Review: Bridgestone BT016 “Hypersport”
Hello everyone.
I feel guilty. It’s over 14 days since my last post. So sorry about that.
First things first, an update on the black stuff. This tyre is amazing. From the off I commented that it felt planted, well it still rings true after 400 miles of use. Its not even looking like it’s thinking about squaring off yet, and I guess that’s all down to this “5 layer” deal.
So that’s good.
I have been harping on about winter the past few posts, and today it was official. There was not a bit of frost spared this morning, as the whole scene out my window was white. The bike had it’s cover on so the only real frost was on the bike cover but the bike was cold, and a small layer of ice rested on my seat.
It has been getting progressively colder over the past 2 weeks, and a few times I’ve had to go via Kincardine bridge due to high winds on the Forth Road Bridge.
I found the loom for my heated gloves the other day, so set about getting a replacement battery connector (sadly left on my Yamaha MT-03 when I sold it for the Buell.) I went on to the website (www.giali.com) and added the battery connector to my basket, then tried to pay for it…not working.
So I gave them a call (being a f*cking idiot, I actually called the fax number) and the guy was like “I’m talking to my fax machine.” He said that I had the old style and they were in the process of updating the website.
Anyway, he took my card details and in 2 days it was delivered! I haven’t had a chance to fit them yet, but after this morning, I will definitely have to do it tonight. It was an excellent service from Giali again, very pleased with their help and their products.
In other news, I nearly got t-boned by an edinburgh taxi the other night on the way home. He came shooting out of a give way without looking right and I had to swerve in to the other side of the road to avoid him. A quick “peep-peeeeep” of the horn and he slammed on his brakes. It was pretty close and after I got around him, I checked my mirrors and he was stopped for a good 10 or so seconds, so obvioulsy got a fright. No wonder, he didn’t bloody check both ways only to find, oh wait, there’s something there…
Black cabbies are dangerous in cities.
Anyway,
That’s all for now. I haven’t cleaned my bike for 3 weeks, the chain is on it’s way out and I need some new sprockets…
I said it was going to be an expensive month and oh boy, it has been.
Feeling flat.
Well October has arrived and further to my previous post, winter is even closer.
I got my 11k service on Saturday last, and I also got my first ever replacement front tyre for the GSR. That’s 11600 miles on 1 tyre. It was feeling slightly iffy (a bit) but it was still trucking!
So you can imagine my dismay when, Tuesday night, I can’t ride my bike home from work because the rear tyre is flat. I immediately knew something was up when I tried to roll it back. It brought back memories of my MT-03 flat, the day after I passed my test!
I rolled the bike back until it was in full show, a nail head. Damn. So I then had to get the bus home. 
Wednesday I called the AA at 9:30am. The woman on the phone asked what my reg was, where I was situated and then said, “it’s 9:30 now….so…..a guy will be with you between now and 10:30.”
WOW. And he was. It was excellent to have that service, something which I got free with my bike for the first year. The guy arrived, we chatted for a bit and then he plugged the hole with a temp mushroom thing. We then chatted a bit more, watched a fire warden training session in progress and then he shot off to the next call out.
So I had to go and get a new back tyre now! I called the garage and they said the BT014′s were now superceded with the BT016…but I had just had a BT014 front put on Saturday there? Oh well. It’ll also be dearer they said. Great.
The BT016 is a 5 layer jobbie, with 3 compounds of rubber. It’s a MotoGP esk thingy with harder compound middle, softer shoulder and really soft edge. It’ll be interesting to see how the tyre wears down, and if it’ll beat the 4,000ish miles a BT014 single compound managed.
Instantly however, the bike feels planted in the extreme wet. It’s confidence inspiring stuff you know. And it’s not a placebo effect as my rear tyre wasn’t that old.
So yeah, I’m chuffed with my new tyre.
It’s been an expensive 2 weeks though, with the service and front tyre costing £300 and then a rear at £130…that’s a lot of doh. Hopefully there’ll be no more problems with my bike for the remaining months of 2008. I can’t say the same for my lovely girlfriends VW Lupo, which is now flashing warning lights up…could be a bad financial month for us!
I have been vacant the past few weeks due to some bad news in my extended family, lifting railway sleepers and playing around with my new camera. So I should be back again for a while with feedback on my rear “Hypersport” rubber and general faffings of a commuter.
Thanks for reading all, I truly appreciate it.
All the best
Gordon
Trip to Aberfeldy…disappointing.
Hey everyone!
First of all sorry I haven’t posted in over a week. Things have been pretty hectic here. Anyway, something totally unrelated to YamYam but I bought myself a new camera! I have always wanted one and the time was right, so I purchased myself a DSLR. To be exact I got the Canon EOS 450D.
I went and bought it on Saturday, so that was a right off with me faffing with it, but Sunday was meant to be nice so Em made sure I knew she wanted to go somewhere on the bike. Then my Mum said I needed to help Dad shift some earth in the garden, so I headed up there at 8am. Shifted a couple of tonnes of earth and then it was back down to grab a quick shower and then head off to Aberfeldy. The sun was shining and it was remarkably warm!
So off we went with new camera in tow up to this small town just outside of Perth. The roads were quite quiet and there was tonnes of bikers about. I felt as though I was constantly waving or nodding but it was good.
When we arrived at Aberfeldy, after Em bigging it up something special, it was a major disappointment. I was hoping for some sort of photographic haven but there wasn’t that much whatsoever. We walked around for a bit and then stopped in at the Watermill for a coffee, which was a bit of a mistake. It was the slowest and bumbliest place ever, with golden oldies smattered around the tiny tables all choffing and craning necks when we walked in wearing bike gear. We ordered a hot chocolate for Em and when I asked “Can I get a normal coffee please,” the guy sort of looked and said, “Yes…we have latte or cappucino or espresso..” “Can I just have a normal, white coffee please?” ”yes.”
So we headed outside to enjoy the weather, holding our “Muffin Loafs.” These were just normal muffins but presented in a loaf baking paper tin like thing, that was sort of the justification behind charging £1.50 for a tiny slice of muffin, but whatever.
We sat for a few moments and I got my camera out to take a few pics of Em and the surrounding, and then as I was faffing I put the camera to my eye and pointed it at the Muffin Loaf. JUST at that moment the toff lady came out with the coffees and at the VERY TOP OF HER VOICE shouted:
“OH MY GOODNESS ARE YOU TAKING A PHOTO OF YOUR MUFFIN LOAF!? HOW EXTRAORDINARY!!”
Red faces followed as the oldies started craning again and I said, “yeah.”
The coffee was actually alright and Em was wooping at her fantastic hot choc. We chatted for a bit and I took the usual photos of Em’s silly faces that she pulls whenever anyone points a camera at her. Then she moaned that all I ever take is silly photos of her…
Muffin Loaf. Expensive.
After we had finished up our coffees and chocolates we headed to an adjacent building, an unfortunately named “Homer”
Doh.
It was jam packed full of ridiculously expensive tid-bits and the highlight for me was the “latte spoon.” It was like a teaspoon but half the size. It was made of metal and was dimpled on the surface. The note on the spoon said “hand hammered.” I stood with my mouth open as I read the £8.99 price tag.
“OK, lets go.”
Walking back to the town center where the bike was parked, we passed a derelict hotel and a few nick-nack shops and it was the most boring 4 minutes of my life. I felt totally isolated in this toffed up town with lots of tea rooms and old style coffee gardens. It was a nice looking place but it was time to get out of here and fast.
Action Packed
I had noticed some wires strung across the raging river and instantly knew that it was a slalom for canoes. So we headed in to check it out and right enough, there were canoes. We watched the men and women navigate this choppy course and awaited the first capsiser. We didn’t wait for long for one and I caught it in full enhanced HD image.
Man over board. Cough choke
That was fun!
I took a few more photos and then we headed back because we were both getting grumpy from tiredness. My back was starting to get sore as well from the pick axe action this morning.
My lovely ladies.
A wee experiment with RAW images
We went to Mums for tea and it was delicious. Then we came home totally exausted and ready for bed. I love my camera and I love being out on my bike. So all in all a great day!
I bought myself a bike cover from Scott Murray. It is a motrax one and does the trick nicely. It was £39.99 and although it’s waterproof, it does gather rain under it…oh well.
Thanks for looking all. I am due for yet another service soon and my front tyre has transitioned from legal to slick. It’s getting interesting! HAHA
Perth to Fort William and back
Hello everyone.
This weekend was a good one. Blair and me headed west, to the good roads and even better views.
We wanted to go the road to Glencoe as it was apparently very good, so we headed out early doors to get the best of the day.
A quick blast past Loch Earn brought us to Tyndrum and The Green Wellie Stop. Along the lines of the Ace Cafe in London, it’s a place that bikers stop/gather/chat etc. Today was pretty quiet so we had a quick cup of tea and then we got on our way.
The Green Wellie Stop @ Tyndrum
The weather was holding up and was set to be a decent day by the looks of things. Both B and me were excited about the Glencoe road and when we got on to it, we could see why there was so much hype about it.
Halfway down the Glencoe road
The roads were pretty open, some stretching for miles in a straight line. Brilliant for overtaking, not so brilliant for wind…it was WINDY. At one point an articulated lorry went past and it was like a sonic boom on your face. Quite dangerous for bikers.
Anyway, we stopped for a pee (I needed to stop a lot of times today, don’t know why…) and took in some of the views. Breath taking. I was suddenly reminded of the Scotland trip and how amazing Scotland really is.
We eventually got to Fort WIlliam, joining the same road we had taken on our way from Fort William to Oban on the trip. It was such a different experience this time because it wasn’t raining. The road was really twisty and when we got a chance to get the speed up instead of being behind the millions of caravans we encountered, it was a great road to ride.
The Glencoe road
Fort William was warm and sunny, we had some lunch and chatted about this and that, then headed back the way we came. Our arses were starting to numb and again I was reminded of the Scotland trip, and this time the memory wasn’t so fond. The GSR certainly leaves a lot to be desired in the seating dept.
Another fag and pee stop, this time back at Loch Earn.
Blair's Snood
It took us roughly 2 hours to get back to Perth and we were both pretty knackered. It’s amazing how much fast road riding takes it out of you. It was a great run though and some superb roads to ride. There was tonnes of bikers all around the places we went today and it was just great to get out and ride a new road.
Anyway,
Hopefully we can get out more often before the winter starts…oh hold on, it already has. :(:(
Thanks for looking all,
Cheers
Gordon
YY is BACK!
Hello!
YamYam has returned after a while. A very big apology to all, I was moving in to my new house! Two and a half weeks of summer holidays were spent painting, sanding, straining, hurting and stressing. We got the keys Friday and had moved in Tuesday, and that includes decorating the whole place, assembling the 100 pieces of IKEA furniture and becoming a partner in both IKEA and B&Q. We overspent by 300%. That’s not good!
So yeah we had a quick move in and the rest of the holiday was ironing out the creases and getting things how we wanted it. The only downside now though is that my GSR is out of the warm walls of a garage and in to the cold, damp, dark atmosphere.
After 2 weeks then what is new?
Well you will notice the new mileage bar. I decided to steer away from the GSR dash replication to give clearer indication and also save some space. I liked the square one but this one is simpler and better. If you noticed the new bar, you will notice that I have now crested the 10k hill and am currently sitting just over the biggie. It’s weird how quickly it all racks up. 10,000 miles. What’s even more amazing is that after 3 rear tyres, I still have the original front one! It’s really squared and is down to 1.5mm but it’s still going strong! Ha.
Speaking of tyres, my bike went back in after it’s belated 7k service.
The 7k service was £320, and this was due to a new rear being put on. I had mentioned the knocking sound in 6th and the indicators were flashing too fast. I handed my bike in at 11:30am for my 1:15pm time slot and when I returned at 4:30pm, they hadn’t finished some of the jobs like air filter. This was because “it took so long to sort out the indicator problem. Also we couldn’t find a fault with 6th gear.”
Frustrating. So I had to book another time for my bike to come in so they could have a longer test ride and eventually they came back saying that it was possibly the front sprocket. Fair enough. They then added that although a sprocket is around £10, it would probably cost over £130 for a kit and I would probably need the kit…aye ok.
I headed out to my bike to find that YET AGAIN the fecking mechanic had put my indicator pods on wrong. I mean, is he blind? The indicator pods sit in a small dent in the tank which makes the pods sit flush with the tank. When this guy puts them back on, they are either so far off the tank you can see the ground through them or they are all bent under the ignition panel. It’s really annoying and shows how much time they take to give your bike back in the same condition you gave it to them. It also means removing the pods, un-bolting the tank and re-aligning them to fit right, which takes 30-50 minutes and requires ratchets and other bits I don’t have at my house now.
So that’s really annoying and I am getting really fed up with their story telling.
My next service is at 12k, so another 2 months and that means November! OOO.
On another note, after I dropped Em off at work on Sat I went to see the Honda CB1000R. I think it’s my next bike. It is GORGEOUS. It’s really stubby, quite thin, quite tall and looks beefcake. I love it and I love the green colour too. for £7200 it’s a good looking next bike.
Now that my bike is out in the open I fancied an alarm, so I went down to Scott Murray and spoke to my mate Billy. He said fitting an alarm would cost around £80 for say 2 hours labour and I found a DataTool System 2 alarm on fleaBay for £120, so it’s around £200 for an alarm…that’ll have to wait then.
In the meantime I have ordered a bike cover and I have my Motrax Vishas disk lock back from B.
Since the bike has been out in the open I have noticed how much colder it’s getting already. I don’t like it. It’s only bloody September, and we didn’t really have anything resembling summer now did we. I guess I’ll just have to accept that Winter is arriving.
I am quite keen on some handlebar muffs. They may look shit, but I dont care. I also found my wiring loom for my heated gloves, so if I get my muffs and my gloves rockin’, that’ll be ace. It’s really only hands that are a real issue for me in winter and I’ve been through two so I know what to expect.
What else….I bought a “Foggy” anti-fog mask and fitted it the other day…but I’ll post a review about that because it’s suddenly really disappointing…
I got my new Puma Desmo 800 Gore-Tex boots, so I shall also post about that too.
I think that’s me for now. Sorry it’s been a while but once I get the internet in my new house (Virgin is taking ages) it’ll all be back up and running smoothly soon.
Thanks for visiting all!
Gordon
Holey Moley: Alpinestars Effex Gore-Tex “Final Review”
Wow, what a bum of a week.
The weather has been miserable. Someone at work said the other day, “did you come in on your bike?” and I said, “Yeah?” She looked a bit confused and continued, “is it not really difficult in these conditions?” “Yeah it is but you choose your own path I guess.”
And I wouldn’t change it for anything. I love my bike and I knew when I signed up for this what the negatives would be. I like being able to miss out on the queue on the way to work. I like not having to worry about it. I like being able to sleep longer in the morning because I don’t have to beat the queues.
So yeah, it is difficult and I do end up soaking through, and at the time I think, “this is shit” but then I remember why I do it and it’s ok.
Anyway, this week is over and in a special way. It’s the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th millenium year, 08-08-08. This will NEVER happen again until…actually I dont know when. What happens when we get to 2100? What do we call it? 00? 100?
Oh well.
The news
My boots, my brilliant Alpinestars boots have broke. I am devestated. These were the boots that were with me from the start. The beginning of YamYam. And now they have big holes in them. My camera is dead so I will post pics up when I get home, but there is one great big hole in the sole of the boot and another where the shift patch has worn through. These boots have kept me dry for….well over 600 days of sun, rain, wind, ice, snow, poo, sand, walking to the shops, cleaning my bike in and digging holes in the garden. They were mine. Moulded to my exact foot shape and I knew they were brilliant because I never thought about them. I guess that’s when you know your gear is good, when you don’t notice it. But now the impenetrable Gore-Tex forcefield has been rendered totally useless with 2 great big holes in it. Oh well
What they arrived like:
Taken from Alpinestars official site
And this is what they departed like:
Used and abused
Shift patch is worn through
Holey Moley in the bottom of the boot
These boots, for £118 or whatever I purchsed them for, are pretty much bullet proof. They offer superior comfort, water proofing, looks, durability. Yeah they dont have much protection or plastic bits but they are a great commuting boot and absolutely perfect for what I needed them for.
This will be the “Final Review,” the first one ever on YamYam, and it’s really sad that these are gone.
A lot of you may be reading this and thinking, “He’s a bit sad to be so upset about a pair of boots!” And you are right. But when these boots have taken you through 4 countries, every single weather condition imaginable, 2 accidents, cleaning my last 4 bikes every weekend and walking up to the shops in them when it’s been raining (which in Scotland is quite a lot) you can start to hopefully see why I am so attached to them.
So anyway,
I should just get another pair right? Well no. I know it’s silly as I would have another pair of these in a second, but I fancy a change.
I am not straying too far from what I am used to though.
May I present my new choice of mega boot:
Image taken from www.gearzone.fi (Google Image search)
So when thinking about replacements for my absolutely brilliant Alpinestars Effex Gore-Tex boots I summed up what I wanted.
I wanted a comfortable, warm, waterproof, durable boot with improvements over the A-Stars boot, namely the shift patch and the sole.
As you know, I bought the Puma Desmo 800′s a while back and I absolutely love them. I actually thought I purchased the Gore-Tex version but sadly I was cheated. Never the less, they are a great warm/dry weather boot and supremely comfortable. So instead of NOW getting the Desmo 800 Gore-Tex version, I had a wee browse of the other Puma boots.
I think I actually saw the Brutale’s in Hein Gericke when I nipped along at lunch one day and they were £120 for the Gore-Tex version. I wanted to buy them right there and then but at that time my Alpinestars were fine.
The Brutales are nice, they look similar to my Desmo’s but come in black with a black velvety swoosh and black metal bit at the back, black boot with blue bits or brown boot with copper bits.
If they had a black boot with copper version I would have bought them, but I dont want a brown boot so went for the blue to differ from my Desmos.
So yeah!
If I am being honest I actually have a pair of the Brutales right now. This is because I ordered the non-Gore-Tex version (again) but have spoken to J&S and they are sending out the Gore-Tex ones to swap.
So instead of posting up the review now, I will wait to give them the usual in depth YamYam treatment.
I am really excited about them. Puma make some of the comfiest boots you can wear and that’s some achievement given my Effex comfort levels were 10/10.
I hope that they are good. I hope that they perform well for the coming 20 months or longer. One things for sure, the Brutale’s have a big boots to fill.
Thanks for visiting folks,
Gordon
Lube it or lose it
Yes folks, that’s right.
Well this week got off to a bad start weather wise, with mega rain all the time. It’s getting tougher and tougher to withstand the cold wet commute but there you go, the choices you make.
The other day I was riding in to work and even though the 6th gear tapping was doing it’s thing as usual, there was another type of noise. One which made me instantly worried.
Now the thing with the 6th gear tap is that it’s coming from around the engine area, however this new noise was a back left hand noise…i.e. drive chain.
The thing is, it was only at 0mph-20mph that it was obvious. It was in all gears as well which was even more strange.
I got to work and had a big look around the chain, wheel, sprocket and nothing was apparently wrong. I thought that a missing sprocket tooth might be the problem but they were all present and correct sir. I had a chat with my boss who had just arrived in the garage and he was as baffled as I was.
So the working day concluded and I headed home and weirdly enough, the sound had gone…until I got to a roundabout and it started again. It was really loud, and I mean seriously loud. It’s hard to describe a noise through text but as always I shall try:
Imagine the bike at rest. First gear, “Clunk!”
Clutch out and bike starts moving, “Bvvvv THUMP bvvvv THUMP bvvvv THUMP!”
The thumping speeds up as I accelerate. It sounds at one point like something is stuck to the back tyre and is slapping against the tarmac as the wheel goes round.
