My Bike Blog 2005

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2004 Bike Blog Page

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24th December 2005, This part is for Tuesday, a depressing day for me because of things to do with the CBR, my poor baby. Still in a complete state of disrepair. So i start working on the back end of the bike, the tail section. I have a little trouble trying to get all the bolts in as some seem a little tight. When i finally got all the parts on, i just needed to place a couple more clip things, BUT, they could not possibly fit in. This caused me much frustration and just confirmed a suspicion that i had about the tail section having a problem. So i stripped it all down again. Then looked at it carefully! Looking along the tail section towards the front of the bike it is possible to see that the final part of the back end is bent. Boo hoo.... I have missed out on quite a few tail section sub-frames in the past month as well, thinking that i didn't really need it. This is also the day when i took in my wheels to have them switch over the rear tire i fell off on (less than 200 miles on it!) from the bent rim, and also switch over the new front tire to the front rim. Well i got a call from Honda of Simi. They inform me that the rear tire is broken at the edge of the carcass and is leaking air. Oh no, so i cannot use it. So what annoys me is 300+ dollars of damage to my bike have come from the manhandling of my bike out of the back of the truck when the guys at the track day, DROPPED it off at my pit area. ARGH!

Bent Sub-Frame Here is the photo looking from the back of the bike forwards.       Green line shows normal angle of sub-frame and it's part way down the sub-frame itself, so it isn't All bent! ie: GOOD Red shows the angle of the very tail piece of the sub-frame. ie: BAD

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6th December 2005, Yesterday i rode the Dr to work again. Boy was it windy!! I don't mind riding in the wind. But the DR is a little underpowered, or it feels like it. And so it doesn't scythe thru the wind like the CBR does. More batters it outta the way :)  I did enjoy the ride, but riding the DR is not the same when i am not doing it by choice. What i mean by that is, when i had both bikes running. Riding the DR was a conscious choice for a little different fun. Now it is all i can ride, so doesn't quite have the same pizzaz to it. On the other hand, leaning over something as tall as a dual sport can get ya back into the swing after falling off i reckon. Although i feel very tentative on the right lean angle, but not at all the left!!

Odd though now i think about it... In my last three crashes (all in the last year!) I have fallen every time by losing the front end. What is that all about! ARGH!!!!

I did manage to get the airbox back onto the bike last night after tightening all the throttle cables up i put on. I should say i put the airbox on three times cos i kept noticing things weren't quite right, like a lead or two not reconnected etc. To know which way around the trumpets for the carbs went i looked at the crappy PDF cd i bought off ebay yonks ago. What a pile.. That guy deserved the neutral i gave him, cos the quality is crap. And anywas www.Bikebandit.com has the same schematics and the quality is amazing! So i ended up there, very useful to ANYONE who needs to know how to put stuff back together!!

Currently i am being totaly outbid on three things i would like off ebay. a nice new Tank.. A right side clip-on, and a front wheel rim.Ok, so i am not likely to get the front wheel rim, as the last one on ebay went for 300 dollars!! The clip-on in nescessary, but i have time to get one. And the tank replacement would just be awesome, but my tank is working fine :D

My Bro (Dave) is keeping me up to speed on his new Fazer Thou. Looks awesome and i'll bet it rides real nice. But in England it's freezing, so he gets to ice up his toes and fingers on his rides at the weekends.... poor lad!   AND here is a piccy of it! Oh yeah, and He better put on those Frame sliders i got for him off Ebay and send me a picture :D

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27th October 2005, So my Bro caught my mistake on the blog a few days ago. I typed in October and not November :S Ahh well. So here is a photo of a section of garage at the moment.

That's currently what Me Bike looks like :(  Now i need to remove the Tank and then the air box and i know not what else. Just so i can rerun the cables and electrics for my new Twistgrip clippon stuff.  Wish me luck.

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27th November 2005,  As most people know by now. My foot that was crushed by the KTM track experience day. Was broken, or to be MORE preciise, i have two broken toes, not the toes themselves, but the long bones inside the foot that go to the toe knuckles. I have just come out of the cast and the Dr says everything is aok. Now i must start the rehabilitation process for my toes, foot and leg. After 3 months of broken toes and two sprains, it isn't in tip top condition. I am so glad the cast has gone. But i am feeling a little down about the fact i can't just go run (running at the moment is out of the question!), or ride my bike. Main reason is it's still in pieces. And the more i work on it the more i find broken :(  Now i have a new tallight coming etc. I have to take the tank off now as i cannot get to rewire the handlebar controls in without i think. ARGH! This all just makes me depressed.

On a plus note. I successfully removed a head sheared bolt from the clutch panel of the bike. First time i have ever been successful with an extractor kit. :)

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30th October 2005,  I got everything ready the day before my journey to WSIR. No hassles getting everything loaded onto the trailer etc. I had asked Liza to come and watch and see what a track day i all about. But i knew she wasn't really that bothered. It just felt a bit too far to want to go i suspect. Anyway i put the directions and things like my wallet together on the kitchen counter with the car keys. So i wouldn't forget anything the next morning. As it was going to be a nice early start.

5:00am Monday morning and i am up and at em. Ready and raring to go. My excitement was building, but i had 85 miles to drive. So off i go. The drive was without incident, but it did amaze me the tailback from where the 14 meets the 5. The tailback was the other way luckily enough for me, but at 6:30am i didn't expect to see THAT many cars. Phew! I take the turnoff for the track and go into the convenient gas station. And fill up the van and both the gas containers. Then off i trot to WSIR.

After waiting in line for a while i get into the complex itself. Nicely enough set out, and i head for one end of pit lane. The end where the straight starts. It's quieter up there and plenty of space for me to park and sort out my ez-up. After i park i limp off to find where to register. That done and i am back and unloading the bike.. it's about 8am at this point. After i unload the bike i wanted to take out the fuses that control the brake light, as the light is covered. This is when i realise i have made a big boo boo. Yup, i need to get under the seat, and i realise i have left the bike keys at home. I never put them with the daily important stuff. ARGH! This was bad! So i got out my new cell phone and called the wifey. I knew she would be on the way home after dropping the kids off at school. She answered and said she would look in the house while she is getting breakfast. At this point i walked down to bike check and told them my problem. It was no hassle for them. They can check bikes anytime of day :)

Liza called me back and said she was on her way with the keys :S  She had organised the kids to be picked up by Tricia and so would be ok to come. Of course this meant i had my wish of Liza being there as well. I had basic instruction given to the newbie's for the track. And they said they would take the newbie group out onto the track for track sighting. I was told that i would be able to get individual help on my first track session. As i would is the first one for my group. I watched the other groups go out and enjoyed the sounds of a track day. All noise then nothing hehe. Well it wasn't long and Liza Arrived. WOOT! She had made record time from Simi and had the keys in hand. I did a bit of fixup on the bike and then took it for inspection. The guy said it looked AOK and i musta done this before (COOL!). Then i went back to my pits and got suited up and my session was starting. Liza had a nice setup with our recliner i had brought and then it was time for me to hit the track.

