Ramblings of a Singapore Biker Boy
Adventures and micro-adventures on a motorcycle
Last ride for 2020! And what a challenging year this has been! Still in Phase 2 of the Circuit Breaker here in Singapore, 4 of us gathered to do an around Singapore ride on this last Sunday morning of 2020, and a photoshoot session to end off the year.
The pace has slowed, but the 2-wheeled journey continues! Took my little foldie out for a spin today. So glad that the weather was absolutely beautiful – cool temperatures with an overcast sky to shield the sun! I’m surprised that I manage to work up a 2hr solo ride today. I definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY could use more exercise!
Yup! My first road accident with the BMW R1200GS. I was travelling along the a dual-lane, single-carriageway (a single lane for each direction of travel) road when a car dashed out from a minor road without checking if it was clear of traffic. He was making a right-turn, and presumably started moving off after only checking for traffic coming from his left.
I tried to avoid him by evasively swerving slightly to my right (not too much – there was oncoming traffic from the other direction!), sounded my horn to warn him, but to my complete surprise, he still came dashing out! [FACEPALM!]
Yes, I was T-boned from my left…
Continue reading “The BMW R1200GS is one HELLUVA TOUGH BEAST!”Woo hoo! I love Christmas time! 2 years ago, I celebrated Christmas early by getting myself a new helmet – the Kabuto Ibuki modular. This year, I got myself a spanking new Scorpion Exo ADX-1 Adventure Modular helmet!
You see, the Ibuki has been with me for 2 years. And it’s also been the helmet I use daily. It’s beginning to display signs of wear – the cheek pad’s torn, the face shield is scratched up, and the sun visor won’t stay in place. While I loved the Ibuki, it’s time to move on…
Regina Specialities was having a sale, and so I took advantage of it. At $308 for the Scorpion Exo ADX-1 Adventure Modular helmet – it’s a bargain! Continue reading “Early Christmas Present – Scorpion Exo ADX-1 Adventure Modular”
Ah! Today, the big fat red girl meets her smaller, slimmer, but equally pretty white sibling. And so, the GS siblings meet for the first time.
She’s beautiful, graceful, and just does everything so well. And many a times when admiring her gorgeous looks while sipping a cup of coffee from a near distance away, I’ve caught her posing for fans who instinctively whipped out their iPhones to capture a selfie while standing beside her. She’s not only a looker, but the R1200GS LC is an excellent all-rounder and is superbly comfortable on long distance mile munching tours.
But she and I share a common challenge Continue reading “Big GS Meets Little GS – The BMW G650GS Sertao”
Keeping your motorcycle safe while touring in a foreign land is important. The bike is, after all, not only your primary trip companion, but could be your only transport home too. A simple disc lock may be enough to deter the casual thief from stealing the bike – although it won’t stop the really determined ones from lifting it onto the back of a truck.
But, is there a “wrong” way of doing it?
In my recent 1000 Corner Malaysia ride, a fellow riding buddy had a brilliant idea he picked up from a YouTube video. To make it really difficult for the bad guys to brute force crack the disc lock by drilling it, lock it such that the keyhole opening is facing the INSIDE of the brake disc instead of the usual OUTSIDE.
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.
Some of you may have already known that I’ve recently passed my Class 2 license exam. But what many probably didn’t know is that I took the Class 2 TP test just one day after my birthday. So what better way to celebrate both my passing of the license exam and my birthday than shopping for a new bike?
I’ve always dreamt of owning and riding the Continue reading “Welcome to my stable, my new stallion!”
Today is the day! My Traffic Police motorcycle Class 2 license test is today! Yup! This is it! The pinnacle of motorcycle licensing in Singapore. For those who don’t already know, there are three tiers of motorcycle licensing in Singapore. You start off with Class 2B which limits you to a bike below 200cc displacement. You wait a year later to take the Class 2A test – 200cc to 400cc. And yet another year later before one is qualified to do the Class 2 test – 400cc and above – essentially, an unrestricted license.
I was worried. Just a mere 2 weeks back, I had a severe back injury where I was ambulance’d to the hospital. I snapped my back while lifting a load and I could neither sit up nor stand. Thankfully, it wasn’t a slipped disc nor a broken spine. The x-ray suggested that I tore a muscle, and the prescribed treatment was bed rest. Bummer… But lying on the hospital bed, I was worried sick that I would not be able to recover in time for the motorcycle practical test. And since the Class 2 curriculum requires laying a dummy bike on the floor and then picking it up again, that back injury so near the test date certainly wasn’t very helpful. =(
I’ve been holding out my purchase for a larger bike since I’ve gotten my Class 2A (201cc to 400cc) license in January this year. Well, the initial plan was to wait it out for my Class 2 (>400cc) license before I made the jump up.
However, an impending trip to Thailand with a group of riding friends reignited my itch for a larger capacity touring motorcycle. While I’m pretty happy with the Pulsar, it sometimes just struggles to keep up on the excellent Malaysian North-South highway (NSHW) for longer journeys. So that led me to scouting the local online ads for something larger.