“THWACK! THWACK!”
I eventually get home with nerves fraid. I mean I thought that the back wheel was going to fall off. I get in, take my rucksack off and put the bike up on the paddock stand to have a good look.
Back tyre is perfect, no nails or cracks/bulges. Chain is also ok and the sprocket is all there. Hmmmm. I start the bike up and listen for it, however I didn’t really expect to hear anything as on the way home I worked out that the noise only happens when the engine is under load i.e. I am accellerating fast. If I smoothly and slowly accelerate it’s fine.
So I decide to lube it and see if it makes a difference, the chain was looking a bit dry.
Lube, it's your friend
So after a massive doseage of Lube, the sprocket instantly sounded smooth and quiet, a lot quieter than the racket it was making before the lube.
I head out on the bike to see if it’s all ok and it’s 100% fixed. No noise at all.
I breathe a sigh of relief and of surprise. The last time I lubed it was before the service and when I got it back there was this white stuff all over the swingarm, which I just assumed was the garages lube, but it obviously isn’t that good and had either washed off or dried up.
So basically what I am saying is, my chain was bone dry and it was metal on metal action that was causing the noise. I shudder to think what possible damage/accident it could have caused if I had left it any longer. I shudder to think what possible damage it has done already!
It just goes to show folks, if you dont keep your chain lubed, you’ll have a crappy ride and a fraid nervous system.
Lube is your friend. 
Thanks for stopping by folks, next post will be about my old faithfuls, my Alpinestars GoreTex boots, which on the 6th August 2008, died.
Gordon
July 2008
Hello.
First off what a tragedy to read of the death of Craig Jones. After an extremely alarming accident at Brands Hatch, Craig Jones suffered too severe a head trauma to survive which is very very sad.
Having seen the accident on Eurosport it was pretty clear that there was absolutely nothing that Andrew Pitt could do to avoid Craig’s fallen body and it was just extremely bad timing that his head be struck by Pitt’s wheel. Regardless of this truth, I can’t begin to imagine how Andrew Pitt is feeling at the minute. It’s a very sad day and a sad day for World Superbikes.
Well that’s yet another month over. This is starting to worry me slightly. My months are flying by all to quickly.
I have a story for you and it’s not a positive one, so if you are not in the mood for a grumpy Scotsman with gear issues, please look away now.
It was a very wet morning and it was so wet that I thought, “I’ll have to wear some sort of waterproofing, as my Jacket and Trousers just won’t go the distance.” So I dug out my Ixon Cheap Waterproof jacket but couldn’t find my trousers because Blair still has them.
So I donned my gear, got my dark visor tucked inside my jacket (in case it was sunny later…wishful thinking I know) and zipped up before putting my Ixon over my jacket.
Now here we go.
The collar of the Ixon jacket is very high, like up to ears high. Usually I manage to get the zipper up far enough that I am able to tuck the remaining collar in to my Kriega shoulder straps. However today it didn’t matter.
I headed out to my bike and opened the garage door. Oh. Dear. It was chucking it down. Oh well, here we go.
I must have made it 400m and my gear let in water.
Oh well, I had predicted this and brought extra underwear and t-shirt. But that was the least of my worries. As I headed on to the motorway the rain was picking up density and the spray from the other cars was unbelievable. My visor was instantly transformed in to a frosted window. Then it steamed up.
Now I am usually not a guy to believe marketing hype, but AGV claim that their visors are “Clear, flat, anti-scratch and anti-fog polycarbonate Race X visor with tear-off system” which is nice. But totally untrue. Yeah when I got the visor I sat with the visor shut and breathed really heavy and it didn’t fog up. But introduce the things that actually do make visors fog up, rain and cold and you instantly have a useless visor.
So I couldn’t see for the spray and rain on my visor, which was easily dealt with by a turned head or a wipe of my glove, but when it steamed up there was nothing I could do but open the visor to get some de-misting action going on. That however made seeing where I was going dramatically harder considering that I was now blinded by the ultra high speed water droplets hitting my eyes.
Not for rainy use either
You would think that my ride to work couldn’t get any worse…well as I was travelling along blind, cold, totally saturated and annoyed, my Ixon cheap-shit collar started to vibrate against my helmet, directly at my ear. Now if you can imagine either a pneumatic drill or a woodpecker attached directly onto the shell beside your ear, you have roughly what I am talking about here.
As I struggled to get the collar tucked in to my bag strap or into my helmet liner with my winter big gloves on, yet more water was now seeping in to my clothes. I would get it tucked in only for it to whip out and start banging against my helmet again 2 minutes later.
I think at one point I was so frustrated and deafened/blinded/freezing that I started to whimper. Then I went f a c k i n g BANANAS.
Then to make matters worse, my gloves started to let water in and my god damn mega boots started as well.
It was a dark day for YamYam.
Oh well.
Every wondered what a white helmet looks like after being ridden through a pack of Scottish Midges?
Fly swatter need not apply
So yeah, there you go.
Other July highlights are my bike breaking at a petrol station but then magically working again, and lots of miles.
Thanks for stopping by folks, I really do appreciate it.
Gordon
Back in full swing.
Hello all.
Well this last 2 weeks have flown by. My bike was in for it’s 7500 mile service last Thursday and although they didn’t fix the really annoying knocking sound, they did fit another back tyre. £340 it cost for the service and back tyre, which is a big chunk of moolah, but I guess that’s what happens if you use your bike a lot.
So the knocking is still there, but I have booked my bike in at the end of August for a “longer test ride” by the mechanics, who also noted on the service sheet that I need a new air filter…but they couldn’t fit it because they ran out of time…
Great. I am starting to doubt the authenticity of the garage. In a few posts back I wrote about how B needed a new bar end weight after his fell off. Well he went in to the garage at the weekend there and I went with him on my bike so he could get his bar end weight fitted under warranty. He decided to get a new back tyre as well because it was bald! So we waited around for a bit and then the guy signalled B in to pay for his back tyre fitting. When he got in the guy said, “That’ll be £140 please” and B went, wait a minute. He knew exactly how much it should have cost because I got my tyre fitted 2 days ago and it should have been £118 fitted. So he queiried it.
“Well there’s the tyre, and that costs £x, and there’s the valve and that costs £x, and then you have the fitting and balancing and that costs £x….and then you have the bar end weight..so anyway.”
“Hold on a minute, the bar end weight is to be done under warranty!”
“Hmmmm. Hold on.”
He then got the only guy in the whole of the garage that is allowed to deal with warranty issues (supposedly) and he came out and went, yeah it’s to be done under warranty.
If B was any other punter, he would have just paid the £140 and that would be it, no second thoughts, but it just shows how sneaky some people can be.
Rant over.
The weather was tremendous at the weekend, starting foggy and burning off to reveal a gorgeous day. I then went with Em on Sunday to buy a sofa, which was stressful and then had a BBQ at night, which was awesome.
The week started pretty bad with lots of fog. Then today it was foggy again but brightened up a lot during the day, only to lead to an insane mega down pour at home time, but luckily I only caught the outskirts of it and managed to ride across the front of it, which was nice!
The bike is going well, and the back tyre sure does remind me how good the GSR handles. You start to lose that “flickability” when your tyre looks like a car tyre. Oh well.
I was going to get some BT016′s on for their “triple compound” goodness but can’t afford it this month (or the next 56) because of the house. Oh well.
We move in in 2 weeks and Em is beside herself. I can’t wait and I am looking forward to 19 days of pure and simple holiday.
I am finishing my photography website off where I have got all my landscape photographs and other images available for sale. I’ll post details closer to launch, but as a wee taster, here’s one of my images. If you fancy owning a fantastic limited edition print, including ones that are distinctly motorcycle based then check it out.
Thanks for looking all,
Gordon
Suzuki GSR600. Frustrating?
I am exhausted.
Work, house, bike, money, fees, loans, cards, mortgages. It’s all tiring stuff. Then throw in to the mix my bike not starting again…whilst at a petrol station…and you’ve got an idea of my morning.
I left the house early for the first time in 2 weeks and was making progress at the speed limit. I did notice how fast people go when you stick to the speed limit…
My reserve indicator started flashing so I decided that instead of playing the reserve light challenge, I would just head in to the BP at the Forth Road Bridge. It was quite busy and I was unsure of their prices, considering the vast array of Esso prices. £1.19 was not as good as the Esso in the city but it’s better than the £1.23 at the Esso in Kinross…so I stopped, filled up and headed inside to pay.
Upon my return I was still early, and got on the bike. Ignition on, starter in…not starting. The starter motor was going as before but it just wasn’t firing. “Not again. Not here.”
The past twice that my bike has broke I have been at home, but I was in the middle of my commute, in a petrol station.
I kept trying and trying and trying. Nothing.
Then a BP guy who was washing the pumps came across and said, “Is your bike an electric starter?”
“Eh…yes?”
“Well those antennas over there screw with the electric starters of cars, so perhaps it is the same with you?”
“Oh right,”
“Yeah, Subarus and other cars have had problems starting their car, but if you head around the corner, they usually start. I’m not saying it will but it’s worth a try.”
“Ok, thanks!”
So off I went, pushing my bike around the corner like an idiot. Got there and tried again. Nothing.
Then I got an FI warning light and “FI” on the trip. F*CKING GREAT!
I got my phone out and took these photos before I phoned the garage:
Arses…
The Antenna that is “Screwing with everyone”
I thought, “I’ll give it one more try” and held the starter button in for a long time. Just before I was about to release it and throw a creampuff, it caught on, sluggishly and it sounded a bit starved of something. I gave it some redline beans and it settled in to idle.
“Thank $@!£”
I put my phone away and got all my stuff on. It was running fine but I was apprehensive about whether or not it was the dodgy antenna or my dodgy bike.
I got to work and immediately tried the on/off starting and it fired with no problems at all. Here’s hoping it was the antenna, but I’ll mention it at my service tomorrow.
I’ll ask on the GSR forum as well and see if anyone knows of anything like this.
