Practising the 'P'-plate motorcycle test.

(Click on image for larger view)

Today I spent a couple of hours with a group of like-minded 'L'-platers as we were taken through a practice session for the standard test for the  'P' (Provisional) license.

Under a perfect clear blue winter's sky and nary a breeze we assembled at the EPIC (Exhibition Park In Canberra) car park at Mitchell as instructor Heidi put us through the paces.

The 90-degree turn; accelerating to 20kph and stopping with the front wheel within a fixed-size rectangle; the cone-weave; followed by the emergency stop and, finally, the dreaded U-turn.

The Honda CM400A was my steed for the day (I really feel comfortable with this bike) and I think that I managed a successful U-turn (staying inside the lines) twice from about ten attempts, so have some work to do in that area. But all the others seemed fine and it is just a matter of practising until I can do it all without thinking about it.

Then, come September or October....or maybe November.....I'd like to do the test for real.

The Renaissa's back!

Eight weeks after the damage occurred, repairs were completed this week and the bike was available for collection yesterday (Thursday 3rd.)

Having only ridden less than 3 kilometres on it before the accident, I am somewhat nervy about riding it, so will be taking it easy over the weekend and then only if the weather is dry.

I'll update next week.

My first serious 'bike accident

It occurred on Friday 9th. April and the following is what I posted on the Canberra Riders forum....... 

Less than two minutes after having the bike inspected and passed (Discount Tyres, Erindale) and on my way home (another two minutes away) I am laying on the road at a roundabout, having given way to a driver on my left who was entering said roundabout....or so I thought.

"What the ???????" I say to myself as I lay there, bike to the left (still idling), me on my back.

I had the presence of mind to reach out and hit the kill switch as people came from left, right and centre.

Then I thought "Who's going to feed the cat tonight?" Ridiculous thought!! Why did I think that?!

Solicitous people are asking if I am hurting (not "Are you okay?", thank heavens) and, if so, where.

I hear someone calling triple-oh and I hear people talking about moving the bike off the road.

By this time I'm in a sitting position, visor half-connected to the helmet, and I'm nursing my left arm because my shoulder is hurting. I notice blood seeping slightly through the right leg of my jeans just where my knee is.

But - other than my sore left shoulder - I feel fine physically but utterly devastated emotionally. And HUGELY embarrassed. All those people looking at me and doing things because of something I did.

A fire engine arrives from Tugg and less than a minute later the ambulance arrives from Calwell station.

The man who dialled 000 tells me (a little later) that the operator said she'd send "everyone" but the police never stopped at the scene.

They did pass through the roundabout on their way up Erindale Drive....probably to something more pressing.

Single-vehicle accident, driver/rider okay.

But the ambos stayed, expecting the police to come.

Ambo checks me over, including slitting the sleeve of a perfectly good shirt!

At that time I have only a sore shoulder and an abrasion to the right knee - well, that's all that I know about.

"Do you want us to take you to casualty?"

"NAAAA! I'm fine....bit sore in the shoulder and I can stick a band-aid on the knee. I'll be okay, thanks all the same"

The driver I fell over for ended up taking me home (she is a motorcyclist) and a very nice man (Mick...thank you) rode my damaged bike home for me. He was a motorcyclist and used to tutor Troy Bayliss. Small world.

An hour later daughter calls in on way home from work and takes me to the medical centre.

Why? I was fine just an hour ago!

Moving my left arm above horizontal is agony.

Huge swellings are growing around both knees. It is painful to walk as I have to bend at the knees.........and on my right elbow there is a graze and another swelling. (Huh? Right elbow? It wasn't even sore an hour ago!)

I have discovered an abrasion to my right inner ankle. Huh? Where did that come from?!

Doctor (my GP for 26 years) says, "You IDIOT, Bruce!!" (great bedside manner!) when I tell her that I sent the ambulance away.

Abrasions are cleaned and dressed, tetanus shot administered, x-rays taken of left knee and left shoulder.

NO breaks. Thank God.

The swellings are soft tissue damage and should reduce over the coming week but "You are going to feel this tomorrow"!

Left shoulder is rotator-cuff damage due to severe extension of the arm (I held onto the left handle bar and the savage jerk tried to pull the ball out of the socket.)

Three hours after the accident my daughter drops me off at home and I am thankful to be in one piece, without major injuries and able to mentally slap myself repeatedly about the head as I shout "IDIOT!" over and over.

Observations A:

Unfamiliar with the bike, I grabbed too much front brake and literally in a split second I was on the ground.

