I get this question a lot when people find out I have motorcycle. The only thing people equate me to is a pizza on the floor. But its difficult for those who don’t ride to understand, but I always try to explain. And I take my time to explain. There is something about putting that helmet on, putting your gear on and hearing the engine underneath you come alive.
When I ride with the gear on, and on any road I have a lot of anonimity which I like. And riding motorcycle sets you on equal grounds with everyone else that rides a motorcycle. You can relate to any person that rides a motorcycle because of the passion you have for riding a motorcycle. You have a conversation with another rider, and your surprised that he is a 65 year old man riding a Motto-Guzzi, or this executive of a powerful company riding a Suzuki GSX-R 750 around the mountains and you have been following him for hours. Meeting people with completely different backgrounds and finding out why they are passionate about bikes and their relationships to it is just a part of the experience. Everyone is connected by riding in one way or another which makes it feel great!
Another experience is your relationship with your bike, and the battle your brain has telling you what you should, what the bike wants to do, and what your body does inbetween them. Your desire to get every corner just perfect and flowing through every turn. The extreme concentration, and clear thoughts. There is nothing in your brain but you thinking through the next turn, the space you have, how warm your tires are, and the sound of the engine beating through you. There is a degree of mental and physical excersion that you feel when going through all these smooth flowing roads, with just the right turns. It feels exhilirating, and when you get home park the bike, take your helmet off, and you feel everything is just right. Your head has never been clearer.
Motorcycles are not about “need” and “sense”, its about want! What you want to do at that moment! Do you want to cruise! Do you want to take off! You want to feel that thrill! It just feels damn good! Some people want to cruise across the world in a motorcycle or they want to go a race track and enjoy the ride, some people want to race professionaly. I WANT to do all of the above! All I got is time! I hope people understand why I love riding! Why I can relate to people that ride! When I find out that somebody rides, the differences between us blurs, and all I want to do is talk about is bikes! It has happened a few times!
Thats why I love riding.
So Im heading over to my cousins place to watch a movie and chill with him since he was gone for the past month.
So I wanted to visit him after work on thursday, got home chilled for a bit, and I decided to head over. I got on the sixth ring road and decided to take the airport road there. And so I was going about 160 kph cruising down the road without any traffic, there was only a little on the right since it was 4:15pm. So then I saw the camera as I was coming up, then it flashed and I was laughing behind my helmet and dark visor!
If the cameras are working now they are going to have a lot of pictures of me! In gear! hehehe! Then I went over he was still jet lagged, and I we watched a couple of movies which I will be slightly commenting on. We popped in Alone in the Dark for the hell of it, it was the second movie we were watching and I have to say I give it a 0 out of 5 but with tara I give it -1! Seriously! Horrible! How did they even get money to fund this story! I wanted to break the dvd by the time it was done, but we popped in something else to improve what we were watching.
Then he was passing out, and I decided to go home early. And it was a nice chill ride hope, I had a police man come up on me because I think he was racing someone, but then I just took off because I know the cop was being a dumb and racing his friend. And I was right they were two guys racing each other, it only happens in Kuwait. I like chill weekends.
Its a Thursday, and I didnt feel like moving all day after work. I want to do something productive, I just wanted to burn the energy that I had left. You know when you leave your phone on until it just dies, and then you charge it. Well thats the point I wanted to reach. So I decided to get on my bike around 8:45 pm, and go for a ride. Got my camera and mp3 player so I went down and geared up getting ready to ride.
I took the Malik Fahad Highway to the Second Ring Road, and from their I went the seaside for a nice ride and roads were relatively empty on that side, I kept pushing the bike on empty stretchs for the sake of getting into the zone. I could feel that I was tired, but I was getting into the zone. I felt good about reading the road, and scanning for cars while listening to my mp3 player!
Three songs got me going when I heard them:
- Nelly – Number One
- JayZ – Encore
- Night Rider – Theme (I was really into this one)
It was hot but not that bad as long as I was moving I felt good! Then I came back down the second ring road the airport road until the sixth ring road, and I passed by Arjan complex made a U-turn at the Bide3 round about because I hit a good amount of traffic which I wanted to avoid. And then I took the road home, while listening to Will Smith MIB! hehehe! I felt exhausted! It was the perfect ride an hour and a half of getting my energy out and I was heading home.