Thanks for looking all,
Gordon
June 2008
Hello.
June 2008 has passed without major incident. There was a few near misses, a few gear updates and yet another “issue” with my GSR.
Things have seemed to flatten out with the starting problem, but I am still not 100% sure it’s fixed.
A funny thing happened on the way home tonight. As I was driving in to my street there was a group of young girls standing in the road, but when they heard the bike they all headed to the pavement. I drifted past and to my amusement, one of them shouted “STIG!”
Brilliant.
The latter end of the month was taken up with house hunting. Me and Em went to see 5 houses and out of the 5, we saw only 1 that we liked. Then we put a bid in and got it! So my weeks shot by with lawyers and bidding and fees. But we got the house that we wanted so were really chuffed.
I’ve spent the past 3 weeks trawling furniture websites, looking at the endless pages of stuff that wouldn’t work. I found myself sitting late one night aimlessly surfing the IKEA website, page after page of just stuff…really sad.
We move in on August 15th, so from now until then I doubt I’ll do much else other than continue to trawl the web and walk around furniture shops. It’s all good fun.
Anyway, that was June! A month that flew by. July will be the same, then it’ll be August, and MOVE IN TIME! YEAH!
Thanks for stopping by folks,
Gordon
Suzuki GSR600. Unreliable?
Life without a motorcycle, when you’ve had one for the past year and a half straight, is difficult. It’s even more difficult if the reason you don’t have your motorcycle is because it’s broke down.
I purchased my Suzuki GSR 600 K7 in January of this year. I’ve done, as you can see at the left there, nearly 8000 miles on it. So why, you ask, is it broken already?
Well it’s not even the first time it’s broken. This is the second. The first was in May, when the bike refused to start. I was in the middle of no-where when it broke and would have left me stranded if I were riding alone. Fortunately I wasn’t and Blair was able to give me a ride back when the Garage came to collect my bike.
They took over 2.5 weeks to fix it and the result was that they didn’t know what was wrong with it. The wiring loom was replaced and it seemed to work perfectly first time.
Well whatever the reason for it breaking in the first place has returned. My bike is “booked in” on the 8th July, when it will be looked at and probably taken through the same diagnostics that they used before, which means that it will take yet another 2 weeks to fix. I may be surprised, but plan for the worst.
2 weeks without a bike may seem like relatively little, but when your day to day life depends on it, a far greater loss is suffered.
I am really disappointed with this. I was under the impression that Japanese bikes were reliable and for the most part, they are. But for some reason this bike seems to have a problem.
Anyway, it’s pretty frustrating and I think a wee letter to Suzuki will be in order.
In other news, Emma’s Draggin Jeans that she had ordered 3 months ago still haven’t arrived. So she decided to phone them up again and cancel the order. When she did the guy that she spoke to was like “OK, that’s it canceled bye.” which frustrated Em a bit because she wanted some sort of apology or reason, but they gave nothing.
Draggin Jeans = poor customer service.
Oh well. We have bought a house! I am beyond excited about it and find myself looking at sofas, lights and blinds for our new place. I can’t wait! I keep winding Em up saying that I am going to get a 40″ flat screen and she keeps getting annoyed saying there’s other things we need first. Like a bathroom! hahaha.
I’ll keep you updated on the bike situation.
Thanks for stopping by,
Gordon
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
Half Shut Knife
Hello all.
First off let me apologise for not posting lately, it’s been a bit hectic.
Me and Em have been looking for our first house and it’s proving difficult. We have looked at 4 places now and we’re still no further forward. I guess it’s trying to balance livability with compromisment. Yep, I have given up trying to find the write words. You know what I mean hopefully.
The GSR has developed a real funny thing. When I get to 6th gear and roll on I can feel a distinct knocking through the pegs. It’s like there is only 1 cylinder going but really slowly, a slow “thud…thud…thud” and it’s at constant intervals so it’s obviously something to do with the engine….I am nearly due for my 8k service so I’ll bring it up then.
Another thing that I need to bring up is the small matter of my bike failing to start. The other day I headed off to work and stopped at the petrol garage. I filled up, went in to the shop to pay, came back out and by the time I had done all that and tried to start my bike, it wouldn’t. I tried 5-6 times to start it and ended up wheeling it over to the car park. I tried a few more times and it fired up no problems. Extremely weird and worrying, considering that not long ago it did that and the whole wiring loom needed to be replaced. I wonder what the reason for it is. Was there an air pocket in the fuel line? Who knows….
Anyway, I am really tired, very very stressed and had a very sore head all day. So instead of continuing to moan my face off, I shall retire to my bed.
Keep checking back folks, I will be updating the site with these things over the coming week:
- Update of my RST GP-Pilot Race Gloves
- Review/Update of my HARDAS Kevlar Jeans
- Update of my beloved Alpinestars Effex Gore-tex boots
- Update of my Puma Desmo 800 boots
- Video post of our Bealach Na Ba ride up and down!
- More gear updates and reviews as and when I have the time.
So I look forward to that.
Thanks for looking everyone, I hope that you haven’t lost interest.
G
p.s. My freaking camera memory card has suddenly stopped working, so I can’t take any photos, which is really annoying….ARGH I AM MOANING AGAIN! Night all.
Filter Tip: Expect the worst
Filter tips. They provide a “safer” way to enjoy tobacco. Another filter tip is one that helps bikers avoid death.
Here’s my filter tip: Expect the worst. That way you can avoid situations like tonight.
So there I was doing ~23mph between stationary traffic. All was right in the world and I was hungry and looking forward to my tea. I approached a bus on my left and a car on my right.
Then out of fecking no-where, a small Peugeot 206 appears, blocking the space between the bus and the car. Now it wasn’t like the car slowly edged it’s way out and looked. No, the car bombed it across our 2 lanes, then stopped, looked left and then carried on in the opposite direction.
I have no idea how I managed to stop, and my brakes aren’t what you would call sharp, but instinct took over and I managed to stop in about 12ft. As I came to an abrupt standstill I looked to see how close I was from this guys rear arch; 1cm.
1 unbelievably , amazingly close centimeter.
I sat for a second to let my brain catch up and then sat some more. The guy in the Peugeot was totally clueless and continued to look left, only realising that there was a man sitting in a white helmet staring at him when he started to drive away.
Now some may say that I shouldn’t be filtering and that it was my own fault. Some may say I was going to fast. I disagree with both statements and add that I did fabulously well to avoid an accident and should actually get a medal for it…
As I put my bike in to gear and started to pull away I could feel the slight sensation of adrenaline, but unlike all near misses and actual accidents that I have had, the adrenaline was a vague sensation and disappeared within minutes of the incident. I then carried on my way as if nothing had happened. Amazing. This now however throws up a few questions:
Have I done so many miles now that I am able to calmly and efficiently deal with anything that gets thrown in my direction or;
Have I done so many miles now that I am numbed to the whole motorcycle/danger thing?
Whatevet the answer is, I know one thing: I was able to quickly, efficiently and safely stop my motorcycle from ~23mph in 12ft, with absolutely no warning whatsoever and cause no commotion at all.
I F*CKING ROCK!
Scotland Tour 2008 – Day 6/7
Day 6 – Isle of Skye to Lochgilphead
Well it was the last day of the trip before heading home tomorrow. We woke up to a nice day again, with the sun shining and the wind soft but warm. We had breakfast inside today and although I liked it, the others felt it was lacking. Anyway, we had a bizarre sending off when the hosts had to rush out to catch the last ferry to Fort William at 9:50am. There were still guests in the house but off they went, leaving the house completely open and available for anyone…
Anyway we headed off with the sun still shining but it was looking pretty naff over the west coast.
We decided to stop at Eilean Dornan for the toilet as Em and K needed after an hour. As me and Blair were sitting there, we thought why don’t we just go in. It’s only £4.50 and it’s not like we will be back here any time soon. So we did…
Eilean Dornan Castle on a crap day. Tourist trap.
Eilean Dornan Castle. Unfortunately Conner MacLeod was ill that day.
Well it was pretty cool to see it but not really that interesting. I felt a wave of patriotism as we entered the banquet hall, and was bursting to shout “MACLEOD!” at the top of my lungs but resisted. However I did have a hanckering to watch Highlander all of a sudden.
We went around the designated tour path, and at one point I think we strayed as we ended up in a viewing gallery looking over the banquet hall. There just so happened to be a tour guide talking shite as we entered…and then I got my water bottle out. As I was drinking it the tour guide caught a glimpse of some shadowy figures in the gallery and did a massive double take followed by a very confused look. Then all of the punters turned round to see 4 of us standing there like tubes with all our gear on. Quick exit with lots of rustling followed. I then banged the crown of my head off a low doorway and that was sore.
Eilean Dornan wasn’t falling down, it’s just the crappy photography…
We spent a good 15 minutes going round the castle and then headed outside. We had a wee walk around and then headed back to the bikes, stopping at the reception first where the bloke behind the desk had generously offered to keep all our tank bags and helmets for us. Nice guy and nice offer.
We then got on the bikes and started the long road to Fort William. Then the heavens opened up.
As we rode through a massive glen I was suddenly aware that Blair wasn’t behind me any more. I pulled in to a layby and waited for 10 minutes. Still no show, so I turned around and headed back to where he was. As it had started raining he had decided to put his waterproofs and waterproof covers over his luggage. I decided to do the same and then walked over in to the wilderness for a quick toilet stop. It was during this quick loo stop that the jet arrive, cominig in from my left on it’s end, the jet was in full ripper mode, with the wings swept back and full throttle engaged. It was low, it was loud and it was one of the smartest things I have ever seen. Shame I was doing peeing at the time. It then shot off in to the distance where we could see it going up and down over the crests of the landscape. Amazing!
We eventually got to Fort William and by this point it was teaming down. We searched for a place to eat and eventually we found a Brewers Fair type place and got in just in time for the heavens to really open up.
