CBR600RR Track Bike Build Project Entry 7 – race fairing fitted

October 25th, 2009

At the end of a solid days work to remove the damaged parts plus all lights bilnerks etc here is the finished product.

TW Moto Race Fairing

TW Moto Race Fairing

Thanks to Simon and all his time and tools – cheers mate. The finished product looks great and you can get a fairing exactly like this or with your favorite replica fairing from our shop, click on TW Moto Road and Race Motorcycle Fairings.

TW Moto Race Fairing Front

TW Moto Race Fairing Front

CBR600RR Track Bike Build Project Entry 6 – damaged and stripped

September 27th, 2009

Here is a photo and a video of the damage before we fixed it.

Crashed Two Wheel Warehouse CBR600RR Marketing Bike

Crashed Two Wheel Warehouse CBR600RR Marketing Bike

Here is the bike stripped and ready for the new fairings we already showed you.

Stripped CBR600RR and ready for new TW Moto fairings

Stripped CBR600RR and ready for new TW Moto fairings

You can see the bike sitting on one of our Kaneg Race stands.

Safe riding.

Kaneg Motorcycle Race Stands

September 20th, 2009

Kaneg Motorcycle Race Stands are used by all of us at Two Wheel Warehouse for our road bikes and track bikes. If you see any website photos of our bikes on a stand it is a Kaneg stand.

They are the best stands on the market for racers, track days, oiling your chain or just keeping your bike looking good in the garage.

The stands have the following features:
- 32mm steel rod
- Strongest stand on the market
- An easy lift action
- Suitable for any sports bike
- Available green, silver, blue, red and black

Blue Rear Kaneg Motorcycle Race Stand

Blue Rear Kaneg Motorcycle Race Stand

The Kaneg Race Stands are available from the Two Wheel Warehouse store.

Silver Front Kaneg Motorcycle Race Stand

Silver Front Kaneg Motorcycle Race Stand

CBR600RR Track Bike Build Project Entry 5 – the new fairings

September 20th, 2009

To bould our track bike we wanted to use the correct parts, and that starts with fairings.

We have scoured the manufacturers to work out who supplies the best quality fairings for a reasonable price. If you want to enter a race series and have a fibreglass shell that is reapirable after you hit the bitumen then these are not for you. TW Moto fairings are made from moulded plasctics for those who want to pay half the price for fully a painted fairing.

TW Moto default race fairing

TW Moto default race fairing

You can view the range of available Fairings in our shop.

View TW Moto Road and Race Motorcycle fairings in the Two Wheel Warehouse shop.

Nest entry we will have some photos of the build.

GOPTMC Winter Run 2009

September 1st, 2009

The Governors of Pleasure Touring Motorcycle Club had its annual Winter Run for 2009 on the 29th – 31st August. We started in Malvern and headed off to the eventual destination for the night Marlo, in eastern regional Victoria. So down Wellinton rd through Noojee, Moe, Toongabbie and Bairnesdale. In Bairnsdale I was informed by one of the more experienced riders that my tyre was on the way out and therefore was much more susceptible to a puncture, something you obviously don’t want in the middle of nowhere. As we were going to travel through the middle of nowhere I decided to replace the tyre at potentially the only place we could get one on the trip.

After lunch and on the new tyre we head off the do Dinner Plains Road to Omeo as far as Tambo creek in Ensay and back to Orbost a great road full of open corner and nice sweepers. 


View Larger Map

After 50kms of gentle going to ease in the new tyre I got stuck into it and it was just fantastic. I started to think that my suspension guy had done the magic I had asked for. Then onto Marlo for the night.

As we were arriving into Marlo I was reminded of the yin and yang of everything in this world with a beautiful sunset that was partially hidden by the large number of bugs that had been fatally wounded as they landed on my visor at around 100km/h.

The Bugs

The Bugs

The Sunset

The Sunset

After a 580 km day we head to the Marlo hotel for a few ales and some stories from the day. For the GOP Debutants like Jim and myself it was also time to get know some of the guys we had met that morning.

Day 2: An early start at 8am but first a very needed hot breakfast to wash away the cob webs of a dozen beers and a couple of scotches as a night cap. Then 170kms Orbost to Bombala by 1130am. The road from Orbost to Bonang was the best road I have ever ridden on in this country. The site at the beginning of the road had a rare sight that gave me a tingle.

What a sight........ you can ride for a few hours to find a sight like this.

What a sight........ you can ride for a few hours to find a sight like this.

