Testing Testing 123....and hour alone with the VFR1200.

One of my day off pastimes is "test riding" motorbikes from local dealers. So far in my dodgy career, I've ridden 5 Harleys, an ST1300 Pan European and a couple of days ago, the brand new VFR1200F.

I liked this bike so much, I wanted to write about it!

So I rang Castle Motorcycles in Castleford and asked if I could have a ride on their demo bike. I like the place and get on well with the staff (I've bought a couple of bikes from them in the last year, so they're quite accommodating with me!). "Come over, the bike's here and ready to go" was the answer I wanted to hear.

Now, I haven't really done too much research on this bike but I've seen a couple here and there and liked the looks of them. What I didn't know was how much power they have....170bhp said the man. 170 horsepower in a machine that weighs a fraction of that of a car?!! That's gonna make for quite a handful....but it doesn't. It just makes it very very good indeed.

Sure, this machine is incredibly powerful but all that power comes in a massive surge of torque right from 3000 revs and the delivery is relentless right up to the red line. In fact, the big V4 engine is so smooth and refined that I found myself catapulted to huge speeds without realising just how fast the thing really is. This could be a licence loser and you'd never know you were doing it!

It's not just straight line lunacy that this bike excels in though....it handles too. The riding position is more sports bike than tourer and I found more weight resting on my wrists than I'd expected. the foot pegs feel almost like rear sets and the saddle is wide and comfortable at the back but narrows off where it counts nearer to the tank. That said, I am only 6' tall and quite quickly I found my hips aching as I felt marginally cramped on the bike. That could be something to do with the relatively high position of the footpegs though and as the seat is adjustable up and down, I'd have to fiddle about and live with the bike for a couple of days to report back accurately.

The bike drops nicely into corners and very soon inspires some spirited riding, there's no nasty surprises here. The long wheelbase, shaft drive and sporty riding position contrive to keep the front end on the road when it counts and very quickly into the ride I was unleashing the full potential of all that brutal torque with confidence I wasn't going to inadvertently point the front end skywards and loop it. In fact, I managed to hit the rev limiter on a couple of occasions! The acceleration of this bike is phenomenal.

The big slab of fairing works well and at speeds well into 3 figures, I found it very comfortable and not too noisy....obviously this part of my ride was off road on a specially adapted runway so I didn't break any laws!
Because the engine is so torquey, the VFR has big long gear ratios and I found myself using 1st gear for corners I'd normally take in 2nd or 3rd on my 750. There's 6 of 'em too so motorway work ought to be an absolute breeze for this machine, I only went 2 junctions on the M62 but the power, torque and fairing all work very well together and I suspect this bike will prove to be a very serious tarmac guzzler and big distances will be a pleasure.

Styling is a personal thing really, and I have mixed feelings about the front profile of this bike....

I like the mirror mounted indicators, but I can't make up my mind about the headlight.

The side view is awesome though and I love the way the tank rises sharply from the seat and drops down towards the fairing. The exhaust follows the current trend for being short, stubby and sticking out of the side.
The can is to die for! and look at that wheel!

















Would I buy one? This bike replaces the VFR800 and Super Blackbird with one machine, so it has to do all the things those bikes did....in an ideal world yes I would like to own one, but we don't live in such a place and at £12,000 there are bikes out there not alot different to this but for lots less dollar!



....I do look good on it though, don't I?

Nice Arse!

The crap weather is gone (for now), the clocks have gone forward, the days are getting longer and it's good to feel the sun on my back as I ride home from work for a weekend off.

I've gone all retro with the bike and decided it's time to "street up"
Off with the topbox and luggage rack, the hacksaw has had an outing too and the horribly ugly luggage bars have been dispatched onto the void!



Look at this....would you be happy with these welded to your frame? I think not!



Oh yeah, the hacksaw got all jiggy with the rear mudguard too, it would be rude to have all that nasty plastic on display!

All back together and a much cleaner line to the back end....

The finishing touch?....my cheeky private plate of course!
















Dr Pick has performed surgery....here's what I removed from the patient. I think the patient will be quite a bit lighter and she'll have an arse to die for!
















....and here she is, with a proper street-fighter tail-end!

Dirty Hands

Not only do I hugely enjoy riding the beast, I also like to attack it with the spanners.

Here's links to the 3 part brake calliper service and overhaul I did recently.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I do most of the servicing and maintenance on the bike myself and I've learned loads just by taking it to bits!

Easter Monday With WYP Bikers

I awoke early to the gentle sound of the alarm. No 5 minute snoozes today, no, today was full of promise, overflowing with mental images of clean, shiny motorcycles swooping 'round uncluttered tarmac topped rural lanes. Those same bikes and riders flowing along fast curving B-roads and maybe the odd knee slider would skip tantalisingly across smooth yet incredibly grippy asphalt as the rider gracefully apexes the corner. He looks up to the empty road ahead and winds the throttle open as the bike explodes from the corner with the familiar roar of untamed power and cataclysmic acceleration, every sensory receptor screaming with concentration.............................



