Throttle to the stop

"Dude, meet me at Azira at 1 pm. Gloves ada lagi?"

"Ada Pian, Lewis I always keep in office. Napa?"

"Nak test tak?"

Damn, Pian got another bike. Ni yang tak puas hati nih. Tension, tension.

Arrived Azira.... saw the bloody thing. Shit! CBR 1000...NAKKKKKKK!!!!!!!

"Oi Pian, kata Hornet? Mana Bullshit 79?"

"Hornet tak jadilah. BS79 hilang kena curi. Cilakak betul, baru ingat nak transfer nombor tu kat Thou ni."

"Apa la, motor cantik, plet nombor berterabur."

Pian is my insurance agent, in fact almost all bikers buy their insurance from him. We started riding during our ITM days, him with his AR80, me with my TXR150. We were also among the pioneer riders for the LTdL, our duties were not as outriders, but as despatchers for the video tapes - from the cameramen to the broadcasting van down below (masa tu mana ada live feed, semua delayed). Masa tu siapa jadi outriders kita orang (the depatchers la) consider them as pussies...tak hard core langsung. I went for two tours, he does it every year.

Over lunch.

"Dude, how much is the Thou?"

"75K, discounted heavily during the Naza sale. Don't start with the AP issue ok. Malas nak debate ngan kau. Last year punya model, nak clear stock la"

"Aku start balik bila cukup duit la. But jadi born again biker ni susahla. Motor now all canggih-manggih. Fuel injection, performance chip la..apa lagi? Ducati aku dulu very mechanical. Kau lain la Pian, 916 tu dah ada semua ni. Anyway, what can I get for 40K?"

"CB4"

"Woi, naked la. Lagipun kecik...underpowered"

"Ok per..street fighter look. Brutal gua cakap lu. Allo bang, CB4 cc aje kecik, tapi lagi power dari kau punya 600SS dulu tau tak? Size about the same oso"

"Perrrghh, long distance sakit la..no fairing. Dah la korang selalu suruh aku jalan dulu, pas tu potong tak ingat orang."

"Dude, since when you mat speed? Kau kan mat torque? Kau kan hantu suka 'chuck' orang? I tell you, this CB4 is the ultimate chucking machine"

"Tengok dulu la. ST4 ada?"

"Woi, 40K won't go far ok"

"Okla, okla..bak kunci. Nak test Thou kau. Anything I should know first?"

Pian threw the keys towards me and passed his smelly helmet to put on.

"Bau Tancho la. Kau pakai lagi mende ni?"

"Banyak cekadak pulak..nak test tak?"

Sitting comfortably over the saddle, put the key in and pressed the starter button. When the bike roared to life...it was so sweet sounding, "brap, brap brap" resonant so deep. Wuih..best nye bunyi. Tested gear change from 1st to neutral (bad experience with Dukes...a bitch to get into neutral once stationary), wah, so senang one.

Jalan clear, apa lagi...... test power la. Did three laps around the row of shoplots. Lepas gian habis gua cakap luuuuuu. Alas, lunch hour is almost over and I reluctantly gave the keys back to the righful owner.


Biketalk
CBR1000/Thou = Honda 1000 cc bike
Hornet = Honda 600 cc half fairing - using a downtuned engine similar in CBR600
BS79 = no plet Selangor turun temurun from his grandfather. Pasang kat kapchai kerja dia with intention to transfer the no to the Thou. Kena curi.
AR80 = Kawasaki Ninja 80cc
TXR150 = Suzuki Panther la
CB4 = Honda 400 cc. Considered as a pocket bike.
Naked = No fairings. Engine all exposed
Street fighter = pumped up naked bike
Ducati/Duke = models mentioned are my 600ss and the 916. ST4 is Sports Tourer using a downtuned 916 engine. 4 is not 400cc but represents the no of valves in the desmo engine.
Chuck = gila corner. Kalau ada dan boleh mesti masuk dulu dari orang lain.