Help Me Vote for my Chio Bu

Hi gals and guys,

Help vote for my girlfriend Ms Huppy.
She took part in this Watson contest in because she hopes to win a prize. In each category, there is only one winner. She took part in two categories.

This will take only 2 min. Just right click on the title Healthy Skin and Fit Figure, and vote.

Healthy Skin

















Fit Figure















If you want to see the rest of the contestants, you can go to:
http://www.watsonsyouawards.com.sg/web/youawardsg/

Everyday also can vote (but max one vote per day per category).
Thank you for coming to my blog, please help me vote everyday!

Thank you.

FZ1 Fazer 2009 Owner's Review

Play this music video.
Then proceed to read the rest of my blog.

I want more wind. I want more noise. I don't want to play good cop anymore. I want to be the bad guy.

I don't want to always have to be in control. I want to let go out when I get mad.


From my previous uber-luxurious James-Bond Honda STX1300A Pan European, I went out and gotten myself a 2009 Yamaha FZ1 Fazer.






















Hey, ladies and gentlemen, my ah lians and ah bengs, meet HellBoy, the name of my new Fazer.


















My Yamaha FZ1 Fazer, 2009.
The 2009 edition means red with a black-tiped tail; black usd forks; copper coloured rims and crank cover.


What's it like to ride a Fazer FZ1?



Ride experience and ride position.

Flying a broomstick

Riding the FZ1, you feel like riding a wizard's broomstick flying through the air.
An adult and angry wizard version; not pussy Harry Porter version.

Ride position is forward-biased, like many current sports bikes. Gives you plenty of confidence when making your corners.

Surprisingly, the ride is pretty comfortable for daily commuting in traffic and fast riding. Yet to test out on a tour yet, but the tiny stock windshield is still good when clocks say over 130.


Always ready to pick a fight

I don't care who you are. The bike turns any stiff-upper-lip into a hooligan.
From the moment you fire up the engine, the noise, the angry growl. Before you even ride the bike out of the carpark, the bike makes you feel like it wants to go out and pick a fight.


Boom Boom Room

Honda really doesn't get this. Honda makes quiet bikes. I like Honda bikes. But a bike without noise sounds like what? A bicycle?

And Hellboy makes lot of noise. From two source.

The obvious one is the dust-bin short stubby black side exhaust.

The other is the large airbox that sits right on top of the fuel tank. Any fast rider knows that you can't hear your own exhaust when going fast. But the FZ1's airbox is strategically placed. So near the rider's ears. Even nearer when you prone down to go fast. And hidden in the quiet air behind the windshield. So you get to hear every change in tone and pitch as the bike growls and dance as the revs climbs and falls. Music to my ears.

FZ1 is such a vocal bike. It's a Japanese Ducati without the overpriced, doggey reliability and unexplainable mysterious rattling parts. If FZ1 was a car, it would sound something like a Ferrari F430 Modena and a Subaru WRX.


















Such a small bike, but such a big exhaust and a big airbox--the front half of the fuel tank with the Yamaha logo.



Engine

The FZ1's engine is a screamer. Exciting but needs to be constantly worked.


The FZ1's 1,000cc engine is the same as that of the sportsbike Yamaha R1. Tune differently for more practical riding.

The FZ1 engine is a rev climber. Like a mad rabbit, always eager to climb up and down the rev tacho.

If I were to give a one sentence description of the FZ1, it would be:
"It feels like a 800cc sportsbike."

An equivalent 1,000 cc Honda will feel more powerful, with lumps of more torque.
So one can go faster on the Honda with less effort. On the FZ1, you got to work the engine, you got to constantly be in the right gear to stay with the Honda.

Don't get me wrong. The FZ1 is still torquey. Less torquey than a Honda 1K but more torquey than a Honda 600. So you can get around town perfectly on revs as low as 2K.

But the high reving nature of the FZ1 invites you to just want to rev the tits off the engine, thrash the bike like a punching bag and tear down the road like a mad man, everytime.
















Hellboy says, I want to blast the hell out of you.


The always never-ending linear rev tempts you, "Go rev me hard, boy. I bet you will give up before I do." And the bastard is right. There's not enough road.

The FZ1 is not a bike for those who is looking for a bike to doodle around.


Gear Transmission System

The gear and clutch are light. But they are not buttery smooth like Honda. On such a high reving bike, you can't just slam the clutch plates together and hope for a smooth gear change. In the split second that you open and close the clutch, the revs would have fallen by thousands of rev.

It takes time to learn to able to change rev smoothly on this bike, even when riding sanely. So it is also not the most pillion friendly bike.

My trick to you for having a smooth gear transition, is think of the phrase "Quicky Action!". Quick left hand (clutch), quick right hand (throttle), quick left foot (gear).
All combined and done in an instance. Don't think.
Once you start to think, the bike is not going to be smooth.

Lazy hands need not apply for this bike.


















When I collected Hellboy, odometer is all zero.
Tacho let you climb all the way to 12k. I have never reached there yet.




A Horizontable Bike

Like other bikes with high quality and powerful brake system, you can stop the FZ1 with a mere two fingers. More importantly, the bike gives you great feel when comes to braking. This feel come from the workings of a variet of factors: from the way the brake bites, the firm front fork setup without any weak legs, to the front-biased ride position.

FZ1's suspension is firm but not hard. Comfortable enough for normal street riding but not bouncy when you go fast. A tad firmer than a Hornet900's, but definitely more comfortable than a sportsbike's.

This bike is a highly "Horizontable" bike. I mean this bike makes you want to corner the bike so hard that you feel like you want to lie the bike down on it's side. A horizontal position. Maybe this feel is a result of the higher foot pegs that subconsciously, makes you feel safe to lean the bike low.

Let me explain the naughtier origin of the term "horizontable".
I have a guy friend called Philip. He looks every bit like a gentleman, and apparently, is considered very charming by the opposite sex.
We all have our interest and passion. Bikes catches my attention when they pass me by and triggers my imagination, comments and opinions.
For Philip, when he meets a new girl, instintively, he classifies them whether this girl is "horzontable" or not.
What is horzontable, I asked him? Oh, he answers cheekily, what position do you adopt when you have sex?
So he will say, you know Elaine Liam? I say yeah. And he would add, "By the way, she is very horizontable."


Friends with Petrol Kiosk

When I was riding my STX, the fuel cashier girls always remember me. Why?
Because these girls have never encountered a bike that pays as much as a car at the fuel pump (sometimes SGD $50).

Their usual line is, "Wah, so much ah!" Or "Are you sure you got the right pump number?" In comparison, the honda cubs need only $5.

I thought I could do away with this kind of attention with the FZ1, with it's normal 18-litre tank.
But I can't.


Their usual line becomes, "Wah, see you again ah. Yesterday you just come."

In theory, the FZ1 has a 18-litre tank. It's fuel economy is decent for a litre bike (16++km/litre, singpore riding). But it can barely hit 200km and the fuel reserve light turns on.


Windshield


The stock windshield is a tiny piece of plastic. But don't be fooled. It's aerodynamics has been perfectly worked out. It is surprisingly effective in both upright and prone down riding position.

Of course, no semi-windshield can give you no wind blast. For that, you need a GoldWing or a Pan. On the stock FZ1 windshield, the lowest edge of the jetstream is nose level at upright riding. So no direct wind blast to body. There is secondary wind coming down from dispersed jetstream from the helmet level to cool your body.

Basically, it is very effective. So don't be a hurry to change to aftermarket windshield. Give the stock windshield a chance first.


Yamaha Panniers


















As you can see, I equipped my bike with Yamaha hard side panniers. Want to know more about them?

They cost SGD $1,700 for both box and brackets and install, from Yamaha Hong Leong. Most other FZ1s go with H&B panniers. I went with the Yamaha panniers because I think they look better with the FZ1. They are the same as those found on Yamaha FJRs.

I think it looks great on the FZ1. It also comes with a very cool LED brake taillight, and a diamond white light shining on the rear number plate.

It is 100% waterproof. But the space inside is smaller than the STX1300. In the STX1300, in each of it's panniers, I can keep one full-sized helmet and a complete rain suit/riding jacket. In the Yamaha panniers, I can keep only one full-sized helmet and not enough room for the rain suit/riding jacket. Not a problem when riding alone. But more a hassle if you ride two-up.


Vice

I sold my previous bike, the STX1300A Pan European, called Vice, to Loois Motor. I am glad that within a week, Vice already has found a new owner.


































May Vice be happy and well taken care of by his new owner.

Parting Words

Be thankful for everything.
The journey is the reward.

HOV Lesson 22 March 09 Tuas

As we continue our long march to save more skins and lives of fellow motorcyclists in Singapore, this is the first Hazard Oriented Vision (HOV) Motorcycling Safety Workshop in 2009.

This time, instead of holding at the usual make-shift MacDonald's, we got an upgrade.
Fellow rider offered us a cool and posh training facility at Tuas, Singapore.

















First part of HOV workshop is theory, held in training facility in Tuas.


















Here's Evelin, a lady holder of a Class2A license who just got her very own Honda Super4.


















An interactive informal and friendly session by bikers for bikers as we swap tales of our falls and our lessons learnt.


As I was giving the presentation, our fellow instructors: PPlater, The Beast; along with assistants like S4Dreamer, BornFree, TwoWheeler and Contrarian are busy in the rear of the classroom preparing the radio equipment needed for our ride.

We have enough walkie talkie sets to run a sizable bookie business.


















Instructor PPlater telling Two-Wheeler, "No, no, no. Cannot use radio channel 1. This one is used
by my bookie. Use channel 2." Instructor The Beast looks on and laughs.

















After the talk, it's time to do the walk.
Our group left our Tuas training room and head out to West Coast MacDonald for our HOV practical ride.
































































Who's this guy with the big head?
Me watching as we reached regroup at West Coast MacDonald.


















"Whatever you do, don't crash. If you do, don't say you know me."
Me giving final brief before we start our practical HOV ride.


Thanks to:
- PPlater who is the key organizer, and also instructor.
- The Beast, instructor, for being enthusiastic and willing to reach out.
- S4Dreamer, for working on our group website www.rider.sg. And for getting so many radio sets for us.
- Assistant instructors: Two-Wheeler, BornFree and Contrarian for helping out.
- Ms Huppy, who have provided lots of back ground logistic support and moral support to me.

Send me an email if you want to sign up for our future HOV class.
We are looking for people who want to give back to the society by offering your help to fellow riders. If you are interested, drop me an email at taylipsing@yahoo.com.