I dared a peek out of the bedroom curtain to find a wet, drizzly and windy Monday morning. The sky was moody and grey with the promise of sustained shitty weather for at least the rest of the morning.



My boy Jake was staying over with us and he’s a bike nut. He didn’t take much waking and as I emerged from the bathroom, he was stood waiting in his Hein Gericke trousers raring to go.



After a cup of coffee, we walked out into the rain and fired up the bike, before quietly riding up the cul-de-sac into the waiting world.



A quick stop in East Ardsley to top off the tank, and an uneventful tour of the A650 saw us arrive at Jordan’s almost bang on time. Waiting for us there was our ride leader for the day Sanensafe (Or Red Leader One, as I affectionately call him!). We already know each other from work, so there’s a bit of good natured banter and a quick introduction to Jake. As we were discussing the possibility that we’d be the only ones out due to the weather, a familiar yellow behemoth crested the rise from the Tingley roundabout....it was Allen and his mighty Goldwing. He was shortly followed by our newest member Flasher who arrived on a very smart CBR600RR. So, that was 4 bikes and 5 bikers in total. 2 naked streetbikes, 1 full-on sport bike and 1 massive tourer with the full range of engine sizes from 600cc to 1800cc, a veritable club record! See how we embrace diversity....even on days off!


Sanensafe had some fantastic roads in store for us, but first was a motorway plod to Ferrybridge to meet with a friend of his. However, a quick tour of the car-park at the service area revealed that his bottle had gone....there were no other bikers there. So with Sanensafe leading the way, the WYP Bikers die-hards embarked on our epic, record breaking journey through the lanes and byways of East Yorkshire and The Humber.



Now, to say that there was a bit of mud and cowshit on the roads would be something of an understatement. Added to the recent precipitation, there were some very slimy surfaces to negotiate. As Flasher is still quite new to God’s County, and this was to be her first proper ride out for quite some time, I took up the position of “last bike” for most of the ride to be sure she didn’t get left behind on unfamiliar roads. Of course that generally meant that I got lots and lots of questionable material thrown up off the road into my face! (especially off that sportbike rear tyre!) I ended up looking like some sort of bizarre, bike-riding caveman with a pillion passenger! I was glad for the safe and cautious riding style adopted by Flasher, otherwise I’d have been in a proper state! After a few miles of twistys, we stopped for a quick chat about where we wanted to go from there. We all agreed (apart from Allen, who was merrily listening to his CD player behind that huge fairing) that it was actually bloody cold as well as wet! Jake had lost contact with some of his fingers and Flasher remarked that she was rapidly going the same way. In no way am I ashamed when I admit to switching my heated grips on to position number 3!



Heroically we pressed on to find a nice cafe but a rummage through my pockets confirmed that I had failed to bring any cash! Mildly embarrassed, Jake and I gratefully accepted a pot of steaming coffee each from Sanensafe who gallantly stumped up some of his hard-earned for us. Thanks mate! We were joined in the cafe by some lads who were walking to London in aid of Help For Hero’s....a charity I fully support and we donated to the cause....well those of us that actually brought cash did! There was some talk of the British Superbikes, World Superbikes and Moto GP with opinions and predictions aplenty.



Warmed and refreshed, we headed back out into the gloom and some amazingly entertaining roads, I don’t know the roads very well out there and was nearly caught out a couple of times by mud, farm machines and biking inexperience....fortunately, 23 years of professional driving experience and advanced training payed off and the rubber was kept facing down! For one section, Jake and I found ourselves following the tyre tracks of Allen on the ‘Wing. I was hugely impressed by his skill on the bike and found I had absolutely no chance of keeping up with him as he sailed off out of sight....and this was on the twistys! If you ever want to see a huge tourer effortlessly hefted through country lanes at a very decent speed, try and keep up with Allen. That bloke CAN ride!


All good things come to an end, and as the morning ebbed away and the afternoon loomed into sight, we called it a day and went our separate ways. With a wave, Sanensafe opened the throttle on the M1 and disappeared off home to swap ninety-odd horsepower for one horsepower as he had planned a more sedate and traditional country ride for the afternoon. Allen, Flasher, Jake and I headed over to junction 27 and split from there. Jake and I had a cheeky look ‘round Jordan’s and I had to use a lot of willpower not to sign on the line for a brand new DL650 Vstrom. Don’t ask me why, but I just love those adventure/tourer bikes. The thought of Mrs P wearing my testicles for earrings was the decider though, and I resisted the salesman’s banter....well this time anyway....





A brilliant, if very wet and mucky ride. A big thanks to Sanensafe for leading and also to Flasher and Allen for braving the elements!







