In 5..4..3..2..1…..twiddle thumbs.
Weekly Update 9 – 11/10 – 31/10
Well people. For the first time in 4 years of motorcycling, for the first time since I started, I will be putting my beloved motorcycle to bed for the winter. It’s been a short time coming around and I feel slightly bummed about it, but then I immediately remember the GSR and how much it cost me to run it throughout winter. And not forgetting the volatile riding conditions that once made me feel elite, now make me feel cold. I always said from the beginning, as soon as I start to not enjoy riding my bike I will pack it in. I have held that view throughout and now, despite my perceived “elite” status being relegated, I am giving it a rest over winter.
Last winter was particularly harsh if you lived in Scotland, certainly one of the worst in recent times. This led to my GSR needing yet another £500 worth of replacement parts and another large dent in our already beat up wallet. So after the GSR was sold earlier this year, I made sure that the MT wouldn’t be tempting to ride during the colder season, mainly by only getting 6 months of road tax, but also by running the front tyre in to almost oblivion. I have a story for you.
Last night I was heading home in the dark, as now it’s dark when I leave the office, which is just unbelievable. Anyway, I went for some petrol and then on to the bridge (after nearly being side-swiped by a Renault Clio) and off we went. The usual braking/accelerating tactics continued over the bridge and we got to the other side. I switched to the inside (overtaking) lane as a lot of the cars come off at the first junction after the bridge, causing a bit of braking action.
Once in the outside lane, I was following a white transit van, older generation model and as we came off the bridge they all started to speed up. It had been raining a lot so the surface was damp, bit of surface water here and there but generally ok. Then out of no-where the transit van did an emergency stop. We were travelling roughly 60mph by this point and unlike all other cases of slowing down after the bridge, this was a complete halt manoeuvre.
Instinct took over as I saw a wee puff of either smoke or water from the Transit van in front. The van was closing in quick and I was increasing the front brake pressure subsequently but then the rear wheel locked up (damn right foot instincts are slightly more meat fisted than they should be) so the back end started weaving about in a slow smooth side to side action, and as a result the engine stalled. It felt silky that’s for sure, totally controllable, yet completely out of control……..doesn’t make sense. Anyway I kept increasing the front brake, but the van was braking more and for every second that passed I got closer and closer to hitting him.
As a gauge to the amount of time I was in full braking/weaving mode, I was able to audibly say to myself, “Come-on Gordon, let’s get some stopping action here, come on… come on…come on…”
I would say it was a good 6-10 seconds duration from the moment of brake introduction, to the point at which I was absolutely sure I was hitting the van.
Add on to this scenario of silky weave, hard braking and me talking to myself, was the knowledge that my front tyre only has about 1.5mm of tread on it, so any surface water that would be dealt with, wouldn’t really be that efficiently dealt with in my current condition. As luck would have it, at the point at which I had submitted myself to be picking my bike up from underneath this Transit van, the van released his brakes and accelerated a touch. This gave me the life saving break as our wheel/bumper nearly kissed.
After starting the bike again I quickly down-shifted a few and shoulder checked to the left, shot off up the inside lane and had a wee glance back at the van driver, who then flashed his lights in a weird moment of complete understanding.
I let out a rather embarassing “WHEEEEEOEOOOOOOOOEOOOOOOOOEOOO WHEE WHEE WHEE, BLIMEY CHARLIE!” in order to release the insane amount of adrenaline that was being readied for a complete muscle melt-down, and got on my way. I find screaming or shouting stupid words after a life-threatening moment diffuses the adrenaline’s impact on the muscles (you know, that debilitating slunk that you get in your legs and arms, as if you are about to faint). That and sheer bloody determination to get on with the journey home. If you had a mic in my helmet and listened back to it, I’m sure it would be a good amuser, but for me it seems to be a good way to deal with the adrenaline.
I got in and told Emma who did her usual “…….I hate it when you ride your bike in the rain”.
It would have been a bit of a downer had I hit the van as it might have caused some damage to the head bearing area which could result in a write-off if the frame is damaged, but hey ho. So on Saturday 30th October 2010, the MT-01 will be in the garage, washed and dried, prepared for its storage for the next 4-6 months. In that time I will change the now bald front tyre, change the oil/filter, perhaps install a new chain and sprocket set and generally get it nice again.
