Pic courtesy of fasterandfaster.net
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Seacliffe Bridge
Earlier in the year I took a trip down through the Royal National Park and went across the Seacliffe Bridge. I had the gopro on but never did anything with the video so I thought I'd post it up. The coast road down to Wollongong is very scenic and winding, some have called it Sydney's Great ocean road.
The seacliffe bridge was built in 2005 at a cost of $52 Million and is part of the Grand Pacific Drive. Its only 455 meters long and the Illawarra escarpment looms high on one side with scenic views of the Tasman sea on the other. The bridge has been used in several TV ads around the world for Shell/Ferrari and others.
Here is my short video of the Seacliffe bridge by R1.
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| Photo from seacliffebridge.com |
Here is my short video of the Seacliffe bridge by R1.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Illawarra Fly
Today I bundled the family up and we headed down through Bowral to Robertson on our way to the Illawarra Fly tree top walk. I knew that we would be heading to a great biking area and tried to convince the wife to let me ride down. I failed and I had to do the family thing today and leave the bike for another day. Still we were having lunch at the Robertson Pie shop which is a mecha for motorcyclists on weekends. Why you may ask? The pie shop is at the top of Macquarie Pass which is an 8 kilometer stretch of hot mixed motorcycling heaven with every type of bend you could want with the Pie shop a great place to stop and get something to eat and talk to other like minded bikers.
Me and the wife played the guessing game of how many bikes there would be at the Pie shop. She said 5, I said 20-30. When we pulled in there must have been at least 50+ bikes there today. And why not the weather was perfect for riding.
After a fantastic Pepper Steak pie at the pie shop it was onto the Illawarra Fly. This is a tree top walk nestled on the Illawarra escarpment high above the townships below. The walk through the trees was some 30 meters up off the forest floor with the highest point being the spiral tower which was 50 meters above the ground. All of this some 700 meters above sea level. The views here are quite spectacular.
Me and the wife played the guessing game of how many bikes there would be at the Pie shop. She said 5, I said 20-30. When we pulled in there must have been at least 50+ bikes there today. And why not the weather was perfect for riding.
After a fantastic Pepper Steak pie at the pie shop it was onto the Illawarra Fly. This is a tree top walk nestled on the Illawarra escarpment high above the townships below. The walk through the trees was some 30 meters up off the forest floor with the highest point being the spiral tower which was 50 meters above the ground. All of this some 700 meters above sea level. The views here are quite spectacular.
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| Entry to the tree top walk |
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| Gully Gum Trees |
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| Spiral Tower |
The views out over the escarpment were fantastic. You could see all the way up to Wollongong and beyond to the Royal National park and all the way out to the Tasman Sea. Couldn't see any kiwis though.
The tree below was covered in some weird looking moss type thing. It made for a good photo.
After finishing up at the tree top walk there was a nearby water fall that I wanted to have a look at. We had a nice afternoon tea at the picnic area at Carrington Falls. Georgia took her shoe's off and wandered into Kangaroo River just above the falls. Luck she didn't go over because the falls are 90 meters high. The river then flows on through guess where? Yep Kangaroo Valley despite its name it has some awesome motorcycle roads through it.
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| Carrington Falls |
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Wifey T-Shirt
I saw this picture on the Internet and thought I really have to get one of these for my wife. Love it.
Picture courtesy of Netrider
Monday, August 5, 2013
An old favourite and something new
On Sunday we had organised a quick run up one of my favourite roads the Putty road. The weather today was great for a winter day that is, it was a nice balmy 18°C(64°F). Geoff was to pick me up early on our way to meet Wayne at the servo in Wilberforce.
I was waiting for Geoff to show and wondering whether he would be on his R1 or the Vstrom. When I saw a red bike pull in the drive way I was highly surprised. Geoff doesn't own a red bike what the @$%*. It looked all shiney and new, it can't be Geoff's - what the???
Yep it was Geoff and he'd bought himself a new bike on Saturday. He traded the Vstrom on a brand new Triumph Tiger Sport 1050. I was pretty impressed with it. A very nice looking bike, ABS, single sided swing arm and it went as good as it looked from what I could see cause the bastard wouldn't give us a ride.
The ride out of Sydney's outer western suburbs was pretty uneventful and we finally met up with Wayne at Wilberforce. The expression on Wayne's face was the same as mine, it was a big surprise. Geoff had kept pretty tight about buying a new bike.
On the way up through Colo and then onto Colo heights we came across some of the boys in blue. Unfortunately for one poor bastard on a ducati they ruined his Sunday morning. A little bit later up the road I noticed we were being followed by a white car which I thought was the police. We soon stopped in at the drive way of the Grey Gums cafe and the car pulled up behind us. I was relieved to find out it was one of Geoff's friends in his Toyota/Subaru sports car.
The run back down from Bulga was a bit slower than the run up due to there being a lot of cars in the ten mile stretch of twisties. Once we had dispatched them it was still a lot of fun. We returned to the Grey Gums cafe and had some lunch before heading for home.
I have a little rant coming. Whats up with groups of bikes usually with one or 2 P platers at the rear riding in a bunch that seem to madly overtake on the straights then when we get to some bends its like wooh better slow down we can't go round here to quick, and its all of them not just the P platers going slow.
We got overtaken by said bunch but when we came to a set of twisties up a hill we speed up and overtook the lot of em in about 3 or 4 bends.
Here is a short video of me following Geoff up through the 10 Mile of twisties at the top end of the putty road. Geoff's bike looks the goods and handles very well, I even saw him grinding the hero knobs in front of me on some of the tighter bends. This movie has us headed north bound.
I was waiting for Geoff to show and wondering whether he would be on his R1 or the Vstrom. When I saw a red bike pull in the drive way I was highly surprised. Geoff doesn't own a red bike what the @$%*. It looked all shiney and new, it can't be Geoff's - what the???
Yep it was Geoff and he'd bought himself a new bike on Saturday. He traded the Vstrom on a brand new Triumph Tiger Sport 1050. I was pretty impressed with it. A very nice looking bike, ABS, single sided swing arm and it went as good as it looked from what I could see cause the bastard wouldn't give us a ride.
The ride out of Sydney's outer western suburbs was pretty uneventful and we finally met up with Wayne at Wilberforce. The expression on Wayne's face was the same as mine, it was a big surprise. Geoff had kept pretty tight about buying a new bike.
On the way up through Colo and then onto Colo heights we came across some of the boys in blue. Unfortunately for one poor bastard on a ducati they ruined his Sunday morning. A little bit later up the road I noticed we were being followed by a white car which I thought was the police. We soon stopped in at the drive way of the Grey Gums cafe and the car pulled up behind us. I was relieved to find out it was one of Geoff's friends in his Toyota/Subaru sports car.
I have a little rant coming. Whats up with groups of bikes usually with one or 2 P platers at the rear riding in a bunch that seem to madly overtake on the straights then when we get to some bends its like wooh better slow down we can't go round here to quick, and its all of them not just the P platers going slow.
We got overtaken by said bunch but when we came to a set of twisties up a hill we speed up and overtook the lot of em in about 3 or 4 bends.
There were quite a few bikes here today even though it wasn't a really warm day and it was overcast with a cool breeze but once the sun came out it was just about perfect. I cant say it enough, this place has the best hamburgers anywhere and as usual lunch was fantastic, not the cheapest but when your in the middle of nowhere you can't really complain. It was great to be back out on the bike again. The new tyres performed flawlessly as expected. The thigh muscles were struggling all day today at work. Now whens the next ride.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
The end of a riddle and some new shoes
Winter here is finally coming to an end (Woo Hoo!) with only one month of winter left one can't wish hard enough that the spring will come early. I haven't really had much chance to get out on the bike at all, partly due to the crap weather coupled with the fact I needed new tyres which is now rectified also I have been away the last couple of weekends visiting my mum who was in hospital due to a hip replacement.
I finally got the bike in to the shop for new hoops this week. We can't all be as lucky as Eric and have our own tyre changing machine. While the bike was at the shop I also asked them to check the steering head bearings. When I had washed the bike a couple of weeks ago I went up to get some fuel. I wasn't wearing ear plugs for such a short journey like I do if I'm on a long trip and when I applied the front brake I could hear a clunking sound coming from the front end. The end result was that, as I had suspected the steering head bearing were shot.I took the bike for a short run down some hills nearby and lent back and took my hands off the bars. No tank slapping occurring now. Great now the handling is sorted its time for a ride next weekend.