Just look at the state of my bike! (I bet that lovely white CBR took some washing!)




Thanks for reading.

Picky and Bandit do Devil's Bridge

Here we go then....
After an hour of fairly pedestrian style riding along the A650 from Wakeyfield, through Bradford, I ride my steel horse into Keighley City at 10:05 on a beautiful but blustery Sunday morning. There's also a significant chill in the air but I'm tucked up nicely in some rather tasty Hein Gericke touring gear .
I'd had a look on Google Maps before setting out as I've never been to our meeting place before, and I find it tucked away on an industrial estate! As an ex wagon driver, I'm well used to these places but I'd never expect to find a police station on one!  I swiped my card at the entrance and was relieved when the heavy metal gate began it's lumbering motion (nice to see I'm still employed!). As I moved into the back yard, I saw a couple of bikes parked up and I slow to a stop next to a pristine, brand new Triumph Bonny, no sign of any riders though, and I wonder if I'm to be doing the ride alone.
I'd had a bit of a go on the forum at Bandit about dragging his arse out and after a short time I was pleased to see a leather-clad character on a tidy 1200-S pull up outside. It could only be the mighty Bandit!
Introductions done, the first thing to happen was Bandit's lovely, blingy carbon fibre helmet falling off the bike onto the tarmac causing some scuff damage .
I felt for the lad, I really did, and I hoped it wasn't to be an omen for our impending blast.
So, we're off and after explaining that I'm still quite a new rider and fairly steady, Bandit suggests I take the lead. A beautiful sunny morning sees loads of bikers taking advantage of the fabulously rideable A65, unfortunately the Sunday drivers are out in force too and we resort to a combination of sitting in the traffic flow and picking them off one by one when the opportunity presented. Still, we make pretty good progress and I'm having a ball, especially as we'd inevitably hooked up with another group of bikers for some of the route. As mentioned, there was quite a snap in the air and it was blowing a gale too, I'm ashamed to admit that I did at one point switch on my heated grips (just on number 1) to combat the tingling sensation beginning in my little pinkies.
Arriving at Devils Bridge car-park, the first thing I notice is the bloody cafe caravan was shut! ....What's that about? However, there were plenty of other disappointed, hungry bikers there.

We parked up and had a look 'round the other bikes, some tasty machines were there like this Predator themed beast.


There's a few hours of effort gone into that!
Then there was the incredible Triumph Rocket! 2300cc of awesome power!



A careful examination of bandit's back tyre showed the lengths the poor man had been pushed to just to keep up with me!

I must be quicker than I thought!
But the real star was an absolutely pristine 600-S Bandit parked next to my sorry example of 2 wheeled hooliganism. We chatted with the owner who had  machined many of the lovely shiny bits himself. I kid you not when I tell you there wasn't a square millimetre of muck on the machine....and the owner reckons he uses it year round. Mmmm, right!
I wish I'd got a picture of it, but I didn't, so you'll just have to take my word for it! (anyway, it would just taunt Bandit into a obsessive cleaning regime!) Here's a picture of the WYP Bikers club steeds instead....

None of those blokes are us by the way....before you go getting all excited
With the cafe being shut, thoughts soon turned to our stomachs and Bandit suggested an excursion into Settle for a coffee and a butty (it was bloody cold an' all, so hot food and drink was going to be an essential survival technique rather than anything else!)
An uneventful ride into the beautiful town saw us parked up opposite the Naked Man cafe, and another (nicer and much more orange) Rocket to put my beast to shame! Someone was saying that these things have so much torque, they're faster to 100mph than an R1! (wouldn't wanna try and get one round a corner at that speed though!!).  Can you guess which are our bikes in this shot?

We got our bacon and egg butties and got chatting to a top bloke form Oz (living locally though) and his girlfriend who arrived on this rather droolworthy BMW....

...apparently this thing has close to 200bhp!
MENTAL!
Tummys full of lovely grub and coffee, we pressed on for the short hop down towards Skipton, this time Bandit led and by God his can sounds awesome from behind! (did I really just say that? ).
I peeled off for Ilkley and Otley as Bandit broke right for Keighley. I couldn't resist a ride down through Harewood and on through Boston Spa to Taddy, where I picked up the road for Knottingley and dropped in to Squires cafe for a further cup of tea. Coming through towards Boston and I was royally wasted by 3 loonys on supermoto's. And when I say they wasted me, I mean these boys weren't wired up properly, the word mental doesn't even come close! I was amazed not come across at least one smoking wreck and twisted human body parts as I took it pretty gently in comparison.
Quite a few bikes at Sherburn, as you might expect of a nice Sunday afternoon....

A great ride out. A big thanks to Bandit (great to meet you too mate!).
Let's make a big effort this year and get some decent rides organised.