Speed was only around 40 - 50 kph, as I had just left a 40 kph zone and was actually slowing (engine braking) when I grabbed the lever.

Strike One for Bruce.

Maybe the driver entering the roundabout should have stopped at the dotted line instead of continuing on into the roundabout. As it turned out, she was turning left into Harricks Cres. but she wasn't angling left as she crossed the line. That led my brain to the instinctive conclusion "SHE'S COMING THROUGH!"

Perhaps a Strike 0.5 for the car driver.

Observations B:

PPE works.

I have a graze on the front chin-protector of my helmet right where my lower right jaw sits within that helmet.

I would have facial damage if I had worn an open-faced helmet. Even an ambo commented on that.

Abrasions can occur through clothing.

My jeans have no holes yet I was severely abraded in the region of the right knee.

I suppose the only advantage is no ingress of road crap.

Armour works.

I might have an abrasion to my right elbow but even though I came down on that side, no point damage to the bone or tissue.

My jacket does, however, have some holes.

Armoured bits on gloves work, too.

They are reusable, but there is light grinding damage to the "bumps" on the right hand.

Conclusion:

I am more upset about the damage to the bike than I am to the damage to me.

It's not irreparable, by any means - the headlight & bucket need replacing; the handlebars seem to be slightly out of alignment; foot-brake lever is bent slightly; road-rash marks on the bar-end, muffler, etc. - but I am just so upset that this lovely little machine has been damaged by ME. That's what hurts the most.
========

Since writing the above, 3 weeks have passed and, in that time, I have climbed back onto a 'bike (the Honda CM400A) and have ridden it in traffic. It was important - to me - to do that because I felt that the longer I left it then the more my doubts would grow and my confidence wane.

Physically, the healing process is slow; the bruising has nearly gone, abrasions have healed over and the swellings have reduced but the left shoulder is still sore and will take longer to recover than the bruises and scratches.

As for the Renaissa - it is in the hands of the repairers and will be fixed just as soon as the headlight and any other bits arrive from Japan.

The Honda CM400A had a makeover.

(Click on photos for a full-size version)

A couple of month's ago I took the two side panels and the fuel tank from the "spare parts" CM250 to a spray painter to have redone in one of the colours used for the 1979 CM400 model.

I chose the Candy Ruby Red, as this was not available on the 1980 range, the liveries being either a blue or green - the latter being that in which my CM400A was supplied. The CM250 came with the blue combination.

The advantage in swapping the tank was that I gained another few litres (11 as against 9).

For some odd reason the smaller-capacity bike has a larger-capacity tank! One would have thought it would have been the other way around.

So whilst the tank and side panels were at the specialist I ordered the correct set of colour-matched decals from the USA and also a new pair of HONDA tank badges from a supplier here in Oz.

Whilst the total cost was not inexpensive - particularly that for the refinishing - the result is simply fabulous (to coin an expression!). It's not a metallic but has a silver base over which the red is applied and is then finished off with several clear coats.

I think it suits the bike to a 'T' and is more attractive than the green.

What do you think?

A very Happy Birthday to Sir Jack.

Sir Jack Brabham turned 84 on Good Friday so I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best and may there be many more yet to come.

I followed F1 racing for many, many years, only having my fanatic interest fade after the sport turned into a commercial, made-for-TV business.....say the late 1980's.

I was very fortunate in seeing Sir Jack race at Warwick Farm more than once, and compete against the likes of Jim Clark, Dennis Hulme, Graham Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jackie Stewart and many others from his era. A lot of those drivers have since died, some through natural causes (Denny Hulme for instance) but most through racing-related accidents.

So it is heart-warming to see that Sir Jack is still with us, one of the few living connections to that period in Grands Prix racing when so many drivers were killed in the pursuit of their love of motor-racing.

I look forward to posting a "Happy Birthday, Sir Jack" on his 94th. 

The Suzuki's replacement.

This is a 1997 Yamaha SRV250 Renaissa due to arrive from Melbourne next week. It is the same type of motorcycle as that bought by my son last August, as seen in an earlier post.

Yamaha initially released the model as the SRV250 (no "Renaissa" name) - essentially a Virago 250 motor put into a feather-bed copy frame. The motor was basically unchanged from the Virago except that it used 2 carbies instead of 1 and had a little higher compression; end result 27hp as opposed
to 21hp for the Virago. Weight was about 144kg.

They came out in 2 colours - either metallic red or green - with a silver alloy engine and chrome exhaust and although well received they were expensive for a 250cc bike.

