Ride to the hills

I finally made it out for my ride up to and around Kalamunda and the hills area. It's been a while since i've really ridden anywhere so it was a good exercise for me and the bike.

I enjoyed myself thoroughly. Nothing too notable aside from the awesome autumn weather which has finally arrived, and that i got a taste of how low i'm capable of cornering when i'm too busy looking where i'm going to freak out. There was a mad Camry driver tailing me all the way to my designated turnoff, and determined not to be cowed by it, i downshifted and gunned into the corner with my foot on the rear brake for control.

I'd sorely misjudged how tight a turn it was, because for a split second i found myself looking at the center divider while turning, and then i was snapping my head around to see where the road actually went. In all this i was still throttling, and before i knew it, the bike had swept in and down into the pinhead corner and out again.

I felt like a hero. You have no idea. Whoa.

Only after i'd ridden away did my brain pull all the pieces together, and produce a big exclamation mark with "holy crap" in front of it.

Heh.

I've been trying to cultivate good visual skills as espoused by this article here, and have also found that looking far ahead to where i want to be is very good for my cornering stability and confidence at speed. The above incident left no doubt that you are where you look!

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What makes this an even better day is that one of the 2 new (second hand, but new to me) lenses i bought arrived today:


Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D AF

I brought the camera and new lens along to take some photos, but as it turns out, i was having so much fun i forgot all about it. However, not to be dampened, i stopped near home to take unexciting bike pictures:



2 things to react to:

1. Damn it's SHARP
2. Look at that contrast!!!!!!

Random photo

I can't take decent photos of my little beast, so i tend to want to enlarge frame the few i have which give me the warm fuzzies.



Posting them is a cheaper alternative.

Gratuitous photos i haven't posted

My favourite:

A first: Riding with another

I did a fair bit of riding today, but most of it was in rush hour traffic, so my wrists are now sore, as i still haven’t gotten my clutch and front brake levers adjusted.

This evening i went on a ride with my former boss, who owns a gorgeous black 650 version of my bike.

I can’t say how much i enjoyed myself, despite some clutching difficulties. Yet another facet of this motorcycling thing has opened up. I wasn’t/am not the best companion to ride with at the moment, as i:

1. tended to keep my distance to give him room incase i did something stupid
2. have a bike that accelerates more or less like a small car
3. am running bike in so i don’t want to throttle her too hard. Manual says before first 1600, don’t open throttle more than half. That’s difficult to do - see #2 - but i’m still trying to be gentle
4. am still relatively new to all of it, and so #1
5. am nowhere confident enough to lane-split, which means i sit dutifully behind traffic like a bloody car, and he had to as well

But it was a hell of an experience (for me anyhow). At this point in time a blast down the freeway and the coast alone still sends my blood singing, but to be doing all of it in sync with someone else is… different. I’m starting to understand why West Coast Drive is so popular with biker packs on weekends. A curvy ocean road, hot half-dressed bodies in the summertime, seabreeze, the rumble of your engine under you and others who feel the same… some version of utopia must begin with this. In every sense of the phrase, it’s pretty damn awesome.

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I found this gem on the web today:

A motorbike is a crude metal framework isolated from the ground by two rubber hoops. While many explain the benefits of this arrangement, all it really means is that you fall over when you stop.

Motorbikes are often equipped with disproportionately large engines that propel the machine and its rider at hazardous speeds. Should the rider fall off, he or she will come into contact with the road, slide along its surface and vanish into the scenery. If you hear muffled cries for an ambulance coming from a tree, don’t worry, it’s only a motorcyclist.

As a method of transport, motorbikes are dreadful. If you ride them in the rain, you get wet. If you ride them in the sun, it will start to rain. There is no glove compartment and no cigarette lighter. There is also no steering wheel: you determine your route by leaning in the direction you wish to travel, just as you would if you were drunk.

You also have to wear a bulbous metal hat with a visor. If you open the visor, your mouth fills up with wasps and your head vibrates. If you close it, the wasps can’t get out and you have to swallow them.

Motorcyclists ride everywhere at 170mph. This means that car drivers can’t see them, and have accidents with them. Motorcyclists therefore hate car drivers.

Definition of a motorbike from h2g2

Monochrome

You really didn’t think i’d given up on it already did you?

Merry Christmas everyone ;)

My smokin' new ride

You want pictures? You got pictures.

My bumblebee. The best friend calls it my yellow stinger. Princess reckons it’s sexy. Everyone else utilised expletives aplenty. I’m over the moon. And after 2 days of alternating between hysterical excitement and brain-gone-walkabout, i’m finally in a position to say something coherent.

Yes, i ended up with the GT250R, the same bike i was slavering over in this post. I didn’t end up feeling as good on the naked bike as i thought i would. And by good, i don’t mean the ego gratifying “everyone will look at me and think i’m too cool” kind of good, i mean the “i like how this connects with the road and my body” kind of good.

Of course, it helps that she’s a beauty, a nice big-sized bike with a quick little 250 cc Suzuki heart. If you’re wondering why i picked yellow, it’s simple: It makes me as visible as i can be on a small vehicle.

I’m definitely in love.

On the day i got her (Wednesday), everyone assumed i was going to go tearing up and down the streets. Instead, i spent 2 hours old-lady putt-putt-putting down the residential roads, going through my lessons - “O” things, which involve simultaneous U-turns so you end up going in a continous long circle, uphill starts, quick stops, proper gear changes, roundabouts, and then some easy riding around just getting used to the bike. I never got on the main road at all. Had enough of that getting home from work; it was a frigging carnival. It’s a good thing i only left well after rush hour was over.

It's been a long gap between getting my licence and riding any bike, so i needed a refresher on bike handling. She was so brand new there were 2 klicks on the odometer and not a fingermark on her. I wasn’t about to risk doing her (and myself) damage for impatience. The lone practice session returned my confidence, relaxed me, and reminded me to breathe. I was in charge.

Riding to work the next day (Thursday) felt so much better. I was in control of the bike rather than the other way around. More aimless riding around the streets afterwards. Road positioning practice: stay away from the oil slick (center portion of the lane). Ride on the right side of the lane, unless preparing to turn. Stay out of people’s blind spots. Head check, head check, head check. Crap, the helmet is a heavy bloody thing. Getting up and down our driveway, which is a slope, is still proving to be interesting.

On the third day (yesterday) i thought “sod it, i’m getting on the freeway.”

And then i also noticed that other bikers have an action of acknowledgement. Pass one on the road and he/she nods your way.

It’s all very exciting.