Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Riding Shotgun
On Sunday I went riding Ulu Yam up to Awana. Pian invited me to ride shotgun/2up/backseat rider on his Fireblade. Went up with Fast Eddie, Ivan, Jeremy, Shamsul Rasul@Scott Russell (haha) and a couple others.
BIG mistake.
1. The FB is not meant to carry pillion despite having a "seat". It's bloody small and thin. My bum was numb after several kms.
2. Perched high at the back, at high speed, I had no windscreen as cover and took the brunt of the full force of airflow. Further, the FB had no grab rails and both my arms had to dangle by the side. I'd look so not coolnot macho/gay if I had my arms around Pian's waist right?
3. I didn't follow the basic rule of riding - safety. The only stuff of mine still available was my touring jacket, meaning I'm protected only for my shoulders and elbows. I had no back protector to cover for my spine in case of a fall. I was using ankle high boots which would not provide much in terms of protection. I wore jeans which is not much help for my hips or my knees too because I didn't use any protectors inside for them.
4. Pian's fullface was slightly large and I had to use a bandanna on my scalp to lessen the helmet moving around. The visor was iridium, shady for sunshine but not practical for other times. I had to lift them up a bit for view.
5. Pian did not adjust/harden his rear suspension for riding 2up. Too much damping and no rebound, it was bottoming a lot. We were wallowing too much up and down.
6. The above made him to use a lot of rear brake (instead of just tapping it) to squat the bike when entering corners.
Overall, it was a blast to be riding again despite being a pillion.
Adrenalin Rush!!!!!
BIG mistake.
1. The FB is not meant to carry pillion despite having a "seat". It's bloody small and thin. My bum was numb after several kms.
2. Perched high at the back, at high speed, I had no windscreen as cover and took the brunt of the full force of airflow. Further, the FB had no grab rails and both my arms had to dangle by the side. I'd look so not cool
3. I didn't follow the basic rule of riding - safety. The only stuff of mine still available was my touring jacket, meaning I'm protected only for my shoulders and elbows. I had no back protector to cover for my spine in case of a fall. I was using ankle high boots which would not provide much in terms of protection. I wore jeans which is not much help for my hips or my knees too because I didn't use any protectors inside for them.
4. Pian's fullface was slightly large and I had to use a bandanna on my scalp to lessen the helmet moving around. The visor was iridium, shady for sunshine but not practical for other times. I had to lift them up a bit for view.
5. Pian did not adjust/harden his rear suspension for riding 2up. Too much damping and no rebound, it was bottoming a lot. We were wallowing too much up and down.
6. The above made him to use a lot of rear brake (instead of just tapping it) to squat the bike when entering corners.
Overall, it was a blast to be riding again despite being a pillion.
Adrenalin Rush!!!!!
