Busy Life

Life in the past few months has been very busy. Commuting to the new work place takes best part of 3 hours every day. But the good thing is that I get over an hour and half of quality reading time on the train. The power walks between station and office offers me the chance to burn my calories (still not burning enough).

This summer has truly been unbelievable. Certainly couldn't have asked for a much better weather. Most of the weekends have been spent burning fuel to clock endless miles on my Beemer and Gixxer Thou. It's been almost a year since I brought my Gixxer Thou home. It's a gem of a beauty. Taking it for a spin on some of the country roads is a pleasure and joy. It's a shame that I can't take my bike to the places I love the most, The Highlands, Borders and North Wales, as they are all at impractical distance to cover and tour over an extended weekend. Never mind.

Beemer has been great. When I bought it a few months ago never did I imagine that I'd be doing so many miles. At my current mileage rate, I'm certain that the car insurance got to get amended not in the distant future. I've sort of grown into my car and am already thinking about my next one.

I've not had a proper holiday so far this year. Though I've been enjoying the weekends it's the short breaks that I've been missing dearly. I've planned a short break to one of my favourite locations. Every evening is being spent in planning for this break. I just can't wait for it.

Life is fun and I'm having every bit of it.

Good Biking Roads in Essex

B172: Located in Essex, this road albeit a very short one,  offers some decent corners/apex for motorcycling. All the turns are free-flowing and can be taken at the legal speed limit. Visibility is good as well. Traffic could be a problem on nice sunny days.  National speed limit applies unless a different speed limit is signposted.



View Good Biking Roads in Essex  - B172 in a larger map




A113: Located in Essex, Abridge to Chipping Ongar is a good biking road. The route is not demanding but can be fun, has good visibility and the traffic may not be heavy. National speed limit applies unless a different speed limit is signposted.

View Good Biking Roads in Essex - A113 in a larger map

Car driving test

It's been almost a decade since I came to the UK and it's been over 9 years since I received my Learner license. In all these years I've never felt missing a car or the urge to take my car driving test. The only time I was seriously preparing for the car driving test was after my marriage. After failing the test with 3 minors and 1 major (left reverse round the corner - went wider than is allowed in a narrow side road), I lost the drive to retry. It's not that I can't drive or something, if I've survived driving in India on city/highway roads then I certainly can drive in real life situations.

With my photo license due for renewal in the next few months, I wanted to give one final try. I contacted my bike instructor and booked classes through 1 Stop Instruction. The problem with me was my comfort in driving as an experienced driver. It took me some time to act like a learner driver. I can tell that it is not easy at all to act like a learner driver. I just wanted to prove the test examiner that I can safely drive a car and no more silly excuses from my end. I took the test in Barking, statistically the worst place to take your car driving test. I've to admit that in some ways I was lucky with the test. There was unusually heavy traffic and it was school holiday time. Due to the traffic we ended up in a "dead-end" road, did a reverse parking and turn in the road and I was back at the test centre after doing a few side roads. I was told I had passed the test with 5 minors - two for undue hesitation, one for dropping a wheel on a pothole and one for gear change (whatever that means), one for slow driving.

After the test, the examiner asked me what motorcycle I'd (after seeing my pink license). I told him that I ride a Gixxer Thou. He was sort of amazed and said "I'm sure you don't drive/ride like you did today". I imagine I've done my best to "impress" him. So there you go, I've proved a test examiner that I can drive safely in the UK.

Ride outs on my Gixxer Thou

It's now about 2 weeks since I first rode my Gixxer Thou and I've already done 250 miles on it. I'm amazed at the difference in the performance level between the FZ1-SA and the GSXR 1k k8. I was reminded enough times that the Gixxer Thou is a completely different beast to the FZ1-SA and I now know why that reminder should be respected.

First ride:
My first ever ride was a very tentative one. The switch (from FZ1) was dramatic in every sense of bike riding. It took me a while to get used to the low-sporty seating position. To my height, the Gixxer doesn't pose a problem to the knees or neck. I've been using the engine map mode-A all the time except when I took it on my test ride.

