Ramblings of a Singapore Biker Boy
Adventures and micro-adventures on a motorcycle
While my journey with the Honda CB400X was brief, it was fulfilling. This was the little machine that could. It had the power to munch miles, but yet frugal with fuel. It was light enough to take it through most terrains and could easily be serviced and repaired just about anywhere in this part of the world. Not that I needed it – the legendary Honda reliability lived up to it’s reputation. And in my 5 months of ownership, I’ve clocked close to 10,000km on this workhorse.
This morning, we head to Mersing! 2 DRZ’s, 3 Honda’s and a Yamaha – we met at B-Point for a quick breakfast and headed off towards the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
As there was a recent road closure of the main road towards Mersing, Google Maps took us on some amazing winding roads to around the supposedly closed road – and Boy! It was some motorcycle paradise! Continue reading “Sunday Morning Ride to Mersing”
It’s been a tad over 7,000km since my last oil change. And of late, I’ve noticed that gear changing on the 400X seem to have gotten a little clunkier. Definitely not as smooth as I once remembered it to be. And so there I was contemplating the decision as to whether I should pamper my machine with some fresh engine oil.
But then, this clunky gearshift appears to be rather random too – sometimes shifting from one gear to the next feels like the gearbox of an agricultural tractor; but on other occasions, it could feel as smooth as a well-oiled precision machinery. And so I figured that it shouldn’t be the case of the engine oil approaching end of life.
The stock CB400X grips not only felt hard, but weren’t…. well… grippy. I find myself subconsciously gripping onto my handlebars tighter, and thus occasionally leading to numb fingers – especially on some of my longer rides. I’ve previously tried Grip Puppies on my previous motorcycle, but due to my small’ish hands, I didn’t like the grip’s enlarged diameter. And since I’ve heard a lot of good things about BMW’s rubber grips, I decided to give them a try!
I’m a durian lover! And this Sunday Morning, we ride to Zhong Cheng Durian Plantation! At less than 50km from the Causeway checkpoint, the durian farm is pretty near Singapore actually. And when we arrived, there’s a short 750m or so of dirt track before we reach the plantation.
Continue reading “Sunday Morning Ride to Zhong Cheng Durian Farm”
Last Sunday morning, I rode alone. This Sunday, with a large bunch of friends – some old, some new. I counted 19 bikes. We took a leisurely ride to Sedili jetty. And the highlight of our trip to Sedili?…. Eggs!
Today, I ride alone. Kinda reminds me of my 2-month solo ride – where it was just myself, my motorcycle, and my thoughts. It’s pretty therapeutic actually! Today, I head to Mersing – the gateway to the islands of Pulau Tioman and Pulau Aur.
Continue reading “Sunday Morning Ride to Mersing and Kluang”
Most affected owners *should* know by now that Honda had a massive recall on multiple motorcycle models due to a potential failure in the starter relay switch. A failure could lead to a fire or even the bike suddenly stalling – which is a potential accident risk. The potentially faulty starter relay switch seem to affect multiple Honda motorcycle models manufactured in 2014 and 2015. My CB400X is a 2014 model. *GASP!*
Being the 3rd owner of the vehicle and only recently acquiring it, I have no idea if my bike’s starter relay is affected, or if it had been swapped out. And since this is a SAFETY issue and a possible FIRE HAZARD, I decided to be prudent about it and do some investigation myself.
The starter relay switch is located on the Continue reading “Honda Motorcycle Starter Relay Safety Recall”
This has got to be the easiest to install, yet useful mod I’ve added to my CB400X. Being a somewhat budget bike, the Honda CB400X does not come with a gear indicator. And because the gears are so close together – especially gears 5 and 6, I found myself searching for that phantom gear 7 on many occasions.
Say CHEESE! Snap, snap!
With the number of irresponsible road users these days, sometimes all it takes is just one idiot to bump into you and subsequently deny all responsibilities to cause your insurance claims to shoot through the roof. Worse, it was recently reported that sham accidents and motor insurance fraud is on the rise. The cheapest form of insurance against such cases would be an on-board video recorder to capture the evidence if you ever run into such incidences.
After evaluating various DVR solutions, I’ve decided to go for the Continue reading “CB400X DVR Installation”