Incidentally I was going to put on another set of Michelin Pilot Power Pure's but when I spoke to the guy at the shop he said they didn't have any and that a lot of riders were reporting that they were wearing funny on the front causing handling problems. I just had a set of those on my R1 and had no sort of drama's as he described. Tarsnakes recently told me he had a similar issue with them on his VFR. I wonder if these so called wear/handling issues come about due to heavy bikes. The VFR is 34Kg heavier than my R1. This could cause excessive wear on the front tyre possibly. It could be that the lighter the bike the better those tyres perform.
Anyway I decided I would try Michelins new Pilot Power 3. Hopefully I will get roughly the same amount of Km's out of these as I did with the power pure although I don't think I will. I had 58804 km on the bike when I got them put on.
There's very little tread on the sides of these tyres so it doesn't look like they will be great wet weather tyres but they do look like they will be great tyres for spirited riding in the twisties. Time will tell.
Once I'd got the bike home on Sunday I also did an oil and filter change on the bike. Now all is in readiness for next weeks ride, as long as it not 6°C and raining.
I finally got the bike in to the shop for new hoops this week. We can't all be as lucky as Eric and have our own tyre changing machine. While the bike was at the shop I also asked them to check the steering head bearings. When I had washed the bike a couple of weeks ago I went up to get some fuel. I wasn't wearing ear plugs for such a short journey like I do if I'm on a long trip and when I applied the front brake I could hear a clunking sound coming from the front end. The end result was that, as I had suspected the steering head bearing were shot.I took the bike for a short run down some hills nearby and lent back and took my hands off the bars. No tank slapping occurring now. Great now the handling is sorted its time for a ride next weekend.
Incidentally I was going to put on another set of Michelin Pilot Power Pure's but when I spoke to the guy at the shop he said they didn't have any and that a lot of riders were reporting that they were wearing funny on the front causing handling problems. I just had a set of those on my R1 and had no sort of drama's as he described. Tarsnakes recently told me he had a similar issue with them on his VFR. I wonder if these so called wear/handling issues come about due to heavy bikes. The VFR is 34Kg heavier than my R1. This could cause excessive wear on the front tyre possibly. It could be that the lighter the bike the better those tyres perform.
Anyway I decided I would try Michelins new Pilot Power 3. Hopefully I will get roughly the same amount of Km's out of these as I did with the power pure although I don't think I will. I had 58804 km on the bike when I got them put on.
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| Pilot Power 3 |
There's very little tread on the sides of these tyres so it doesn't look like they will be great wet weather tyres but they do look like they will be great tyres for spirited riding in the twisties. Time will tell.
Once I'd got the bike home on Sunday I also did an oil and filter change on the bike. Now all is in readiness for next weeks ride, as long as it not 6°C and raining.
Bring on the summer!
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Contemplating a new bike
I have had my current bike a 2000 model Yamaha YZF R1 for 13 years now, which is an eternity from a biking technology point of view. From new it's pretty much ticked all the boxes for me. It's got plenty of power although I always seem to want more. Is that just a guy thing? It has great handling for a bike of its age and it has held up remarkably well in the styling stakes. It was built with an aggressive look which it still has in this day and age of ultra sleek styled bikes. It just goes to show how far ahead of it's time it was when it was released.
I have been contemplating updating my bike for some time now. There have been several reasons that I haven't actually gone out and bought something newer, lack of funds has been the major factor in that. Throw in the fact that we have had our second daughter in the last 5 years and that really tends to put a dent in anything motorcycling related as well as sucking the bank account dry, faster than an R1 goes 0-60.
Well anyway I've been wondering what sort of bike I should get when the time does finally come that I have enough funds to make the upgrade. Should I get another sports bike or should I go down the sports tourer path for a bit more comfort as I'm not getting any younger, or do I take a bit of a different angle and get a hooligan bike like a naked 1000cc. Mmmm decisions decisions. All of the bikes these days are so good there doesn't seem to be much real difference in performance in the real world. The following list of bikes are on my wish list at the moment for when I finally make the upgrade hopefully soon...