The question now is, what will I write about in the meantime? Well I am now going to be getting the train every day, so I have no doubt that I will descend in to some mindless rant about fellow commuters and their idiocy, perhaps write about the failings of the public transport system in Scotland, or just shoot the breeze, with intermediate updates about the MT. Who knows. Perhaps YamYam will turn itself in to a Golfing blog over the winter periods!? Write in if you have a suggestion.
It will be sad not being the select few still on their bikes in Nov/Dec/Jan but then again, I might enjoy not having purple toes and some frostbite to the forehead.
Till then, for now,
Gordon
It’s up and down really. Mostly down.
Weekly Update 7 – 17/09-02/10
I am not feeling overly positive at the minute, and it’s something that I can’t shake off despite some good things going on.
The MT is going well and has comfortably taken it’s place as the best workhorse for my journeys to work and back. I’ve been getting more and more used to it’s characteristics and am now able to throw it around town easier. It’s a damn heavy bike but if you know how to handle it, the weight soon disappears and you feel no different than if you were on a 125.
Jed Heath got in touch about the recent article I wrote regarding his utterly terrifying crash at Knockhill. You can read that here if you like. He’s a-ok and it was great to hear from him after his daughter initially got in touch! Anyway, enough of the positivities…I’m winding up for a bit of a rant.
I am growing increasingly intolerant of the people who have accidents during rush hour. It’s just the complete lack of ability to concentrate for an hour without hitting something that gets to me. This evening, like a few others over the past few weeks, was an accident on the rightside lane leading up to the bridge. Now anyone who drives this route daily will know that the lanes leading up to the bridge all race on to the bridge only to brake wildly as the cars all slow down in front, leading always to a last minute concertina of cars braking like mad. The sensible thing to do is to keep back and allow all the nobs to race on to the bridge and by the time you get to them, they’ve all got the late braking out their system and you can all proceed as per normal folk.
Tonight however was a 3 car/van fender bender at the very entrance to the bridge, causing much annoyance. But it was short lived as luckily it had just happened, so the queue hadn’t managed to form yet and once I got past it, there was no traffic. I got home 15 minutes earlier than usual which was great. Anyway.
The lack of ability of car drivers to concentrate irks me. The lack of awareness of their surroundings has reared it’s ugly head several times in the past few days, when twice some stupid woman has pulled out in front of me, or indeed never seen me at all until I am either horizontal with their window or suddenly appearing in their rear-view mirror. Then it’s the baffled look of “oh….where did you come from?” with my response being, “I was here all the time you stupid woman, you just never took the time to glance to your right, otherwise you would have seen me sitting in this lane for the past 40 seconds. Instead you relied on your mirrors to give you the full picture”, usually abbreviated to a peep of my horn and a shake of my fist, usually in the direction of my head to signal my disbelief of their stupidity.
This irk is one of the main points I make when people say that motorcycles are dangerous. Cars and their drivers have so many distractions that it’s almost a certainty that they will lose concentration. Whether it be heated seats or their radios, the chunky pillars either side of the windscreen or cruise control, cars are designed to be comfortable and to keep occupants safe.
The solution to this problem is to make cars like bikes. Dont have plush leather in any car. Don’t offer heated seats. Don’t give drivers the option of cruise control or radios. In fact, make the seats in cars out of bare metal and have air coolers not heaters, and make the steering wheel out of glue. This way the drivers are not comfortable and thus all their attention is on the road ahead and what’s going on around them.
Its never going to happen, so the only realistic solution is to shoot anyone who has a fender bender at rush hour…Maybe the threat of absolute death will get them to concentrate, because when you think about it, the threat of having an accident is so small these days due to all these implied safety gizmos, that people really think they can get away with not giving a shit. And what’s worse is, they usually do. It’s the poor suckers on bikes, pedestrians and cyclists that get the raw deal. Make driving cars “dangerous” and maybe then people will not have accidents. Ken?
My. What a rant.
I’ve been playing a lot of golf lately. I love it. The sale of my GSR has allowed me to get out in the fresh air nearly every weekend since and I am so happy that I made that decision. My game is coming along nicely and I am especially excited to be playing Gleneagles this weekend…that’s right. The big time. Forget Celtic Manor, the 3-ball Fraser clan will be tearing up the hallowed ground with some plunks of metal on sticks.
