Winter Riding Tips

I thought that as we are approaching winter it would be wise to make a post on winter motorcycle riding.

Below is a link that will take you to a very good article on Winter Motorcycle Riding provided by the Lancashire Police Motorcycle Safety Team.

http://www.vsoc.org.uk/vsoc_articles/winter_riding_tips.htm

I hope this article will help

Ride Safe
TheBikeNut

BMW K1200 feels unstable...

After 3 months on my new K1200GT, I can honestly say it has only been fun. Since most of my time on the bike is spent
with a pillion on the back (wifey) I am sensible most of the time.

I have noticed one slight drawback on the bike, when travelling at speed by myself with the screen extended about half way- I can feel the air pushing against the Top Case and lifting the bike.
I can only say it scares the living daylights out of me! I have not noticed this when travelling with a pillion on the back.

If you have experienced the same, please let me know.

Ride Safe,
TheBikeNut

New Honda VFR1200 sports tourer unveiled soon!

In about a week from now Honda will launch the new VFR1200 V4 Sports Tourer.

Honda have a special competition and the big prize is a test ride during November 2009 in Southern Spain. Go to www.feelv4.com to enter Good Luck

Ride safe,
TheBikeNut

Huge repair bill on Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob leaves owner furious

Mr. David Steel a fire fighter from Edinburgh was left dumb struck after receiving a bill for £2400 from his local Harley-Davidson dealer.

Mr. Steel’s Dyna Street Bob was bought second hand for a sum of £7800 in July 2007. When stopping at lights in Edinburgh the engine suddenly gave up and that was the last of it. Mr Steel then had the motorcycle repaired by the Harley dealer and was offered 50% of the cost from Harley-Davidson as the bike had only done 8400 miles and just gone out of warrantee.

Come on Harley-Davidson UK, pull up your socks and look after you beloved loyal bikers!

Ride Safe
TheBikeNut

BUB 7 Streamliner, The World's Fastest Motorcycle

No, this is not the steam powered car that you will remember from the newspapers over the last couple of weeks. This is the BUB 7, the fastest motorcycle in the world (Pending FIM verification). Wonder if we would be able to ask Richard Hammond if he is willing to have a go?

With Chris Carr in the rider seat the BUB 7 Carr set a new FIM world record and AMA national record at 367.382mph (591.244kmh) at the Cook Private Meet at the Bonneville Salt Flats Utah.  Chris Carr should get the award for bravest racer on the planet 2009!! The BUB 7 can achieve this astonishing speed because it is powered by a turbocharged, 3 litre V4 engine that pumps out an incredible 500 hp. The BUB 7 have been designed for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to be the fastest bike in the world, and it certainly accomplished that!

Please pop over the BUB 7 website to have a look around and see the team!

Well done everybody involved at accomplishing this amazing speed!!

TheBikeNut

Electric Motorcycle Videos and Photos || ZERO MOTORCYCLES

Electric Motorcycle Videos and Photos || ZERO MOTORCYCLES


Last night watching Charlie Boorman on BBC 2 visit Zero Electric Motorcycles in Australia- I just had to blog about them as I think they have made some excellent progress with electric bikes.

The bikes looked awesome and I would love to have a go on one of them- because the bikes are electrically powered all the Torque is available instantly giving you “blistering acceleration”, and makes the bikes insanely fast and powerful. Unfortunately the bikes are only good for about 2 hours of riding before needing a recharge.

As Charlie pointed out on the program, the bikes are very quiet and don’t disturb any wildlife making off roading a bit more up close and personal with dear old mother nature.

Well done Zero Motorcycles!

TheBikeNut

Motorcycle crash compilation

MCE British Superbike Championship

The last lap at Croft, 600 superstock, 2009 MCE British Superbike Championship




Ride Safe,
TheBikeNut

Leon Camier heads into qualifying at MCE British Superbike Championship at Silverstone

Leon Camier is confident that he can lift the title on Sunday.

Camier's impressive form gives him a 99.5-point advantage over his Airwaves Yamaha team-mate James Ellison and he needs only to finish ahead of him to secure his maiden BSB title.

