Monday, August 1, 2011

Hayabusa Canyon Ride

It was a bright morning and as we're filling up gas in our tanks, I realized that its windy too. This should be a perfect day for riding. It was an ordinary ride to Grik for our weekly roti canai breakfast and the clock was showing 10:45am. We're about to end breakfast, suddenly, I got an idea. I thought we should extend our ride to the Banding Lake (Tasik Banding). It's only about 30miles further to the east...where the windy road meets the sky....and its the last day before Ramadhan. The last day before we bag our bikes into a loooong hibernation.

As it turned out, I had a hell of time. The truns were shorter, as if asking you to come and shred the tires...before the season ends.....I leave it to you to enjoy the ride with me :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R45iHpRi838&feature=youtube_gdata

Hangtime

Routine roti canai breakfast for the thousandth time :-)
The Banding Lake. Connecting bridge to the Banding Island in the background.


Enggagement ceremony of our own Rudy (Men in Black)


Friday, July 22, 2011

Track Day on Hayabusa

It was planned almost right after the April trackday. Everyone has his score to settle this time, as the last one was awesome for everybody. This is clear from the daily emails and weekend ride chatters. Everyone badly wants to improve their cornering. Here is everyone. Busa riders dreaded the premature throttle release and braking at the straight line, blaming them entirely on the wooden feel of the Hayabusa brakes, never on the lack of...courage.

There's one more addition to our group this time. A spanking brand new grey Hayabusa, just clocked about 1000 miles under 3 weeks old (photo below, see arrow). We actually convinced Razman to pick up skill and confidence by doing a track stint with us. Perhaps, we think we can coach him along the way like big brothers do.
Departing aboout 8am at the local Shell
Big brother Hj K. and us at the R&R just before one of our bikes needed an engine oil top up. Perhaps it's his way to give us blessings before the mayhem.
Dinner with good friends from the Wlong Wlum gang who travelled with us to Krabi. Dinner venue (NZ cafe) has great view of the glittering KL twin tower.



At the track, as the usual sequence went, tire pressure set to 31psi front & 30psi rear, gas fill up to at leats 3/4 full or more, stick the admission tix ring on to the bikes, tapeout the number plates....and for the first time, stick the helmet cam to the helmet, yes...it should have worked well except for the alignment was off and got all wasted.
1st lap is for sighting and tire warming up while reacquainting with the ol' familiar layout again. We got hooked up riding back to back just like any other Sunday ride to Grik :-).
Turn 9.

As things got warmed up, the lean angle becomes smaller..at least it should, but somehow it didnt go as I wished. Instead of the turning in smoothly, it buckled in coupled with a slippery feeling. I left the track and found that the tire pressure has increased by 1.5psi, will this make it lose traction? A friend later said that the corner speed was too slow causing rolling sensation. I made a quick check and found that the body position was not spot on like in April. This came much later, a couple of laps before the mock race started....too late to have fun I might say.


Turn 1 - while feeling very slippery



Mat Jep pushing himself


Desperately in need for more entry speed, more butt shift and more knee out ... more track days :-)


Turn 2, much later in session.


Right after the tire pressure adjustment - 1st pit.


Another turn2 photo - getting in the rythm, but too little time left



Always feel like a million dollars everytime at the grid




After the mayhem with the Wlong Wlum clan



The tremendous fun was marred with 3 red lights and a crash by one of our Busas. Fortunately no one was injured. We rode back short of 1 rider and dead tired 400km down the road. It was worth the while but I just wished I had smaller breakfast, arrived 20 mins.earlier and a better sleep the night before.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Pre Sepang trackday ride - tire warming

  • "Wadie - awat nampak lurah tu!"




  • "Depan masjid kat Barcelona ada tarikan tersendiri...Abg Haji kena bukak spectacles, tak mahu tengok". Kami semua ternganga dengag cerita kedai kopi sebegini.





  • Antara Busa riders yang tegar (or ketegar?&*). Razman (center) , maiden ride to Grik - macam dah naik selalu...daaa. Tak payah nak tunggu, kena tailgate lagi!!

  • Mat Jep (left) - suit liner sama kaler dgn leather seam. Matching tuuu. Semakin laju harini.



  • Genap 10 bikes yang merempit pagi Ahad ni. 5 of them are Hayabusas!!