Have You Eaten a Cobra?

Yes, this type. I kid you not.


No more Honda STX1300A. Goodbye my vICE.
I have sold it in the process of getting my new bike. I am now riding a temporary bike--a Honda Wave.

How does it feel? From riding a huge 1,300cc Honda Pan European to a bike with 1,200cc less.

I am currently in Viet Cong territory--Vietnam, Hanoi, a place where Honda Waves and the likes are flourishing. What interesting adventure am I having here?


















Hanoi--The most chaotic traffic on earth!
If you think Bangkok traffic is bad, come Hanoi.



Back to Basics: The Wave Experience

The Wave is a loaner bike from Looi's Motor to me. I sold my vICE to Looi's but my new bike is still a couple of weeks away. Mr Lee loaned the Wave to me to ride around.

I must say switching from the mighty transformer-like Pan to the Wave is like switching from being Superman back to Clark Kent.

With the Pan, I feel like king of the road. With a 1,300cc V4, I could overtake any 4-wheel on the road without batting an eye. I ride on the right fastest lane almost all the time.

















My time with Wave. But still wearing my Carber flip-up helmet.


With the Wave, I feel like the tortoise on the road. To overtake any car, I have twist the right hand grip 360 degrees to squeeze every available horsepower out. I ride on the extreme most left space on the extreme most left lane on the road.

Every other vehicle on the road is faster than me. The honda Super4s riders all look like speed gods to me. The malaysian wave riders that speed past you at a hair's width used to be an anoyance to me; now they look like Rossi to me.


From adopting a leg-wide warrior stance to ride the Pan due to it's humungous 29 litre tank and 1,300cc engine, I now adopt the same familiar cute puppy-begging position on the Wave.

From needing only one finger's effort to brake the Pan to a stop, I now need strength from all my fingers plus foot brake to stop a Wave in a hurry. Even that is not enough. Sometimes, I stick out my foot to help in braking like Flintstone.



Wave Reflections

But here are the positive sides:


















I laugh when I fuel up my Wave. A full tank Wave top-up hardly cost SGD $5. A full STX topup empties my piggy bank at $40 over. No wonder the petrol cash register girls always verify with me twice if I am paying for the correct pump whenever I rode the STX because how can bike refuel cost so much.


Another strange feeling I have when riding a Wave is that inspite of all it's humbleness, I feel...happy, satisfied, contented.

I think maybe it is because the Wave is so basic and simple that I actually feel privileged and happy that it can move at all and it's taking me places.

I think it is like normally, when we buy a Coke outside, we need the Coke to be very chilled to fully enjoy the soft drink and quench our thirst in the hot weather here. But when we are serving in the army (national service), we get so thirsty and are so deprived, even plain tap water feels so good and delicious to me. In army, a chance to shelter from the hot sun under a shady tree is a great relief; these days, we need nothing short of air-conditioning.


Valentine's Day coming. Let me tell you another secret. I also discovered that riding a Wave with your loved one behind is a great bonding experience. Need to hook that girl that you fancy? Want to rejuvenate the love in your long-time girlfriend/wife? Ride a Wave together!


Now, I am starting to understand more does not always mean more happiness. Less in life can be more happiness. Maybe that's why the poor in the poor countries invariably look happier than the rich people.























The happy me on a simple bike.




Hanoi, Vietnam

I am now in Vietnam for work. This is the land where the Vietcongs defeated the mighty American military not so long ago. And yes, the people here are still quite little and petite, guys and girls.

But Vietnam has prospered since relaxing on it's communism. Hanoi (in north vietnam), is a busy bustling place. The streets are so busy with traffic. There is a unique phenomenon here.
There is constant honk sounding all over on the street. Everybody is sounding their honk at somebody every 3 seconds.

No traffic rules (or they don't follow). Eg: No such thing as minor road traffic give way to major road. Just go towards each other. See who stops first and give way. It is a bit like the congested motorbike lanes in the old woodlands custom. No wonder it takes me 5 min to cross from one side to the other side of the street. I think I can't teach them my HOV safety riding techniques because they would then never be able to go anywhere.


Eat Snake


For dinner, my Hanoi colleagues brought me and my russian colleague to eat snake. Literally.


















The restaurant has many bottles of these...





The waiter came. We said, "One cobra please."





The live cobra before my dinner.






Preparing our food.











Blood and heart (still pumping).



We eventually drank and ate the cobra. I rather like the drink: cobra blood mixed with alcohol.
I passed on the heart. The russian put it into his drink and drank it.

















You can cook it in many waves. Steamed.



















Grilled. I like this style best. Taste kind of like tepanyaki chicken.


We survived eating a poisonous cobra without any side-effects.

New Bike

Hi fellas,

It's been a while.

I'm sorry.

Like you said, maybe it's blog fatigue.

I'm happy to be back again.

Thanks for coming back all these while.

Guess what?

I'm planning to change my bike.

Hopefully within a month's time. I have already decided on which bike I want. I'm just waiting for the stock to be available.

Want to guess what bike I'm changing to? :)

Give it a try. I will definitely write a review of my new bike.

Hazard Oriented Vision (HOV) Motorcycling Safety Class

8 November 2008, Saturday, Singapore




Conducted by Endlessloop

To enroll:
http://www.singaporebikes.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4756117#post4756117

Pagoh Challeng 2008. Motorcycle Treasure Hunt. Prelude

Pagoh Challeng 2. 12 July 08. Bike Treasure Hunt

---

The Pagoh Challenge II.
Treasure Hunt on a Bike!

Click this bar to view the full image.

This is a special motorcycling trip.
It combines motorcycling touring, eating, exploring, treasure hunt, adventure and wit. All rolled into one.



You will be treasuring hunting in this area:

Click this bar to view the full image.

^The area of ops is larger than Singapore.

Click this bar to view the full image.

^Da Vinci Code your way through the Pagoh Challenge 2.
Maps and clues will be given to you.
No need for you to have GPS. No need for you to know the place well.
Just common sense.


This is the second time the Pagoh Challenge is organised. If you missed the first one, this is your chance now.

The first Pagoh Challenge was featured in the singapore motorcycle magazine.
I happened to be the one who wrote the article.

Click this bar to view the full image.

^If you still have this copy, you will find Pagoh Challenge I in it.

Click this bar to view the full image.

^Some photos of the places the teams went in Pagoh Challenge I.

Click this bar to view the full image.

^Pagoh Challenge I.

Click this bar to view the full image.

^Pagoh Challenge I took the teams through this hot spring in Labis.

Click this bar to view the full image.

^One of the teams enjoying a cool Chendol desert along the country road sides during the hunt.





PAGOH CHALLENGE II

Date: 12th July 2008
Time: 8am Meet @ Petronas 2nd Link

THE PLAN

8am Petronas 2nd Link (breakfast)
10am Durian Run at Pagoh

Noon: Pagoh Challenge 2

This Year Challenge: 4 location to Find
5pm RV : Hakka Yan tau foo Shop @ Yong Peng

Dinner: Kulai Yew Ming

Click this bar to view the full image.

And hunt down the 4 locations (to be made know as the date approaches)

The Challenge is for u and your team to find these location with
the clues given.
No prizes for the 1st team to return...
But the prize are in enjoying the ride thru the quiet roads and
Working with your team to find the 4 locations
It's an exercise to improve your navigation
And a great sense of satisfaction once the challenge is completed!
:icon-thumbsup:
You can form your own team (4 - 6 bikes) or
Just list your name down & I'll assign u to a team.
It is best to Keep team that travels at the same speed.

Click this bar to view the full image.

No GPS will be used..
A Map of The area will be provided.
But best u purchase on that covers Johor State.
Bring a Compass (Feng Shui one also can)
And a Digital camera(phone) to take the Location with your team
(evidence that you were there)

Click here to read more on Pagoh Challenge I:

http://loudexhaust.blogspot.com/2007...e-hunt-on.html

Click for last year Pagoh Challenge 2007

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 900x420.

^The riders who had the opportunity to take part in Pagoh Challenge I.
What about you?



To participate, simply go to this link and sign up there.
http://www.moto-v.sg/forums/index.php?showtopic=1066&pid=26608&st=20&#entry26608

Motorcycle Riding Gear for Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand

What to Wear When Riding in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand?

Lots of people actually wonder about this question.
Because the climate here is different from that in the northern hemisphere like US, UK and Europe. If you try riding in a full leather suit here, like those riders in the motorcycling magazines, you will surely chao tah.

Well, here is the all authoritative Endless guidelines...

If you are a chio bu (babe) riding a motorcycle, my suggestion would be to wear:...
- a hot skimpy white bikini...
- a pair of high heels...
- a full-faced helmet...
- a pair of sunglasses...
- and absolutely nothing else.


Thank you. Now that I have got your attention, here is what you should really wear...



My Helmet

I strongly recommend a full-faced helmet (FF) because it offers better protection. Surprisingly, the chin is the most often injured part during a motorcycling accident, based on studies.
And yes, you can still wear a FF in the equatorial climate here. If you feel warm, just raise the visor.

If you are still concern, thanks to technology advancement, there is a new solution that offers you the best of both worlds of an open-faced helmet and a full-faced helmet. It is a flip-up helmet.

A Flip-Up helmet is a ideal for daily riding in Singapore as well as for touring in Malaysia and Thailand: .

For me, I wear a Caberg Rhyno flip-up helmet.


















Me with a Caberg flip-up helmet with the chin guard down.


















Side-view.



















Caberg with the outer visor lowered. In this mode, it behaves like a full-faced helmet.


Why is a flip-up helmet suitable?
- For smokers.
- For people who wear glasses. And there are many people in singapore that wears glasses (study too hard and watch too much porn).
- If you ride with a pillion or in a convoy, it is easier for you to get heard without your words being muffled in the case of a FF.
- When you feel warm in a traffic jam, you can ride slowly with the chin guard up.
- Is it safe enough? A FF definitely is safer. But unless you ride like MotoGP speeds, a flip-up should offer good enough protection for commuting and touring speeds.


Plus my Caberg has an extra useful feature....



















Caberg with the inner sun shade lowered. Looks like a fighter-pilot hor?
So I can raise or lower the inner sun shade during early morning and evening rides.
Real handy.

But a flip-up within inner shade may not be suitable if you are riding very very fast. Because the helmet will have a bigger cross-section and it will catch more wind resistance.


