Weekly Update 1 – 21/06 – 02/07
That’s more than a week of update but only this once.
Hello and welcome to my revamped YamYam for the 2nd time this year…the reasons for my changing of the look twice are that I feel YamYam is only seen for the big feature reviews, namely the AGV GP-Tech, MT-03 and the Kwak ER-6N among many. Only the dedicated followers and RSS feeders see any of my other posts, so I think it’s time to shake things up for the benefit of both myself and possibly the readers. I remember starting YamYam as a way to share my experiences on 2 wheels with the world, and as of late it’s turned in to a place to dump my aggression and annoyances. There’s still going to be that but I will try to get back to the good things about biking and my new bike will aid that.
I had my summer holiday the week leading up the 1st of June and since coming back to work 2 weeks later I have been full steam ahead. So what has been happening of late then…?
Last Monday (21st) I got a call to say that the MT was ready. Excitedly I went up Tuesday morning with the intent to leave the GSR with the garage to get the bearings fixed/replaced if it wasn’t too expensive. I arrived seeing the MT sitting outside and got the same thrill I had when I saw it. There’s just something primal about the way the MT looks; beastly, hunched and taught.
Heading in I got the keys for the MT and asked about the bearings for the GSR, around £100 was the reply, ok doke was mine.
We went out to the MT which was sitting beside an enormous Harley Davidson trike. It was absolutely disgusting to be honest, sickly candy blue, big seats, flat dash with radio, sat nav, heated grips etc etc. Then the bloke mentioned that the guy riding it hasn’t got a bike licence…
Apparently if it’s a 3 wheeler you can ride it on a car licence, which was extremely worrying. Anyway, we said our last pieces of “friendly banter” and I got on with my day.
The MT is glorious. I don’t know if you have realised yet, but I love my bike.
When I first got my bike I was sitting at the lights in the middle of Edinburgh and a bloke on some Fazer iteration pulled up and immediately shouted “I want that bike” to me. I opened my visor and laughed. He said something to the effect of:
“Aye, you should have seen it, the other day I got my bike out the garage after the winter, very same day slipped on some diesel and wrecked the whole right side” he said, pointing to the sorry-looking indicator, sadly dangling by it’s wiring out the side of his fairing.
“Aye? That’s a shame” I said.
“Aye. Anyway, want to swap?”
I laughed, this time with more meat. “Aye, why not” I said and turned to see what stage we were at with the lights. Pedestrian is now red so we are about to go.
“Take it easy mate” I said and he returned the wish.
First gear, click, let’s rock. Summer Luvvie #1.
A few days later I was at the very same set of light and I drew up beside a guy sitting on a Varader learner bike. I noticed he was looking at the MT but I am really not the kind of guy to blow my own trumpet, so just let him get on with it and didn’t offer a “what d’ya think partner” look.
He then shouted “WHAT SIZE ENGINE IS THAT!?” and so the conversation begun.
He was a really nice guy, from what a 3 minute rapid traffic light conversation reveals, but you could tell he loved his bike, or rather the biking experience. He excitedly reported how he had just passed his theory test and was about to sit his practical test in a few weeks. He lovingly tapped his tank as he spoke about his commute from Fife and how he loves being out and about on his wheels. It reminded me of when I first passed my test, the sudden freedom and exclusivity that biking brings.
I mentioned I ride from Kinross, wished him well on his journeys.
“Once I pass my test I’m going to get a man’s bike…like that one.”
He offered me lead position and off we went, with a nod goodbye.
It always amazes me how quickly you can have a conversation at traffic lights. It’s one of biking’s great exclusives.
Riding the MT isn’t something for one who doesn’t like attention, for everywhere I go people stop and stare, bikers ask questions, van drivers put thumbs up at dirty windows. It’s a real moral booster, that’s for sure.
Riding from the Forth Road Bridge in to Edinburgh at 8:30am you encounter a set of traffic lights that I like to call “bum clenchers”.
These are the lights that have a habit of changing to amber just as you pass the point that you could have stopped for them. The result is either a bum clencher through the rapidly approaching red light, or an extreme-to-the-point-of-stoppie anchors out braking manoeuvre that one day will inevitably end in a face plant scraper.
Anyway, I was sitting at these lights having filtered through the traffic and I saw a guy approaching behind me. He got alongside and opened his main visor of his Caberg, leaving the Top Gun internal visor down and shouted to me,
“ARRIGHT! THESE LIGHTS ARE SO F*CKING DANGEROUS MAN, SERIOUSLY.”
I nodded, having not bothered to open my visor because in the time it had taken him to stop, open his visor and think of what words to spit out, I had looked at him and his bike.
He was on a Repsol Honda rep, with a top box. There’s a contradiction itself. But then looking along you see that he is wearing jeans and trainers. His choice. Textile jacket, Caberg helmet.
Now I don’t generally dislike folk who wear jeans, hell I’ve worn normal jeans on my bike before. But I didn’t do what he did next.
Seeing my acknowledgement to his spurt of fury over the bum clenchers, he then cracked his main visor down, watched for the lights to go to green and then waited for me to go.
I gave my bike a wee bit revs as we had missed the immediacy of the green light so off I went sounding glorious as I did. He then, and I’m not exaggerating here, ripped past me, red-lining it. He then weaved through all the traffic, top-box shaking from side to side, full bomb only to screech to a halt at the next set of lights. Again he fired off from these lights and continued his high-speed filtering in to the sunset.
Summer Luvvie #2.
Anyway,
I’ve got my meeting with Glen Richards on Friday, with him signing some of my artworks of him on the HM Plant Honda. Should be good but I’m nervous about it. Will take up the Troy Bayliss/Ben Spies to show him as well, I just hope the weather stays fairly decent.
Emma and I went away on the MT on Sunday Night to watch the sunset on top of Cleish Hill, it was pretty nice but the midges and flies made it unbearable so we went for a quick spin round by Kelty and then home again. It was fantastic heading out at 9pm in lovely warm sunshine. I took the main photo from Cleish Hill.
I think that’s it for this weeks update.
Let me know if you like the new look/format.
All the best
Gordon
