Its a big old bus this…
Weekly Update 2 – 03/07 – 28/07
Hello everyone.
It’s been a busy old month in the life of YamYam. Firstly I had my meeting with Glen Richards, to get my artworks signed! It was a nervous time for me for some reason, but anyway it went without a hitch and it was a great experience, Glen is a fantastic bloke. I gave him his complimentary canvas and off he went with it under his arm, to show all the HM Plant boys during his tea! I showed him the Bayliss as well and he loved it, so hopefully the word will spread and I’ll get some more orders!
I’ve been commuting to Glasgow the past couple of weeks on the MT and boy oh boy does it fatigue me. It’s not the riding position at all, in fact it’s the most comfy bike I have ridden. It’s the vibes through the pegs, coupled with the lack of foot movement (on the motorway) makes my feet fall apart after half and hour. It’s not the best and it’s certainly needing some kind of foot restage botch if I wanted to use it as a proper touring bike.
“There is something about traveling at high speed a few feet above hard ground that gets your attention. When the body is right there, the brain tends to be right there with it.”
I was planning on writing a story about the reasons why I believe motorcycles to be safer than cars, but having typed just that in to Google, I found this article here. It pretty much says exactly what I was going to, so there’s no point in regurgitating, I’ll just link to it and write something else!
I have been working extremely hard these days at work…obviously. I have been doing some serious hours an it’s left me with zero time for well, anything. I get home at 3am, I am more concerned about sleeping than updating yamyam or other important things like eating.
After a weekend to forget, even though I already have due to exhaustion, I am now on the recovery and have some free time to do all the things I haven’t been able to do for the past month.
The other night I finished very late through in Glasgow and had forgotten to put my clear visor in my Kriega so had to ride for an hour and a half in the pouring rain with my dark visor on. It wouldn’t have been so bad had it been dry as I could go along with it open to see the road, but because of the rain it was near impossible. But after an hour on the bike and getting saturated through, I was suddenly aware of the cats eyes on the newly laid stretch of road near Kinross. They lit up so brightly that through the dark visor it was almost like a landing strip leading me home. It was amazing, as pretty much that’s all I could see through the visor.
That happened several times over the coming weeks, me forgetting my clear visor, me riding home in the dark, sometimes dry, often wet. I would always love getting to that stretch of road, as it meant I was almost home; the place I have grown to miss through not being there at all the past wee while.
One thing is for sure though, the MT is the best bike to be on when you are knackered and wanting to get home. Once you are in top gear, you just chug along. Nothing else to really think about. That’s what I love about it, if you want to get a thrill, open the throttle quickly. If you want to cruise, just sit back and enjoy. You feel amazing regardless of what style you feel like.
I will be sad when winter comes around again (and at this rate, it’ll be tomorrow)
Washed it for the first time in two weeks today, it was pretty dirty all over and I was secretly worried it had been damaged or rusted, but it was brilliant. All the dirty stains and rusting parts cleaned up a jem and it’s sitting outside my house gleaming in the evening sun.
I am glad I am so fortunate to own such a bike. I see a lot of bikers on the road on bangers and old bikes. I don’t feel bad for them, because they are probably loving it. I just feel fortunate to be able to walk out to the MT every morning, knowing that it will soon be locked up and still gleaming, as the GSR is brought back in to active service. I too will soon be riding around on a banger, but I will also still be loving it.
Sorry for the complete lack of update. It couldn’t be helped.
Cheers
YY
MT-01 Fixed, Rockin. GSR Fixed. Crap.
Hi all,
Bit of a hoo ha really, but the long and short of it is that the MT has been fixed, wheel is true (unchecked as of writing) and although scuffed in a few bits, the wheel isn’t too badly mangled.
I have been commuting on the MT for the past 6 days and I am absolutely in love with my bike. It’s just the best. The comfort, the power, the dials (the smartest I have ever seen), the riding position, the sound, the vibration (with earplugs in the bike makes your brain vibrate out your ears), the feeling of utter joy as other bikers double take left right and centre.
A lot of bikers who normally fly past me in town or motorway will now sit behind me. It’s almost a respect thing, but I suspect it’s something more to do with the sound and looks of it.
When I picked up my MT from Sandy Bloys I dropped my GSR off as the head bearings have been shot for the past 6 months if not longer. I asked how much roughly and was told £100 – £120.
Go for it.
Got a call today to say the bike is ready. No price attached.
How much is it?
£185.
!!!
Again the long and short is that the GSR is apparantly a total bitch to get in to the head bearings. You have to take the ignition barrel off and everything and the mechanics at the garage said they never seen any bike as complicated as this.
I don’t know whether to believe them or not but it seems awfully expensive.
Nothing I can do now but I am a bit disappointed really.
GSR will go straight in to my Dad’s garage in preparation for it’s first oil change in over a year. Joys.
I’ll keep you updated as to whats going on but I’ve got to get my main website up and running after the powersoft fiasco.
Thanks all for reading,
Gordon
Yamaha MT-01 – Bent Rim Blues II
Ok.
Today I went to the garage thinking I would leave the MT there whilst they had a look and got back to me, but I waited and to cut a long story short,
The garage still deny that the alloy was bent when the bike was sold to me. I am still 100% sure that I haven’t hit anything that would do this kind of damage. But in the end we both agreed to get the wheel sent off to a company called Hagon, who manufacture shocks and custom wheels, but they also repair cast wheels.
£75 to get it fixed, and the garage would take care of the labour and postage costs etc etc.
We then headed up to Dundee, leaving the MT at the garage. We went to see Robin Hood and it was ok. After the film had finished Em and I both went to the toilet, and as I entered the Gents I looked over to my right to see 2 blokes standing at the urinals, one of them turned round to look at me, and I went straight ahead in to a cubicle.
Shortly after one of the blokes left, the door shut and that was that. But then this 2nd bloke went in to the cubicle beside me, no biggie I thought, blowing his nose or whatever.
Finished up, sorted my belt and as I turned around to open the cubicle door and I suddenly was aware that some bare feet were sticking under the door. A bit puzzled as to why there would be bare feet in the gents of a cinema, but then to my absolute horror, a face appeared. Under the door. Looking at me.
And this wasn’t a childs face. This was a mans face. Looking at me, on their hands and knees, under the cubicle door.
