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
Stop going fast around corners you…you…
A guy was telling me today at work that he was out on his Ducati Multistrada at the weekend and noticed the rozzers in his mirrors.
Carrying on as normal he suddenly found himself being blue-lighted and pulled over. He said that the cops suspected he either stole the bike or was drunk, so he got the breathaliser and then told,
“You are going to fast in the corners. Stop it.”
I burst out laughing.
They gave him a caution and sent him on his way.
Brilliant.
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.
How to keep warm on a motorcycle…
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Hello y’all,
Things have been quiet on the yamyam front for the past week or so due to me starting another artwork. However this one is zipping along nicely so I should be able to get some posts up soon. Anyway, as I was trawling through backlogs of stuff I found this and thought you should see it!
Well…it’s certainly one way of keeping warm. I saw this in Glasgow last year around November.
Brilliant.
Check out www.gordonfraserartwork.co.uk to keep up to date on my artworks.
All the best
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
EntroSys Motorcycle Air-Con…?!
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What do you do if you live in a hot country, want to go for a ride and feel a bit warm?
You certainly don’t put on your Rev’it Airflow jacket. You instead opt for the unique EntroSys Motorcycle Air Conditioning…
EntroSys (www.entrosys.com) have created this unique, yet slightly baffling contraption that attaches to your bike using a “universal” connection (let’s see if that fits on the back of an Aprilia RSVR). You then plug a hose, not dis-similar to a tumble dryer hose, in to a custom made air-conditioned waistcoat, that you then control via a wireless remote, conveniently placed on the handlebars.
The only thing that I can see as a “negative” is when you come off your bike. Will you have an airconditioner flying behind you, still attached with the hose? Or will the hose keep you locked to the bike, forcing you wherever the bike goes?
The likely answer is the elephants trunk will snap and you’ll be bungeed in whatever direction you were pointing before it snapped.
It’s almost certainly a unique way of going about it, but as of yet no price has been announced. I am pretty sure however that it won’t be as easy or indeed as cool as just zipping up an Airflow and getting on with your life…
“What’s that (Insert kitchen appliance here) doing attached to your bike? You making eggs?”
Muhahaha
KTM 125cc Concept Street Bikes. Wow.
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When chatting about bikes with Blair, and his opinion of getting racing bikes for commuting, he sent me these pictures of KTM’s conceptual 125cc street bikes.
First of all, how smart are they!?
The KTM 125 Concept – Option 1 Race
The KTM 125 Concept – Option 2 Street
The KTM Duke R. 690 Single.
Well first off the 125′s are crazy nice. Obviously they don’t have the power of some bigger bikes, but for whizzing around town or indeed the back roads, this bike looks to be immense fun. Having seen the MCN video of the bikes at the show, I can undoubtedly say that the 125′s are amazing. The orange Race version has 2 Akrapovic’s sticky out the back. It’s almost a copy of a bike from the MotoGP games (the Climax made ones, not the new ones, which incidentally aren’t as good…) Amazing.
The Duke R is also very very nice. KTM have a lot of spiel on their website about them all, so check it out in full here.
As a fun bike, they all look like they would fit the bill. But unfortunately I am still not convinced they would be suitable for me.
Maybe the 125′s are so simple and cheap that I can justify getting one. If it gets crapped up, who cares, it’s easy to wash, the engine is on full display and I can get a new one if it falls apart (he says.)
Anyway, pretty damn cool regardless.
Video: Pillock on R1200GS
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What do you get when you try to do doughnuts in the snow, on an extremely heavy BMW R1200GS, with panniers on? This is what:
What a tube. I wonder how many times he can hit the engine off the road before it packs in?
“nailed it.”
Nah mate.
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!
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
Fuel Light Challenge #1 RESULTS!
Read it and weep.
As Aaron said on the first post, this was quite a hard challenge to stick to, not to mention boring. It was amazing just how slow it felt going 70mph, not because I am so used to bombing along, but because everyone else was bombing past me at ridiculous speeds. Does anyone stick to the speed limits these days?
I would be tooting along at 70mph and I was able to look about more, noticing things I hadn’t even seen previously. An added benefit to watching your speed: you get to sightsee more. 