First 100 miles:
The first 100 miles included a two-up with my wife on A406/M11. The bike handles pretty well when filtering through stationary traffic. With the FZ1, when I used to ride two-up I'd always be extra-cautious as the mirrors were very wide, but on this it's so easy to squeeze through. And the bike is far lighter to easily manoeuvre.

Riding solo with cross-winds seems to be less of a problem on a Gixxer than the FZ1-S with a full body cowl. I'm not sure if the "Steering Damper" helps in reducing the effects of cross-winds but it certainly makes me feel more confident.

Performance:
There are enough websites to tell about the performance of the Gixxer Thou K8 but what I'd like to share is how it differs to my previous bike. FZ1 was by no means a sluggish bike. To my level, I've accelerated hard, braked hard, did 70(mph) in 1st, rode it well on the country roads. But when compared to the Gixxer Thou's acceleration and deceleration, FZ1-S is a mile away. One factor could be the weight and the other the close-box gear ratio. I remember an instance when an R1 left us for dead at the traffic lights earlier this Spring. I thought that I wasn't accelerating hard enough to keep up with the R1. But having ridden a Gixxer Thou I now know that it's just that R1/Gixxer accelerate far more quickly than an FZ1. Nowadays with the Gixxer, when I leave the traffic lights I get to the road speed limit even before I can physically say "I've reached the road speed limit", that is how quick the bike is.

The deceleration achieved when closing the throttle in the 1st or 2nd gear is scintillating. Unless you anticipate this, say for a new rider never ridden a big superbike, it could potentially spell doom. I've now tried closing the throttle at various speeds in the bottom gears and can now anticipate the effect of deceleration.

More experimentation:
Last weekend took the bike out to learn more about the bike's behaviour in various combinations of speed/gears. I tried various gears on the M11 Motorway doing 70-75. In 1st, the engine does about 8k revs and the bike feels as a proper sports bike. Switch to 2nd, the revs doesn't drop that much and the bike still feels quick. In 3rd, the bike feels very comfortable and there is very minimal vibration. In 4th, there is significant vibration that could be felt through the legs and the engine does exactly 6k revs. Fifth gear is a no-go, as the bike seems to die out and sixth is certainly to be avoided as there is no response from the engine and the engine does 5k revs.

The Gixxer feels very happy to get in/out of corners/bends. I feel more confident in leaning into a corner. Taking the left-hand off to look for blind spots is so easy even in cross-winds as the bike feels very stable.

Problems:
The only problem I find with this bike is the lack of a fuel meter. I'm having to calculate using one of the two trip meters to find out how much fuel I'm likely to have. The other problem is the windshield noise, seems to be worse than the FZ1-S. I have tried various riding positions, tucked-in completely but still can't do anything about it. I'll think about having a double-bubble screen to reduce the noise and start using the in-ear plugs.

Am I good enough?:
There is no need to answer this. Unless you are in the 1st gear on Motorways, you are not even going to touch the envelope of performance of this bike. The Gixxer is one of my dream bikes. Taking it out is enough to live that dream.

First ride on GSXR 1000 K8

It's been over a year now since I rode a litre street bike, my Yamaha FZ1-SA. I'd a great time with that bike. Over the last year, I got so comfortable with it that I decided to go touring with my wife. That was the highlight of owning that machine. I did some riding last winter and lots of miles in pouring rain. After a year and 3750 miles, I thought it was time to switch to a litre supersport bike, Yamaha R1 or Suzuki GSXR 1000 both 2008 models.

I've always been an ardent Yamaha fan. It's certainly due to two factors, one being Grand Prix racing and the other being the then famous Yamaha RX100 (in India). Having said this, the only other production sports bike I liked was the Suzuki GSXR 750 SRAD. For some reason, I never had a strong affinity to Honda or Kwaki bikes.