I quickly opened the door by which point this bloke had stood up and was now staring directly at me. I said “alright?” in a nervous, weirded out kind of way and he turned and started washing his hands. I quickly washed my hands and this guy had progressed on to the hand driers so I just left, but as I passed him, he took off his right shoe.
Now after I left the toilet there was no sign of Em, so I just wandered over to the main area, still completely puzzled why a grown man (albeit say late 20′s) would go down on his hands and knees and look under a toilet cubicle. A toilet cubicle with nobody in it but the two of us.
Emma surfaced from the ladies and I said “You’ll never guess what happened to me” and told her about this guy looking under the door. She thought it was weird but then we both walked outside where it was hailstones. We ran to the car and I sat for a minute to let my thoughts catch up.
It was then it dawned on both of us.
This guy turned and looked at me as I entered. The other guy left leaving only 2 of us in this toilet. He then went in to the cubicle beside me, and whilst I thought he was blowing his nose, there was not a lot of sound, only rustling. He must have stood on the toilet and was looking over the top of the cubicle. He then got on his hands and knees and looked under the cubicle door.
Now, the questions are a plenty, but the main ones are, why. And Why? And WHY?
Emma got quite angry at me as we drove down the dual carriageway away from the cinema and suddenly we both came to the same conclusion. This guy must have been a pedophile, or a pervert, one of the two.
Why else would he wait till the other bloke was away and then look at me taking a piss?
In a startling realisation of this conclusion, I pulled over at the side of a slip road and we frantically searched for the direct dial for the cinema, using our mobile phones and the WAP internet to find the number, I mean we needed to let them know there was this weirdo loitering about in the gents.
Our fears were that a small boy is sent in by his Dad, and this fucking lunatic approaches him. We, I, couldn’t live with myself if I had done nothing.
After many a dead end from 118 247 and cineworld ticket hotline, I phoned head customer services and got the Dundee branches number.
A quick phone call to alert them to my discovery and the lady on the other end of the phone couldn’t get away quick enough to find him.
We sat for a moment after the phone call and I was really shaken up.
It’s truly frightening turning round in what you think to be a “safe space” in a toilet cubicle, in an empty toilet, to see a face looking at you under the door. Really disconcerting, frightening, weird and very very very infuriating…at least, 10 minutes afterwards when you realise you should have kicked him in the face, or at least went and found somebody straight away, and not left the cinema.
Anyway, I have to try and put my mind at rest in some way, but that’s the first and hopefully last time I come face to face with such a weirdo.
Getting back home again I did some filing with the new box files we picked up at Staples (Emma’s in house sale tidy mode), and then set about looking through my plethora of photographs that I always take of my new bikes. I wanted to try and locate the point in time that the wheel was dented, so that I could try and remember the incident. I knew it wasn’t me that did the damage, but I wanted to rule it out. I guess I was feeling a bit paranoid after the pervert run-in.
I got the first photograph I ever took out, a photograph that I took on the 2nd of May, the day after I bought the MT.
This photograph looks like this (Beware, it’s a full size photograph at 4mb)
If you don’t want to click that, then click this zoomed in one:
Look at the bottom left hand spoke, to the left of the air valve. Then look at the rim directly “below” it. See the join between rim and tyre. Trace it round and then study.
A different angle (Again 4MB so dont click unless you have fast internet):
Zoomed in for you:
I’ve kind of highlighted the area in question with a colour mask (Picasa is shite for marking your photos, and I don;t have my big computer/photoshop)
Now.
This was taken the day after I bought the bike. I took the bike to show Blair, was so very careful with regards to bumps etc as it was only an hour old (to me).
So the day after I got it, there’s evidence of the rim being bent.
Now if I am going by the theory that I wanted to see when the rim could have been dented, and there’s evidence of the rim being dented the day after I get my hands on it, then the only time it could have occurred was the day I bought it.
And I, as with everyone else on the planet, remember the day when something great happens. I remember it with crystal clear clarity. And I can say now, for absolute certainty, that I did not dent this rim.
If I had found a photo that showed the dent in week 3 and no dent in week 1 then fair enough, I must have dented it at some point.
If I had a photo that showed a dent in week 3, yet no photo showing the rear rim before that point, then I would have to assume that it was possibly me.
But I have evidence showing that the day after I picked up my bike, the rim was dented. The time scale is so small, and that it was the first day I had it, means that this dent was done before I had the bike.
The bloke at the garage today did squeeze in that the guy who sold the MT to the garage was in “the other day” and said that he had never dented it. Well, why would he?
So there you go.
I don’t know what will come of this new evidence. I’ve emailed the garage again with an open ended email, showing the photographs and asking for their thoughts.
It will be interesting considering that I have the proof that the rim was dented the day after I bought it. I do have a photograph of the day I test rode it, but as with anything in critical times of need, the section of rim in question is behind the swingarm.
If that photo showed evidence of the dented rim, it would be absolute. But I think the proof I’ve got is just as good.
Updates as things unfold.
I am away to lie down, this has been an eventful day for me.
YY
YamYam Installs an Alpha-Dot.
So the second of this fantastic double header is me installing an Alpha-Dot marking thing on my beloved MT-01.
I go by the theory that if someone wants your motorcycle enough, they’ll just take it. There’s nothing you can do about it, they’ll just get a transit, drive up to your bike and two heavies will lift your bike in to the van and be off. 20 seconds if that.
Obviously the MT is extremely heavy, so maybe 3-4 heavies would do it.
So what then? Well unfortunately I also go by the theory that if your bike is nicked, that’s the last you’ll see of it, especially if it’s of the MT standard (and by that I mean not a rusted knockabout…something similar to the GSR then)
But in a bid to make the possible breakdown and sale of my once loved motorcycle more difficult, I like to get a wee Alpha-Dot system in there. Just in case. As a possible deterrant.
It goes something like this:
You get the package through the post, it was £15….wow. I just checked the website and the price has went up to £24.99. Nice one!
Anyway, you get a wee credit card type thing with a registration code, 2 Alpha-Dot stickers and a tube that looks like this:
Inside this tube you can see lots of little black dots. These black dots are the Alpha-Dots. On each and every dot is the code that corresponds with the code tied to your bike. The theory is that when your bike gets nicked, broken down and tried to be sold, the police can shine a black-light on the parts and these wee discs glow, thus showing it to be a stolen part and the “perp” get’s a “cap in their ass”, or in Scotland they get a smacked bum.
Now, I like you, thought “aye, these dots are just black. I cannae see the code.”