(Google map link: http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=orbost+to+bonang&sll=-25.335448,135.745076&sspn=40.106451,78.837891&ie=UTF8&z=10)


View Larger Map

The roads were wet but grippy, I have never felt grip like this in the wet before and through twisties in a forest like this is my favourite type of road. I enjoyed the morning ride more than a mere mortal with average riding ability should, it was sublime. Something that I believed contributed to the weekend ride was the suspension work I had done last week. The week before the trip I put my bike in for some Suspension work. Peter from ProMechA in Springvale is an absolute guru (check him out at www.promecha.com.au). From the first minute on the phone Peter convinced me that he was the man for the job. The standard suspension settings on the Honda CB1000R are soft and commuter like. Now this has a road/race combo set up like a nice CBR or sportsbike should, and it absolutely handles like one. All this without changing the components, just a re-valve and re-shim with a little bit a magic suspension dust. There is nothing you can do on the street on a CBR that you couldn’t do on this machine.

Honda CB1000R

Honda CB1000R

Lunch was in Bombala and then another 350kms to Merimbula for the night and dinner at Zanibar cafe, hosted by the owner Alby we had a dinner fit for kings. The ride there had everything from two lost compatriots to the heavens absolutely opening and showing us what they are capable of, we got completely soaked. The rain came so quickly that I have now learned how extremely difficult it is to put on wet weather gear while it is bucketing down.

Day 3: Sunday was cold and a little wet but mostly very boring for the 600km ride home. Mostly everyone was worn out and just wanted to get home. With 100kms to go I was cold wet, sore, tired and perhaps a little grumpy but it was all worth. At our peak numbers we were 9 guys ranging in age, experience and bikes.

The age gap from youngest to oldest was just shy of 30 years and the list of bikes was just as varied and looked something like this:

The range of bikes on the trip

The range of bikes on the trip

Honda CB1000R

KTM Super Duke

The KTM Super Duke

The KTM Super Duke

Ducati Multistrada

Ducati Multistrada

Ducati Multistrada


Honda Blackbird 1100

Aprillia RSV Factory

Aprillia RSV Factory

Aprillia RSV Factory

MV Augusta 312 F4

MV Augusta 312 F4

MV Augusta 312 F4

YZF R1

Thanks goes to Rex and Mark for the organisation of the trip, the trip wouldn’t happen without you.
Thanks to the rest of the guys just for their company and good laughs. Ian, Simon, Mike, Jim, Steve, Rex and Mark thanks again and I can’t wait till next time fellas.

PS: Yes I know that is only 8 but I cannot remember the name of the local guy from Bombala who joined us Saturday afternoon.
PPS: yes the list of bikes is only 7 because there were 2 blackbirds and two Aprillias.

Ducati Tour of Italy Summary

July 27th, 2009

Ducati Tour Summary

The Trip:
Overall the trip was excellent. A trip to remember for life. 10 out of 10.

The people:
Jamie, Joe and Sharon run a very tight ship. They are constantly thinking of how to make it a better experience and it shows with all the litltle things they do for us.

Rafi, Eran and Uri where great riding companions. We all ride about the same pace so it meant we were not constantly waiting for any one individual. They are all very nice blokes and I couldn’t have asked for a better group. I have listened to more hebrew than the rest of my life put together but their English improved the whole time and their company was very worth sharing.

The bikes:
The 1098 was good but not for me.

The 1098s in Parc Ferme

The 1098s in Parc Ferme

The 999 was fun to belt around Mugello but not what I want to own.

The 999 in Parc Ferme

The 999 in Parc Ferme

The 1198 was sublime, the best race bike/sports bike I have ever ridden. It seems the most refined out of all the Ducatis I have ridden with a smooth power delivery, awesome brakes and it is absolutly gorgeous. In fact for a Duc it is even quite refined.

The 1198s in the McD's carpark in Carpi

The 1198s in the McD's carpark in Carpi

The Streetfighter was an amazing bike to ride with brakes that would not be out of place on a superbike (and I needed them a few times too). It is a nice bike to look at and of course is as cool as any Ducati could be. I would love the have one but I have to say with retuning of the ecu and suspension on my honda CB1000R I prefer it for both looks, sound and comfort plus with $10k change compared to the Streetfighter. The Streetfighter is lighter than the Honda and if I was to own only one bike and it was to be a Ducati then possibly the streetfighter for its performance over the Monster 1100.

The Streetfighter S in the snow at the top of the Gavia Pass

The Streetfighter S in the snow at the top of the Gavia Pass

So it comes down to this, of course my favourite and I always come back to it the Monster 1100. It does everything you need it to plus more. For outright performance it is not at the top but take into account comfort, history and basic cool factor the Monster gets a big nod. I am sure the guys I ride with are sick of hearing me talk about it but in fact the choice goes to the 1198s, I have never seen a bike with more sex appeal and it be as awesome to ride. As soon as I can afford one we are good to go.

