Way back in January, I had my first "big off" in nigh on 19 years. Up till then i'd been riding my Shoei Synchrotec helmet on the street and my Shoei RF1000 on the track. With the resulting decomissioning of the Synchrotec it was time to replace my street helmet !

 So coinciding with the purchase of "wee Billy" I went helmet shopping and chose a Shoei Hornet DS in Matt Black as the new replacement. I knew that with the Hornbet DS I'd get a lot more wind noise from the  visor. What i didn't expect was how well the visor shielded my eyes from the sun, allowing use of a non tinted face shiel;d for the first time in 4 years. I can also fit my Oakley perscription glasses under the Shoei, so they serve as my sunglasses as well as letting me actually see while riding :)  Good thing that the shield works so well, because a tinted face shielf for the hornet DS is a scary $82 USD on the shoei website !!! is that daylight robbery or what ?

Better not scratch it then !  Overall fit is good, but after a few hours the helmet is still pinching my ears, even after 1600 miles, which is kinda unusual for me in this size of a Shoei. I'm hoping it beds in quickly as the larger size was much too big off the getgo.

 Ventilation is something i havent really noticed working too well on this helmet, opening and closing the vents seems to make little effect, but i am biased , my last ride was on the hottest day of the year :) so i'll report back on that one. 

The helmet was also nigh on 500 bucks, so with hindsight i'd have to recomend to only buy one if you really want n Enduro styled helmet that makes you look like "Master Chief" ...especially when Shoei has other less expensive , very well made helmets that are lighter, less noisy and cheaper to buy face shields for.

 However, if like me being cool is all that matters, then certainly go and check out the Shoei Hornet DS, and dinnae forget your wallet !

The Shoei Hornet DS has a MSRP of $482.99 as reviewed. You can check out the Hornet DS from Shoei at the Shoei USA website. 

I've never liked soft luggage, but then i've always owned Sports Bikes over the last 15 years and soft luggage has a way off looking fairly "tatty" pretty darn fast. Same goes for tank bags, I have a tank bag for my 2001 Moto Guzzi V11 Sport (aka "Britney") and hated it! Havng a plastic gas tank meant that it strapped on, rubbed against the paintwork and was a pain every time i had to refuel.

  Well, this has all changed. I just got back from a 1000 mile roadtrip to Santa Monica and back to hang out with Demon Overlord Stoafo (aka "Kawasaki Riding Bastard") and his family, oh yeah and to do some work too. I knew that i'd need to put some luggage on "wee Billy" for the trip and didnt want to spend a bunch of cash because i've already ordered a set of Krauser aluminium luggage from Twisted Throttle. 

 Prior to the trip I called Honda/Suzuki of San Mateo on the off-chance that they could do a while you wait first service on "wee Billy" as i was already over the 600 mile point. Of course they could ! This dealership rocks! They're a bunch of more "mature" guys, just having fun running an "old skool" shop. I instantly felt at home and i will buy product from them in future. While they serviced my bike i decided to buy some soft luggage. First up the Cortec "Super 10 Liter" Tank Bag.

Ok I'm way impressed with this product. It mounts to the Vstrom's Gas tank magnetically. Easy on, easy off and doesn't move anywhere while underway. This eliminates my biggest gripe with tank bags about stoppping at the gas station. (even though with "wee billy" i only have to stop every 230 miles or so!) I also love the map pocket, although its a little on the small side, nae more stopping to pull my google-mapped location out of my pocket :)

The Zippers are also very sturdy, and i like the grab handle and the little pocket seperator that I use for my house keys and phone etc.

The first big thing that i've noticed with the tank bag is that now i carry a chain and padlock with me everywhere. They live in the tank bag, so i have nae excuses not to lock up "wee Billy" wherever i happen to be!

Here's one last shot of the Cortech Super 10 Litre tank bag in action, high up in the Santa Monica mountains on the hottest day of the year so far in Southern California.

