Motorbikes

Introduction

(NOTE: I -still- haven’t decided whether to migrate my home page to WordPress or not after I don’t know how many years.. for now, most of it can still be found at here. My Motorbike-specific page is here.)

The very first bike I rode was the next-door-neighbours’ when I was about 15 or so. It was a Suzuki road/trail and was a bit of fun although I never  really got into riding back then.

Fast-forward a couple of years and I’m commuting to and from work every day (round-trip of ~80km) in Brisbane by car. This usually involved getting stuck in the daily rush-hour traffic jams and pretty soon I was well and truly sick of it – especially when I watched the bikers just scooting past.  So I decided to get a bike license as well…

I took riding lessons before work for a couple of weeks and then went for my test. Soon afterwards I bought my much loved first bike, a Yamaha XS250SK. A couple of years later I was in Darwin and got a ‘free’ upgrade on my license (Australian bike licenses are restricted to 250cc and in most states you have to go for your open license before you’re allowed to ride bigger bikes, but in the N.T. you automatically get your open license after 2 years, handy that…

From my daily commute grew a passion for riding bikes – while I don’t have the mad desire to customise my ride or know every bike produced in the last 200 years I can’t do without getting on 2 wheels from time to time. I love going on motorbike trips either alone, with a mate or two, or out on a big rally with a couple of hundred fellow bikers. There’s few things better than a nice stretch of road, a beautiful summer afternoon, and a purring beast between your legs.

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The Bikes

I haven’t owned many bikes and coincidentally the first four were all made by Yamaha – this was not a conscious choice, it just so happened that what I wanted in a bike at the time ended up being a Yammy-made machine..

So here’s the (slowly growing) list:

  • 2023 – now : BMW R1250GSA [more]
    • Bought in Japan.. a long-time dream come true! The 40-year edition to boot. Can’t wait to explore Japan on this!
  • 2016 – 2018 : Suzuki Bandit 650 [more]
    • Bought from a colleague as a commuter in London as the Wildstar isn’t really suitable for tight traffic, then sold to a mate after I realised I’d be in Japan for a bit longer.
  • 2015 – now : Yamaha Wildstar XV1600 [more]
    • Currently (2023) being shipped from the UK to Australia.. only had 2 years on it before I got moved to Japan, but still managed to double the mileage! Several trips to Germany/Europe, longest was through Poland.
  • 2003 – now : Yamaha Dragstar Classic XVS1100a [more]
    • My very first (and to-date only) brand-new vehicle! Bought in the UK, then sold, then rebought.. it’s currently in Germany. Had many amazing tours on this throughout the UK and Europe!
  • 1998 – 2002 : Yamaha XJ900 [more]
    • My second bike; a wonder I didn’t kill myself on this, it was WAY overpowered compared to the underpowered XS250! Mostly a commuter, but also took it to Sydney and back.
  • 1996 – 1998 : Yamaha XS250SK [more]
    • My first bike, mostly just a commuter in Brisbane.

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Clubs

ISRA Logo
ISRA Great Bears Logo

I’ve never really been one for Motorbike clubs, preferring to do my own thing, but in England I joined the Great Bears. They’re a really cool group of guys and gals and run a very relaxed Owners Association. Perfect. They were actually partially the reason I chose my Dragstar in favour of some other options.

The Great Bears are a constellation of ISRA – the International Star Riders Association. Everyone can join for free simply by filling out the online registration form. The club is run very informally and mostly via the online Forums which are a very friendly place to start.

There’s also VSOC – the Virago Star Owners Club, a wholly UK-based MCC. These guys are a bit more organised and hence charge an annual membership fee.

For more Information, see the Links.

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Trips

I love travelling and if the conditions are favourable I like nothing better than to go by bike. My first longer trip was on my XS250 when I went camping with my Astronomy club in Australia. Since then I’ve taken the XJ900 to Sydney and back, hired a bike to go from Melbourne to Adelaide and back, and of course, my beloved Draggie around the British Isles and Europe, followed by some major trips in Europe on the Wildy.

About to embark on adventures exploring Japan on the GS!

Here is a selection of actual trip writeups with some pics (rather outdated, I know!).

  • 2006.08 – Lake Constance
  • 2006.05 – CANCELLED Euro Star Days 2006
  • 2005.09 – Great Bears Wales Weekend and Orkneys Trip with Stu [Pics]
  • 2005.05 – Great Bears Dent Weekend [Pics]
  • 2005.05 – Exmoor with my girlfriend
  • 2004.12 – Bike trip with my Stepsister Angie from Melbourne to Adelaide and back
  • 2004.09 – Great Bears Wales Weekend
  • 2004.08 – Cornwall

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Mates

Here’s a list of my biker buddies who are also on the Web. Check out their homepages:

  • Steve English [Website]
    Steve races sidecars and has a forum plus lots of info on his pages
  • WildStarStu [Website]
    Stu keeps some nice pics and a list of mods to his Wildstar

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Links

Here are some relevant biking links which I’ve found useful.