First Session

 I was First cos i needed to check it out. A really nice guy called. erm (crap memory for names! Charlie i think), let me follow him around the track for two laps. The track is very straight forward. Well only having 9 turns in 2.2 miles is nothing! But getting used to the speed and joining a few of the corners together is key for a fast lap. He saw i kept up and pulled off with a hearty wave and thumbs up, which i returned. At this time i saw that other people were coming onto the track. I  took my own lines and slowly sped up each lap. Trying different variations on apex's etc. Going down the back straight can be quite intimidating it has to be said. Yeah it has a turn in it (turn 6) , but it's more like a kink whilst accelerating toward the big bend at the end, that eventually brings ya back onto the main straight! Boy entering that is thrilling. It took me a lot of laps before i could power down and just lean off, and i think i always throttled off a bit. Hard to say really. I noticed part way through the session that my hands were aching. So i loosened them up and started to clean up my lines etc. It was amazing. Then I was really enjoying flying around this track. Head down and tucked in as i rode down the front or back straight. WOOHOOO, angles of lean that i have only dreamed about for years. I decided to leave braking markers etc for another session. So it ended, the chequered flag came out and i headed nto the pits. I slowly rode up to the end of the pit lane where i was camped, and got off the bike. There was Liza standing under the shade watching me. And before i even got me helmet off i was saying WOW. So i took off the helmet and had to admit i was shaking. All over my body i was shaking. It was powerful stuff this Racetrack! Amazing and Wonderful are great words, but neither can capture the feelings i had at that time. It was complete bewilderment that a track day could feel just THIS good! It was everything i had been dreaming about for the last 3-4 months. But now it was real, and just as good as my dreams. I got the rest of my kit off and sat down buzzing away. While trying to drink and eat something. Liza of course thought me highly amusing.

Then all too soon, it was time to out gain. This time i had gotten the camera fitted to the bike, and i wanted to record this amazing place. So if you have read this far but Not watched all the full 2nd session video, i recommend you do so now. Yeah! Go on!! NOW!!  So the video really says most of the ride. I started off nice and steady. I do not ever want to fall off my bike becasue of cold tires. So i was getting faster and faster each lap. Then on lap 4 turn 2 i lose the front. Now as i was leaned over i felt very very comfortable. i really wanted to apex quite late and be thrown outward to bring it back for the left hander called turn 3. So as you can hear in the video i start to power the bike up for exit. It is at this point that strange things started to happen. I noticed that the handlebars had gone weird. Weird in a way i am not familiar with. In fact they were wobbly in my hands. And although i was hanging off the bike, it started to feel like i was slowly drifting/falling off the side. Then a magic word entered my head. The word is familiar to any MotoGP fanatic. It is 'Light', the word racers use as they are losing the front of a bike ina  turn. They say, it went all light and then it just tucked. Well this word ignited my senses as now i knew what was happening. If you listen to the revs as the bike drifts left, as soonas it drifts i neutralise the throttle, that is when i am pondering what the hell is going on! Then you can hear the revs slowly dip just before i fall down. This is when i have realised i am in a front wheel; slide, and that i need to lose some speed to grip up again. Of course i don't manage to save it. If i had i would have come in and talked to the organisers abnout it, and with video evidence no less! Anyway i fell off. The actual reason for falling off is not really clear. It could be that i fell off the bike so far i fell off it and pulled it down. It could be i went wide enough to hit a less grippy part of the track. Who knows, certainly not me that's for sure. Now as for why i had a slide in the first place is up to conjecture. And i will go into that shortly. 

The crash..

The front wheel was sliding.. It went down in a big hurry once it slid out from under me, but it wasn't far to the floor anyway. It was all quiet till the bike and i hit the ground. And then all hell broke loose. It got real noisy and i was sliding at mach 10 over the ground, my right shoulder was the main source of contact with the ground, and eventualy the grip won out and i slid all along the top of my helmet till i was on the other shoulder (must be because they are so big with the padded leathe jacket on them!). This was the point when i was concerned about Liza :( I do have to say at this point that it is amazing how you can feel comfortable ona bike, and in your perifery you have the handlebars in very familiar positions, then all of a sudden they twist and look completely unnatural and that is accompanied by all sorts of emotiuons! Anyways it was quite exciting, and by far the fastest i have ever fallen off. After all the crash i had that broke me toes wasn't very fast at all, i reckon maybe 15 mph! So as i recovered to a stop i look round to see who is coming up next and i see that the next rider is already slowed, and about to stop quite a ways away. I can feel my left heal is really hot again (like it was on the SM fall), this got me a bit orried, but this time i decided not to stand at all, and just use one leg two hands, and my bum to get off the track. As i was very close to the edge anyway. At this time i also noticed me bike a ways off into the dirt, as it had travelled about 30-40 yards more than me. After leaving the track i took stock and was amazed to see that i felt aok. No shock even, but i was still worried about my foot. I didn't wave to the corner worker, just to prove i was NOT ok. After a very short time the truck arrived and also the ambulance. The guys hauled my bike into the back of the truck while i was examined by the ambulance staff. I must say at this point my foot started feeling much better. After the exam i stood up and was surprised to say it felt better than when i started the track day :S  Wierd eh!  So i got a ride in the truck and not the ambulance and we headed back to the pits. OK, i haven't mentioned too much about my thoughts about my wife yet. This whole incident is a bad thing, but it felt much worse by the fact that i knew Liza was in the pits and would know by now i was in trouble. Liza is a big softy and i knew this would not be good for her. Especialy with her own first track day coming up in 5 days time :S  So it is with Much trepidation that i head back into the pits. I tell the guys in the truck that my wife is in the pits etc... They didn't realise however that i mean't HERE, so as we tunr into the pit lane off the track i see Liza walking towards me, very red faced and concerned. I wave and as she gets closer i tell her I am ok, which i think was good, then she sees the bike and shouts out "WTF is That!"... Hmm, the guys asked me just before this if they should stop and pick her up, and my pit is at the otehr end of pit lane. I told them to just carry on, as she will need some tiome to calm down a bit.. Me too i think! The drop me off at my pit, and then unload the bike. One of the guys offers to be blocker so i can run from Liza, hahaha What a nice pair of guys! Anyway Liza eventualy walks up to me and i tell her again i am alright. We then have a big hug and some tears are spilt... It's hard to describe these parts, as I/we were very emotional. It's one of lifes defining moments when you crash at high speed, and as you tumble you think all sorts about family and friends etc. We sat and talked a bit and i ate and drank while we both calmed down. Then it was pack up time (some of our pit neighbours helped here, Thanks guys!) and it was time to go home, early unfortunatly. Liza had to drive in the car, and me the minivan of course. Paul and John a neighbour of mine unloaded the broken bike for me as my foot was hurting, and i was starting to feel a bit more achy after driving home. The drive for both me and Liza was without incident, so that was good.

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14th October 2005,  Yeah! I KNOW!  I STILL haven't written up my experiences. Just call me lazy.. Ahh well. soon i sincerely hope. Anyways here is the second session of my WSIR trackday. (WSIR = Willow Springs International Raceway).