Naked Bikes
The first naked bike that grabbed my attention is the Triumph Speed Triple 1050. I was spying one of these out last time I was at the bike shop. Nice looking bike. I reckon I could have a lot of fun on this thing.....
Pro's: ABS, Single sided swing arm, light weight
Con's: Lack of weather protection
The second naked bike that I like is Kawasaki's Z1000. Now this bike doesn't look as good as the Speed triple but there is still something about this bike I can't put my finger on, maybe its the Kawasaki build quality or the fact kwaka engines have a charismatic growl.
Pro's: Cheaper than the Striple, ABS, light weight
Con's: Bit on the fugly side
The next naked bike I like is a brutal looking bit of gear. Its MV Augusta 1090 Brutale. I like the look of these but I'm not sure whether or not I would actually get one or not being a cash strapped dad and all..
Pro's: Traction Control, Single sided swing arm, light weight
Con's: Lack of weather protection, No ABS, price(its around 8k dear than the Z1000)
Sports Tourer
The next bike is in the sports tourers category. I could quite easily see myself slipping into a sports tourer, just for the fact that I could ride longer distances and not be as tired at the end of the day.
It's no secret that I don't mind Kawasaki's, having previously owned 2. The next one is the biggest mother of them all. The Kawasaki's ZX-14. I have had a look at them close up in the bike shop and they look very good, I could do some 2 up touring with the missus with one of these bad boys. Although that's probably not that likely to happen with the little ones for the next couple of years.
Pro's: ABS, Comfortable, as a certain Sith lord once said "Unlimited Power", 2 up touring ability
Con's: 268kg porker, those hideous cans
Sports Bikes
The next bike on my wish list would have to be the ultimate sports bike in its class. With leading edge technology dripping from this thing is it any wonder it has won about every award there is except most comfortable tourer. The BMW S1000RR.
Pro's: Everything, ABS, traction control, quick shifter, power & handling
Con's: Price, touring could be very uncomfortable
The next bike on the wish list is another Kawasaki, gee there certainly seems to be a few in my list. The ZX-10 is kwaka's litre sized weapon. This could be fun.
Pro's: ABS, traction control, power & handling, steering damper
Con's: Cheaper than BMW, LED tacho looks like a cheap gimmick
The last bike on my wish list would have to be Yamaha's new YZF R1. I mean why wouldn't I look at updating to a newer one. I have loved my old R1, I love the sound of the new cross plane crank. The only draw back I see is that it doesn't have any ABS which most of the competitors do. Also the rear taillight area is pretty hideous as well. Whoever at Yamaha designed that needs to be taken out the back and flogged.
Pro's: Traction control, Cross plane crank, slipper clutch
Con's: No ABS, Bike is a porker at 218kg wet, my old R1 is 201kg wet.
I have taken quite a while to piece this blog post together for one reason or another, but after putting some thought into it I was thinking "Do I even need any of this new technology". I mean my current bike doesn't have any of this it still has carburetters for gods sake. Really what is all this stuff for?
The only conclusion that I can come up with is that all of this stuff is for rider safety. The big one here for me would have to be ABS. My next bike I'd like to have ABS on it just in case. I mean I'm only human and all it takes is one little mistake under brakes and everything can come unstuck. At least ABS may stop that from happening.
I noticed that 3 of the bikes here were in the seven days seven bikes blog challenge from 2 years ago. Once I have the funds available I'll be test riding these beauties to see which one I like to make my final decision. Till then I'm still just dreaming.....
I have been contemplating updating my bike for some time now. There have been several reasons that I haven't actually gone out and bought something newer, lack of funds has been the major factor in that. Throw in the fact that we have had our second daughter in the last 5 years and that really tends to put a dent in anything motorcycling related as well as sucking the bank account dry, faster than an R1 goes 0-60.
Well anyway I've been wondering what sort of bike I should get when the time does finally come that I have enough funds to make the upgrade. Should I get another sports bike or should I go down the sports tourer path for a bit more comfort as I'm not getting any younger, or do I take a bit of a different angle and get a hooligan bike like a naked 1000cc. Mmmm decisions decisions. All of the bikes these days are so good there doesn't seem to be much real difference in performance in the real world. The following list of bikes are on my wish list at the moment for when I finally make the upgrade hopefully soon...