So how did it all work out then? Well from the chart you can see that I did 39 more miles, it used 2.2l more fuel and returned just about 10mpg more. I used the MPG calculator here to calculate these figures.
So in the end was it worth it? Well I have to say yes. It got me further on less fuel and I was able to relax a bit more on the journey. It would save me £300 a year as well which may not seem like much but it’s something.
Hope you found it useful!
Gordon
Helmet Chat: Geezer with a Grudge
Very funny quote I found today whilst surfing through Geezer with a Grudge’s website. He’s talking about the different types of helmet, and starts off talking about Skull Cap helmets and “Nazi Bowls”:
“The owner of this comedy prop is usually 50+ years old, 150 pounds overweight, as uncoordinated and physically incapacitated as South Park’s Timmy and missing a mental connection or eleven million. If it’s true that a crash is 49% likely to result in a faceplant this kind of helmet is all bur worthless.”
Made me laugh, but is a very serious point.
Check it out here
British GT Championship @ Knockhill
Race weekends are TIRING! My word. Me and Rossy Boy headed up both yesterday and today for the Avon Tyres British GT Champ, and it was ace.
So here are my official yamyam photos from Friday practice and Saturday Race Day. Remember, clicking on the images takes you to my flickr page where you can see larger versions.
Click here to see more images from the Knockhill British GT Race Weekend
New Logo, British GT’s @ Knockhill
So did you notice then?
For those that didn’t, here’s the old logo:
and the new one
What do you think?
I am heading to the British GT practice session tomorrow at Knockhill (Friday), armed with my camera so I should hopefully get some good looking photos.
In other news, and if you had been watching again, I am 9 miles short of the biggie: 20,000 miles…well, not that big but still unbelievable. I have been carting my point and shoot about with me in the hope of capturing the exact point I hit the 20k. I’ve been lucky as I am 9 miles off the mark with my bike at home, it’s not like I am halfway to work on the motorway when I suddenly realise I am 1 mile away from it, with nowhere to park.
I will update tomorrow night with (hopefully) some fabbo pictures.
Thanks again y’all and check out this blog which is runs the same vein as yamyam.
Gordon
Update: Puma Desmo 800 GTX Boots Review
Hey All
After my beloved Alpinestars boots broke, I fancied getting a pair of pumas. I had already bought a set of them off ebay thinking they were Gore-Tex as advertised, but unfortunately they weren’t.
Instead of getting some Desmo’s I decided to try another pair, called the Brutales. These were pretty uncomfortable and I really didn’t like the blue leather.
After a week of sending the boots back and forward, I decided that I would go for the Gore-Tex version of the Desmos. I knew how comfortable they were i.e slippers, and they looked smart as feck.
I bought them last August and wore them from then until now, so here is how they are fairing. Bearing in mind that they had…big shoes to fill. My Alpinestars didn’t flinch for over 1 and a half years of constant riding, walking, washing bikes, laying paths/grass and generally getting abused. (Click the images to see the larger ones over at my Flickr account)
As you can see, they are not so daisy fresh. But from August 08 until now, they have proved to be an excellent boot, standing up to some of the most torrential rain I have ever experienced.
The toe sliders are scuffed to bits, with the plastic the same. However on this boot (left) there is now a leak where the outside of my toes are. I suspect it’s something to do with the bolts securing the toe slider to the boot, but I am not sure.
The rear of the boots used to be nice and shiny, but after some pretty heavy use, you can see how worse off they are. This is from a multitude of things that I can think of right now. When Em sits on the back, her feet sit in a way that they hug the heel of my boot. This is probably the cause of the scuffs, with perhaps taking the boots off helping out.
As mentioned before, this little metal bit serves two purposes. The first is to make the boot look smart. The second is to assist in getting the boot off. You stick your opposite toe on this wedge, then suck your foot out the boot. It works wonders in the wet, I can attest to that. Note how pitted the metal is. This is Scottish winter road salt at it’s finest.
And now we come to the reason I have stopped wearing the boots for the past week. The zip burst. These boots are really snug, they hug your feet and offer tremendous feel. The downside to this is that when you are putting the boot on, you really have to use the zip to bring the two sides of the boot together and sometimes this puts a bit of strain on the zip. Unfortunately it put a bit too much strain on it and it split. I continued to wear them, just securing them with the massive velcro patch above the zip. It worked ok, but the zip issue, coupled with the leaking left boot called for a return to the shop.