Well today, with the help of my Da’s uber cam, I did a wee macro and wow:
See the codes yet?
No?
Well, how about now?
!!!!!
So these tiny dots of code are immersed in a PVA type adhesive with black-light reactiveness shit (technical term) embedded in. You then blob these all over your bike as thus:
The trick is to try and mark as many bits as possible on your bike with this stuff, thus making sure that if your bike does get broken down, there’s little that isn’t marked.
As you can see, there’s a lot to paint. It took me about 25 minutes going around the bike and I still had a lot of wee dots left in the tube should I want to continue or if I get aftermarket parts.
The blue liquid dries clear leaving a varnished like area with the dots molded within. Not sure of the durability or indeed the tamper proofing of these areas but its more of a peace of mind thing.
Lots of bits to paint.
As a wee testament to the minute size of these dots, here is one on the bar end weight….and here it is magnified:
So there you go.
When I entered these “secure markings” in to the insurance quote, it certainly did a bit to reduce the premium, so even if it doesn’t save my bike from being nicked, at least I am saving some money…
Brilliant.
Thanks for visiting all. I will update you with the results from the bent alloy issue when things develop. It’s late and I’m going to bed.
Night all
YY
Yamaha MT-01 – Bent Rim Blues
Hello all. A double header tonight….actually it’s now the morning.
First up is today’s big development. After getting the bike back from SB motos yesterday I decided today that a thorough cleaning was in order, I mean eat your dinner off it clean.
Did the first pass(!) and the bike was pretty clean, got all of that rusty water/gunk off the nooks and crannies and the bike was looking good. Only the rear wheel to clean, but I decided today to give the chain a good clean as well first, and then clean the wheel and finish by a second pass. Intensive aye. Sad, definitely.
My paddock stand has never been the same ever since someone sat on my MT-03 whilst it was up on the stand. It was all bent and has chewed my GSR swingarm with a nice arc of scrape. So I obviously didn’t want to get the MT-01 on the stand only to rip a big arc through the gorgeous blue metallic swingarm.
I modified the paddock stand (Oxford for those interested) and made sure that the brackets stayed well away from the swingarm.
Finally I could get the rear wheel properly cleaned, so I gave it a wee spin….then another, and another…because I noticed something that was both baffling and indeed horrifying:
Well I never.
I’ve never seen a motorcycle wheel like it. It’s funny (in a really un-funny way) because Blair’s car wheels had an issue just last week where he went to the garage to get a knocking sound fixed (unrelated) and found his front left tyre flat. Found out that his alloy was dented and thus wasn’t holding the seal with the rim letting all the air out of the tyre.
This is the same thing, but the added risk is that when you lean in to a corner the tyre deforms around the rim area, you see it in motogp on the camera mounted to the bottom fairing. I may not be getting motogp lean angles on the MT but in general that’s what happens.
So knowing that the only thing keeping the air in the tyre is the seal made between tyre and rim, it certainly doesn’t fill me with confidence with a nice big flat dent on it.
But in saying that, I’ve ridden for 4 weeks with this issue (because I never dented it, it was one of the previous 2 owners that did this unforgivable act) and Ive never felt anything. I’ve ridden it enough now to feel comfortable leaning it well over and there’s never been any indication of a serious flat spot on the rim.
Well, I’ve emailed the garage asking for their thoughts as I really dont know what to do. Checking the OEM online parts place states that a Yamaha MT-01 rear wheel, without anything on it, just the plain jane alloy, is €850, that’s £718 at xe.com’s exchange rate.
And by anyone’s standards, that’s a LOT of banger for a bit of metal.
I don’t know enough about warranty’s and rights as a buyer to comment enough on it. I will investigate it more and await the garage’s thoughts. Very interesting indeed.
Summer Holiday Decisions…
I go on holiday tomorrow for 2 weeks, and it seems like I may have picked a winner!
The first week of our holidays will be going round houses in the first part, and preparing for the exhibition for my motorcycle artworks. But the second week, oh the second week.
Perhaps:
Well now.
Its not quite the mammoth trip we did 2 years ago (pretty much to the day actually!!?) but we now luckily know the best roads and places to stay so we can go directly there!
I’m waiting on conformation from the place we stayed last time in a tiny place called Durnamuck. Hopefully all will be well.
The added bonus this time around of course will be the fact that the MT will be our steed, and not the GSR!
Its pretty much the same as our last Scotland trip except we are cutting out the north east leg. I am already EXTREMELY excited about the chance of going back there again, it’s unbelievably beautiful.
Updates soon,
YY
p.s.
This is the place to go if you want the best road in the world…
I Love My MT-01
My journey started off as it does every night, taking the MT back to my Dad’s garage to swap it for the GSR, only to go back up there in the morning if it’s nice to pick the MT up again. Unfortunately this is the routine at the moment due to my paranoia with leaving the MT outside our flat. But it’s worth it as I get some delight before heading home for the night.
It has been glorious weather the past couple of days here and taking the MT to it’s bed has been great. Tonight was no exception. Em was away to her grans so I had a few hours to kill. I decided to take a spin round the various houses we have been looking at for our recent house moving decision. The first one was a non-starter due to the sandbags propped against the patio doors…flooding is an issue then…cross off the list. The next was just up the road, and the good thing about it was getting from A to B meant starting up the MT every time, and poodling along at really low revs. Low revs + small towns = big noise.
The next house was better but still something not quite right about it. The key sitting on the window ledge was a bit weird, could have been for the flat, could have been for something else. I then slowly thumped out of town and looked for a nice place to take some photos; it was such a nice night why the hell not!? It was also a good opportunity to get another video of the MT seeing as how the first attempt was too long for youtube and thus was deleted without even a preview. I will have to slice it up and upload it in 2 or 3 parts, because it’s still a funny video.
Anyway, took many a photo and then headed to Mums….funny…Mum’s House, Dad’s garage. Got to Mum’s about 8pm so had a wee while to chat and show Mum the houses we were looking at. Dad watched Band of Brothers on BluRay, looked amazing. Got quite late so decided to head home as I had my dark visor on, and couldn’t be bothered swapping it for the clear visor in my rucksack. Lazy.
Spun home and watched the new video and it’s rather funny as well. It’s uploading right this very second so will add it to the post once it’s done…funny, I said that before. This one’s only 2 mins long, but I shot it on Dad’s camera, which is 720p so is 400MB. The other vid was over 10 minutes long and was 300MB.