The Monster 1100s

The Monster 1100s

I will have to come home and ride them again. It is an interesting perspective to have only ridden Ducatis all week as they got smoother and more refined as the week went by :-)

The country:
Italy is my favourite country and I would love to come back and share the romatic side of the place with some one that befits the romance. And who knows I may even stop to look at the view a bit more often.

The roads it seems are built for riding bikes on. Everywhere you go there are great bends, smooth roads, positive camber and limitless other riders to share a wave as you pass them in the opposite direction.

I will be back.

The gear:

Gimoto custom 2 piece race suit. This is the same price as an off the rack suit from other manufacturers and it is custom fit to every measurement on your body – check it out in the photo above with the 1198 and on line at www.gimoto.net.au

The Kreiga R15 back pack. These back packs are made especially for the motorbike rider. It fits superbly and with the special clips on the flaps to stop them falpping in the wind yuo hardly know you are wearing it. Check it out on line at www.kriega.com.au

TW Moto GRIP gloves. You can see a write up about them in the product reviews blog and buy them from our store.

Ciao.

Day 8 in Italy, July 20 (Giorno otto in Italia, Luglio venti) – from Lucca around Tuscany

July 21st, 2009

The final day.

Firstly thanks to all for the overwhelming response to my blister. To my brother and others who merely suggested to HTFU, thank you. To those who sent practical advice, this was helpful as it did get worse. But all I have to do now is sit with Dan on the beach or in a cafe, drink coffee and ponder which Ducati I want to buy.

A latish rise to the day that started with a good breakfast and a call from my team at work to say how jealous they are :-) thanks for the call guys.

Then a jaunt through about an hour of some gentle sweepers with a few nice tight ones to keep you awake. I am still struggling as I am so mentally and physically tired so I took it easy for the morning enjoyed much more of the view.

We had a stop at San Gimignano. The below photo of Jamie and me is at the entrance to the city.

Entrance to San Gimignano

Entrance to San Gimignano

This place has a number of towers that it is famous for. Very Italian like they started building them and then it became a competition to see who could build the biggest. Then the local council built the biggest and would not approve any more. So it stands today the biggest tower.

Tower in San Gimignano

Tower in San Gimignano

Then to Volterra for lunch and an hour or so ride home.

The view from to top in Volterra

The view from to top in Volterra

We go to some shopping for bike gear for the Iraelis as it is much cheaper here, and by the amount they bought they saved an absolute fortune.

Dan arrived and joined us for the farewell dinner. Before dinner and after shopping the holiday started as for about 3 hours Dan and I sat, drank coffee and ate. 2 more weeks of this is going to be hard to take …… NOT!!!

Tomorrow we are on a train to Viareggio and change at La Spezia for Monterosso.

So we say goodbye to the walled city of Lucca and Ducati Tours.

Good bye to Lucca and Ducati Tours

Good bye to Lucca and Ducati Tours

On to Monterosso in the Cinque Terre for 5 nights and Rome for 6. See you in a few weeks.

My love to all.

PS:the blister has gotten worse but now to beach and doing nothing. Thanks also to a sydney based ex-motorcycle racer who shall remain nameless for his email re the blister and no it was not in any way related to the beautiful waitress, I don’t know what you mean ;-)

Day 7 in Italy, July 19 (Giorno siette in Italia, Luglio Dicinuove) – Riva del Garda to Lucca

July 20th, 2009

Day 7. Firstly an apology to anyone who can speak Italian (Lori) because I have been mispelling July until today. I am sure there are also other errors in these daily updates but so be it when you scribe an entire tour on a blackberry. Scrivo non bene.

Today is the second last day and we having some thoughts of how it will change us. All 4 of us ride japanese 4s (3 Honda and a suzuki 750) but there is a firm belief that each will keep the bike they have. I feel Eran is the most likely to update as at home he has a CBR600RR and has been riding the 1098, once you have had the torque it is addictive. However I cannot imagine how much a Ducati would be in Irael as he paid €20k ($33,000 AUD) for the 600. It is criminal.

The day started again with some yoga. I am undecided if this is good for my stiff body first thing in the morning but I will likely try again tomorrow as it is something different. Riding today in temps starting at 17 and getting to just over 30, it was hot.

Yesterday’s 8.5 hours only yielded more than 300kms even with the stops. Today we had some time on the autostrada back towards Lucca which racks up the kms so I think we did closer to 400kms. We also planned to stop off to watch the Moto GP but we arrived too late. I had planned to watch it after dinner tonight but of course it is on in the afternoon here when it is a european race, sometimes the feeble brain of mine is slower than it should be :-) .