Over the last few years i've started to move further and further away from a car as my primary form of transport. The problem has been that none of the bikes i own are at all practical as everyday transport/car repacements:

• The V11 is too much like hard work over distance with fairly extreme ergo's. I've done a few 500 mile days on "Britney" and always needed a chiropractor the day afterwards :)
• "Margaret" - my 1976 Convert is currently broken, but the main problem with her is that shes a vintage bike, she's comfy for distance but not the kind of bike that i'd want to sit at 80mph on the freeway anytime soon.
• "Steve, my Bonneville is raucuously obnoxious and geared too low for freeway riding, plus my hearing is something i covert, the non existant wind protection beats you up on the Bonnie at anything above 70 mph. Plus refueling every 120 miles gets old after a while.

....So what to do ?  Well, i'm in process of selling my truck, (anyone want a 2003 Hummer H2 wih 40,000 miles on the clock ?) and really needed something rock solid for daily transportation, something with a great fuel range, decent economy, room for luggage and good wind protection.

Aha time for a Moto Guzzi Stelvio !! no wait i cannae afford one of those this year as i'm recovering from financial disaster, ah must be time for a V-Strom 650 then !

The V-Strom 650 uses a detuned SV650 motor. It comes in a "half dark" model in 650 guise. Once i figured out it'd do over 200 on a tank of gas courtesy of the 5.8 gallon tank, that it'd cruise at 85 mph all day, has an adjustable screen and that I can attach tasty "Long way round" style aluminium luggage, I was pretty much sold. 

  So now the problem was finding a non-ABS model somewhere close to me. Turns out that Berts MegaMall in Covina had one. A wee bit of haggling later and a price was agreed upon. I hopped a flight the next morning to LAX, where I was picked up by Stoafo and off we went to the dealership.

 The first ride home was during breakin period so i was pretty gentle with the bike. Plus I hadnae named him/her yet! First impressions were all about the super neutral handling, the comfy seat and very linear power delivery. The adjustable screen was set in the lowest position though and i was getting quite a bit of buffetting on the ride home.

There followed a week of commuting on the  "wee strom". I quickly found that it's easily the best handling bike i own, lane splitting is nice and easy becasue of the high seat and upright riding position. Raising the windscreen, reduced the helmet buffetting above 80mph, but i still get noticeable buffetting at 70 :( Other than that the big thing for me was how well the stock OEM Bridgestone Trailwings work on this bike. I'm getting enough lean angle to scrape pegs and the bike always feels planted with a high level of grip. Initially i'd been worried about the relatively tall seat height (i'm a short ass), but it's not been a noticeable issue. 

  The first accessories that i've ordered have been the Suzuki handguard set and a carbon fibre tank pad (the dealer accidently put a scratch on the tank before i took delivery). I do however have a set of Krauser luggage on order and at some point in the next few months i'm goign to be adding engine guards, a sump protector and heated grips.

The Krauser luggage that i've chosen has a long delivery time though and lsat week i was jonesing to take a road trip so i swung by the Suzuki dealer in San Mateo and while they were 600 mile servicing the bike, I bought a tank bag and some coretech soft luggage. (to be reviewed seperately :)   )

So equipped it was time for a first ever road trip and two-up we headed off to Santa Monica as I had work at my companies LA location and it seemed like a good excuse to put some miles on "wee Billy" as he's now named. Riding down was "ok", basically a blast down the I5 in the evening. Riding home however, on the hottest day of the year, in fully lined textile black clothes and helmets, wasnae too much fun :)  Here's some pics of "wee Billy" as the heat started to set in. The heat up in topanga canyon was pretty intense so we headed down to Malibu and the alledgedly cooler climes by the ocean. 

On the way home the  Suzuki managed a respectable and comfortable 85mph for 3 hours at a time as I hauled ass to make sure i made it to San Jose in time for the George Michael concert ! Pulling up at the HP Pavillion Arena in San Jose with 5 minutes to spare, I barely had time to reflect on how well the Suzuki's performance is greater than the sum of it's parts. Suspension is a bit soft, i increased preload for the ride home, but the brakes and chassis work well, even two up. My only grouch is i'm used to more fire breathing motors, but hey, the vstrom can even power the gerbing heated vest i brought along for my pillion! 

Finally at the concert, we had barely enough time to change (mental note, motorcycles get rockstar front and center parking at the HP pavillion, great for parking not so great for changing in privacy), before heading on in to watch George Michael rock out. Seriously he did rock out, i was majorly shocked at how good he was live!