I also recommend a very useful accessory...


















A coolmax helmet liner is a very useful accessory to wear in the hot climate here.
I wear this under my helmet. It keeps my hair in placed and also keeps my helmet clean and fresh longer. The coolmax is easy and fast to wash and dry.



















Me in action on a touring trip. Helmet, riding jacket, glove, boots.



















Me, taking a quick break by the NorthSouth Highway.
Shows you the usefulness of a flip-up: I don't have to remove my helmet to enjoy a conversation with my mates. I just flip up.


I bought my Caberg Rhyno helmet (S$250) and Coolmax helmet liner at Regina.



My Gloves

I want to update you that I have changed from RJays glove to this Apine Stars leather glove.

















My Alpine Stars leather gloves.


Wah, Endless, you strike 4D ah? Upgrade to branded stuff siah?
No lah. Cheap and good. $120 from Regina.
I like it because it is very comfortable and compact to store.

















Unlike other gloves with kevlar guards, this alpine stars gloves' knuckle guards are padded in between, so my knuckles remain very comfortable.


My Boots


Of so many riding boots of all shapes and designs available in the market, I still prefer my good old SAF army boots.

















My trusty SAF boots that I also used for touring.

I actually have bought a proper riding boots. But after a while, I decided the SAF boots is still better.
Why?
- The SAF riding boots is very light and comfortable, even more so than riding boots. I can wear them all day long.
- The SAF is fully Gore-tex lined. So it is very cooling. Most riding boots are high leather and I find them warm to wear.
- It is water proof. Able to withstand the torrential downpours in Malaysia and Thailand.


My Riding Jacket


















After 3 years, I am still wearing my RJays riding jacket.



















On my touring trip on top of the moutains on the Thai-Malaysia border with my RJays.


Some people go and buy the Goretex/Condura material riding jackets. Because they think they are waterproof whereas mesh riding jackets are not. But I tell you, it is too hot to wear the Goretex-Condura riding jackets through out the whole day in the hot climate here. And many such jackets are not able to withstand heavy long down pours. Like that suffer when weather is hot. And suffer when raining.

It is better to wear a mesh jacket that is cooler than even a wind breaker. And should it rain, simply wear a rain coat over it.

When riding in cooler places like northern Thailand and high up in the mountains, to keep warm, wear your rain coat over your mesh jacket.

Choose a mesh jacket that has soft armour in the shoulders, elbows and spine. My mesh jacket is available at Regina at $150. (I really not related to Regina.)


My Rain Coat


















My rain coat is still the ProGrip rain gear. But I heard from people who said that its quality has dropped (Pro Grip are you listening?)
If I find a better rain gear, I will keep you posted.


Oh, and don't expect rain coats to last forever. I have to change mine every 1 to 2 years. Why? Because they will leak from wear and tear. The threaded areas pull and water seaps through the thread seams. Or the water proofing wax deteroriates over time.








This guy can sing 霍元甲 even better than original Jay Chou. Meet new kid on the block and powerhouse, 蕭敬騰.


Ok, I have introduced to you all the lobang on what to wear from head to toe, whether you are riding to work/school or for touring in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.


May you enjoy motorcycling as much as I do.


















You will see many beautiful scenes when you go on touring rides; my bike Vice along the NorthSouth highway.

The Silent Long Way Round: Yarets Vladimir

You may have heard of "Long Way Round". A couple of celebrity actors, Ewen McGregor the Jedi knight and Charly Boormen, riding their motorcycles across several continents.

But are there real people who are doing it?
I mean real actual riding without a whole caravan of logistic vehicles behind you to bail you out?
Real people who are not millionaires?
Real people who can do this thing even better?


Meet my friend Yarets. He is from Minsk (Belarus), formerly USSR.

I tell you why he is better?
1. He has rode his motorcycle alone to over 40 countries!
2. He has been left his home and been riding eversince, 2000. That is 8 years!
3. He is 67 years old.
4. He is deaf and mute.

And he is in Singapore now.

This is your chance to catch him before he lives Singapore.


Where Yarets has been



The map shows where this remarkable man has ridden to:





42 countries and still counting (42th is Singapore):




He has been to s0 many places I have never heard of.



The Man and His Bike

This is what 67-year old Yarets look like now:





This is his bike:




Yes, not another BMW. A single cylinder 650cc BMW.
Note his bike's side "panniers"--actually a pair of suitcase.
They are Samsonite.


Yarets did not always look like what he looked like now.
In fact, he did not even started off with a BMW.



























This is what he looked like then, when he first started on his russian bike.

Then, he met an accident when in America. He was seriously injured. And his bike was badly damaged.

BMW kindly donated him a new bike.























His Local Host: Moto-V, Singapore


I am part of the Moto-V community (http://www.moto-v.sg). Moto-V is a motorcycling enthusiast community in Singapore.

By chance, one of us met him in Singapore. At first, we didn't know much of his story. We just wanted to help when we know of a fellow motorcyclist who is all alone in Singapore and seemed kind of lost. So we played host to him during his current stay in Singapore.







We hanged out with him and keep him company:



Sometimes, I wonder what does Yarets do for a living (before he left his home).
He dress simply. And his bike looks weary and tired from its long trip.
But he never ask for money from us.

Why is he doing all this for?


The Man and His Mission

Once, I forgot. I saw him from a distnace and I called out to him, "Hi, Yarets!".
But he did not hear me and just walked past by me.


And he can't speak. But this is why he is doing all this:




Some of What We are Doing to Help Him




We noticed that the spectacles he was wearing was broken.
I helped to chip in and buy him a new frame (he preferred to keep his lens).
Photo above is Yarets at the spectacle shop, with the spectacle shop person (left) and my moto-v buddy, Spectrum (right).


We also noticed his bike's fog lights are not working anymore.
So we decided to get him a new pair of fog lights.






















Liew, one of the moto-v members, helps to fit the new fog lights.






















New fog lights are working!
Yarets look pleased!






















The foglight was supplied by Anadoise of moto-v.
Anadoise works for Hella and he has managed to get his company to sponsor the lights.
Yarets decided to express his gratitude by sticking the Hella logo on his bike.




Yarets Going On TV


Another thing we want to help him with. We want to tell Singapore and the rest of the world, of this brave and remarkable man, Yarets.

Again, by chance or the work of God, one of the Moto-V members happened to tell a friend of Yarets and this friend works for MediaCorp, the TV station of Singapore. The friend agreed to feature Yarets in one of the station's programme.






Here's how we shoot Yarets on the move: We put the camera man on one of our bikes.






How You Can Catch Yarets

Yarets is thinking of leaving Singapore in May 2008.
As he is not on a fixed schedule, he might leave later, or he might leave tomorrow.

Here is your chance to catch him in person before he leaves Singapore.



In Person

Go to Peace Center, along Selegie Road.

He is there everyday from 6 pm to about 7.30pm.





















Yarets outside Peace Center, next to the MacDonalds, along Selegie Road.

He wants to share with people his story and inspire people.

Go support him!






















Your chance to take a picture with Yarets!



Website

You can read up more about him at:

Yaret's very own website:
http://www.yarets.com/index_eng.html

Yarets in Singapore at Moto-V website:
http://www.moto-v.sg/forums/index.php?showtopic=973&pid=24968&st=0&#entry24968



On TV

18th April, 2008. At 10.30 pm.
MediaCorp, Channel 8, 前线追中 (Frontline).

Maybe you will see me being interviewed :)


Here's to Yarets. Dare to Dream and Go Do It

The Art on the Science of Stopping Motorcycles Faster

Ever wish that there was an easier way to brake a motorcycle quickly?

Ever wonder how Combined Brake System (CBS) or Linked Brake System (LBS) works?

Ever why some bike manufacturers like Honda put in CBS or LBS?

Ever wonder how ABS works with this CBS or LBS?

Well, my biking kaki Floppy, found this wonderful website:

http://www.world.honda.com/motorcycle-technology/brake/p1.html

It talks about the various braking technologies used by Honda.
It is a bit technical and cheem. But it is readable.
But I help to simplify for you below:
























Ever brake so hard and you go "Woooh!!!" and feel like you and the bike are going to flip foward?

This article basically says that braking for motorcycles is different from that of cars. Motorcycles experience greater degrees of nosedive than cars because of higher center of gravity and shorter wheelbase. Pictures all extracted from www.world.honda.com.











Fear not. Honda to the rescue. Honda developed CBS (Combined Brake System) to make braking for motorcycles easier. Think using CBS or LBS brakes are not macho or manly because using traditional un-integrated front and rear brakes is a more difficult and delicate business? Well, CBS was developed out of Honda's racing. Then you shouldn't be sitting on a modern motorcycle because many parts are developed out of racing too, like the disc brakes.

























This article shows how Honda's dual CBS works. In short, press your foot brake, the rear brake works harder, but the front brake still works. Press your front brake lever, the front brake wors harder, but the rear brake still works. Press both front lever and foot brake, you get all the front and rear brakes work to their max.




























This fancy looking chart above is basically saying that those macho-but-dinosaur-brained sports riders who say, "Oh, I can like the traditional unlinked brakes because I ride a sport bike and I go to the track, so I have Rossi's braking skills, and therefore I can brake within a shorter distance using unlinked brakes." Ya, maybe you are right. But only under very optimal and very limited conditions that you can achieve your optimum effectiveness. Whereas the dual CBS allows you to achieve shorter braking distances in the vast majority of the time.

























Not satisfied with just putting dual CBS into their VFR, ST1300 and Blackbird, Honda added in ABS. This diagram shows how ABS sits in-between your brake controls and the brake pistons so that the ABS can jump in and smooth things out. More interestingly, the techno-crazy but always understated Hondarians also have an angle sensor in their ABS! So when your bike is leaned over, the ABS will work differently compared to when your bike is upright.
























Think all ABS are alike? Well, there are ABS and ABS. Above shows that the motor-driven ABS is much smoother when it comes in. That's why there are reports of some manufacturer's bikes experience more abruptness when the ABS kicks in, whereas some others are much smoother.

























This chart shows that CBS+ABS gives up to 2.3 times more stopping power than conventional brakes.





Still don't like Honda motorcycles?
Well, before you were even borned, Honda Soichiro already applied for his ABS patent design back in 1959.

My Collection of Quotes

I have been inspiration-less for 2 months on writing a blog article. Don't you have this kind of feeling before? Go to the work, don't feel like working. Know got school test coming up, don't feel like studying. Now and then, I feel like that. Especially from Mondays to Fridays.

