Motorbike Therapy

I was supposed to type in this post last week. Anyway, so here goes.

It had been some time having taken the bike out on a long ride. It was another typical day, wake up, unchain the bike and park it somewhere else, have breakfast then sit online to check emails and stuff at Facebook and then do some work on the thesis.

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I'm completely nuts when it comes to motoring, be it cars or bikes and everything associated with them. For many days, I've been thinking about doing some 'work' on my CG125. I browsed youtube.com and looked up for customized 125cc bikes to get some ideas. Most of the results were of the Brazilian Honda 125 Fan and the Yamaha YBR 125.

Two uploads caught my attention, a modified Honda by this guy called Glenio (if that's his name) and a lowered Yamaha YBR 125. These (respectively) can be viewed on these youtube links: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZv8qKyGRlo) and (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPZ5E1Lkgu0) The work done on the Honda 125 was very cool but the transformation of the normal Yamaha YBR to a mean looking road hugging machine was pretty impressive. I doubt however if the Yam' dude would have ridden his bike around easily, with the potholes and speed humps on the roads - or maybe they have better roads in Brazil than the ones we have here.

After stumbling onto a video of the YZF 125R, a 125cc sport bike by Yamaha (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohQz8lc4ZNY), I decided to get changed and get out on the road on my bike.

I started off, my destination - Pirsohawa. I didn't do a proper warm up which is quite essential at this time of the year. Instead I rode at a comfortable pace of 60km/hr all the way to the base of the Margallah Hills. I took a short cut via Lok Virsa and climbed onto the 7th Avenue that leads straight to the base. There's a police check post at the bottom where we always have to stop, but this time the policeman was busy talking to a driver he probably stopped for checking so I rode by him, saving myself the hassle of stopping, taking my helmet off and my documents out.

The next 12 minutes (yes I get to the top in 12 minutes flat!) were of pure pleasure. The sun had already set when I left home, it was cold. My tires had warmed up during the commute from my home to the bottom of the Hills. I made a trip to the Honda Service Center yesterday to get the bike tuned up and the chain tightened and oiled. With the perfectly warmed up engine the bike was ready to take some beating. The road is a 3kms two lane, two way, snaking all the way to the View Point (Daman-e-Koh) and further to 4.5km sthe top (Pirsohawa) full of zig-zag and hair-pin (my favourite) turns with a couple of 45 degree inclination climbs, something like the last drifting scene in the movie Tokyo Drift.

At the top, I found myself a nice table at the end with a great view of the city. They were playing songs from the Coke Studio compilations (http://www.cokestudio.com.pk/), perfect stuff for venue. I ordered a green tea and chilled out for a while. The cold breeze, the warm cup of tea in my hand and the mellow songs being played at the back - it all felt great, just perfect. I made a couple of calls to say hi to my folks and sent a few 'wish you were here' text messages to a couple of friends before leaving for my downward journey.

The downward journey is the best, super fun for the expert rider who can enjoy the twists and turns of the road. I've seen some bikes go down in neutral gear. This is very very dangerous because in neutral, there isn't any rear traction and the slightest hard braking can send you (and your bike) skidding off the road - the quickest way to get to the bottom of the hills(and out of this world). I usually stay in the second or third gears, the rear traction allows me to dive into the apex and then race out of the corners with confidence. I go the fastest after crossing the View Point. Once I reached the bottom, the same policeman was busy with another car - so I passed him again. I took the same route back home.

I was half frozen when I got back home. I changed, turned on the heater, switched on the PC and logged in to prepare this post. As I said earlier, I did a trip to Pirsohawa last week and was to publish the post back then but I didn't. So I decided to go back to the Hills again to recall the exact details of the trip - which I have now shared with you.

The trip to the Hills is quite entertaining - its a lovely place with a great view of the entire city from the top. But for a motorbike enthusiast like me, its also the best place to master my cornering skills, especially during the return journey where all the turns and corners come in so fast. The best time to go there is at night, preferably after 9pm since there is less traffic and therefore fewer random idiots driving in the wrong lane against the traffic. I remember that it used to take me around 20 minutes to reach the top when I was new to motorbiking. But with more frequent visits and more riding experience I've managed to cut down the timing to 12. The downward journey used to take around 10 minutes , but now it takes around 5.

I don't want to convey the wrong idea here - I don't ride rash, its precision I'm talking about. Its all about keeping the bike in the maximum torque range and cornering efficiently (with minimum braking & using rear traction) just like they do it in MotoGP.

The pictures I've attached are of the same trip done few months ago. I wish to do some 'tank cam' video shots of the trip - for that I'll have to invest in a good quality video camera. But till then these pics should do.

