Seriously, WTF?

My brother recently dropped his bike at my place so I could take it to Teknic so he could have the suspension sorted out. The bike was ready to be picked up but a weekend of rain and another being away out of town and it had to wait 2-3 weeks before I could go get it, no problem or so I though.

Bushpig and I both had an RDO after the long weekend so we went and picked it up. Whilst out the front of the shop I did a quick inspection on Flyboys bike only to discover a dent in the petrol tank. What the F#CK? So I did a little more looking and I found a cracked fairing around the front headlight assembly, a scuffed screen and both mirrors with scuff marks all over them.

Dented Tank

Cracked Fairing

I went back and and saw Nick the owner and asked him to come and look at it. I showed him the damage and he said he didn't know how it happened and he didn't think it happened whilst it was in his shop. I was pretty certain it did but couldn't be 100% sure until I checked the photos I took of Flyboys bike the week before I took it in and as you can see below there absolutely no damage on the bike at all. Double WTF. You can enlarge the image and zoom in on the front fairing and tank and clearly see no damage. We will see what happens from here, this isn't over yet......more on this later. I understand that sometimes shit happens but they should have maned up and told us, sure we would be unhappy about, who wouldn't be, but trying to hide it and say you didn't know anything about it and hope we didn't notice then ride off. Thats pretty low in my book.

Leaving the shop I noticed the fuel light was on so a quick stop in for fuel and then we would be off for a quick blast up the Putty Road and test out the newly rebuilt suspension and test the new steering head bearings.

It was a cracking winters day too I might add being in the low 20°Cs(75F) perfect for riding. I noticed the suspension on the bike felt pretty sweet straight off the batt but the bike did feel a bit funny in its handling. I didn't check the tyre pressure when I got the bike and I just knew it was low but how low I didn't know. It was still kinda handling ok but not quite right.

The plan was to go up through the twisties and have lunch at the Cockfighter Tavern then head back. Our first stop was at Batman corner about a handful of bends into the 10 mile of twisties. I stopped for a quick pic and to do what men do when they stop in the bush. That out of the way I pulled out the Gopro and mounted it on my helmet.

Batman Corner

Flyboys slightly dented R1

Tasty Twisties

Some of the sections of road that have had no sun for the last month or so is now covered in moss and you could see where the wheel tracks were cutting through the mossy surface, must take it easy through here, don't wanna crash Flyboys bike on the moss. BRAP, BRAP......

Crouching Tiger

Not so hidden R1

The 2002 R1 is a quick bike(even with low tyre pressure) and this one has a shorty Remus pipe, which when onsong in the twisties sounds beautiful it has this nice crackling and popping noise when backing off into a bend, sounds sweet. You can't tell it doesn't have as much power as my new R1 until you ride them back to back and this bike is still a great amount of fun, very fast, precise but I did notice the rear suspension needed a little firming up for my weight, I'm at least 10kg heavier than Flyboy so it will probably be perfect for his weight. The steering felt precise and wasn't notchy in any way, looks like the new steering head bearings have worked a treat. I did notice the brakes felt terrible in low speed traffic though, I think the lever might need grease on the pivot or there could be something wrong with the master cylinder. So Bushpig and I decided we would give his bike the warm Road to Nowhere welcome it deserves........





We stopped up near the top end of the twisties as there was road works happening and so turned around and head back deciding we would stop in for lunch at the Grey Gums cafe instead of the Cockfighter tavern, they do a good burger there and is very bike friendly.

The trip back was much the same as the trip up except we came across this road side feature that I hadn't seen before. For the non aussie readers we have a species of tree here called a Coolabah tree which has been made famous by some aussie folk musicians. The following photos were taken at a place called Colo. I wonder how they got up so high to plant those boulder holders.

Yep there were Bra's of all shapes and sizes and all colours and even a few thongs tied to the bras. I guess a few young ladies left here with no VPL and a little cooler than when they arrived. I had to talk Bushpig out of trying them on although that could have lead to some interesting pictures i'm sure. All up it was a great day out on the bikes except with experience at Teknic. I'll update you later with whats happens about that. Its one of those things you hear about every now and again. We will wait and see what they are going to do about it.

Cheers