 
As I write this I have 1500 miles on the bike in just under 10 days. Next blog will be a review of the soft luggage that I bought as a makedo for the trip.

For those of you not living in California, the state is finally seeing sense and passing a "no cell phone" ban whilst driving. The rule basically forces drivers to use a headset/hands free kit whilst talking and driving. It is hoped this will reduce the number of related accidents and make the roads safer.

Why blog about this? Well, on my way into work I have to negociate many 4 way stop signs, which can be particulary dangerous for us bikers. Picture this: I come to a complete stop and intend to go straight through the intersection. I place my foot down on the road and the driver directly opposite me approaches her stop line. I wait until she stops and then take off. As I approach the center of the road, she decides to turn left (no turn signal..of course) and pulls out directly infront of me.

I slam on my breaks to avoid going over the front of her car and look in disbelief directly at her. Surprise...she's on the cellphone, looks at me, waves to say "Thanks" for stopping and carries on.

It's impossible to say wether or not the cellphone was the reason for this crazy stunt because alot of drivers dont need a distraction to be completely clueless but here's my issue with the law. Whether you are using a hands free kit or not, you are still concentrating on a conversation and not on driving. Sure, the hands free kit enables you to have both hands on the wheel but how many people drive with their hands at the "10" and "2" position? Or even drive with both hands on the wheel period.  In fact, I would call it "half a law".

And look at the punishment if you're caught: $20 fine for the first offense then $50 every time thereafter. Is that enough?

Come the start of July, it will be very interesting to see the stats on how many offenses are logged. It'll also be interesting to see if it has an affect on the number of driver related accidents.  I'll reserve my judgement. It is a sweet little earner for the mobile companies though in the form of related accessory sales.

Hullooo....

Exciting times, these are! Working hard has it's advantages. You do your job, even go above and beyond and providing you work for a good company you get a bonus. My friend Robbie works hard! He works for a damn good company. My friend Robbie got his bonus. My friend Robbie bought new motorcycle.

I'll leave the details to him because I'm sure he wants to write about it. Don't expect anything today though because he left my house in Santa Monica around 7:00pm last night and rode back home to San Francisco. "Should be a nice break in period", he said before leaving. Let's just say that it is the "Death Star" of bikes. How much more black? none, none more!

Anyway, on to my tales. We both ride out to Berts MegaMall in Covina to purchase said motorcycle on the Ninja which meant that on the way home, I managed to experience my first decent freeway ride. The 10 was flowing surprisingly well for 4:00pm on a Saturday afternoon so there wasn't that much need for lane splitting. Sure, Robbie could've got home quicker if it wasn't for his "lame arsed" friend but hey It's all about riding in your comfort zone right? (well, at the moment anyway..heehee).

Two other great highlights of the day. Firstly, I managed to buy some great extra protection in the form of an Icon body armour vest.

 Although I'm not the type of rider that hits the canyons at any given opportunity, accidents could potentially happen at any moment in time. Having something like this will give me the extra protection my spine needs and will hopefully make my mum worry less about me hurting myself! (Now that in itself is worth $99). For more info about the vest, you can check it out here.

The fit is really good and works well under the Shift textile jacket I'm curently wearing. A very good buy me thinks! Hopefully I wont have to write and tell you about how it performs in an accident. **grinz**. On that note, I heard a classic line from a fellow rider while I was waiting on Robbie signing stuff at the dealership. I'm standing with the armour on and we are discussing his new Boulevard that he just bought. He has on a light weight pair of jeans, T-shirt and a brain bucket style helmet. He says to me "Thats some serious protection, expecting to be in an accident?". I didn't really know how to respond without sounding really sarcastic so I just laughed and hoped that my lack of answer made him realise how stupid his question was.

Lets, see...What else happened? Oh yeah....Still standing at the dispatch area of Berts MegaMall, watching all the proud new owners of bikes drive them away. A kid and his friend (we shall call them "Beavis" and..emm.."Tony") stood beside his new Shadow (or maybe it was a Vstar??) 650. His salesman asked the usual questions about his riding experience, if he knew the controls of the bike etc. Beavis replied "yup", so the salesman completed sign off, rolled the bike out of the cage area into the parking lot and went inside.