I’ve also been enjoying the feeling of progression in something. I used to get this feeling from riding, but I’ve kind of flattened out with regards to learning on the bike. It’s nice to get something fresh to concentrate on improving.
The weather is shocking at the minute and pretty soon the MT will be cosied up in Dad’s garage for the first ever non-biking winter since I started riding in 2007. I’m a bit down about it, but in a strange way I am relieved. No longer will I be forking out £800 in January to replace the parts destroyed by salt, and no more will I have to deal with Emma worrying about me wobbling about on sheets of ice and snow.
I’ve finished watching the Ryder Cup highlights after a bum clenching day at work listening to the radio coverage, so now that I have enjoyed that, I am going to listen to some music and then head to bed.
I thank you for enduring my silly rants, and I look forward to updating YamYam soon with my very first DIY bike service, with a blow-by-blow account.
All the best for the coming week y’all.
YY
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’s a sound unlike any other.
Break the mould just this once.
This isn’t a weekly update, but I am compelled to post for many reasons. The first of which starts with the photo above. There is several things wrong with this photo. I wonder if you can see what?
No? Yes? Let me tell you.
The first thing you can see is that this is a motorcycle, obviously. And it’s travelling on gravel. Now, that’s no big deal, but let me elaborate. This, as you can see by the screen identification, is a man named Jed Heath. I’ve never met Jed so I don’t really know much about him. But I know that he shouldn’t be on a motorcycle like this, in some gravel. And he especially shouldn’t be travelling at the speed he was travelling at when he reached the hairpin gravel section of Knockhill Racing Circuit, near Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK. You’ll also note, he’s not braking.
I was at Knockhill this weekend with Rossy Boyo for the Jock Taylor Superprix, a celebration of Mr. Taylor winning the sidecar world championships in 1980. There was the usual support series including the GP400′s, which is what Jed Heath was riding.
We had started the weekend at the pit straight, followed by the bottom of the Seat Curves and the Scotsman, taking photos and getting our techniques in to shape. We drove around eventually to the “Carlube” corner and found it to be a bit lax, although the loudspeaker system which pumps out some irritating twat fumbling his way through times and interviews at obscene volumes was broken, so it offered us a bit of a rest. Following the completion of the Superstock 600′s in which our very own Stuart Jackson (of Jackson’s Bikes) was racing, we headed around to the hairpin for some closer in action shots, and some shade from the sun beating down upon our (or at least my) reddening faces.
The sidecars spun their way around and finished quickly. A man with a small boy turned up with a Nikon camera (with a stumpy looking lens) and a laptop of all things. No bags, just those two items…and his wee boy.
The 400′s, Forgotten Era’s and the 125′s headed out on track at once and I decided to switch to black and white on my camera to try and get some nice oldy looking shots with the Forgotten Era bikes. I was shooting in JPG as well, meaning these black and white’s were baked in to the files (instead of RAW where you can remove the black and white setting should you want to…)ANYWAY. I mention this only to make it clear that I didn’t translate these following photos in to black and white for “effect”, for impact or show. It was just unfortunately the setting I was in when this happened.
So they went round a few times to get their tyres warmed up a bit and the grid set up and off they went. I moved a bit further up the hairpin whilst Ross stayed close to the outer edge of it. The man with the small child/laptop was in between us. And then it happened.
I was locked on to Jed which was strange in itself as I had been resting my now knackered arms in between the Forgotten Era bikes going past. But I had my camera to my face and was locked on to Jed and I was immediately aware that something wasn’t right. Usually by the time they get to the hairpin you can see the front diving and the sound of hard braking, rev’s getting lower possibly some tyre screech. With Jed however, when I locked on to him his bike was still going as fast, there was no dive of the front, no reduction of engine pitch.
My camera was on continuous shooting mode but for some reason it takes two very quick photos, there’s a wee pause and then a third photo. It’s not really “continuous” in any sense of the word. I took the first of the two quick photos as he entered the sand trap. The next quick photo captured the photo above. The next photo, after the short pause, showed him or rather a wheel of his bike, sticking out of the now seriously inflated air fence.
Jed hit that fence with a sound that, like all things of horrific nature, isn’t heard anywhere else. We all knew how serious this could be and my initial reaction, after the air fence impact photo, was to turn to Ross who looked at me with such horror that I swear I have never seen before in anyone. The sound was that of a motorcycle going past you, flat throttle with no increase or decrease of pitch, with some gravel noises thrown in and then a hollow “boffffffffffff”. Then silence. No “OH MY’s” or sweary words. Just silence.