Lucky I got idea to kick start my lazy brain. You see, I like to keep interesting quotes that I come across. So I share with you some of my quotes and how they relate to me. I hope you will find them meaningful to you too.


My Chio Bu in Recent Ad

Before I start, let me digress a bit to tell you my chio bu appeared in a major advertisement recently. You might have seen her in this ad:

My Chio Bu as the model in Singtel Mobile RedPac Advertisement
She appears as the mother in the ad.

Image from Singtel Mobile advertisement from
http://home.singtel.com/kidz/redpac.asp

Printed advertisement appeared on the main sections on:
5 March 2008, Wednesday--Lian He Zhao Bao
5 March 2008, Wednesday--Strait's Times
8 March 2008, Saturday--Strait's Times

TV advertisement scheduled to air on 17 March 2008, all major channels of MediaCorp including Channel 5, Channel 8, Channel U.

With so much exposure, maybe she will be better recognised than that wanted JI terrorist Mas Selamat that escaped.

She appeared in many other ads in the past. Like Acuve, POSB, IBM, CPF, etc etc she say until I also cannot remember.

Ok, break over. Back to main topic.



"The Journey Is The Reward"
Phil Jackson, head coach of Chicago Bulls during the Michael Jordan 7-year NBA championship years.

This is my personal favourite and motto. Because quite easy to remember.

Possessions, accomplishments, fame, wealth: hese are all fleeting. Impermanent. One day they will all be gone. Also, we by nature are greedy. The satisfaction you get from attaining them is short-lived. We will never get enough and get satisfied. We are always hungry for more. Also, in life, nothing is guaranteed. You may or may not get what you want. So in the end, where is the satisfaction going to come from?
It is from the journey.

Good hor? This quote is also good for people like me.
Go chase girls but in the end never get them. So I think myself, "Nevermind, the journey is the reward."


"You always have a choice."
Pete, Spiderman 2.

Spiderman is actually quite wise. People remember his more famous quote, "With more power comes more responsibility". But this is the one that I thought is the wisest.

You ride motorcycle and a car just cut-across in front of you causing you to jam brake narrowly avoiding hitting you. You cursed and swell. #@%#*&.

You not happy right? Fine, you always got a choice. Don't ride bike lah. Go take public transport lah. The cursing immediately stops.

This thought not only applies to riding. But to any everyday event whenever we feel frustrated.
We feel frustrated because we felt we have no other choice. Wrong. We always have another choice. Pause and think a bit harder.

We would end up happier. Even when we still end up sticking to the same unpreferred choice, we do things smarter.

So you see, Spideman is not stupid one ok. If I see Spiderman, I will use his quote on him.
Because that Kirsten Dunst who plays Mary Jane, look like sai to me. I will tell Peter Parker,

"You always have another choice."



“Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
Yoda, Star Wars

This one you should remember right?
That Yoda is a wise monk in disguise. George Lucas actually embedded the wisedom of Shaolin monks into Star Wars. Don't play play.

Why this one useful leh?
First, it tells me not to get angry. At anyone even if it is not my fault. Because in the end, I will kena suffer as well. Sure one, I tell you. Like back in school days, that #$%@ boy in your class steal your eraser and you feel like punching him, but you sure cannot escape one. Sure kena punishment from teacher if you pull the punch. So better don't get angry.

It teaches me to have a cheerful character as well. You must smile more.
Don't belive? You see Ronald McDonald smile so wide. See how rich he is now.


“Do or do not... there is no try.”
Yoda, Star Wars

This one also from Yoda. Also very useful.

If you got subordinate and you ask him to do something and he respond with "I try".

You can tu (rebutt) him with "There is no try. Do or do not. This is Yoda say one."

He sure boh wei kong one.




"He who butters your bread holds the knife."
Forgot by who.

This one is to remind myself to dong. To restrain. To control myself whenever kena scolding by my boss, even when kena scolded until chao tao.

If you think this one quote not enough, you can combine with the earlier quote, "You always have a choice."

Suddenly, what your boss scold you for starts to make a lot of sense.



"The Stone Cutter.

Whenever I feel depressed or want to give up, I will go see the stone cutter.
He sits at the same place, hitting the same piece of rock at the same spot.
Each hit leaves not a mark and the rock remains intact.
But on the 101st hit, the rock falls apart."

Jacob a riis. 1901. Socialist and writer.


This one tells me to lang lang just work hard. Also to just continue to buy Toto. Maybe one day, will really hit jackpot.


“He told me that his philosophy is to simply do what he is good at, work hard, and do it very well everyday. He does not care about trends, but just what his customers like there.”

Jeremy, founder of Vis a Vis french restaurant in Singapore. It is in Bukit Timah area.

Means if you work in a company, you must listen to the customer and serve the customer well.
If you no time or no money to attend those MBA thing, just take good care of your customer
and your business will prosper.

If you not customer facing, means serve your boss very well.
If you work in the government, means serve the voters very well.




"The harder I worked, the luckier I got."
George Milkan, a famous NBA basketball player in 1940-50s.

Or I wished to believe.

But I really just prefer the lucky part without the hard work part.



"So in life, you take the cards given to you."
Lee Kuan Yew

This one lao Lee say one. Lao Lee say one how can be wrong, right?

Means you kena allocated a HDB flat in ulu ulu estate without MRT, without provision shop, without kopi tiam, face carpark, don't complain understand?! Just take it. Not happy ah? Go buy private property lah.


"Every dog has it's day"
My Chio Bu

Yes, not eye is not playing tricks on you. It is that chio bu who appeared in the Singtel ad above who said it.

I also equally shock that she said such got ink quote that I quickly write it down.

It means one day I will surely strike Toto!

Wahahahahaha!!!



"In Haste, we add Waste"
Endlessloop


This one by me. Because whenever I kum cheong and rush out of my house because late, I would reach my vICE only to realise that I forgot to bring it's motorcycle key out, or I left behind some important items in the house. And have to go all the way back, so waste even more time.

So plan properly, give yourself sufficient time before you start any project of all kinds, start promptly, then you can relax, enjoy the journey and finish your job sui sui.



"Clear Vision. Swift Action. Good Results."
Lim Kim Sang. Chairman of SPH.

I try to apply his advice. Must work right? If not he wouldn't be chairman of SPH wao.

I think I got good clear vision because I know what I want.
I also can act very fast. Kah qiu must be faster a bit, if not wait lose out.

But my results not very good leh. How ah? Where I go wrong?



"Sit Tight. Walk Right. Stand and Fight."
Pastor Lawrence Kong, from FCBC Church in Singapore.


Wah, pastor also teach people to fight ah?!!

No lah. He means when you are faced with crisis, just walk upright, do things that you can answer to your conscious. Deal with the problem and not run away.

Lawrence Kong is my favourite speaker of all the churches I have been so far in Singapore.




"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!'"

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe


Serious. It really work. You don't believe?


You try jay walking at a red-man traffic light. I tell you, the other pedestrains beside you will all follow you and jay walk across.

You try illegal parking your bike on the pavement at one spot. When you come back to your bike later, you will see many other bikes all copy you and illegal park next to you.

What bold dream do I have? Hmmm.

I want to one day marry my favourite Japanese AV actress Mai Asoh! Go check her out!


One Song that Rocks

Go listen to this song from Hebe, one member of S.H.E.

Absence Makes the Heart Fonder: 1.2 weeks without my STX1300

Landed at Beijing airport, People's Republic of China (PRC).


















I failed to notice the thick clothing the airport ground crew were wearing, to protect them against the harsh cold of Beijing's winter. I paid the price later suffering from brain freeze and hyperthermia, walking a mere 100 meters in the open air.

















China is huge siah. Look at the mountain range below.
If Osama can speak mandarin, he hide there confirm nobody can find.


















China is gearing up for 08.08.08, the date of the next Olympics to be held in Beijing.


I had to travel to China for one whole week. Not to go find china wife or mistress; or to import Geylang "Foreign Talents". But to zho kang, to work.

I decided to take this opportunity to send my Vice, my beloved STX1300 Pan European, into the workshop to do some servicing work.

To have the hydraulic fluids in both brake reservoirs replaced (over 1-2 years, hydraulic fluids will absorb moisture from the air and caused the brake feel to feel soft and spongy) and the brake pads replaced.

I had actually just changed the whole 3 set of brake pads just 2 weeks ago. At a particular famous motorshop in Alexandra Village that even does dyno testing. My original brake pads were worned out. The chief mechanic there recommended changing to a particular aftermarket brand of brake pads as they are cheaper than OEM Honda brake pads and give better performance. Trusting him, I said ok.

But later regret. Even after 2 weeks and over 1,000 km of riding of baking the new brake pads, my STX's brakes no longer feel jiat, strong. I need more effort on my fingers, braking distance is longer, I can no longer brake to a smooth stop using just the front level. The new brake pads were disappointing.

So I decided, instead of living with a pain over prolong period of waiting for the brand new set of brake pads to be replaced, I decided to have them replaced immediately.

I send my bike to Planet Motorcycle at Ubi Avenue. Boss is Ah Cheong.

China

Some highlights of my china trip:

















I tried out the new Changi Airport's Terminal 3. The airport is so new, the fur on the carpet is still so brand new and long that when standing on the carpet, I felt a bit wobbly.


















If you think China is ulu, think again. See the tall modern and fancy buildings in the cities.
















The city of Guangzhou.

















The busy streets of Beijing.


- Whenever I stepped out of even my highclass Shangrila hotel at Shenzhen, pimps will come and approach me to offer girls. Some of the pimps are women. Sorry, I forgot to ask the rate, so no need to email me to ask.

- Beijing is one of the coldest places I have visited. It is winter in Beijing and the cold felt worse than it's -6 degrees celsius. Walking with a heavy jacket without gloves, in the open air at night, within 100 meters, I start to shiver and I developed brainfreeze--headache from drinking cold water too fast. I realised the cold there can be lethal. If don't wear enough thick clothing, can literally die cock stand. Also, don't think China govnmt will have problem enforcing Beijing citizens to limit to one child policy. The place is too cold to get naked to make babies.


- I stayed in 5 different hotels within 7 nights. Beijing, Guanzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong. I changed hotel until blur. Once, forgot what room number because thought it was the previous hotel room number.

















My Beijing Intercontinental room's toilet. Big and nice enough I could just sleep in it.

















My Guangzhou Westin room.



















