Hello.
It’s been a wee while since I last posted anything on yamyam. In fact, it’s been a long time since I last logged on to even check what’s going on. I’ve really been…not that busy.
So what have I been doing then? Well mostly working, relaxing, exercising and working on a new personal project. It’s so secretive that only 3 people on the planet know about it, and 2 of those aren’t even family. So that’s taking up most of my time.
I bought myself a bicycle, I can’t stand not being on 2 wheels! 
It’s a Felt Qx75 and I really like it. It’s so far done 2 things for me and my life. Firstly it’s getting me fit for the first real time in my adult life. I used to play 5-a-side a lot and I was sort of fit. Then I went to uni and that was that. I also used to cycle at uni but it wasn’t really fat reducing cycling, more sightseeing cycling. Anyway, thats the first good point and I am feeling really good about myself. There’s still a long way to go to reduce my gargantuan belly but I’m getting there.
Second good point is that it’s saving me money! I don’t get the train twice a week, which saves me £15 a week, £60 a month and…over £600 a year. So that’s also good.
Anyway.
That’s really all the news I have at the minute. I’m watching the MotoGP still and enjoying the Simoncelli faff that’s surrounding the whole thing at the mo. But more surprisingly I’ve taken to watching Formula 1. I’ve always found it desperately boring, I mean 60-70 laps with no such excitement of MotoGP. But recently I caught a race and found it utterly fascinating! The amount of technical prowess that is in even the nose cone of the cars is just phenomenal and I’ve really been intrigued. The commentating is also a dab better than I remember. A few exciting drivers in the series as well and despite the disgusting display of wealth at every single race I can’t help but wish I was in that paddock.
So that’s that for now. Will update you in another 4 months! Toodle pip.
Ben Vorlich Anti-Climax
Week 3&4
Hello and thanks for the nice comments on the new bike-less posts.
The past 2 weeks have been up and down really. Not bad up and down but just up and down. We decided to go climb Ben Vorlich, with the potential to carry on towards Stuc a’ Chroin if the weather and our fitness allowed. An early start again, leaving at 5:30am so as to get up and down the munro with time to spare for other daily faffing.
It was fairly mild with a wee wind on the morning of the climb and Blair warned that it was to be drizzly for an hour or so and then the weather would clear in time for our summit. So the usual pre-climb photo of us both, boots and gaitors on and we were off. Blair was wearing his Asolo Flame GTX’s for the first time today after getting them after our Beinn Ghlas climb. He had a bit of a boo-boo with the tongue but got it sorted at the start. He was amazed at the way the water beaded off the boot as we walked through some wee rivers that lead on to a raging white water rapid heading down to Loch Earn as the snow melted. We crossed the rapid over a new Hyrdo plant thing they were installing. Shame it wasn’t already going as it would be generating some power.
The difference between Beinn Ghlas and Ben Vorilich is with Ghlas, you start quite a bit above sea level. Vorlich on the other hand is a 0m start and is pretty steep for most of the climb. There’s no flat plateaus in which to gather yourself for the next climb, its just constantly uphill. Because of this I was finding it tough. Blair suggested I go in the lead, but the issue with that is, Blair walks faster than me and he was quickly pushing me up the hill mentally, causing me to tire really quickly. So I kept my own pace, let Blair ahead to go his own pace and eventually we reached the point before the last incline to the summit. The only problem was the wind had really picked up and the rain, which had started pretty much just after the hyrdo plant we crossed, was now horizontal. The closer we got to the start of the incline, the stronger the wind got. We couldnt even stand and so retreated slightly downhill to discuss the options. The main issue was the incline to the summit was a narrow ridge, flanked either side by snow. To the left the snow was the tip of a 2000ft snow slide. To the right was a 1500ft slide. The wind was whipping right to left and the decision was made to abort the summit. If the wind continued with that power, a slight stumble (which was inevitable especially as we couldn’t stand in the one place when talking about this) would send us on to the snow and down this long snow chute to oblivion. Better to get home disappointed than underground disappointed.
The trip down was quick, with help from the wind. We were the first up and on the way back down we met 2 groups, of 4 and 2 respectively. Both of which decided to attempt the summit, so we wished them luck and continued down. We had lunch behind some massive rock out of the wind, and made a deadline to get down in an hour. With quick step we made it down in 40 minutes which was a wee achievement…
It’s a shame as that’s the second failed summit attempt in 2 climbs, although the summit of Ghlas was achieved, the Lawers goal wasn’t. This will be our next munro, back up Ghlas and up again to Lawers. I hope the snow is away so we can make a go of it.
In other news.
The past 2 weeks have been weird. I’ve been really busy, which isn’t weird but it’s made me constantly tired, which makes the days short. It’s soon February already and I don’t feel as if I’ve done anything of note, besides munro walking. I’m commuting through to Glasgow at the minute, a 1hr 20min journey both ways depending on traffic. I’m driving my sister’s car, which she can’t drive at the minute due to not having passed her test. It’s a good first car for her, but one of the headlights have blown. The right hand indicator is blown too, making the right hand signal flash like a strobe which is hilarious. The right hand window doesn’t go back up once you have put it down, which I found out sitting in a queue. I managed to get it back up again my tapping the up button, but if you pushed it for too long the automatic up kicked in and would send it flying back down again…a bit counter intuitive but there you go. I managed to get it sealed just before the queue dissipated and we were moving again. The radio is broke due to the battery being flat, so it needs some code to activate it again. The temperature reading is duffed too, showing a nice -40°c every morning. The clutch pedal moved with the accelerator which is nice. And the rear view mirror has absolutely no friction left in it, so if you go to flip it to avoid being blinded by someone behind, it ends up at a stupid angle whilst you wrestle with it. It does the job though, so I can’t be too unhappy. I wish I was driving the Mini every day. Not only would it save fuel but the seat wouldn’t be like an ironing board. My back is really sore at the minute, partly through my work in Glasgow but the funny seats in the car don’t help matters.
A few bikers have zipped past me in queues making me pang for my motorcycle again, but for that split second only. I seem to get over it quick and remember why I stopped. It’s mostly wee 600′s and the odd 1200GS, nothing as earth poundingly immense as the MT. It’s funny as when these bikes pass the car vibrates with the exhast notes. I can’t help but imagine what it must have been like when I passed on the MT, especially when I learned how to make it backfire on demand, something I used to love doing down lanes of traffic. I always remember timing a backfire beautifully as I passed a guy hogging the center line. He has his window down and just as my exhaust tip got to his window I got a nice shotgun crack out the back. I then heard “WANKER” follow shortly after.
So yeah. Good times.
February is a strict no fly zone for spending. January took it out of us big style, not helped by Lloyds TSB taking the piss. I called them in September 2010 to cancel our home insurance as we were getting it for £40 cheaper with More Than. The woman I spoke to was a bit shirty but I was told it would be cancelled after the following months payment. Taking their word for it I never checked. But as with everything like that it inevitably results in 4 months of additional payments being taken out. When I called up there was a note of the botched cancellation and a refund was soon on the way, which is lucky. I was pretty annoyed with myself for not making sure that it was cancelled but I obviously have too much trust in people…
I also sold 2 things on ebay for 3x and the same cost as I paid for it, a wee masterplan that came to fruition, so it took a bit of the sting off the bite that was Christmas and the dreaded January wait.
Anyway,
We are still trying to sell our house but nobody is getting mortgages or selling, so the whole cycle of house moving has been brought to its knees. It’s a shame as I am desperate to get started on my new project.
Maybe I should win the lottery. That would solve so many problems.
Take it easy all, hope your January has been good. To February then, for now.
Gordon
New Year. Happy or Otherwise.
Week 1
Happy New Year. 2011 is upon us.
YamYamBiker.com seems a bit weird when there is no bike involved. I don’t really know what I am going to do about that. I will return to biking I am sure, but I don’t know what to do in the meantime. Change the title to reflect the content? Or just leave it as is….?
2010 was the fastest year of my life so far, it was but a blip on the calendar of life. I don’t know why it went so fast but I know for sure I don’t like the way it did. I am going to have a quick whip around the year’s postage and see what I got up to….
…
Well the first post of 2010 was regarding the GSR and it’s failings as a bike. I had left it in the work’s garage over Christmas due to the crap weather and it seized up in to a block of rust. Awesome. I also posted about my new Uncle-Hood and my lovely new Niece. That was a year ago…holy shit.
Second post was along the same lines. Brakes seized, £80 before it’s even moved, whacked my head, angry, went inside to look at BMW 1200GS bikes. I justified it to myself that I need a bike that is designed to sit in -2°C with road salt on it and not rust. What an idiot. There isn’t a motorcycle known to man that would withstand that punishment.
I posted a video of a guy on a BMW trying to do doughnuts in the snow. Idiot.
KTM 125cc concepts brought to life in the new 125cc naked bike. Smart. I also found a motorcycle air conditioning system which I thought was hilarious…
Big post on the VFR1200F. I made the point that a bike that is designed for touring/bad weather riding shouldn’t have 170bhp. Comments were generally that I should get a moped if I can’t handle that amount of power. I got annoyed because the folk who said that probably have never been on a cobbled icy downhill slope….I’m getting annoyed again.
January done.
Only a handful of posts, some videos and my artwork. Also a guy with a radiator strapped to his back on his bike, in the middle of Glasgow.
1 post. 1 measly post. But a good one. Ben Spies artwork was completed and looks amazing.
2 posts this month!!….One post talking about Limited Edition Ben Spies artworks (please buy them if you are interested………….) and one post that started one of the best moments in my motorcycling life. I started thinking about buying a Yamaha MT-01….the original beefcake.
The big month. I buy a used but great condition Yamaha MT-01. It’s a dream come true for me, I wanted one since I first thought about getting in to motorcycles. Even before my test and before YamYam started. I still remember listening to a sound clip of an MT-01 from start to 100mph, and I still remember to this day thinking about how smart this thing was. Well I had the opportunity to buy one and I did.
I then had various issues with it. Head bearings broke, the rear rim was seriously dented which I had a bit of a hoo-ha with the garage about. Got it fixed and it all seemed to be fine.
Fitted an alpha-dot.
Got the rim fixed on the MT-01, handed the GSR in to the same garage to get the head bearings replaced. Ended up being £185 after being quoted £100. Had a big argument with the dealer and ended up just paying it. But I swore never to go back there ever again..and didn’t.
2 posts discussing my love for the MT. Decide it’s the best bike in the whole wide world.
I get the bus because my MT got a flat whilst riding in to my hometown. My new back tire reminds me of when I got a new back tire on the GSR and ended up redlining away from Stuart’s garage. We ride up to the west coast to see my Uncle Michael and the MT performs brilliantly. I ran over a frog.
I go to Knockhill with Rossy Boy and almost see a man die.
I sell my GSR on grounds of not being able to afford running it in to the ground. I am glad and buy new golf clubs with the proceeds.
I write one post on the Pope visiting Edinburgh. I also have an altercation with a man in a Subaru that almost costs me my dignity.
I have a bit of a moany month. I get frustrated by the complete lack of ability of some folk to drive their cars. I get my MOT done on the MT at a garage that employs a bunch of greasy know-it-all salesmen who think that rubbing your whole bike lovingly is good service. I also put the MT to bed for the winter, the first time in my 4 year biking career.
I write about getting the train and how it’s easier than I first thought. I actually read a whole book in a week…I also design some loudspeakers but naebody is bothered.
Two posts, one to say that I have sold my MT-01 and another to say Merry Christmas. A sad month but a good month, we get a new car and I feel optimistic about the future. The weather hits Scotland in a way it never has before and I find it baffling to see the world as I see it disintegrate in to a pile of shite because the councils can’t grit a road properly.
And that’s it. The year in 12 paragraphs. It seems like I didn’t do very much..but there’s tonnes of other non-biking stuff I did. I had an exhibition of my work in Perth, went well. I went to see 3 gigs. Went well. I was extremely busy with work…went….not so well.
And so it is, another year done, another 12 months of stories and experiences. 2011 is going to be such a different year for me. I won’t have my bike. But I will have munros and golf. I will hopefully get a new house and I will hopefully start my new project of home studios. I will be updating YamYamBiker.com with 100% non-biking content, but there you go.
I hope everyone had a great 2010, a great Christmas and a great New Year celebration. I am secretly optimistic about what 2011 will bring to us. I hope the optimism is fulfilled.
2 days ago I, along with Blair, Dad and Alan, went up Ben Chonzie. We went up a munro 2 years ago (to the day I found out last night) and it’s a great way to welcome in the new year. But this year we are all going to be doing a lot of walking and golfing. It was great to get up Ben Chonzie and despite my legs being knackered, I was ok everywhere else.
I went and bought some boots yesterday which are a bit more robust than my £15 Tresspass specials. Can’t wait to get out on the hills, tomorrow will be the 1st Munro of 2011, the start of many more to come.
Thanks all for your continued support. I hope you stick around for the non-bike related stuff. All the best for 2011.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
I hope you all have a great Christmas break and an even better New Year.
2010 has been one of the fastest years I’ve had, one which I will run through with a 2010 Year Review post during the holidays.
Next year will be a big year without the bike so I will be updating YamYam with different content in the meantime. I hope you all stick around for that but if not, thanks for all your support over the past 4 years. YamYamBiker will return in the future, I guarantee it. But for now, enjoy the new stuff and I’ll speak to you after the big day!
All the best
Gordon
Come Visit Scotland. We’ll make sure you can’t leave.
Weekly Update………11…………..It’s December.
Hello all.
It’s been a busy old life as of late. It’s going to be a big update, so if you are looking for a quick read, scroll down to the next post. Grab a coffee/tea, get yourself comfortable and I shall begin.
The last update was November 9th, well the last real update anyway. I was talking about how the train is better than I thought and may be able to stick it out more easily than first anticipated. Well I’ve done the train thing for over a month now and yes, I still agree with that sentiment. So that’s good.
Shortly after putting the bike away for the winter, and realising that I was now bike-less for the next 6 months, I subconsciously must have decided that now would be the good time for a drastic change. What follows doesn’t make for good reading. I’ve sold my MT-01 and YamYam for the first time in 4 years, is Motorcycle-less. Yes. YamYamBiker at present is YamYamNonBiker. It all happened so fast…
Em and I decided to go up to Perth to do some shopping, Em had broke one of the cat’s bowls and wanted to get another one instead of just doing what I said and use one of ours. Whilst she was away getting that I nipped in to halfords for some Zymol. We then met back up and I suggested out of the blue that we go to the MINI garage along the road and check out the MINI Clubmans. I’ve seen relatively little of the Clubmans and wanted to have a closer look, plus I’ve never been in a MINI despite seeing 1,000,000′s of them everyday. You see for ages we had talked about getting a new car. Our Yaris was getting near 100,000 miles and was starting to loose it’s grip on the world a wee bit, and we had spoke about getting a 2 seater sports car because you know, we’re young and have no kids etc etc.
Emma hadn’t really had an opinion on MINI’s or indeed the Clubman’s, so was a bit surprised that the reply to my surprising MINI adventure suggestion was “Ok.”
To cut a very long and probably boring story short (one that I had already written and saved in the drafts but decided against it because it was frankly geeky bullshite) we headed to Grassicks MINI in Perth and luckily enough a Clubman was in the forecourt, and even more lucky was that it was in Black (the colour I had mentioned I would want whilst driving to the MINI garage.)
Emma was unsure upon first visual inspection, a “meh” type reaction. I on the other hand was a bit more enthusiastic. Of course 2 minutes after turning off our car and getting to the MINI’s, one of the chaps came over for the banter. “We only want to know figures to see what we were looking at should we decide that we can afford it.”
And the cut of the story goes here.
We walked out of there with a deal that was pretty amazing, and in the time it took for Steven (the MINI bloke we dealt with) to do all the pitches and figures, I had decided in my mind that if these figures were decent, I would sell the bike, reasons to follow. The MINI gets an average of 60mpg. It’s £20 a YEAR road tax. It’s cheap insurance. It’s the demonstrator so has tonnes of spec. It’s in black. It’s a diesel…etc. It came with 4.5 years of TLC, a service package that covers servicing for that duration. It also came with 2.5 years of warranty left. Because it was a Demo car, the condition of the car was nothing short of mint, brand new.
Having got the figures we headed home to get ready for the Tommy Emmanuel gig that I spoke about in the last post. Whilst Em was making tea, I went over the financial situation we were at, what the bike was costing to run including loan, petrol, insurance, tax, wear and tear etc, same for the Yaris. I then took that figure and subtracted the cost of owning this MINI from it. The saving was around £300 a month! And this was including my train fares. And so from that point it seemed that the decision was a no-brainer. I had decided in my mind at the garage if the figures were good, I would sell the bike and the reasons for that are thus: my MT would sit in the garage 6 months of the year and I would still be paying the loan on it, as well as servicing parts and tyres etc over the 6 months it was garage bound. I had also done the train thing so I knew the cost of getting the train. The £300 saving was just too big an amount to forget about it.
We watched Tommy play his music that night and I was transported away from this situation for a couple of hours, and what a glorious time it was. But come the finish my mind was straight back to the situation at hand. I tried speaking to Em on the way home in the car about it but she was tired so we left it.
I was playing golf the next day so we wouldn’t really have a chance to talk about it, so when we got home I said to Em that she needs to phone Steven and ask what we need to do, should we decide to go for it. And I went away to play golf, all the while knowing that I would probably be going to buy this car in the afternoon. I spoke with Dad on the course and he injected his fatherly concern in to the mix, making me doubt my figure calculations and rational for doing this, but I took it on board and knew that what I had calculated was true and made complete sense. I spoke to Blair on the way home and he balanced Dad’s concern with his own thoughts.
So anyway, this was meant to be a shorter version! That afternoon we went up to the garage and we bought the car. In doing that, I needed to sell the MT. I made the decision fast without really taking the time to think about it. I usually spend weeks agonising over every single decision that has a major impact on our lives, but I also knew that if I took that usual week or so to think about it, I would back out of it. I needed to make the decision quickly so that I didn’t have a choice.
A week later we picked up the MINI and I have to say right now, Steven and the Grassicks folks were top. We’ve done a lot of dealings with garages of Bikes and Cars, and I know it’s a bit clichéd but it really does make a difference when the folks that are selling you something care about what happens after the deal is signed. Anyway.
A week after that I sold the MT to a guy from England. I went up to Mum’s a few hours before hand, got it all sorted, turned it on and listened to the deep twin tick over. I didn’t feel anything, no regret or loss, no sadness. This was a good sign. The deal went well, the bloke gave me a lot of cash, about 4 inches worth and off he went. I got in my new MINI and went to the bank. I went home and made a cup of tea.
I love our new car. It’s brilliant. The saving on fuel is tremendous. The efficiency features like stop/start are just face slappingly obvious. It’s amazing how quickly you realise how much fuel everyone else is wasting whilst sitting in queues. Why doesn’t every car have this? I’ve read somewhere that the MINI Diesel is as close to the Honda Hybrid cars you can get without being a hybrid. And it’s a 1.6 turbo so it shifts!
So there you have it, for the near future I am without possession of a bike. I wasn’t going to be riding the MT for the next 6 months anyway, but it feels weirdly uplifting to have no bike sitting depreciating in the garage. It also feels a bit refreshing to have something new to look forward to.
To be honest the bike was just another means to get from A-B for me, after 4 years and 60,000 + miles of riding it certainly tested my enthusiasm for it. I’ve been there, I’ve done every single weather imaginable. I’ve done the tours, I’ve done the abroads. I’ve done the knee downs and slow downs and you know it seemed like a good time to sever the ties for the time being. I wouldn’t be riding anyway so why not have a complete break, rather than a short breather.
I also gave away 90% of my gear with the sale except my AGV GP-Tech (too many memories to get rid of it), my Wolf gear (too good) and my daily leather gloves and boots. The rest of the gear; winter gloves, other summer gloves, kevlar jeans, older gear/leather jackets etc all went. My old Shark S800 and Em’s old AGV went too. Emma kept her Shark helmet and her Halvarssons jacket for the same reasons I kept mine. That in itself felt good. A cleanse of motorcycle gear, an act that when it comes to starting again, I can start totally afresh!
Everyone I have told has said the same thing, it’s usually pre and postly punctuated with sweary words but it’s usually “you did what!?…” Everyone that knows me or knew of me knew that I was Mr. Motorcycle. So it must be a bit of a shock to learn that I am now Mr. Walkie. But I am still happily unaware of the impact that it has had. I am absolutely certain that I will be on 2 wheels again, but for the time being I am happy not being on 2 wheels. Blair has sold his bike so there really was no reason to hang on to it. I know one thing though, when I do get another bike, I won’t be riding it as much. It just kills the enjoyment and feeling of something special, when you ride it day in-day out.
In other news, the weather over the past 2 weeks has been positively ABSURD. The snow has fallen so quickly, and so “unexpectedly” that within a day the roads were impassable. Within a few days borderline life-threatening. Folk were trapped in cars on motorways with 9 month old babies and no food. Oldies were caught walking down the motorway for some warmth and food. Police were having a hard time and throughout it all, not a gritter or plough to be seen.
We are lucky enough to have a neighbour with access to a tractor and he did the best job imaginable with the circumstances presented. But for everyone else it was just a shitmare of epic proportions. The weather has started to calm down the past 2 days and the snow has started to melt, but a lot has turned to ice…something I found out this morning when I faceplanted after bouncing off two cars with a kettle in my hand. It was sore but I wasn’t hurt. I had also been asleep in bed 4 minutes prior to this tumble, but because Emma is a total grump in the morning, I had to help her fill the washers up before she went to work. I did that, then decided to use the rest of the water in the kettle to pour over the frosty windows. I got in between our car and the one beside it but lost my footing on the stack of ice on the ground and went bouncing around whilst trying to find traction, only to finally lose and slide face first down the path. Emma was out like shot, thinking I had snapped my neck but I was ok. It was like an ice rink. Totally insane.
