The Other Bike : Benelli Keeway TX200G reg 2013 (Stock Condition, Almost Brand New)

Looks like I'll be featuring my other bike in the blog with the departure of my Aprilia RS125 Tuono :

Make : Benelli Keeway
Model : TX200G
Engine : Single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 2-valve
Cc : 200
Type : Dual-purpose Motard
Mileage : 2,000 km (under warranty till 10,000 km)
Colour : Black/Yellow
Purchased Price : RM7,600 OTR
Brochure : http://benelli.keeway.my/brochure/TX200G_BROCHURE.pdf

Bike is stock standard at the moment and comes with inverted front forks, 2-port front disc single-port rear disc, LED brakes, etc.

With the Aprilia's departure soon, I dare say that I may just be spending monies on modifications soon. Currently is practically brand new bike.

JPJ No. Plate Specifications

There are lots of areas that JPJ could catch bikes for breaking the law. And it so happened that there was a massive Ops JPJ at the Sungai Besi bike lane exit.

All bikes were stopped- yours truly not exempted too. An official came to be and told me to hand over my Full B driving license and the bike's roadtax. I handed over the cards and the officer walked around my bike a few rounds. He checked my no plates, signal indicators, exhaust system, etc.

There was lots of revving around from the other bikes too. There was a summons table at the sidewalk in front of Petron, and any non-permitted modifications done to the bike would require the biker to be issued with the summon and a date for re-checking the bike's de-modification at JPJ.

My bike passed almost all the checkings- it had side mirrors (checked), the LED indicators worked (checked), the revving produced a constant exhaust note that was not too loud (checked) but problem came when he began to measure the alphabets and nos on the no plate.

The rear no plate passed the test, but the front one was too small. It had to be Height x Width at 4 cm x 3 cm, but my front no plate was approximately 3 cm x 2 cm. As such, the officer told me that I would have to send my bike to JPJ with a new approved-size no plate attached, within 10 days' time.

Herein lies the problem. I had scheduled an overseas business trip next week and would be unable to take time to go to JPJ. I explained nicely to him and he considered my dilemma.

In the meantime, another 2 officers walked over to us and one of them asked me what model was my bike. Before I could answer, the pondering officer told them that it was a Tuono 1000R, judging from the stock stickers on my bike. Another officer volunteered that it was a RS250, pointing that the twin shotgun exhaust pipes were a giveaway. The officer whom asked the question earlier, then asked me how much did the bike cost.

I shrugged my shoulders and told him that I had bought the bike second-hand and that it could cost around RM28k brand new. The first officer then remarked that it was a steal of a price for a real Italian machine like this. The 3 officers chatted with me for another few mins, then the first officer handed me back my cards and told me that he's letting me off with a slap on the wrist and that I need to change the no plate soonest possible by myself. I told him that I would do that soon.

With that, I shook hands with the officers and went on my way. Had I been on my Ninja 650R or TX200G that were more common bikes and therefore not as interesting to the officers, it could have been a different ballgame altogether.

Phew...

Project Consideration : Cafe Racer

I met with an ex-banker friend from Kuantan at Rakuzen last weekend and he had never owned a bike. But he was going to get married in October and he wanted to live life dangerously before he joins Boringville for the rest of his life like the rest of us family men.

And he asked me about getting a bike.

I asked him about his preferences and he wanted a bike that looked big, didn't run too fast and was easy to maintain and upkeep. The last part would necessitate a Japanese bike.

He had a budget of about RM10k, so that should fetch him a used Kawasaki ZZR250, Yamaha Virago 535 or something in the region.

He was not too keen on the old-man-cruiser outlook so I thought that he could get a good platform and modify the bike into a Cafe Racer, which was all the rage overseas these days. That, and the naked streetfighter bikes are the trend these days.

Which had me thinking for myself too- I could get a Honda Shadow and modify it into a Cafe Racer. I started to look online for been-there-done-it examples and chanced upon this lovely modification from Dime City Cycles.

And you won't be faulted to say that it was really kind of hard to see the current resemblance to its initial Shadow looks, right?

From a stock platform like this...

To this mouth-watering example...

 

National Day Parade

... and due to the above, there were daily road closures around KL during the peak hours for the parade rehearsal to take place. After a couple of days getting stuck in the jam and getting to work late, I decided that it'd be wiser to take the bike this morning.