There is one standout thing on the roads here in Italy. No matter where you go there is great respect for motorbikes and scooters. Everyone is crazy but there is respect for two wheels. People will constantly make room for you to split lanes or get past them in some way and even give way to you in general. Some Ducati riders have a lesser amount of respect for those riding japanese 4’s.

Ducatisti opinion of Japanese 4 cylinder bikes

Ducatisti opinion of Japanese 4 cylinder bikes

After a very nice breakfast where I finally got some scrambled eggs the mornings ride had me a little out of sorts mentally. My riding was rough and jerky, the smoothness I had spent the last couple of days working on with the Streetfighter was gone. So I slowed right down and started again, with some success but very limited, it was a waste of good roads. But I put it down the being physically and mentally tired – the last few days have been hard work iin this heat.

The skins under the leathers have been very good. For my Iraeli friends check out www.skins.net but for me the skin tight shirts have lost some appeal with this weeks diet adding excessive kgs.

The highlight of the day for me was Jamie’s wheelie at 160 in third down the autostrada. It went for about 1km and finished at 220 in 5th gear. WOW! We pulled over for a short brake and I think, as a new addition to the Ducatisti for this week anyway, Eran saw a Honda in the bushes.

Eran the Ducatisti spots a Honda in the bushes)

Eran the Ducatisti spots a Honda in the bushes)

I am very surprised that from my family and best of friends that I received no sympathy emails or texts for my blister, I guess I will just have to soldier on.

We eventually stopped at Chalet Raticosa on the Passo del Futa, where we were to watch the race. It is a big bike hang out and there about 250 bikes (see below photo). It was about 5pm and apparently half the maximum amount of bikes were gone. Passo del Futa is Jamie’s favourite road in Italy and is was a fantastic road. Like the good bits of the Great Ocean Road without cops. There very many italians out for a sunday ride and some of them can really ride. They all think they are Valentino but some really ride.

Top of Passo del Futa

Top of Passo del Futa

A simple pizza dinner again with just one beer. I am looking forward to tomorrow night to have more than one beer as there will be no riding the next day.

It also might be time for a haircut as the hair out the back of the helmet is long enogh to get knotted from the wind on the autostrada.

Tomorrow is the final day. I finally get to ride the Monster 1100s and Dan arrives to share the farewell dinner.

The Monster 1100s

The Monster 1100s

Take care and safe riding.

Day 6 in Italy, July 17 (Giorno sie in Italia, Luglio Diciotto) – Bormio to Riva del Garda

July 19th, 2009

Ciao.

Leaving the Spa Resort Bagni Nuovi in Bormio the forecast was for 7 to 18 degrees for the day and showers. Well they lied. Its good to see the weather forecasters in Italy are just as crap as they are at home. The temp leaving the hotel was 7 degrees, but it got down to 5 in the mountains as we did the Passo Tonale. We were riding above the clouds and it was cold in summer gloves, thin socks and no warm pants. I gave thanks for the jumper I was laughing at myself for bringing just 2 days ago. I took the below photo just after we arrived at back Bormio the night before from our drive in the van. The view the nexty morning was the same but everything was wet.

The bikes at Bormio

The bikes at Bormio

On the way down as the temperature was increasing to at least 10 ……… the 848 wouldn’t start cause it blew a fuse for the fuel pump. I think this random break down is one of the included Italian design options that make Ducati expensive. Another excellent design feature of Ducati is that you have to remove the fairing to replace this fuse so after realising we had lost the Iraelis Jamie went back to find them and spent 20 minutes replacing the fuse.

We then went to the same place for lunch we went on day 4 (we have tracked straight back down the alps to get quickly away from the cold and wet). It was a popular place amongst the group, the waitress was one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Today we found out she was 16. Please no-one tell her father what we were thinking. Actually don’t worry he probably knows.

At lunch we spoke to a bunch of local guys who had come from where we were going and vice versa, we told them not to bither and they told us the weather down lower was good so we took off all the wet weather gear and risked it for about 15 – 30 minutes. We did however keep on everything under the leathers to keep warm, i.e. afforementioned jumper with a long sleeve t-shirt.

On the way we ride through Pinzolo and there is a Ferrari show/club in the parking lot of the Juventis offical summer training camp venue.

The Ferrari show in Pinzolo

The Ferrari show in Pinzolo

Then we drove out of Pinzolo to see an enormous crowd spilling out of a hotel carpark and onto the street. The Juventus team bus had just arrived. We didn’t stop.