We watched together as the marshals whipped across that gravel barely touching the surface and were in that air fence before the fence came back down. Red flags were being waved ferociously as the other racer’s continued on unaware of Jed’s fate. A few seconds later, after rooting around deep within the tyre fence, a man emerged and stood up, resting himself on the airfence beside his impact point. A collective sigh of relief washed down the spectators box and Ross walked over, shouting how certain he was that Jed was dead. “You can’t go in to a fence at that speed and survive.”
And he was right. Jed was travelling at full speed when he skipped across the gravel and hit that fence. It’s a long straight leading up to that hairpin and these 400′s are quick. How he is standing there, talking to the paramedics, who had arrived shortly afterwards, is a miracle.
We had a moment of reflection, Ross and I, as we watched the bloke get his laptop out the case, and then proceed to upload a photo, presumably of the crash, to somewhere. Instant coverage…
Our day was coming to an end anyway by this point but we watched a few more races and then headed back to the paddock to speak to Stuart before heading home.
I got home and after having a shower and my tea, I sat down to transfer my day’s catch on to the computer. I was interested to see how the black and white ones came out, as well as my longer exposure ones (the really blurred fast looking ones).
And then Jed’s sequence appeared on screen.
It’s been a bit of a thinker for me tonight as I cropped these photos for YamYam. In the photographs of Jed travelling across the gravel, I can see his eyes in one. I said to Em, “This would have a completely different significance had Jed not been so lucky” to which she replied, “you’re full of joy tonight.”
But it’s true. In any number of ways Jed could have not have been so fortunate. His bike could have skipped up at the last minute making him miss the air fence…etc. etc. And this photo would have been the last moment of his existence. His last point of being in the world.
On every Knockhill ticket it states “WARNING MOTORSPORT CAN BE DANGEROUS. Despite the organisers taking all reasonable precautions, unavoidable accidents can happen. In respect of these, you are present at your own risk.”
“…you are present at your own risk”.
I couldn’t help think that the risk involved for us isn’t getting hit by a flying motorcycle or car, it is having to possibly watch someone die in front of us. I mean, I enjoy racing, I enjoy watching it and despite the slightly demonic inclination, I enjoy when people crash (don’t try and take the moral high ground here either, I know you like a good crash or two). But as long as they get up I can feel ok about it, I mean they know what they are getting in to. Right?
Right. But in the same token, this weekends racing made me really think about what these guys bet every time they get on that track. This wasn’t a professional race, it was probably a Dentist or Accountant on his weekend thrill seeker. And the moments before his demise would have been crystallised in startlingly clear digital pixels on my amateur camera in my amateur hands.
Despite the enjoyment I get from motorcycle racing, I don’t know if I like the risks involved, if I’m honest with you.
Honda VFR1200F. A Possibility?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
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
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
February 2008
Hello
2008…………
I find myself struggling to think, not just what to say here, but just in general…
Hmmm….
Ah. I’ll start with the latest. My left wrist was really sore, I thought it was just because I played my guitar a bit much, but I stopped playing it 2 weeks ago and my wrist is getting worse. So I went to the doctors and she said I have tendonitis, where the tendons in the back of my hand are inflamed and thus I have a sore wrist. I got a tubey support and lots of pain meds and told to refrain from doing anything which caused it i.e. at work where I use my computer all day or playing guitar etc…So instead of resting like she said I was back to work the day after…I had a deadline and couldn’t take any rest, but for some reason it seemed to focus me and I have spent the past 2 days working flat out in a complete zoned in state of mind. It’s been great for ploughing through my work, but it hasn’t really left much thought power for when I return home.
What has happened in February then. Well I started my second month of 2008 on a new bike. It has been brilliant being able to actually believe I will have this bike for the next 3 years. I have finally (i hope) settled on a bike that I like to ride, like to look at and like to hear. I guess I am just glad to be away from the nightmare that was the ER6.
The o2 Eliminator mod was a joy and after a few brain freezing moments I managed to install it myself which I think is the best way to do things. I have saved so much money doing things myself instead of getting charged labour for someone else to do it for me. It’s also allowed me to tinker, which is always good.