HD footage is annoyingly big files.
Pictures below.
I love my MT. I love the fact that my feelings when I first started riding are coming back to me. The excitement, the thrill. The joy of being on a motorcycle, with no other reason to be happy than being on a motorcycle. It’s only been 2 weeks since getting the MT but already I feel I know it inside out.
(Best Watched in HD)
50,000 miles and counting
On Sunday the 2nd May I crested the 30,000 mile mark on the GSR, just over 2 years after buying it. It was a weird feeling really, I was excited about it, enough to show Emma whilst we headed down the motorway sliproad (“Aye, very good” she said)
But at the same time as being excited about crossing another milestone I couldn’t help but remember what 30,000 miles has done to the GSR’s health. Anyway,
Since Jan 2007 I have covered over 50,000 miles on 6 different motorcycles: Yamaha MT-03, Buell Xb12Ss Lightning, Kawasaki ER-6N, Suzuki GSR600 and my latest Yamaha MT-01. It’s a good feeling knowing that I am beginning to get in to territory that relatively few bikers (in the UK anyway) reach, and I’ve only been riding for 3 and a half years.
It’s funny how I’ve come full circle from first getting my MT-03, and then swearing never to return to Yamaha after the way they treated the “incident”. But I am so glad I did, because my excitement for motorcycles and love of being a biker has been reignited, and it’s raging out of control. I had become complacent and the daily drudge in to work on my bike resulted in it being just another day whenever I sat on it.
I am also glad that I chose the MT as my new steed. It’s crazy how many people have gone out of their way to comment on it since I got it 2 weeks ago. I’ve never had anyone come up to me like that since owning the Buell 2 years ago. I think it’s something to do with the V-Twin roar, or the oddball looks but whatever it is, people warm to it.
So I shall continue on and on, sitting upon 2 wheels every day as my A to B.
I must say a little word about the tragic death of a biker just down the road from me. Saturday was a glorious day to be out on the bike, and we were out as well. It seems that no matter how nice the weather there are still people dying on their bikes. I always feel sad for these unfortunate people, but always always sceptical. I don’t know why really, but whenever I hear of a biker dying, I always think of the biker doing something wrong or riding beyond theirs or the conditions limit. Sometimes its just a freak coming together in the middle of nowhere.
My scepticism isn’t helped much after witnessing a bunch of high-vis clad bikers wobbling all over the road on Saturday, one of which left his indicator on for 10 minutes. I want to stop these bikers and slap their dishes. Get a grip. Ride safer. But then why should I?
Take care out there please, and keep your head screwed on.
Onward.
YY
Yamaha MT-01 Review – YamYam is BACK!
The last post on YamYam finished like this:
I am going to have a wee test ride on one to see if all the reviews are correct. From there it’s either buying one, or looking elsewhere, but something tells me I will be rumbling home once more.
Well I did go for a test ride, and here’s what happened.
Friday (23rd April) I decided to head up to Sandy Bloy Motorcycles, Perth, after emailing Gary regarding the MT-01 they had in their shop. Gary said come up Friday.
Arriving on the GSR with the rain in full swing, I wondered what it would feel like to sit on an MT-01 after all these years of wanting one. Well it seems like I wouldn’t get the chance, because when I entered the shop the MT was sitting there, looking amazing…with “SOLD” suckered on the light.
Gary emerged after a lengthy wait and I introduced myself and said “well, it seems like I won’t get to test ride it” and pointed to the beast sitting unavailable.
“We’ll…” Gary started, “It is…and it isn’t.”
Oh? I said, feeling a small glimmer of light appear at the very end of a long tunnel.
“Yeah, the guy who was in has since said he can’t get finance, and I have told him that if someone else comes along, then I won’t be waiting for him to get his act together. So as far as I am concerned, the bike is still for sale.”
Well then, lets get a test ride! I filled in the standard “if you deck the bike you’ll pay for it” form and round the bike came, sounding amazing as it did so. This was the first time I had seen or heard one up close, so everything was a new sensation.
By now the rain was getting quite heavy, so Gary said take it easy, handed me a £5 note and said put some gas in it. Off I went, and immediately I could feel the power that this thing had in store. Burbling up the first junction I had a bit of a time getting the old clutch-in action smooth, and indeed the fantastic twin engine braking was quite harsh on the MT.
Anyway I toodled about and after a whizz around Perth I got back to SB’s and in I went. Gary was there to greet me and I said how I loved twins and to cut a long story short, he was chuffed to have someone ride it who knew what it was about and I wanted it. I said that I had the finances ready (The loan form was sent and I was waiting back for the approval) so took a gamble on them being successful and put a deposit of £100 down, after haggling a bit with the price.
He showed me a dent in the exhaust headers from where someone has laid the bike down at rest, and a chip on the tank.
So I left it at that, said I would be back up the next day with Emma and w0uld keep him updated as far as the finances go.
Parting test ride thoughts: Well the MT looks absolutely gorgeous. It sounds absolutely gorgeous. It feels absolutely gorgeous. It’s just a shame I didn’t get to test the instant thundering torque and fantastic brakes that everyone raves about. Fingers crossed the finances come through because it’s rare to have an MT come up for sale in Scotland, and I would be pretty sad if I didn’t manage to realise my 4 year want.
——————
Well. The finances did come through. And I went up on Saturday 1st of May to pick her up.
What. A. Beast.
Of course, Saturday was raining as well, which was great. I was hoping to get some full throttle’s going but anyway, we headed up sharp as I wanted to get a good day of riding on it before we headed out to see the Doves in Glasgow at night.
Got all the paper work sorted, paid the remaining balance (£5400) and that was that! Emma had never heard an MT-01 so when I fired it up and the bike sat and shook, Emma just burst out laughing. She was even more excited than me.
On the way home I gave it some licks and it sounded so good I burst out laughing, shouting “THIS IS AMAZING”.
But. Twice on the way, in 2nd gear and giving licks, the rear spun up in a controlled wheelspin. The rev’s rose to a constant hum and the rear stepped out. Giving it a bit more throttle the rev’s rose more and the rear straightened up, leaving me feeling even better. It did make it perfectly clear however, that there’s enough power being transmitted to the rear tyre to make it dangerous, should one forget and open the taps whilst leaning over.