"I have to come to Silverstone and treat this weekend as every other this season, as I am trying not to think too much about the championship," Camier said. "I know that I don't need to do anything silly and that I just need to beat James, but he is going to be up there so I need to just focus on doing my own thing. For me it is more about having it all to lose rather than to win, but who knows what will happen especially when the red mist comes down. This is a big weekend for me and the Airwaves Yamaha team and I need to keep focussed as it is not all over yet."

Ducati also return to the grid, with Michael Rutter racing the final two rounds of the season.

"I was desperate to get back out there for the final two rounds," Rutter said. "It's definitely good to be bringing Ducati back to the championship; my dad won with Ducati and I have won several races with them, including on this bike last year at Mallory Park so we know we should be competitive. We just missed the podium at Silverstone last season and I want to come back and make an impression as soon as I can."

More news here

TheBikeNut

Métisse Motorcycles - Steve McQueen Desert Racer

Steve McQueen's Desert Racer motorcycle is to be built and sold in the UK. The Métisse Desert Racer, a replica of one of McQueen's own bikes that he adapted with Bud Ekins - will be made by Oxfordshire-based Métisse Motorcycles. The frames are chrome-moly nickel plated and the motorcycles have a fully reconditioned period Triumph TR6 engine.

“The Desert Racer is such an iconic motorcycle that when I took over Métisse via the Rickman brothers, I was determined to bring it back into production and use traditional methods to ensure that it is as close to the original bike as possible," said Lisi

The Métisse Desert Racer was unveiled at Motorcycle World at Beaulieu last year. The first buyer of the £13,000 bike was Steve McQueen’s son Chad.

Métisse Motorcycles - Steve McQueen Desert Racer

Do you remove your helmet when you purchase petrol?

Lately I'm hearing many complaints that bikers get asked to remove their helmets when filling up their bikes.

I personally wear a modular helmet and always flip it up when I arrive at a petrol station and have never had this problem. If this has happened to you, post a comment and if you don't mind tell us where you filled up?

Ride safe,
TheBikeNut

Cheap Motorcycle Gear

Just found this site, I hope it will benefit you in some way shape or form.

I'm quoting this from their website: "Ridersdiscount.com is dedicated to providing the best online shopping experience when looking for powersports parts, apparel, and accessories. When you shop with us, you are guaranteed secured ordering, quick & reliable shipping, professional customer service, a wide selection of high quality products, and the lowest prices online. Let Ridersdiscount.com be your one-stop shop for motorcycle parts and product information on the Internet. There's no need to go elsewhere if you're looking for apparel, parts, accessories and information, it is at Ridersdiscount.com"

If you do know of any other motorcycle gear suppliers that are reasonably prices please leave a comment?

Ride Safe,

TheBikeNut

Top ten tips when planning a Fly-Ride motorcycle tour:

One of the most exciting experiences one can have is a motorcycle road trip and the crown jewel of course, being able to go to a far off land and explore it. This is now made much easier with many Fly-Ride companies popping up offering exciting trips all over the world.

How can we know who is offering the best deal, as most of these trips will cost a fair bit of your money it is important to be sure that you are getting the best value for every single penny spent.
Leaving the destination aside we are able to lay down the top 10 tips you can use when planning to go on a guided tour or simply just hire a bike and hit the road.

1. What documentation is required?
Ensure that you have all the necessary Visas, Paperwork, Travel Vaccinations and Jabs before you depart on your trip. Ensure your bike license is valid in the country you plan to visit.

2. Pick the right Bike.
Choose and appropriate bike that will be fit for the purpose of the ride. This could make or break your holiday, as the last thing you would want to do is to stop every hour for a break or to refuel.

3. Pack right.
Pack accordingly; find out what weather you can expect? Take with you comfortable (on and off the motorcycle) clothing. Protective gear is essential try to take textile gear as it is usually lightweight, breathable and weatherproof. Remember the bike boots; tinted and clear visors and gloves (summer and winter) pairs.

4. Check you get Road Side assistance
Does the Fly-Ride company include Roadside assistance, the last thing you can afford it to break down in the middle of nowhere and not know who to call.