A great lunch was had and after the rain calmed down we decided to crack on. Not before swapping my waterproof trousers for Blairs waterproof suit, which was slightly too short for me. It was pretty uncomfortable but couldn’t be bothered stopping to sort it. I eventually did however because circulation had stopped going to my lower body…
A couple of hours later we arrived in Oban and stopped at Tesco to grab a bottle of wine for my Auntie and some munchies and then we were off again, edging closer and closer to our destination.
Eventually we arrived to a lot of relieved faces and although the midges were out in hordes, we got in and settled down for the night. It was great to be back in familiar surroundings. I love it there and they have an amazing house.
Blair and Kirsty were heading home tomorrow but me and Em wanted to stay an extra day. So we did. We took a wee trip down to Tarbert for the afternoon, had an ice cream and a nice relaxing stroll around, then headed back for tea. We had another ace night, watched House and went to bed as we were up early tomorrow to unfortunately head home…
Invarary, stunning.
The final day was better, with the sun shining when we woke up. We had a nice breakfast and got everything sorted out for returning home. We had lunch with my auntie and uncle then got on our way. It was really sad to leave their house but we had to head home now.
A quick stop in Invarary for Em to go window shopping again. She saw a nice crafty shop up beside the Jail, so I headed up with the bike and there happened to be a bin lorry blocking the whole street. I parked my bike in front of some parked cars and waited for the lorry to finish, and noticed that there was a woman in the car I was parked in front of. As the bin lorry started to move I got my gloves on in preparation to move too, but then this STUPID woman peeped her horn to tell me to get out the way! I looked at her and she just sat there looking back at me. I pointed to the bin lorry and saw the driver laughing at me sitting there in amazement. I then rolled forward just in time for her to bomb out of the space. Totally ridiculous and completely unnecessary.
It was then the back road to Lochearn and then on to Crieff, by which point I was extremely low on fuel. My seat was also fecking sore, so I had to improvise again with a towel to make it remotely bearable. Finally a Shell garage appeared and I was relieved to say the least. I was well in to my reserve and had a max of 3-4 miles left. Once I had filled up I asked the lady if there was anywhere nice to eat and she suggested an italian place down the road.
What happens when warm rubber meets warm roads.
Final leg of the journey. Note the improvised seat. The comfy towel.
We had a fantastic lunch at this place, I had some pasta stuff and Em had a ciabatta filled with Coca-Cola smoked ham and some other bits and pieces. Tasty.
It had started raining just before we had got to the bistro, but had now stopped so began our final leg back. The rain had started again by the time we approached my turnoff, but I didn’t care, because I was nearly home.+
The final photo from the Scotland Tour 2008. It’s a photo of a parking ticket that I got when we went to the deli-bistro. You can never be too careful!
So there we go! It is all over.
After 1226 miles of amazement, joy, wonder, awe, tiredness, hunger, scents, sights and sores we had successfully completed our round the coast tour of our homeland. I saw things that I had never believed were in Scotland, things that took my breath away. I feel ashamed that I had never known about the places we went to and the various gems that we found. The Bealach Na Ba was one of which that amazed me. I think what made it so much better was the weather. When we were on top of the Bealach Na Ba viewpoint, we overheard a biker saying “the last time I was here we couldn’t see in front of our faces.”
Everything that we wanted to see and do, and even the surprises like the John O’Groat sea stacks and the Bealach Na Ba pass were viewed in the perfect light. Sunshine and nice temperatures made all these places come alive and I will never forget the things that we saw on our trip. I know that if I go back again it will probably be raining or foggy and will not be as good. This was a trip of a lifetime and I am just so happy to have been able to experience it with the conditions we were given.
The people we met were also fantastic. As soon as they saw our bike jackets or helmets, everyone seemed to open up to us. They must get a lot of bikers coming around their way, so usually when we said we were just from Fife, they were surprised. Maybe more because we were so exciteable about what we were experiencing.
My favourite place on the trip was Durnamuck, with the amazing house and view. Skye was close second and the north west was just fapping gorgeous.
Look out in the next few days for my photo stitches. Also the Bealach Na Ba footage and some other trip footage for you as well. I also have a lot to report back on the gear I used on the trip and my new AGV GP-Tech helmet, which was a bit of a disappointment really.
Anyway,
Thanks for looking folks, I hope I could convey even a smidgeon of what we experienced. I know that there is no possible way for me to tell through words or even pictures the beauty of my country. You’ll just have to come and experience it for yourself!
Gordon
Scotland Tour 2008 – Day 5
Day 5 – Isle of Skye
Waking up to a sad feeling of nearly over-ness, Em was already awake and rustling. We were greeted by a nice gentleman who had already set up our breakfast outside on the “sun terrace” as it was such a nice morning.
Indeed it was! It was glorious and the view from his house was breath taking. There was about a 200° panoramic view showing the west coast of Scotland. As you can see, the weather was pretty spectacular:
Waking up on the Isle of Skye
After a thoroughly nice breakfast and chatting to another couple who were coming up the west by train, we were invited to walk down to the shore, where we could see some rock pools. The dogs would love it he said, so off we went, to his own private shoreline.
Waking up on the Isle of Skye
It was just amazing to be able to wander around with no plans. We spent an hour or so wandering around the shore, looking in rock pools and throwing rocks in to the water for the dogs to chase. After a while it was getting on a bit so we decided to head back to the house and get going.
The first port of call was the Cuillins.
The Cuillins.
There was an ace road that ran from Merkadale to a base camp at Baulinter. It was single track but offered amazing views of the Cuillins and of the approaching beach that we would sit at.
The AGV GP-Tech. So good, but so very disappointing.
Once we arrived it was scorching. There was little or no wind at the bottom of this massive mountain. There was a small shop though that had ice creams and camping stuff. We got some ice creams, Blair got a pocket kite.
We nipped to the loo and on to the beach we went, where a guy had a humongous pro-kite that was lifting him off his feet. Blair looked down at his pocket kite and suddenly felt inadequate. So he never opened it and went back for a refund…
Once we were suitably roasted we decided to head off again. We wanted to make it up to Portree to have a nose around and perhaps get some dinner/seafood. Unknown to us was that we took the insanely long and drawn out “back road” to Portree, and it took us ages. It was a pretty crap road as well with sheep all over the place.
A map in the wee shoppie at the base of the Cuillins.
Once we arrived in Portree it was the height of the afternoon sun and we were all pretty hot with our bike gear on. Especially me with my Furygan jacket, which is lined with the same stuff as the outside of waterproof coats…so it was like wearing a food bag. Not good for wicking body moisture away that’s for sure.
We had a browse around the place, went down to the harbour where Emma saw one of the shops that she loves to look in, with jewellery and nick nacks. I saw a Buell XB12S and instantly fell in love again. What inconsiderate arse would park my dream bike in front of me…i don’t know..:(
We went up to the “main square” where there was faff all happening and then decided to head back down the road. It must have taken us all of 25 minutes to get back to where we started…if only we knew of this main route before taking the stupid road. However…after a week of smooth cruising and pillion friendly riding, both Blair and I decided to open it up a bit…not a good idea on this road. The road was really bumpy and at one point I left terra firma, only to arrive back at it with a nice big ground out. Not only that but Emma left her seat and ended up on my seat hugging my back. I knew I would have hell to pay once we stopped, so instead of prelonging the inevitable, I kept the pace up. (Secretly though, I fecking loved it, and so did Blair, who also had hell to pay after an exact re-inactment of my previous efforts)
Fuel was needed so we stopped at the Esso in Broadford, and that’s when the finger wagging started. It was actually quite funny. As I stopped and turned the engine off, I nodded for Em to get off and said to her, “let’s have it then…”
“I’VE NEVER BEEN SO SCARED IN ALL MY LIFE!! SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING…”
As I looked behind me, K was also doing her own finger wagging, and there was me and Blair standing like lemons getting shouted at by our better halves….I found it funny anyway…
After the girls cooled down we headed for some SEAFOOD! YEAH! We went to a place called Creelers which was a traditional Scottish seafood place and had some good grub. Off home it was then, stopping in at the Co-Op to grab some drinks and stuff for watching the Apprentice tonight!
Forget that, Alan Sugar is about to fire someone…
It was nice to just sit and relax for a night after our mega schedule for the past 5 days. As we were nearing the end of the Apprentice the host came through and he said that the sun was casting a beautiful sunset on the west coast, he had never seen it so nice before…but someone is about to get fired…..oh no, what to do.
Oh well, I guess I missed the sunset then.
We watched “You’re Fired!” and then headed off to bed. We hadn’t really noticed but tomorrow was going to be a massive day as well. From the southern tip of Skye to Lochgilphead. It was going to be tough and the weather wasn’t looking to hot…oh well.
Scotland Tour 2008 – Day 4
Day 4 – Durnamuck to Ardvasar, Isle of Skye
Fantastic sleep last night, the king size bed was just what I needed! We woke to a cracking, clear blue sky, with the temperature around 19-20°C. The breakfast was delicious and we all felt so relaxed it was like being home. The hosts were superb and offered us some great chat whilst after we had breakfast and then we got set up to leave.
Durnamuck, my new favourite place.
The hosts had some amazing wee pets that we played with in between getting ready, with the young dog really exciteable and a great laugh.
Maisie
After we reluctantly left Durnamuck we headed round the coast towards Kyle of Lochalsh. We stopped at a beach 40 minutes away and had a we rest. We weren’t on any tight schedule as the distance was so little, however we did find ourselves taking small detours as a result…
Some place which I can’t remember where…
We were desperate to do the Bealach Na Ba road, an infamous road which leads to Applecross. Almost anyone that we spoke to recommended it. We stopped for a quick bite to eat in a place called Shieldaig, which didn’t really have many places to eat. We were also told that there was a petrol station there, but wasn’t and we only had enough to get us 40-50 miles. The options were head back to Torridon and then do the whole Applecross experience, or go to Lochcarron and only do the Bealach Na Ba road. We opted for the latter using the lack of time as an excuse and headed off in a slow pace.
Just before the Bealach Na Ba road.