It was mega windy a few weeks back, so I had to go over the Kincardine bridge. It was wierd because it was almost exactly the same scenario as the accident…really windy, wet, cold. I thought to myself about the crash and what the cause was. I was interested to see if it actually was how I remembered it, and not just an adrenaline fuelled recap of something similar to what happened. So I reached Kincardine and instead of going the long way round I took the right turn, headed out towards the crash site. As I reached the road I flipped my visor up so I could see better.
I crested the hill and yes, there was a bright light ahead. Very bright in fact. But I also noticed that the road actually curved to the right. The roundabout where the bright light is, was straight ahead, but the road curved off to the right and back to reach the roundabout. Also directly in front was the lay-by.
It was completely reasonable that I would head in to the lay-by thinking it was the road. I also saw the dual signage that almost killed me.
As I safely navigated past the site, I felt a wee bit happy. Not for the fact that I crashed, then got a new bike and I am happy with it…but because I felt that the crash was due to a confusing split second and not because I had wandered off in my mind. Even if I was going 20mph, I would have still headed in to the lay-by. For this reason I was happy.
Anyway,
So far the GSR is great. It is a bike that I am happy with and feel that it suits my needs better than all the bikes I have had. I still miss the Buell though.
I have a hankering for a new bike jacket, but I really can’t afford it at the minute. I still have to buy panniers and an intercomm for our trip around Scotland. My holidays are booked at work, we have sorted the route out and all the accomodation is booked. All we need now is a beautiful weeks worth of weather and some dry roads. I am starting to get excited.
Camera at the ready, because beautiful scenery is going to be a plenty.
Thanks for visiting folks, lots of visits=happy YamYam,
Take care
Gordon
Repair Bills and Suzuki
Goodevening all.
This weekend was a mixture of good and bad. But lets be positive and start off on the good.
Got the ER6 back on Friday, one of the windiest days so far this year. It was looking ace in the dark, really shiny and it was cleaned quite well. Got all my still dirty gear on and headed home from the Garage. It was a weird feeling riding for the first time after the accident. But moreover it wasn’t a secure feeling on the ER6. Really twitchy.
The repair bill was quite reasonable. The parts list was as follows:
-
Gear Lever £25.98
-
Generator Cover and Gasket £52.62
-
L/H Front Indicator £23.67
-
Front Brake Lever £25.45
-
Rear Brake Lever £20.30
-
R/H Footpeg and bank sensor £46.62
-
Clutch Lever £7.67
So there you go.
On Saturday I went to the Suzuki garage and started arranging the GSR. I chatted away with the guy about it all and gave some details, £200 holding fee which they refund me in a weeks time….silly, and some details about the ER6, at which point he asked what the condition was of it. I said that it was good condition and that it was a test ride bike so has marks on the footpeg hangers. There is also a crack on the fairing. At this point he took interest and asked what sort of crack etc. And eventually he said well we need to do a workshop check before agreeing on the price for the ER6. He wants it in showroom condition so may need to order some parts in. Ok I said and off we went, agreeing that Saturday was the time to do it all.
When I arrived home i went out to the ER6 and took the front fairing off to inspect in in the kitchen and it was scraped to buggery. If he sees this he’s going to know that it was dropped etc so I need to replace it.
So I will call the Garage tomorrow and get one ordered as I dont really want to go in Saturday and they say “ooo it’ll cost you £200 for a new one so we’ll take that off the part exchange price..” when it actually would have cost me £50. At least it gives me proof of them trying to pull my pants over my head. But it’s all depending on what the boys at Suzuki deem to be “Showroom Condition.”
We’ll just have to wait and see. Me and Em went out for a 2 hour ride today and I put the helmet cam on her this time. Which shows a really smart angle. I’ll convert it tomorrow and post it up to let you see. However the lens gets dirty again. I am starting to think that this camera will only be really good in the complete dry weather. But it was a good ride out and already my confidence has came back.
I also got my quote through from Express Insurance, with £395 as the official quote.
So yeah, I’ll keep you posted on what happens with Suzuki.
Thanks for looking folks,
Gordon
Last Chance Cafe & Crash update
Hello all,
Firstly the quote for damage to my bike has came in.
After I dropped my bike off etc I gave Stuart a call back the next day and we chatted about what to do. The options were that he orders some of the parts and he plastic welds and paints the fairings, or just orders all the parts except the fairings and tries to make them look as un-broken as possible.