5. Know what to expect from your bike
Know what to expect from your hire motorcycle, does it come with panniers or a top box. This will help you decide what you would like to pack and what you can fit on the bike.

6. Mobile phone
Don’t forget your mobile phone; this is an essential tool that can help to get you out of a difficult situation.

7. Get acclimatised
If you are taking a long haul flight it is best to arrive at least one day early to rest and acclimatise to the new environment

8. Motorcycle Hire Terms
Motorcycle rental; don’t be fooled by just looking at the daily charge for renting the bike. Look at what benefits each hire company offers as they can vary widely. Some Motorcycle hire companies can even deliver the bike to the airport or hotel of choice. Get the hire company’s or agents insurance details. Ask them if they have liability insurance check if it is still valid and who the insurers are.

9. Find out about additional costs
Ask the hire company about fuel , maintenance , theft, and damages costs. Do they offer a motorcycle substitution if something where to happen to the bike.

10. Find out how much your security deposit will be
Check if you are paying a Vehicle Security deposit, how much will it cost and what are the Terms and Conditions. These deposits are often not returned in full.

The success of a great road trip is good preparation. Good luck with your trip and Ride Safe

The Bike Nut

KTM 1190 RC8 to conquer the US market

The introduction of the KTM 1190 RC8 means exciting times lay ahead in the world of biking. Since KTM announced that they are entering the Road\Sports bike world I have been excited to see what they would launch.

The KTM 1190 RC8 made in Austria is the perfect example of great design combined with insane fun and speed. KTM has clearly proved itself and we will only see more and more of these bikes on the road. The two cylinder LC8 engine is packed with an incredible 155 hp, 120 Nm torque it weighs less than 200 kg and easily delivers incredible power.

Now that you are all excided about the new KTM sports bikes visit the dedicated KTM 1190 RC8 website by clicking here.

Ride Safe,


The Bike Nut

Suzuki GSX1250FA 2010 model confirmed

At long last we read about the new Suzuki sports bike line up for 2010, after all the rumours it has been confirmed by Suzuki GB that they will be following in the footsteps of the Suzuki GSX650F, and will be launching the all new Suzuki GSX1250FA in 2010.

Suzuki GB have confirmed their attendance at the forthcoming Motorcycle & SWcooter show at the NEC in Birmingham from the 2th November to the 6th December. Quoting the Suzuki GB marketing manager, George Cheeseman. "Naturally we are delighted to welcome the GSX1250FA to the range for 2010. The GSX650F has proven to be extremely popular and we have no doubt that the GSX1250FA will follow in its footsteps. While it's too early to talk of a price, we expect the new bike to be competitive, offering a versatile and sporty ride that doesn't bust the bank."

The new GSX1250FA has a classic tube frame shared with the Bandit 1250S, 43 mm front forks with mono rear shock absorber with pre-load ajustablility. The engine is a 1255cc machine, that packs a punch with the well known Suzuki digital fuel injection system. Suzuki would like to sell the all-new GSX1250FA at an afforcdable price, and would like to see the bike fit in the "versatile sport touring" category. Fingers crossed we will soon see one of these join us on the road!

If you can contribute anything to this post please feel free to leave a comment!

Ride safe, The Bike Nut

The new look cylinder head on the 2010 BMW R1200GS

Motorcycle Touring: The Scotland Trip

We set of on a truly magical 4 day tour to Scotland, that have left me in a dreamlike state for weeks afterwards. Wifey insists that it was to date the best road trip we have ever had. I will do my best to write down our experience here and hope that this will inspire you to do the same and I am sure you will find a motorcycle road trip very different but highly addictive. Our goal to leave North Hertfordshire and reach John o'Groats where we where planning on taking a ferry to the Orkney Islands and spending a whole day there. This our first long distance trip on the BMW K1200 GT we didn't really know what we where in for. We packed light and set of on the road to Scotland. With only a couple of exceptions all the people we met was helpful, friendly and an absolute pleasure to deal with.  