The shift patch is quite obvious now. The rest of the patch is still shiny but the area I shift with has turned matte.
I often walk about in my boots, I did it with my A-Stars and I do it with my Demos. These boots are the comfiest things I have ever worn in my life, so it’s a joy to keep them on. However I walk like a dork, so the heel is starting to show signs of wear, and so is the outside of the sole.
So compared to my Alpinestars Effex Gore-Tex boots, how do the Puma Desmo 800 Gore-Tex fair?
Comfort: The Desmos are the comfiest things to put on your feet whilst riding a motorcycle. Compared to the Effex, the Desmos are far better.
Looks: Again, the Desmos are the smartest boots I know of. They offer something a bit busier than the Effex, but a long shot away from the squeeky Sidis. These are the pinnacle of effortless cool.
Durability: The Desmos have lasted since August 08. That makes it 10 months. The Effex lasted since January 07 until August 08, that makes it 18 months, so the Effex win hands down. The Effex were also really basic looking, just leather, no shift patch (where one of the holes developed) and the sole was the othe rhole. The Desmos are made up of lots of different materials, leather, plastic, metal. For this reason the Desmos look a lot rougher than the Effex did.
Effectiveness: The Effex were solid perfomers, offering dry feet up until the hole developed in the shift patch area. This wouldn’t have happened had there been a man made material (rubber, plastic) here. The Desmos have also been solid performers, but are now letting water in around the toe slider area.
Price: The Effex when I purchased them were £110. The Desmos £150. The price difference reflects the complexity and safety of boot I think, and they both sport Gore-Tex, so I think the Demos are well worth the extra dollar. The Effex didn’t have any shift patch, rugged heel armour or toe sliders. It also didn’t have the height of the Desmos.
So to conclude, the Puma Desmo’s are a superb boot, offering fantastic comfort, protection from the weather, feel on the gear shift/pegs and have gorgeous looks to boot (sorry). My boots are going back to the shop I bought them from to get the zip and leak fixed and I will continue to use them until they fail.
You can find the Desmos here for £128! An absolute bargain now! I think I may just have to invest in another pair for when these go bang, they are really that good.
Thanks for reading all,
Gordon
Review: Suzuki Gladius 650 Design
Well then well then.
Whilst at the garage yesterday bumming about I thought I would have a closer look at the various bikes outside in the courtyard. One of which was the new Suzuki Gladius 650, which seems to be the replacement for the much loved/hated SV650.
I didn’t ride it though, so this is purely a visual review and observations.
The new Suzuki Gladius. It's definitely for girls.
So what is this bike all about. Well I think this is the bike that will attempt to lure more women to biking, which is made very obvious by the inclusion of a pink and white colour scheme for the Gladius. It’s a little bit sickly for me but:
(Image taken from http://www.suzuki-gb.co.uk/bike/sfv650k9/)
The ones they have at the garage are Blue and White and Green and Black (my favourite).
Gladius 650 in Blue & White
AGV GP-Tech Year Update
Well well well.
Yet again this post has nothing to do with my GSR as I had promised, again…
The reason is that it broke again just before the weekend there, so that’s being added in to the mix. Anyway, in the meantime I thought I would update you all on how the GP-Tech is performing after a year of every day use. The polls are in and it is as thus….
Not so fresh as a daisy, more like a stale egg...
White helmets are good for a few reasons. Firstly they are bright, allowing traffic around a small glimpse of a white ball moving around in their mirror, thus attracting attention to yourself. Secondly white makes for a really smart looking helmet, although I would extend this no further than the GP-Tech and perhaps 1 or 2 other helmets. Lastly white shows up the dirt easy to it’s a cinch to clean. However this last point is also a negative, as the dirt on this helmet is easy to see. It’s ok once you clean it off the easy parts, but all the grooves and holes trap the dirt and make it nigh on impossible to get to. This means that you have a constantly dirty looking helmet which can be annoying.
Dirt in the grooves means annoyance...