So the option two was better because 1: it was £200 cheaper and 2: Stuart is a wizard and I’m sure he can make it look presentable.
The parts list was a new front brake lever, a new right hand peg, a new engine casing, new rear brake lever and a new gear shifter. This all comes to £212, with labour etc totalling it at £284.
I was a bit surprised as I got a quote for the peg and lever at Edinburgh Kawasaki and it was £60 for the peg and £30 for the lever. Which means that for £122 I am getting the engine casing, rear brake lever and gear shifter…I got a new rear brake lever for the MT-03 and it cost me £15, so say another £15-£20 for the gear shifter and it leaves £92 for the engine casing. It is a cast lump but £92 for f*ck sake. OEM parts eh…
So yeah it’s all good on that front, I was expecting at least £400 of work, but I suppose the fairing would cost a bit anyway.
Bike should be ready to go this week some time. I can’t wait because it means I will be moving on for the final time. And this time I have to get the right bike.
I was looking at the Z750 before and I was totally dead set. I had read the reviews online and they all pointed to a nice bike. But then I read my BIKE magazine, which I respect 100% and they said the Z was completely crap, bottom of the table in a shootout with a Street Triple, Hornet, Fazer and a GSR600.
They said the forks were crap, the power was pretty gutless, the handling was good but the whole experience was disconcerting and very uncomfortable. I was really disappointed. Then I read the reviews for the other bikes and although the Street Triple didn’t really come out top in anything tables wise, it was their pick of the bunch. Fair enough, but they forgot to mention the ludicrous pillion pegs. This was a one person bike from the off, which was also disappointing.
The I looked at the Fazer, which had a pretty duff write up as well. But it was closely matched to the GSR600. Which my brother has.
Upon reading the review the GSR was left in pretty good light, with great power, great handling and great looks, but fell on tank size and snatchy throttle issue.
It left me thinking…What do I want from a bike?
I want:
• Comfortable
• Fast
• Stability
• 180 rear section
• Comfy 2 up riding
• Good dials
• Good lights
• Nice posture
• Quality build.
The GSR has pretty much all of those, with exception to the tank range, which tops at 140 miles by BIKE standards, which is what I am getting with the ER6 at the minute so no change there.
I would have had a GSR off the bat had the throttle issue not been there. Basically when going from no throttle to introducing the throttle there is a lurch. Going from Positive throttle to rolling off the throttle, there is a negative lurch. This not only is annoying but it unsettles the bike mid-corner and can be quite dangerous should you forget about it.
However upon reading the GSR forum for a bit, I came across the o2 sensor eliminator fix, which you buy for £18 and it fixes the snatchy throttle. It does this because as a standard bike the GSR runs lean, to pass fuel emission regulations. This means that at low throttle openings the bike lurches about. This o2 eliminator tricks the bikes ECU in to running rich, which removes the lurchyness.
If this works, then I think the GSR would be a great bike.
But with all this said, I have to remember one thing: This will be the very last chance to get it right. I have had 3 bikes in a year and I can’t go on like this. So I think I will go for the GSR, which will make me have the same bike as my brother but I like the looks, it sounds amazing and has everything going for it. But should this O2 Eliminator not work, I could have to put up with it for at least 3 years. Anyway, I am just glad the ER6 is going, because it’s unsafe.
Sorry for the long post folks!
Thanks for looking again,
Gordon
Aircraft…Motorcycle Investigation.
So having studied the forensic evidence, I have come to the conclusion that on the night of January 8th, at around 8:30pm, YamYam had a road traffic incident for the reason: He was an idiot.
There were many contributing factors to why I crashed yesterday. Lack of food, FR bridge being shut, the cold, the rain, the lack of visibility, tiredness. I should have went slower when I couldn’t see properly, but hindsight is always better.
It was a split second decision to follow what I thought was the road and it took another split second to realise it wasn’t actually the road I thought it was. These 2 split second decisions led to me flying through the air and coming less that 1 foot to either serious injury or a fatality.
I have compiled an official report of this incident and I have included it below. Please note, this is an official road traffic accident report and is to be read with care and attention.
So there you go.
Having inspected the damage further it seems like the only serious damage is to the gear shifter. Which as bent upwards. The other stuff is mainly cosmetic, the engine case, the front fairing, the crash mushrooms and the front mudguard. All of this will hopefully be taken care of with minimum expense with the local garage.
