Just a quick post this time… Picked up my new Yamaha R1 yesterday (the last was hi-jacked!). Feels good to be back on a superbike again! Took it down to Brighton with a friend who picked up his new Honda Blackbird and ended up coming back home through a blizzard on the M25! No pictures yet but I’ll try to take some at the weekend if it’s nice enough.
What is it with kids (14-18 year olds I mean, god I must be getting old!) these days. They see a bike and they feel that they must try to get you to ‘do a wheelie’ for them.
“Yes mate, OK, I’ll just chew my sprockets up and stretch my chain because you want to see a wheelie shall I? I’ll just spin my wheel up on this cold, wet road and shred my expensive tyres on your say-so. Tell you what, I’ll do a wheelie for you, even though I’m 3 feet behind a car, filtering through rush-hour traffic. No doubt you’ll forget about it 5 minutes after it’s happened, but that’s not a problem because there’ll be another biker along 5 minutes later for you to harass.”
Yes, I can do wheelies and yes, I enjoy doing them, but only when I want to do them and when it’s safe enough to do it! You want to see a wheelie every 5 minutes - You grow up, get a bike, and learn for yourself!
I’ve been getting a few messages here and there via LondonBikers.com about my R1 from people who have seen similar bikes, or suspicious characters etc. Some people have actually gone as far as to take a photo of the bike and call the police to check the registration number! It’s good to know that some people in the world have a sense of decency still. To be honest, I doubt that any trace of the bike will ever be found. I had a 6 month old R6 stolen about 3 years ago and I never heard anything about that.
I still miss my R1 badly, even though I have the KTM now. Every other night I get flashbacks of what happened and I kick myself for not having had the presence of mind to do more. I could have knocked the guy off the bike when I chased him, I could have hit him harder, I could have remembered some of the martial arts I learnt and fought back to protect my pride and joy. I know it was just a bike, but it seemed more than that. As I mentioned in a previous post, if I have to explain how I felt about it, you wouldn’t understand.
It saddens me to know that there are people in this world who seem to think that it’s their god-given right to take things that don’t belong to them; Things that people have worked hard and made sacrifices for. Then, to add insult to injury, when others try to bring these people to account for what they’ve done, more often than not, they get away with it (and think it’s funny).
Still, in the messages that I receive from time to time saying, “Sorry about what happened” or, “I spotted a bike like yours last night…” there’s a glimmer of hope that decent people still exist and society isn’t going to run itself into the ground completely.
I believe in karma. Not because of some natural force or all powerful deity, but simply because of the fact that if you have no respect for anybody, then in turn nobody will have any respect for you, and I believe that somewhere, sometime, the scum that took my bike will get their comeuppance, and I will probably be enjoying life riding around on my brand new R1 at the time. 
So, first impressions after a weekend of KTM ownership.
It’s very, er, agricultural. Having always owned japanese, inline four cylinder sports and superbikes this 625cc single seems very lumpy! For me, it definitely lacks something.
Having said that, it is a very good bike for the daily commute - quite narrow, more than capable of bumping up a kerb here and there if necessary and quick and nimble enough deal with rush hour traffic queues. I wouldn’t like to go on a long ride out or tour on one due to the vibration from the motor, but as a cheap winter hack and second bike it’s probably just right.
Also, as I don’t find it particularly inspiring I’m not so worried about it getting the odd bump - I accidentally clipped a car mirror with the hand guard this morning on the way in to work and I wasn’t concerned about it. If it had been the R1 I would have been very upset and thinking about buying new mirrors (at ?Ǭ£60 each!)
I’m picking up my new (second hand) bike this afternoon, a 2004 KTM 640 supermoto. So why am I not excited? Normally I have difficulty sleeping and concentrating on work, but this time it’s just not the same. Normally I take the day off work, but I just went in early today instead. I’m sure it will be a good bike and a lot of fun, but it’s no R1 
I was away at the NEC in Birmingham yesterday for the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show 2005.
To be honest it was a bit disappointing compared to last year. There were a few new bikes on show, most notable for me were Yamaha’s new R6 and Suzuki’s latest GSXR 600 and 750. Kawasaki had their new ZX10 there and I have to say - what does it take for Kawasaki to make a nice looking bike?! Perhaps their particular style just doesn’t appeal to me?
There weren’t many ‘brolly babes’ around either. I get the impression that the manufacturers are increasingly spending all of their budget on the press day and then skimping on the rest of the show. Jay and Cezar from LB was up there for the press day and got some good photos. I was so unimpressed with the show that I came away with just 10 pictures on my camera!
I came away with a new T-shirt (mainly because the one I wore on the way up there got drenched in the rain which somehow found it’s way past the collar of my jacket) and an Alpinestars armoured jackety thing (hard to explain, see picture!).
Well, I think I’ve formulated a good plan for getting back on the road.