Comfort levels on this helmet are still fantastic, even more so now that the interior has moulded itself perfectly to my head. The addition of the foam strip under the roof of the helmet is still the original and it’s still making the helmet sit perfectly on my head, as if you remember I mentioned that the GP-Tech sits naturally low on the head.
Finish on this helmet is a bit of a downfall to be honest. I will say again that I got one of the first batch of these so perhaps the finishes have improved now but if I had spent £400 on this helmet I would not be impressed. So far the front vents have fell off, the buckle pull has ripped off, the visor latch is not snug meaning rattly visors when up, the badges fell off the neck curtains and now the materials are separating from each other at the back of the helmet.
The build quality is tearing me apart. That was shit, sorry.
It’s a shame as this helmet in my opinion is the best helmet around at the minute in terms of comfort, ventilation, safety and looks. It’s the best, end of. But the niggling build quality issues take some points from what is a 10/10 helmet.
Don’t get the wrong idea though as I wont ever be going back to my Shoei XR-1000. The build quality of the GP may be falling apart, but in terms of finish, the GP is streaks ahead of Shoei. The blend of velvet, perforated and smooth materials are sublime and the attention to detail is superb.
So that’s that. But I have one more thing to say and it’s the same old problem. The visor. I have gone over the reasons that it’s crap, mainly fogging/misting issues, and I stand by that if AGV were to get Pinlock or Fog City involved in their helmets they would sweep the floor…thoroughly. It’s crying out for it, and although I have been informed that AGV think their “Anti-Fog” coatings work fine, I don’t believe they are testing them in the conditions that cause the issues. Yeah in Italy they have rain, but it’s a damn sight different in Fife than it is at AGV HQ in Valenza, weather tunnel or not.
What they need to do is send their designers over here for a few weeks in December/January and I guarantee they’ll get far more information that they can utilise in their helmet designs.
Anyway after all that is said and done, I still love this helmet and it’s gave me nothing but a reliable, comfortable safe environment for my head. Once this helmet falls apart to the point of non-use, I will definitely seek another one immediately.
I love my AGV and there's no denying it, it's still feckin smart.
The GSR yearly update will commence very soon, after I have resolved the issues that happened at the weekend. It’s not looking any better I can tell you that.
Thanks for the visits all and sorry about the lack of images over the past few months. My camera has been out of commission (my small pocket one.)
Cheers
Gordon
EDIT:
Just a quick image to show what it looks like on my head.
January 2009…what happened?
January 2009
Good evening all, it is a cold Sunday night here in Scotland and I have just realised how long I have left it since posting.
My January this year wasn’t the action packed January like last year. No sir, this Janauary consisted mainly of riding to and from work. That’s it.
As far as biking goes, this is as routine as it comes. Yeah there was numerous stupid car driver fuelled moments and a lot of lonely rides in the bogging Scottish winter weather.
My favourite moment from Jan 2009 was when someone pulled out in front of a guy on a beemer Long Way Whatever. I watched as the guy then peeped his horn, raced along side the driver’s window and proceeded to pound on it in frustration. It was a spectacle and something which I found highly amusing. I could also hear some expletives being launched from within his helmet. Brilliant.
We had some snow here over the past 2 weeks and for most the snow had little or no impact. When I say most, I mean people who actually have a grip of themselves. There were people flailing about whining that they can’t get to work and blah blah. Every day I went out in -1°C, -5°C and swept the snow off my bike. I then started my bike and then got on my bike. I then wheelspun out of my housing estate and then wheelspun on to the motorway. I then rode my bike to work and back again. Most people called me a psycho, whilst I called myself a non-panic merchant. I found it fine riding in snow. I found that although it was at times trecherous, as long as I approached the situation sensibly, I was ok.
Well there wasn’t a better way to approach the weather last week. And my story starts thus:
Thursday last week I headed to work in the snow like I had done for a few weeks. I got on the motorway and it was snowing heavy. I then got all the way through the rush hour traffic and roadworks, through some idiotic moves from car drivers playing with satnav and mobiles, some thinking about work and some just sleeping. I got to my work’s street, which is cobbled and the back wheel was loosing traction like mad, so I slowed down to below walking pace, say 3-4mph and kept it in 2nd to try and get some traction. Then as I went over the entrance to my office car park, which happens to be downhill, my front folded and down I went.
