Grace (BikeHedonia)

Because I love how they sound and smell and feel. I just love it. Makes my heart sing. I also have a crazy plan. Add that to opportunity (which has now come knocking)... and well, the rest as they say shall be history

Yeah they're not famous for their fuel efficiency. But damn I love the smell of two stroke in the morning...

Thank you How well (or badly) did you come out of that tank slapper? Sounds dramatic.

come on guys, wake up, I know it's 3.30am over there but I need your input

So my fairy godmother of motorcycling is waving his/her wand, and has given me a choice: which bike to restore?? (omg!) The options are: Kawasaki s3 400 Suzuki GT750 Yamaha RD250 These bikes are all before my time, so I'm super keen to hear from anyone who has ridden and loved them. Tell me which one you would choose, and why? Please and thank you!!!

Is it the weekend?? I am reunited with my mountains and my new gaerne trials boots. Want to finally try out the latter and see if I've forgotten everything.

Yes, they have... character

You're probably right, but this S3 has additional hidden virtues

Niiiiiiice

Anyone ever have an s3 400? Two stroke triple, baby! I've never seen one in the flesh (let alone ridden one) but I know a guy who has most of a dissasembled one in his garage and I'm kind of excited about it. Refurb time?

I know this is an old thread but feel compelled to add my vote here for the CB500X stock rear shock, nominated in the category of "REAR SHOCK MOST LIKELY TO LAUNCH YO ASS INTO THE BUSHES". Honestly the worst rear shock I've even had to deal with, wtf. I rode a brand new 2019 cb500x back from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (for someone who bought it and was too scared to ride it BKK) and sweet jesus it was like riding a pogo stick. 19" front wheel was no issue, tipped in nicely, but as soon as you so much as looked at a blemish in the road service that rear shock would be yeeting you through the air. Zero stars, would not recommend, get YSS tomorrow or Ohlins if have too much money. That's my 2 cents' worth. My 3 cents' worth is that having something like this wrong in your set up can totally discombobulate you, and once you lose confidence then everything becomes difficult. I had old tyres on the CBR650 for a few months there and it got to a point where I dreaded riding it down the mountain in rain because I had zero confidence that i wouldn't just slide off the road with the run-off. A new set of Rosso IIIs and I feel like a new woman. Keen to hear what was the outcome for you here.

Haha... I've only ever been told that I'm "cunning as a shithouse rat" but clearly don't qualify for the eyesight classification, being -13 I guess I'll just have to live with the disappointment

Don't worry activities have returned to the usual mud and dishevelment

Oh it's totally fine. Although someone later informed me that coral cuts can lead to all sorts of interesting complications. Very happy I didn't get any of them (coral cellulitis sounds like no fun at all.)

Okay my lovelies, this episode comes with a content warning: idyllic beaches and tropical delights may possibly evince hazardous amounts of ennui for those of you confined by a sleety winter. https://bikehedonia.wordpress.com/2022/01/06/im-on-a-boat/

Back in the times when borders were things you could cross, I did a border run to Myanmar, which was fantastic road trip involving the delights of pleased nobody but myself, a dead body (not so great), and being able to swim from one country to the other (for someone who grew up in Australia, a million miles from anywhere, this is a radical notion). Here is the looooooong version: https://bikehedonia.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/before-times/ And here is the short version:

Outrageous

Yes, the Adventures have that nice hinged ankle support but it's not quite right for trials. I have to admit that I wear MX boots for off roading these days (because I fall down a lot lol). My less gravitationally-victimised friends like to ride in the Gaerne trials boots though. I loved the sg12s for off roading (made me feel like Terinator) so I'm looking forward to wearing in the trials boots now.

Thank you so much! In that case I shall continue spamming you all with stories

I've been writing about the times before covid, when border runs were a thing, my KTM was in my hot little hands, and I could have probably swum to Myanmar without getting shelled by artillery. Ah, memories. It was a good time. Except for the dead body bit. But apart from that... a good time. https://bikehedonia.wordpress.com/2022/01/03/before-times/

I could, but good manners dictate that the owner of the bike always gets the last word, and he seems to be concerned that I might fall off a cliff in the jungle and die?? Haha apparently I need supervision. So I did the obvious thing and took the CBR650 which I do own, and rode up and down the mountain playing tag with the drunken holiday traffic. Much safer

Well Santa brought me a shiny new covid variant and closed borders AGAIN this year - bloody hell Santa, two years in a row? Not very creative. But, he also brought me brand new Gaerne trials boots to distract me, and it worked a treat. Yay! This means no more trying to ride trials in Sidi Adventure boots. Can't wait to feel the difference. Unfortunately my friend who owns the trials bikes - well he went out with his friends riding all over the mountains for about 7 hours yesterday (which is a Very Long Ride on a trials bike) and is now too exhausted to go riding again. He's on the lounge napping now, so looks like I'll have to wait for another day try out my new boots! Could be worse

The highlight of this forum has been my long discussions with @Slowlycatchymonkey and the chance to make quality new connections with people like that! Big thanks to Tym and Pete for all the work you've put into the forum. Thanks for having me here and reading my neverending stories

omg let's not even talk about Thailand, it's daily carnage over here... I think it might be number 70? There are like 850k injuries and 14k deaths here on the roads every year, and that doesn't include people who survived long enough to die in the hospital. Oops this is not a very festive thought, next topic...

@Slowlycatchymonkey I just saw the gravel trap photo, omg wtf were they thinking?? Gravel trap of doom