I took it out on Saturday for a while, fitted the new tax disc on (with the ridiculously complicate 8 bolt tax disc holder) and then rode home to pick Em up to let her experience the MT first hand. She was slightly worried that the pegs would be too high or she wouldn’t feel comfortable, but after getting on it and riding down to Blairs (to surprise him) she felt fine.
I explain the surprise for Blair in the video at the end, but basically I said that after I got to Sandy Bloys and saw it was sold, it was actually sold and that was it.
We got to Blair’s street but went round the back street and I revved the MT up knowing that he would hear it, and he did. By the time we got round to the front window he was standing there waiting to see what it was. You could see the cogs turning as he stood there open mouthed in amazement!
Well as I thought, he absolutely loved it and I took him out for a spin during which he felt the full beast unleashed and although there was 2 fatties on it, it still shifted like nothing else I have ever felt. He was astounded at the instant power, the gorgeous v-twin sound and the gobsmacking strength of the brakes.
What a beast.
The bike is in fantastic condition, with the above mentioned scuffs on the exhaust, the bike is pretty much mint. After cleaning it today I did notice that there’s a few more scuffs, on on the front rim and a few other wee bits, but nothing that is noticeable.
So there you go. I finally have an MT-01, after 4 years of wanting it. The good thing about this is though, that the MT will be a Summer/nice weather bike, a bike I can keep looking gorgeous and get the enjoyment of it, but then put it away in the Winter.
I can then use the GSR as a Winter hack and a learning tool for changing the oil and other servicey things.
YamYam is now a 2 bike outfit, and I am so very excited about it. I will be posting up my experiences with the MT regularly and I am suddenly really excited about being on 2 wheels again. Staying on 1 bike for so many miles really does take the fun and enjoyment out of it, but now I have the beast to go to when I am feeling down, I can see things being different.
More pictures and the video review, including some derogatory comments and some funny voices. Oh dear. Thanks for visiting and look for the MT related posts, of which there will be many. I’ll be doing a bit of maintenance on the site, weeding out the lesser viewed stuff and re-arranging some bits and bobs to make posting a bit swifter.
As a wee testament to the quality poured in the MT-01, the dials as seen above are adjustable for light intensity. But not just as a whole, you can adjust the tach, the main bit at the bottom AND the needle for brightness! The needle! Makes my day, that does.
What a ripper. I just LOVE the MT styling. Always have, always will.
Video below.
(Will add here once it’s finished uploading.)
Yamaha MT-01. I beg your pardon?
Artworks are consuming my every moment of living…that and putting up blinds in the house. When I am not painting or drilling, I am either eating, sleeping or riding my bike. Anyway, just so you know, I feel guilty. But thinking about it this instant, guilty for what?
My GSR is running it’s bland life fine at the minute. My back tyre is squaring and the head bearings are clicking. My headlight was turning off whenever I turned the steering to full lock left, but I soon found out that the connector had worked itself loose after me prodding it every time. A quick click back on sorted that out.
I’ve had the GSR for over 2 years now, and after a fatal mistake by Em of looking at other bikes, we have been thrown in to discussion.
Discussion about the future of my biking life. Don’t worry, I am not giving up. The issue revolves around the GSR and winter. You see, Winter in Scotland is a very unwelcoming place to be. It’s usually cold, usually wet and always miserable. This is true for everyone, pedestrians, car drivers, hillwalkers. For motorcyclists it’s a freakin nightmare.
I spoke a while back regarding the new VFR1200F as my main motorcycle and the response was mixed. Some agreed with my points regarding the output of the bike/lack of fairing protection. Other’s took their chance to call me a sissy and offer me a moped. The question in point was getting a bike that would give me year round satisfaction, with the benefit of not falling to bits.
It seems that my thinking was going down the wrong path. You see, I was going down the path of a one bike outfit, something bullet proof that would ease my woes. But after big discussion with Blair, Em and anyone else who would listen, having a second bike seems like the way to go. The reasons are thus:
One bike = High price, high mileage, high wear & tear, quick boredom. A one bike house would mean running a bike throughout the year including winter and thus exposing it to the same bike rotting salt.
Two bikes = Lower price, low mileage, low wear & tear, less quick boredom. A two bike house allows use of one bike for summer/dry days, another for winter/salty days.
It may seem excessive to many, but the argument is sound. Why sell the GSR and buy a new bike, only to inflict the same torture to it, road salt, sitting outside in the rain rotting. It would be the same situation all over again and it seems totally pointless to continue buying new bikes only for them to fall apart because I ride them at a time that these bikes aren’t designed to be ridden.
If I have a bike for summer/dry riding, I have the excitement of a fresh bike. I have the reduced mileage on both the new bike and the GSR. Once it gets wetter/colder, I switch to the GSR. I would be able to look forward to summer again, because at the minute, I am still riding the same bike in summer, winter and every other time.
I’ve paid off the GSR now, so it’s mine. It wouldn’t matter if I wanted to sell it anyway, because after speaking to a few garages, no-one would even entertain the thought of trying to resell a 2-year-old GSR with 30,000 miles on the clock, a bit rusty here and there and generally a hack. So no-one wants it. And I aint giving it away.
The added bonus to strengthen the argument is insurance. Insurance companies seem to go on the assumption that more miles = more chance of crashing. This means that the premium goes up massively. Take my old Buell for example. I put 18,000 miles annually on the insurance form and it returned a premium of £1,600. Put in a mileage of 5,000 and it’s £300. I couldn’t afford to run it based on that kind of money, so I sold it.
SOOOOOOO
What am I saying then? Well I will be looking for a Used bike to ride during summer/dry days, and I will be keeping the GSR for a winter hack. It makes complete sense.
Now those of you who have been here from the start (Thanks Rossy Boy) will know I had a Yamaha MT-03 as my first bike. The seat melted due to faulty exhausts, Yamaha didn’t give a shit. I got a Buell and so the nightmare unfolded.
I swore I would never return to Yamaha. I lied.
Now that I have the opportunity to basically get any bike I like (within a £5k budget), and having spent the past 4 years knowing that someday I would own a Yamaha MT-01 I thought, this is my chance.
And so it is.
Now a lot of people in reviews and in person lament the MT due to the lack of jail baiting top speed. They see 1700cc and get disappointed that they don’t fly at the speed of sound. They get upset that the bike has R1 derived brakes and chassis, but when you try to get your knee down the headers threaten grounding.
