About this site / me / my bike
About this site
This site is a simple blog to journal my ongoing experiences being a mature motorbike commuter in constantly heavy traffic. It will log my bikes status, mods and my experiences with the world through the eyes of an intrepid motorcyclist.
About me
I’m a 30 year old guy in Sydney Australia. I have 2 beautiful daughters and a fabulous wife. I come from a car background, having owned a few Nissan Skyline GTRs (and also owning the site skylinesaustralia.com.) a few years ago, I decided to bite the bullet and get my bike license. I am not a hoon, I dont mind giving it some every now and then but I dont ride to go fast. My most prominent reasoning behind riding is to halve my commute time. I had always wanted to ride but had been put off riding due to the safety factors. I also spent so much time commuting that it was the only logical answer to time saving.
It was not until I started looking into riding and getting my license that I found out how wrong so many people are in their opinions of motorcycle riders and their general safety. I will not go into the facts or figures right now, if you’d like to read more about this, visit this site and read as much as you need to (starting with the article on the linked page.) I still maintain that your personal safety on a bike is yours to look after. If you ride defensively, not putting yourself in *any* situation where you need to rely on somebody else to avoid an accident with you, then you are as safe as anybody else on the road. Australian Motorcycle News magazine this month (May 2010) reported that Australian Motorcycle fatalities are at their lowest for a long, long time.
Now that I have been riding for a few years and average ~300 kilometres a week in my commuting I want to start making sure I am as comfortable and safe as I can be. I also want to try to get out more often for day or overnight rides around Sydney.
About my bike
My bike is an 07 Suzuki Bandit 1250S. I love it to bits. I have only had it for a few weeks, I had an 08 CB600F Hornet prior to that. The Hornet was just a little uncomfortable for me (I am 6′ 5″ and 100kg.) I looked at many bikes and did many months worth of reading before I settled on the Bandit.
Competition Rules;
- Must be 1L plus. I wanted lots of Torque, mainly so I could ride without many revs.
- Must have a larger frame than the Hornet, mainly to fit my frame.
- ABS Would be a positive (though I changed my mind about this after reading about it.)
- Must have a screen. I ride in lots of 80kph+ sections to and from work and being tall, I get fairly pounded by the wind.
- Must have a big rear tyre. This is a little silly, but I love the look of a 180 or 190 rear.
- Must have a range of 300k’s + so I didn’t need to fill up more than once a week (I hate filling up.)
The competitors;
- Honda VFR800 – Always wanted one. Love them to bits. Ruled out because ultimately it has a very tech engine and its almost impossible to work on yourself. Also, its only 800cc.
- Triumph Sprint ST 1050 – Love the look of these bikes. Build quality is fantastic. Ruled out after a test ride because I was just so uncomfortable on it. The fairings dug into my legs, my belly rested on the tank and I was too far forward. I just never felt right on it, which is a shame.
- Honda CB1000F – Great bike on paper, but there are so few of them and I wanted something that had more available parts. Also, it has a pissy 160 rear tyre.
- Honda CB1300S – I love this bike. I still do. Its styling is so retro and awesome. It just screams quality. I never found a review that looked negatively at this bike, and it was a Honda (I love Hondas.) But, when I rode one, I found that the edges of the bikini fairing just dug into my legs far too much, no amount of shuffling would relieve me of the jabbing. This was heart breaking, it was by far above all others.
- Suzuki SV1000S / Yamaha FZ1 / Honda CBR1100 Super Blackbird – All ruled out due to fuel range.
- Suzuki Bandit. What a bike. Yeah, its a budget bike without amazing components, but its so easy to ride and is oh so torquey. I wont go into all the nitty gritty, I bought one, so that says enough.
The go-fast Christian in me was screaming for a GSXR1000 or an R1. But, I had to fight the urge with all my might. Sensible Christian won the battle in the end.
Whats next?
Well, there are a few things I am planning to do to the bike over the next few months and will update this blog with all my findings and the progress. If you are in a similar situation to me, I’d love to hear from you.