  • Newly discovered Blue Hayabusa



  • Mat Jep with his new bling bling full suit on its maiden ride. Chest emblem should be replaced by a fusion power cell then we both can be Iron Man.



  • If someone ask u, if they come in Pink. The answer is - Hell, no! :-)


  • Klu gambar ni elok, aku nak frame kat atas moto, let them know I am the proud owner!


  • Razman (right - on his maiden trip to Grik) and Jep went up the hill......they are too concerned about breaking their neck so they're armored to their teeth.

    • Sunday, June 26, 2011

      Dulu dulu

      Nostalgia... zaman 2000an dulu...

      Moto zaman 2 stroke - NSR, KR, TZ dan RGV. Superbike masa tu tersangatlah jarang nampak. Confident pun tak ada nak bawak superbike, maklumla geng pun belum lahir lagi :-). Semuanya bermula dengan KRS ni... Masa baru2 beli 1994, motor ni nampak besar bila di parking tepi pertama complex. Dengan lampu depan 2 bijiknya dan fairing penuh ala2 zzr600 dan zzr250..terasa macam superbike, sampaila TZM mula naik atas jalan. Dgn tayar 17in lebar 130 kot, memang kalah la KRS yg baru dibeli cuma 2 bulan :-(.


      Bertanamkan tekad nak pakai moto tayar lebar ala2 TZM, aku terus sambar ZX6R terus haa...ambik kau. Itu ditahun 1998. 1st thing terasa berbeza bila naik superbike, gear 6 dia power betul, walaupun power curve moto ni cuma terasa di top end saja. Moto pun dah season dlm 30K lebih. Banyak yg tak puas hati, maklumla, high expectation, perfectionist pulak tu.
      Umur pun baru 29 waktu nih.
      Selepas tu tiba2 ada lah rezeki lebih sket. Mulalah tangan pun menggeletar nak moto bottom end pulak...cc besar lagi la tu. Sambar la ZX7R ... sebab moto ni evergreen dan masih dalam World Superbike. Nampak pun garang..lampu depan dua biji mean bug eye pun sangatla menggiurkan :-)
      Gambar lepas buat top speed run...masa tu 240kmh cukup laju la tu...ZX-7R 2001
      Kona masa tu belajar sendiri2 sebab tak selalu naik konvoi. Kerja siang malam, mana nak ada masa waktu tu. Ada la satu favorite korner, asyik tala disitu saja, petang2 lepas kerja.

      Cakap berkenaan lepas kerja ni, aku teringat kemalangan pertama berpatahkan tangan dulu. Apa punya gila menunggang moto waktu demam dek food poisoning. Aku dilanggar kapcai penunggang tua yang membelok ke kanan sewaktu aku memotong di sebelah kanan juga. Gedegang, skreeet, bam! ...beserta pandangan yg berguling-guling, itu saja yang aku masih ingat.

      Setelah moto disolek semula, aku melangkah lebih jauh...meredah tasik Banding dan Pedu seorang diri. Sempadan Siam tak lagi jadi sempadan aku. Siang, malam, hujan, panas tak ada bezanya. Bermulalah episod baru....pengalaman oh pengalaman.

      Moto ni juga, yang pertama aku latam dalam trek. Pertama kali di Batu 3 dan selang setahun lepas tu di SIC (Sepang). Sayang, aku tak bawak kamera si Batu3 yg dah lesap dibawah Tesco extra.
      Rasa cukup 'mereng' la waktu tu, rupa2 nya tak de bende pun. Gambar masa di Pos Slim, Cameron Highlands.
      Moto hitam aku tukar ke Pearl Orange ala2 model 2001 di US. Bagi aku, kaler ni sedap di pandang dan nampak lebih besar berbanding hitam. Jimat sikit duit berbanding kalau beli yang baru.

      2002, keluarla pulak moto yang paling cun waktu tu. CBR954. Dua tahun aku mengintai. In 2004, tak sempat2 nak jual ZX-7R dah sambar satu lagi........... Walaupun keluarga aku dah bertambah ahli, biar ibunya mau pun anak, tapi passion motorrad aku ni tak luntur2.
      Klu ZX7R aku rasa torquey dan stabil, CBR954 pulak rasa flighty dan melayang. Tak terasa kepayahan langsung bila nak pecut. Inilah moto fuel injection yang aku rasa setanding dengan moto2 baru waktu 2004 dulu. Berbaloi beli, tak disengajakan pulak owner asalnya seorang artis. Memang tip top dan low mileage. Pokoknya, aku owner yang puas hati lah.