So anyway. Now I have to find a new hobby as I have nothing to do with myself. Blair and I have decided to start climbing Munro’s next year, and I am going to start drinking….hurrah!
Some photos of the weather over the past few weeks. Enjoy!
Cheers
Gordon
Who wants one? The new Stealth | Four loudspeaker concept!
Hello all.
Quick update. I have got a massive update post in the drafts, but I am really busy so am intending on posting that this weekend. In the meantime, check out my latest design. This is what I get up to when the bike is off road.
It’s a loudspeaker concept, the first of many. This one’s the Stealth | Four concept and I am currently contacting loudspeaker manufacturers in the UK to try and get it made. The website for all my future creations is www.thefraserconcept.co.uk and will have everything up there once I get it updated. Pass this on to friends if you can, hopefully the chain of friends will lead to a wee door opening.
Leave a comment if you have one!
Thanks
Gordon
The Pope is in town, and it’s the easiest commute to work I’ve ever had.
Weekly Update 6 – 30/08 – 16/09
Hi all,
I have a few good stories to tell you but I want to say firstly how quickly this year is going! Blimey guv, it’s whipping past at an incredible rate and boy I’m losing touch. The air is distinctly colder this past week, so much so that my face has been chilled by the time I get to work. If only I could fit my lunch inside my helmet, it would be an ideal fridge.
Yes, the Pope is in Edinburgh today for his runaround in the PopeMobile™. We have been warned the past week through email to “AVOID EDINBURGH” because it’s set to be so busy, you can hardly move your eyelids. Get the train, get the bus, get a plane or walk because what you don’t want to do is get stuck in the 50 mile long tailback and never actually reach work in time.
We’ll as always, I throw caution in to the wind and didn’t listen. And I am really glad I did. Not a queue in sight, not a panicked motorist or wailing horn. No pumping fists or swerving abusers, revving engines or flashing lights. It was by far the most uneventful and delightful ride in to work I’ve had in the 4 years of doing it. It was like coming to work at 4am in the morning. Except it was light.
So my suggestion is that the Pope comes to Edinburgh every day for a year…I don’t think that will fly somehow.
The MT is running well despite a funny knocking sound from the front of the engine. I am of the opinion that a suspension tune would benefit both myself and the bike immensely, so I’ll have to have a word with someone as its not just a case of spanner turns in the MT, it’s an unlock this bolt first, turn this one and then measure….complimicated.
So.
In commuting life you have two kinds of car commuter and they can be broken down in to folk who accept bikes, and folk who don’t.
Folk who accept bikes move over in traffic, they flash you back in to lane on the motorway, they turn and wave, often thumbs up or generally don’t mind you going past them. I love these kinds of commuters.
Folk who don’t accept move over in traffic, but the wrong way. They flash at you, but not to let you back in. They turn and wave, but it’s more of a gesture. It certainly is not a thumbs up and is almost always accompanied with a red face. They will do absolutely anything, until the point of metal to metal, to make your life a living misery. I do not love these kinds of commuters.
Which is why this next story is so funny.
I was coming in to work in really good time actually. I was early! I know!
Travelling up to the Barnton junction mess, I was filtering between the stationary cars, as I do every single day of my commuting life. I got so far up and the cars were too close together, so I came to a halt flicking the MT to neutral and sat waiting for the lights to change. I watched the usual lighting sequence play out and prepared myself to continue by flicking the MT to first, looking over my shoulder to make the guys in cars know I’m thinking about something. (This is a great tip subsequently for any keen biker. If you are moving your head, people will expect you to do something. So if you are planning a manoeuvre it pays to move your head (shoulder check works) and people know you are about to do something) Anyway, the cars in front move off and I wedge myself in to the right between 2 cars. I check my mirrors to see how far the guy is behind and he’s right up my arse.
I always keep tabs on guys like this, because at one point in the very near future I will be in a position to move forwards when he can’t. And I like to let them know this by either waving or turning my head to look at their burning faces. Anyway, there he was behind me quite close, and I saw an opportunity to dart in to the left hand lane, which I did and got about 50 yards forward from the man who was in front of me. The key to successful commuting progress is taking your chances. However this opportunity turned quickly in to a dead-end and as I turned my head to see if the gap was still available for me to quickly move back to the right, I checked my mirrors to see this bloke winding up to close the big gap I was about to fill. Seeing this happen I quickly whipped across to the right hand side and the bloke let rip on his horn as he travelled the remaining 40 yards to my rear tyre.
Nothing on the face of the earth irks me more than un-necessary use of a car horn. It could be peeping to say goodbye, hello or using it to release aggression, it’s all enough to get me going absolutely berserk. I slammed my brakes on with the biggest fist full I could manage, enough that the guy behind me had to move to the right in order to stop himself rear-ending me (this is how close he was) and his bonnet ended up parallel to my footpegs. He peeped his horn in one, very very long drawn out release of anger and I kept myself facing forward. I had my dark visor on so he couldn’t have seen my eyes firmly affixed on his but I was watching as the following scenes unfolded. Much to my absolute delight.
Once he had managed to prise his fist off of the horn area of his steering wheel, he then started talking to himself, albeit with a very aggressive jaw movement and a sharp shaking of his head. His right hand was whizzing about at his side as his window started to wind down. His seatbelt came off with the other hand and flew across his body whilst his face went absolute red. There is no redder shade of red in the world.
All the while my head hasn’t moved but my eyes have went from the right hand mirror with this berk filling it, to my left hand mirror where I make a note that traffic has ceased from the left and it’s clear.
I come back to the right hand mirror where by this point the berk has managed to lever himself out of his bucket seat (this was a Subaru Impreza) and he get’s his head out of the window but doesn’t stop until his whole upper torso is clear of the window threshold. His mouth seems to be winding itself up now as his words start forming in his mind.
And at the point of his release, (the very point that he is about to unleash all the pent-up aggression, the frustrations of life, the universe and everything, the point that his throat, lungs and tongue align with the stars to vibrate the air around him with such force that birds start dropping out the sky, the absolute moment of glory) I perform a flawless (thank you) MotoGP race start in to the now clear left hand lane. As the revs rise I hear the falsetto scream of a demented man shouting some garbled profanity faster than his mouth can form, but slower than his brain can generate.
Now amidst my anger about the whole situation, and the slight weakening of my muscles due to the “all too close” braking moment adrenaline which I must agree was totally stupid and I was lucky I got away with this one, I couldn’t help but find the scene I just left extremely amusing.
In my mirror I could see a car at a 45° angle across the right hand lane, with a driver hanging mostly out his car window shouting something at the top of his voice and shaking his free arm wildly, to a motorcycle now 200 yards away. What’s funnier is he would have then had to get back through his car window, in to his car, put his seatbelt on and then stop at the now red light in front of him, all the while fuming about not getting his release that he deserved thus making him even more angry. I only hope no-one at work looked him in the eye when he arrived because the force of his now doubled aggression would have instantly evaporated anyone in the vicinity.
It was spectacularly funny, but also very sad that someone can get that wound up about driving his car.
Anyway, these are some of the fabulous things that motorcycling can offer!
Winter is soon to arrive, and that means the MT is garage bound for its first big service (by me!) and a good once over.
Thank you all for reading and commenting. Please keep it up!
Gordon
It isnae the fastest bike, but it’ll pull a caravan
Weekly Update 4 – 07/08 – 14/08
Ah, the feeling of fresh tyres. It’s a strange feeling really. A cross between bum clenching and quick breathing as you try to scrub them in. Every degree of angle you exhibit brings this feeling on, coupled with the thoughts of the back end sliding out behind you as you go over too far. But once you get out to the edge of the tyre, this feeling turns to joy as you are afforded the full use of the tyre.
These feelings are enhanced ten fold if it’s wet. Which it just so happened to be the day I picked the bike up.
Now if you have got this far and have no idea what I am talking about then,
When a tyre is made the inside of the mould is coated in a release agent, which allows the tyre, once moulded to be freely ejected from the mould. Without it the tyre would be a pain in the arse to get out of the mould, and when you are making millions of these, you need a quick way to get the tyre out and the mould shut for the next tyre to be made…anyway, this release agent just so happens to be extremely greasy. So that’s the reason most, if not all motorcycle dealers, servicers and outlets will tell you to “take it easy for the first 100 miles or so” as you leave.
For a great example of why your told to take it easy, see exhibit A:
Now, when I last got a back tyre on the GSR (a Bridgestone BT-021 for those who are interested) I picked it up from Stuart and he said the famous words, “take it easy.”
As I bid adieu he started talking to the next bloke who was waiting and off I went. I pulled out of the garage and started heading along the road, and gave what I thought was a good level of throttle given the situation. Next thing I know the bike is snaking about and the redline is being kissed. “BRAAADADADADADADADADA” up the road. I could just imagine Stuarts face.
I told you that so I could tell you this.
I got the new tyre on the MT on Saturday there, a Metzeler Z6. Now those of you who have read every post on here (thanks Rossy Boy) will know how I don’t ever mix brands of tyre. By this I mean I don’t have say a Dunlop on the front and a Michelin on the rear. It just doesnt work.
Now when I called Stuart to get him to order a tyre he tried to get me a Pirelli Diablo Strada, the same as both my tyres were before the flat rear. He called back shortly after and said that he couldn’t get a Strada rear and suggested the Metzeler Z6… I said “you told me not to mix brands” and he said that basically Pirelli own Metzeler and the Z6 and Strada are basically the same tyre, same profile, just slightly newer tech in the Strada than the Z6.
If Stuart says its ok, it’s ok.
Saturday I headed down and it was wet (great) and there it was, fresh shiny new tyre. We got chatting about various bikes and his race bike was sitting there. I moaned about how the GSR needs the crap revved out it if you want to go somewhere instantly. He agreed saying his R6 race bike needs a lot of rpm before he goes places, whereas the MT is just BOOM you are off.
“Aye, it isnae the fastest bike but it’ll pull a caravan” he said, I burst out laughing. I’ve never heard torque explained that way before much to my amusement.
So we talked some more and I mentioned the unfortunate situation where in order for Stuarts business to be thriving, people need to be falling off their bikes. He laughed agreeingly. Is that a word? Agreeingly. He laughed in a way to suggest that he agreed with my statement.
Stuart you see is owner of Jackson’s Bikes, the place to go if you need absolutely anything done to your bike…unless you live outside Scotland. There are some shockers in his garage I tell you. He was showing me a bike that hit the back of a bus and the engine casings were split as if someone had wanted to show a section of the engine. Clean through. Unbelievable.