When I decided to buy my next bike, it was a simple choice between the R1 and Gixxer 1000. I know very well that I'll never be good enough to take these machines anywhere near to what they are capable of doing. But it's the pride of ownership and a dream come true more than anything else. If not for the undertail exhausts, I'd have gone with the R1. After a lot of deliberation, I decided to go with the Gixxer Thou.

When I went for my first test ride, I was told that the power/response difference to my current bike would be significant. With the showroom staff around I just went for a very short stroll in the showroom front to have a feel for the bike. I was assured by the staff that I was smooth on the throttle and should not have a problem. I started with the "C mode", where the bike behaved more like a tame 600cc street bike. After a mile or so, I switched to the default "A mode", with full power, and I could find the difference between my FZ1 and this. The throttle response was so much sensitive that I'd to keep an eye on the speedo to keep within the 40mph/64kmph speed limit. Compared to the FZ1 the brakes were phenomenal, perhaps it is due to the significantly lower weight. Every bump on the road was transferred to my shoulders and this was very new to me. I've never felt the bumps on the FZ1. Well, that is what a supersport is supposed to be. I did a few miles on my first ride and I was already getting used to the power and the brakes. I practised a few roundabouts and tight turns just to see how I was coping with the very little movement of the bars.

I just can't wait to get my new bike delivered. I hope to do a few miles before the winter and hopefully will have this bike for some time.

Motorcycling holiday in North Wales-Day 1

It's been a very long time since I'd taken a proper holiday. The last time I'd been on a proper holiday was in August 06 to the Andaman islands. I was planning to tour the Shetlands or Ireland. But to certain constraints I suddenly decided to tour North Wales. My wife was happy with the location as well, I suppose. With the location and travel dates finalised, I'd to quickly book the accommodation and there weren't many available. Finally managed to book a room in Bryn Bella in Betws-Y-Coed for our stay as this had a secure garage for bikes. We went and bought new sports panniers for my bike for the tour and was eagerly waiting for the tour to begin. On the weekend before the tour began, took my bike to have a general check-up. Everything was now as planned and we were just waiting for the weekend to over for us to start our tour.

We began the tour on Monday. We wanted to leave our place by 1030 or 1100. But it took us a while to fasten the panniers to the bike which meant we managed to leave the place just after 1200. The bike felt very strange with the extra weight, to the extent I was able to touch the ground very comfortably. After fuelling up at Barking Tesco, the real journey to Betws-Y-Coed began. The weather prediction for the day, and for the week, wasn't great. It was predicted to be a washout week. At least we started in the dry. We took to A406 to get to A1/M1. We had no rain for the first 50 miles or so. We were cruising on M1 when the heavens opened and the visibility from spray was so bad that it slowed us and the Motorway traffic to about 40/50mph.

We had the first break at M1 Watford Gap Services. We had covered 90 out of 240 miles. The eateries in any Services is a rip off. After having a good lunch and changing gloves, filled-up the bike and continued our journey. It had stopped raining and I was quite eager to eat up the miles before the next break and the rain. The next 50 miles was rain-free. We stopped again in Shrewsbury A5/A49 junction Services for some tea and petrol. The rain continued unabated.

I've read a lot about the scenic roads in North Wales. The first taste of the wonderful biking routes I've read about was when we entered Llangollen. From there to Betws-Y-Coed, the A5 was fantastic with sweeping bends and some flowing corners. To our joy, the rain had stopped but the road was still damp. The one thing I hated was getting stuck behind a truck or gaggle of slow moving cars. Enjoying the scenic roads we reached the B&B just after 1830. We had done 240 miles on that day in the worst rainy conditions I've ever ridden. The bike looked like a dirt-bike. Anyway I wasn't going to clean it as the rain was expected for the next few days.

In the evening we went to the town to have some take-away and explore by foot. With the first day of our trip finished we went to bed early to have an early start to take the 0900 Snowdon Mountain train.