WSIR Second Session (8:45) MED (7mb)

WSIR Second Session (8:45) LARGE (23mb)

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10th October 2005,  I have been to the Dr's today. This time a specialist for feet. He re-xrayed my foot as the pain hasn't died down at all over the last 6 weeks, since i did it. Even though the ankle sprain is getting much much better. Anyway, he found i have two broken toes :( in the middle of my foot. ARGH! Stupid other Dr couldn't tell after two separate xrays. BAH So now i have a nice new boot to wear.

YAY... only 6 weeks or so. If the bones heal normaly. As it has been a long time now since i first broke them. I also have to presume that my relentless physio scheme that i implement every night has been doing harm to my toes, even though it has obviously helped my ankle. Also here are a couple of photo's of me bike.

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30th September 2005,  It seems some times, it doesn't matter how well prepared you are, it's just NOT enough. This is how my weekend went. It was just a little off. Wether it was the dvd player going kurplunk on the friday night, or the fact i couldn't find my round plug to flat card adapter for the rental trailer. Or wether it was Liza's birthday dinner at Macaroni Grill ending up with cold food. I dunno, it just wasn't quite meshing for some reason. This also continued thru my trackday. YES, i fell again. Yes i am alright. Yes, me mum and dad are gonna be mad as hell! The bike is not alright. So far i haven't faced it properly. It makes me wanna cry every time i look at it. Poor dream bike. mashed by me.

Here is a link to my actual crash.

It's only short and so is a bit out of context from what i had been doing. When i get back from Vegas i will post up the full 8 minute video of me going out for my second session. There you will see the stable and relaxed way i build up my speed on the track to warm up tires etc. I am not an idiot (well usualy!), and i do everything i can by the book. Even if i like to Wheelie and go fast. C'mon the wheelie took me 4 months before i started getting it down!

YES, IT WORKS NOW!...

Life and times of WSIR Turn 2

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22nd August 2005,  Yesterday (Sunday) i decided it was high time to go for a ride. I have been having my usual withdrawal symptoms, and so at about 6pm i got myself ready. That was interesting enough, cos the left boot hardly fit on my foot! I never thought about that Before i decided to ride. Well anyways, i put on me gear, and it was a beautiful sunny evening. I backed the bike out and started her up. It was quiet...i realised it was because of the original exhaust of course :S So off i went.. The question on my mind was , can i shift up without pain? Well the simple answer was no. I wheelied on Royal as i went for 1st street. Then i just rode up the road and enjoyed the feeling. The changing of gears temporarily forgotten with no lights stopping me :)   So then as i get into wood ranch I decide to practice my clutch wheelie's, so after several failed and noisy attempts i give up. It's at this point i realise i need to come home, as my foot is hurting. So i turn onto the main road and notice there are no cars around at all :) So i pull up the wheelie and carry this one up high for a while, It felt goood. Then once again when i turn back onto Royal. The wheelie's felt good the gear changing Up did not. So i brought the bike back after only about 5 miles or so. And parked her up, and that was it.

Here is the current bruising on my foot. The middle picture is cool, because it shows on the top left the main color of my foot right now, compared to the bottom pink bit, which is it's old colouring! The next picture is for you Dave, who wanted to see the original exhaust mounted on the bike.

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17th August 2005,  On saturday evening i drove over to Chino Hills to stop with my friend Janry. So next morning at 6:50am it was time to get up and get some breakfast. I had something he called cereal, but it was more like gravel (grape nuts or sommat!). Anyway we then had an easy drive to Apple valley (65 miles or so). The dirt road that was described as being about 1/4 mile long, was in fact more like 2 miles, which was odd. The circuit is in the middle of erm, nowhere! But it is well laid out and nicely kept. We park up nice and early and just wander around. Looking for anyone else we might know. As other people started to filter in we got to meet up with some of our SBN buddies. The KTM and Del Amo people then gave a little riders meeting and we signed our lives away on paper and got wrist bands of various colors. KTM and Del AMo and Red Bull sponsored the event so it only cost the gate fee of 25 bucks to go do this experience day. Which mreans that KTM provided all the bikes and the gas for the whole day. WOOT! There were gonna be 6 color groups. Each would go out for 15 minutes at a time. Occasionaly they would let some 50cc bikes out on the track for a session as well. The Super Motard regulars that were there joined in any coloured session they wanted. Me and Janry got Blue bands, so had to wait a while till things got really going. 

First Session for me...

So at about 11:45am, it was our turn to go ride the KTMs. I got on a 525 (which was the most plentiful) and rode away to the start of the track. Janry had a minor overheating problem so had to go back and change his bike to another. Then we were off up the straight. The bike felt immediatley comfortable. It was quite similar to my DR650 but so light. Even the height and suspension felt about the same :S (too soft!). But the track is very twisty and tight. There is this combination set of corners that i really liked aruond the back part of the circuit, where you get to apex three corners and run all the way to the outside of the track between each apex, and when the tires were hot and i was more used to it, it would spin up the rear and slide on and off round the whole section. It was awesome. I did the SM style of hanging my foot out in front for this first session. Which was ok, but a tad uncomfortable on my hip. So i found i leabed back a bit when doing this to get my foot high enough. My heels kept catching the ground while over, but this wasn't really disconcerting. I kept getting faster and faster, the bike felt great, but i am surprised that the slicks weren't more sticky. It was fun trying to overtake people round the outside, or the inside(i didn't do the inside move too much!). There is one right hand corner that was really tight, and for some reason it didn't feel good to have my foot out front while going around it. Awkward i would describe it as. Anyways, i get to the start of the last corner on the track, a left that double apex's you onto the straight, and i fell off. Yup i was going a little slower it felt like than previous laps, where the bike slides around at the back end. But this time as i brought on the power i lost the front. It just washed away from me, taking the bike away. I didn't slide far as i wasn't going too fast yet. But as i looked behind me i saw some blue bikes bearing down. I waved like a mad man and stood up. As i did i realied my left heel was on fire. The heat was amazing. This caused me to fall backwards a bit (see photo below). Then i looked down to make sure my foot was still at the correct angle cos it was so hot. It looked ok in the boot. So i placed my foot on the ground. It hurt like hell. So i took one look at the bike on it's side, and decided to leave it there. And i hopped off to the straw bales away from the track. There i waited for the medical staff. The ktm guy came and rode his bike back (no injury to the bike :D ) The track dude went and fetched the Ambulance crew as they didn't see me there :S. When they arrived it was the normal questions about where am i etc. I was suffering from Shock at this point, and anyone that has fallen and hurt themselves knows how sick that can make ya feel. So i was feeling sick, as they loaded me onto the gurney. I really feel for those ladies. They both reminded me of me mum. Not the biggest person in the world. But luckily they were strong. I am hoping someone has a picture of them attempting to put me into the ambulance. That took some strength!!!! Good job Ladies. After being prdded and talked to they released me, with a bruised foot. So it was rasied foot day and ice packs. I later learned that i was about to be given the chequered flag to end the session. ARGH! i fell on the last corner of the last lap, DOH!

Intervening Day...