I’ll keep you updated as I get info and will hopefully still keep to my schedule of January 24th for my new bike, which is a shock decision….a Suzuki GSR 600.
Next post will be why.
Thanks for looking folks and thanks for the support from the UK GSR forum, www.suzuki-gsr.co.uk
YamYam
YamYam Motorcycle Accident #2
Hello everyone.
Last night I had a pretty major accident. I made a video of the damage and explain what happened. I’ll add a diagram of it in a mo.
2nd day on the bike in 2008 and a major crash notched up already. Bring on the rest of the year…
…idiot
I got new bars, “Superbike” ones. The flat bars just weren’t working for me. They were too….flat! And wide. Plus there wasn’t any room for the cables and master cylinder for it to be comfortable, so I opted for a more relaxed superbike bar.
Me and Em fitted them in under an hour, including drilling the holes for the switches and mounting new mirrors on.
These were still not quite right and I found them to be just too wide. Doing a u-turn is like trying to steer a boat. So I am looking for the perfect set of bars.
I hadn’t washed my bike for well over 2 weeks so this weekend was my chance to get it cleaned and lubed. I started around half 10 and oh boy was it dirty.
It took me about an hour to do 1 side of the bike, and I also had a new tail tidy to fit. Twin Shack had sent me out a new tail tidy as they couldn’t source the bracket needed to fit my stock indicators on to the tail tidy I had, so they just sent me another one and I have to send the old one back. After cleaning my bike thoroughly I set about installing this one. As you can see, the holes are remarkably different to the old ones!
So I got that installed and set about installing the crash mushrooms, then try and slide the grips closer to the middle of the bars.
Got everything ready to go on the bike and then find out, after unbolting stuff and skinning some knuckles, that the bolt is too short for the bloody bracket. The 100mm long bolt that fixes the bracket, that accepts the crash mushroom was too short for the hole it was meant to go in to. This bike has had nothing but parts that haven’t fecking fitted bought for it. I am really annoyed and even more so after what happened next.
So after a huff and a sigh, I decided to oil the chain and get geared up to go for a short ride. I needed to warm the chain up before hand and I thought a nice wee ride would help ease the frustration a bit.
Then I got back and my bike was manky again. Em came out to help me put the bike back on the paddock stand and said that she was upset cause I had spent 4 hours working on the bike. I said I would be finished in 2 minutes and she left.
I then oiled the chain, took the bike off the paddock stand and then started to push my bike in to the garage to sort the licence plate out…then I pushed the bike too far away from me and dropped it.
Not only did I drop it but I also got my leg caught in the side stand. NOW.
Here’s whats really baking my noodle.
#1: Had the bloody crash mushrooms fitted then I wouldn’t be so angry, the mushrooms would have done their job and I would have been laughing about it. As it turns out, I am not laughing, but even more angry.
#2: When the bike started to go I grabbed the nearest thing which was the left hand grip (as I was standing on the left side of the bike) BUT, as I had began sorting the bars and then left it, I just slid on the left and grip and went for the quick ride. The bar was wet you see. So when I went to grab the grip, it just slid off and I was left standing with the fecking grip and a rip in my trousers up to my knee. Needless to say the grip was launched as hard as I could muster in to the ground along with a “NOOOOOOOOO”
I then waved Em out to help me lift up the bike and she gasped as she saw the mess before her. Asking what had happened I said I had dropped it trying to wheel it in to the garage, and she said I should have got her to help. I completely lost it and started blaming everyone but myself, whos fault it was regardless. I was just so annoyed at myself and the things that could have saved me and my bike. Had I just left the grip on in the first place I would have grabbed the grip and brought the bike back up. Had the damn mushrooms fitted I wouldn’t have had broken bits.
I am gutted. Here’s some photos of the carnage left after a stand still light drop on to gravel, which by the way should have left the bike with perhaps a few scratches…OH NO, what really happened was this:
How annoying is that!!!!! I have just enough purchase on the foot peg to make it rideable and the brake lever is ok cause I only use 2 fingers to brake anyway but I am just pissed off at the peg. Its bloody sprung so that in the even of a spill it folds up..oh no, not this time, lets just shear off in the middle of the peg….deary me. I recon at least £40 to get a new peg and lever.
I also noticed some of this on my bike today:
Winter is well and truly here.