      Lebih kerap dan jauh aku melangkah. Memang betul klu org bilang, moto ni ada tarikkan yg kuat. Hobby sampingan mengarut aku pun bertambah melarat. Trip yang beratus batu boleh dihabiskan dalam sepetang atau semalam demi hobby yang itu.
      Wuuh, kurusnya aku masa ni - dahsyat 66kg je masa tu, seberat Mawi AF,. Dah le tu, gelap pulak -selalu bawak moto agaknya.
      Moto ni tak perlu tarik brek, cuma lepas throttle, enjinnya boleh brek sendiri. Kalau nak tailgate kereta pun, no problem. Jangan cuba dgn Suzuki....tapi moto Suzuki lah jugak yang aku cari. (bersambung lagi...sori)

      (add almost a year later - 11 March 2012)
      ....... banyaklah perkara yg menghalang penyambungan artikel ini. Terutmanya kesuntukan masa termasuklah my departure to Mekah tahun lalu bersama kursus haji. Sekarang, blog diteruskan lagi.

      954 bukanlah moto yg dapat rating tertinggi waktu itu sebab R1 lebih mendapat perhatian dalam kebanyakan majalah. 954 dengan cc yg tak cukup 1000, ia bukan lagi moto no1. Di tahun 2008, genaplah 4 tahun bersama aku. Mileage pun dah lebih 28k. Valve clearance done, 2nd dyno tune dapat 147hp. Memang tinggi untuk 954 dgn Micron slip on. Tiada apa yg kurang, cuma rasa2 nak tukar selera pulak.

      Kebetulan pula, keadaan kewangan mula mengizinkan. Segala news tentang moto diteliti. Akhirnya setelah bertemu kawan2 Malaysian Super Series dan diperkenalkan dengan salesman Naza - Mael, aku pun mula mengenali Naza Motors. Yang menjadi idaman ketika itu pulak ialah GSX1000 model K5 (2005).

      Model ini menang WSB in its debut year dan mengekalkan gelaran bike of the year banyak majalah motor di tahun seterusnya. Keistimewaannya ada 2. Senang dihandle dan midrange yang kuat. The qualities it shares with v-twin bikes like Ducati. Seterusnya, aku pulak tak pernah lagi memiliki Suzuki. Apalagi model 1000cc. R1 yang menjadi kegilaan ramai dengan exoz under the seat cuma ada looks but not the usable power on the street like the GSXR. Dengan harga $76k, on the road aku pun menyambar moto baru tu. This became my first brand new superbike walaupun bukan model terkini.

      Pecutan K5 memang boleh menimbulkan ketagihan. Dengan berat kering moto 168kg dan horsepower menjangkau 165, tak heran kalau pecutannya lebih terasa hebat dari Hayabusa sendiri. Bukan setakat itu, handlingnya juga memang terlalu senang malah lebih bersahaja bila menukar arah dan mencabar selekoh tajam tanpa membrek. Sekiranya masuk selekoh sudah menguja, keluar selekoh akan disambut dengan huasa tork midrange yang sangat kuat. Tak heranlah moto ni menang WSB c'ship debut year of 2005. Cuma disebabkan saiznya yang 90% motor pencabar d kelas yg sama yg membuatkan saya merasa kurang sesuai. Pendek kata motor ni nampak sebesar TZM sahaja. Jadi timbullah rasa mahu cari yang lain......bersambung



      Motivate - motovate

      Something to look at everyday...so that you have to plan something up on coming weekends :-)
      Stare at them more and you just might have to add or change some items...






      Wednesday, May 25, 2011

      Another ride with On Board Camera 21st May



      Minggu demi minggu, berturut2 pulak turun Grik kali ni. Mungkin lebih bersemangat bila dah pasang camera sekali lagi. On bike movie shooting... nampak memuaskan bila diambik minggu lepas.



      Kali ni geng bertambah - 12 moto semuanya. Tempat singgah pekena roti canai pun dah tukar. Dari simpang ke kiri, sekarang ni masuk ke kanan simpang traffic light Shell/Caltex...malang, tandas dia rosak...apa daaa!



      Antara yg nak rempit pagi minggu..


      Navy Seals ?


