Curtain poles!

On Monday, as my OH and I got home from work, I overheard 1 of the local children saying to one of their friends "that's a really cool house; they have 2 motorbikes". Looks like our coolness factor has increased since my latest acquisition!

Since then, I as my OH had promised his Mum he'd fit a curtain pole the next time he was round, I used that as an opertunity to go for a practice run on my bike. As we were getting kitted up and the bikes unlocked a wee girl from up the road was really interested and was asking lots of questions:

"Why are you taking both bikes?" - because I'm a learning and wanted my OH to follow and keep an eye out for me.
"Why has that bike [mine] got a red L on a white bit of card?" - they are my L plates and I have to show them to let other road users know I'm just learning.
"Do you let her on your bike?" [to my OH] - yes, she rides on the back seat….etc, etc.

It was quite cute and, besides we would be hypocrites not to encourage her curiosity as it really annoys us when adults knock children down for being interesting and asking questions in general.

When we were ready to go, she insisted on watching. My OH made sure she was clear of our gates (so she wouldn't suddenly roll forward on her bicycle). I started to roll forward on the drive, but as we have a drop before the road, I was a little apprehensive riding my bike straight onto the road, as opposed to rolling it forward without any engine power. My OH told me to just roll it, if I felt more comfortable that way.

Once I had my bike on the road, I waited a moment for my OH to get saddled up again and started off. I was a little wobbly at first. I need to work on making sure my moving off is nice and positive. This is much safer as it makes the bike more stable. My OH also commented I was a little hesitant, though did agree when I said a little hesitation won't get you killed.

As it's 8 miles to my mother-in-laws on country roads, I took it easy on the bends, but was really impressed with myself getting the bike up to 55mph on the straights. That felt very similar to the sensation I had when I was learning to drive, My instructor would gently encourage my to speed up. I was convinced I was nailing it, but when I looked at the speedo, I'd barely got above 40mph…how things change!

My OH fitted the curtain pole and we headed for home. On balance, given I hadn’t ridden a bike for 3 weeks (apart from when I picked it up) and it's a new machine, I don’t think my ride was too bad. I will admit I need to practice, especially moving off, stopping and the dreaded u-turn!

Finally....

Yesterday, I finally picked up my bike. It was sitting ready for me and after a few formalities, I was ready to roll. That was fun…

The dealer is situated on a busy road, with a blind bend and Y-junction in 1 direction. Add to that the 2 other bikers, other than my OH, waiting on me to go (they were being very considerate, as they didn't want to spook the learner) and this being the first time riding the new bike. I had a bit of a wobble when I first moved off, with my OH riding behind me. He was sitting wide (bikers should ride slightly left of centre - he was slightly right) to keep an eye on me and offer a little protection.

I got home safely and my OH took it for a spin. That looked ridiculous as his knees were practically round his ears! When he came back he adjusted the clutch lever for me, which will make it easier for me moving off an slow riding (basically, anywhere that clutch control is necessary). It's not a fault with the dealer; clutch levers can be adjusted much like brake levers on bicycles.

Now I have the bike, I need to get practice in, so I pass my test this time round. I didn't do any more practice yesterday as I was really tired from my previous day's exploits. If the weather's fair tonight, I shall take it for a spin. My OH is talking of heading to his mothers to fit a curtain pole. Not very exciting, I know, but at least it's a reason to go somewhere. I remember when I was learning to drive. My uncle would take me for practice between lessons, but I didn't like just practicing; we had to have a reason for the journey. Now I have my bike, I shall be posting more frequently my progress.

Still waiting

Before I can pick up my new bike, the DVLA have to register it. For that, they needed a copy of my insurance certificate for the bike. That’s where the problems started...

As the insurance claim for my car is still ongoing, I had to wait ‘till the Monday after ordering my bike to phone the car insurance provider to find out what status of claim would be recorded against me. This was to allow me to correctly declare the claims I have had (one) in the last 3 years. So far, I’m 2 says since ordering my bike.

I then phoned round the brokers for a quote and bought a policy I was happy with. The broker told me it would be 3-5 working days until my insurance documents got to me. I thought to myself, knowing my luck, it’ll take the full 5 days. Add to that a postal strike...great. To save a bit of time, I asked for them to send a cover note to the dealer. I carefully spelled out the address very carefully, but the person I was speaking to wasn’t the fizziest can in fridge. The dealer didn’t get it. Also, the insurance documents took the full 5 days.

Last Tuesday, I dropped the insurance certificate off at the dealer. He stated the DVLA says it takes 3-5 working days to process the documentation, though in his experience the local office will process it there and then. Well, I called the dealer today as it’s more than 5 working days since they took the documentation to the DVLA local office. As you may have guessed, they still haven’t received the documentation from the DVLA. I love the civil service, don’t you? The person I spoke to \t the dealer also stated they were now chasing the DVLA. Hopefully I’ll get a phone call tomorrow telling me it’s ready.

I can’t even get annoyed with the dealer, as the delay has been cause by things totally outwith their control. Besides, my bike is sitting waiting for me, the dealer just needs the paperwork.