Naked Bikes
The first naked bike that grabbed my attention is the Triumph Speed Triple 1050. I was spying one of these out last time I was at the bike shop. Nice looking bike. I reckon I could have a lot of fun on this thing.....
Pro's: ABS, Single sided swing arm, light weight
Con's: Lack of weather protection
The second naked bike that I like is Kawasaki's Z1000. Now this bike doesn't look as good as the Speed triple but there is still something about this bike I can't put my finger on, maybe its the Kawasaki build quality or the fact kwaka engines have a charismatic growl.
Pro's: Cheaper than the Striple, ABS, light weight
Con's: Bit on the fugly side
The next naked bike I like is a brutal looking bit of gear. Its MV Augusta 1090 Brutale. I like the look of these but I'm not sure whether or not I would actually get one or not being a cash strapped dad and all..
Con's: Lack of weather protection, No ABS, price(its around 8k dear than the Z1000)
Sports Tourer
The next bike is in the sports tourers category. I could quite easily see myself slipping into a sports tourer, just for the fact that I could ride longer distances and not be as tired at the end of the day.
It's no secret that I don't mind Kawasaki's, having previously owned 2. The next one is the biggest mother of them all. The Kawasaki's ZX-14. I have had a look at them close up in the bike shop and they look very good, I could do some 2 up touring with the missus with one of these bad boys. Although that's probably not that likely to happen with the little ones for the next couple of years.
Pro's: ABS, Comfortable, as a certain Sith lord once said "Unlimited Power", 2 up touring ability
Con's: 268kg porker, those hideous cans
Sports Bikes
The next bike on my wish list would have to be the ultimate sports bike in its class. With leading edge technology dripping from this thing is it any wonder it has won about every award there is except most comfortable tourer. The BMW S1000RR.
Pro's: Everything, ABS, traction control, quick shifter, power & handling
Con's: Price, touring could be very uncomfortable
The next bike on the wish list is another Kawasaki, gee there certainly seems to be a few in my list. The ZX-10 is kwaka's litre sized weapon. This could be fun.
Con's: Cheaper than BMW, LED tacho looks like a cheap gimmick
The last bike on my wish list would have to be Yamaha's new YZF R1. I mean why wouldn't I look at updating to a newer one. I have loved my old R1, I love the sound of the new cross plane crank. The only draw back I see is that it doesn't have any ABS which most of the competitors do. Also the rear taillight area is pretty hideous as well. Whoever at Yamaha designed that needs to be taken out the back and flogged.
Con's: No ABS, Bike is a porker at 218kg wet, my old R1 is 201kg wet.
I have taken quite a while to piece this blog post together for one reason or another, but after putting some thought into it I was thinking "Do I even need any of this new technology". I mean my current bike doesn't have any of this it still has carburetters for gods sake. Really what is all this stuff for?
The only conclusion that I can come up with is that all of this stuff is for rider safety. The big one here for me would have to be ABS. My next bike I'd like to have ABS on it just in case. I mean I'm only human and all it takes is one little mistake under brakes and everything can come unstuck. At least ABS may stop that from happening.
I noticed that 3 of the bikes here were in the seven days seven bikes blog challenge from 2 years ago. Once I have the funds available I'll be test riding these beauties to see which one I like to make my final decision. Till then I'm still just dreaming.....
Friday, June 14, 2013
1 Litre Farkle
There really hasn't been much riding happening around chiller HQ since our ride to Wee Jasper last month, I have been so busy with life in general I haven't even washed the bike since the trip either. I still need to put some new tyres on the bike and it pretty much hasn't moved from its spot in the garage.Lucky its winter and the enthusiasm has been a bit low for riding anyway. If it was summer and no riding then I might go nuts.
Well anyways just an update to show my new purchase, a farkle of a different type if you will...... a 1 litre farkle. It keeps me sane in an insane world.
Well anyways just an update to show my new purchase, a farkle of a different type if you will...... a 1 litre farkle. It keeps me sane in an insane world.
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