Day 1: We set of from Letchworth Herts at about 6:00 am and headed towards Edinburgh, we took it easy the weather was excellent and I was keeping all my fingers crossed for it to remain the same. With my dear wifey on the back chatting away on the Autocom which by the way has crystal clear audio even when wearing earplugs makes is difficult not to hear my lovely little puff adder talking to me the whole time. This being said I was pleased to hear she was having a good time, not sure how long she was to remain as upbeat about the long road ahead. With the onboard computer telling me that we can do about 268 miles before needing to stop for fuel we pressed on. I found that the distance of one fuel tank was pretty much as far as I would like to ride before taking a break and stretching my legs, also I learned that you cannot take a break for less than an hour when you take wifey along, she finds motorway services to be a fascinating and enchanting place. After reaching Berwick-upon Tweed we stopped at Conundrum Farm Trail & Fishery to have a drink and something to eat, after speaking to the locals it turns out that the fishery is very popular and well known so if fishing is your passion this might be a worth while stop.. The food in the cafe was good and the service very friendly. We continued on with our journey and finally reached Edinburgh at about 15:00 in the afternoon. We then went about doing the touristy stuff that I won't bore you with. One last thing before moving on to Day 2 I just quickly want to mention that just before the trip I upgraded the seats on the BMW to Corbin Seats I didn't get the heated seats as my bike didn't have it anyway but thought it might be well worth mentioning as I can now easily manage 1000 mile a day journey's without a numb bum.  

Day 2: 

We left Edinburgh with the goal to reach Inverness; little did I know of the exciting roads that lay ahead. We head north taking the M90, A9 to Dalwhinnie situated on the Grampian Mountains very near to the geographical centre of Scotland. This was our first stop for the day, the Dalwhinnie Distillery. You can smell the peat as you get closer to the distillery and I wasn’t surprised when I turned up to see several other bikes in the parking lot. It is always good to bump into fellow bikers to have a quick chat and find out if they know of any hidden gems nearby. After finishing at the Dalwhinnie Distillery we continued on the journey north taking the A889 followed by the A86 and A82 and what followed was an absolutely stunning very scenic and twisty road heading past Loch Laggan a fresh water loch and also part of the Lochaber hydro-electric scheme towards Fort Augustus. I cannot describe how much fun this road was!  When reaching Fort Augustus for a well deserved break and meal we had a bit of a walk around to stretch our legs eat some chocolate and prepare for the last leg of the day to Inverness. In Scotland nobody seams to work on how many miles they live from a place but they rather say how much time it takes. As I found today riding from Edinburgh to Inverness took me the same time as riding from Hertfordshire to Edinburgh. We reached Inverness later in the afternoon.Inverness is the most northern city in Scotland and the fastest growing city in Europe after visiting I can honestly say I wouldn’t mind living there either! The Inverness Castle built on a hill in the city isn’t open to the public but the grounds are, it is still well worth a visit as it is an absolute stunning building if you are into architecture in any way shape or form.

 

Day 3:

We have to start early today as we have to ride all the way from Inverness to John o’Groats to arrive in time to catch the ferry to the Orkney Islands. It is a 122 mile journey along the coast of Scotland and is a very scenic route indeed with several 180 degree turns. As we where leaving Inverness we couldn’t help but notice several enormous oil rigs moored just of the coast, they are truly floating cities I’m sure it is possible that one oilrig may have more lights on it than the entire Inverness City. Pressed for time we don’t have any time to stop on the way to John o’Groats so I’ll tell you a bit more about the trip to the Orkney Islands. Unfortunately due to time restrictions we didn’t take the bike to the Orkney Islands but instead opted for a Maxi guided tour arranged by JogFerry. The tour was excellent and we manage to see Skara Brae and Neolithic Stone Age village, Scapa Flow (Famous for wreck diving) one of Britain’s most historic stretches of water, Stromness, Kirkwall, the Churchill barriers, Ring of Brodgar, Standing Stones and lastly the Italian Chapel built by Italian prisoners of war during WWII. We managed to squeeze all of this in and stayed at a fabulous B&B called Greenland House in Castletown. This was the first B&B that I stayed at where I can honestly say I would love to return to and stay there again. Outside the B&B they have a large sign to greet bikers and let you know they have secure parking plus you can expect the best Scottish breakfast ever.  