Anyway he parted with the take it easy line and I mentioned my last visit. He burst out laughing saying that he was talking to the waiting guy and heard me redlining it up the road. He smacked his forehead in a “oh no what are you doing…” way and was laughing.
So off I went with this insane torque machine, wet roads and fresh greasy back tyre on. It was ok really, I took it easy but taking any kind of corner on new tyres is always a shaky one. By the time I get round to changing my tyres they are usually well squared off/bald. This means more force is needed to turn the bike, to get it over the edge or lip of the now flat area. When a new tyre is on there’s absolutely no resistance and the bike falls to the side. It’s quite shocking and I always get a “oh shit somethings wrong” instant reaction but then realise it’s how it’s meant to be… Maybe I should change my tyres more often. ..maybe not, at £108.63 a piece I don’t make a habit of it.
Anyway, as the week draws to another speedy close the rain is falling like one of those rainfall shower heads….hang on. I need to get me either a one piece waterproof oversuit or at the very least, a pair of brieks. I am growing tired of getting off my bike only for all the water that has collected in my pants to go shooting down my legs and in to my boots. It gives a somewhat bitter end to the journey.
YamYamBiker.com is steadily growing in popularity and visibility. By steady I mean I have a steady view stat of around 170 folk a day… I would love for it to get a bit more popular, so any hints on what you would like to read about would be appreciated, or indeed what you don’t like reading about.
To help me on my way I have been included in various “TOP ###” motorcycle blog posts, including the ones below. Many thanks for that and I hope people start finding and subsequently enjoying YamYamBiker.com.
All the best for the coming week all,
Gordon
Like a freight train, only smaller…
Weekly Update 3 – 28/07 – 06/08
It’s been an eventful week and a bit, more so towards the end of the week but nevertheless, eventful.
I was off for a week following 2 weeks of utter exhaustion. I was glad to get time off to get my brain pointing the right way, but it took 2-3 days for the transition. I did weekly update 2 during that time so was a bit spaced out. Towards the end of the week both Blair and I went out for a quick trip, it’s been a long time since our last outing and the weather looked ok.
We decided to head around the coast via Leven to St. Andrews, “East looks the brightest so lets go that way” Blair said. Ok.
Within 10 minutes of being on the bike I was soaked, we drove through a torrential downpour only to get to overcast skies. It did start to clear up the closer we got to the coast and dried up in time for us to get some fast corners in. We arrived in St. Andrews with the sun shining and we stopped for petrol.
“You going to give me a shot to the beach?” Blair asked.
“No, I want to rumble through the streets.”
And rumble we did, it was glorious. We got through the streets and got to the beach, where the remnants from the Open (golf tournament) still stood. We had a quick look about, Blair called his lady and I called Em to see how she was getting on but she didn’t answer. Probably because she was getting scoofed with her work colleagues in the middle of Edinburgh but that’s another story.
I gave Blair the MT for our ride home and he was loving it. Every time I got close he would tear away, leaving my open visored face reverberating from both the shockwave and the sound from the exhausts. He did sit really close to the middle line as I was trying to see the right hand side of the bike (the best bit) and he wouldn’t take the hint and move over, so I just had to make do with the left. A few dodgy manoeuvres from Blair thrown in to the mix as always and it was a good day out.
All he said was “yeah, it’s great” when we arrived at my house for the switch back.
That was Saturday, covered around 100miles.
Sunday came and I decided to head to Lochgilphead to visit my Aunty and Uncle. Em and I got ourselves ready to go, complete with tankbag and rucksack, love handles etc and we were off by 10:30am.
Quick nip in to Perth Broxden services for fuel, where the till woman came out to see the bike because “I’m just being nosey”, Em filled in that she had a bike too. A fella on a Ducati Multistrada rumbled in beside me before I ba-boomed the MT in to life. We were taking the usual route of Lochearnhead up to Tyndrum, back road to Inverary and up the coast to Lochgilphead. Stopping in Tyndrum for some chow, which was pretty good, the weather remained decent, with only a small spattering now and again. I had fish, Em had sausage…
We carried on West after our lunch and the roads were on off wet/greasy. Arriving just before Invarary I was suddenly aware of this small, slow moving thing going in front of my bike. Realising it was a frog, I could do nothing but hold my course…spllaaaafff.
I stopped at Inverary to fill up quickly and then finish the journey, which we did in about 25 minutes.
I love Lochgilphead. It’s just a fantastic place to be. If I had the chance, I would move there in a heartbeat. We had a quick bite to eat (read 3 different types of cakes) and caught up with both Aunt/Uncle and Mum and Dad who headed up earlier than us. They were surprised to see us (Mum and Dad) even though I told them the DAY BEFORE that I was heading up with Em. Oldies…
We then headed back, which was a total killer. Emma got a bit tired and was losing concentration (if you can do such a thing as a pillion….hahaha Em) so because we were following Dad in his car, I suggested/forced Em to relax and get in the car. She wasn’t happy at all with this, but later admitted that it was good to have a rest. I trucked on and headed in to a massive rain storm, arriving at Mum’s totally drenched.
Em quickly got her gear on at Mum’s and we nipped back to our house, 5 minutes down the road, soaked.
And that concluded the weekend. Too fast.
The following week was good until Wednesday night, when I got to the roundabout at Kinross and I was quickly aware that the bike felt weird. I ran a bit wide on the first corner, got to a mini roundabout and the bike was all over the place. I stood up on the pegs and looked over the front to see if the front wheel was ok, as it felt like it was going to come off. All fine there, so that left only the rear tyre as the next logical place to look. Pancake doesn’t quite say it.
By the time I got to the turn for my street the tyre was as flat as you could get a tyre. The MT is a heavy bike (quarter tonne) so even when the tyres are inflated it’s hard to shift it round corners. When a rear tyre of this gurth (190 section) is flat on a bike this heavy, it’s near impossible to steer it. Aye you can try turning the bars, but the rims were pretty much on the deck if it wasn’t for the rubber squeezed between it and the road.
I trundled up the street passing many a teenager, feeling like a total muppet. Got home to see this:
The silver scrapes on the rim are from Hagon re-truing the wheel after the SB farce.
So pretty annoyed, and had to get the bus the past few days including today when I was stuck on the bus for over an hour due to the most anti-climatic “serious accident” I’ve ever seen. Tailbacks to dear-knows where, ambulances up the middle of traffic (2 of) and numerous police cars, all for a 5 car fender bender. I have footage. Here it is:
So that’s been my week. New tyre is being fitted today, a Metzeler Z6 which is fundamentally the same as the Pirelli Diablo Stradas, bar the fact that the Stradas have “better technology and grip” in them. Stuart doesn’t seem to mind, so that means I don’t either.
Can’t wait to get my beast back. This is a taster though of what it will be like in winter when I sell my GSR…more on that next week.
Thanks for looking all, keep doing it or I’ll not have the motivation.
All the best for the coming week,
Gordon
Its a big old bus this…
Weekly Update 2 – 03/07 – 28/07
Hello everyone.
It’s been a busy old month in the life of YamYam. Firstly I had my meeting with Glen Richards, to get my artworks signed! It was a nervous time for me for some reason, but anyway it went without a hitch and it was a great experience, Glen is a fantastic bloke. I gave him his complimentary canvas and off he went with it under his arm, to show all the HM Plant boys during his tea! I showed him the Bayliss as well and he loved it, so hopefully the word will spread and I’ll get some more orders!
I’ve been commuting to Glasgow the past couple of weeks on the MT and boy oh boy does it fatigue me. It’s not the riding position at all, in fact it’s the most comfy bike I have ridden. It’s the vibes through the pegs, coupled with the lack of foot movement (on the motorway) makes my feet fall apart after half and hour. It’s not the best and it’s certainly needing some kind of foot restage botch if I wanted to use it as a proper touring bike.
“There is something about traveling at high speed a few feet above hard ground that gets your attention. When the body is right there, the brain tends to be right there with it.”
I was planning on writing a story about the reasons why I believe motorcycles to be safer than cars, but having typed just that in to Google, I found this article here. It pretty much says exactly what I was going to, so there’s no point in regurgitating, I’ll just link to it and write something else!
I have been working extremely hard these days at work…obviously. I have been doing some serious hours an it’s left me with zero time for well, anything. I get home at 3am, I am more concerned about sleeping than updating yamyam or other important things like eating.
After a weekend to forget, even though I already have due to exhaustion, I am now on the recovery and have some free time to do all the things I haven’t been able to do for the past month.
The other night I finished very late through in Glasgow and had forgotten to put my clear visor in my Kriega so had to ride for an hour and a half in the pouring rain with my dark visor on. It wouldn’t have been so bad had it been dry as I could go along with it open to see the road, but because of the rain it was near impossible. But after an hour on the bike and getting saturated through, I was suddenly aware of the cats eyes on the newly laid stretch of road near Kinross. They lit up so brightly that through the dark visor it was almost like a landing strip leading me home. It was amazing, as pretty much that’s all I could see through the visor.
That happened several times over the coming weeks, me forgetting my clear visor, me riding home in the dark, sometimes dry, often wet. I would always love getting to that stretch of road, as it meant I was almost home; the place I have grown to miss through not being there at all the past wee while.
One thing is for sure though, the MT is the best bike to be on when you are knackered and wanting to get home. Once you are in top gear, you just chug along. Nothing else to really think about. That’s what I love about it, if you want to get a thrill, open the throttle quickly. If you want to cruise, just sit back and enjoy. You feel amazing regardless of what style you feel like.
I will be sad when winter comes around again (and at this rate, it’ll be tomorrow)
Washed it for the first time in two weeks today, it was pretty dirty all over and I was secretly worried it had been damaged or rusted, but it was brilliant. All the dirty stains and rusting parts cleaned up a jem and it’s sitting outside my house gleaming in the evening sun.
I am glad I am so fortunate to own such a bike. I see a lot of bikers on the road on bangers and old bikes. I don’t feel bad for them, because they are probably loving it. I just feel fortunate to be able to walk out to the MT every morning, knowing that it will soon be locked up and still gleaming, as the GSR is brought back in to active service. I too will soon be riding around on a banger, but I will also still be loving it.
Sorry for the complete lack of update. It couldn’t be helped.
Cheers
YY
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
50,000 miles and counting
On Sunday the 2nd May I crested the 30,000 mile mark on the GSR, just over 2 years after buying it. It was a weird feeling really, I was excited about it, enough to show Emma whilst we headed down the motorway sliproad (“Aye, very good” she said)
But at the same time as being excited about crossing another milestone I couldn’t help but remember what 30,000 miles has done to the GSR’s health. Anyway,
Since Jan 2007 I have covered over 50,000 miles on 6 different motorcycles: Yamaha MT-03, Buell Xb12Ss Lightning, Kawasaki ER-6N, Suzuki GSR600 and my latest Yamaha MT-01. It’s a good feeling knowing that I am beginning to get in to territory that relatively few bikers (in the UK anyway) reach, and I’ve only been riding for 3 and a half years.
