New Jaiket

To go with the new bike, I bought myself a new bike jacket. I decided on waxed cotton this time around rather than leather or textile as I liked the traditional style and it had a degree of protection built-in with CE-approved armour and a back-protector, unlike the one I had years ago.

One of the reasons that I stopped wearing my old Belstaff was the realisation that all that stood between me and the very hard ground should I have an off was a thin cotton jacket no heavier than a regular denim one for any sort of ride. In the end I stopped wearing it altogether.

This one also came with a nice thermal liner, which I removed. I once read a decent article on long-distance touring which said you should just wear an extra jersey or sweatshirt instead. The reasoning being that it was one less item to carry around with you if you were actually wearing it, and it could be worn off the bike, unlike the liner it was replacing.

It’s also “Guaranteed 100% Waterproof”. We’ll see. I’ll reserve judgement on that until I’ve put it through a five-hour ride in the pouring rain. Or, summer, as we call it here in Scotland.

New Toy

I’ve been a bit quiet of late, mostly work related, but I did recently succumb and buy myself a new bike. Well, new to me. It’s a 2015 Triumph ‘Speedmaster’, a fuel-injected 856cc twin based on Triumph’s ever-popular Bonneville platform.

I’d been toying with the idea of a cruiser-style bike since I had the test ride of the Indian Scout last year. The Triumph is probably comparable, even with the smaller engine, and I’d been keeping an eye on likely prospects for a while.

This one turned up at a dealers not that far away and at a decent price. As I was at a loose end I drove down one weekend ‘to have a look’. I liked what I saw and, in the end, left a deposit, returning to collect it the following week.

The feet-forward riding position takes a little getting used to, as does the fact that you throw a leg over it and *then* sit down. A radical change from the big adventure bikes I’ve been riding in recent years, where you almost climb up into the saddle.

I did find the initial ride a little hard, until I checked the tyre pressures and found that they were both about 10 psi over inflated. Only idea I can come up with was that the dealer did it so that they didn’t go soft on the shop floor and forgot to do anything about it while doing the pre-sale checks and service. Anyway, easily sorted out.

Early days, but I’m enjoying it.

Dangerous Times Ahead

Messin' with the Boys

More years ago than I like to admit a few friends and myself were over on the Isle of Man for the motorcycle racing.

Sitting on Douglas prom one afternoon chilling out and having an ice-cream we slowly became aware of the noise of an approaching engine. 

It was loud, it reverberated off the buildings in a nicely satisfying way, and was obviously coming from a set of open pipes.

We eagerly awaited sight of the bike and rider, assuming something like a big Norton or Triumph twin. It was that sort of noise.

Imagine our bewilderment when around the corner rode a teenager on a small CG125.

Not the actual bike, obviously

The noise we had heard was a result of completely removing the silencer, replacing it with a small turned out chrome end-piece more suited to a boy-racer's XR3i, and his having to rev the bollocks of the bike just to keep it moving.

We looked at each other and just burst out laughing. We couldn't help ourselves. It was so ridiculous, and the young lad looked so pleased with himself mixing it with the 'proper' bikers. We all waved and gave him a thumbs-up.

He waved back and rode away with one of the biggest grins I've ever seen.