Beavis got on bike, started it up, tried to pull off and stalled. Fair enough. Started up again, tried to pull off, gave it too much gas stalled and skidded the back tire. By this time he had a wee bit of an audience watching him. Attempt no 3 and he started up the bike, gave it gas, let the clutch out and he was on his way......right towards a piece of sidewalk and a tree. Instead of trying to point those things infront of the rider (I believe they are called handlebars) and lean away from the oncoming obsticle, he decided to accelerate and smacked the front wheel up on the sidewalk, narrowly missing the tree.  Did this deter the young chap? Not a bit. He sorted himself out, started up the bike again and actually continued to negociate the very challenging parking lot and onwards onto Asuza Drive.  At least I'm assuming he made it that far.

I think I already blogged about easily accessible motorcycles are in States but this just highlights the issue. I mean, talk about being a liability. No wonder insurance is so high for new riders. Completely Unbelievable.

Anyway, look out for Robbies' review of the new purchase. I'm sure it'll be here soon providing he didnt keep on riding up to Vancouver. As long as he had his "Jenny" radar on, he'll have made it home...Right Rob! **grinz**.

Keep the rubber side down..Or if you're Beavis, Away from the trees!

1987 Honda MT5

My unsilenced 2 stroke engine screaming its way through the wall of rain, I can smell the mix of gas and 2 stroke oil, mingled in with the smell of my sodden ski gloves and wax Belstaff jacket. I am wet, more than that, i'm soaked through. It's going to take a week to dry out from this and i lost the feeling in my fingers in toes about 10 miles ago. I have the throttle wound tightly to the stop, in fact its been like that since leaving Dalgety Bay on my way back home to Dunfermline. I'm fully wide open at 43mphI'm 16 years old, with my first ever Motorcycle. complete freedom on a Honda MT5

 The Mt5 was prety "crash proof". I laid it down maybe 5 times in my 3 year long ownership. Twice on ice or in the snow, once under a bus in the wet, when the bus made an illegal right hand turn right in front of me, but for a 50cc bike, i did over 2000 miles and went everywhere in a cloud of Blue smoke!

The MT5 weighed 180 pounds, with this super feeble front drum brake, better suited to a bicycle. I'd get around 70 miles to the gallon and over 100 miles from it's 2 gallon gas tank. The little MT was finally sold when i bought my first car. What an idiot !

1988 Honda XBR500 

I bought my Honda in 1991 with 12 thousand miles on the clock. The day i picked her up , it started to blizzard in Yorkshire, where the bike was located and i had to ride her home to  Dunfermline. Not FUN !!  When i got to the Forth Road bridge it was closed to bikes and trucks, i dont think i've ever been so tired !

  The XBR was a single cylinder "thumper". One single disk up front, 500 CC carb-fueled engine, with both electric start and kickstart.  NB i never was successful in kickstarting the beast !

 :)

I rode her for 4 years in all kinds of weather conditions as my only transport to and from University whicch was a 100 mile roundtrip. The big single never let me down and was a great "first big bike". She also got  70 mpg , it pretty much rocked. I even liked the metallic burgundy colour ! I sold her after the bike was knocked over and vandalised. the  respray on the tank never did quite match the same luster as the original.

2001 Moto Guzzi V11 Sport

 I bought my V11 Sport, withotu a testride, the instant I saw the bike in a photograph i knew i "had" to have it :) I've owned "britney" for 7 years now, withonly 15 thousand miles in that time. I've xtensively modified the bikes fueling. She has a power commander, titanium Mistral end cans, hi comp pistons by Ferracci, Velocity stacks and uni filters and i upgraded the brakes because the OEM ones really suck :) i've also had the front end resprung, and am in the process of buying a new rear shock.

One of the funniest things i've done with "Brit" is to rally her round the race track. At smaller tracks, like Buttonwillow, where there's not straightaway to speak of, i can hold my own easily with the fastest Group B riders, not really anything to boast about, but i think it  does deflate the myth that an old air cooled twin , thats 100 pounds overweight,cant hang with a sports 600 or litre bike on the race track. With Dunlop DOT Race tires on the bike, my two hero moments involved outbraking a Honda "Fireblade", passing an Aprilia RSVR and GSXR 600 simulatenously on the brakes (pictured) and going around the outside of an R1 at "taladega" , a fast right hand sweeper. Again to put it into perspective, the instructors could pass me at will, like i was standing still, but it was still nice to see i wasnae holding anyone up.