Once we got to Lochcarron it was another “peep to get assistance” and we filled up our bikes to the relief of Blair. I think the whole thought of running out of petrol on a bike makes anyone nervous. Heading back to the Bealach Na Ba road I felt really excited. So many people had told us to do this road, it must be something else. Once we arrived we stopped at the bottom of the road and I set up the helmet cam to go and off we went. I will post up the video of the Bealach Na Ba road, up and down, soon.
Amazing. Absolutely AMAZING.
The road was unbelievable. It started off quite a shallow climb, weaving our way up the side of a hill. This lasted for around 10 minutes and then we crested a hill and saw the reason EVERYONE said do this road. It was simply mind blowing. I think again the weather helped us out a bit because the sun was beating down, we saw a massive cliff face with a steep valley and then the road on the other side. As we looked up the road we could see in the distance basically a flat wall. It took a wee bit to get up and luckily the car drivers let us pass and then we hit the hairpins. These were 8-9 of the steepest hairpins you could find and was a real test of clutch and brake control, especially with 2 up and luggage. Once we did the hairpins it was a short straight to the Bealach Na Ba viewpoint.
The View from the top of the Bealach Na Ba road; Bealach Na Ba viewpoint
SOMETHING ELSE!! WOW!! We had a 360 panorama of the Isle of Skye, as well as the hills to the right and left. It was amazing. Quite windy but superb. I took a massive photostitch here so will post that up soon. After wandering about for a bit we headed back to the bikes and started our descent.
Looking down the Bealach Na Ba road.
Coming back down the road was 10 times more stunning, as we were able to see the whole Bealach Na Ba road stretched out in front of us. It was superb. The cliffs to the right were in shade but the light was just perfect to show all the contrasts in ground type.
And again, with the girls getting slightly fed up with our excitement.
Blair and I couldn’t help but stop every 2 minutes to take photos. The girls were getting a bit annoyed at having to stand about whilst we ran around trying to get the perfect shot.
We finished our photography and headed to Skye. We didn’t really stop at all after the Bealach Na Ba and trucked on. We still had a bit to do and the day had morphed in to quite a long one, when it started out as a relaxing jaunt down to Skye.
After an hour or so we finally arrived at the main road to Lochalsh, and instead of going straight there, Blair guided us towards Eilean Dornan Castle. A quick blast down the road and there it was, the actual castle from Highlander. Again the light was perfect and we got some great photos of it. Just as well because the next time we would visit it would be overcast…
Eilean Dornan Castle. The most photographed castle in Britain. (I think…)
We got to Kyle of Lochalsh and filled up again as we weren’t sure of the petrol situation on Skye. We were in good spirits as we knew we were a short distance away. Crossing over the Skye bridge we bombed it south (after taking the wrong exit on the roundabout.)
It took around an hour to get down to Ardvasar where the digs were. We had booked these digs way back when we first started planning the trip and Blair said they were amazing. It would have to be something pretty special to top Durnamuch but we would soon see.
By this point we were all getting hungry and by the time we had arrived and got ourselves together, we were ready for a big eat. The hosts suggested a place called the Eilean Iarmain for tea and we headed down at an increased pace…
Eilean Iarman Hotel. Coincidence or what?
We arrived and asked if we could get something to eat. They directed us towards the bar area and we settled infront of the open fire…until our faces started melting and we moved table.
Drinks were in and menus were being browsed until K suddenly went “I know that guy!” looking over to the chef. K worked with him at a previous job and was somewhat of a mentor to her. He came out and was a brilliant guy! He is a freelance chef jumping around the UK and had settled here for the past couple of weeks. Sounded brilliant! He then said he would cook our tea and come and chat after. Needless to say we got one of the best meals on the trip (with a little extra on the side…) and then he came over and bought us a round and chatted for ages. It was just brilliant. What were the chances of K meeting her old mate in the south of Skye at that very moment? Simply amazing.
After a fantastic tea we were all stuffed and in need of some sleep so we headed back to the digs for showers and some TV, before lights out and lots of sleep in preparation for our jaunt around Skye tomorrow. It looks as if the weather would remain glorious for us tomorrow so we were all looking forward to seeing the Cuillins, continuing my search for Cullin Skink (which I had been totally unsuccessful with since the Commando monument on Day 1!) and Emma’s search for some fresh seafood.
Scotland Tour 2008 – Day 3
Day 3 – Freswick to Durnamuck
Day 3 started with Emma rustling in bags. It’s what she does. Wake up, shower, come back and start rustling. Then it’s the hair drier. The bed was hard and the pillows were so soft my head was touching the matress… so I had to use some towels and clothes to make it remotely comfortable. The resulting sleep was not the best and to wake up to Em’s morning noise was a bit of a duffer. Howard Leight, we salute you. What a joy it was to be able to catch an extra 15 minutes sleep with the Lazer Lites in.
Breakfast was ok, we ate in the white porch bit. Weather was looking sus, but it was already starting to break up so we started cheering up.
Getting the panniers on and set for the biggie.
Leaving Freswick we initially headed north towards JOG again, but then turned left short of it and headed West. Following the coast around we passed a valley of sand dunes that Blair wanted to see, but due to the constant signalling problems that we had, I didn’t realise. So I ended up heading down to a beach looking over to the sand dunes/beach.
I then realised that I had left Em in Freswick and brought a mannequin instead…
After a quick look at the rock pools, we headed off again, but by now the weather was starting to turn for the better. We saw some wind farms, and even though it was a private road, we wanted to take some photos beside them.
Windy Millar. Beautiful things, and my favourite plant next to them!
After a while of riding we hit a great bit of road and threaded our way through some beautiful scenery. We then saw a nice place to stop and have a wee break/toilet and take in some of the views.
Glorious roads, glorious views, glorious weather…
I think I will keep repeating myself here, but after the short break what came after was some more ace roads, breath-taking views and gorgeous weather.
I got peeped at for taking this photo. Some idiot thought I was parked in a stupid place…
We did a big stint on the bikes and then got hungry. We were running out of fuel and saw that Tongue was coming up so decided to head there for some food and fuel. We found this wee place and the girls headed in to grab a sandwich whilst B and I went for some petrol at the local Spar. There was only 1 pump and some old guy operated it. He then said the cost of the fill up i.e £7.65 and you had to remember that and say it at the till inside. Pretty odd but a lot of bikers were there and a cool ass Night Rod.
Lunch in Tongue
After a quick rest I headed in to the shoppie to find a Saltire sticker for my helmet but they didn’t have any. So we headed onwards, up through a wooded area and surfaced looking straight ahead at this view:
Wow, but this was nothing!
I have lots of stitches of these views, so you don’t really appreciate the view that was on offer here, but you will when I post them up!
After taking in this view for a minute or two we headed to a crossing that we saw in the distance. I liked the first visor image so tried another one with B’s Schuberth inner visor.
Hello.
Again I have a stitch of this view but haven’t uploaded it yet.
As we headed around the top of the Loch, we went up a really steep incline which brought us out a the top of a hill looking down a massive sea loch. Brilliant! I really couldn’t take it all in, it seemed like everytime we turned the corner the views were getting better and better.
We were going round that loch!!! But wow how nice is it!! Em’s YY sticker making an apperance!
Yeah we were heading around that Loch, and it was an amazing road. It was single track but the undulations were superb and the road was snooker table smooth. There were a few mongo’s in Land Rovers but once we let them past we were able to enjoy the amazing scenery.
B&K taking it all in.
What was to come next would blow all our socks off. We crested an uphill section and saw this beach in front of us. The road carried on up the hill and every meter we progressed the beach got longer and whiter. We sat here for ages just gobsmacked that a beach of this beauty was in our country.
You would expect to see this in the mediterranean
As we reluctantly decided to move on we took our last looks at the heavenly beach and left. We had marked the Smoo Caves on our “things to see” map, so headed there next. It was early afternoon now and the sun was beating down something else. There was also a nice breeze so you didn’t appreciate how burnt you were getting.
Smoo Caves. Funny name, really nice place.
The Smoo Caves were a wee treck down some stairs and then in to the outer caves. They were ok I guess…cave like…then you went across a wee bridge to the inner caves. This is where the tour stopped for us, but you were able to pay a small fee and go further in to the caves and see some more stuff. There was a really smart lagoon type place though.
Hey you guys….
There were some people in the next cave and we could see the boat, but we didn’t really have the time. Plus we were all geared up and had the tank bags etc so it wasn’t really appropriate.
Would’ve been good but I don’t mind not seeing all the way in.
Smooooooo
The next stage was a long one. We travelled for ages without a break. We did stop on the bikes and take quick in situ photos but we soldiered on. We were getting quite tired and it seemed like we were missing a lot of great photo oppertunities, but we were starting to get a bit weary.
A nice valley, with a nicer stitch coming soon…
A good two hours later we arrived at a toilet and we all peeled ourselves off the bike. We had a quick toilet stop and B&K had a quick smoke, then some boys turned up with some nice bikes. Out of them all I liked the Triumph Tiger and the Ducati 999, which had a pillion on the back. That would be some really uncomfy riding, especially for the pillion. Cracker seat.
Dead Emma.
We started heading in to the big mountain ranges now, and the views were simply epic. The road was freshly laid and it was amazing to feel so much grip, even with Emma on the back. We stopped at a few viewing points to take it all in.
One of the stunning views we saw.
The girls relaxing in the sun, waiting for us boys to stop taking so many photos…
The road then changed from mostly uphill sections to mostly downhill sections and as we weaved through this huge landscape, there was nothing but smiles all round. After a while we came to a junction and then the road was back from single track to single lane. It was quite disappointing to be out of that landscape but we then saw a ruined castle, so went to check it out.
Amazing landscapes.
The girls heading for the castle.
Heading onward we saw the Suilven mountain range. We were supposed to be staying near in a place called Elphin. There was a cavers cottage that was £5 a night, but it was back to basics and the girls really weren’t up for it. So I had to try and find somewhere at the very last minute.
Suilven from afar.