Now there wasn’t a whiff of brake, nor a whiff of anything else. As soon as I touched the slush on this slope there was absolutely nothing I could have done. And what’s the most annoying thing? It should have been gritted.
As I fell it felt familar, something which only people who have fallen off their bike can understand, and I shouted “why isn’t this f*cking gritted?”
Well not a moment had passed and a guy from my work had appeared from the garage saying he had heard me fall off. He also said that his car had been all over the place too and was angry that it wasn’t gritted. He gave me a hand up and off I went in to the garage pushing my bike along, although it was sliding still under no engine momentum whatsoever. It gives a wee idea of how slippy it was.
In to the dry garage I stopped and surveyed the damage; broken rear brake pedal (obviously. These things are meant to break…) a scuffed engine casing and crash mushroom was filed away flat. Luckily because I fell on a downslope, the crash mushroom protected the bars from coming in to contact with the ground, so they were fine, as was my bodywork.
I tried to start the engine and after a bit of trying it started fine. It was showing FI but I turned the ignition on and off and it started ok. I then rode it and parked it up.
During that day I went back out and noticed that my bike was leaking oil from my scuffed engine case. There was a bolt loose enough to turn by hand and this was where the pil was coming from. I went inside and called Stuart, from Jacksons Bikes. He suggested tightening the bolt and warming the engine up to put the engine under pressure and see if there was oil spurting out. If there wasn’t I could ride it to his garage. If there was, it was goosed. Luckily the bolt tightened up fine and there wasn’t any oil.
The ride home was interesting though as I crapped myself incase the engine casing burst off the side of the bike, thus throwing oil on to my back tyre throwing me in to a housing estate or field…but I was ok and got to the garage fine.
After riding the bike in to Stuarts new bike garage wing he surveyed the damage saying that he thinks it’s just a case of rear brake pedal replacement and that’s it. My 16,000 mile service was due so I said just to get that done whilst the bike was here and also replace the brake pads after Stuart had mentioned it the last time.
“You’re mental. Riding in this!” He had a look at the back and muttered “That’s down to the steel…” had a look at the front and “…yep, they’re pretty much the same!…how do you stop!!?”
“It’s an issue”
So we agreed on what needed to be done and off I went happy that my bike was in safe hands.
Voila! My January was complete and February is already half way through, which is ridiculous. My weeks have been flying by (hence the reason I never realised how long it has been) and I am getting the bus to work tomorrow, something which annoys me. On Friday there I was sitting in front of some greasy bank exec type who had serious fag and tea morning mouth and kept sighing, which sent all his faggy tea breath over in to my seat. Lovely. Then some youngster sat in front of me, doused in some sweet smelling aftershave which added a sickly twist to the atmosphere. This is why I hate public transport.
I can’t wait for the spring and it seems to be coming through now. It’s to be mild this week and I can hopefully get my bike back before I poke my eyes out on the bus.
I have had the GSR a year now, so I’m going to post up a yearly review of it. Stay tuned for the relatively small good points and the overwhelmingly regular bad points…it’s not going to be pretty…
Thanks for the regular interest all, I know how lucky I am.
Send me a message if you can, I’ll reply to every single one.
All the best,
Gordon
p.s. 15,500 miles this year. It seems to be flattening out a bit, but that now makes my overall bike mileage well over 33,000 in 2 years. Oh and recent news of bike air bag jackets will be covered soon too…grrr.
I’m still alive!
Hello!
Happy New Year!! HA! 22 days late but hey, what can you do.
I am extremely sorry for all my fellow bikers for the complete neglect that I have shown for the past month. There really is no excuse and I apologise sincerely.
So what have I been up to for the past month then?
Well Christmas was a good relaxing time off. I didn’t use my bike at all! Along with the usual lazing about I also went walking up a Munro with my Dad, Brother and his girlfriends Dad. It was phenomenal being above the clouds in unspoilt air.
Back to work on the 2nd which was crap.
The GSR has has lots of problems over the past month. The first of which was the chain which was sorted before Christmas. That’s been great and there’s no problems now.
