Ramblings of a Singapore Biker Boy

Alpine MotoSafe Tour Earplugs Review

I’m a huge proponent of hearing protection while motorcycle riding. Long exposures to elevated noise levels WILL permanently damage hearing. And it’s not so much of the engine or exhaust noise, but the wind noise generated when riding at speeds that is blasting at the rider’s ear drums.

Some of you may have known that I had a poor experience with Pinlock’s motorcycle riding-specific earplugs. While they DO filter out the wind noise while keeping conversations legible really effectively, they get very uncomfortable after a long ride. My ears would hurt. And I wasn’t the only one experiencing this – 2 of my other riding buddies had a similar discomfort experience with Pinlock.

While 3M disposable foam earplugs seal noise EXTREMELY well, I didn’t like it that it blocks voice conversations too well too. The 3M foam’ies also makes it difficult to hear through my Sena 20S bluetooth communicator. So there I was on a quest to search for the perfect motorcycle riding-specific earplugs that come with a tuned noise filter. And then I found these… Continue reading “Alpine MotoSafe Tour Earplugs Review”

DIY $3.50 Exhaust Header Rust Removal

After quite a bit of use, the once-shiny stainless steel exhaust headers on the BMW R1200GS is beginning to look a little dated. Thick brown-black crud and rust has collected on its surface and looks like it’s slowly eating into the metal. I’ve seen some YouTube videos on an inexpensive homemade solution to rust removal….

$2.50 for the bottle of Harpic, and $1 for the Scotch Brite sponge pad.

Yes – Harpic! That magical toilet cleaner also works great on the stainless steel exhaust headers! Continue reading “DIY $3.50 Exhaust Header Rust Removal”

Sunday Morning Ride to Linggui Reservoir

This week, we head to Linggui Reservoir! It’s a short 1hr ride to Linggui. But to access the reservoir’s entrance, we had to travel through a short off-road section. The entrance was locked and guarded, and although we didn’t get to see the reservoir itself, we had some fun exploring the area.

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How NOT to Disc Lock Your Motorcycle

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.

Secured with disc lock and keyhole facing the INSIDE of the brake disc. Ooh… reminder cable too!

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1000 Corner Malaysia Ride

It’s the Easter long weekend! And what better way to spend the long weekend than to take a motorcycle road trip? So that’s what we did! 18 bikes, divided into 3 smaller teams, made our way up to KL and its surroundings for a “1000 Corner Malaysia” ride – inspired by RiderChris’ blogpost.

What started as 18 bikes, ended up with 17 making it up to KL – with 1 rider having to tow his bike back due to a minor accident on the NSHW. Then it dropped to 16 bikes the next day when another rider had to return to Singapore as a family member was hospitalised.

The 1000 Corner Route – 584km and 12hrs of continuous riding according to Google Maps.

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Goodbye Honda!

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.

My last ride on the CB400X to the LTA office at Sin Ming Road.

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Sunday Morning Ride to Pekan Nanas and Durian Plantation

This Sunday morning, we head to Pekan Nanas for a photoshoot (I needed a banner pic of my bike for this blog) and then to a short off-road section to Zhong Cheng plantation. The weather was beautiful this morning – with heavy cloud cover and just a tad drizzle to keep all of us cool.

Lining up our bikes against the amazing backdrop of Pekan Nanas.

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V-Sys M2F DVR install on the BMW R1200GS LC

One of the must-have electronic accessories on a motorcycle these days is an onboard digital video recorder, or DVR. A DVR hooked up to the bike not only helps capture those amazing biking moments, but also serves as a faithful witness in the event of an accident. And since I had some time on a Saturday morning, I decided to go DVR shopping.

I had eyes on the V-Sys M2F dual full-HD Wifi DVR for some time now. I did a little research on Carousell, and found a local seller that goes by the name of “apexmotorcycle”. Headed down to their shop along Changi Road with the intention of picking up the unit and installing it myself.

Boy! Was I in for a rude shock!

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LED Fog Lights install on the R1200GS LC

With my $5 relay-switched power setup installed, I can now go ahead and slap on some fog lights / aux lights on the BMW R1200GS LC.

Some inexpensive high-quality Chinese waterproof motorcycle LED fog lights. Not everything on the BMW has to be an expensive Denali, Clearwater, SW-Motech or Wunderlich.

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Wiring up for power on the BMW R1200GS LC

I would love to install some electronic accessories such as fog lamps, USB power and DVR camera (just to name a few) to my newly acquired BMW R1200GS LC. As I was researching on how to wire up to supply power to these components, I’ve come across a diverse range of opinions from the “unlike the Japanese bikes, you should never mess with the CAN-bus system of the BMW” to the really expensive solutions such as Fuzeblocks (USD90) and Hex ezCan (USD170).

While the above gadgets have some additional fanciful features to justify their price tags, in reality, I was searching for a simple, elegant, inexpensive solution to power my electronics without interfering with the CAN-bus on the BMW and must also not fry the onboard electronics of the R1200GS should any of the add-on electronics decide to turn rogue.

I was pretty impressed by the BMW R1200GS LC under-seat super-neat layout.

Continue reading “Wiring up for power on the BMW R1200GS LC”