It's been a while since I took my bike, Yamaha FZ1-SA, for jolly weekend rides. From December to February, I took it out only on a handful of occassions, mainly to have a feel for the bike and the grip that was available. This being my first winter weather riding, it was all new. I have heard and read about the lack of grip, but feeling it first-hand was something scary and special.With the arrival of Spring and a better weather, it was time to go on a jolly weekend ride. The weather was not bad, about 12c, but there was more than gentle cross-winds. Fuelled and checked tyre pressure, as usual, in Barking Tesco.
Took to A406 Westbound, the North Circular Road, at Barking junction. Going over the flyover at Ilford, I could feel the strong cross-winds, the one thing that I hate. Good that I did some winter weather riding, I was already feeling a lot comfortable with the grip, as I'd make a comparison between the grip levels. Onto M11 slip road, for the first time in months, I was able to lean the bike with some confidence. Hitting the motorway, I was able to get some proper heat into the tyres by dropping to lower gears and ride on a higher-rev range. I got to tell you how sweet it sounds when you get over 7k revs. If you are on a motorway and doing about 70mph (112 kmph) in 6th gear, you hardly hit 5k revs. But drop a couple of gears and you find the revs going about 7k and that is sweet.
Now to the main riding bit, Harlow to Maldon. Off M11, took the exit to A414 heading to Harlow. I love the entry and exit to slip roads as I'd practise some serious downshifts, braking, and acceleration. Started my run near Harlow Town Centre heading towards Maldon. The roundabouts in these out-of-town places are amongst my favourites too. It gives you the opportunity to flick the bike and a chance to accelerate hard in the first gear. The route itself is not too demanding and most of it is 50mph (80kmph). There are some gentle sweeps that doesn't warrant too much of a lean, unless you are doing illegal speeds. I was able to spot only a few riders and acknowledged them with a gentle head-nod. The nodding of your head is one of those wonderful moments that make you feel happy, at least for me, I suppose.
For most of the section from Harlow to Chelmsford, I was riding in 3rd gear to enjoy the power-band through the bends. There are a few roundabouts in this section where you can practise some nice left-right flips. Exiting these roundabouts I always stay in the first gear and get over 7k rev range to enjoy the sweetness of the engine. The traffic on this section wasn't bad, I always had a free space at the front and back, to practise some acceleration and downshifts to the roundabouts. Exiting one of the roundabouts, you get national speed limit of 70mph, and this is where I love to open the throttle. On a previous visit on this route, I did a 1st gear 60mph which took me just over 9k revs. I was hoping if I'd a clear road in front of me, then I could try it. Luckily, the road was almost clear and I'd a chance to go over 9k revs in the first gear. The roar of the engine in first gear when it gets to about 9k engine is something I'd love to hear it from the roadside as a pedastrian. I stayed it on a while before upshifting.
On these out-of-town roads, some car drivers are very considerate. When they see a motorcycle they tend to stay to their left and provide you enough room to get past them. If there is a gaggle of cars, you could see most of them moving to their left in a sync and that is a beautiful sight for any biker.
The 17-mile section from Harlow to Chelmsford was gone in a pleasurely ride, taking the occasional scenaries in my stride. On my return, I took to some city riding from Romford to Ilford on A118. This gave me the opportunity to practise slow riding and filtering.
I did 75-miles on this ride and had a chance to practise almost everything. I'm awaiting a free one-day BikeSafe training with Met police. I did a similar one last year and it was so helpful. Another one of these training sessions would help me get assessed for another season of safe riding.
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