Day 4:

Unfortunately day 4 wasn’t very exciting we spent the whole day riding home and it took the best part of 14 hours. However we managed to squeeze so much into the three days we riding through Scotland that I am now convinced that by spending a full two weeks in Scotland would allow to see almost everything you would possibly want to see. I would be surprised even after two weeks if I don’t return to Scotland for an annual ride from now on. I hope that you have found this brief summary of our road trip to Scotland usefully and if you have any experiences you can share about your Scottish holiday please feel free to leave a comment, I’m sure we would all love to read about it! Oh and I'm happy to report my little Puff Adder loved every bit of the trip and she is planning the next road trip as I type! Ride Safe! The Bike Nut

How to avoid getting a numb bum

We have a couple of options available, they range from cheap to massively expensive.

Folding a towel and placing it on your seat usually gets you to go a little further than normal, I tried this and basically gave in and bought a Corbin Seat.
Airhawk is an inflatable seat very good, and if you own more than one bike you can use it on all of them, no reason why the Airhawk shouldn't enable you to do a 1000 miles per day.
Sargent Seats are very good quality as are the Corbin Seats, these I feel are doen to personal preference. I have personally invested in the Corbin seats and they made my journey from John o' Groats to Hertfordshire easy and I managed to make the entire journey in 14 hours.

When traveling at low speeds and you feel confident enough you can stand on the pegs to give your bum a bit of a rest, but the above mentioned solutions are safer albeit more expensive.

Good luck hope this helps.

How to pack for a road trip

The easy solution here would be to take a couple of Tesco bags pack clothes for each day in a separate Tesco bag, this is a good idea because it will keep your clothes dry and also makes it easy to plan for the trip.

Don't fold the clothes rather roll them up as this will minimize creasing (I sound like my mother) and is a more efficient way to save space.  When going abroad it is often cheaper to take less clothes with you and buy cheap Primark equivalent clothes that you can either through away or you can pop to a laundromat. Pack the lightest shoes you have, pack all gadgets, spare visor wallet etc in the tank bag and you are ready to hit the road.

The BMW R1200GS & R1150GS effect

No need to travel far to see the BMW GS effect, I'm sure you haven't missed it!

I don't know about you but I can remember when everyone had or wanted a shiny new Honda VFR, those where the days before these alien looking BMW GS bikes took over the road. You have to wonder what made them this successful was it Charlie Boorman and Ewan McCregor? I don't think so, they certainly did the BMW GS rage an enormous favour but all and all the GS is an absolute top bike.

Often you will hear about people mentioning that they would like to take a new BMW R1200GS out on a test ride, my advice and the advice of countless others would be don't event bother. Ring your nearest dealer or if you are after a used GS please visit the Used For Sale forum on the UKGSER site and have a look there. I will bet that you will take two weeks and then jump on a website to review the GS and share with us all how much you love it.

When speaking to the more traditional BMW rider most would admit that they prefer the R1150GS over the new R1200GS which sold from 1999 to 2005 it was also briefly available in the Adventure form before the new R1200GS launched with the standard BMW R1200GS and then also the R1200GSA. These bike are very expensive new but due to them being so popular you can now often find a very clean example for about £5000 if you shop around. This is certainly a much better price than the full £12000 when you buy a new model with a couple of ad-ons. Please click here to read the Motorcycle News review on the BMW R1200GS Adventure

If you have any comments on the GS or own one and want to share your experience please feel free to share with us.