So the later cut price version - the Renaissa - was released.

Silver alloy and chrome were replaced by black paint on the motor and frame and a single speedo was used instead of the original tacho and speedo. There were few other cosmetic changes and the colours were either silver/black or orange/black.


This one has about 23,000km's and appears to have been well cared for.
I'm looking forward to its arrival.

Goodbye, Suzuki A100.

I never really established a close rapport with this 'bike (click image for larger view); after riding the CM400A for over six months I have become quite comfortable with that motorcycle, the larger 4-stroke engine providing easy cruising on Canberra's 80 kph and 100 kph roads and parkways.

She is going to a nice home, right here in Canberra, having been adopted by a member (the founder) of the on-line "club", Canberra Riders. 

He is going to turn Suze into a "Super Light" period racer.

Good on him......a new lease of life for a beaut little 2-stroker.

As for me, I am looking at replacing the A100 with something a bit bigger (engine capacity) and of 4-stroke configuration.
Stay tuned!

US President Obama to visit Canberra?

On the local news tonight (Canberra, WIN, with Jessica Good - left- presenting)  mention was made of a supposed visit by President Obama and how untidy was the possible route from the airport to Yarralumla.

Roadworks in progress; grass verges needing mowing, trees needing trimming and dead items removing, etcetera. Gasp! Shock! Horror!

Honestly, does anyone really think that the Prez is even going to notice this and, if he does, that he would be so impolite as to mention it when meeting Kev or our local Mayor, John Stanhope?
Rather than concern yourselves with tidying the place up for fleeting visitors, how about tidying it up for the RESIDENTS?

Footnote:
If Mr. Obama and his family wish to visit Canberra, that's fine by me.

Just so long as we don't have to put up with that bloody circling RAAF F-18 that was ever-present when his predecessor was here!

Happy Australia Day, 2010!

The weather today has been written into the script of a clichéd movie about Australia and Australia Day!

Fair dinkum, mate - it's 31+ degrees at 1:30 PM on the 26th. of January 2010 and the traditional Oz Day b-b-q has been held, sitting at the table in the backyard, protected from the sun by two large umbrellas.

Now - note all the "Aussie" things in the photo:-

• To start with, the two Aussies - myself and wife of 36 years, Shirley.
• The Aussie cap on my head.
• The (genuine Hawaiian) summery shirt.
• The glass of, and bottle of, Aussie Shiraz.
• The mug of Aussie tea.
  
• Aussie lamb chops and  beef sausages.
• Aussie Saxa-brand salt (sorry about the American Kraft and Newman's salad dressings!)
• Wife's glass of Aussie beer.
• All sitting at an Aussie hardwood table and on Aussie hardwood seats.

About the only things missing are an emu and a 'roo!

We didn't finish the meal off with lamingtons or a dessert of Peach Melba, I'm afraid, so we've let the team down on that score.

Australia Day "weekend".

(Click on image for larger view)
It's Oz Day on Tuesday the 26th. - that's in 4 days time. A public holiday held - like Anzac Day - on the actual declared date and not on the Monday closest to it. There's no official long weekend, in other words.
Yet, like millions of other Aussies, I will be having a 4-day long weekend.
The company that I work for has decided that on Monday the office will not open and we will take a day out of our annual leave, thereby giving us an extended break.
Not that I object, mind you. I think it makes sense because, in this Land of the Long Weekend, there will be a heck of a lot of people who will do the same thing whether their employer closes their business or not.

Many years ago - back in the 1980's - the company I worked for had a new Managing Director (they weren't called "CEO's" back then) come down from the USA. Fred was his name and Fred hadn't a clue about Australians, our idiosyncracies, our "sensayuma" or our public holidays.
He wanted to have a meeting with some people here in Canberra and I was asked to set it up on a particular date.
Unfortunately the date that Fred preferred fell on Canberra Day - a local public holiday - so that buggered his plans.
Then Easter interfered with his alternate choice, so that frustrated him too.
So finally, when he chose Anzac Day and was told that was also a public holiday he lost his cool and blew a fuse, berating the Australians for having too much leisure time.
That little performance was followed up by a few other examples of his intolerance over the next couple of years and he left our shores without regret, I'm sure.
I know that we didn't regret seeing him go.

Anyway - a happy Oz Day to one and all and may you slip on a shirt, slop on the sunscreen, slap on a hat, seek some shade and slide on the sunnies, because it looks as if it's going to be a scorcher.

Enjoy a lamb chop and a coldie!