I was going to write about the Long Way Down tonight, but the Sky box decided to run out of space half way through and I only recorded 17 minutes of it. Great.
I will say this though, it’s not as good as the last one.
Thanks for reading.
Gordon
R&G Bobbins, Kawasaki ER-6N Ermax Hugger and Tail Tidys
Hello y’all.
Friday came and work was just about finished when I got the call from Blair that parts had arrived and he wanted to know what they were! I figured it was the hugger etc and was right.
When I got home I opened the box of goodies and started to unpack them. I began getting really excited as for all my previous motorcycles I had never added any aftermarket parts (with the exception of the Yamaha’s heated gloves) and was looking forward to making the bike my own.
So what I got was:
A hugger, tail tidy and my crash mushrooms and bobbins. I also took delivery of my drag bar the other day and received my new licence plate Saturday morning.
Saturday evening came and I could hold on no longer, so decided to fit the tail tidy….oh my.
Modification #1 – R&G Tail Tidy – ER6 specific
I had always disliked the look of most rear-ends on motorcycles and was pleasantly surprised to see that my bike had tonnes of aftermarket parts available to it, including a tail tidy.
It came in a nice package and was supplied with the tail tidy bracket, rubber mounting bits, lots of blanking plates for aftermarket indicators and the licence plate LED light, including all the electronic components to splice it in.
So I set about dismantleing this:
It was easy enough, remove the old licence plate, remove some bolts under the seat and off it came. I had to unplug the indicators and licence plate light to get it off completely. It was manky.
After removing the old tail I labelled the wires up as to not confuse myself, but Kawasaki had made it pretty easy. Thin connector for licence plate light, grey box connector for left indicator, black box connector for right indicator, with the adjacent corresponding colour on the opposite end.
After removing the indicators from the old tail tidy I tried a dry fit on the new tail tidy. So feed the wiring through the hole, fit the indicator rubber lip over the bracket shape, fit the metal retaining bracket and….it’s loose as you like, free to fall out with little assistance. Why is that? Did I mount it wrong? No…hmmm Maybe I have a blanking plate for it….no…perhaps the wiring holds it secure?
The instructions basically said:
Remove the old tail tidy, put in the new tail tidy, fit the indicators and licence plate light, splice in the wiring and your done
But then I noticed a wee NB sign, reading “For aftermarket indicators or original ER6 indicators, bracket IA0001BK will be needed.”
Hold on a minute. You are telling me that although I bought the ER6 specific R&G tail tidy, I need to purchase and additional part for it to work with my original indicators? Seems like it. So I wrote an email to R&G and Twin Shack in a bid to get one of these brackets.
As time marched on I decided to just fit the bracket and get it all working and I could deal with the indicators tomorrow. So around 11:40pm I ended up with this:
So that was that working perfectly, with the exception of the indicator fittings, which I was really frustrated about. Why ship a part that doesn’t complete the job!?
Anyway, Sunday came and I got up quite early to wash my bike and fit the remainder of parts.
Modification #2 – Ermax Rear Hugger in Ebony…
I was really excited about this one as it would not only look great, but stop all the crap flying up on to the underside of the seats. It looked pretty simple from the instructions, remove the old chain guard, place the rubber 35mm dia ring on the right hand side, screw in the hugger using the old screws and fit the rubber ring on the right…
Great! First step done. Rubber ring…hmm it doesn’t seem to fit. The bracket was at a funny angle and the screw provided was no-where near as long as it needed to be. I got help from Dad and we managed to hack together an old rusted bolt and fitted it perfectly…a big botch job and an almost impossible job to do but we done it. The bolt was a hex key on the end and a nut on the other, which meant trying to fit an allen key in beside the tyre…there was some weird hand shapes made but in the end, rock solid and mega cool.
Modification #3 – R&G Swingarm Bobbins
These little things screw in to the already present threads on the swingarm to A: Protect the swingarm in the event of a crash and B: to assist with paddock stands.
The paddock stand I have isn’t compatable with these bobbins to its only A that I am after. They are nicely made and does exactly what it says on the tin. I put some Loctite on the threads to make them extra secure:
which left me with this:
So far so good!!
Still left to go:
I also have the luggage to check out so I’ll post some pics up tonight of those!
Update estimated Wednesday!
Thanks for looking folks!
Gordon