It’s funny how I’ve come full circle from first getting my MT-03, and then swearing never to return to Yamaha after the way they treated the “incident”. But I am so glad I did, because my excitement for motorcycles and love of being a biker has been reignited, and it’s raging out of control. I had become complacent and the daily drudge in to work on my bike resulted in it being just another day whenever I sat on it.
I am also glad that I chose the MT as my new steed. It’s crazy how many people have gone out of their way to comment on it since I got it 2 weeks ago. I’ve never had anyone come up to me like that since owning the Buell 2 years ago. I think it’s something to do with the V-Twin roar, or the oddball looks but whatever it is, people warm to it.
So I shall continue on and on, sitting upon 2 wheels every day as my A to B.
I must say a little word about the tragic death of a biker just down the road from me. Saturday was a glorious day to be out on the bike, and we were out as well. It seems that no matter how nice the weather there are still people dying on their bikes. I always feel sad for these unfortunate people, but always always sceptical. I don’t know why really, but whenever I hear of a biker dying, I always think of the biker doing something wrong or riding beyond theirs or the conditions limit. Sometimes its just a freak coming together in the middle of nowhere.
My scepticism isn’t helped much after witnessing a bunch of high-vis clad bikers wobbling all over the road on Saturday, one of which left his indicator on for 10 minutes. I want to stop these bikers and slap their dishes. Get a grip. Ride safer. But then why should I?
Take care out there please, and keep your head screwed on.
Onward.
YY
Yamaha MT-01 Review – YamYam is BACK!
The last post on YamYam finished like this:
I am going to have a wee test ride on one to see if all the reviews are correct. From there it’s either buying one, or looking elsewhere, but something tells me I will be rumbling home once more.
Well I did go for a test ride, and here’s what happened.
Friday (23rd April) I decided to head up to Sandy Bloy Motorcycles, Perth, after emailing Gary regarding the MT-01 they had in their shop. Gary said come up Friday.
Arriving on the GSR with the rain in full swing, I wondered what it would feel like to sit on an MT-01 after all these years of wanting one. Well it seems like I wouldn’t get the chance, because when I entered the shop the MT was sitting there, looking amazing…with “SOLD” suckered on the light.
Gary emerged after a lengthy wait and I introduced myself and said “well, it seems like I won’t get to test ride it” and pointed to the beast sitting unavailable.
“We’ll…” Gary started, “It is…and it isn’t.”
Oh? I said, feeling a small glimmer of light appear at the very end of a long tunnel.
“Yeah, the guy who was in has since said he can’t get finance, and I have told him that if someone else comes along, then I won’t be waiting for him to get his act together. So as far as I am concerned, the bike is still for sale.”
Well then, lets get a test ride! I filled in the standard “if you deck the bike you’ll pay for it” form and round the bike came, sounding amazing as it did so. This was the first time I had seen or heard one up close, so everything was a new sensation.
By now the rain was getting quite heavy, so Gary said take it easy, handed me a £5 note and said put some gas in it. Off I went, and immediately I could feel the power that this thing had in store. Burbling up the first junction I had a bit of a time getting the old clutch-in action smooth, and indeed the fantastic twin engine braking was quite harsh on the MT.
Anyway I toodled about and after a whizz around Perth I got back to SB’s and in I went. Gary was there to greet me and I said how I loved twins and to cut a long story short, he was chuffed to have someone ride it who knew what it was about and I wanted it. I said that I had the finances ready (The loan form was sent and I was waiting back for the approval) so took a gamble on them being successful and put a deposit of £100 down, after haggling a bit with the price.
He showed me a dent in the exhaust headers from where someone has laid the bike down at rest, and a chip on the tank.
So I left it at that, said I would be back up the next day with Emma and w0uld keep him updated as far as the finances go.
Parting test ride thoughts: Well the MT looks absolutely gorgeous. It sounds absolutely gorgeous. It feels absolutely gorgeous. It’s just a shame I didn’t get to test the instant thundering torque and fantastic brakes that everyone raves about. Fingers crossed the finances come through because it’s rare to have an MT come up for sale in Scotland, and I would be pretty sad if I didn’t manage to realise my 4 year want.
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Well. The finances did come through. And I went up on Saturday 1st of May to pick her up.
What. A. Beast.
Of course, Saturday was raining as well, which was great. I was hoping to get some full throttle’s going but anyway, we headed up sharp as I wanted to get a good day of riding on it before we headed out to see the Doves in Glasgow at night.
Got all the paper work sorted, paid the remaining balance (£5400) and that was that! Emma had never heard an MT-01 so when I fired it up and the bike sat and shook, Emma just burst out laughing. She was even more excited than me.
On the way home I gave it some licks and it sounded so good I burst out laughing, shouting “THIS IS AMAZING”.
But. Twice on the way, in 2nd gear and giving licks, the rear spun up in a controlled wheelspin. The rev’s rose to a constant hum and the rear stepped out. Giving it a bit more throttle the rev’s rose more and the rear straightened up, leaving me feeling even better. It did make it perfectly clear however, that there’s enough power being transmitted to the rear tyre to make it dangerous, should one forget and open the taps whilst leaning over.
I took it out on Saturday for a while, fitted the new tax disc on (with the ridiculously complicate 8 bolt tax disc holder) and then rode home to pick Em up to let her experience the MT first hand. She was slightly worried that the pegs would be too high or she wouldn’t feel comfortable, but after getting on it and riding down to Blairs (to surprise him) she felt fine.
I explain the surprise for Blair in the video at the end, but basically I said that after I got to Sandy Bloys and saw it was sold, it was actually sold and that was it.
We got to Blair’s street but went round the back street and I revved the MT up knowing that he would hear it, and he did. By the time we got round to the front window he was standing there waiting to see what it was. You could see the cogs turning as he stood there open mouthed in amazement!
Well as I thought, he absolutely loved it and I took him out for a spin during which he felt the full beast unleashed and although there was 2 fatties on it, it still shifted like nothing else I have ever felt. He was astounded at the instant power, the gorgeous v-twin sound and the gobsmacking strength of the brakes.
What a beast.
The bike is in fantastic condition, with the above mentioned scuffs on the exhaust, the bike is pretty much mint. After cleaning it today I did notice that there’s a few more scuffs, on on the front rim and a few other wee bits, but nothing that is noticeable.
So there you go. I finally have an MT-01, after 4 years of wanting it. The good thing about this is though, that the MT will be a Summer/nice weather bike, a bike I can keep looking gorgeous and get the enjoyment of it, but then put it away in the Winter.
I can then use the GSR as a Winter hack and a learning tool for changing the oil and other servicey things.
YamYam is now a 2 bike outfit, and I am so very excited about it. I will be posting up my experiences with the MT regularly and I am suddenly really excited about being on 2 wheels again. Staying on 1 bike for so many miles really does take the fun and enjoyment out of it, but now I have the beast to go to when I am feeling down, I can see things being different.
More pictures and the video review, including some derogatory comments and some funny voices. Oh dear. Thanks for visiting and look for the MT related posts, of which there will be many. I’ll be doing a bit of maintenance on the site, weeding out the lesser viewed stuff and re-arranging some bits and bobs to make posting a bit swifter.
As a wee testament to the quality poured in the MT-01, the dials as seen above are adjustable for light intensity. But not just as a whole, you can adjust the tach, the main bit at the bottom AND the needle for brightness! The needle! Makes my day, that does.
What a ripper. I just LOVE the MT styling. Always have, always will.
Video below.
(Will add here once it’s finished uploading.)
Yamaha MT-01. I beg your pardon?
Artworks are consuming my every moment of living…that and putting up blinds in the house. When I am not painting or drilling, I am either eating, sleeping or riding my bike. Anyway, just so you know, I feel guilty. But thinking about it this instant, guilty for what?
My GSR is running it’s bland life fine at the minute. My back tyre is squaring and the head bearings are clicking. My headlight was turning off whenever I turned the steering to full lock left, but I soon found out that the connector had worked itself loose after me prodding it every time. A quick click back on sorted that out.
I’ve had the GSR for over 2 years now, and after a fatal mistake by Em of looking at other bikes, we have been thrown in to discussion.
Discussion about the future of my biking life. Don’t worry, I am not giving up. The issue revolves around the GSR and winter. You see, Winter in Scotland is a very unwelcoming place to be. It’s usually cold, usually wet and always miserable. This is true for everyone, pedestrians, car drivers, hillwalkers. For motorcyclists it’s a freakin nightmare.
I spoke a while back regarding the new VFR1200F as my main motorcycle and the response was mixed. Some agreed with my points regarding the output of the bike/lack of fairing protection. Other’s took their chance to call me a sissy and offer me a moped. The question in point was getting a bike that would give me year round satisfaction, with the benefit of not falling to bits.
It seems that my thinking was going down the wrong path. You see, I was going down the path of a one bike outfit, something bullet proof that would ease my woes. But after big discussion with Blair, Em and anyone else who would listen, having a second bike seems like the way to go. The reasons are thus:
One bike = High price, high mileage, high wear & tear, quick boredom. A one bike house would mean running a bike throughout the year including winter and thus exposing it to the same bike rotting salt.
Two bikes = Lower price, low mileage, low wear & tear, less quick boredom. A two bike house allows use of one bike for summer/dry days, another for winter/salty days.
It may seem excessive to many, but the argument is sound. Why sell the GSR and buy a new bike, only to inflict the same torture to it, road salt, sitting outside in the rain rotting. It would be the same situation all over again and it seems totally pointless to continue buying new bikes only for them to fall apart because I ride them at a time that these bikes aren’t designed to be ridden.
If I have a bike for summer/dry riding, I have the excitement of a fresh bike. I have the reduced mileage on both the new bike and the GSR. Once it gets wetter/colder, I switch to the GSR. I would be able to look forward to summer again, because at the minute, I am still riding the same bike in summer, winter and every other time.
I’ve paid off the GSR now, so it’s mine. It wouldn’t matter if I wanted to sell it anyway, because after speaking to a few garages, no-one would even entertain the thought of trying to resell a 2-year-old GSR with 30,000 miles on the clock, a bit rusty here and there and generally a hack. So no-one wants it. And I aint giving it away.
The added bonus to strengthen the argument is insurance. Insurance companies seem to go on the assumption that more miles = more chance of crashing. This means that the premium goes up massively. Take my old Buell for example. I put 18,000 miles annually on the insurance form and it returned a premium of £1,600. Put in a mileage of 5,000 and it’s £300. I couldn’t afford to run it based on that kind of money, so I sold it.
SOOOOOOO
What am I saying then? Well I will be looking for a Used bike to ride during summer/dry days, and I will be keeping the GSR for a winter hack. It makes complete sense.
Now those of you who have been here from the start (Thanks Rossy Boy) will know I had a Yamaha MT-03 as my first bike. The seat melted due to faulty exhausts, Yamaha didn’t give a shit. I got a Buell and so the nightmare unfolded.