I think that they don’t understand it. Whereas I do.
The MT is a bike that gives you the unbelievable thrill of torque, without getting you in to trouble before you know it. It’s a bike to fart along the back roads on knowing that at the twist of a throttle you will instantly be rocketed forward. None of this IL4 surging at 9ooorpm (a-la GSR).
A lot of reviewers say it’s bland because the power is so linear (in other words when you open the taps, the power doesn’t waiver or surge in, it’s just “flat” all the way to peak RPM).
I think the MT is perfect. I would have a V-twin over any other engine until the day I die. I love them. I want a bike I can get on and just enjoy. I don’t want to look down and see I’m cruising at 100mph and not realising it. I want to go down the street and small children fall to the ground from the vibrations…maybe not.
I think what I keep remembering is when I went to France on the Buell. I was going down the street and a gang of youngsters on mopeds/125′s were all gathered down the road. I saw them, and they heard me. As I drifted past them with the beat of the 1200cc V-twin beneath me, I knew that I was on something special as they all stood open mouthed. Then I noticed the collection of skinheads standing up from a cafe, perhaps expecting some kind of chopper or harley, to see this small bug eyed gold wheeled machine. It made my year. It made me love biking.
It won’t quite be the same with the MT, for a start its huge. But its also deeper, louder comfier.
So.
I am going to have a wee test ride on one to see if all the reviews are correct. From there it’s either buying one, or looking elsewhere, but something tells me I will be rumbling home once more.
Updates (hopefully) as things start to unfold.
#002 Ben Spies – Yamaha Italia (Artwork)
Hi all,
I am still alive, just tied up…
I have had a post titled “GSR Fixed (again)” in my post editor for the past month and have never got round to writing it.
The reason for this is my artworks and the fact that they consume every last spare minute that I have. I’ve been painting away for the past month and finally, after hours and hours and hours (around 500 hours), my #002 artwork is finished and ready for all to see.
I am finished this artwork after 1 1/2 months of work and I think it’s the bomb.
Go to my website to see the details.
Yamyambiker.com will be up and running shortly with fresh posts and lots more opportunity for summer bikers to tell me to get a scooter because obviously I can’t handle it…
Thanks all for visiting,
Gordon
Yamaha MT-03 Burnt Ass
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Hey folks.
I was just browsing through some old photos there and came across some of the MT-03 seat incident that I had a while back. I wrote briefly about it here, but unfortunately it seemed to skip past without any dedicated post about it. I think that was during my riding only period, where I never bothered to update YY. Shame on me.
So just as a wee updater, my first bike was a Yamaha MT-03, brand new. I rode it for 5,000 miles and then out of the blue, the rear of the bike melted.
It looked something along the lines of this (these photos were taken the same day of the incident) :
It was a good looking bike you know.
So the seat looked like this from the outside. I thought “why’s my stitching burst?”
The carnage that lay underneath. There was a toolkit melted in to this as well!
To the right centre of this image, at the bottom, you can see where the texture of the toolkit has made an imprint on to the plastic. It shows just how hot it is, if fabric can leave a textured imprint on hard plastic.
The frame was in direct view of the hole that I discovered in the exhaust, so was also heated up to whatever temp comes out of an exhaust. Very hot, enough to melt the shrink wrap over the cables.
The hole. It’s amazing how something as small as a weld can create such a big mess. This was about an inch in length. Amazing.
This picture shows how the plastic shield melted as well.
This is the bottom of the pillion grab handle, and you can see the charred carbon residue left on the bottom of it.
A wee arrow showing the location of the failed weld. It’s actually on the other side but I don’t have a photo of it.
So there you go. It still amazes me that we got away with it. I can only imagine the mess that could have resulted had Emma been on the back. And I’m still a bit disappointed with the way Yamaha dealt with it, by saying “Tough.”
Well this problem and the attitude from Yamaha made me decide to leave…and buy a Buell. And what a fantastic decision it was.
I wonder if anyone else has had this issue with regards to failing welds.
Anyway, a tale for the YamYam book anyway.
YamYam’s Top 10 Posts Ever.
So whilst I await the melting of the Fife Ice Caps, I shall collate some data…Geek Style.
I am always amazed at how sparse reviews are for products, or how biased a lot of reviews seem to be. Motostrano Blog said it excellently:
“I rarely read product reviews these days. They are all advertisements and we know it- pure fantasy. On the other hand, there’s the ‘discussion forums’ where you can read countless essays written by lonely males holed up in their mancaves about the products they’ve purchased, sharing with others the ins and outs of why the product they invested in is so great. Of course it’s great, you bought it and you’re actually wasting life hours writing about it. We beat our chests about the little gizmos and gadgets we’ve been able to scrounge up on our hunting and gathering missions out in the shopping wilderness. Heading back to camp with our gear speared on a stick- which is really a lonely little desk away from the kids or wife – we review the goods, inspect it, try it on, pose in action shots in front of the mirror, perhaps in our underwear, perhaps dressed up in our leathers in the garage. Then, as if to map out a terrain that no other fellow savage has explored, we set up to transpose our inner most thoughts on digital paper about whatever it is we just bought, signaling to other tribe members where to go and what to see along the adventure.”
So it’s with great satisfaction and indeed pride, that I have been complimented on my reviewing technique and detail. This is probably why (and you will see soon enough) my reviews are the most popular out of my posts. Naebody cares about me seeing a plane almost hitting the Forth Road Bridge. They want to know why I think the Puma Desmo’s were the best boot ever made.
Anyway, lets move along. I give you the top 10 favourite posts on YamYam ever (in descending order):
#10: Review: Respro “Foggy” Anti-fog Mask
#9: Review: Puma Brutale Gore-Tex Boots
#8: Update: AGV GP-Tech Helmet
#6: Review: Shark RSI “Eden” Helmet
#5: Yamaha MT-03
#4: Review: Puma Desmo 800 Boots
#3: Tutorial #1: How to change grips and handlebars
#2: Kawasaki ER6n
The most popular post on YamYam ever is, surprise surprise:
#1: Review: AGV GP-Tech Helmet
So there you have it. I think the reason is I got the GP-Tech really early, as in first batch. This allowed me to get a head-start and offer the viewing public a chance to see what this new helmet was like before going out to purchase it themselves.
It’s a good indication of what people are after when looking around the interweb for motorcycle type stuff.