Top Ten Tips to be a safer Motorcycle rider:

1. Always wear protective clothing; it pays in the long run.
2. You are in control! Do not try and keep up with the bike in front of you. This often leads to a race and we all tend to become a little irresponsible and this leads to accidents.
3. Always assume that the vehicle in front of you is unaware of your presence. This is especially useful when the car or van in front of you is full of dents and scratches. It just proves the person cannot or should not be driving.
4. Always anticipate and analyse the worse outcome, and have your exit strategy ready. Often changing direction of your bike is a better solution than actually braking hard and the risk of losing control.
5. Avoid night riding, especially over the weekend; you never know if a driver is under the influence. Always be careful when approaching a junction, ensure that other vehicles have not ignored traffic signals.
6. Sun glare is the enemy! Often you will go round a bend and find yourself blinded by the sun. Depending on your location it’s often better to pull over and assess your situation.
7. Never allow tailgating, if someone is tailgating you speed up or allow them enough room to overtake you. Never tailgate a vehicle in front of you as oncoming traffic will be unable to see you.
8. Road rage! Don't succumb to it! Keep calm and relax, when you are upset you are more likely to make a mistake.
9. Ensure your full attention is on the road, clear your head before setting of on a journey. The last thing you need is something distracting your attention from the road.
10. Be aware of your surroundings, constantly check your mirrors and be aware of your surroundings. Your line of sight is very important always ensure you are approaching corners at an appropriate speed.

I hope you find these tips useful, thank you for visiting The Bike Nut

Touring Bikes, our main weak spot

Big touring bikes have one big draw back and that is crosswinds, driving back to Hertfordshire from John o'Groats just proved it again.

Several times I was wrestling murderous crosswinds especially when crossing bridges. Riding on my BMW K1200 GT getting blown from John o'Groats to Stotfold Hertfordshire in over 14 hours I kinda got the hang of it. Wifey wasn't to pleased to feel the bike and I battling all these crosswinds on the M6.

On my BMW K1200 GT I have fitted a Laminar Lip. Laminar Lip describes the LIP as "an inverted airfoil above the rear edge of the windshield" The guys at Laminar claim that the air flowing through the LIP is pushed up approximately 6-8” inches above the normal height of the windshield. I do agree with this however it doesn't mean it isn't noisy. The Laminar LIP allows me to lower the edge of K1200 GT's windscreen to below eye level and it gives me the same protection as a fully raised windscreen without the LIP installed.

I find looking through the windshield distracting an therefore never have the screen extended all the way. I also don't like having it inline of sight when I'm filtering through traffic.

Installation is very quick and easy making use of 3M Dual Lock fastener, Laminar claim that these 3M Dual Lock fastener are good for removing up to 20 times. I've not tried it yet, I must admit they stick and you will have to put some energy into removing them.

It is certainly worth a try and much cheaper than an extended BMW screen. Thank you for visiting The Bike Nut

Cheap Motorcycle Hein-Gericke Gear on eBay

Just a quick update, I recently discovered that Hein-Gericke sell off returned items on eBay. To visit their eBay shop click here Hein-Gericke on eBay



Hope you find something you like! Thank you for visiting The Bike Nut

Givi S850 Sat Nav Holder

The Givi S850 Universal Sat-Nav Holder:

Making use of Velcro straps to fix the bag to the handlebars and has a clear plastic panel for a car sat-nav. It has two waterproof compartments, one for the Sat-Nav the other for wallet or mobile phone. I used this on my trip to Scotland and it worked a treat, I do agree that the price is a bit steep but it is so much cheaper than having to buy a bike sat-nav.

Word of warning, TomTom and Garmin do not like it when we use RAM mounts for standard car sat-nav devices are they aren't made to withstand the vibration on a motorcycle. Therefore they will not cover the devices under warrantee if they where used on a motorcycle.

Hope you find this useful, thank you for visiting The Bike Nut

 £39.00, on eBay

Motorcycle Camping at Wicksteed Park

Camping is a tricky subject it is always a massive struggle to not overload the bike whilst leaving room on the back for the wife and then managing to keep everything dry too. I am no expert camper and hope the information below will give you a rough guide to what you need to take and what should stay home.

My biggest challenge everytime is to find a way to get the wife not to pack the whole wardrobe! That being said she does tend to remember to pack little things I always seem to forget.

The Tent:

Eurohike Ryde II Tent from Millets

The Eurohike Ryde Tent from Millets is on sale for £19.99 it easily fits in the top box and doesn’t take much room. The outside Porch area covers a large enough room to leave bulky stuff outside the tent and still keep them dry. The Pegs and Guy lines are good quality and I can usually push the pegs into the soil by wearing my bike gloves. Rubber mallet still the best thing to use. The inner tent has adequate ventilation to allow hot air to escape and this helps to keep you dry. The tent also has midge nets to keep those annoying midges at bay.