During most of the day i got to sit and watch from the bleachers at the side of the track or sit in one of Janry's chairs with my leg up on one of the trash bins (Thanks Rico) with ice on my foot As i have said, everyone was very nice, coming and asking about my injury and just chatting. So i got to hang with a great group of people. Rico, B1tesize, Rc-5Juan, FunBob, Janry, TzrJimmie, TjTripp, I also said hi to Earl and i did see Elaine, but never got to say hello. Anyway, it was very hoy hot, and was way cool watching everyone go out on the track and have so much fun. At some point in the afternoon i was sitting there and some BIG dark clouds came over, they dropped some rain (very little) which dried on contact with the ground, and passed by. There was more rain on the horizon, but i guess we got the edge of it. Anyways, it moved off into the distance, and i happened to go to the bleachers to watch a session that Janry was in (hoping for some photo's). Well I could see the large clouds in the distance exactly opposite me, and could see the dark trail of rain below. But what was awesome was as the session was going there was lightening. Yup, the clouds in the distance kept lightning away, i never heard the thunder, probly cos of the noise of the bikes, but it made an amazing backdrop to the riding in front of me. At some point in the afternoon as people were starting to just disappear, i got the urge to ride. I was feeling overwhelmed by the fact i needed to get back on the horse that bucked me. So i put on my gear, and i borrowed a coloured band for the next session colour (green, from Rico who was done for the day). And headed onto one of the bikes.

Second session for me...

OK ok. Well as i said i got the 'need to ride' bug. But i said i'd take it easy and i mean't it!  Well once i got on the bike and rode off to the track, it was straight on and into a wheelie. I wheelie'd up the straight for a bit (till it came down!). Then headed off taking it easy. Easy mean't that i wasn't gonna put my foot out front SM style, it mean't sitting in the middle of the seat and leaning a lot. It was a blast. I found that after a couple of laps i could get the peg down on a couple of corners and my boots toes were catching. Even though i kept pulling them back till they were barely on the pegs. I had a great time, and got to pass quite a few people on the way round. The session seemed very long, and i did an amazing amount of laps. I felt pretty darn fast i guess, even though not as fast as in the morning crash session. I always felt like i was taking it easy, although the back tire was sliding under acceleration and the bike would wheelie out of the first corner.I got to following these two guys that were stuck together for a lap or two, till i finaly got around the back one going into a corner (i outbraked him into a tight left corner). Then i followed the next one for a few laps. Never quite being able to overtake him. I guess he was lighter, cos although i felt like i had better drive out of the last corner onto the straight, he always leapt away from me, only to have me catch all the way back up on the brakes. Well i finally decided that i would take him on the brakes at the end of the straight. So i left it real late and did it. HAHAHA, what a mess, i had the back end bouncing around like a bunny, as i overshot the apex of the corner, but i waited till the bike was slow enough then threw it down and went round the corner. I then managed to slowly crawl away from him. It was a great session. and i am so glad that is my final memories of the SM trackday. After this Elaine had some sort of coming together with another rider and the bike highsided her into the ambulance. Where she was kept for a long time. So me and Janry decided it was time to head out.

Finally...

It took us about 1.5 hrs to get back to Janry's house, Where they fed me and i put on an Ace bandage (Crepe) and then drove home in my geared car :S... Ahh well. It wasn't so bad once i got on the freeway. I never had to stop the whole time.

Damage to the boots, no idea how the toe got bashed like that, But the heel is fromt he exhaust ont he second session (when i was keeping me feet on the pegs).

My foot. It's pretty darn swollen (doesn't show up so well in the photo's). And it's got lotsa bruising!

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15th August 2005,  OK, so now i am back from my SM track experience. I have so much to say, but it will have to wait until i get it all types up. Needless to say i fell off (as did loads of people). But i managed to get my left foot squashed in the process. So i had a visit with the ambulance and then sat out with ice on my raised foot. I also got a second go in much later in the day. I just had to ride.... Anyways here is a few pictures that i grabbed of a few sites (www.socalsportbikes.com & www.sportbikers.net).

Me looking really cool. I sure hope i get a photo of me hanging the bike down low.

moon walking away from my fall :D  (hello i am from planet earth!!!!)

jumping off to the local hay bales.

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13th August 2005,  BAH.. I got my original Exhaust on the bike. What a pain in the butt, I guess when i fell off it, the bike bent the exhaust a bit in towards the bike. So when i put the original FAT exhaust end can back on. It was about touching the swingarm.. So a little tomfoolery later with a large 2 by 4, and hey presto it's back together. So then i decided to go out for a little ride and end up at the sherrif's office. I got to do loads of wheelie's so no issue's there, and later i raced down the freeway to see how it's acceleration was. I am not sure, but i feel it might have been a little slower, but that may just be how it felt because it is SOOO quiet! Man is it quiet! Anyway the only isue i DO see at the moment is that i hit the rev limiter at 135.. oops. I am not used to it at all. (yes the freeway was empty at the time, and no way am i condoning my actions of going so bloody fast anywhere on the real road and not on the Track!!!!! ) 

As for the sherrifs office, They close on sat and sun. ARGH! bastards! 

As for the looks of the bike now. Well the exhaust is huge and is ugly too. But the quiet bike is real nice.

FYI: i bought the bike from a chp guy in valencia with the hindle can on it. So i have never heard it before with the original on it.

Good luck all you ticketee's

NEW.......

I am going on a track experience day tomorrow. I am going with my friend Janry and some others from SBN are going. We will be going to Apple valley and doing a Super Motard Experience day. Where the sponsors are gonna try and get us all hooked into buying and maybe racing these things :D I'll let ya know how it goes. (here is a photo of the track)

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12th August 2005,  OK, so i went to England for 3 weeks and then worked me balls off when i got back. Well now it's time for stuff again. I went on a ride last weekend (sunday) with what turned out to be a large group of the SBN group :D What a top bunch of people they are as well. We did the ride up on ACH (Angeles Crest Highway). Where we had a run in with some cops who just wanted to hassle us for the sake of it. Cos at the time we weren't doing anything wrong. The upshot is we got tickets. 16 riders, and we ended up with 10 of us having fix it tickets for lights and exhausts. 

Here is a photo of us at a place called Newcombes Ranch (a spot hidden in the mountains!)

Here is the Thread, (long read!!!)

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10th May 2005,  What a busy time i'm having at work, so there has been no time to do this webpage stuff :S So i have lots to catch up on, but will miss stuff i am sure, isn't that the way?

What did the trackday do for me!

After the trackday i wanted to see what difference the suspension changes would have made to the bike on a 23 run. So me and Andy go off a few days after when the weather sin't so bad. It was a fun ride, but right away i felt extremely comfortable. I was riding around the bends faster than ever before once i had a done  few bends to warm up the tires. It was cool. i was going around at 55mph compared to my old usual of 52mph. This was cool. But i also noticed that i was running in tight thru the corners and had to adjust my position in the road so as not to run into the inside of the bend. I thought this was odd, but maybe i was hanging off more?! Anyway on one bend i was going into the inside and to alter line i decided to accelerate, which got me up to 57 mph, yeah i was still relaxed enough to check out my speed. This was amazing and put me back on my usual line :)  I put some of this increased speed down to my suspension setup, and some to just be more familiar with the bike.