I hope you enjoyed reading the top 10 posts, but also have a wee look around the archives at the non-review stuff. You might be pleasantly surprised…or endlessly bored.
All the best
Gordon
50% Off All Prints
Well well,
As you may or may not know, I have a wee shop where I sell my wares in the shape of photographs. These are available immediately to buy, and as of this very minute are on offer of 50% off all orders.
If you use the code: YAMYAM at the checkout, you will get a whopping 50% off. Now that’s a good deal. Some examples of the great stuff you can buy are below. Click HERE to go there right now!
All images are available in 15″ x 9″ glossy photo prints.
MCN Scottish Motorcycle Show 2008
Well hello everyone,
Sunday saw myself, Em, Blair and Kirsty heading off to the bike show at Ingleston, Edinburgh. The weather was touch and go, and I managed to convince B that the car was a safer option. He didn’t need much convincing though and it seemed more like the other halves that were wanting to bike it rather than us!
Anyway, early start and we arrived at the bike show little after 9am. We had booked our tickets online so got them for £13 each instead of £15. We then trudged along the hilariously long footpath to the main show, passing the go-karts and globe riders as we went. We grabbed a quick tea/bacon roll at the Charge-What-We-Like burger van and headed in. As soon as I got inside the first set of doors I could see the orange glow of what would be KTM, and having talked with B excitedly about the RC8, I told him in about 10 seconds he would wet his pants. He didn’t quite wet his pants, but the RC8 looked gorgeous. It was great product placement from KTM as everyone immediately flocked to the RC8′s side.
(Blairs Picture)
One thing that I was hoping with the bike show would be that the joe public could sit on the bikes and I wasn’t dissappointed. However the RC8 was so popular we started at the other KTM’s, in particular the bloody gorgous KTM Super Duke 990. I am in love:
This is B on the Duke. I have always liked the look of the Duke, but was worried that the ironing board looking seat would be dodgy, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was really comfy and the bars were quite wide, offering a more aggressive riding position which I love. The whole bike felt superb and I can see myself perhaps looking down the KTM SD road when I get my stuff in order. Stunning. Blair was even more captured with the Super Duke 990R, which again, was amazing:
We then proceeded around all the stands, drooling over all the shiny metal on show. We had a wee pore over the HP2 beemer, but didn’t really spend all that much time there; BMW’s are a bit overpriced and adventury for what we are in to. The HP2 is gorgous though:
Heading down the middle of the place I saw the HD-Buell sign and knew that I would soon be on a downer, all the Buell’s were there including the new 1125R. I made a concious effort to sit on the XB12Ss and it was amazing how at home I felt again. After stroking the Buell a few more times we moved on, Blair noting the XB9Sx Street Cross as a favourite.
Ducati, with the 1098R on no-touchy display was a draw for the crowd, and I had a wee seat on the 848, which was beautiful but you could tell it was unforgiving due to the instant race tuck riding position.
Suzuki was next, and along with the 2008 GSR 600 in god-awful red and gunmetal, the B-King was the main attraction for me. Having a sit on the GSR first though, I noticed the ABS logo on the clocks. Perhaps a standard feature on the 2008 model, but not really needed. Blair checked out the wheels, which reportedly show up the dodgy manufacturing of them, but B didn’t seem to worried about it.
Emma had a seat on the “bike with a built in kitchen table.” AKA the B-King. The tank on this thing is laughably wide, but even still, the bike instantly feels comfortable, and with Emma taking a wee seat on the pillion pad, she even commented that it was quite comfy. I doubt Em would share that sentiment after an hour of riding, but it was more comfortable than first thoughts.
There were a few custom choppers dotted around the show, with the highlight for me being the AC Cobra tribute chopper at the Carol Nash stall.
We had a look at the rest of the stalls, Yamaha failing to show the MT range at all, which was pretty disappointing, and Honda failing to show the absolutely breath-taking CBR1000R, but did have a poster…which was nice.
K was checking out all the 125cc bikes as she is thinking about doing her CBT. The Honda was her favourite, offering up a nicer riding position and the seat height ideal for her size, allowing her to put both feet flat on the floor. The Yamaha 125R was nice, but very heavy on the wrists. B and I joked about the wheel sizes, with the Honda 125cc having a thinner rear tyre than our GSR’s front.
The Triumph was a nice stall, but set in another hall, not really allowing the majority of people to instantly see them. But the Speed Triple was devestatingly beautiful, single sided swing and glossy black paint. Lovely.
The Aprilia was ok and I had a seat on the Shiver 750. Very similar to the KTM Super Duke but not quite as nice.
We had another go around the manufacturers, then around all the wee stalls. There was a stall that was selling hand drawn Valentino Rossi pencil canvas things, and they were fecking amazing. But £200 seemed to be a bit much, even though they were limited edition (I think out of 95). Blair took the guys card and I think he might end up getting one. Whilst he was checking out a bike stall I went and sat on the Ducati 848, and then got a call from Blair. He said he was at a stall that had Furygan and Icon stuff. Me and Em headed round and there it was. The Furygan Orona. I had wanted this jacket since I first laid eyes on it in an old MCN, but for love nor money couldn’t source one. So you can imagine my dissappointment when they only had the white one in Medium….but they did have a L Black one, so I tried that on and I liked it a lot. £125 and it was mine. I’ll post pics up later tonight.
We were all pretty hungry and didn’t want to waste £40 on 2 sandwiches, so after checking out how much the karts costed (£10 for 10 minutes), we decided to leave it and head home to prepare ourselves for the MotoGP Race 1.
All in all it was a great day, and I loved seeing all the bikes on show, and even more so the ability to get on it and get your feet up. It allowed a greater impression of what it would be like, instead of the showroom scenario of not really knowing how it will feel with both feet up.
Anyway, I am going now and will post up some pictures later of my jacket (which has an aluminium layer in it, like the mountain survival bags for heat preservation…cool or what!)
Thanks for looking folks!
Gordon
Last Chance Cafe & Crash update
Hello all,
Firstly the quote for damage to my bike has came in.
After I dropped my bike off etc I gave Stuart a call back the next day and we chatted about what to do. The options were that he orders some of the parts and he plastic welds and paints the fairings, or just orders all the parts except the fairings and tries to make them look as un-broken as possible.
So the option two was better because 1: it was £200 cheaper and 2: Stuart is a wizard and I’m sure he can make it look presentable.
