Aprils Happen

Hi achternaam,

As you know, I have a tough job. Riding to test product on a regular basis is not all beer and skittles. Sometimes it involves discomfort, hard yakka and head smacking frustration... Honest.

Take the recent "Off the Grid" story for an upcoming Adventure Rider edition. The plan was that a few industry people would meet in the Snowies and show off the gear we think is useful... On the other side of the black stump, away from motels and counter meals.

I stopped in Mansfield to fuel up on way to meet up with Safari's Robin Box. Having totally cocked up the time I needed to get to his place, I was in a flap. After some interesting sandy back roads and tangling with graders and a water truck (perfect when you're in a hurry... not) I finally teamed up with him in Myrtleford.

Hardly getting my feet to the ground, we struck off on a tight timeline to make camp before dark. A splash and dash at Corryong had me doing the Sinking Heart, Aussie Hakka looking for my wallet. Nuckin', nuckin' bloodee...

It's a sure fire way of putting the dampners on a trip. Worrying about the scumbag that might be having a nice little "tap-a-thon" and the stuffing about the replace license, medicare, roadside assist, seniors, public transport cards and the like. With this drama close to mind I upended everything I had with me with no luck.... Arrrrk!

The next morning my generous companion slipped me a couple of pineapples to get me home as I rode the mountain looking for phone service to block my cards and alert home to my moment of stoopid.

An uneventful and pleasant couple of days passed but the leave pass expired, so we struck out for home. I combed the roads just outside Mansfield in case it had fallen from my pocket and decided it was a goner so cancelled my cards.

At home the bike was unpacked and washed, hey, it's new! As I blew off the worst of the water afterwards I peeked down beside the bottom triple clamp inside the fairing. Low and friggin' behold there was my wallet sitting in a little recess inside the fairing panel.

Now, think this through, I'd ridden the best part of 1000km on sealed and unsealed roads. On the dirt roads I hadn't hung around, wanting to get a feel of the Bumblewee's new front suspension. Had I popped the wallet there for safe keeping the bloody thing would have lasted fifty metres at most I'd reckon.

A Letter from Canada

Talking about the coming of winter, I'm currently in Montana, experiencing some of their late winter snow storms.

I started the trip in Vancouver, heading across southern BC into Alberta, then south into Montana. I don't know how these people endure the harsh winters, I can well understand why there are so few bikes on the road here at the moment. The looks you get when you walk into a shop wearing bike clobber is priceless.

You mentioned wanting to come visit Canada some day, don't put it off too long, it's an awe inspiring place.

Hope your winter is a bit milder than mine,

Cheers, Mike - Armidale NSW

Shoei Neotec 2 Here

I've worn out my Neotec 1. I can hold my hand on my heart and say that although it wasn't perfect (what is?) is was the best helmet I'd every owned. It was a bit noisey around the chin strap/ear area and it could have had more quiet ventilation. Open the vents and the noise level increased accordingly.

Having got my mits on the new generation I'm hoping that Shoei have sorted the issues out. They now have a neck curtain in much the same way as Schuberth that will close off the first crticism and the reworked vents are supposed to fix the second. With the same fit (in the showroom) and internal feel as the predecessor the internals don't look too different. The exterior is a little more "Storm-trooper" than the last edition. Some is aerodynamics and the rest to accommodate the comms system – which will integrate into the hat much more neatly that the last variation.

I'm currently wizzing about in the Schuberth E1 and will get to try a Neotec soon.

Here's the webpage for more info.

Copper's Neotecs.

As you probably know many of Oztraylya's police wear Neotecs. I'm told they were pretty reticent to change to the new clasp type chin strap from the double D Ring system. Apparently that all changed when some scumbag grabbed a mounted officer by the chin bar and started shaking the poor bugger's fillings about.

The quick release system is now much more in favour.

Vale Alan Kempster

The most spirited, determined person I've ever known popped his clogs on Sunday. We got to know him at a Moto GP shop when we helped him dredge up donations to race the Bert Munro Challenge that year.

For a bloke who was left beside the road to die by a drunk driver he certainly crammed a lot into what life he got back. When I think that I'm doing it tough I recall Arfer.

For those of you who don't know his story or want a refresher. Here's Left Side Story - click here

Ready for Winter

I've been able to secure more of the fabulous Icebreaker Helix mid layer jackets to ease us into winter. These are one of the best finds in the last couple of years. The pain of the spend has long faded into the background with a buffer of time.

Tontine, Strapz and Tomaselli -super models or stupid wobbles?

Click here for more info

Wildlife Whistling

As I mentioned above, the Bumblewee has Roo whistles fitted. Do they work? I've never hit a critter other than a bird on a bike fitted with them but hey, that's not conclusive. Travelling through an intersection at 220km/h means a rider will spend less time in that intersection and therefore should make crossing it safer.

Shelling out $6 for something that might work after taking out Mr Hoppy in the Nerriga Rd in February seems like a pretty good spend to me. I'll take all the help available to keep the black things under me!

The V-Strom Cometh... Good

The Bumblewee is taking shape, I'm waiting for a set of crashbars and were doing a bit of fine tuning of the front forks.

Here's a list of the parts so far:

The plan was to set up the bike as I'll need it to gobble miles and get some dirt road travel. Apart from the shorty levers I don't see any of the stuff as an extravagant luxury. When the orginal rim covers wear out I'll think about the best tyre options but they'll do for now. The stock Bridgestones stick to the black road quite well but are a bit smooth for the dirt.

Click on the pic for the whole sordid drama

Mr Smith Tome

Road Tip

A few metres of strong cord, quality tent, venetian blind or light climbing cord can be a very useful item and takes up very little room. Rig up a tarp in bad weather, over an accident victim, drag wood back to camp, tie on a broken panel, jerry rig crashed luggage, dry clothes in a cabin. I'm not advocating a tow rope here, just a good solid, thin cord.

That's about all I have to write at ya for now.

Copyalater