I swore I would never return to Yamaha. I lied.
Now that I have the opportunity to basically get any bike I like (within a £5k budget), and having spent the past 4 years knowing that someday I would own a Yamaha MT-01 I thought, this is my chance.
And so it is.
Now a lot of people in reviews and in person lament the MT due to the lack of jail baiting top speed. They see 1700cc and get disappointed that they don’t fly at the speed of sound. They get upset that the bike has R1 derived brakes and chassis, but when you try to get your knee down the headers threaten grounding.
I think that they don’t understand it. Whereas I do.
The MT is a bike that gives you the unbelievable thrill of torque, without getting you in to trouble before you know it. It’s a bike to fart along the back roads on knowing that at the twist of a throttle you will instantly be rocketed forward. None of this IL4 surging at 9ooorpm (a-la GSR).
A lot of reviewers say it’s bland because the power is so linear (in other words when you open the taps, the power doesn’t waiver or surge in, it’s just “flat” all the way to peak RPM).
I think the MT is perfect. I would have a V-twin over any other engine until the day I die. I love them. I want a bike I can get on and just enjoy. I don’t want to look down and see I’m cruising at 100mph and not realising it. I want to go down the street and small children fall to the ground from the vibrations…maybe not.
I think what I keep remembering is when I went to France on the Buell. I was going down the street and a gang of youngsters on mopeds/125′s were all gathered down the road. I saw them, and they heard me. As I drifted past them with the beat of the 1200cc V-twin beneath me, I knew that I was on something special as they all stood open mouthed. Then I noticed the collection of skinheads standing up from a cafe, perhaps expecting some kind of chopper or harley, to see this small bug eyed gold wheeled machine. It made my year. It made me love biking.
It won’t quite be the same with the MT, for a start its huge. But its also deeper, louder comfier.
So.
I am going to have a wee test ride on one to see if all the reviews are correct. From there it’s either buying one, or looking elsewhere, but something tells me I will be rumbling home once more.
Updates (hopefully) as things start to unfold.
#002 Ben Spies – Yamaha Italia (Artwork)
Hi all,
I am still alive, just tied up…
I have had a post titled “GSR Fixed (again)” in my post editor for the past month and have never got round to writing it.
The reason for this is my artworks and the fact that they consume every last spare minute that I have. I’ve been painting away for the past month and finally, after hours and hours and hours (around 500 hours), my #002 artwork is finished and ready for all to see.
I am finished this artwork after 1 1/2 months of work and I think it’s the bomb.
Go to my website to see the details.
Yamyambiker.com will be up and running shortly with fresh posts and lots more opportunity for summer bikers to tell me to get a scooter because obviously I can’t handle it…
Thanks all for visiting,
Gordon
New Motorcycle Artist – Check it out!
Hi All,
You may or may not have noticed on the right hand side of YamYamBiker.com for a wee while has been a big banner, pixellated for the most part.
Well the day has come where I shall reveal what I have been up to.
And it’s this:
I’ve got a new hobby, and it’s creating ultra realistic artworks. This is not a photograph or indeed a Photoshop alteration of a photograph. This artwork has taken me 3 long months of evening and weekend work (on top of my day job) to finish.
Check out the website here: www.gordonfraserartwork.co.uk for more details on this and other artworks, and how I went about creating it.
I’m really excited about it and have already started my 2nd work – Ben Spies on his Yam R1 winning the World Superbike Championships.
Thanks
Gordon
Honda VFR1200F. A Possibility?
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Well then folks. Well then. In my last post about my future bike choice, I talked about 3 options to consider when buying a bike. The options were you get a house with a hose and a dry garage, you go wash it at a nearby garage before you get home or you buy a bike fit for purpose.
I ended my post with
“This also means repairing the GSR yet again, and who knows, that may be anything from a clean service and new caliper seals, to a new ignition block if they can’t unseize it. And who knows how much that’ll cost? By my experience, £100 won’t cover it.”
Well I still don’t have my bike back yet (it’s due to be completed tomorrow) and on top of the caliper seals needing changed, I did indeed need a new ignition block. I also needed a new sprocket and chain because it was “a good one” said Stuart. All the teeth were pretty much half the size and the chain was rigid.
£100 won’t cover it, and it’s another January of financial drain.
So anyway, I said in my last post that the answer to all my problems was getting a BMW R1200GS. But then one day at lunchtime I was browsing the Honda website and remembered the VFR1200F was about to be released and sure enough, it had been. As I poured over the various infos and pictures, I suddenly started to realise that hey, this might actually be the bike for me. I will now go through the reasons why.
(All images below are from http://www.feelvfr.com)
At first I noticed how nice it looked. I remember when I first saw it, I didn’t really like that huge fairing. I must have grown to it, because now I quite like it. I like how aerodynamic it looks and the unbroken lines make it very sleek.
Reading through the specifications I noticed a lot of things that fitted my requirements. Shaft drive, build quality and quality materials. Good winter accessories. It has a V4 engine, single sided swingarm, radial brakes, chunky rear, nice seat, good riding position.
This thing looks like it could do a lot of miles and not complain.
I’ve read a lot of reviews about this new Honda shaft drive and how it works. It certainly removes the need for any maintenance, which when riding in winter is a massive draw.
It has a centre stand which would be superb for cleaning the back wheel. Would remove the need for me to get my buckled paddock stand out of the garage every time.
Honda seem to have really thought about what a rider wants out of a bike, and especially a rider that will ride his bike a lot. The 12v cigarette lighter would be superb for SatNav or other accessories that you would use on a bigger trip.
So after having a quick whip around the details, I gave Blair a call and asked him about it.
He agreed it would be nice and said there was a review in MCN that week about it. One of the things he said was that the shaft drive seemed to skip when going fast over bumps. Not really an issue unless you are a knee down kind of rider. He also said that it was 170BHP and would hit around 160mph…
And this is where my interest ended.
One Hundred and Seventy Brake Horsepower.
Imagine if you will a nice winters morning. You are riding to work and aye, it’s a bit cold and overcast, but you knew this yesterday and yet you still got on the bike because you love it. It’s in your blood and you would never take the bus unless your bike was physically immovable. You made your bed when you signed up to the 365 biker club and you never think about quitting.
Then it starts to snow. There’s nothing you can do about it, you are halfway to work. You can’t turn around. You just have to keep going. But the snow is lying.
So you get to work and as you travel down the cobbled, wet and snowy surface you get to the hill before your garage. And therein lies the problem.
You now have 170bhp to try and baby along this street. There doesn’t seem to be any GSXR style ABC power control. There’s no traction control. Your only way of dealing with it is down to what your right hand does.
This neatly leads on to the next problem. The fairing. Although it’s beautiful to look at and really shiny, there isn’t upon inspection any holes or places to fit crash mushrooms.
We all know how expensive wee fairing panels are and that’s some of the reason why they are all split up, so you don’t have to replace a massive plastic panel if you are unfortunate enough to drop it.
The VFR1200F has this problem. And believe me, when you are going down this cobbled road with 170bhp under your right hand, you will be thinking about it.
Why make a bike so powerful, when it’s intended for touring and bikers who ride their bike? This isn’t a track bike Honda. So why are you giving it so much bloody power?
The speed limit is 70mph in the UK and yes, at some point we are inevitably going to break that. But not by over double. So why can this bike go 160mph?
It’s baffling really. And this is why the VFR1200F is immediately obsolete for me. There’s no way I will get insurance on this bike, not without a severe heart attack and some ball crunching from Emma. And inevitibly if you ride a bike in the shit weather I ride in, it will be dropped, and that beautiful fairing will be reduced to a blabbering mess within 2 feet of asphalt contact. Not only that, but it’s over £10,000!!
It has the credentials for a marvellous bike, it really does. But it’s been ruined by whacking in an absurdly powerful engine, stupid design and amazingly stupendous price.
I haven’t ridden it and I never will. It’s pointless.
Blair had a good point. He said,
“Why get a brand new bike, especially one so damn expensive, and watch that rot away to nothing in the Scottish winter? It’ll be even more painful watching a £10,000 bike rust than it will your current bike. And it will rust and it will get manky, because you will ride it. What you need to do is get a bike for summer and keep the GSR for a winter hack-about.”
He has a good point and one that I am now seriously considering. I could have a bike that I ride from say April to November, and my GSR for November to April. This way I keep a bike in great condition and I reduce the mileage on both bikes. This means less servicing, less miles and more value. It also means I wont be using the same bike every day all year round which should bring back some of the enjoyment of riding a motorcycle for me.
I really need to have a think about it, but for now the VFR is so far beyond reality it’s actually quite funny.
Thanks for checking YY over the past month, the view have really been good!
All the best,
Gordon
Powersoft Hosting Have Vanished…along with my site.
Hello.
Due to the obvious demise of Powersoft Hosting and indeed the many many others having to pick up the mess left behind after powersoft, I have re-titled this post for folk to find easier.
I’ve had many an email from a guy called John who has been seriously hacked off…enough to do some serious investigating in to this mess and has turned up the following information:
Richard Searley (registrar for powersoft solutions.co.uk – see below) supplied these details from 2008 -Lee Pedley
Powersoft Solutions
115 High Street
Uckfield
TN22 1RN
0871 52 00 126 fax 0871 52 00 127I’ve been to www.192.com and found a Lee K Pedley on the Electoral Roll but I have to pay to get an address. There are also some other Lee Pedleys in the area.A business search for Powersoft Solutions Ltd in Uckfield yields the same address as above, and 01825 766 124 01825 766 124 But guess what? BT say the number is not recognised.Several neighbour businesses are listed – Cranfield Surveys (at 218 High St) are opposite but can’t help further. Estate Agents Tailor Tofts (at 109 High St) do not answer on 01825 767 607 01825 767 607I’m just going to write off my payment to Powersoft and start elsewhere
Original Post:
Just to let you know the host and thus webserver of my website is playing up A G A I N.
They assured me this was just a blip due to some virus thingy, so sorry there are no images as of yet. They will re-appear when my webserver get’s re-ignited.
Anytime soon I hope.
G
Let’s Rock…Let’s Not Shall We.
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The snow has gone in what seems like an evening, vaporising in to the air and leaving the dirty mess all over the place. The grit lorries have finally arrived, depositing the corrosive acid just after the snow had gone. Well done Fife Council, you’ve done yourself proud. There still remains the odd patch of lethal ice but on the whole, the snow has disappeared from our lives after 4 weeks of carnage.
Hang on…it’s snowing again.
Anyway.
Tuesday afternoon I gave Stuart a call (Jacksons Bikes) and got him to come get my bike from the work’s garage. Yesterday Gordon (one of his mechanics) arrived in the van and he came in to the garage to see what’s going on. After a prod here and a strained back there he said that in fact all my brakes have seized, and he’s off to get the mallet.
