Frogfoot

I haven't had any interest in the litre's but I love the look of the R1. I love riding my VFR8, but I got a silly grin when I tested a GSXR600. I am very very keen on buying a GSXR750 as it's the same size bike with the 750 size that I love. I've also ridden the Ducati Streetfighter 848, but really didn't enjoy it. Lastly I've also ridden a Hayabusa recently and while it was really nice, I didn't come away with the silly grin like its smaller cousin.

Sorry can't help you with the side cases query, I never got them. I only have the factory top box which is the same as one Givi model. I don't find it very noticeable when loaded and riding. You do have to be mindful of the extra weight when parking (especially if you need to push the bike out of where you're parked, so always park so you can ride away). Oh and watch out if you're on the centre stand as it is easier to rock the bike back onto the wheel if you're mucking about at the top box.

Hey, another meeting in Canberra. And hey once again, riding there seems the most convenient option (and again, the most fun!). And the weather is looking perfect, no rain predicted, well for ages. Awesome. Looking at the weather though, my lesson from last time (you know, where I didn't read the temperatures) I almost didn't learn. Hmm Canberra is going to be -3 at about the time I'm arriving. That's going to be cold. At 120kmh that's going to be downright frigid! The plan was a straight run down the interstate early in the morning to the meeting. Arriving early so I could iron my uniform, shower (warm up!) etc. Meeting all day, then dinner and maybe catch a movie (something that has been really hard to do whilst the kids are little), then the next day sleep in (another bonus) and a enjoyable ride back along some of the more interesting roads I've been discovering between Canberra and Sydney. So problem one is the cool temperatures, problem two is that I caught some kind of cold when I was on my last trip there and it's still sorta hanging around, so I'm not 100%. Problem three developed on the eve of my departure, the kids had both came down hard with the same cold. On the plus side, Mrs was happy to handle the kids, they were mostly sleeping anyway. I wasn't too worried about the cold as I do have some reasonable gear that I have used in similar conditions (though only for an hour or so, not 4), and my cold wasn't too bad. Leaving at about 3.30am I rode out in about 4C. Down the freeway out of the city I was getting cold. But it was bearable. But don't imagine a steady even drop across the journey. It basically dropped to 0 as I passed the city limits and quickly headed below that. Until I spent a couple of hours at -2 and hit -4 about 6am. I stopped several times, mostly to hang out in a warm building (petrol station) to eat breakfast. The worst part was the last 20 mins, when I knew I was almost there, the sun was up but my knees were cold and my little fingers felt like ice blocks. It was uneventful, except for the WOMBATS. Now I'm sure you all know about kangaroos and koalas down here in Australia, and maybe crocs, tassie devils, sharks and snakes too. (and spiders and sea snakes and…) Do you know about wombats? Pretty uninspiring solid little fellows about as big as mid sized suitcase. Oh did I say solid, these guys are built like main battle tanks, and have a reputation of destroying vehicles that they cross paths with, shaking it off and carrying on (not sure about the last part). Riding through the dark at freeway speed the road is suddenly smeared with black marks and at the end is a dark lump slightly to my left on the road. Looking like a large rock, I realised I was headed towards a wombat carcass. I swerved and managed to clear it - I'd rather hit a rock, it'd do less damage! This would occur twice on the way down, but the second one I moved as soon as the streaks appeared on the road. Sunrise happened as I rode alongside Lake George. It was gorgeous and made the insanity of the ride worthwhile. I spent about an hour warming up, showering etc and was still cold by the time I got to the meeting. Not my smartest idea. I'm now fairly certain I was on my way to hypothermia when I eventually got in. The meeting went all day and I was nodding of towards the end, so much so that the chair basically begged me not to head home that night. After the meeting I crashed into the bed, sleeping from about 5pm, to about 7am, only rising for a late dinner at about 7pm (when my eldest rang me to say hi). Mrs was struggling with the kids but I was too tired and it was too cold (and would take me about 4 hours to get home). In the morning I awoke to a pleasant -1 and a bike that was coated in a layer of ice. But I wasn't too worried, it was already morning, the day was warming up, slowly, and I was headed back to Sydney, which would be at least 15C or so by the time I arrived. It sure wasn't going to be worse than the ride down. I set off at about 7:30 fuelling up in Queenbeyan as I headed off to retrace my route from my last trip, up through Tarago, towards Bungonia and the freeway. I figured this wouldn't take much longer than getting through the city then up the Hume to about the same point. It would be a lot more enjoyable and less taxing. This worked well and I hit the freeway only a little later than I would have ridden past the same point. I remembered the route pretty well and my only complaint was the angle of the sun made vision ahead sometimes a difficult proposition unless I put my hand up, even with sunglasses on. This also affected the contrast between the shaded areas in some points where I literally couldn't see the condition of the road. I can see a sun visor (like dirt bike helmets or the more adventurer type helmets) being useful here. Also passed a couple more dead wombats. I'm no longer convinced of their indestructibility, however still no need to run into one! Anything smaller than a semi still tends to need some serious repair work or even towing from the scene of the impact. I hit the freeway - did some quick maths and ducked off onto Highland Way. I could make it through here and still be home as promised. Another hour or so of cruising along this favourite road before I was taking the shortcut out from Sutton Forest to the freeway. Avoiding the Moss Vale stretch which only adds time and not fun. Less than two hours for home, I twisted the wrist and settled in. Sorry no photos this time, all talk. Home safe, very sick. I probably shouldn't have ridden, though only because my gear probably wasn't quite up to the task (though not by much) and I wouldn't have had to leave quite so early.

I put the VFR in for its service today to the usual shop. I had also booked the loaner, a old, but smooth running CB250, that is a bit of fun. 124,000km - a minor service as I got out of sync a bit by doing my last major about 3000 early. The loaner was still out with one of the other mechanics and not due back. They were apologetic but the service manager set off to find another bike. He came back with... "How are you with larger bikes" - the VFR is pretty much the biggest bike I've ridden, with only the Streetfighter 848 any bigger in capacity and nothing heavier. I was a bit concerned as I expected him to rock up with a Boulevard or something. "Uh.. ok... I guess", trying to figure out what he meant - higher capacity just means being sensible with the right wrist. A cruiser or something means a whole different style. He led me out to the lot, "Because I was going to let you take this" He pointed to a 2002 Suzuki Hayabusa. I swallowed ... that's a lot of bike. "Ok, I should be fine." I must have been convincing, but I have heard that it's a pretty nice bike to ride, makes a great sports tourer and I figure its about the same weight with a lot more go, and that just means sensible with the wrist. I can do sensible :) So without further ado (well ok there was still the copy of the licence, sign away my life on the paperwork etc) I was away. Work is about 5 mins from the shop, so by the time I was rolling in the gate it had likely barely warmed up. I came back out at lunch and set off for a short ride. I rode down the freeway for several kilometres playing with the gears and roll on accelerations. Pretty nice pickup and a great sound from the Yoshi pipe that seems almost derigeur for most Suzuki sports bikes. I turned off and headed back into the local shopping precinct, to see what its like through traffic. On the less busy back streets I found it pretty docile, but ready to roar with a small twist. But a nice linear pull away. After several blocks of first gear slow riding it started to warm up. Whilst the temps didn't climb much my legs were starting to get very warm as the fans blew the air from the radiators over them. Uncomfortably warm actually and I was glad to roll up the on ramp (passing a bunch of cars as I did, grin) and get the airflow. Back to work. Overall, I did think it was a nice bike. A lot more power than my VFR, very rideable though and easy to control. I don't think I'll rush out and buy one though. Still nice to say I have ridden one and happy to ride one again. Just didn't step of it with the silly grin that I did with the -600. Might have to look into pipes for the VFR though. Oh, the service ... found out my licence plate globe holder has burnt itself out. I've been suspicious of this for some time as the last 2 registration renewals have commented the globe was out and I was testing to see if it was bulb life or something worse. Bit strange, perhaps related to either the wiring recall work or the alternator failure. The part is on order. Here's to the next 125,000 :tour: