Getting a Motorcycle: Part Deux

My trip to the 2009 Carole Nash Motorbike & Scooter Show wasn't all business. Yes, my plan was to just go there and take a look at some of the bikes i've been thinking about, but I got caught up in some of the fun. It was a great event with a lot of the major manufacturers there (except Kawasaki, which was a bummer), they had stunting, girls dancing and dirt track racing. Not to mention I was able to meet Simon Pavey, who is most famous for the TV series Race To Dakar in which he trained Charley Boorman to race off-road and then compete in the Lisbon to Dakar rally in 2006.

All fun aside I planned on checking out the Yamaha XT125, the Yamaha WR250, the Yamaha XJ6n and a couple Kawa's but they couldn't be bothered to attend which seems to be a trend with Kawasaki at the moment. I didn't realize the sheer size of some of these bikes, they were huge, especially the Yamaha WR250. Looking at them on TV and in a magazine isn't enough to make a decision because the size and the weight can't be described well enough until you sit on the actual bike. But after a couple hours looking around and talking with some of the experts there the Yamaha XT125 looks to be the winner. I talked to a guy who has one second hand so it looks like all I'm waiting for at the moment is to get a job and then I will be the proud owner of a Yamaha (hopefully no one buys it between now and when I intend to purchase it).

I must also say that I fell in love with a couple other bikes while looking around, most notably the Harley Davidson 883 Nightster. Don't worry I made a quick video of my time at the motorbike show just incase you missed out!

Trials X - Julien Dupont

I just came across this guy, Julien Dupont, who is a Trials X rider. Basically he uses his trials bike in urban settings, its pretty cool what he can do with the bike. I found a little clip of him that you might enjoy...

Getting a Motorcycle: Part 1

For those of you who think all motorcyclists are a bunch of crazy nutters who enjoy pulling wheelies up and down the motor-way, then this post might not be for you. As for the rest of us, motorcycles are the most adrenaline pumping fun you can have for less than a loaf of bread. 

As of recently I have decided that owning a car just outside of a major city is a nuisance. And after eight months of riding my bicycle everywhere I decided I needed something with a little less man-power and a little more horsepower. So I decided to give my legs a break and get my motorcycle license. 

I thought getting my license would be easy as pie since I've already had my American drivers license for nearly three years now. But, boy was I wrong. I had to schedule my theory test for the nearest test center which was a thousand miles away in the middle of Dublin. The day of my theory test was after a week of Irelands heaviest snow in decades. So after about an hour and a half trek into the Artic Circle I finally arrived at the test center. 

After sitting around for twenty minutes it was show time. I sat in a room with twenty other people, who were all focused on passing their test. It so happened that the fifty year old guy sitting next to me had never-ever used a computer before in his life! So every second he had to ask one of the helpers for help and ask some of the stupidest questions I have ever heard before in my life in relation to computers. But I persevered and finished my exam. This was it, the moment of truth, years of preparation and dedication had led up to this point and... I failed. I knew all of the rules of the road but it was the irrelevant questions and the different use of terminology that threw me off.

One example of the questions that caught me out was:

If twenty people are walking down the side of the road at night, the last person in the group should carry what color flashlight?

A) Yellow B) Green

C) Red D) Flashing Blue

Another question that caught me out was the use of the terms 'nearside' and 'offside.' Which I later found out meant 'passenger-side' and 'drivers-side.' But don't worry, the second time was the charm and I passed with flying colors. So the next step was to get an eye exam and go to my nearest motor tax office to apply for my provisional license.

After getting my eye exam done I was raring to get the last bit of my paperwork filled out so I could go to the motor tax office. The next day I set off for another expedition to the motor tax office. Taking my backpack and all my paperwork I was ready to go. After arriving at the tax office I realized that I had not taken my pictures. So I decided to pop over to the Kodak shop next door, but they were conveniently closed. Which meant another day went by before I was able to get my picture taken and get my license sorted.

The next step was getting gear and a motorcycle, which wasn't going to be easy for someone who knows very little when it comes to motorcycles. Which led me to buy tickets to the Irish Motorbike & Scooter Show at the RDS, to get some more info on bikes and to have a little bit of fun along the way.

More to come in Part 2...