Laguna Seca however was a different kettle of fish. My soft rear shock wasnt up to the higher speeds and it was nigh impossible to hold full throttle on the bumpy long straightaway. I also got black flagged for noise which was kinda lame.

1976 Moto Guzzi Convert

  aka "Margaret Thatcher". I love this bike. Too bad that i broke her, with my first crash in 19 years :(  Margaret is a fully automatic bike with linked brakes, which ultimately led to my demise ! (well that and rider error, see previous blog "zen and the art of not crashing") I have about 5 thousand miles on her and shes currently sitting broken in my garage :(

There are very few people in life that you can call a proper friend. (i'm not going to use the word "Mate" because in the States, that has some other connitations, which is just weird).  I have two real proper friends. The kind of friends that you can trust with your last bottle of Irn Bru and bag o' chips.

One of them is a man who, despite his love of Neil Young and warehouse management systems, has always been there for me and has always tollerated my love of cheesy 80's hair music: Jamie Barr, you know who you are. The other "Geezer" is someone I've known for the best part of 17 years. He is a man who nearly burnt down his apartment while solidifing the ends of his dreadlocks with wax. A man who decided that one triumph TR7 was not enough and bought two. A man who thought nothing of giving up his chance to ride in the back of the tour van with the chicks, so that we could all get home in one piece. I could go on.... and for the right price I probably would, but in the meantime I'm happy to introduce Robbie Booth...the new guest writer for the Stoafer blog.

How did I come to know this guy and whats the history? Very long story but I'll try to summerize by way of nice looking bullet points:

• I'm at an Edinburgh rock club moshing to Anthrax, headbanging to the Bullet Boyz and laughing at all the grungers in their lumberjack shirts. I'm also wearing my "zildjian" drum t-shirt.
• Robbie's at the same club doing his thing (I cant call it dancing because that be-littles this amazing spectacle), laughing at all the "mincers" who love cheesy 80's hair metal. He's wearing his "Peace Frog" T-shirt...Peace Frog being the name of his band. We chat about band stuff and I'm asked to audition for his band.
• I'm sceptical about the band thing because I'm about to move to Dundee to start University. I Get up to University and find out I'm living in the same apartment block as the singer of the band, Robbies brother! For about 5 years, and after some band name changes, we play in said band and live in each others pockets until Robbie moves to the States to work for Microsoft.
• 2 years later, Robbie gets me a job in Microsoft. We work together for 3 years and Robbie moves to California.
• 1 year later, Robbie gets me a job in his company in California. (see the pattern developing.)
• Company folds and 6 months later, I join Robbie in helping a start-up get off the ground.

So you get the idea. Aside from the initial move to the States, I think this is the first time we've not lived in the same town. Up until a few weeks ago, I think the only thing we didnt have in common was motorcycles. He helped rectify that by not only pretending to be me and instigating the purchase of my bike but also helping persuade my lovely wife that it was actually a good idea. Dont think it would've been such an easy sell without his ever persuasive words.

All that said, It's great that he's decided to write here and share some of his vast riding experience. Believe me he's riden alot, has seen many sights, has many stories and has sampled many different machines. He also knows alot about motorcycles so that helps too. I really look forward to reading what he's got to say and in the meantime, I'll leave you with some other interesting facts about this great man:

• He owns a dog and one cat. He is very angry due to an incident where he was gang raped by 2 racoons. (The cat that is, Not Robbie.) The result being that Numan has an "offset" bumhole and a hatred of all forrest type creatures.
• He was responsible for one of my most embarassing moment where, while walking over a bridge that spanned a busy freeway, him and his brother decided to run up behind me and pull down my pants . As we were coming back from band rehersal it just so happened I was wearing no underwear and had my hands full carrying drum crap. Cheers Chief.
• In our long hair days, Robbie's hair grew "out" instead of "Down"...only adding to his amazing resemblence to Eddie Vedder and resulting in the amazing ability to get all the groupies.
• He used to own 24 guitars...all of them Yamaha SG's.
• Thanks to Robbie, The popular game "Asheron's Call" shipped with a great "feature" whereby if you completed certain steps in the help section, a lovely pop up appeared with the text "Didnae Feckin' Work!". I'm sure he can ellaborate if required.

