Category: Riding

Adventures Down Under, Motorcycle Rental MT09 in Brisbane, Part 2

Post author By Arthur
Post date May 31, 2019
No Comments on Adventures Down Under, Motorcycle Rental MT09 in Brisbane, Part 2

Continuing my Brisbane motorcycle rental adventure on a Yamaha MT09, for my second day I followed a route loosely based on this Rent This Bike blog post, an epic loop heading North West of Brisbane around lake Wivenhoe, taking in Mount Glorious, then North West over to Kingaroy, through Bunya Mountain and then back via Cooyar, Crows Nest and Esk. A substantial ride to do in one day at around 535 km, which left me minimal time to stop and explore along the route, before riding back into Brisbane after dark due to the early autumn nights. Definitely get out on the road early or consider stopping the night halfway for a more leisurely cruise.

Tags Adventure, Bike Rental, Route

Riding

Adventures Down Under, Motorcycle Rental MT09 in Brisbane, Part 1

Post author By Arthur
Post date May 24, 2019
No Comments on Adventures Down Under, Motorcycle Rental MT09 in Brisbane, Part 1

So when my boss turned around and asked if I could join him on a sales trip to a prospective customer in Brisbane Australia, I of course jumped at the opportunity. Sure, there was quite a lot of technical prep work setting up demo systems for presentations, the arduous sales meeting itself and the long flights (not business class sadly). But it did afford me a chance to grab a couple of free days to rent a motorcycle in Brisbane and explore some of Australia’s beautiful East Coast. Being my first visit to Australia, I was keen to see as much of it as I could cram into my time there.

Brisbane Motorcycle Rental

For motorcycle rental, a quick Google revealed Eagle Rider had a shop in Brisbane, certainly tempting having rented from them previously in Sam Francisco. However, I also found the smaller local firm Rent This Bike, with a good choice of bikes and very competitive pricing. They were also more flexible on return times, affording me two full days of riding. I only had a Friday and Saturday free time and EagleRider close at 3 pm on Saturdays, whereas Rent This Bike was happy to accommodate pick up and drop-offs from 7 am to 7 pm any day.

Tags Adventure, Bike Rental, Route

Courses/Tuition Riding

Newbie Trail Riding at Off The Kerb, Dorking

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 24, 2019
No Comments on Newbie Trail Riding at Off The Kerb, Dorking

I’m always interested in new biking adventures and off road riding is something I’ve been meaning to try for a long time. To resolve this, I recently booked myself in at the Off The Kerb Trail Riding school down in Dorking, Surrey. Off The Kerb offer a newbie friendly introduction to off road trail riding, exploring local green lanes in the beautiful Surrey Hills on Fantic Moto 250E Case enduro bikes.

Toppling over in an embarrassing fashion is de rigueur when off road

The day comes in at just over £200 quid, including hire of all the kit you need: bike, boots, full armour, top, trousers, waterproof jacket, gloves, lid and not forgetting lunch. Certainly very handy for an off road newbie with none of the gear, and at a price on par with many other off road days elsewhere. Toppling over in an embarrassing fashion is de rigueur when off road, so doing that in the supplied full armour and less precious kit is definitely preferred.

Fantic Moto 250E Casa bikes – a doddle to ride

Tags Off-Road

Riding

“Think my tyres have gone off” and Dented Riding Confidence

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 11, 2019
No Comments on “Think my tyres have gone off” and Dented Riding Confidence

“Think my tyres have gone off”. Twist of a Wrist II – by Keith Code

“Think my tyres have gone off” – said Keith Code’s protagonist in Twist of the Wrist II, and every other biker with lost riding confidence trying to pin the blame on something tangible that’s easy to replace. Confidence is easily dented, whether from a tumble down the road, an arse clenching close call, to a change of bike, setup or yes tyres.

Riding

Cold Tyres, Low-Side, First Scrape on the FZ6

Post author By Arthur
Post date February 22, 2019
No Comments on Cold Tyres, Low-Side, First Scrape on the FZ6

Didn’t have a great start the other morning. Should have known better.

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A post shared by Beginner Biker Adventures (@beginnerbikeradventures) on Feb 20, 2019 at 10:33am PST

A case of cold tyres, rushing around, late for work and too eager on the throttle. Literally the second left turn after leaving the house, trying to gas it to make a gap in the traffic and back wheel just span up, low sided and off the bike went sliding down the road. Gutted.