My room in Guangzhou Westin. Note you watch your girl bath from your bed.


- I actually think the hotel service was first class, best even Hong Kong's. I like the service at Beijing Hotel Intercontinental and Guangzhou Westin.

















The customer service in Beijing and Guangzhou hotel impressed me. When I stepped into the room the first time, the TV screen flashed a greeting with my name on it, "Mr Tay".

















I get chauffeured around in a Benz C- and S-Class. China is left hand drive.



















Want to know what I look like on my working trip to China?
Check out my Tai Kor Tai dressing. Cool or not?



















Look like Chow Yuan Fatt's dressing in the movie A Better Tomorrow? Just needs a some wind to blow my hair to make a grand entrance. Plus must remember to walk slow-mo.


















At one of the Char Chang Ting, or tea restaurants in Hong Kong.
Hong Kongers are like Singaporeans. Eating is a passion.


















Look at the amount of fat in this roasted meat in Hong Kong. But must try! The roasted crust is crispy. The meat inside is soft and juicy. Super nice! (Make Makansutra Sitoh's orgasm face)


















Do you know this guy?


















At Hong Kong's Avenue of Star.



Reunited with Vice

When I landed back at Changi airport, my chio bu was there to pick me up from the airport. After been to 5 cities in China, my chio bu is still the most tok kong one.

She sent me to Planet to collect my Vice. Ah Chong did a good job and charged me a very fair price. When I rode my STX, the familiar progressive feel of the brakes came back. I was so happy. Morale of the lesson learnt: Don't anyhow change to aftermarket brake pads. Stick to OEM Honda brake pads. At least for Honda STX1300's case. Also, for my previous Honda CBR954 FireBlade case. Echoed by the owner of Honda Blackbird.

I was so happy when reunited with Vice. Once again, I was struck by how agile the STX feel; how torquey and yet smooth and vibration free the V4 engine is; how powerful the brakes are; how comfortable the bike is; and how well designed everything is on the bike. Absence really makes my heart fonder for my Vice.

A Taxi Driver's Sex Adventure with a Masseur

While Vice was at the workshop, I travelled on taxi a little bit and I hear a few interesting stories from the taxi drivers. And this is one of the most intersting one.

The taxi driver is a Malay uncle in his 40-50s. He told me, one day he picked up a China girl in Singapore. The girl is very pretty to him. He see until his eyes steam.

He drove a little while. The pretty China girl asked "Uncle, you want a massage?" She starts to massage his neck and his shoulders as he continued driving. Unable to resist, the uncle taxi driver says agreed to $50 massage session. Drive the girl to her massage parlor.

At the massage parlor, the girl asked uncle lie on his stomach on a bed and massaged his back first. Then after that, asked uncle turn around and lie flat on his back. Girl sat on uncle to massage stomach, then move up to chest. Then, the girl sat uncle face. Uncle says girl not wearing panties.

Girl offered $100 for sex job. $50 for blow job. $30 for jerk job. Uncle is clever. Said he only got $20 niah. Girl said, ok lah ok lah. She accepted $20 for blow job.

And at this point, taxi uncle drive until almost missed the turn to my destinaton. "Ooi, ooi, ooi, uncle, please turn here!" I told him. "Don't get too excited until forget." Uncle said, "Sorry sorry." He said after he dropped me, after telling me his sex adventure with the massage masseur, maybe he go visit Geylang.


















Mind over matter. Finding stillness and tranquility in a bustling city like Hong Kong.

Tourer Comparison: GTR vs FJR vs ST1300 vs R1300RT vs K1300GT

Stiff Upper Lips in Stiff Competition




















TourerGP: Has Kawa pulled off an upset against the mighty Honda?


Kawasaki just launched their high-powered high-tech 1400GTR tourer to go slug it out against the heavy weights of Honda, Yamaha and BMW. How does this new (big) kid on the block stand against the current market favours?

If you want to find out, go get the current issue of Bike Magazine from UK for the full story. The article is informative as well as entertaining.





















My favourite bike mag.

I'm not going to spoil the fun and the business of Bike by giving away everything the magazine commented on these 5 bikes. I would just give you some samples as appertizers and add my personal comments:

Kawasaki GTR1400 Review

Bike says:

Good points: - Bloody hell this is fast. Set the fastest 0-100kmh recorded by Bike (broken by the new Busa 3 days later).
- Most gizmos after the BMWs.

Weak points:
- Screen too low when at lowest; buffers head when at highest.
- Hard work to corner fast, mid and low speed.
- Firmest suspension and seat. Fast motor not really needed for the job at hand.


Endless says:

This bikes are all at the top of the pyramid. Every manufacturer got to give their best shot and can afford to because these bikes are not on budget. So there are no bad bikes here. And no best bikes. Rather, it is what kind of rider you are.

The 1400GTR is for those who likes all the power to ride very very fast, in a straight line eg: NorthSouth highway--but first got to change to taller aftermarket windscreen or your neck gets blown off by the windblast.
1400GTR is for those who like the idea that they are owning a bike whose got more horsepower than the guy next to him, with the highest top speed, fastest 0kmh to whatever kmh.
May appeal to a mellowed Hayabusa or ZZ1400 owner.



BMW R1200RT and K1200KT

Bike says:

Good points:
- Put them in 1-2 pole positions in this long-distance riding shootout (I can't believe this).
- Comfortable. Brillian screen and fairing.

Weak points:
- Clunky gearbox. Need to get used to the telelevel fork shit thing. Need to get used to the separate left and right turn signal buttons shit thing.

Endless says:

BMW must have gotten Bike bribed with the most advertisement money. Don't tell Bike or I'm going get sued. How else is there to explain that "Buy this BMW bike, even though it is so expensive, it's got a worse gearbox feel than bikes a quarter its price"?

Sorry, I am very fussy about the gearbox feel as I am not those type of rider that just sticks my bike to top gear and than ride straight and at constant speed all the way to my destination without playing with the gears and engine revs.

Ok, Ok, to be fair, the BMWs here are designed and built by a manufacturer with amongst the most experience in building tourers. So they have got almost all the chinks knocked out by decades and decades of listening to thousands and thousands of owners and new owners. These experience are intangibles that cannot be substitued by the lastest gizmo or highest specs or more horsepower engines.

It is like the best-tasting chilli crab is still the best-testing chilli crab, even though there are other stalls that offer bigger crabs, more chilli, better service. The BMWs are for owners who wish to own something different. And not just another japanese bike. And for those people where the BMW brand means more prestige than Japanese brands (Japanese brands in motorcycling don't mean anything? They haven't been watching MotoGP)



Honda ST1300 (STX1300) Pan European Review

Bike says:

Good points:
- The smooth, mellow flavour of the longitudinal V4 motor. Feels like a sportsbike.
- Can handle and corner like a much lighter Hornet 600.

Weak points: - Honda bland. Not outstanding in any one area.
- Looks like a scooter (it is not the Pan's fault. Those scooter builders went to build their scooters like the Pan.)

Endless says: I say exactly what Bike said. I love the V4. It is so relaxing when cruising in Singapore. And it grips the tarmac like a vice when cornering and accelerating. I also love the willingness of the ST1300 to corner.

The Pan is really very much like the BMW. Almost perfect and flawless as tourers/sports tourers like years of feedback from owners. If something is not there, you almost can be sure you don't need it, no matter how much you think you need it (eg: more horsepower).

People who go for the STX are people who trust the Honda brand for build reliability and design experience. And for those who go for finesse riding style over brute acceleration and top speed. And for comfort and refinement.



Yamaha FJR1300A Review

Bike says:

Good points:
- Sporty. Good engine
- Feels like what a proper motorbike should feel (versus the STX, a bike that accelerates but you can't hear the engine sound).

Weak points:
- Old tech.
- Screen a bit too low for long-distance touring.

Endless says:

I will put the FJR as a midway between the GTR1400 and STX.
It is for those trust the Yamaha brand. For those who likes to hear a bit of engine and exhaust sound from their bike. But some of those in the FJR camp may be attracted to go over to the GTR1400 camp because of the appeal of higher horsepower.



Conclusion

Touring and sport touring is one style of riding where higher horsepower, highest top speed don't mean as much. There is no one way of quantification that can measure a bike that is best for touring/sport touring, unlike pure sportbike. And for every strength, it necessites a trade-off.

Eg: To have more horsepower to ride at higher speed or accelerate faster, the suspension has to be firmer and harsher and less comfortable. The wheelbase has to be longer to give greater sense of stability at high speed at the expense of needing more effort to turn the bike.

So the conclusion is there is no best bike here. More like what is your style? What does your priority lie?

What someone else like may not be what you will like. Knowing yourself well is just as important as knowing the bikes out there.

Ride Motorbike Also Can Play Golf

Happy New Year.

Golf is not just for the rich ang high class people. Even Endless me is also learning to play golf.

And you don't need a car to bring golf clubs. Ride motorbike also can bring golf clubs. How? Just buy a "sunday bag"--a soft case golf bag which can carry a good 7-9 clubs. I sling it across me and I can ride my bike comfortably with it.

If you think golf is a very serious and formal sport, then you have never play golf with Endless. Just watch these videos filmed by Endless.





Value-for-money golf game





Lang kor






Pot Mark


I think ESPN should hire me as a golf commentator. Don't you think I will give those ang mor a good run for their money?

View of 2007 from my side mirror

Achievements

1. Never get any demerit points!
2. Never claim any bike insurance. Yipee!
3. Still 100% safe.
4. Organised Traffic Police-Bukit Batok Safety Day ride, and HOV talk
5. My loudexhaust blog crosses 15,000 hits. Realised it was read by many bike enthusiasts.
Thank you for reading. Will continue to write more adventures.
6. Got chio bu Ms Huppy to be guest blogger. Only wrote 2 articles. Since then, she zhao lor liao.


Most Memorable Rides

1. Betong Thailand
2. Twin Peaks Faiser Hill and Genting Highlands
3. Pagoh Challenge. Need a 2008 version. Wrote this article for Motor Culture. All my school english teachers would have never guessed one day I would write for a magazine. But then, Motor Culture is such a beng magzine.


Interesting Events

1. Frost no more. Become, I AM VICE. Changed from Fazer1000 to STX. Honda's got to me again.
2. Hornet Nest to Moto-v. Have to keep telling people I don't ride with an engine oil company.
3. Learnt diving. Got advanced diving cert. Almost drowned.
4. Picking up golf. Start of a self-torturing sport.
5. Was there during the Indian protest rally at KL, tear gas, ang-chia, helicopter and all.
6. My STX peng san twice within one month and need to thank 7 people who helped to upright it.