We were heading for a wee place called Durnamuck, which was on the side of Little Loch Broom. Ullapool site on Loch broom with a mountain range sitting between the two lochs. We were hungry so stopped in Ullapool for a nice tea of fish.
Dinner in Ullapool. Our bikes attracted a lot of interest…mostly from middle aged men…
After a nice tea and realising that we were all really sunburnt we decided to head for the digs around the Loch. We nipped in to the garage to pick up some alcohol for tonight and got trucking. It took a wee while to get around the Loch and there was a lot of “where are we going?” but eventually we found it (after a wrong turn sent us down her neighbours driveway…)
WHAT A FIND! Absolutely beautiful.
When we arrived we were beside ourselves. For such a last minute find we couldn’t believe our luck. It was a fantastic new build with jaw dropping views. After we said our hellos and got sorted out, we decided that it was too nice to sit in and relax so we headed out to see the sun set. What a great choice it was because the sunset was amazing and the resulting views on the hills were simply beautiful.
Sunset over Durnamuck
Once we decided that we had had enough of the midges and lack of remaining light, we headed back. We were invited in to the living room and we had a great chin wag for an hour and a bit by which point we were all really tired. The king sized beds were a delight and I slept like a baby log. What a fantastic day and a fantastic place. I fell in love tonight.
Durnamuck, one jaw droppingly gorgeous place. 5 out of 5 YY stars.
Tomorrow was to be quite a relaxing day mileage wise and the weather was all set to be nice. Fingers crossed for my first trip to the Isle of Skye!
Scotland Tour 2008 – Day 2
Day 2 – Inverness – Freswick
So we woke up, not so fresh faced and raring to go, but the weather was looking promising. We headed back over to the golf place for breakfast and after working out their stupid pricing plan, we got some bacon rolls and some tea.
After packing up the panniers and fitting them we headed off to Tesco to grab some petrol and some cash and headed out to the Inverness bridge. When we left the carpark I turned left and headed for the main roundabout and got on to the motorway leading up to the bridge, but then I lost Blair somewhere along the way.
We waited for 15 minutes and finally, to Emma’s relief, he turned up.
Most displeased
There was a pretty bad accident on the bridge, a 4 car job with airbags and the lot, although I don’t think anyone was seriously hurt. We then continued north travelling up the east coast, along the Black Isle and up to Tain, where we arrived at the Glenmorangie Distillery.
The Glen of Tranquility…
Pretty smelly but great to go and see
After leaving the gift shop with a wee bottle for Dad, we headed up north, stopping at a crossing to soak up some rays. It was turning out to be a beautiful day! My AGV helmet was starting to fall apart though, with the DD adjustment thing ripping off in my hand. Not good for a top-line helmet…(Update after)
The crossing between Tain and Dornoch
The weather was scorching and spirits were up as we headed further north, with some amazing sights along the way. As we threaded our way through some glorious road and scenery, the smell of the Scotch Broom was delicious, a nice coconut smell, reminded me of summer holidays.
East Coast roads are ace
The yellow stuff is the Scotch Broom, lovely!
After quite a time on the bike we stopped at a small food stop and refuelled our bodies. There was some weird locals speaking to us, and at one point called us fat b*stards, which was nice…
Tasty burgers…dodgy chat
After wolfing down our lunch, we headed out to get some petrol. B was petrified of running out so was on tenderhooks all the way to the petrol station. When we arrived it was like a step back in time. An old guy was polishing the engine of his 50 year old classic car and turned to see us riding up. We filled up and we chatted a bit, he was getting his classic ready for the summer. We paid and said our goodbyes.
We must have travelled about 2 miles, and as we exited a wooded area suddenly we were in a retail park! There was Argos, Next, Superdrug….it was bizarre! One minute we are in the back of beyond with an old timer and his classic car, the next we were in the present day!
We decided that we would ride up through Wick to the B&B, unpack the luggage and then head up to John O’Groats.
B&K arriving at the digs
The ride to JOG was good, smooth roads and it was nice to get the panniers off. The bike felt really nimble and light and I made full use of the rev range on one of the long quiet straights…:D
HooHa extraordanair
Once we arrived at John O’Groats we headed over to the sign and some New Zealanders were getting their photo taken. Basically what happens is you pay some money and you get your home town, plus the distance from JOG to your town and then you get a professional photo taken. So the NZers were getting their photo taken and the guy then came across and asked what we would like, so I said can we have the bikes up beside the sign?
“£9.50 each, or if you don’t want the bikes in, it’s free…”
Free it was. So he said that’s fine, if you wait a second he would take down the monster NZ sign for us. Great!
So we waited for a while and he then surfaced with some letters and stuff and started putting them in the slots..so that it read “Your Town ?”….
Arse. Anyway, we got all our gear together with the helmets all lined up, and then another member of the joe P came across and asked if I would like him to take our picture. I said yeah that would be great and he started calling the pro an arse.
After taking our photos, we were standing there and the pro shouted me over, then proceeded to say that we could in fact actually park our bikes anywhere we like outside the chained off area….and that we could put the bikes up on the grass if we liked!? But he was leaving in 3 minutes so we would have to be quick…
Cue me and B sprinting over to our bikes and whizzing round and up the grass..oh it was a laugh.
The pro then got in to the swing of this “being nice” thing and started chatting away to us about how shit my camera was and how he hated the compacts, “what you need is a good old 35mm SLR.”
Are you joking me?
The forbidden photo
Anyway, me and the girls abandoned Blair whilst the guy chatted to him for ages, and whilst he was getting that, the guy that took our pictures came over and started chatting to me. He was on a trip around Scotland the other way in a camper van with his wife, and was bigging up the roads big licks. He was great chat and in the end we had a good chin wag for 20 minutes.
A few more bikers had turned up and Blair had made it away from Nice Guy Eddie and we started chatting to them.
The Gissers and the trailies
The boys were on Trailies going the same way as us, but roughing it with tents and the tins. As we were chatting about how many miles they were dong a day (unbelievable) the pro was now in his car and doing a massive kerb rider over the grass mound. Upon seeing the pro bouncing about inside his car and doing some serious 4×4 in his Ford Escort, he burst out laughing, but with a real shriek of a laugh, and his mate shouted “HOI! Don’t laugh!!!” Really funny.
The Trailies said their goodbyes and said they were going to try and get to Ullapool tonight!!! and then got fully geared up, helmet, gloves, rev your engines….then went 200 yards and got off again at the campsite…gloves off..helmet off….
Local talent hotspot
After milling around for a bit we decided to go and reserve a table at the JOG Seaview Hotel, which we had been recommended by the B&B Lady. Me and B sat outside and the girls went in to book the table, then re-appeared in 2 minutes saying that they had went to the bar and suddenly all these local men were around them. There was also a woman screaming at her drunk husband to get home…So tea in Wick then ladies?
Just as we were leaving some old cars bombed past heading for the JOG post.
The Pro at the JOG post had mentioned in his excitement that there was some sea stacks beside a lighthouse to the East. We went to check it out, and I wasn’t really expecting anything really. On the way to the sea stacks there was a gully type thing where all the birds were sitting in the layers of cliff face. It was really smart.
Cliffs with seagulls and Razorbills
Then as we headed over the crest of a hill the sea stacks came in to view and my word, what a view it was. The light was just right, casting a nice shadow in the slight mist that was surrounding the cliff faces. And the sea stacks were huge!!
Beautiful. The Sea Stacks near John O’Groats
Look out for a photo stitch of that soon..
Anyway, after standing in awe of the beautiful sights that were before our very eyes, we headed back to Wick to grab something to eat. We travelled all over Wick looking for somewhere to eat and ended up beside a Sainsburys at a hotel which I can’t remember the name of…the Norseman?? Anyway, the food was ok and the service was shocking.
We headed for Tesco to fill up and get some drinks for tonight, then headed back to the digs, where the sun was just setting.
New born? No, just itchy
When we arrived we stood in the garden for a bit and Blair was sure a sheep was giving birth, but it was just rolling around….Drinks, some TV and then bed, a big big day tomorrow and we were all a bit apprehensive about it…
The Farmhouse B&B – Freswick. 4 out of 5 YY Stars
Tomorrow = Freswick to Durnamuck 
Scotland Tour 2008 – Day 1
HELLO!
That’s it! It’s all over…:(
We had a superb trip, filled with breath-taking views, amazing roads and fantasatic people. All in all we are a bit tired but the amazing experiences we all had kept us going through all the pain and tiredness. I managed to take over 730 photos, so I will try and sort them out and post the best ones in chronological order….so here we go!!!
Day 1 – Perth to Inverness
The morning of the big trip! Ultra excited, things were already packed and ready to go the night before. All that was needed was to get up, pack some last minute things and off we go!
The bikes were fuelled up, the luggage was on the bikes and all gear was ready, so we saddled up and headed for Inverness.
The first of many photos – Group photo at Aberargie
It was looking very overcast but we were hoping for some glimmer of sunshine. After we took the first photo B mentioned that he needed petrol so we filled up in Perth and continued north until we had our first break at the House of Bruar. It was still too early for lunch so we continued on and decided to stop when we got to Spean Bridge.
Toilet stop at the Laggan Dam
We carried on to Spean Bridge where we ate a quick and slightly disappointing lunch, although I had Cullen Skink and it was tasty. We then headed up to the Commando Memorial and looked over to the Nevis range.
The Nevis range, still overcast…
The Commando Monument, commemorating the Commandos who trained in this area during WWII
After a wee rest we headed up along Loch Ness, stopping at Urquhart Castle, but we didn’t go in cause it was £6.50 each…no thanks.
Urquhart Castle, nice to look at but not worth the £6.50pp…sorry.
“How far have we come? Is that IT?….oh….”
After steaming up the Great Glen we arrived at Inverness. We drove around for a bit, and then decided to head over to Fort George, an old fort that was now used as a military establishement. We did however arrive slightly late…and it was closed. Oh well, B and me decided to risk the chance of getting shot and walked around the closed Fort to take some pictures. Pretty cool really.