Obviously, with two thefts on my 3 year history insuring an R1 is going to be a nightmare, and buying a new R1 just before the winter comes along is also not the greatest idea. Before the R1 got hijacked I was planning on buying a trail/supermoto bike for winter anyway, so I am looking at buying something like a second hand KTM 640 SM, or Suzuki DR-Z400 for the moment. This will get me back on the road, and give me something to commute on, use in bad weather etc. etc. Plus, it will be cheaper to insure and hopefully a lot of fun!
Lot’s of people have said that after getting a supermoto I won’t go back to sports bikes, but I think they underestimate just how much I adored the R1. It was perfect. I can’t even describe what it was about that bike, but there was something. If you ride and love bikes like me, you’ll know what I mean. I can’t quite believe that I actually miss it, but I do, as if it were a live human being. Almost every night I catch myself thinking about what I could have done differently to prevent it from being taken.
Come next spring/summer, I can choose to either upgrade the supermoto to a bigger one if I get hooked on them, or I can keep it and buy another R1 (and keep it locked up too, well away from the city!)
It’s my birthday today. On Friday night I nipped home from the Ace Cafe to pick up a bag, and as I was about to leave the house two men attacked me and stole the R1. Here’s the full story as reported on LondonBikers.com.
At around 10.30pm last night, LB member, David was followed home, violently attacked and had his 2005 R1 stolen from outside his house in Greenford, West London. This was just the start of the horrific events that unfolded during the night of Friday 7th October 2005.Out for Friday?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s bike-night, David had to return home unexpectedly to collect something, on the way home, he was aware he was being followed by a bike. He did what any observant rider would do and went the long way round to try and shake them. When it was clear they weren?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t still there, he went home, and then came out a few minutes later to get back on his bike. This was the moment when he was jumped by two males in dark motorcycle clothing, assaulted, held to the ground, choked, and made to hand over the keys to his bike. David struggled and attempted to stop them making off, but succeeded only in lightly injuring one of the aggressors.
Obviously distraught, David phoned the Police, then his friends at the Ace Caf?ɬ©. When the word got round what had happened, a group had formed with the intent of going to the are to look for the bike, as we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re all too aware the Police have very little success, or motivation with these matters. The group of six, two with pillions, took off in search of their friends bike. They were unable to find it and stopped off in a pub car-park in the Greenford area to make a phone call to find out more information.
It was then that the group was confronted by a gang that came out of the pub and asked the group what their business was in the area, whereupon they immediately attacked the group, without provocation. The attack was fierce, with carving and other long knives being used. All of group was attacked; a few riders were able to escape on foot or bikes, though at least two of the group were unable to get away and were heavily assaulted, with one of them sustaining three stab wounds, facial lacerations, and the other also sustaining significant facial injuries after being attacked with a broken bottle. Bikes were also damaged.
It?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s since been found that the two incidents were unrelated, with the possibility of the pub gang confusing the bike group with rival drug-dealers as it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s also come to light that the pub is a known drug-dealers haunt. Obviously we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re completely shocked that David was victim to such a violent attack and our condolences are with him at this time for the loss of his bike and the ordeal he?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s gone through.
Our thoughts also go out to those involved in the pub attack and wish all the best to the two people seriously injured. One of them was LB member Matt, and the other Sparky from the AWOL group. We strongly recommend that all riders in the London area display vigilance and ensure that they?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re not followed home, especially by other bikes. If you believe someone is following you, do not go straight home, instead head to the nearest Police station and get help.
If anyone spots a graphite-coloured 2005 model Yamaha R1, registration LK05 EWU, please contact us immediately on 07958 707 983, or contact@londonbikers.com. For a picture of David’s R1, click here.
Anyone who reads this blog, please look out for the bike and be careful when you are riding yourselves.
Just received a call from Norwich Union, the insurance company of the guy that knocked me off my bike on Saturday. He has contacted them and admitted full liability for the accident, and they are going to send an engineer out to assess damage and they will pay for the repairs.I have to say this is a refreshing change. My insurance claims in the past have gone on and on for months, even when the other parties have admitted liability.A big thumbs up to Norwich Union for being both friendly and helpful. It’s a shame that they always seem to be too expensive when quoting for my bike insurance!
Damn! Got knocked off the bike again on Saturday. Silly driver switched lanes on me… Of course, he couldn’t check his mirror or indicate because he was too busy chatting on his mobile phone. Luckily I was not hurt, just a bruise here and there, and the bike went down reasonably gently with the R&G crash mushrooms doing an outstanding job (I still need to replace some panels though as the scratches won’t polish out). A nice guy who was behind the driver gave me his name and number as a witness and the guy who hit me said that he’d pay up so hopefully it should all get sorted pretty quickly.
I rode away from the accident and the bike is fine mechanically. I actually finished my journey to Rex Judd to get my alarm fixed, so at least that’s working again!