The sleeping bags:

We looked at several different sleeping bags but found the Marmot Wave III to meet our requirements and tick al the boxes. This sleeping bag comes with a full  length two way zip, it is made from tough fabrics and is fully waterproof. You can expect to pay about £70 for this beauty.

As for sleeping mats, I still use the old neoprene type that doesn't cost an arm or a leg (bought from Argos £4.99) but it does take lost of space, I will leave this one to you to decide as I feel paying about £75 for an inflatable mat is a bit steep.

The camping stove:

The coolest gadget that I have purchased must be the Coleman Unleaded Sportster II stove simply put petrol in it from the bike and of you go. Works a treat! Worth every single penny!!

Thank you for visiting The Bike Nut

Hein-Gericke Gear

Gear, can be enormously expensive! Both wifey and I have a set of leathers each and also a textile suit each. The majority of our gear have been purchased from Hein-Gericke I recently bought the Tricky II jacket and trousers as they where end of line and being replaced by the Tricky III. I have worn this on days when it was absolutely pouring down without getting a drop of rain on my clothes. I tend to where the textiles over my work clothes and just swap shoes when I’m at work.

Boots I went with TCX Competizione S GORE-TEX, I'm not kidding when I say these took absolute ages to break in, I did about 1500 miles before they where remotely comfortable however I can now say I can spend days walking about in them. They still squeak after every step but at least they are comfortable. They also took a little while before I got used to shifting and braking, the sharp fall in the Pound means that they are lost more expensive now, I have seen them for about £40 more than what I paid £180 at the Bike Stop Stevenage.

I also invested in an Oxford 3 Comfy neck warmer.

 The Hein-Gericke Tricky II Jacket, I admit not the best looking. I managed to get this at a very good price and couldn't let it pass my by. This jacket is truly waterproof and breathable. I rode to Scotland in 3 hours constant rain and didn't get a drop of rain on me.

The trousers are the matching Hein-Gericke Tricky II trousers and do exactly what it says on the tin. Well worth a try.

Remember there is absolutely nothing wrong with looking at used bike gear, many bikers buy stuff and find it isn't really what they wanted. I tend to visit eBay and UKGSER for used bits.

I can recommend reading the Ride magazine, they have tonnes of fantastic articles and advice to help you with choosing gear. Also when you go to shops and ou see any Ride Best Buy tickets on items you can be assured that it has been tested by real bikers who actually get out on the roads and test them.

Thank you for visiting The Bike Nut

Kawasaki ER5, Suzuki GSR 600 and a BMW K1200 GT

The last three bikes, well it all started with an irresponsible bid on a Kawasaki ER5 on eBay. I won the bike for £320 and thought I would give it a go. Went to collect the bike and to be fair for an 5 year old bike it wasn’t too bad. The first time I got on it and pulled away I thought the bike was broken. It was incredibly slow and I hated it. On the same day I rode down to The Bike Pavilion in Letchworth and bought a 2007 Suzuki GSR600. I loved it and had lots of fun with it, the only draw back was the wifey didn’t enjoy having her knees inline with her ears and later on didn’t want to go on ride outs anymore. I then went and purchased a new BMW K1200 GT and to date is the best and most fun bike I have ever owned.

Thank you for visiting The Bike Nut

Brief introduction

I’ve decided that it is time to start writing down my biking experiences, this could be for various reasons but personally I think as I get older I get more like my father and I can’t do anything about it.

My love for bikes started very early, I was about 5 years old and was fortunate enough to have a Grand Dad with a massive farm and plenty of bikes to play with, the love for bikes gradually developed into an obsession. This obsession so strong that even my wife got bitten by the bug and she is starting to show interest in biking.

I believe biking has several personal development phases and these vary from person to person. You will go through the Super Moto phase, the Super Bike phase and eventually end up with a cruiser or tourer a beautiful classic bike and something fast for Saturdays.

Thank you for visiting The Bike Nut