Dual sporting fun

I went out with my friend on our dual sports, this was gonna be his first time trying some basic off roading. He doesn't have a full license yet, so he cannot ride on the freeways or after dark. But the easiest way to get to the off road area is by going about 1 mile down the freeway. So he decided to chance it (long way round is really long!). Anyways he gets up onto the freeway and promptly stops! I go around and come back and park up behind him. The bike won't start, wierd! Anyways we have to get him off the freeway before the police come and interrogate him, so i let him have my bike and i push his bike to the next off ramp. MAN, it was a long way, Man it was hot, Man i didn't take off my helmet, eek! It was a Loooong hard slog i can tell ya, and in my motocross boots too :S  Well i eventualy got off the freeway, and going down the off ramp i got the bike to start, but also noticed it felt like it was out of fuel. YEP, it was empty, argh! Some nice mechanic at the harley dealership right at the base of the off ramp gave Bob some fuel and off we went, i had a breather whilst waiting (i needed it!). So off we went to off road. It was awesome fun. Bob although not having his full license has ridden for many years in the past. He followed me around the large off road area, even though it was sandy etc. It was also really overgrown. Something i hadn't seen before there! This made it difficult to navigate. After a while we decided to head back to the road and work. This is when the fun really started. Firstly i am riding along through some low brush and suddenly i see a big hole before me, i decided to throttle up to wheelie over it, but i think i was too slow, as it swallowed the front of my bike and i went head over heels over the handlebars. I rolled over my shoulder and was laughing pretty hard. This was awesome fun. Luckily i had Bob there to help me pull my still upright bike out of the hole. After this i got stuck in some mud, but somehow managed to get out. and then we eventualy got back to work after more getting stuck shinanigens. It was a wonderfull ride, and both me abd Bob were knackered afterwards at work. We both needed some sleep!

BW - revisited

I don't think i mentioned the fact there was this left hander at the end of the straight at buttonwillow. It was awesome. i am not sure why, as it looks a little messy, but the line thru it is great. I really liked it a lot. In fact it was the best left hander for me on the track i guess. This stretched out to meaning that it was the closest my peg ever got to the ground! I know this because on one particular lap (i was trying to catch up with someone), i managed to hit something on the ground, well two somethings really. One was my toe slider, and the other was something on the bike. I of course thought the peg! When i came off after the session, i checked my boot, and sure enough, the toe slider had touched down. Now this would be easy if i had my heel hooked onto the peg, but i don't ride like that. I ride with my toes on the pegs, and because my feet are wide, i guess it touched down first. I say first because my peg had not touched the earth at all. This baffled me and i thought that maybe i had just imagined something on the bike touching down. Well next session i got around and end up doing exactly the same thing. Eeek, it didn't feel good whatever i hit, so i took it easy after that, well sorta!! So when i come off this time i have a real good look around. My boot has been scarred again, np. But i eventualy find that the gear shifter has been touching down, the rubber on it at least. It is mussed where it hit. This is bad of course. so i wind the shifter lever back up out of the way (c'mon it wasn't THAT low!). Anyway after this i don't really get to go fast enough around that corner to experience my boot down. Next time maybe :D

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26th April 2005,  Trackday 18th April at ButtonWillow in CA.

Where to start..... hmmmmm.....

Saturday night i go to bed after watching UFC. This might have been a bad idea, as i didn't sleep too well. Too much fighting going on 
in my sleep i fear! So sunday dawns and i am already excited. Today is the day i prep my bike and watch Motogp on the TV. After 
watching the racing and now in mid afternoon i can wait no longer. So i go out and start prepping the bike, taking off the indicators 
and duct taping various parts of the bike like the headlight. The family goes off to a friends pool to play for a while, meanwhile 
Janry turns up. Oh i forgot, i picked up the uhaul Trailer at about 1pm while the DVR was recording the racing.

One concern i had was that the trailer said it had a limit of 45mph on it, which would be useless on a freeway :O, so i called a uhaul 
and asked them if it would be alright. They were edgy, but admitted it would be fine, phewww! So then i help Janry get his bike 
prepped. Mine was now without fuses for things and duct taped up the wazzoo. I also decided to mark the front of my bike. Not with a 
number, (like normal people), but with something else. I tried a happy face, but it looked mean, so eventualy i ended up with a letter 
'R'. Which i wasn't sure would work. But upon seeing the photo's of the track day, i am very happy with it :) The family came backl as 
we were finshing up, and then came time to load the trailer. This seemed awkward at best. Thankfully my next door neighbour Eric 
arrived and helped me tie the bikes down properly. He has a lot of experience in this area. Practice makes perfect it seems :D So we 
finish loading the bikes into the trailer and are nearly ready. Liza has outdone even herself and filled a Big cooler with sandwiches 
and cans and water etc. Oh and snacks of course :)

Time for the off. I am hungry but i need to call at the sport chalet for some under armour, as i have now been convinced of it's vitues 
under sweaty conditions. So off we go with a wave and a hug. The bikes seem real stable in the back, and hardly bounce around at all. 
The minivan doesn't seem to bothered about pulling the trailer, so all is good. We stop off at Porter Ranch and sport chalet. They 
don't have the under amour leggings to fit me, but i do get a nice black top :D We head on out from Porter Ranch at about 7:30ish.

Off up the 5 we go and as we are passing magic mountain, we get in a traffic jam. There was a bad looking accident up ahead when we 
eventualy got through. Which took us about an hour or so. It would have been boring except me and Janry chatted the whole time, hehehe. 
So after that it was plain sailing all the way up to the buttonwillow Inn way further up the 5. We had arrived pretty late now, which 
was a pity. I did some startlingly good reversing with the trailer to park out of the way and we then went in search of some 
Sportbikers people :) They found us and we chatted for a bit and because it was late, we all went to bed tried to sleep. :S Yeah, 
tried to sleep. I reckon most of us woke up about 20 times in the night, and for me personaly i kept thinking it must be 5am by now. It 
wasn't of course, twenty minute intervals were the norm. In the morning i learn that most other people suffered the same fate.

In the morning i am all abuzz, as is Janry. We are up and about by 6am, and waiting outside with a few of the other sportbikers like 
Zmoe, Snohbabe, Stuntergirlwannabe, badvibe, and Slater. We head over the road to get mcdonalds when it seems noone else is waking up. 
The mcd's was great. Superb way to start the day hahaa. Then we went back to the motel, and i decided it was best to follow Zmoe and 
Slater to the actual track. As i had not printed out direction from the Motel to the track, haha, silly me. It seems that the track is 
off to the left of the 5 and about 8 miles further north than the motel itself. But of course it's right off the freeway, so it was 
real easy to get to.

Once we arrived at the track, which has sub level advertising/name boards announcing it's presence, like no name boards as you exit the 
freeway, WEIRD! We had to sign our life away, i guess we did, as i didn't read it, but signed it anyways. I mean c'mon, how can ya read 
that, why bother, you came to ride, and unless ya sign, there is no admittance :O We entered the complex and i followed Zmoe who was 
leading all the way to the far side of the pits area, a standard area for the sportbikers to hang out at it seems.