His 'n Hers

If there's one thing I don't understand, it's why couples on bikes (usually married couples on tourers) feel the need to wear matching kit. Now, if they have got a stunning bargain on 2 jackets, say, good on them. But what I'm talking about is much scarier than that.

You don't need my to tell you that men and women are built differently. There was a time (not that long ago) when almost all rider gear was "unisex" - let's face it, that means mens wear. Fortunately, the manufacturers have realised they were missing out on a potentially lucrative market and it is relatively easy to buy ladies specific kit (there's even 1 accessory company I am aware of that only sell ladies wear).

So, I found it strange when my OH and I went on our first Pan Clan run. There were 9 bikes, 3 of which were couples (including my OH and I). Of the 3 couples, only my OH and I didn't have matching kit. This was from the helmets to the boots. Jackets, I can live with as there isn't much that is different between a ladies and gents bike jacket, but trousers are a different matter. Men don't have hips and generally have longer legs. I didn't have to look too closely to see that the trousers on the ladies weren't an ideal fit, as they had to compromise waist size over hip size and they appeared a tad long.

And, what scared my more than that was matching helmets, which co-ordinated not only with the rider and pillion, but with the colour of the bike! Besides, I have found that helmets are very like shoes. Some are a small fit; some large. Even a smaller size of the same helmet may not be a comfortable fit for another person. Therefore, I find it surprising that those couples could get 2 matching helmets that fitted each other comfortably. My OH and I certinatly can't, but he has a choice of 1 helmet, as only 1 manufacturer does one large enough for him.

I hear you saying "but, surely if they got a bargain, what's it to do with you". Well, the kit they had wasn't the type that generally features in reduced to clear bins. And, it's my blog, therefore my opinion.

In case you were wondering, my OH and I have very different kit. I have a red helmet and he has a black one; I have a blue, ladies specific, jacket and his is grey. Our trousers are by the same company, but I did get a ladies specific pair. Besides, they were in the reduced to cleat section as the place we bought them was closing down.

Bike Shopping

Prior to doing my CBT, my OH and I had spent a lot of time getting my sister-in-law's Suzuki GS125 back on the road. She had bought it brand new 6 years previously, as her instructor recommended getting a learner legal bike to practice on before sitting her test. Unfortunately, she failed her test and lost the motivation to get her licence. Consequently, the GS sat in her parents' back garden for 6 years, accumulating 90 miles (yes, that is not a typo) on the clock, about 10 of which were through pushing it around the garden.

Once my OH finally fixed the problem and got the GS MOT'd and insured, it was back on the road. He then did a deal the his sister that he would take the bike on for a year, put some mileage on it, and we would either keep it and pay her market value for the bike, or sell the bike and give her the money.

Just before I did my CBT, my OH took me out to the airfield I've mentioned un earlier posts. This was to let me have a litte bit of an idea of what I was letting myself into. Once I did my CBT, the plan was to use the GS to build up my confidence before taking formal lessons. Unfortunately, although the GS is a learner legal machine, it's not ideal for a novice. The mirrors are tiny and the clutch leaver is very stiff (which wasn't helped by it being bent, when my sister-in-law dropped it). Consequently, I haven't really used it.

Despite these issues, now I have had lessons, you might think those would be tolerable, until I pass and can get pretty much any bike I like, so long as the BHP is less than 33, or the machine is restricted to that. However, the GS has what my OH describes as the 3 second side stand. Turn your back on the bike, when you've parked it on the side stand and 3 seconds later hear the sickening crunch of the bike falling over. Thus, I cannot use the side stand to help with getting on and off. Not exactly what could be described as idea for practicing.

So, the search for a bike began. I set my criteria:
1. Maximum £2000 budget.
2. Reasonably well know make - therefore I would be better placed to sell for a decent price and obtain parts.
3. Cheap to insure.
4. Traditional style - trail style bikes are too tall; sports style (why, it's a 125!) and cruisers push your feet forward, which I'm not too happy with, given my inexperience.

As I mention in my "First Lesson" post, the Honda GS125, although a very good bike, does not have a side stand, so was out of the running. I had considered a van van, as having had most of my lessons on it, I was happy enough riding it. That was until I read the Motorcycle News (MCN) review. It stated the van van does not have a light in the instrument panel - err, so that makes it day time use only. What's the point in that?

I then had a look at the main manufacturers' websites and it didn't look promising. Only Honda had a traditional style bike, namely the GS. All the others had either sporty style or cruiser...

Last weekend, while I had been having lessons, my OH took himself off to various dealers to see "in the fresh" what the market has to offer. In his travels, he came across the Suzuki EN125. On the face of it, it appeared to be an evolution of the GS, but it had a proper side stand. We had a look around the net and, although it was not on Suzuki's UK website, there seemed to be a reasonable amount of not Suzuki dealers selling them. Also, a fair amount of training schools use them, which, given the abuse they'll get in that environment, is a good advert.