So is this a therapy of some sort? Yes indeed, this is Motorbike Therapy :)

G

Petrol Head since birth

As far as I can recall, I've been a petrol head since I came into this world in my birthday suit. Some may ask 'what's a petrol head?'. Well here's what the Cambridge Dictionary online has to say:

petrol head noun
/pet.ral'hed/ n [C] informal
someone who likes and uses their car a lot, and does not want to use any other type of transport

I believe altering this definition to 'someone who likes and uses their car or bike a lot, and does not want to use any other type of transport' would still serve the purpose without prompting English pundits to raise their eyebrows.

I've been totally digging cars (yes 'digging' is a part of the English dictionary :D) my entire life. When I was 6, like any other child, I always recognized red Ferraris. Maybe Lamborghini or Porsche was too difficult for me to remember but never did I forget the red car. You see its very interesting, how the first of many cars that small kids recognize is a red Ferrari. I remember going to this toy shop with my father in the evenings and buying small Matchbox cars. I don't remember which ones I had - but I definitely remember a red Ferrari among them.

My passion for bikes came in a later stage of my life. Having spent my entire childhood in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - I got to see a lot of fancy bikes, such as Harley Davidsons, Gixers (Suzuki GSXR series of sport bikes), Hondas and Yamahas. I remember watching the HOGs roar by our car on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway, completely awestruck.

My passion for bikes became more stronger when we came to Pakistan during our summer vacations. My maternal uncle taught me how to ride on his Honda CG125. Balancing was no problem because I knew how to ride a bike - putting the machine in gear was the issue. I got over it soon but would only ride in a small area in the first gear. I learned proper riding when I came to Islamabad for my higher education, aged 17. I also started driving at the same age.

I purchased my life's first vehicle in spring 2006- a shiny new Honda CG125 Deluxe , in black. Taxes and the excise duty on vehicles is very high here in Pakistan, so is the fuel and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) on which the entire road traffic of this country runs. As a result the CG125 is considered as a luxury amongst bikers and is a dream bike of every Pakistani student to own (unless he owns a car). My plans for purchasing a new bike were halted two times. The first time was when my uncle gave me news about a new model of the CG125 that was expected to come into the markets soon. The second time was in respect of the month of Muharrum. I ended up purchasing the bike in April 2006, the most exciting day of my life. Thanks dad! :)

Once I got my very own bike, my love for bikes and biking grew more intense. I searched the internet for online forums for technicle and modification tips and suggestions for the CG125 but sadly couldnt find any related to my bike. After many days of searching online, I found a website, perhaps the only website (http://hondacg125.awardspace.com/), that contains lots of information for CG125 owners. The owner of that website has posted his email address for communicating via email. I've referred to him a couple of times with some maintainence issues and he has been very kind to help me out. I can never thank this guy enough. It was during this period I started searching for bike magazines in used book shops, since new magazines were very rare and very expensive. I eventually found a detailed motorbike magazine called Fast Bikes Magazine (http://www.fastbikesmag.com/). I couldnt find any better magazine to date. It contains tons of info on bikes, maintainence, proper riding techniques etc along with some eye candy.

Its from this magazine I discovered my favourite bikes. I had the 2006 issue of Fast Bikes and at that time they had a cover issue of the new Suzuki GSXR 750. It was the bike of the year 2006 and 2007. In 2008 Yamaha took the title with their all new R1 - which they claim is the closest a road legal bike can get to a MotoGP bike. Being a huge fan of Valentino Rossi, I'm a loyal fan of the R1. I do like the GSXR 750 too. I plan to buy either one of them once I get a job abroad. Sadly it would be too expensive to buy and run in Pakistan.

In my summer vacations this year, I got to drive a number of cars: A rental Toyota Yaris and a Nissan Tiida (when our own car broke down), our old humble Mercedes Benz 300 SE (W126 shape) and the new addition to our family; an E320. I also got to drive my friend's BMW 350 Coupe. I thoroughly enjoyed the driving experience in the UAE.

I can keep on writing about my petrol head-ism but I guess I should call it stops now.

Motoring-ly Yours

G

To Blog Or Not To Blog ...

Date: 18.09.2009

After months of 'deciding' to take up blogging as a past time, today I've finally created an account at Blogger.com and am looking forward to be a regular blogger here.

I always get creative ideas when I am back home after the semester end for my vacations. I believe its the relaxed atmosphere here - being at home, that enables my brain to unconsciously develop and explore numerous creative ideas ranging from academic goals, to personal fitness, cooking, enhancing the performance of my car or bike, relationships etc. Most of these ideas hit my mind when I'm in the shower or out for a walk. These days I've been getting most of my 'ideas' after my dawn prayers. To take up blogging was one of those ideas. But by the time I used to wake up - all was lost. Finally I've invested in a small notebook and a pen that I keep at my side at all times and near my pillow when I go to bed, in case I get a new proposition ( the noun, not the verb mind you).

This post was a draft for a few days. My summer holidays were almost over and I was busy with the unpleasant routine of packing and getting ready for my flight back to Pakistan.

Anyway, now that I'm back and have completed the outstanding draft - you all know how I've ventured into the world of blogging.

Yours blogging-ly

G