Part 2, The day
We unpacked the bikes real fast and then went for our riders meeting. Everyone has to attend, so it was here i could see how many 
people were out for the track day. After describing the flags and rules to us (about 10 mintues long). The beginner group headed to 
another short meeting especialy for us. This was also about 10 minutes. It started getting exciting here as we could here all the bikes 
for the Race group being started and the marshals doing sighting laps on the track.

We got out of the meeting and headed back to our Easy-up city. More people had arrived and we had about 12 shades up and lots of bikes 
all over the place. It was cool. The race group was coming in now and the intermediates were warming up their engines and heading off 
for the pit lane. Time was drawing nearer for us to get on the track. Twenty more minutes and we were gonna be there! I can't say i was 
feeling very nervous, after all it's riding a bike. Something i do every day. But i was certainly excited. Now this first session for 
the intermediates was a bad session. They had a number of bad sessions throughout the day as well. This first one however had a big 
crash in it. There is a photo sequence of the crash on www.palomarpics.net site. It was Sidster going down on the last corner on his 
cbr600rr. It is a bit of mess to look at as it tumbled through the dirt. This crash stopped the session while they cleaned up the mess. 
It also seems there had been a bunch of people in this group that had been doing some off roading. The officials decided most of the 
problems were because the ground was so cold. And it was, frosted in the morning after all.

The call was put out for the beginner group, so we headed up to the pits and joined a line of bikes already there. We were informed 
that we would be doing three (YES, THREE) sighting laps because fo all the problems in previous groups and the cold ground. This is a 
bad number simpley because 3 laps at good speed will take 7 and half minutes. But at slow warmup pace it must take like 12 minutes. I 
left in the second group of the three. Each group had a marshal in fornt keeping the pace under control. This was a good time to get 
used to what the track looks like, and also to see the lines. Although it's hard to really appreciate those lines without some sort of 
speed. Our group caught up with the first group that went out just as we started our second lap. The third group (directly behind me) 
caught up at about the same time. So we musta looked like one massive conga line snaking through the track. I was at the back of my 
group so i did manage to drop off a bit and then zoom back up to them a few times, which was good. After the three warm up laps were 
completed we were given the go ahead to take over. This was an odd time, as i have never really overtaken anyone before. The pace 
picked up a lot after the marshals had gone, so i continued to follow the snakey line of people in front of me. After about half a lap, 
this guy on an Aprilia blew by me and the guy in front. I continued to watch as he took people 2 at a time around the outside of course 
(no undertaking allowed). I saw how he did it, so decided this didn't look to hard. So off i went taking mostly two at a time. Leaving 
a massive margin for error. It was at this point i realised how much faster i was than those 8 or 9 people directly in front of me. It 
was easy to overtake because they weren't really using much throttle out of the corners at this stage of the day, and i could easily 
pound the 954 out of any corner. So i hopped by a number of peolpe and just got some daylight ahead when the session was over. I had 
done 2 non sighting laps. This was a real bummer for me. Some people, like my friend only got in one free lap :S We came back into the 
pits and chatted about how cool and also how annoying it had been. But the day had started. We were on the go.

Next session i got to the pits and joined a large group waiting to go again. After waiting about 1-2 minutes i got the signal to go. 
The reason the 1-2 minutes is important is that depending on which line you joined in the pit lane mean't getting on the track first or 
last. I was always last i think. Next time i will be ready ready befoe the call and get to the pit lane as one of the first. Maybe i'll 
get on the track faster that way. It definitely cost me some laps, it also cost me some laps because of overtaking 12 people at the 
start of each session. What it did For me though is make me go slowly on my warm-up lap. Which i guess is a really really good thing.

So we did a number of session thoughout the day. Oh i forgot to mention this English dude called Dave. He does suspension setups and 
for a very small fee he setup my bikes suspension. It rocks, the first time out it felt awful, but after that it was cool. Thanks Dave. 
Erm, back to the story. We should have had a nice 11:40 session to end the morning and break for lunch. But there was a big accident on 
the track, someone superchicken left lots of oil on the track and themselves had to be ambulanced off the track. It was my friend Herb, 
adn it was a bit painfull to watch him through binoculars lying on the ground with the ambulance crew around him. It was good however 
to see him sitting up as they put him in the back of the ambulance. They brought him off the track and to us the sbners. He was a bit 
battered and bruised after his lowside and and consequential running over by an rc51. His leather look awful, but he was laughing and 
joning with us. Apparently a bruised and sprained ankle and aching shoulder i am sure. The cleanup for Herb's mess took so long we only 
got to line up in the pits, then we got cancelled. And it was time for lunch :D

Lunchtime..
They had bought subway sandwiches for everyone and had free water and soda all day. NICE! I had my own sandwiches made by my lovely 
wife and lotsa soda etc. No chance of me dehydrating i can tell ya. I wanted to do some filming but found that i had somehow forgotten 
the bolt that connects my camera to the camera mount. I was so annoyed. Anyway, i went off in search of the professional photographer 
so maybe i could borrow one :) I never found him, but as i went to Dave at the same time to check on my suspension, another biker came 
up to me and was chatting (Mark). He was a nice guy and he was asking about the camera etc. Could ya believe it, he had a buncha bolts 
and washers in his truck. The first bolt we took out was a perfect fit. And minutes later my camera was fitted. What a top lad, thanks 
Mark.

Afternoon sessions...
As lunchtime came to a close we headed off to get ready because beginners were gonna be first up at 1 o clock. Boy was i ready. We went 
out and i did a nice warm up lap in the crowd of other riders. Then i sped up, each time i came upon a rider i thought was with the sbn 
group, i'd stay behind them for a bit, getting them on camera. This was fun, but i wasn't always sure i was following someone from our 
group, hehe it's hard from behind. Anyway i got some good footage of various people. Especialy my friend Janry, whom i followed for a 
number of laps. Then i would zoom off round the track by myself for a few laps.

I really enjoyed riding around the track and at no time more so than when i was by myself. I would be so focused and just ripping 
through the laps trying to be just a little smoother and maybe a little faster each time. Byt the end of the day i had gotten in a 
number of fast laps, but i was never really pushing it. I never felt close to any limit, either on the brakes or on the lean angle. 
Maybe i don't have a wall anymore :O We didn't manage to get a final session which i was really looking forward to. One of my group had 
come down from the 'B' intermediate group and still had his sticker. Janry mentioned to me that i should borrow his sticker and go with 
the B group. But for some reason that now escapes me i didn't do it. I knew i was fast enough. It just somehow felt maybe .. wrong. 
TThis mean't that i missed out on a last session, and so it was packup time. 