So there you go...Ladies, gentlemen and people from Russia...I give you Mr Robbie Booth.

It's funny. I was sitting around last night contimplating on how I've finally managed to get my license and, more importantly, my bike. It's something that I've always wanted even since I lived back in the UK. After gloating and sending piccies round the world of my newest toy, I found out that there are a few of my friends in the UK going through the same ordeal of taking bike lessons / getting endorsed.

After chatting to them, it really hit home about just how easy it is to get both a driving license and a motorcycle endorsement in the states. "Cage driving" aside, I felt it might be interesting to take a look at the motorcycle license requirements for both countries.

In the red corner....The mighty United States Of America:

Here's how I did it. After getting some great feedback from other riders, I signed up for the MSF riders course. For $250, this is what you get:

• The use of a bike/helmet. The bikes are usually 250cc honda Nighhthawks or equivilent type cruisers.
• A five hour classroom tuition after which, there is a multiple choice test. Providing you pass this you get a certificate of completion and the right to proceed onto the practical part of the course.
• On the practical part, it's two five hour sessions on an empty range (in my case, a parking lot) where two insructors will go over basic manouvers, cornering, slow manouvering, emergency stops and other types of instruction. After the two sessions, you are assessed on all these skills and providing you pass, this waives the right to take the practical test at the DMV.

Once you have both these pieces completed, you need to sit a theory test consisting of 30 multiple choice questions. Pass that and you're on your way to rider freedom.

You can , of course, just turn up at the DMV and you can sit the practical test. I decided to go for the MSF course because I truly believe they teach you way more stuff!

In the blue corner....The equally as mighty (and slightly better at making tea and crumpets) UK:

Ok, this is slightly more complicated so there's more bullet points:

• Pass the CBT (Compulsory Basic Training). This is a basic course that covers the core ideas, basic road safety, manouvering and parking and going out in traffic in a group. Once you pass this, it gives you the right to ride a 125cc with Learner plates for 2 years. Within those 2 years, it also gives you the right to sit the theory test and then take the full practical test.
• Take and pass  the Theory test. This is pretty much like the theory test in the U.S.
• Take the full practical test. This is an extension of the CBT but covers more advanced manouvering and street riding and you are hooked up with an instructor via a remote radio. Once you pass, you are entitled to ride on the road, freeways etc. There are, however, a few restrictions employed in the UK:
  • If you take the full test on a 125cc, you may only ride up to a 125cc for 2 years. After the 2 year period, you may ride anything. Same applies to a 250cc.
  • If you are older than 21 and you take the test on 500cc (or above), you can ride anything straight away.

Looking at both of these, It's obvious that the UK imposes many more restrictions that are based around protecting beginner riders. It would be interesting to get input from other riders in the States to see if they agree with these restrictions or even think they should be imposed in the U.S? And if they were, would the rate of accidents in beginner riders drop?

I almost dropped my bike this morning. Nothing to do with my riding experience (or lack thereof) but from laughing.  I have 2 choices for my daily commute. I can either take the I-10 from PCH for about 3 exits or I can take the smaller roads and take in the locals going about their daily business.

So here I am, stopping and starting at the many sets of lights and stop signs when I arrive at yet another red. The light Gods were against me today! I'm positioned towards the center of the road, as expected, when I hear the faint sound of a hairdryer come up along myright side and stop. I look over and there's a guy on a Vespa 125. We exchange a quick nod, which is obviously scooter code for "Let's get it on".   At that point he starts to crank on the throttle of his awesome machine and as the light goes green, he kicks it into "quick dry mode" and shoots off the line as only a 125 scooter can.

Lucky for me there wasn't a car behind because i had to slip back into neutral, put both feet on the ground and finish pissing myself laughing before heading off. Sometimes you've just got to ask yourself..."Why???????"