Fort George, closed to everyone….oh well.
The Fortifications, really smart and quite a drop some of them!
After the disappointment of driving an extra 10 miles down some crap road only to find it closed and then trying a burnout on the gravel only to have Em fly forward and sit on my back….we headed back to the digs for the night; The Travelodge!
We had some nice pub grub at the golf restaurant and then went to get some kip…only we couldn’t because some girls had decided to have a party in the room above us and then start smoking outside our open window. Earplugs did the trick and allowed sleep in an unusually loud Travelodge.
That concluded Day 1 of the tour, and the forecast was looking good for tomorrow! OOO!
April 2008
Hello everyone.
April is over already. WHERE DID IT GO!?
It was an extremely exciting month for me and the YY site. There has been a lot of interest lately in YY and the views have skyrocketed. I am so chuffed that people take the time to look at the site and it is nice to have some comments as well.
April started with a reply to my letter that I sent to RST clothing following my favourite pair of RST trousers ripping after less than 6 months usage, although to be fair, they had been used 5, 6 and some times 7 days a week from October to March, all the way through a mega winter. They performed well on dry days, whether it be freezing or mild. However, and this still stands, the waterproof area of the Pro Paragon suit leaves one somewhat wanting. There is a serious problem with water ingress mainly around the upper chest and belly button area. The 360 zip actually only goes around 300 degrees and leaves a 3″ gap just above the trouser zip. For some reason the water finds its way in to this area and leads to very wet and often freezing inner clothing. On very wet days within 10 miles the suit can fail completely with water repelling and leads to a very uncomfortable ride.
Anyway, after receiving a letter from RST I was chuffed to bits. I was told that I would receive a reply from the designer of the RST products when he returned. I did receive a reply and it was extremely positive. I was delighted that the company had read my letter in a positive light, and that they took a lot from it. I had tried my best to make it positive even though I was writing about a negative experience. I can’t divulge the outcome of my letter at this moment in time but it’s fair to say it is far more than I had ever wished for.
After the mammoth positive there had to be a mammoth negative and that was my bike breaking down, and in true YY style, it broke to the point that no-one knew what the hell had happened to it. The boys at my Suzuki garage had the bike to it’s bones, using the demonstrator GSR as a parts bin trying to diagnose the problem. In the end they had to phone Suzuki and they replaced the entire wiring loom and it fired first time. All in all it took 3 weeks and £500 to fix it, and thankfully it was all done under warranty.
I fiited a HID light to my bike and initially it was absolutely brilliant, but due to it being a cheap £30 unit from China, the solenoid that controls the high/low beam has jammed on low beam and won’t budge, so that’s annoying.
My GSR got it’s first rear tyre replacement, and it just so happened to be the wettest day so far. I turned out of the garage gently, changed to 2nd gear and opened the throttle, the rear spun up and that was the warning to baby it all the way to work.
Apart from that April was a quiet month! Ha.
May is here, and that means in 3 weeks we will be going around Scotland for a week, anti-clockwise.
Stay tuned for a mega photo/video/word fest after that!
Anyway, thanks for visiting YamYam and thanks for your comments.
Cheers
Gordon
HID and Stuck
Hello everyone.
My bike is fixed! HOORAY! After Suzuki replaced the wiring loom it fired up first time, so that seemed to be the problem. It was covered under warranty too so I didn’t have to worry about footing the bill. On the flipside though my rear tyre is “completely illegal” and is getting replaced this Wednesday with a new one, and will cost £119 odds.
Upon getting the call that my bike was fixed I was desperate to get it back as I have been doing the bus thing. It’s not that bad now actually because the buses here have free wifi! I would get on the bus around 7:30am and get the iPod touch out and start reading the news, surfing the web, listening to music. It was nice to be able to relax on the way in to work (although you did get the dodgy driving and kangaroo braking which ruined the otherwise sleepy journey)
I was fed up of the 6:20am rise as I usually wake up around 7:45am when I have the bike, so it was pretty tough. Plus the fact that if I need to do stay later it means having to re-arrange a collection from the park ‘n ride, which can be inconvenient for everyone else. So the long and short of it was I was desperate to get my wheels back.
The ride back from the garage was funny. Not haha, but weird. The bike seemed really difficult to lean, and perhaps it was subliminal considering the phrase “completely illegal” was used about my squared off rear. But I got home and the HID light was really cool!
But then on Saturday the HID stuck on low beam and the solenoid wouldn’t change it to full beam. At least it was on though, but it was annoying. This was later on in the evening during a trip with Em because it was a nice night.
Today Em and I went to Scott Murray’s because I wanted to get some wheel stripes. I saw some boys on the forum had them and it looks great! So we left to go there, anticipating a call from Blair as today’s weather was nothing short of glorious. The HID rig was working this morning, after I washed my bike. It only seemed to stay working for a wee while though, and then stuck on full whack for the rest of the day (but I didn’t realise this until I got home! OOPS! I wondered why all the signs were really bright! HA)
We chatted to the boys and I bought a new back protector, which I will review after this post.
After a quick chat we were off again and headed to Blairs, and then over to St. Andrews for a ride/chips. The bike felt really good today for some reason and was smooth, gears, throttle and brakes were all silky. It must have been the weather/new helmet which added to the “I’m alive” feeling.
Once we got to St.A we headed to the back of the Old Course where the dunes are and stopped for 10 minutes. It was getting colder, but we thought it was just the breeze from the sea. A boy on a Buell, the exact same as mine drove past and I was a hater. He also was wearing the RST Electric jacket and draggin jeans, the exact same setup I had when I had the Buell. It was like I was watching me riding past. Really bizarre.
We fancied some chips so headed along the high street, but couldn’t see anywhere. Then Blair mentioned Anstruther and it’s famous chip shop and Em made an executive decision before Blair had even finished his sentence. We fuelled up and headed out, on some brilliant roads!
Once in Anstruther Em and Kirsty joined the ridiculous queue to the chip shop, some locals swearing under their breath, annoyed that the pavement was taken up with hungry punters. Blair and I stood outside for 45 minutes, watching the endless circuit of boy racers going up and down the high street. It was getting really cold and I had my Furygan/Hardas combo on, so was starting to get quite cold. The fish and chips arrived, with Kirsty saying another local jumped the queue. We ate, (delicious) and the left rickety tick. The ride back home was glorious, with the roads sweeping and fast, the sun low in the sky offering a warm breeze through open visors and the sound of two GSR’s in unison. It couldn’t get any better, and it didn’t as I started to get really tired and sore. The GSR seems to have a hard area on the seat, just before the tank. Basically where you like to sit. This means that after a days solid riding, it’s sore bums all round. I didn’t care though.
So that was my weekend! It was brilliant to get out with the 4 us on the bikes and the weather was simply glorious. It was meant to be raining as well! Pah, weathermen.
My bike is over the 4k barrier, time for the 2nd service.
Thanks for reading!
Gordon
Updates Updates.
Hello everyone.
So the last time I wrote I had fitted my brand spankers HID rig, busted up my motorcycle and been left stranded in the middle of a village somewhere.
Well things haven’t improved at all really…
My bike went in Saturday and was told they wouldn’t really look at it until Monday at least. So when Monday came, I phoned them at 9am sharpie. In the call I mentioned a thing called a fuel pump relay, which upon reading the GSR forum, seemed to a problem for a few people, and the results were the same as mine, bikey no startey.
So they said aye fair enough, I will print out the mechanics sheet and he will either get it on the stand today or Wednesday. Ok fair nough.
Went on to the forum Monday night and some of the boyos were saying that it could be the HID rig interfering with the immobiliser, since some of the cheaper HID units (i.e. mine) aren’t magnetically shielded which could result in EMP leakage.
Back on the phone Tuesday @ 9am (I now had to get the bus to work, which meant getting up at 6:30am to hitch a ride with my Dad to the bus park ‘n ride. I usually got to work around 8:10am…
Menioned the HID rig to them and they said they will print out another mechanics sheet and that the mechanic had it on his bench already, having done some work Monday afternoon.
Great. So I left it at that until Thursday, when I called again. The bloke said that they couldn’t find the problem, even after stripping the bike back to the frame, and using the demonstrator GSR as a parts bin. So they would continue along their diagnostics plan and hopefully something will be found. He did say that the HID rig was the first thing to come off, so it wasn’t that. And because it wasn’t anything I had done to it, it would almost certainly be a warranty job. Brill.
So as my bike lay dead in the garage, I forged on without it. But not before getting a bug from work and spending Thursday boking and feeling exhausted.
I had been full chat at work and come Thursday night, I was ready to implode. Then the bus journey home was the deal clincher. I was at the stage of saying to the bus driver, let me off right now, but I managed to hold it in until I got home.
Well. My. Word. It all hit off when I took the first steps through my door. It was b-line to the toilet and as you can imagine, wasn’t pretty in any shape or form. I spent the rest of Thursday night/Friday morning in and out of the toilet. Friday saw a decrease in sickness and increase in the other end and this continued in to the weekend, and now sitting here on Sunday, I am having 5 minute stints at writing this as I am constantly running to the toilet for some fireworks. I am fed up with this.
I got a final call on Friday, whilst lying in bed from the garage to say they hadn’t solved the problem by the end of their diagnostics so called Suzuki who asked them to order a new wiring loom and another part which I forgot the name of. This would be delivered by Tuesday (hopefully) but to save any complications, they said Wednesday, with the bike booked in for a Thursday fix. This could still leave the problem unsolved mind you. So I am stuck for another week without a bike. SUPERB!
I feel like crap.
I have had some news back about RST but I will go in to detail about that another time. I also received my trousers that ripped back, but instead of it being my old ones, I got a brand new set! So thanks for that RST, well chuffed!
Hopefully by next week I will be ok, but going by what’s going on with my body at the minute, I can’t see it happening.
Thanks for reading guys, YY is now pushing the 11,500 mark and I am absolutely ecstatic about it.
Gordon