Got downstairs, parked the bike gave Robo a quick clean up because of the dust, and I cleaned my visor and put things back in place. I ordered Kabab-Ji, and then headed upstairs to take a shower and damn that felt good. I said hello to the family, and I took my anime dvd to the basement and 10 mins later the food arrived. I stuffed my self silly! hehehe! And I was slowly passing out downstairs. So I headed up to my room, to pass out and damn that felt good!
I just wanted to clear this up for a few people, because I was wondering about this as well. And after asking the right technicians and engineers for some of these bike engines I have a simple answer.
If your bike requires you to put high octane fuel in your Motorcycle (or car) then you shoudl stick to high octane fuel. If you put lower octane fuel in that same bike then its performance will deteriorate. Certain engines require high octance fuel.
If you have a motorcycle that you have been fueling with normal octane its performence will not improve if you put high octane fuel. Some people have had the false idea that the motorcycle’s performance will improve if they go for the higher octane, but it wont (that goes for vehicles too).
Certain engines are meant to run with certain parameters in mind.
Like this motorcycle the BMW R 1200 GS is meant to be a bike that can cross the globe, and so its engine is meant to take different grades of fuel and still perform. Its a powerful engine that will always perform, but they had remote areas with low grade fueling in mind and the bike is very powerful.
I got up after taking a nap. I wanted to get there by 9pm. I checked mp3 player, put on the underarmor for my legs, then the jeans. I went down stairs to the batcave! Put my jacket on, then switched on the bike, put the helmet on and gloves. Made sure my mp3 player was working right.
Then I rode off into the night! The weather wasnt too bad, at least I wasnt feeling the heat which burns. But as long as I kept moving it was cool. I took the 5th ring road which was filled with traffic and I was flying through it, trying to get through slowly and without being hit! It was like a obstcale course! I was happy that it was flowing! And Nibaq mentioned that he saw me flying through traffic! hehehe!
Got to the starbucks fashionably late because of traffic, parked the bike in front of starbucks. Got down, ordered a cool drink went upstairs to the 248am Meet. And a decent number of people showed up, and last put some faces to names. It was fun, but we need to do it earlier next time! Not enough time to sit with everyone and get to know them. It was pretty cool, and enjoyable. Then when I was leaving, I gave Nat a quick ride hitting about 220 Kph on the road between traffic, and I think she liked the rush. And I will give Mark a ride at another time! Great to meet everyone, hope to meet up again!
The ride back was fun since I took the sea side the whole way back, and everytime I passed a van or suv full of kids they would stare at the stop light or wave like crazy when Im passing by, and I always wave back. It was nice and cool for once for a bit! Maybe the humidity helped a bit! At the last light before heading home this suv full kids wanted to see me take off so I had to oblige with a light wheelie, and then I got home parked the bike and cleaned my visor. Took off my gear, showered and time to pass out!
It was a rediculously hot day, and I was thinking about picking it up on a thursday a little while back, but I had too many things to do that thursday and I really wanted to pick it up since I havent had the bike for over two weeks! Not having my bike was killing me! Even if I wasnt riding Robo, I really dont want it in someone else’s garage, I want him in my garage! Safe and sound! But it was too hot to go after work on thursday, and I couldnt go in the evening so I told them I would pick up the bike on saturday after 6pm. They close at 5 pm so they told me the gaurd (7aris) will be waiting for me. So I went over their with my gear in the land cruiser! Like usual the garage was closed down, so I saw the gaurd and spoke to him, and he had no clue who I was. But I saw my bike in the back next to a few other bikes. But the gaurd was a bit skeptical, and he didnt know what was up so I called the service guy’s mobile number, and he picked up. But he forgot to tell him, and they forgot to wash the bikes. I even sent the money for the bill earlier in the day. But it was no problem since I pulled my bike out from between the bikes. And I wiped it down just enough for me to get on it, and the rest of the dust will fly off.
Gear in the Landcruiser
The gaurd (7aris) was a funny guy! I was joking around with him while cleaning up the bike!
Some what dusty but I missed Robo!
Ready to launch and the sun is setting!
The service and putting some more carbon fiber parts on the bike didnt cost too much. Total of 41 KD.
Problems Fixed at 1000km Service:
- Front breaks werent doing too well so the discs were replaced under warranty.