I checked the fuel tank and saw petrol sploshing about, but I wasn't sure how much fuel there was left. Yes, unlike my Ninja 650R that had a low fuel reserve indicator that would lit up when you get to a certain volume, you really had to use guesswork on this Aprilia Tuono. But then again, for a bike from the mid-2000, it has a number of performance parts and features that even the superbikes of today do not have built-in, so I guess it was a fair trade-off.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and rode on.

I haven't had a real long highway ride for some weeks now, and it felt good to twist the throttle and just gunned forward. I was a bit surprised though that my speed was limited to 70 kmph even though I was diligently playing through the gears. Even when I was redlining the bike on some stretches, the display was still 70 kmph. I had an inkling that something wasn't quite right. The bike felt really fast, and I already had that smile when the buzzy lil' engine was giving an exhilarating performance. But the digital speedometer was still reading 70 kmph.

And then, I realized with a "Duh!" Homer moment that I was looking at the temperature digital display. The speedometer was analogue, and I had somehow gotten mixed up thinking that the speed reading was digital like that of the Ninja 650R. Too long haven't ride the Tuono, I tried to rationalise.

A quick glance over to the speedometer showed that I was doing about 120-130 kmph. In a car, that won't feel too fast. On my Ninja 650R, that would feel somewhat fast. On my Tuono, that felt really fast- as it was a lighter machine ala GP works, and there was no fairing to block the blast of air being hurled against your body.

But naked streetfighters (bikes) were all the rage these days, so many riders were putting up with the wind factor for the cool factor.

I stopped by Shell and pumped in about RM30 worth of RON 97. Evidently, there was still fuel in the tank for a longer ride.

I gunned the Rotax engine again and went on my way. A short while later in between the traffic, I heard the straining notes of a moped (I think it was the Yamaha 135LV looking at the lights) with the noisy Nobi exhausts behind me. He managed to catch up and shouted something like "Motor cantik!".

I can't really hear as the windblast at 80 kmph was still quite loud and I had my fullface helmet on, so I just smiled at him (not that I think he could see my smile behind the helmet). Anyhow, he smiled back and flashed me the thumbs-up sign. I waved him an appreciative sign and rode away at full throttle.

You meet all types of people riding a bike. Most of the times, earnest people. And just a simple exchange like that puts a bigger smile on my face.

It's going to be a good day. And oh, I made it to office on time; so yeah, it's a good day alright!

Ducati M600 Monster- Time To Retire The Old Gal?

I checked on the restoration of the old gal down south, and was told that progress was slow due to a lack of parts and the mechanic's latest diagnosis was that it made no economic sense to pump more monies into the project at this stage. Instead, he offered to buy her for a small sum to salvage the new and old parts for other bikes.

When your mechanic tells you like this, red flags would fly and you have 2 choices really :

1) To change to another mechanic; or
2) To retire the old gal and cut your losses.

I like to have her all done up so that I could put another old gal on the road for another new owner to enjoy. But if I bite the bullet at this stage, my losses were actually quite small since I got her real cheap and the offer was good enough to cover 80% of the monies that I have spent thus far.

What would you advise, dear readers?

Sun, Sea and Beach- minus a Bike!

I have been away for the last week or so, not for a biking convoy trip but for business. This time around, I was at a South Pacific island where there was sun, sea and beach aplenty; though the flying and transit vide Singapore, Australia, etc were literally a pain in the you-know-where.

While I was at the island, I was amazed that there was not one bike seen during my duration there. Yes, you read me right- not one bike. I would have thought that biking would have been the easiest way to commute in an island, especially one with good sunny weather all year round.

Which then had me thinking if Silver would kick a tantrum when I got back. Italian machines were well-known for their temperamental state of minds, if we could call them that. Owners said that it added characters to their Italian love machines, but secretly wished that the machines were as reliable as the Japanese makes. And in Silver's case, it has been more than 2 weeks since I had started and ridden her.

Because it makes no sense if you have to keep spending hard-earned monies to keep them Italian rides going, especially when it's hardly-used.

Well, I got back, luggage in tow and first thing I did was to take the lift to the carpark.

I inserted in the key, twisted the ignition and pushed the button- and voila, it came to life with not a nary of fuss. I thought for a while, then loaded all the luggages into the trunk of my Harrier parked a few steps away; and went for a quick ride around the condo premise.

It felt real good.

Now this is how it feels like to own an Italian without the apprehension of owning an Italian. One word- nice.

P/S : I rode back to the carpark and started my Harrier next. It too came to life without a fuss; but then again, for a Japanese at heart, that was only to be expected. For the Italian, it was a bonus- a well-appreciated bonus. Funny how we all tend to melt towards our Italian machines.