Tags Crash, Crash Protection

Riding

How to Physically Prepare for a Long Motorcycle Ride

Post author By Patrick Cullard
Post date February 22, 2019
1 Comment on How to Physically Prepare for a Long Motorcycle Ride

First long ride Most of the articles that you will come across about getting ready for a long motorcycle ride tackle the kind of equipment that you need to make sure you don’t leave behind, but almost none of them will tell you what you have to do with your body before touring.

It takes a lot of physical stamina, as well as mental focus, to ride your bike for a whole day. It can’t even compare to spending several hours behind the wheel in a car. You get uncomfortable, sweaty, too hot or cold, and you always have to make sure you maintain the correct posture so that you can ride for even more hours. Furthermore, motorcycle riding requires more strength, mostly because you constantly have to manoeuvre it.

Riding

Biker Down

A couple of weeks ago I was out leading a ride with my local IAM group, snaking up through the Essex countryside to the Krazy Horse custom bike shop and cafe in Bury St Edmunds. The morning had started wet, but gradually the sun come out and dried up the roads well. It was a cracking ride, we all had a spot of lunch at Krazy Horse and a lovely ride back to Ongar, before all going our separate ways home. It was as I was riding a few miles from home that I came across a scene that all bikers dread.

Tags Crash

Riding

Best San Francisco Motorcycle Routes in the Bay Area

Post author By Arthur
Post date August 4, 2018
No Comments on Best San Francisco Motorcycle Routes in the Bay Area

San Francisco motorcycle rental - Harley Davidson Road King — Rented Harley Davidson Road King

Over the past few years, I’ve made a number of trips to the Bay Area, hiring a number of bikes from San Francisco motorcycle rental firms and explored many great routes and locations. Here I have rounded up a list of the best San Francisco motorcycle roads I’ve enjoyed ready for you to download and check out if you’re in the area.

These routes are all hosted on MyRouteApp, a great app for planning and sharing routes from which you can download the routes in many different formats. Or export them directly to your SatNav via the MyRouteApp Windows or Mac connector app.

Tags Adventure, Route

Riding Videos

Prudential Ride London Sweep Team Volunteering

Post author By Arthur
Post date August 2, 2018
2 Comments on Prudential Ride London Sweep Team Volunteering

Well you’ve got to love the Great British Summer… Insane, heatwave for weeks, then the weekend you’re scheduled to spend on the bike, it pours down something chronic!

Last weekend I volunteered to help our with the Prudential Ride London cycle endurance race, scheduled to have around 40k Lycra warriors tackling a 100, 46 or 19 mile route. My job was to carrier a cycle mechanic pillion with a tonne of tools and supplies and sweep up those stopped with bike or medical trouble. I feared I’d be dealing with loads of heat exhaustion and dehydration cases, but no, we were dealing with countless punctures and freezing wet cyclists instead. I lost count of how many inner tubes we got through, with many cyclists hit by repeated punctures.

Tags London

Riding

Motorcycle Routes – Essex Ride Out Loop

Post author By Arthur
Post date May 20, 2018
4 Comments on Motorcycle Routes – Essex Ride Out Loop

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to lead a ride for the ELAM group. A bit of a double edged sword, a great chance to pick a route via my favourite motorcycle routes Essex has, but also somewhat nerve wracking – you don’t want to miss a turning, lose anyone and so on. For the ride I choose a popular Essex loop, starting in Harlow, then taking in Finchingfield, Halstead, Mersea Island, Maldon, Burnham-on-Crouch then returning to Harlow.

Motorcycle Routes – Essex Loop Part 1

Motorcycle routes Essex - Finchingfield — Bikes on show at Finchingfield

The first leg starts at Harlow McD’s just off M11 Junction 7, takes a number of rural and twisty roads up through Ongar, Hatfield Heath, Stanstead airport, Thaxted and then Finchingfield. These back roads twist and turn and are great to throw your bike left then right, and almost all have great condition tarmac. Definitely some of the best motorcycle roads Essex has to offer. With the weather warming up a much needed ice cream was had in Finchingfield as we checked out all the bikes on show.

Tags Ride Out, Route