Wishes for 2008
1. Maintain my 100% riding safety for my 12th year running.
2. Go on more interesting rides. Hopefully with less qiu-cheng (screw-ups).
3. Show you more chio-bu!
4. Organise more safety events to help more riders save their skin.
5. Do Pagoh Challenge 2008!

Happy New Year!

Pengerang Ride--Southmost tip of Malaysia, East Coast

1 Dec 2007
















Our route.

Attraction:
Rengit & Pengarang are old traditional fishing village
World War II British Ops Centre


















Big in Kulai.
The stars of Edmun Cheng and Xiang Yun are still shinning in Kulai.
Property advertisement.


We had breakfast at Kulai. There are 22 bikes on this ride.
I sat next to Daniel, an Australian who rides a VFR. I was shocked when he ordered the famous super-big tau pao at Yun Lai and conversed to the kopi tiam auntie in mandarin.
I asked him how come he knows how to speak mandarin? He replied in complete phrases of Beijing-accented mandarin that once he went to tour China for 4 months. And he had no choice to learn mandarin. Because everyone down there speaks mandarin and little english. He has to learn to speak mandarin, othewise, no hotel, no food, no transport...



















Trucks also got siamese-twin type joined at the hips?
One on right of photo kena accident and become pai kah cannot move.
One on the left come and rescue and shift its cargo (sand) over to carry on delivery.


















Route 90, en-route to Pengerang.
Route 90 is like a road kena carpet bombed. Craters left and right. Got to split in between craters at times.


















Ride along J52, along the southerntip of east coast of Malaysia was fantastic.
Flat plains all around.

















Coconut trees blowing in the strong sea breeze on the left.
Beyond is the South China Sea.

















Arriving at Sungei Rengit. I think its landmark is a huge prawn.


















Our bikes attracted a crowd of young fans.



















Reached Sunget Rengit, a town before Pengerang.
Beautiful view of the sea. And can see lots of large cargo ships moored out in the sea in front.

















The flat green at the background is Pengerang, where we are supposed to head to.
When there, supposed to be able to see Singapore.
You can actually take a boat from Changi Village and take you to Pengerang.

















After riding so far to get here, a photo to capture the moment that might never return.




















House with a view of the sea.
A few feet in front of the house is the South China sea.
Fantastic place to live in as retirement home. But need RM130K.

















Tall coconut trees lined both sides of the road.
You know you are near the sea when you see so many coconut trees.


















We stopped by the roadside to take photo.
This road is interesting because rarely, the sea is just next to the road.

















Me and my marvelleous and dependable Vice.
The STX1300 never fails to amaze me with its athletic finesse even though I have already experienced it before already.
It is not a tourer. To me, it really is an upright Blackbird.


















We reached the jetty, Jeti Tanjong Pengelih, that is at the southermost tip.
But cant see Singapore leh. And nothing much to see. Snap a photo and we u-turned back.


















We had lunch at Sungei Rengit town.
I ate my kin. This is wild boar dish. That animal is my Chinese zodiac.


















Sunray bursting through the cloud cover.
The weather today was great. No rain and cool somemore.


















Another stunt photo of mine.
What's so special of this photo?
I was the leader of the convoy back. And I took a photo of the convoy, turning myself facing backward, while still riding.

















Entering Kulai town on the return trip, saw aftermath of an accident.
The Malaysian Vios langga into the rear of a small lorry. Huge jam behind.

















The woman from the Vios, still suffering from the impact.


















The End :)

Twin Peaks Ride (Genting Highlands & Fraser's Hill) and the Best Route to Corner in Malaysia: Day 3 and Final

Monday, 8 October 2007










Highlights:
- What real life casino looks like
- Discovered Route 9, the shiokest route for cornering in Malaysia


Roller Coasters on Genting


After taking complimentary breakfast, we had some time to kill before we check out at 11am.



















Some of us got not enough fun conering up Genting and to take the roller coaster at First World's amusement park.
It features a prone-down posture, has spinning and looping actions.
















From their faces, do you think the ride was scary?


A Casino in Real Life

Somehow,no body mentioned about about going to the casino. Maybe bikers all boh luai.

Surprisingly, the person most gian to go to casino turned out to be our undergrad, PPlater. He chio me go casino and I said on and tagged along.

Now, the casino allows shirts with colour and jeans. The casino does not allow photo so too bad I got no photos to show you.

I have prepared a princely sum as my gambling capital--S$200!
I told myself to be disciplined. Maximum lose all my gambling capital but must not sell my STX to the casino.
PPlater, being a student still, has a slightly smaller capital of S$100.

Inside the casino, we were first greeted with rows and rows of jacket machines. But we want to go for the real thing. We only want to play card games and huat ah!

There are many card playing stations. Each station consists of a large table lined with green cloth on its top; a dealer, who is a casino employee; space for 6-8 players. Each station plays only one style of card game eg: Black Jack, Poker, etc etc.

The first discovery I made of real life casino versus the movies is how little talking is required. You can play even if you can't speak Malay, English, Tamil. In the movies, the dealer will now and then talk and sprout things like, "Banker draws an Ace. Player A wins etc". At Genting, for all I know, the dealers might all be mute. In the movies, the dealers are elegant gentlemen dressed in tuxedos. At Genting, the dealers are teens still with pimples, dressed in overly large waiter-like uniforms.


There is no need for anyone to talk to play the game because the table cloth is a self-contained rule-book. All the rules are written on the table. And you just need to put your money at the right box on the table cloth. You lose, the dealer eats your money away. You win, the dealer puts chips on your box.

The only time the players talk is when the poor teenage-dealer is about to draw a card. The players, all uncles and aunties, will all shout in unison, "Picture! Picture! Picture!" And when the dealer really draws a King and exceeds 21, the rowdy loud rejoices happily.

In the movies, the dealer will perform fancy trips when they shuffle the cards and spread the deck across the table. In real life, the dealers do not need to do any shuffling. A machine does the shuffling.

Sitting down distributing cards for 8 hours a day, 12 months a year, I think it must be very boring to be a dealer in a casino. And it's a job that the only time your customers are happy with you is when you screw up in your job--that is, if you lose and therefore they win. It must be the worst job on earth.

So when the Singapore IR is ready, better think properly first before apply job as a card dealer.


Our Turn

PPlater and I spent some time watching other players how they play, like where to put the bet, what are the card rules. We watched and watched. We watched until we start to almost chicken out. At least I did. Good thing PPlater did not.

One player vacated from the game. Here is the chance. PPlater goes forward and sit down at his place. PPlater takes out his gambling capital of S$100 and was about to exchange for chips. But not before one uncle took out his stack of notes to exchange for chips. Our S$100-200 suddenly looked so small because that uncle exchanged 2,000 ringgit. Unlike in the movies where Chow Yuan Fatt has stacks and stacks of gambling chip piled in front of him, PPlater's gambling capital composed of just 4 chips.

PPlater's put his first precious chip down on the table. He wins! He now has 5 chips! Wow, I didn't know winning is so easy.

He puts his next chip on the table. Lose. Back to original 4 chips.

He puts his next chip. Lose again! O-Oh. 3 chips left. Things are getting tense.

Next chip. Lose gain! 2 chips left. Wow, I didn't know money can part from you so fast.

Tolong tolong. Ti kong por bi por bi. Next one better win ah. Next chip. Win at last! 3 chips now.

He then wins 2 more games in a row. He now has 5 chips and is on a winning streak!

PPlater is very disciplined. He stood up and ended his foray into gambling in Genting. He explained that he might only win S$25, but better that he walked away win a small win than to keep playing until he eventually loses.

Wise words and at a 25% profit on his investment within 15 minutes, it is a good return. But if I am casino operator, I will surely ban such players.

For me, I kind of like regretted for chickening out. But I am glad that at least I still have my STX to ride home.


Departure

Checking out of First World is such a breeze, compared to the 1 hour checking-in. Just drop the keys into a box and leave.


















Lined up for a motorcycling race on top of Genting?


















It's to take a group photo.




















Going down the steep slopes of Genting.
If you look down, it can be a bit scary. The small dotts in the lower road are the head of our convoy while I am riding down.



















Going up Genting is throttle and leaning over.
Going down Genting is all brakes and leaning over.


The ride up and down Genting was really fun. And we reached the bottom of Genting before we know it.

From Genting Sempah exit, we took the E8 highway, also known as the "Karak Highway".


















On the scenic Karak Highway.
Unlike the straight monotonous NorthSouth Highway, the Karak Highway was fun to ride.


















Nice scenaries around, some gentle bends and nice weather.


We head north and enter Route 2 to get to Karak town.

















At this kopi tiam at Karak town center, we had lunch.
The roast duck and wanton mee are nice here. Yummy!


After that, we rode along this route called Route 9 that will take us south all the way to Melaka's Tampin.


Route 9, the best cornering route in Western Malaysia

I have been to some routes with twisties that are really nice to corner on a motorbike: Route 3 to Mersing, Cameron Highland, Gua Musang Highway, Gerik Highway, the earlier Genting Highlands.

But this Route 9 beats them all, in my opinion. What makes Route 9 bends so special?


















Riding along Route 9.
I don't have any picture to show you of my cornering action along Route 9.
The bends are so fun that I kept me so fully engaged that I had no time/no capacity left to take photos for you.



Route 9 is filled with twist and turns. It even has hairpins. What made these bends so fun to corner is that almost all of them are constant- or increasing-radius corners.

This means you can enter the bend and can really lean very low because the bends will not suddenly sharpen and catch you out further.


















One of the numerous increasing/constant bends along Route 9.

And the further good news is that Route 9 is rather long. It takes about an hour to complete riding through. And all through the route, there will be nice corners here and there.


The STX is a cornering machine

Going through Route 9, it made me love my STX, Vice, even more.

I already knew my STX is a very different bike from its predecessor the ST1100. I already knew the STX is a very fast bike, despite having a neat sedated Honda tourer image. Along the NorthSouth Highway, you will be surprised to know that the STX pulls as strongly as a Blackbird when both bikes are in top gears (the STX has a lower redline so it's 240 can't match the BB's 300 top speed). And on the first day of this trip, while playing with a BlackBird along another trunk road, Route 50, I was pleasantly surprised that the STX was a match with the BlackBird.