Then 10 minutes out of Pinzolo I have a couple of moments with the rear sliding a bit too much out of corners. I stop to look at the tyre and I can compress it with a thumb ……….. for those who don’t know, this shouldn’t happen. So I have to trek back into Pinzolo past the Jeventus team bus crowd and the Ferrari show to find a servizi stazione to pump up the tyre. It had 22 pounds in it ….????
We put 40 in to give it some room move and got back on our way.

We stop a little further down the road for some photos and I take the chance to have my photo taken in my Blue Mountains Bikers shirt – BMB in Italy.

Blue Mountains Bikers, in Italy

Blue Mountains Bikers, in Italy

Today was certainly not without more than its fair share of dramas because again we were stopped but this time by the optional features of the italian design.

We switched off and de-helmeted for a re-look at the map as the road we were going to take was closed. I was the last one to take off, but the Streetfighter would not start. So I had to try clutch starting it on my own as the guys had disappeared around the bend. Without me knowing Joe from Ducati Tours had decided that the bike being the performance machine it is and him not being someone who does things by halves had installed a slipper clutch (for those who don’t know a slipper clutch allows the clutch to slip more than normal under compression).

After two goes at pushing it up the hill, further the second time to get more speed I got it going just as one of the guys came back for me. I however stalled it again later and we had another go at push starting the Streetfighter but no luck, without a decent hill like the first time we were not going to get it to the 30km/h we would need to repeat our earlier success. Jamie the genius then came up with the brilliant plan to switch battery with the 848 as it doesn’t have a slipper.

Jamie and Eran replace the 848 Fairing

Jamie and Eran replace the 848 Fairing

Did I mention that the fairing has to come off for this type of activity? We do this switch the batteries and then clutch started the 848 first go and off we went. It was our last delay for the day.

The roads into Riva del Garda were baked in sunlight and well dry by the time we reached them so it was an awesome finish to the day. Suffice to say that now having been up and down the alps and done more Passo’s than I care to remember we have doen our fairshare of 1st gear hairpin corners. I think I will passo on anymore hairpins (come on you were expecting some kind crap passo joke weren’t you?).

The second half of the day was brilliant riding even if a little hot as we had put on all we had to stave off the cold from the morning. There ends another days adrenalin.

The hotel for tonight is on Lake Garda and the restaurant for dinner was in the building, see below photo of the view.

Dinner view in Riva del Garda

Dinner view in Riva del Garda

I have also attached a photo of the worsening blister, all sympathy accepted via email or text.

The Blister

The Blister

Finche domani.

H

Day 5 in Italy, July 16 (Giorno cinque in Italia, Luglio Dicisiette) – Bormio to Bormio

July 18th, 2009

Benvenuti a Giorno 5.

After 300 kms yesterday, a spa and water massage we went to dinner in a german/italian restaurant and then I slept very well. The dinner was very weird but great food and not too expensive, in stark contrast to the night before with the 4 course meal outside on the edge of Lake Iseo.

Today is the optional day were anyone who is tired or just wants to take advantage of a day at the spa can. I said last night I would ride again and then come back for a massage. But alas the rain came to the Alps so we drove into Switzerland via the Passo della Stelvio in the support van which was good fun and much better than staying in the hotel even though Bormio is 1225m above sea level and the view is great from my room, the views from the Stelvio are just spectacular.

The Passo dello Stelvio

The Passo dello Stelvio

The drive with the boys in the van ended up being very relaxing, a good view with the iPod on, it was a break from the adrenalin of the two previous days with its intensity from concentrating on staying in the right hand side of the road. The heart does get a flutter when you see a car on the left side coming towards you through the bends but I just breathe and tell myself “right hand side of the road”.

We stop in Livigno ski town for some food and a walk around through the shops. I of course bought some shoes and a couple of gifts. Here is the view from the main street in Livigno. You can see the ominous clouds and the drying ground, but it rained again later.

Livigno Ski Town

Livigno Ski Town

So we arrive back through Switzerland where I took the below photo out the windscreen of the van. I arrive back to a massage then a spa and back to my room for a rest before dinner.

The road back through Switzerland

The road back through Switzerland

I also found out today our Israeli electrcian Uri is also a yoga instructor so we did yoga, which was quite helpful to stretch out some sore and tired muscles, especially for the idiot with the saw ribs who fell of his bike.

To add insult to injury today another injury appeared, even more serioius than yesterday’s crash. A blister has developed on my right hand, and it is quite painful. These delicate hands are not used to such hard work. I am now what the Ducatisti call disabled with a less than perfect throttle hand. This of course is completely not true, the Ducatisti would call me soft, just like everyone else, including all of you.

Ciao Amici.

H