Updates from May, 2009

• 

  The Givi Upgrade

  Gary 08:24 on May 29, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Givi, Luggage (4), Mechanics (2), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), V-Strom 650X (6)

  My Givi luggage arrived this week and I spent a couple of hours yesterday putting everything on the bike. A word of warning to anybody trying to fit both the Givi top case mount and the Givi PLX side case rails; don’t try and fit the top case mount first, you’ll end up having to unbolt everything you just bolted on because the side case rails need to be attached first!

  

  I don’t claim to be an expert mechanic; I never manage to pick up the right spanner first time, but I do like to have a go. I know fitting a couple of pannier rails and top case mount isn’t exactly rocket science, I also know most people wouldn’t even class it as mechanics but anything I do to the bike that needs a spanner or a torque wrench makes me feel great; I’m a real man, tinkering out in the garage with my tools, you know what I’m talking about guys.

  

  It took me about 2.5 hours to fit both the rails and the top case mount, everything is now fitted and feels pretty secure. I’ve uploaded images to the gallery so you can check them out there. This is the first modification I’ve made to the Albino, the one that absolutely needed to be done and I’m pretty pleased with the results; the boxes look good and I’ve now got 122 litres of storage space, a tad more than the 30 litres I had on the Monster.

   

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• 

  Riding Dartmoor

  Gary 20:24 on May 23, 2009 | 3 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Mobile (2), Ride Report (4)

  Unfortunately my new Givi luggage didn’t arrive in time so this trip became a test of the bike, its capabilities and making sure I had made the right decision trading the Monster for the Strom. I’m also able to test the mobile blogging software for the first time too – this is coming to you live from Dartmoor!

  We started the morning with sleepy showers and a bacon sandwich, at 11:00 Shep and Geri turned up as planned and it was time to hit the road. I started off following the cage until we hit our first queue of traffic on the outskirts of Dorchester, then it was time for me to peel off and take the bike lane.

  There were intermittent queues all the way to and through Bridport. Once out, the roads were pretty much traffic free, surprisingly even Exeter wasn’t too bad! It’s important to note I was riding free of maps and GPS, using only road signs to get to my destination, which seemed to be working right up until I took a wrong turn 2 miles from the campsite! An hour and a half later (there are some nice roads here) I turned up at the campsite to be greeted by my three fellow travellers and a pitched tent.

  The Strom took me 140 miles today in about 3.5 hours, the ride was fantastic and the weather was beautiful. The bike felt great; I could still feel my fingers and the seat isn’t as bad as people make out, though I may still be tempted by a gel upgrade. I also now know the tank range is well over 200 miles being on 220 now with about 4 litres left to go.

  

  There are no doubts I’ve made the right decision now, a couple of tweaks and a lot of luggage testing and I’ll be ready to go anywhere…

   
• 

  Welcome, Strom.

  Gary 00:46 on May 19, 2009 | 0 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Preparation (23), Ride Report (4), Suzuki (11), V-Strom 650X (6)

  On Friday I picked up the V-Strom and despite the typical British weather deciding to ruin this event there was no turning back now. I was unusually nervous riding the bike home that day, I’m still not sure why but it felt very big and very different to the monster I’d just left behind. A few rainy miles later I was home where getting the bike into the garage proved to be a challenge; there’s a lot more bike to move around our driveway now and I had a couple of unsteady moments before finally getting her in safe.

  

  I was dreading rain again on Saturday but it never came, instead the wind decided to show it’s ugly face. I decided to brave it; I’m not going to be able to pick and choose the weather when we’re on the road so why bother doing it now? I rode to the Purbecks, a favourite spot at Creech Hill, battling with the wind along the way but determined to carry on. My confidence grew as I rode, learning what the bike was capable of as I went. After 50 miles my back was fine, my bum wasn’t numb and most importantly I still had sensation in my hands! I rode until I ran the tank down to empty and took her to a petrol station to fill up; the cost was £16.56 and the trip counter has been reset, I’ll keep you posted on mileage.

  

  If I was still nervous about my decision on Friday, this ride had eradicated it, I’m fully confident I’ve made the right decision now. I have a feeling this bike will eat the miles, and it’ll keep me comfortable while it’s doing it. The most unusual thing has happened too; the V-Strom’s ugly looks might actually be growing on me, I think this could be the start of a beautiful relationship…

   
• 

  Still jinxed

  Gen 20:25 on May 14, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  

  Bike number 1 gets sold from under my nose.
  Bike number 2 is a rust bucket after driving 65 miles to see it.
  Bike number 3 is sold when we ring the guy.
  Bike number 4 (we try a Bandit this time) is sold also.
  Bike number 5 I ring the garage on Monday and had arranged to drive around 40 miles to go see a Strom in Salisbury tonight, but woe is me… it’s been sold in-between.