All these are straight line performances. What about cornering? How good is the STX in corners?

Along Route 9, I found out the STX was fantastic!

The bike is so light to steer and to lean over to take a corner. Its sitting posture is perfect for upright touring, yet its frictionless broad and long seat along you to hang off and to adopt a prone sportsbike cornering posture that makes cornering action much more involving(the FJR has a frictionful dimpled foamy seat).

I leaned over so much that after I buah the toes of my boots against the road surface, for the rest of the corners, I tip-toed my boots on the foot peg like riding a sports bike.

And it's fantastic V4 engine that delivers great amounts of torque from as low as 3,00 rpm. Plus, somehow the STX V4 allows you to use the power of its 1,300 cc engine without fear. The engine is so gentle with you, yet it actually is digging the tyres into the tarmac and hurling the bike forward.

This fantastic V4 is my ace around corners. Once I see the exit of the corners, I could open my throttle quickly without fear of losing grip as in the case of inline4s. The 1,300 cc engine throws the bike forward and I can see the bikes in front of me, the FZ1, the GSX1K, the CBR1K, can't escape and all gets reeled towards me! Yes, I eventually overtook most of them.

(But convoy riding along trunk road is not a race. So it is not fair to say the STX is quicker than these litre sports bikes. It's just that the STX is a match along the corners to keep up with them.)


And there's the STX's combined linked brakes system (CBS) with ABS. Bike journalist hates them. I love them. They are so idiot proof and so effective. I can power out of a corner, hurl the big STX to high speeds. See the road rapidly disappearing in a corner fast approaching. No fear. I opened the throttle even wider!

Just about right, I pressed on the front brake lever. Sometimes, with the foot brake added in. I can feel the CBS gripping the front discs, then activate the rear discs and my STX gets pulled back like a big parachute behind. I have the assurance if the braking force too strong, the ABS will kick in, though it never ever need to. The idiot-proof CBS also meant that I can trail my brakes into the corners of route 9, something I seldom do previously on other bike models.

And as I traversed the mid-section of the corner, leaned over and out of my seat, with a constant pressure on the throttle...see the bend starts to straighten out and I saw the exit, once again, I opened my throttle progressly and see my STX closes in onto the bike in front!



















The corners of Route 9 and the fantastic cornering capabilities of STX lead to using up to 80% of the width of my BT-21 BattleAxe tyres!


How can a bike that is comfortable for long-distance cruising yet be able to go so fast and so able in cornering? Sometimes, life is just so unfair.


Watch Out

Later on, it starts to rain. We are reaching the end of Route 9. Then the other STX in the group fell. How come?

The STX wasn't going very fast. It was just doing 20kmh or so going around a bend. As the bend straightens, the rider opened the throttle ever slightly only since it was raining. But it so happens the rear tyre, at the moment, was on the white painted central divider. This painted surface is so slippery when wet that the rear tyre lose grip and the bike fell.

Good thing the rider was amoured and there was no injury, just a scare.

So boys and girls, lessons learnt are: Avoid touching the white painted lines when raining. And wear armoured safety riding gear as they keep you looking beautiful and handsome.


















Sitting down. The VFR rider was in the midst of filling up when this big Malaysian lorry decided to squeeze past him inches away and the rider could only hold his breath.

Twin Peaks Ride (Genting Highlands & Fraser's Hill) and the Best Route to Corner in Malaysia: Day 2

Sunday, 7 October 2007


Paiseh paiseh. My article on Day2 take so long to come out. I was busy using my free time to draw a picture.
No, you never read wrongly. Endless, me can draw one. Got chance, next time I show you my drawing. Ok, go back to our story on the Twin Peak's ride.




Fraser's Hill at Dawn






















Look at the beautiful dawn at Fraser's Hill!


















The rising sun slowly stirring the land around it.


















In the cool morning air, the lazy hills still have the blankets of cloud pulled over them.



















A cheerful bright flower to wake up your morning and to remind you today is a beautiful day!


The above photographs are courtesy of Spectrum and Bornfree. They not taken by me.
Because I was still kunning on the bed zzzzzzzzz.
I really meant to wake up one.


Trekking at Fraser's Hill

Spectrum brought us for trekking and he reminded us to wear trekking attire lik long pants, shoes and long-sleeve shirt.

Ai yah, Fraser's Hill is such a lazy tourist place, why ask us to wear like this? Also no jungle to bash what.

So most of us just wear T-shirt and slippers.
We stroll at a leisurely place, breathing in and feeling the cool, fresh morning air on Fraser's.













Do we look cool?
Supposed to walk in one row and look cool like those Backstreet Boys boy bands.

















On top of Fraser's Hill, there is one (and only one) "town centre". It is marked by a clock tower.


















As you walk around, notice that some of the buildings have charming architecture.
This one looks like it was air-lifted out of Amsterdam and plonked here.


















We stumbled upon this thick, long, huge millipede!
Must be a thousand years old. Can understand why it goes bare footed--so many legs.
















Singaporean really swah-ku. Never see before a millipede is it? All crowd around the millipede.

Ooi, bully ker-chi ah!? So many people bully one millipede ah?!
No lah. The millipede blur blur was crawling towards the road.
We want the millipede to live another thousand years,
so we help to U-turn it back towards the forest.


Ok, we reached the jungle trail liao.
At first, it cannot be seen that there is a jungle trail. Only signs are the sign board, and a very small opening through the bushes, like a very small long gao.

Har?! You expect us to bash through this thick underbush ah?!
We looked at Spectrum in disbelief. Hello, we now are on holiday. Not on reservist leh!

This Spectrum keep saying Must try, must try! While we were trying to convince each other, one of the girls in our group, Joy, very gun-ho. She want to walk up the trail liao.

I quickly volunteer and telll her, Wait, wait, let me go first.
Must help all the Men in the World save some face mah.























Up the steep jungle trail on Fraser's Hill. With me as point man.
It took quite a while to get the group to get onto the slope.
Alamak. All ride so big cc bikes, but balls so small cc!


Finally, we managed to convince most of the group to bash through the thick bushes and onto the trail. Just as we are starting to get used from entering a jungle world and about to start our trekking, I saw a small family coming downhill from we were heading towards.


















The father (in grey T-shirt, back facing you), as he walked past me, asked:
"Do you know how to get rid of leeches ah?"

I begin to recall from what my sergeant told me during my national service days, but I never get to practise, "Oorh, use cigarette or fire to burn it lor." I think to myself: Jey, want to test me on my jungle skills ah?! Uncle, I am SAF (Singapore Armed Forces)-trained leh

The uncle replied, "Really ah? My daughter got a leech stucked on her."


*Gulp*




Oh my goodness. I came to Fraser's Hill is to be a tourist. I just want to do tourist things. I just want to do comfortable and relaxing tourist things that tourists ought to do.
I am not here to do jungle bashing. I am even more not here to deal with live leeches and bash through leech-infested jungle.
Trek 25 metres is enough liao. I want to quickly get out of here.
























Thank goodness for smokers! The smokers in our group came to the rescue and used their lighted cigarette to burn the leech. The leech released its grip on the daughter.

The fact that the daughter remained so cool and steady and walked through the whole trail carrying a hungry leech stucked to her made me even want to scream out even more.

My greatest fears in life are slimy soft things like caterpillars and leeches. I dared not go see the leech.

Finally relieved that the little girl has gotten rid of the leech, I was prepared to retract back.
But too late. 3/4 of the group already committed onto the slope liao. Very hard to u-turn back.
Spectrum urging non-chalently behind, "Let's carry on!"

Har!!!??? Xian ji buah!

















Parts of the jungle trail to walk through. Ambush alley for hungry leeches lurking around hungry for human blood.



















Even as fallen trees and we have to duck under.
What if one leech dropped from the branch and onto your neck and into your shirt???!!!
Yeeeeeeeeeeeks!!!


After a while, I try to pyscho myself. Mai xiao lah. Maybe the whole trail only got one single leech niah lah. Don't know how that little girl so suay suay can be sucked by that one leech.
Leech so slow. How can it possibly crawl onto our fast moving legs?

Becasue of such thinking, so whenever we pause now and then during our walk, not just me, but every of the guys, kept moving and shuffling their legs on the stop. All do hantak-kaki marching.

But still no use. And don't know how the leeches do it. Despite never standing still, one of the guys found a leech crawling up onto his canvas shoe. *Gulp*

And another guy, just in the nick of time, found one leech crawling up the flesh of his exposed ankle, but haven't sunk its mouth in yet and he quickly swepe it away!

This is turning out to be Nightmare on Leech Street.

We walked on, in full alert, as if we were those hunted and eventually doomed commandoes in the jungle in the movie Predator.

We reached a spot where there was a branch off from the trail. We can see that it leads onto civilisation, onto a metal road. We actually have not walked very far. Maybe only 200 metres. But it felt more like 2 kilometres. Spectrum was asking aloud, more to himself than to anyone, Which path to take, to continue the trek or to take the shortcut out and end the trek prematurely.

But very quick to respond, our tough R1-speed demon Crashman volunteered the answer. Off he went down the shortcut route to civilisation. He was quickly joined by the rest of the guys.
















Leech Check Drill.
Finally glad to see sun light again and emerge out of Leech Alley, I suggested the Leech Check Drill. Just to check if we might have any leech stucked onto us, unknowing to us.
Every guy in the group promptly performed their own Leech Check Drill.

















History of the jungle trail if you want to know (click to enlarge). The trail is more than 100 years old.
I don't know how the original founder could survive all the leeches.


We continue our walk. Thank goodness no more jungle trails. But just normal tourist walks.

















Rent and paddle the boats at Allan's Water.
















Interesting quote on Fraser's Hill.
Of course take nothing but photographs lah. Because on Fraser's Hill there is nothing else to take, nothing to shop or buy.
No shopping, girls! Hiak hiak hiak!


The walk around Fraser's Hill was really the highlight. It was very refreshing and relaxing.
I highly recommend you to take a long stroll around the next time you are up Fraser's Hill.

Anti-leech solution optional.


Check out and Ride Down Fraser's Hill















View of the apartment block that we stayed in. Note our bikes parked below the block.
We checked out at 11.30 am.

















We aren't leaving Fraser's Hill without the customary group photo-taking.














If one bike were to topple, then all liao.




















Thick vegetation lined both sides of the route down.
Going down is the same style as coming up, but reversed.
Slow, intense-focused and somewhat repetitive corners.

















Like coming up, after a while, the bikes start to bunch up.




