Yesterday, we paid a visit to Scott Murray Motorcycles in Dunfermline, so I could have a look myself. I was very impressed with the look of the bike. It turns out it is an official Suzuki bike, but it's a parallel import, though it has DSA type approval, therefore it's totally UK raod legal. It would appear Suzuki don't import them directly, as the EN would effectively compete with their other 125s, which is a bit daft, from a business point of view.

Jon Murray of Scott Murray Motorcycles couldn't have been more helpful. He explained the deal with the bike, as described in the above paragraph. My OH and I had a really good look over the machine and it looked very good quality. It's all genuine Suzuki parts, made in Japan.

So, lets go back to my criteria:
1. Maximum £2000 budget - check
2. Reasonably well know make - therefore I would be better placed to sell for a decent price and obtain parts - check.
3. Cheap to insure. - check
4. Traditional style - trail style bikes are too tall; sports style (why, it's a 125!) and cruisers push your feet forward, which I'm not too happy with, given my inexperience. - check.

Jon Murray even got me sitting on it and I felt really comfortable on it. Now, this bike is brand new and usually I have the opinion of buy second hand and let someone else pay the depreciation for you. However, I would be toiling to get a second hand Japanese bike that met my criteria for less than £2000, unless it had been thrashed into the ground. It seemed the perfect bike for me.

So my OH and I could have a "discussion", we went to Scott Murray Motorcycle's accessories shop. Firstly, this allowed me to look for top boxes, as I wanted a little storage, even if only for my lid. Secondly, we could have a chat about the EN without Jon Murray listening. I thought I was idea and so did my OH. I also found a top box that fitted my lid.

We went back through to see Jon Murray and I bought the bike. There are even going to fit the top box for me, which saves a little hassle. Cool. All I need to do now is arrange insurance and get the cover note to Scott Murray for road tax purposes. The main thing that will slow things down is the DVLA getting the registration papers out to Scott Murray.
So, I'm now looking forward to getting my new wheels. I had a choice of red or blue. As red is my favourite colour and the rest of the fleet is red, guess what colour I chose?!

Now, all we have to do it extend the driveway, fit a ground anchor and get rid of the GS. That shouldn't be too much hassle, so long as it doesn't rain for the next week. I don't really want to dig turf and soil in the wet - would you?

Bike Intercom

Anyone who knows my OH and I knows we can talk the legs of the hind of a donkey once we get going. This, for obvious reasons, isn't possible on a motorbike, so the search for rider to pillion communications began.

In the past my OH had bought an Oxford rider to pillion coms set. Oxford are a manufacture of bike accessories. This he managed to kill within 1/2 mile, despite the fact that it was not actually connected to the bike - it had its own, independent, power.

So, the search for something a bit more reliable began. We discovered there are 2 main manufactures of bike coms available in the UK - Autocom and Starcom. Both have sets which start from a power unit and headphones for the rider to, for example, listen to music. They then can be upgraded to allow the rider to pillion to talk up to bike to bike coms. The main difference was the price. For the rider to pillion option, Autocom are about £100 more expensive.

Just to make sure, my OH had a good look on-line at bike forums etc, to check Starcom seemed reliable. From that research, other bikers seemed to love Starcom. So, as you may have guessed, we plumped for Starcom.

My OH spent time setting the unit up. This involved positioning the headphones and mikes in our helmets, sewing the cables out of the way and setting the levels. Setting the levels was the most fiddly. He made the major adjustments in the house, using a 12v supply, but we had to go for a proving run, as road and wind noise make a considerable difference to the way the system works. Following this proving run, there were a couple of stops necessary to make small adjustments, but once those were made, the system appeared to work really well.

The following day, we were on a Pan Clan run to Lindisfarne. About an hour into the run, I heard a small crackle and shortly afterwards, my OH said something and was much louder than he had been earlier. About a mile (if that) afterwards, a terrible very loud screach came from the unit. We were on a roundabout and it was all my OH could do to prevent the bike going off the road. It was very painful and even I could barely think. I wasn't having to drive. We pulled over and unplugged from the unit; carrying on our merry(ish) way.

The following day, my OH contacted Starcom direct. They asked if he'd send the unit direct to them, as they don't get many returned with the full background. About a week later, we received the "new" unit. The had replaced the motherboard (to which everything is attached), so all we got back was the box the originally came in. We think Starcom did that as my OH had put velcro on the underside, to attach the unit to the bike. Given how well Starcom deal with the problem, we just put the issue down to experience.

Unfortunately, we had to set the levels again, but everything seemed to be going okay, until today. We were leaving work and I was having difficulty plugging into the unit. My OH noticed 1 of the connector pins were bent. Although this was a bit of a pain, he wasn't too worried, as he could unbend the pin or get a new connector cable, as it is a standard fitment.

When we got home, my OH realised that the pin was bent as a bit of plastic from the main unit had broken off into the connector. Consequently, we now aren't was impressed with Starcom as we once were. Although we will give the benefit of the doubt on 1 occasion, we won't twice for the same product. So, it's back to the shop the unit will be going, for a refund. Looks like we will be getting Autocom after all. Now, I'm thinking that this proves that you do get what you pay for.