The mallet. Sure enough he returned with a block of wood, shaped ergonomically like a block of wood, which he then whacked off each of the calipers, 1x rear and 2x front, in a bid to free the rust that had seized the brake pads on to the disks. After a few attempts and a worried look on my face as he took a full swing at my calipers, the brake pads seemed to release enough that he could get some motion back and forward and then they were free. With a hurrah from me we began chatting about what the matter was. Counting the calipers he said something like “you’ll need around 20 new seals for your caliper pistons as they will all be messed up from the corrosion. ” He then, upon me asking, calculated it out to be roughly £4 a seal, thus I was facing £80 before my bike had even made it 2 yards. I guffawed and went about pushing the bike out to the van, which was now prepared with the ramp down.
Because the brakes were still pretty gunked up, we had to push quite hard to get the bike up the hill and then up the ramp in to the van, but in doing so, and because of my lack of height judgement, I whacked the top of my head square off the top of the door. I mean whacked. The van shook.
Gordon said “It’s alright, I’ve got the bike” indicating to let go of the grab handle at the back, but I was holding on to it so I didn’t collapse. Anyway, I made like a man and whimpered out the back of the van and he said I’ll get a call when there’s anything to report.
So heading back in to work, head thumping and dizzy, I was furious with the GSR. It’s a shame because it isn’t the GSR’s fault that the brakes got seized. It was me. I didn’t fight my way through the winter carnage of -11°C with a bucket, sponge and water to get the GSR’s brakes cleaned, in my works garage with no hose. And because of this, I will now have to pay at least £80.
But I am furious about the ignition barrel seizing. That bit I wasn’t at fault for. And after all these years of riding every day, I still am amazed when I get the answer to why these things happen:
“Because you ride your bike.”
Because. I. ride. my. bike. It’s not, “Because you ride your bike like a fool.” or “You don’t ride your bike” even. People often say to me, “but you see 10 year old bikes that are in great condition!?”
Well let me tell you folks, I do indeed ride me bike a lot more than say most other people who own a bike in Scotland. But I, contrary to popular belief, do actually take care of my bike. I wash it nearly every weekend unless it’s chucking it down or snowing. It’s the weekday stuff that really takes it’s toll, coming home after a wet ride and leaving the bike overnight outside, under a cover albeit but still outside.
The bloke at the Suzuki garage said explicitly that this is why my bike is in such poor condition, it’s because the bike comes home and sits with all the road salt/crap and festers. I then do this for 5 days before it gets fresh water/Zymol on it. So unless you have a garage and hose nearby, you’ve got no chance…and I don’t have a garage. Or a hose. And it’s false logic to go all the way up to my Ma’s, only to wash my bike, get back on it and ride for 20 minutes in the rain and crap again. So what do you do? You can’t wash your bike during the week, but you need to wash it in order for it to not fall apart whilst going along the motorway.
Answer A: You buy a house with a garage. And a hose.
Answer B: You go to a nearby garage that has a car wash and go for it. You’ll still get crap on it before you get home but it’s a lot less crap than it would be going to Mum’s.
Answer C (My favourite): You get a bike that is actually fit for purpose, and not one that’s built to last 8,000 miles of sunny riding…
I could have used KTM or indeed Ducati, or indeed Husqvarna. But in the broad terms of “Enduro Bike” you almost always think “Ewan and Charlie”…don’t you?
So after heading back in to work with a sore head, I was furious with the GSR enough to bash BMW in to google and have a wee browse in my stupour.
I’ve almost always steered away from the Beemers because I love the look of naked sports bikes. I love the fact that it’s the “raw” version of the faired go-fast bikes. More recently I have taken a shining to the KTM RC8, because in a word, it’s Gorgeous. But the other day there, in a moment of quiet contemplation, I stripped back the lust and want, I removed the gawking and stroking and I asked myself just what exactly am I doing with this banana…
I mean what kind of bike would suit what I use it for? The faired superbikes that I lust after just wouldn’t cut it. Aye their engines are kind of protected with the fairing, and aye they would be good to ride. But I doubt they would be year round comfy. What about touring? I know Emma doesn’t go on the bike that much but I still factor it in to my decision making. And I know for a fact she wouldn’t enjoy a superbike pillion seat.
So what does that leave? Well naked bikes aye, but they just don’t cut it with the riding I do. Well what about something like the KTM Superduke? It’s from a manufacturer that’s based around Enduro bikes, but it’s got the looks you want and indeed the performance and a back seat to boot.
I think the KTM SD is to many a track bike, an edge of the seat ride that takes no prisoners and is a “baw-hair” from being rubber side down to rubber side up.
That leaves only one real choice.
I need a REAL bike. I need a bike that won’t fall apart after 2 months of use. I need a bike from a manufacturer who isn’t targeting the “weekend warrior”, the 2000 miles a year kind of rider. I want a bike from a manufacturer who knows what someone like me needs, and what I don’t. I don’t need to wheelie. I don’t need to have my knee down. I need a bike that has shaft drive and heated grips.
Enter then please, the BMW R1200GS (that’s the one below the Ewan and Charlie model. That’s known as the R1200GS Adventure. OOOOOO)
(Taken from BMW Motorrad Website)
So lets see. Does it have shaft drive? Aye. Does it have heated grips? Aye (A massive £210 optional extra by the way!) Does it have endurance background? Aye.
It has a big screen for the rain. It has an engine in front of your feet, so no more cold wet feet. It has a single sided swing arm. it has a luxurious looking seat (for both) it has a massive tank (20l, with 4l reserve) and although it has a 150 section rear, it’s built for mileage. It’s also 100bhp, so 4 more than the GSR meaning insurance shouldn’t be too much more, although it is a good deal more expensive…
£9925 on the road, as compared to the £4295 otr for my GSR back in 2008. So the weigh in begins.
I guess we’ll just have to wait, because there’s no way I can get a new motorcycle at the minute. This also means repairing the GSR yet again, and who knows, that may be anything from a clean service and new caliper seals, to a new ignition block if they can’t unseize it. And who knows how much that’ll cost? By my experience, £100 won’t cover it.
Welcome to 2010!
Well welcome one and all, for it’s two-thousand-and-ten A L R E A D Y.
The weather here is atrocious at best, so because of this my bike has been constrained to the work garage, as I couldn’t get it home. Because of this, my bike has sat for a week and now that I have returned to see it, the ignition is seized stopping the key from turning (you can still get the key in though…) and thus I can’t start it, thus I can’t unseize the rear brake that’s now jammed on.
Ace.
It’s going to be a few weeks I would imagine, before this snow and ice clears up. This isn’t good because my bike needs to be in active service asap. I think what I might do is get Stuart to come and get it and do a service. Then I can just wait until the weather is a bit kinder to 2 wheels.
Anyway. I hope Santa was good to y’all and you had a great and happy new year’s celebration. We had a great time, with a new Fraser in the family (Lily, both mother and daughter are well!) and some nice relaxing fatty-eating-chocolate-and-other-leftovers joy.
2010 has to be a good year, because 2009 wasn’t. And for this reason, I have made a promise to update YamYam at least twice a week. Let’s see how I do.
Oh and the 25th of January will celebrate my 3rd year of YamYam and 2 wheeled joy. Insurance AHOY!
Cheerio for now!
Gordon
YamYam’s Top 10 Posts Ever.
So whilst I await the melting of the Fife Ice Caps, I shall collate some data…Geek Style.
I am always amazed at how sparse reviews are for products, or how biased a lot of reviews seem to be. Motostrano Blog said it excellently:
“I rarely read product reviews these days. They are all advertisements and we know it- pure fantasy. On the other hand, there’s the ‘discussion forums’ where you can read countless essays written by lonely males holed up in their mancaves about the products they’ve purchased, sharing with others the ins and outs of why the product they invested in is so great. Of course it’s great, you bought it and you’re actually wasting life hours writing about it. We beat our chests about the little gizmos and gadgets we’ve been able to scrounge up on our hunting and gathering missions out in the shopping wilderness. Heading back to camp with our gear speared on a stick- which is really a lonely little desk away from the kids or wife – we review the goods, inspect it, try it on, pose in action shots in front of the mirror, perhaps in our underwear, perhaps dressed up in our leathers in the garage. Then, as if to map out a terrain that no other fellow savage has explored, we set up to transpose our inner most thoughts on digital paper about whatever it is we just bought, signaling to other tribe members where to go and what to see along the adventure.”
So it’s with great satisfaction and indeed pride, that I have been complimented on my reviewing technique and detail. This is probably why (and you will see soon enough) my reviews are the most popular out of my posts. Naebody cares about me seeing a plane almost hitting the Forth Road Bridge. They want to know why I think the Puma Desmo’s were the best boot ever made.
Anyway, lets move along. I give you the top 10 favourite posts on YamYam ever (in descending order):
#10: Review: Respro “Foggy” Anti-fog Mask
#9: Review: Puma Brutale Gore-Tex Boots
#8: Update: AGV GP-Tech Helmet
#6: Review: Shark RSI “Eden” Helmet
#5: Yamaha MT-03
#4: Review: Puma Desmo 800 Boots
#3: Tutorial #1: How to change grips and handlebars
#2: Kawasaki ER6n
The most popular post on YamYam ever is, surprise surprise:
#1: Review: AGV GP-Tech Helmet
So there you have it. I think the reason is I got the GP-Tech really early, as in first batch. This allowed me to get a head-start and offer the viewing public a chance to see what this new helmet was like before going out to purchase it themselves.
It’s a good indication of what people are after when looking around the interweb for motorcycle type stuff.
I hope you enjoyed reading the top 10 posts, but also have a wee look around the archives at the non-review stuff. You might be pleasantly surprised…or endlessly bored.
All the best
Gordon
Thoughts: Rev-It Apache Boot & Dainese Virlunga D-Dry
After my Desmo’s packed in, the Airtech GTXs disappointed and the Sidi Rain Evo’s got sold on eBay (times are tight) I had nothing left but to get the Alpinestars Effex GTX back out of retirement, complete with mud and cobwebs from working in the garden with them on.
The only issue however is now the Effex boots are wasted. There are still two holes in the shift patch and the sole (the reason for the retirement) and the sole is compacted to a wafer, so comfort isn’t really what you would call comfortable. Not only that, they are cold and leak like a pair of boots with two holes in them.
So I got thinking about what was out there now that could possibly fill the void left when my Desmo’s packed in. What kind of boot could be worn day in day out, in Scottish winter weather, as well as walking about in them, washing my bike in them and generally living in them. What boots are there in the market RIGHT NOW, that could possibly fit the bill?
What do you think of these then?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT!! Wow.
I stumbled across these boots when searching for another boot that I liked the look of. I’ll come to those in a minute.
These Rev-It Apache boots are precisely what I would imagine a boot to look like, should it fit the requested spec I mentioned before. It looks rugged. But it also looks comfortable. It looks solid. Most of all, it looks really quite smart.
These retail for around £160 in the UK. There’s a variety of tech going on in here, including a sole that was derived from hiking boots. WebBikeWorld calls them a “Mashup” in that they merge off-road boots with hiking boots with touring boots and racing boots. It’s a best of all worlds type boot.