After divesting the leathers i wenty and helped where i could with other peoples stuff, and then they helped me and Janry. Everything 
was away in record time. Although i guess i got sunburnt at this time. The top of my face and my neck were both burned :( So then all 
was away. We left the track at 6pm ish, and just headed back to Simi valley. Some of the group headed for a loal restaurant to eat. But 
Janry was going to have a 1 hour 15 minute ride or so after we had unloaded at my house (which is a 2 hr drive). So we figured we had 
best just go. The journey backl to Simi was flawless and we made it in slightly less than 2 hours. The unload was quick, and ready 
Janry's bike for the road. He left and had a cold ride home, poor bugger! I got in and rested up. It was great to be home and see the 
kids and wife again of course.

Final Thoughts....
I really enjoyed the track day. After all the struggle i felt getting it all ready it was so worth it. Next time i go it won't be such 
a bother, cos now i have everything i need. The track i was a little disappointed at because some of the corners (3) are bumpy and 
ripped up looking. This is not what i expected from any track. I was also disappointed i didn't get a bit more fast track time. What i 
mean by that is, next time i go i will be following people less(ie: filming them), and riding round at my speed a lot more. Yeah, i am 
gonna be more selfish :D The guys that organised the day did a great job. The Suspension guy Dave did a wonderfull job with the bike. 
Mark was cool for helping me with my camera. The palomar pics guy was cool. Next time i'll try to get better photo's by actualy riding 
faster when i know where he is :S The whole sportbikers group was awesome. So witty, so scathing, so fun. Great folks one and all. The 
people in the group that had accidents (all 5 of them), are doing well. There bikes in various stages of brokeness.
There is this one corner called riverside on the track. It's a big sweeping right hander. It felt soo good to be going fast round there, and at you apex you leave the curve and go in to the next part of the track. I rode around this corner all day and every time it thrilled me, especialy on the apex/exit part. I got to lean right over at 90 mph (yeah i looked!) and hkeep iot like that for quite some time. There is nothing on the road like that baby. Well not that i would dare ride like that on anyways. I shall remember this curve very fondly and look forward to meeting it again. Next time, maybe with my knee down!

The only problem i have now is..... When's the next one :O

... I will post some pics soon.  I need to scan them in.

Rob (Clownfish).

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10th March 2005,  Went out for a run yesterday with Andy. He is trying a new style of hanging his bum off the seat a little. So we went to the 23 and did our figure 8's. We did 9 corners in total (that's a total of 9x270 = 2,430 degrees of leaned). I followed Andy for most of the runs, as i wasn't feeling too well. It was interesting to see where he is at new style wise. He was a smidgen slower around the bends than he was with his old self last year (last time we did this run). Only slower by about 2 mph though, which i thought was good. Especially as he seemed really relaxed. The big difference is his corner entrance speed has gone down a lot, same as happened to me as well when i was first trying this style out. So i felt really comfortable on the bike as i was following him. For the last two runs i went in front. This was interesting because i found that i was going around the bends at 54mph on one, and 55mph on the other. Now this doesn't sound too exciting, but last time i did this run i only went at 52mph and 53mph respectively. And i was trying hard back then. I have no idea what's happened during the winter, but a break seems to have done me good :)  Needless to say, when i got back to work i checked over the tires (as i always do, being a tire snob), and Wowza, there is actual roughage on the tire, it looks like i have run it and used it. bitting up and stuff. SWEET!

Today i put on my new front brake pads. When i tested them on my road i found they are superb along with the goodridge brake hoses. It was really easy to lift the back end of the bike off the floor, but still has lots of feel.

Ahh, i see i forgot to mention the DR650's flat tire.

Well me and me Dad who is over visiting attacked it on Saturday, and found it has an innertube in it. This was excellent news, because one bike puncture repair later, and the wheel is back together. While we were working on the wheel, Liza and my mum and the kids went off to a local park for a birthday party. Me and me Dad finished up the wheel and then with me Dad on the DR650 we headed off to practice, fill up, and then head to the park. It was awesome. My dad looked the biz on the bike, really comfortable. After the park i took me Dad on a whirlwind tour of the off road oportunities around Simi. When we got back he was all excited and smiley, which i took for a good sign :) Once he gets back from the cruise we shall see some more road time i hope.

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3rd March 2005,  Got my bike back today from it's service. It cost me an arm and a leg, but i did get some extra's done. So now i have Engine Ice installed for the coolant (ready for my track day (6 weeks only to go)). Also got my new goodridge front brake hoses installed. Woohoo am I READY, unlike some :S. My friend Janry is procrastinating on a HIGH level at the moment, but i am hopefull he will sign up pretty soon. So i got me bike back, and it felt great. As it had been about 10 days since my last ride on it. So while i was on my way to work i managed to do a  couple of stonking great wheelie's, well for me they were stonking anyway. With me getting better at holding the bike up thru the gear i expect it's gonna be fairly soon that i go back to trying to change gear up while no the back tire. So the bike feels great, but with it raining still here, i cannot really do too much with it, well besides riding safely of course.

I am also annoyed about something though. I got a flat back tire on my DR650 on friday night, and it mean't i couldn't ride all weekend because of my cbr being in the shop at the same time as having a flat :(  Now i need to get that fixed, but i cannot remove the tire off the rim :S Darn thing. Not sure what to do with it now. Guess it's a phone call type of day.

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20th February 2005,  The photo i knew i had of Me Bikes :)

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19th February 2005,  So i have my first track day booked. The bike is in for a service and i am getting the water wetter put in at the same time, Also gonna get my Goodridge braided hoses put on. I have high hopes for these new brake lines, as the original went a bit sloppy if  didn't ride the bike for a few days. It's raining here again, another storm that is supposed to last a number of days. Really heavy at times. Just like yesterday morning when i rode my bike to the bike shop about 3-4 miles away in simi. It was brill! I really enjoyed the ride and there was water everywhere. It looked like i was parting the red sea at one point the water splashed so high around my bike as i powered through a deep pool of water. I did not slide the bike though anywhere, i was being good. :)  I also collected my new license plate from the DMV a few days ago. This one is for my DR and it's gonna be brill when the bikes are seen together!

Also a few days ago (sunday to be exact), i decided it was high time to go out for dinner on the bikes. This means Liza gets to take her first passenger. It was Leilani and on the CBR, whereas i took Lucas on the DR. They both rode very well on the backs of both bikes, and we went to eat. We then headed a little longer route homewards. It was our first outing where we all rode on the bikes, and it was a really awesome feeling. The kids enjoyed it immensely and has been requested we do it again. It was a little tougher for lize mentally, but she enjoyed t too. So alls good :D

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1st February 2005,  My new boots arrived yesterday. Liza brought them to my works so i could try them out as well. They are fabo rooney! Here is a photo, and i got them for a measly 88 bucks (including s&h) from Ebay. Gotta love ebay.

They fit REAL nice, and i can ride in them real easy. This is the last item to be added to complete the collection that is needed for a track day. Now all i need to do is arrange one. WOOHOOO!