- The ABS system was malfunction so only the servo breaks were available, and the computer was replaced under warranty.
- The did an oil change, changed the oil filter, clean the air filter, and check the engine.
- And the carbon fiber parts were put on.
The part that took some time was replacing the ABS computer, they to wait a week and a half to get the part! But I didnt mind too much, but I wanted Robo back in the my garage! While this was all going on the service guy kept calling me and apologizing for the mix up with the guard. I didnt mind at all since the guard was doing his job, and it didnt take long to clear things up!
After that I got on the bike! Leaving Shuweikh Industrial Area, and my plan was taking the scenic route home which was fun. My mp3 player was charge and I was ready to go! I took the second ring road all the way to gulf street, stop by the One for a bit to take a look at a few things, and then took the gulf road all the way back home! And when I got home I have a nice cold coke in a bottle! Couldnt have a been a more pleasent day! I wish I had more of those kinds of days!
More pictures below
If you have never ridden a bike before there are two real ways to go about it.
- To take a motorcycle riding course
- In Kuwait, call TriStar (4838101)
- In UK (GetBike.net DAS, Direct Access meaning you skip the crappy bikes and can go to the heavey weights! hehehe)
- In US (MSF can help for each state)
Now about getting the bike. There is a few things you have to keep in mind. In the UK if you dont take the DAS (Direct Access) you have to cant buy for then a 250cc motorcycle. In Kuwait and the US you can pretty much buy what you want, but that isnt the smartest thing.
I recommend that you a buy a used 600cc motorcycle. Since you dont want to put too much money into a new bike. And a really good bike to start of with is Honda CBR 600 F4i (01-03) since it is a motorcycle you would probably keep for a while, and it handles really well and has a smooth throttle. A Kawasaki Ninja would probably scare you half to death since it has very raw type of power to it. Yamaha and Suzuki have ok bikes to learn on, but the Honda has always been a godo bike to choose to start off on. Nothing is written in stone, im just recommending a bike which is smooth and easy for a rider to get comfortable on. You could also pickup motorcycles such as the Yamaha FZ6 or the Suzuki Bandits, and those are really good bikes to learn on as well. But if you want to go supersport then I recommend the Honda.
A few reasons why I recommend a Japanese 600cc used motorcycle:
- They have really good engines.
- A 600cc motorcycle is a really powerful motorcycle, and its faster then 99% of all the vehicles out there.
- Your going to drop the bike, its just a matter of time, and it hurts a lot more when the bike is new. If they bike is used and already has a few scratchs then you probably wont be too mad at yourself.
- You will keep this bike for a while before going to a 1000cc motorcycle.
I have learned from my mistakes and Im telling you out of my own experience do not buy a 1000cc motorcycle for your first bike, because you have a high probability of killing yourself since you dont know the potentional of those 300+ kph ( 180+ mph) bikes are capable of.
I wont bore you guys too much with the details of the day, but lets just say that it took up a certain amount of time. And I decided ealier in the day that I wanted to ride, I dont care what happens or what I do.. I want to ride!
So I ended up having to do a few family things, and I knew I was tired. After I was done with all my family deeds, I went and got a quick hair cut.. simple razor to the head, and a nice shave getting my goatee in order. Which was done pretty quick! And I was happy with the results, so I raced home from Salmiya. And I parked the car, and I was looking forward to trying some new gear. It was 9:50pm! And my goal was to be home by 11:00pm so I had a decent amount of time to ride.
I tried the new gear on! New helmet, New Jacket, and a pair of pants I havent worn before! And It was snug! Just right! I felt completely protect! and you can the armor in the shoulders, elbows, back, thighs, and knees! Black to from head to toe! My camera wasnt charged so I couldnt take any pics, but I will next time! I haven been riding for three weeks! So it felt good to ride! and I went from Miseela to the first ring road and then back down the airport road to home while circumnavigating traffic! hehehe! I have to say that many people were moving out of the way, so I was happy about that! The only two close calls I had were for some odd reason with women in hijaab and both in Toyota Prados, so I was staying away from every prado after that! But it felt good, getting more and more comfortable in the new gear and getting back into my rythem! And I needed this to unwind and clear my head!