Slow meandering corners.

But be careful. The repetitive and long ride down can easily seduce you to lose concentration and to simply follow the lines of the bike in front.
If the bike in front runs wide into the incoming lane, you would run wide too.

And another thing to be careful of. Sand and debris on the road.
Because the road rounds around a mountain, rain might caused the sand and debris to be eroded and to fall on to the road. The sand and debris fequently settle on the outside of the corners. The sand might compromise your normal optimum cornering line so you should not ride with the max permissable corner entry speed, but with plenty in reserve.


















Downward Hair-pin.


After Route 55 that runs through Fraser's Hill, we turned right into Route 8.










Route 8, at the bottom of Fraser's Hill, where the road finally straightens again.
And who turned off the air-con?

After Route 8, we hit the scenic Karak Highway, E8.



















I switched to Da Vinchee's Suzuki VStrom 1,000 and he to mine STX1300.

You sit high up on the V-Strom. When you take a corner, it feels like cornering on a stilts. But it takes surprisingly light effort to steer the VStrom. I also welcomed the breeze allowed in by the V-Strom compared to the STX, though there is some wind buffering beating down on the top of the helmet at speed. This later version ('07) of the VStrom is able to hit high cruising speeds (140-150kmh) without any of the harsh vibrations of the early versions of Vstrom.

In turn, Da Vinchee's description of his brief stinct on my STX1300 was, "Very refined bike...agile...instant pull."


We reached the Genting Sempah R&R where we had lunch.
Of the original 22 bikes, some left for Singapore still leaving with 15 bikes and 17 people to head up Genting.



The Ascent to Genting Highlands

















Within short notice, the road starts to tilt upwards.



















On your mark, get ready to lean over. Wide multiple lanes. Note the differences of the road nature compared to Fraser's Hill.
















The wider lanes allow higher corner entry speeds (2nd-3rd gear 40-60kmh).
Swifter progress and more buah katah time.


I prefer the Genting corners to Fraser's Hills which are slower.
If Cameron Highlands corners were thrown in, I would rank the corners, with the top being my most preferred:

1. Genting Highlands
2. Cameron Highlands
3. Fraser's Hills


















Keep your eyes on the road. Not on that lady on the big poster playing her legs at you.



















Steep gets steeper. And cloud starts to appear as we hit cloud level.




































Into Cloud City and Sin City.
Our convoy prepares to make a grand entrance into the First World Hotel.


Checking into First World Hotel

















Our bikes lined the hotel entrance and formed a spectacle for a while as, we off loaded our luggage onto the lobby.



















The colourful exterior of the First World Hotel which we stayed in.

We arrived at about 3 pm and we parked our bikes at the hotel's carpark. As we rode into the entrance of the hotel's carpark, I had a big scare.

The carpark's floor was painted and it was drizzling outside, so the floor was a bit wet.
After my bike crossed our a hump, I opened my throttle slightly to get over the hump.

Suddenly, underneath me, my big 300 kg++ STX started to disobey me, and slide sideways and drift across the carpark floor in a S-pattern, just like in the movie Initial-D. My rear wheel lost traction because of the wet painted floor. I was thinking, "Xiao liao lah. How to pick up this heavy beast when it drops onto the floor."

Miraculously, somehow the drifting action stopped and the bike did not drop. I turned around and looked at my bikers behind me in Did-you-see-that. I could see a couple of their mouths still open big big.

After we parked our bikes, we back to the lobby to check in. And the checking in process is sibei long man. Even though I booked our hotel rooms, fully paid all of them in advanced via internet and phone, and there are like 50 staff each with computers in front of them processing customers check-in, I still waited one hour to collect our room keys!

This means the casino business must be damn hot man. So our jeng hu to build casino is correct one!

The checking-in took so long, SuperRuth (girl in the middle) composed and took this cute photo in the hotel lobby.

What is the famous saying? See what ...Hear what...Speak what...?
And we don't know the napping uncle on the left.

We finally collected our hotel keys. We were split into 6th floor and 8th floor.


















My room on the 6th floor.

I forgot to mention: On Fraser's Hill Silver Resort, each unit cost 225RM per night and can sleep 4 persons. On Genting First World Hotel, each unit cost 131RM per night and can sleep 2 persons.



















My room has a good view to outside.

















View outside my room.

I learnt that try not to book your hotel rooms on the 8th floor. Why leh? 8 lucky what. Because the hotel's main restaurant is on the 8th floor, so many people from the whole hotel will walk along its corridor to go to the restaurant. So rather noisy to the people inside the room.


Evening Program

We jalan jalan around the First World Hotel.

The First World Hotel is a good hotel to stay because it is the one of two hotels on Genting with the casino inside the hotel. Also, it has a big amusement theme park inside for non-gamblers to explore. It is one of the newer hotels there and the room rates are amongst the cheaper ones.



















The bright colourful theme park inside First World Hotel.

Got shopping. Got an amusement park with roller coaster. Got different decorations and famous replicas.


















Can find Eiffel tower on Genting!


















The Statue of Liberty also like to ride bike, like us!


This Genting company is really clever in entertaining people and making money. It is a place that you can take your whole family there on the weekend and guaranteed they will all have fun. We have lots to learn in the casino business from them man!

Take for example, if you think eating on our Sentosa is expensive, wait till you eat on Genting. One plate of wanton noodle in their foodcourt-like eating place cost 15RM!
If you really on a budget, you can eat at their McDonalds and KFC.

And on Genting, you see thousands of people of all religions and races being gainly employed working in the foodcourt, to bell boys, to inside the casino. So I don't understand why if they can do it, there are still people using religion as objection against the casinoes in Singapore.



















Interesting phenomenon: Super puffy potatoe chips bags on Genting.
When transported up to the higher attitude where the air pressure is lower than on sea level,
the air pressure in the pressurized bags expand.


















At the original Genting Highlands Hotel.
Contrast the more classic design of this hotel compared to the wacky theme-park style of First World Hotel.

Don't know this is true or not. Do you know that the First World Hotel's casino sits right in between the Pahang state and the Selangor state? One of the reasons why Genting organisation built the second casino in the First World Hotel is so that in case the Pahang state want to use Islam as an excuse to shut the first casino down, there is still the second casino in its strategic position. Malaysian politics, I lia-boh-que.



















At night, the cloud and mist are so heavy, it proved impossible to take photo.
Can't see far too. So better don't ride up Genting at night.


















Chilling out door out at this Coffee Bean on Genting.
It's located somewhere near the Genting Highlands Hotel.


It was actually very cold and it would be more comfotable to sit in door. But we wanted to enjoy the rare opportunity of drinking our hot coffee in the cool climate.


This wraps up our night on Genting. I tell you of my casino gambling trip the next monring in my next article!

Twin Peaks Ride (Genting Highlands & Fraser's Hill) and the Best Route to Corner in Malaysia: Day 1

6-8 October 2007






The Sinkapore jeng hu say going to build Integrated Resort (IR) that is Casino. So in the name of research, we decided to go on a ride to go look see look see our neighbour’s casino at Genting Highlands.

Then at the same time, nearby Genting got this Fraser’s Hill. Heard is also a nice place to ride too. So we decided to also go look see look see.

Ride Plan

Day 1: Fraser’s Hill, Saturday 6 October
22 bikes and 28 people

Gelang Patah, 7.50am -> Exit Ayer Hitam 214, Route 50, Klang town (breakfast and fuel) -> Ayer Keroh R&R (fuel) -> Exit 214, E6->Sungei Buloh R&R (fuel and lunch) ->
Exit Tanjung Malim 121, Route 1, Route 55, Fraser’s Hill base(fuel) ->
Fraser’s Hill top, Silver Resort->/Dinner/

Day 2: Genting Highlands, Sunday 7 October
15 bikes and 17 people

/Treking at Fraser’s Hill/-> Fraser’s Hill ->
Route 55, Route 8 -> “Karak Highway” E8 ->
Exit Genting Sempah R&R (lunch) -> “Awana” ->
Genting Highlands, First World Hotel -> /Dinner and walkabout/


Day 3: Route ???9, Monday 8 October 14, 2007
15 bikes and 17 people

/Casino and Roller Coaster Ride/ -> Genting Highlands ->
Genting Sempah-> Karak Highway E8 -> Route 2 /lunch at Karak town/ ->
Route 9 (The Best Cornering Route in Malaysia) -> Tampin, North South Highway ->
Singapore



Breakfast at Klang

















Rider Bornfree lead us to Klang town via Route 50, to have breakfast at this kopi tiam.


















The toast, nasi lamak and coffee are nice at this Kluang town kopi tiam.

















This kopi tiam is located at the Kluang railway station.
But the railway station boh lang one.

Kena police roadblock again

Suay, kena Malaysia traffic police roadblock. Should have known. A few days ago, some minister there complaint motorcycles ride too fast on the northsouth highway.

So the police there lan lan got to work liao and setup road block on northsouth highway.



















Zun boh? Some of us still cannot believe that we were booked for speeding.

I ride into KL city alone

Our plan was to take the expressway (E6) that skirt around the outside of KL city. It avoids the expressway running straight through KL city which would encounter heavy traffic.


There were some confusion by some of our riders when riding as to which is the correct exit to take to go E6 (the correct exit is take the left turn of Exit 214). I was concerned that some riders might have mistakenly gone straight into KL city instead. So I decided to split off from the group and go on my own to search for any strayed riders inside KL city and then to regroup at Sungei Buloh R&R.


As I ride into KL city, it was rather confusing. Worse, the traffic was very bad. The double-lane expressway is packed full of slow-crawling cars. Thee expressway is so narrow that my STX1300 got problem filtering in between.

I rode through don’t know how many Es before finally managing to clear myself out of KL town. The good thing is that there were no strayed riders other than myself.

















I parked my bike along the road shoulder.
To regroup with the rest of the group. It started to rain.


















The Indian construction workers there were very kind. They were concerned my bike would be hit by the traffic so they moved the heavy water-filled barriers to allow my bike to come in to take shelter.

We chit-chatted for a while. One of them asked me how much it cost to fill up my bike. I told him matter-of-factly, 50 rinngit.

He was so amazed it cost so much for a bike. He called out to all his fellow workers there on his new discovery.

Other things I learnt is the refurbishment of that stretch of Northsouth, after KL and before Fraser’s Hill, takes 6 months. And in Malaysia, it is not one single company that would undertake the whole refurbishment. Every 10km is done by a different company. