of times overtaking cars along secondary roads where there wasn’t much road ahead: But with this bike “not much” is more than enough! Twist the throttle from around 90kph and a surge of acceleration has it around the car and pulling back in with plenty of room to spare; and the speedo nudging past 130. Enjoying the grunty power and performance. Enjoying a major highway – effortless cruising at 140kph. (And well beyond if you hung on, and really wanted to chance the licence! I didn’t hold the 140 for too long!). Stable and sure-footed; enjoying the handling through sweepers and some tighter corners. Yeah, it’s not the “perfect bike” (no bike is!), but gee it’s good!
APRIL 2010. Waiting in the wings and about to be released is the new more fully-faired version of the ever-popular Suzuki Bandit. This one is dubbed the 1250FA and comes with standard ABS. I reckon it looks great; and it'd make a great big-bore sportstourer. And from the look of the fairing, I'd guess that it'd avoid a lot of the heat problems of fully-faired bikes.
Underneath it's all pretty standard Bandit, but with a new stacked headlight; and a couple of extra things on the instrument display. (Pity they didn't up-date the seat - to something like the pre '06 models!). Best of all, price is said to be $13,990 - so the usual Suzuki bargain! 
APRIL 2010. A riding friend, Rod, fitted some new exhausts to his Yamaha FJR1300 recently. He’d been wanting to go to after-market cans for quite a while, but the local ones are very expensive. So he looked to the UK and Beowulf. Another regular reader of the site bought a Beowulf pipe a while ago. Like him, Rod was very impressed with the price and the service. Price was half the cost of the Staintune equivalent. And after placing his order, the cans arrived just a week later. Very impressive!
The sound is impressive too. The standard FJR is fairly quiet, but the Beowulf cans unleash the hidden rorty-sporty within the bike’s normal mild-mannered audio output. I've heard it a couple of times now, and I reckon it sounds great! Rod wasn’t looking for an increase in performance (with around 105kw, it’s not lacking in the go department), but he did notice a greater smoothness at low revs. He says he hasn’t really tried out the top-end performance gains yet.If there is a disadvantage, it is that the Beowulf is a bolt-together system, whereas the Staintune comes with pipe and mounting bracket all welded on ready to go. But fitting is still not a problem. Comparing the two, Rod says, “Staintune products look the goods with their all-welded finish, but the contrast of the black underlay on the support bracket of the Beowulf looks good.” A big improvement in sound, a bargain price, so he is well pleased! Rod bought his cans from Vyxxyn Performance. (Just click the name to go straight to their site). For more details on Beowulf, go to their web-site by clicking this link.
MAY 2010. I love being out on the bike in autumn!
This was the parking area at my lunch-stop on a ride through the Southern Highlands of NSW. There are some beautiful golden autumn colours in the trees at this time of year. (And in case you're wondering, no I didn't park the bike there, it was just posing for the photo).
MAY 2010. If you're interested in such things, as I am, then this might interest you. It is one of Australia's oldest churches. (There are a few around this age, but it's still one of the oldest).
The church is St. Paul's Anglican church in Cobbity, which is a small town south-west of Sydney. It was built in 1842, and is still being used today. (And appears on many tourist maps of the area). (The bike is a bit more recent!).
MAY 2010. The coffee tastes better with a view like this!
This was taken one late afternoon from the new "Gateway To Wollongong" tourist centre at the top of Bulli Pass near Wollongong. It's quite a view isn't it!(There's an interesting section on aboriginal history inside too, as well as the usual touristy items).
MAY 2010. There are some days, and some rides, when it's really nice to be out on the bike! The last few photos above are testimony to that, as is this one. This was a particularly enjoyable ride - a beautiful day, a ride briefly up into the Southern Highlands I mentioned above, then down a couple of mountain passes and onto the NSW south coast.
Lunch was in a club bistro looking out over a scene just like this. Then an enjoyable ride home that included another beautiful flowing undulating biker's road. As I said, some days it's really nice to be out the bike!MAY 2010. Honda is due to release the new CB1100 this month. With styling very reminiscent of the original CB750, this is another nostalgia-trip from Honda. But of course it’s more than just that. Like most bikes of this ilk (think GSX1400, XJR1300 etc), it combines the looks of yester-year with the technology of today. Should be an interesting bike! I love the promotional video that Honda have produced. It’s called “A Day Of Freedom”, and sums up what riding these sort of bikes (or perhaps most bikes!) is all about. A day of freedom. Yes, there are a couple of things, like the absence of traffic, that might detract from the realism a bit, but that’s nit-picking. I reckon it’s this sort of ride, and this sort of day, that makes going out on your bike so enjoyable – even if it’s not a retro-style Honda! Click the link and take a look.
JUNE 2010. I got caught in the rain. Left home in sunshine, ended up riding into rain on the way home. The wet-weather gear kept out the rain, which was quite heavy at times, well until I started to feel wet – on the underside of my wrists! That was strange. I thought that perhaps water was running down my arms into my gloves (which were my winter, gauntlet-style gloves). But the whole of my hands became wet, and the wet spread up my shirt-sleeves a bit. Hmm, don’t recall those gloves letting rain in before. Other than hypothermic hands, I arrived home warm and dry. Co-incidentally, it was the only “Dririder” item of gear I was wearing. And the only bit of the rider that wasn’t dry! (Don’t take that as a swipe at Dririder, they make good stuff!).