I got home, parked Robo downstairs after a stellar performance! I was smiling a lot while riding under that helmet! I think people will think this new gear matchs the look of the bike a lot more then what I wore before, but I will keep wearing what I had before! I took the gear off, and jumped into a cool shower! Damn that felt good! After that my body felt like Jello and Im hitting the sac!
Take a Note: Need to Ride more!
Funny dream..
I was in the theater with a couple of friends watching Alien vs. Predator.. then when the movies end I get on a bike, it isnt bike I have ridden before, but four of my friends were riding with me and the rest of the guys were in the truck! I was on a Aprillia RSV-R, I couldnt remember all the other bikes, but I remember a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, my R1, and a couple of other bikes dont remember what exactly but cool colors! And I felt pumped as hell after the movie! That the predator kicked the Alien’s ass!
So when I got on the bike outside I started the bike up by putting my thumb on a biometric scanner where the keyhole is supposed to be and it started it up with a rumble that could only match the beats of my heart! It felt exhilirating. And all I knew is that we had to ride 36 miles (about 70Km) to the city(San Francisco) in under 35 mintues. And we knew we could make it! We all started up the bikes, and the truck was bumping the music. But we knew we would have to leave the truck to catch up with us since it couldnt keep up with the bikes! And we took from the parking lot, exited down the road to get on the 101 (main highway to 101). And off we went! I was flying down the highway! We were passing cars on the highway as if they were parked!
The music in my helmet was at full blast! I was playing some DMX, the Roots, Tupac, and some Jay-Z! When the song DMX- We Right Here started playing I dropped the bike on gear and got screaming, twisted the throttle and pulled the front wheel off the ground slightly. I remember Hamdy pulling up on the Ninja and pulling forward while Waleed is riding the R1 and pulls up next to me and watch Hamdy take-off! We were all traveling at an excess of 140mph+ (225kph+) and we were getting close to the city, and it was only 20 mins since we left!
The best part comes when we are in the city and the hills that we can take with the bike, and the curvy part of the highway just before the exit! oh so much fun! Couldnt wait to get to the steak house! A few miles before the exit and I could here my phone ring! Then I work up and my damn phone was ringing! I could remember the whole dream, because I was pissed the phone woke me up!
I need to get on a bike soon! This is rediculous! hehehe!
And I need to get my leg over this bike at one point in time, because it is so damn sexy!
This is the first bike I ever bought! It wasnt the smartest move I made, but Im happy I came away from it unscathed. I first learned how to ride after visiting a friend of mine, and he had a CBR 929. At first I always thought people riding bikes were insane, just like everyone else. Its because I saw people riding bikes in Kuwait so I thought that it would be nuts. I was staying with my friend for 10 days, and so I would see his bike every day in the garage. So I asked him to teach me, and we was watching some recorded games of Kuwait vs. Someone and he threw the helmet at me and the keys. And all he said was “Dont drop it”. I was asking him if he was sure he told me to go ahead and try around the parking lot. We were inside his apartment complex so I thought that I would ride it around the parking lot. So the first time I could only go straight! I had to turn around when I ran out of road inside the complex by going back and forth to turn around, because I didnt know how to turn! That was funny! After doing that for a couple of days I figured out the basic things, and I learned to shift without breaking the bike. And for three days straight I learned to ride on my own. Again it wasnt the smartest thing to do, but I didnt have any intention of doing that from the beginning, but I just went with it and learned. Then after that I had the bug! I wanted to ride more! I wanted to buy my own bike!
So the day I got back, I went online to search for a bike, and I didnt tell anyone. I found a place with a good used 2000 R1, clean and with a steering dampner. I went the next morning with a friend and bought the bike, with some gear! And I couldnt stop riding since then! But since I survived my first mistake I will make sure to note what I did wrong. But it was fun as hell! And my friend had no clue what I was doing, so he thought I was nuts when I got on the bike! And the used bike dealership didnt care that I didnt have a license at the time (Again dumb move on my part, but Im happy nothing happen, and I will never repeat the same mistake).
And that R1 was like Riding a bucking Bronco! It always wants to fly at top speed, and kick you off the bike! If you dont watch yourself you would fall off that bike really quick! And the funny part is I taught four of my friends to ride on that bike! It was a revolutionary bike when it first came out in 1998, and because it was such a raw bike people couldnt handle riding it!
More pictures below