      JPJ:"Kami bukan apa..ramai komplen yg budak2 moto besar ni tak pernah kena tahan JPJ".....Cikgu Farid: "Lain kali pasang LED sign board yg tulis - ADA" Hj:"Insurance ada kat rumah la, pasai apa nak bawak pulak" Aku: wakakakaka


      Video to be loaded tak lama lagi......stay tuned

      Monday, May 16, 2011

      Grik Ride May 15th 2011

      Ride kali ni lain sket. Aku bawak video cam (camera digital la tu). Semata2 sebab, kempunan. Kempunan sebab masa Track Day dulu tak sempat nak pasang camera akibat terlalu asyik kat dalam trek. Tak sempat nak keluar dan pasang camera atas moto.


      Lagi pulak - dah lama tak naik ramai, dekat nak sebulan lebih. Klu kata ada video cam tentu ramai yang naik datang jugak.




      Gloves, new pair of boots (top) and modified camera mounter (below) are enough motivation for today's ride.


      Among the riders today, I think I am too overdressed...sigh





      Bike video below:



      Wednesday, April 20, 2011

      Sepang Track day for 2011

      Started the trip to Sepang early at 6.30am just after Subuh so that we can arrive by noon and check in the Grand BlueWave in Shah Alam. The track session's scheduled at 2pm till 4pm. We hope to be able to freshen up after the long ride up to Shah Alam, before getting into business in SIC (Sepang Int'l Circuit).




      Weather was excellent up till Tapah, when it started to rain. We kept on going to make it on time but it continuously rained even at 2pm when we reached the hotel. Bikes parked under drizzling rain

      As later discovered, it was just our luck as there would be 3 more track sessions the next day - Sunday. I pretty much guessed it would not gonna rain anymore come tomorrow.

      So, we decided to stay in bed for a while, with helmets on :-( cursing on the weather....


      Headed up to Naza PJ and Mecinda once the rain stopped. In Naza to check out Arlen Ness leathers price tags. In Mecinda, I got myself a Mink oil for my leather care and had my helmet fixed by Paksu.

      Some friends from the previous Krabi trip accompanied us for dinner. "Wloong Lum braderhood" as they call it, perhaps due to an incident in across the Northern border few weeks back, was the name given to this specific group of fun loving people (below).


      Bikers night out (below). It was almost midnight when the engine just started. This is the time we had some lessons learned shared from old hands of Sepang- Nizam and Hisham Monster.






      Here we are, all suit up and ready to go. Time check 7:30am.


      Finally got in SIC with few more friends joining. It was just very fortunate for us to have Yasser Said, rode with us last time to Grik. Below, Yasser was talking about some techniques less known to others. One of the must humble guy with very high credentials I ever met. He even took me around for 2 laps just to show the correct racingline. I am so honored to be guided by someone who raced with Rossi before, in 99 .....


      The session was delayed for an hour and started at about 10am as there was a night jogging session the day before that results in a track full of litter.

      I started off with a 32 mins non stop sighting which summed up to about 33miles. I noticed that the bike was fast on straights but having too much dive which forced me to throttle off midway in the straights.


      The tire too was not confident inspiring especially coming out of turn 15. They are not of super sports but sports touring type (021). Although they resist long&hot stints, throttle control must be smooth as I lost grip coming out of 15 and 3.


      After a 5-minute pit, 1 made another 14miles (20mins or so) with a friend tagging on to just learn from each others observation especially on body posture inside corners. 1 thing I learned here is that I lacked a wide knee out coming into corners.

      Corner 15?

      After another short pitstop, I clocked an additional 30miles before a red light forcing a pit break for everybody. I was a bit puzzled as there were still some 20minutes to go. Little did I know, it was time for a mock up race. Personally, its the best moment for ameteurs to experience flagoff at a starting grid similar to MotoGP setting (minus the spectators off course), with gridlights, flag man and best of all the engine roar at pushoff.




      Even with more than 6 trackdays in Sepang before, I personally have different experience this time. The mock up race, the front sports touring tires instead of sticky super sports, the highest number of laps of all the trackdays (~27laps) and finally, racing with proper racing leather suit (unlike all the while before, racing jeans and armor top) are few things apart.


      All in all, the tyres was spent up by ~ 600miles this trip including 90miles of Sepang track riding.

      My Hayabusa - best bike in my ownership line up, really fits all purpose - meeting my needs for speed at this modest skill. It deserve a good bath like below after the long trip.