However there was still the issue with the sticky throttle. Basically when I rolled off the throttle the rev’s would either climb to 6-7k or just die to below idle. When I started my bike the engine would just rev up and sit at 7ooorpm. It was like the throttle cable was stuck. There was an “edge” where you would twist the throttle and nothing would happen, but then you would force it over this edge and it would rev like mad without you touching it.
Very annoying and extremely dangerous, especially as it was essentially an uncontrollable cruise control. I had to constantly force the throttle back, i.e. in to negative throttle to keep the revs down or to slow down.
Anyway,
I dropped it in to the garage and the morning of the garage drop off I noticed that my front brake wasn’t illuminating the brake lights. The back brake was but the front wasn’t. So I got to the garage on the Saturday and dropped the bike off, picking up a Suzuki SV650 in bright Yellow.
I was told the bike would be ready later on that day and off I went. Usually when I get a SV I can’t wait to give it back but this one was somehow different. The bars were lower for a start and the tyres seemed to offer a more progressive lean, instead of the usual turn in turn in flop style of 160 rears.
I love the sound as always with a twin and the instant power was good, although overtaking was a struggle.
Saturday evening came and I had a call from Suzuki saying that they couldn’t find out what was wrong with it, having checked the throttle cable and throttle tube etc so were having to look deeper in to the engine. Should be ready Monday or Tuesday.
Oh dear.
Monday came and the bike was ready to go, with seized throttle bodies the cause. Basically the things that control the butterfly valves was sticking and this is the reason I had to force the throttle back to close them. This also explains the funny lip that I had to get over in order to accellerate.
So that was that, and then I asked if it was covered under warranty, which I assumed it would be. They didn’t know and had to go off and email Suzuki.
3 days later I called the garage and it was covered by the warranty which was great! So I went in on the following Saturday to pick my bike up.
Sitting on my bike again was weird. I had become used to the lower bars on the SV along with the pretty good brakes. I now realised just how bad my brakes had faded, I desperately need new brake pads. I also noticed how high my bars are and how upright I sit. I feel less comfortable now for some reason.
I do however, love having the extra power back, along with the marginally more comfortable seat than the SV’s wafer.
When I started to ride off from the garage I put my right foot down on the brake only to have no movement at all from the brake lever. I stopped and tried to loosen it but it didn’t move. It wasn’t enageged but it wasnt moving either so I dont know what the deal is. I remember Stuart (Jackson) mentioning to me that my back brake pad was almost spent, so to think about replacing it soon. I might call him up and get him to fit some new ones for me.
So really that’s about it as far as my bike goes. The GSR is still going strong and after nearly a year of ownership I have crested the 15,000 mile hill. Next service is at 16,000 which will be mid February.
The weather in Scotland has been SHIT. Icy, rainy, windy…it’s all happening in January. It was over a year ago now that I had my accident on the Kawasaki and it was around this time that I did it. Hopefully I can remain crash free on my GSR!
I am looking forward to the warmth of Spring arriving so I can stop wearing 4 layers.
My AGV is starting to fall apart, so I will update that soon.
Thanks for the comments all and please do keep visiting. I am still getting back in to things after Christmas and New Year so posting will increase.
Hope you are all well,
Gordon
———-
Please visit www.gordonfraserphotography.com to check out what I do when I am not riding my motorcycle.
It all started so promising as well.
Well good evening.
I don’t know if you recall but when I was arranging the purchase of my brand spanking 57 plate Suzuki GSR 600 from my Suzuki Garage I was a bit on edge. This was the last chance for me to get a motorcycle that I liked and could use for the following 3 years, until I had paid off my 3 bike debts.
I had spoken with honesty with the man there about my disappointment with being treated like a fool and not really feeling like I was a valued customer. “Don’t worry, we will look after you here.”
My bike is still sitting outside. It has remained in that very position now for 4 days. In brief, this is what happened.