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24th January 2005,  Work and my bathroom is taking up most of my time lately, but now the weather has improved tennis is back, And it's mixed doubles season. Anyways back to the bikes. I have been riding my 954 to work most days since my last post. Nothing really eventful, but i did manage a figure 8 23 run one lunchtime, when i happened to go out to fill up the bike. Somehow i ended up missing my turn back into work, hehee, and ended up on the 23 freeway. One 20 mile fill up later and i was back and work with a  smile on me face. Since my Bronchitis has gone i am feeling much better, still a little laboured breathing at times, and coughing, but i am sure it will be gone fully, soon. So the last few days i have been riding the cbr i have been wheelying quite a lot, but after a few missed gear shifts while trying to click into second i had given up, and decided to just stick with first gear for now. This has worked out really great as for the last two days i have done two of my biggest wheelie's ever. I brought it up fast in first (it's never slow in first!), then just kept applying throttle as needed to hold her up there. I am not quite at the balance point, but pretty close, and the bike keeps on going. It feels so easy though, so somehow although it feels like an achievement it feels too easy. Now i also realized that i ride the bike with my balls against the tank now. And this is adding to my missed shifts, because i never altered the gear shifter to match this new foot angle. So i lowered the shifter lever a little. And it feels so much better. I think i will be altering it more down before i next ride. When i am finally happy with it's position, i shall go back to shifting whilst in gear. I sense that i am close to shifting and riding out my second gear wheelie's, all i need is to not fall out of gear because of a weak shift.

I rode the DR650 this weekend also (man both bikes in 1 day is so awesome), it feels like such a toy next to the cbr, and riding them back to back just emphasises this point. I haven't ridden it much since the rain stopped, and one reason is because i can't really take it off road where i have been previously. The reason is that easy street got hit hard when the rains fell. It got totaly covered in mud and sand. The road workers have been clearing it up now for a few weeks, and look to be nearly done. The whole area now has a igh water table, and therefore making it more interesting to ride around in. But also much easier i am sure to get stuck. So i really need to go there with a partner. Getting stuck in deep mud by myself will not be fun.

Here are some photo's i took of the area.. To give ya'll some idea.

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10th January 2004,  I haven't been posting much lately for two BIG reasons. One is that i have and am still ill, which is quite annoying. Two, that it has been raining nearly incessantly since my last post :(  Here is my latest purchase, that i will get to use once i am over my bronchial infection. Also this is what i look like while riding in the rain, now i have my new boots i guess i will look slightly different. YES, that is a Goretex rain jacket and waterproof pants. I have my mesh protective gear under them, so you cannot moan!

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24th December 2004,  Today i decided to go out for a ride. After getting the bike all washed and decorated it was bound to happen. By decorated i mean that i finally put on a couple of the things i had bought for the bike. I still can't find my woody racing stickers, but hopefully they will turn up. Here is a photo of the bike with the new decal and tank protector on it. I think it looks cool.

Full piccy of me bike.

 Closer view of the tank protector, and also the sticker. I lurve it. AND it has the added benefit of making my wheelie's bigger ;)

So the ride i went for was to the 23 freeway and the infamous figure 8. I really quite enjoyed myself. I took it nice and easy really. I never got me knee down. No surprise there. I did happen to undertake a car doing one of the onramps though. I caught up with them in the middle of the loop, and i couldn't believe they could be only going about 20 mph. Well it took me a few seconds to decide to undertake them. They were keeping a wide line, and i was doing about 45 mph at the time. So i swooped onto the inside and had the weeds that grow there hitting my knees as i went past. It felt cool. cos of course i was wearing my full leathers. Now i have had an interesting thing happening to me on my last few rides. When i have the bike leaned over quite a long way it gets to a point that feels odd. Odd is difficult to describe of course. I can tell ya it wasn't my 'wall'. I know what that feels like, but i was not near that. In fact it feels like something that would happen if the front tire was triangular. The bike leans all nice and consistent, then it feels like i have hit a plateau with i think the front tire. Now usually i hit this point and then back off just a little. I decided it was time to check it out more. So i made sure i did two corners resting on this point. Funny thing is i am still not leaning the bike as far as i did before i fell off. But now of course i hang off too. One other thing i noticed is that i am losing my sitting ni the middle of the seat cornering ability, or just getting less confident of it. Cool huh? well maybe. This point could also be the fact that i have reached at least the edge of the back tires, and am now relying on tire deflection to keep a decent patch of tire on the road. I just don't know.

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25th December 2004,  I have a couple of recent stories about motorcycle cops. When i was leaving work about a week ago. It would be about 7:30-8pm time. I go the the big crossroads and waited for the lights to change. Now i see this police motorcycle guy across the road also waiting to turn left. Anyway they always get the lights before us. So his lights change. Now i know he has seen me, i noticed him look at me directly a few times. Anyway, he accelerates from the junction and as he leans and turns left his center stand catches the road, and this is the really smart part, he just carries on going round the corner trailing sparks and lots grinding noise. It was awesome, and totaly over the top. I know he did it for my benefit. And i truly appreciated the endeavour :)

pt 2

25th December 2004,  I went out to fetch some last minute things and to deliver a whole load of stamped letters to the local post office. I couldn't find my key for the DR650, so i went on the cbr with my backpack no. Firstly i went to the new massive 99c store and bought a few items. Then i decided it was time to go to the post office. Down LA avenue i went in a calm way. I didn't even zoom to the front of the traffic at the lights, at either opportunity. I was just feeling mellow :)  So i end up where i have to turn left from the main road onto the small road that ends in a stop sign and is where the post office is. I stop at the sign of course, as always. then turn into the parking lot. As i park up a police motorcycle cop zooms in and stops right behind me. He then proceeds to mention how loud my bike is. I find this quite amusing. Then he sarasticly asks me if somehow my original exhaust fell off and the hindle can just jumped into it's place. Now i have to say that i found this whole thing quite amusing from the start. I was in a great mood, and i instantly felt the cop was just being bored or lonely. So i figured i'd chat to him. So i took off my helmet and proceeded to chat. There were a few memorable exchanges. Like when he asked about my grab rail. He asked what it was for. I said the wife. She is very good at riding on the back using the bar. and it makes it real easy on me. Mostly a european thing i said. Then he asks me if i used it for hanging off with and skating (for those that don't know, you hold onto the back of the bike and skate along on your shoes, especially if you have placed stegs on the bottom of them). This really made me laugh out loud and i said that he must think i am a LOT younger than i am. To which i thanked him most kindly and said that i was waaaay to old for such silliness. He mentioned different ways for passengers to hold on, but then i realised he must have a flat seat bike, to which he answered he has a 1200 bandit. Sweet. So then he continues to tell me about anytime you change an exhaust on a bike, it is illegal. I of course just ignore this and continue talking about bikes in general. Oh yeah, he did say that he though my bike was overly loud as i did the 100 yard stretch from the last light. Yeah Right! My bike is so quiet and the new end can hardly makes a sound difference at that level. I mean, it ain't even a whole exhaust system, just the end can. Just before he left he said that i should put on the original can if i still have it. I declined to mention that i bought the bike off a CHP officer and that i specifically asked about the end can being legal. To which the cop said it was well within noise limits. He then started to leave, so i wished him a merry xmas and he left. Now usually i would be going to the front of the lines of traffic at lights. and then popping wheelies if it feels safe enough. I am so lucky i was in a mellow mood. 8D