There's A Biker In All Of Us

I guess that there's a biker in all of us- even drivers whom look down on bikers but secretly envy and want to be a biker themselves.

Okay, so the story goes like this- I went to tapau dinner for the brood this evening. With my previous sports bike, that's not very likely. With my previous easyrider, that's against the wild macho image that the bike was going for. With my previous sports tourer, it was possible with the food safely kept in place in the panniers; but it was a hassle getting it out on the open road given its bulk and weight.

With the current streetfighter, it's as simple as A-B-C. The bike was slim and nimble enough to go between the traffic, and there was no bulky fairing to prevent you from hanging your food packages on the handlebar.

I enjoyed a fast ride over there, parked the bike and went about packing the food.

10 minutes later, I walked to my bike and there was a Chinese chap sitting there, striking different poses while his friend took pictures vide his smartphone.

I smiled and waited at the side for him to finish his session.

The chap, lets call him Ah Beng, realized that I was standing around and remarked, in a rather rude manner, "Never seen a superbike before ah?!"

I then informed him that I was waiting for him to finish taking his photos, because I wanted to ride home.

Ah Beng then realized that I had the AGV and put two and two together; and quickly got off my bike.

I never said a word and just smiled. He was clearly embarrassed.

But he had the cheek to retort, "What's so great about a stupid bike?  Maybe one day you could save enough from your petrol money to get a real sports car like mine." before walking to his Nissan (I know you're thinking that his ride could be a Gozilla or Fairlady or Silvia).

He drove away but was stuck in a traffic jam further front. I rode alongside him, smiled at him (but he can't see as I was wearing my fullface helmet) and left his Grand Livina stuck in the traffic jam still.

Deep down, Ah Beng probably wanted to get a nice bike too but his parents wouldn't let him; so he has to go around driving a family car decorated with Impul parts and pretending that its a sports car; and stopping to take photos of himself straddling nice bikes every time he sees an opportunity, and putting these pictures on his FB to impress his friends.

Indeed, there's a biker in all of us ;p

Types of Motorbikes

Adventure/Touring, Dual Sports
The offspring of rugged dirtbikes and long-distance tourers, these bikes boast lots of suspension travel and upright postures that are comfortable for lengthy rides.

Choppers
Epitomized by the Harley-Davidson Panhead in the film Captain America, choppers tend to have extremely raked forks, reclined seats, and lots of showy chrome.

Cruisers
Cruisers are like sedate choppers; their fork rake is less extreme, and they’re designed for laid-back riding.

Dirt Bikes
Dirt bikes generally refer to motorcyles designed for offroad riding, and typically feature knobby tires, long suspension travel, and minimalistic frames and bodywork. Variants of dirt bike designs compete in Enduro, Motocross, and Trials events, among others.

Enduro Bikes
Designed for long distance offroad competitions, Enduro bikes are usually equipped with headlights and taillights for nighttime riding, and can be outfitted with timers and roll chart reading devices that aid riders with navigation and timekeeping.

Naked Bikes
Naked bikes recall British motorcycles of the sixties, and lack bodywork or a fairing that would normally hide their engines and inner-workings. Also known as "street-fighter" bikes and are all the rage these days.

Power Scooters
Power scooters are like scooters on steroids, and they share a similar step-through (or near step-through) design. But they also boast large engines (sometimes up to 650cc) rivaling the powerplants found in some motorcycles. Power scooters usually offer commuter-friendly creature comforts and numerous storage compartments.

Scooters
Typified by Italian-made Vespas, scooters are like small motorcycles with bodywork that allows the rider to “step through” and sit without getting his or her clothes stained by oil. Scooter engine sizes can be as little as 50cc.

Sport Bikes
Designed purely for performance, sport bikes tend to require arms-forward posture, powerful engines, and tight handling.

Supermoto Bikes
Based on race machines that compete on a combination of road and dirt surfaces, Supermoto bikes combine offroad characteristics such as deep suspension travel with road tires and bodywork reminiscent of so-called “street fighter” bikes.

Touring Bikes
Created solely for long-distance comfort, touring bikes often feature backrests, large windscreens, and creature comforts such as radios and navigation systems.

Trials Bikes
These specialized competition bikes are tailor made for trials events, in which motorcycles are maneuvered around offroad or man-made obstacles, and riders are penalized if their feet touch the ground. Extremely lightweight, trials bikes lack seats and feature stiffer suspension than most dirtbikes.