The parts list was a new front brake lever, a new right hand peg, a new engine casing, new rear brake lever and a new gear shifter. This all comes to £212, with labour etc totalling it at £284.
I was a bit surprised as I got a quote for the peg and lever at Edinburgh Kawasaki and it was £60 for the peg and £30 for the lever. Which means that for £122 I am getting the engine casing, rear brake lever and gear shifter…I got a new rear brake lever for the MT-03 and it cost me £15, so say another £15-£20 for the gear shifter and it leaves £92 for the engine casing. It is a cast lump but £92 for f*ck sake. OEM parts eh…
So yeah it’s all good on that front, I was expecting at least £400 of work, but I suppose the fairing would cost a bit anyway.
Bike should be ready to go this week some time. I can’t wait because it means I will be moving on for the final time. And this time I have to get the right bike.
I was looking at the Z750 before and I was totally dead set. I had read the reviews online and they all pointed to a nice bike. But then I read my BIKE magazine, which I respect 100% and they said the Z was completely crap, bottom of the table in a shootout with a Street Triple, Hornet, Fazer and a GSR600.
They said the forks were crap, the power was pretty gutless, the handling was good but the whole experience was disconcerting and very uncomfortable. I was really disappointed. Then I read the reviews for the other bikes and although the Street Triple didn’t really come out top in anything tables wise, it was their pick of the bunch. Fair enough, but they forgot to mention the ludicrous pillion pegs. This was a one person bike from the off, which was also disappointing.
The I looked at the Fazer, which had a pretty duff write up as well. But it was closely matched to the GSR600. Which my brother has.
Upon reading the review the GSR was left in pretty good light, with great power, great handling and great looks, but fell on tank size and snatchy throttle issue.
It left me thinking…What do I want from a bike?
I want:
• Comfortable
• Fast
• Stability
• 180 rear section
• Comfy 2 up riding
• Good dials
• Good lights
• Nice posture
• Quality build.
The GSR has pretty much all of those, with exception to the tank range, which tops at 140 miles by BIKE standards, which is what I am getting with the ER6 at the minute so no change there.
I would have had a GSR off the bat had the throttle issue not been there. Basically when going from no throttle to introducing the throttle there is a lurch. Going from Positive throttle to rolling off the throttle, there is a negative lurch. This not only is annoying but it unsettles the bike mid-corner and can be quite dangerous should you forget about it.
However upon reading the GSR forum for a bit, I came across the o2 sensor eliminator fix, which you buy for £18 and it fixes the snatchy throttle. It does this because as a standard bike the GSR runs lean, to pass fuel emission regulations. This means that at low throttle openings the bike lurches about. This o2 eliminator tricks the bikes ECU in to running rich, which removes the lurchyness.
If this works, then I think the GSR would be a great bike.
But with all this said, I have to remember one thing: This will be the very last chance to get it right. I have had 3 bikes in a year and I can’t go on like this. So I think I will go for the GSR, which will make me have the same bike as my brother but I like the looks, it sounds amazing and has everything going for it. But should this O2 Eliminator not work, I could have to put up with it for at least 3 years. Anyway, I am just glad the ER6 is going, because it’s unsafe.
Sorry for the long post folks!
Thanks for looking again,
Gordon
YamYam Motorcycle Accident #2
Hello everyone.
Last night I had a pretty major accident. I made a video of the damage and explain what happened. I’ll add a diagram of it in a mo.
2nd day on the bike in 2008 and a major crash notched up already. Bring on the rest of the year…
On the bike hunt – Part 3 – Yamaha
Hello all,
Yamaha. I had one, then it melted. But despite all that, I was desperate for a FZ6.
Fast as you like, smart as you like and exactly what I wanted.
However I really had to think long and hard last night, as things have started to get a little cloudy surrounding the whole bike thing.
So what came out of it was that most people are offering me £3k for my Buell. The difference to get any new bike is £1500-£2000 and that’s just too much financially. Thus, I spent a wee while phoning around various garages that I had visited for a test ride to see what they had to offer and the outcome was not great.
For most of them I still had to fork out some money. I don’t want to, I can’t afford it, I need a direct swap. This was not a possibility for most of the garages, even for the demonstrators which had only decreased as little as £300 from new…
So I finally remembered the ER6n I test road a few weekends ago, and I wrote about it in part 1. Yes the bars are stupid and it’s not the fastest or the best looking ( I am warming to it though) but it’s cheap, fast enough, a twin (I love twins), cheap insurance and comfy for 2 up. Great. So I called back the guy from Edi-Kwak and spoke with him about a direct swap for the demonstrator which looks like:
He said yes immediately. 4k on clocks, 2005 plate, great condition, Full service history (owned by Edi-Kwak since new) and taxed. 3 months parts and labour warranty too.
I still had some thinking to do so I said “I’ve still got some thinking to do” and would call him back later. The reason was I still had some deals on the table from other garages, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki Perth. You may wonder why I have left out the biggest Japanese manufacturer here and theres a good reason for it. Honda are just too bloody expensive. £5500 for a Hornet…no thanks.
So a few of the deals were Buell+£800 would get me a brand new Kawasaki ER6n. My Buell+£300 would get me the GSR600 demonstrator, complete with Renthal bars and nose fairing….a good deal I thought.
But no no no. No more money can be spent.
So it was back to the ER6n for me. To be absolutely honest, I am relieved to be going back to Japanese. I am relieved that it is a twin, and I am relieved that it’s different from anything else on the road. So I called up and set Saturday as change over day, the day that Blair is getting his brand spankers GSR600, in Red.
In actual fact, I am really looking forward to having a bike that I don’t worship. I absolutely love the Buell, it’s my dream bike, but I was always worried that it broke or I dropped it or how much it would cost to keep. Now that the Buell is going and I’m getting a cheaper one, I can see myself starting my customising stage of biking. I will most definitely need new bars, new grips and maybe new mirrors. Then it’s seat, exhaust, clocks…you get the picture. And I shall do my best to document it all on here!
Then, after I had made the decision to go with Kawasaki, I called up Yamaha and explained the decision I had made and he suggested I go for their demonstrator I used. 100ish miles on it…he came back with Buell+£1000…instant no.
So I’m set! I will be swapping my beloved Buell XB12Ss Lightning for a Kawasaki ER6n in Galaxy Silver and red.
Plus, it’ll be the first ride in my entire biking career that I will not be riding alone.
And I can’t wait.