I am really intrigued by these. Could they be the answer to my Scottish boot nightmare?
The other boot I mentioned was the Dainese Virunga D-Dry boot. It looks like this:
These boots look like comfy bams I have to say. I also like the combination of soft materials combined with ratchet style closure as an extra security feature.
They don’t look as solid as the Apaches but I prefer the softer look.
I’m going to try and get my hands on either or both of these boots and give them the YamYam review treatment. Fingers crossed because I am really starting to tire of having cold wet feet.
Stay tuned!
Winter Hack
What what what.
My last post to have the blue banner of information said that I was in a so-so mood, had done 24486.3 miles on my GSR and…go to yamyambiker.com.
Since then, as you can see with my new blue banner of information, I have increased in mood by 3 bars, I have covered 2619 more miles on my GSR and you’ve still to go to yamyambiker.com.
So what’s the chat? What have I been doing that’s so damn interesting to keep me from my YamYam duties. Well as you know, I sometimes go for ages and then end up writing a long assed post, so perhaps this might be one of those moments. I’ll start from where I left it…that is I had just reviewed my current jacket (Wolf Titanium if you ask), I had been told I would be better suited to a scooter because I couldn’t handle my Kwak ER-6n and I was off to Tenerife. Not before emailing West Coast Harley about their current Buell stock, a small yamyam probe to see what the deal was (deal…get it?)
Well I got back from a spectacular 2 weeks of sunshine, sleeping, eating (a lot) and bobbing in an extremely cold pool. Like a true Scotsman, I sucked it up and I was in there pretty much every day, floating like a fleshy coloured iceberg, whilst others sat shivering on their sunbeds. I didn’t care. I wasn’t thinking about work, I wasn’t thinking about the thousands of troubled thoughts that plagued my mind on a daily basis. For 2 weeks (well, 1.3 really) I was awol from my mind, from my life back in Scotland and all that was really to do was decide what to eat (crisps or bread), what to wear (usually just shorts…easy ladies, and a t-shirt) and what to do; float or read…or watch a film…or go for a walk.
We arrived back in Scotland to an extremely cold, windy, wet Saturday morning, having had our plane delayed a wee bit. I sat on my couch at 6am deliberating whether or not to go to bed or just ride it out and see how far I made it. I went to bed.
It was great being back really. I love Scotland and no matter how many Hunters Chicken I ate (a delicious meal prepared by someone other than me in a restaurant filled with alcohol and sunshine), it’s still no match for the stiff, crisp Scottish air. Refreshing some might say.
Before heading away on holiday I had realigned my broadband duties from Virgin to O2, because I found Virgin’s internet to be slow in the evenings, slow enough that I had to buffer some films from Sky Player a few times.
What a mistake that was. From the get-go O2 were dismal, utterly dismal. Think along the lines of trying to open a YouTube video, only to have someone actually come out of your screen and scream “Who do you think you are!?” at you for even trying. I couldn’t load any videos, surfing was a task and I was totally fed up. However I had a 30 day “Happiness Guaranteed” period where I could opt out and nothing would be said of it. I gave it a little while as I was promised that the service would start to pick up shortly because of some maintenance they were doing to the lines or something.
Well guess who got their math wrong? ME. I got back from Tenerife thinking I had a good week left of my 30 days, only to find that I was actually, from Saturday of my arrival onward, 1 day in to my contract. The service was no better by the way, still as crap as always. I should have been getting 8mg. I was getting 0.3mg.
So with no time to lose, I called them up and got my MAC code, then requested my account be cancelled to be told that I am now “within contract period and it’ll cost £160 to get out of it.” After much argumenting and deliberating from O2 I got out of my shockingly bad contract and luckily I was able to go to a more safe bet, BT. Now that I have, my internet is ace, I can watch films, watch YouTube and I’ve even updated www.gordon-fraser.com to celebrate.
But all this has taken it’s toll on my time available to post here, that and just getting on with riding my bike every day with pretty much no incident.
Since getting back the weather has steadily decreased to the point of no-feely-handies. So I decided that it was time to forget looking swish, and buy some hand guards for my Gisser. I did buy them (£38) and fitted them with Dad with a little trademark Fraser persuasion.
What a difference, my hands are now wind free and really a lot warmer. Then the weather got to the point that in the morning my bars would be iced up, so really even though my hand guards were preventing wind and rain from chilling my fingers, I was still holding on to a frozen piece of metal, so my hands still got numb. The ride home however is a different story and I am ever so thankful I took the plunge and fitted them. I also re-fitted my screen unit and it’s keeping a lot of the rain and draught off me so that’s ace. The only problem is the increase in ease of speeding. I am always so used to having the drag on my body that the position I sit at naturally on the throttle is causing me to cruise faster with the aerodynamic advantage of the fairing. It has been a few times I have glanced down to see that I am not sticking to the speed limit without knowing it. ANYWAY.
Hand guards were from a V-Strom 650, for all you like minded GSR riders, and can be picked up from your local Suzuki dealership.
I mentioned the email to Buell Glasgow.
Well I sent a wee informal “Now that Buell is going south, what deals you got?” email to them and I’m not exaggerating here, 8-9 calls later they are still trying to get me in to have a chat. I’ve decided to forget going for a new Buell because I spoke to Stuart @ Jacksons Bikes about it and he said that because of the miles I do, I could quickly find myself in a position that I need a part and they can’t supply it. Say if the engine management computer packed in, and I couldn’t get a replacement, that’s my bike written off, even if the rest is in mint condition. So aye, even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE Buells, I just can’t justify it really. I’ll stick with the pain in the arse and rusty boy until it packs in (it’s been a while so touch wood nothing will happen…)
So that’s really where we are at. It’s a week until christmas, Blair is soon to be a Daddy (it could hit off anytime now) and work is busy as feck.
In a week there could be a small, brand new Fraser in this world. After a year of utter SHITE, I am desperately holding on to the hope that it’ll end well. I am hoping.
2010 is a new year. It’s a fresh start. One things for sure, it really couldn’t get any worse than what 2009 was. If it does, there’ll be bigger problems than my hands getting cold, or BT internet. 2010 could be the greatest year of everyones lives, purely for the fact that we had one of the worst years just before it. I hope for all our sakes it will be.
AHHHHHHHHH
It’s definitely time to draw a line under this post. Word count is 1308 as of this word HERE.
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Go check out my home website WWW.GORDON-FRASER.COM and feedback me.
All the best for the remaining 2009. I will speak before the bells.
Thanks for visiting all,
GORDON!
Suzuki GSR600 – Well Well…
My GSR and I have a chequered past. Our relationship started out so well and quickly turned in to a nasty affair.
I have to date done 22,800.5 miles on my GSR, that’s since January 26th 2008. 19 months of GSR experience has left a sour taste in my mouth and I am done. Last week for the 3rd time my throttle began sticking. In an attempt to see if it was just a fleeting hiccup in time, I gave it a few days. By the 4th day the throttle was so awful that I would twist it and it would just stick open, a definite annoyance especially at traffic lights, when I would sit stationary, idling at 8,000rpm. Thank goodness I don’t have after-markets, or it would be atrocious. For now however, I’ll stick to ridiculous.
I took it to the garage this morning after speaking to them yesterday. I got in to the garage around 9:15am and handed the bike over. I knew it would be something to do with the throttle linkage or shaft, as that was the problem before. I got my £6 a day SV650 and off I went, fully prepared to ride back only hours later when they had fixed the issue. Sure enough, 12pm came and I got the call.
Upon arrival my bike was sitting outside the garage waiting. I headed inside and spoke to the bloke there, who spent a few moments muttering to himself and staring at the computer. “He’s going to charge me for this” I thought, and when he started speaking I actually thought he was.
In a nutshell he basically said that Suzuki are getting a lot firmer with regards to warranty jobs and my problem here, the throttle linkage being totally corroded, would start to become un-warranty-able… He said that it’s a “maintenance” thing and I need to look after my bike. I said that I wash it every 1-2 weeks, but then mentioned that it sat outside every night as I don’t have a garage. Would that contribute to this corrosion?
“Oh aye” he said, going on to mention that the condensation from both the rain and the hot engine will sit on the throttle assembly and turn to rust. This will then start corroding away. I told him I spoke to the warranty boy there and he mentioned it was a sealed unit. He agreed but then said that the moisture can get up through the bottom of the engine and basically that I need to clean my bike even more regularly including taking the tank off and cleaning the throttle assembly.
I got charged £6 for the SV, even though I had only had it for 3 hours.
We had a chat outside when he was checking the loan bike over and he openly admitted that Suzuki has made their life a lot tougher about the warranty jobs. They now have to submit pictures of the problem, Suzuki then decide aye or no to a warranty issue. He also mentioned that he thinks the reason why is because down south somewhere a garage was claiming warranty jobs, fixing the broken parts on the bike and keeping the new parts from Suzuki, then selling them thus doubling his money.
Fair enough. But.
If Suzuki are going to start saying no to issues like seized throttle bodies, then what the f*ck is the point in having a warranty? I have therfore come up with the following conclusion:
Suzuki manufacture motorcycles that are sold in the UK. These motorcycles are perfect for anyone and everyone wanting to get on 2 wheels at respectable prices. However, if you do want to buy a Suzuki, you must never ride it, and more than that, you need a warm dry garage to keep it in at all times. You must also clean it after every ride, regardless of if it’s wet or dry and forget right this second riding it in winter. PFFF
Also, where in the manual does it mention cleaning the throttle linkage below the airbox?
The side of my bike looks like a mess, but that dark splatter and massive patch on the casing is actually oil. It seems either that I now have another leaking engine part or the garage today went a bit overkill with the lube for the throttle bodies, because it’s everywhere. I’ll have to double check this as I only just noticed it after being out at the bike to take photos.
Well about 10 minutes ago I got a call on my mobile. It showed “Private Number” which usually is my Mum, because her phone is a dork. Anyway, I answered “HEeeeeeeelllooooooooooo?” and an Englishman replied, “……hi.”
Oops.
It was a guy from Suzuki GB, giving me a courtesy call about my email I had sent on Thursday. In this email, done entirely though the Suzuki website, I had written down every single problem I had with my GSR since buying it new, and just hung it out there for Suzuki to either respond to it, or forget about it. I was really expecting the 2nd one, but much to my flabbergastery, the bloke from Suzuki GB called me to say that he had received the email, had gotten in touch with my garage and had started the path to making me happy. He said that the amount of issues I have had was a bit strange and he was going to try and set it straight. Then he said cheerio.
Amazing. A quick phone call just to say hello and yes, we are going to do something. I am really delighted about this effort to let me know my issues are being listened to, but I am a bit apprehensive as to what will actually happen. I will obviously keep you in the loop.
Anyway,
Update on the bike over, next: The Bridgestone BT021 Sports Touring rubber, good? Hell yeah.
G