  If I’m not jinxed then what is the problem? How hard can it be to give people my money?

  /cry

   
• 

  Insurance woes

  Gary 22:24 on May 12, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Ducati (3), Insurance, Monster (3), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), V-Strom 650X (6)

  The Ducati Monster 695 is a fairly aggressive bike, its good looking and I’d say it’s also fairly “sporty” in nature. These are some of the things I would associate with high insurance cost. I renewed my policy in March 2009, I’ve been riding for almost two years now, I have 1 year no claims bonus (only 1 due to moving halfway through the year to a different insurer for the Monster) and the cost for this renewal was £195 TPF&T.

  The Suzuki V-Strom 650X is built for touring; it’s big, it’s ugly and probably the least “sporty” a bike could be, in Ben’s words “It’s a Grandad bike”. When I phoned up the insurance company I was expecting to pay around the same price as I had done for the Monster and hopefully incur no additional cost, unfortunately I couldn’t have been more wrong. The insurance company wanted an extra £241 on top of the £195 I’d already paid for the Monster, more than double the price. To worsen this blow; if I had been getting the V-Strom a month ago and not had to change my insurance to a new policy (this is costing me money bizarrely) total price would’ve only been £359 instead of the £436 I’m having to pay now.

  So just a tip to anybody planning on buying a new bike; get an insurance quote first!

   
• 

  One down, one to go

  Gary 11:09 on May 10, 2009 | 1 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Ducati (3), Monster (3), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), V-Strom 650X (6)

  As you know, a couple of weeks ago Gen and I test-rode a white Suzuki V-Strom 650X. When we got back to the dealer after Gen’s ride, I asked if I was able to purchase the test-ride bike; I liked the white colour and as the bike had been used as a test-ride bike I was hoping I would be able to get a fair bit of discount for this practically brand-new bike.

  I’ve been waiting almost two weeks now to find out (who would’ve thought it’d be so difficult to get a salesperson to sell you something) but on Friday I went in to see the bike again and have now put a deposit down. The bike is going to cost £4,795 cut down from its new price of £5,450 which I guess isn’t too bad considering it’s only done 350 miles. The bike has a full warranty and the first service will be thrown in for free; something I did manage to negotiate despite my poor skills.

  

  I’m trading in my Monster 695 for this bike, I will be sad to see it go but I do believe I’m doing the right thing; for once I’m trading style for sense. Just for anybody who cares I’ll be getting £2,650 for the Monster (5,600 miles) as a part-exchange value against the V-Strom leaving me with a lovely £2,145 bill to pay – so much for that mortgage deposit!

  

  The bike should be ready for me to pick up on Tuesday so that’s me sorted for a bike, now we need one for Gen; one down, one to go.

   
• 

  65 mile waste

  Gen 20:08 on May 5, 2009 | 2 Permalink | Log in to leave a Comment
  Tags: Bikes (13), Motorcycling (12), Preparation (23), Suzuki (11), V-Strom DL650 (3)

  After my disappointing weekend last week, we decided that I needed to stop hiding my head in the sand and actually go and find me a bike. I have spent a week pondering whether the V-Strom is maybe too big for me and even started looking around to see what else is out there, but I couldn’t help coming back to it. On to Bike Trader we went, found the next V-Strom on the list and phoned up the dealer. Luckily they were open on a Bank Holiday and I had a good feeling after hearing from them how nice it looked; I could finally get myself a bike and start gearing it up for our trip!

  65 miles later we arrived at the dealership; we parked up and went on in. There she was, a beautiful black Strom, I walked around the side – it looked just like the one that I lost. We walked around it and to our dismay the other side was trashed, someone had obviously dropped this bike, probably on gravel, and from the looks of it probably more than once. I probably could have gotten over the damage – I have dropped a bike before, it happens, but what shouldn’t happen is rust; rust on the chain, rust on the side stand, rust on the nuts, almost everything that was once a shiny metal colour was now rusting.

  There is no way with my knowledge of bikes that I could guess how much it would cost to fix, or even if it needs fixing, maybe this sort of thing happens to all bikes? I couldn’t buy it in that condition; no matter how much I want a bike. My second attempt of finding a bike has failed, maybe I’m cursed, or maybe there is a better one waiting for me! Watch this space and I’ll let you know how I get on!