Sunday: I washed my bike and polished it to a high shine, catching every detail with timeless beauty. But then it didn’t start, so was pretty much motionless as well…(unless you count me pushing it up the steep drive because I had tried to jump start it…) A call to the garage was needed and was met with a pretty disappointing result. There was a slight edge of story telling going on, and the gist of the story was that they couldn’t come and pick my bike up because the van collection wasn’t covered under warranty. This was an issue really, because without the garage’s van, I couldn’t get my bike to the garage to get fixed…Not to worry though, because if I call back tomorrow and ask for Alan, he will be able to arrange for the van to come and pick my bike up under warranty…o.k…
Monday: I call at 9:30am and ask for Alan. “Alan has just stepped out for a second. He’ll call you back” 2:30pm, no call. So I get on the phone and ask for Alan. He hums and haws and says that he will get back to me about collection. Which he did. At 4:59pm. I missed the call as I was speaking to my boss, so he left a message. It was kind of hard to understand him but basically he said to give him a call back and he would arrange for the bike to get picked up. But the bike shop was now closed.
Tuesday: Ring Ring, “Hello, can I speak to Alan please.” “Alan is off today.” My bike needs to get picked up today because it’s not starting and I need it fixed because I USE IT EVERY DAY FOR MY JOURNEY TO WORK 38 MILES AWAY. “Well you’ll need to call the driver then. I’ll put you on hold.” Then I started thinking, why the hell should I call the fecking van driver? “Hello, yeah the van driver will call you today to arrange it.”
Wednesday: Well after yet another call-less day, I called back yet again. I asked for Alan. Not in. This is ridiculous. So I finally got the guy to get the van driver to call me and he said “Hello, I understand you need your bike picked up. Well I am going to Edinburgh Saturday, I can pick it up then or before if you like because you are just down the road…” TOMORROW PLEASE, BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN ASKING YOU FOR THE PAST FACKING 3 DAYS. “Yes, can you pick it up Thursday?” “No problem”
No problem. Yeah…ok.
So hopefully I will return tomorrow night and my GSR will not be sitting there. If it is, my head will explode.
I am so disappointed with the reaction from my garage. I bought this bike in January, brand new. And so far it has been fine. But now this is the second time that it has broke and I am getting slightly fed up. The bike is great, but if I have to go through this hassle every time something happens, I just wont be bothered with it. This bike is under warranty for 2 years and rest assured that other things will happen to it. So much for the “Don’t worry, we’ll look after you.”
I spoke to Blair about it and he reminded me of a chat that we had when he was after a GSR. B raised the question of buying from down south cheaper and we were told that “If you buy from down south and you get a problem, I wont be as quick to help you out than if you bought from me. If you call me up and you have a problem, I will not hesitate to get the van out to you as soon as humanly possible.”
Well it seems like the humans react very slowly to problems. That’s 4 days.
Anyway!
Life is very complicated at the minute. I am trying not only to deal with difficult bike garages, but me and Em have just purchased our first house. It’s something that all humans go through, but boy oh boy is it draining on the system.
I have never been so nervous, exhausted, elated, disappointed, taxed, confused or stressed in my life. But today we got news that we had got the house that went to a closing date. I am so excited I can hardly sit still.
Work is very busy at the minute as well, and I am getting the bus to work. That means 6:30am wake up to get the bus at 7:30am to arrive at work at 8:00am, only to start work an hour before anyone else arrives. Then it’s a bus journey home at the end. I miss my bike.
So tomorrow we get the survey back and I am shitting myself that it’s below our offer. The house market in Scotland is in such a dilema, it’s a minefield. Fingers crossed.
On a different note, Scottishbiker has updated his site. In a nutshell SB is a man not dissimilar to myself in which he runs a blog about motorcycles, however he is clued up to the nines about the world motorcycle community and offers updates on new bikes, gear, events and news. A very informative website and one which is a one stop information overload. Check it out because it’s great. And he’s Scottish, which makes him one of the coolest folk on the planet.
Click image to head over to his website.
So there you go. Sorry I haven’t been updating for a few days.
I need to sleep because I haven’t for the past 4 days.
Thanks for stopping by folks!
Gordon
By the way…
Since 24th January 2007, I have accumulated 24,110 miles on 2 wheels.
Apparently the average for a biker is 2000 miles per year…
1 Year Anniversary!
Hello!
Today I officially have been riding for a year! HOORAY!
I just have to get myself a new bike now!
HAHA
Thanks for reading over the past year folks,
I am hoping this year will be even more successful!
Cheers
Gordon
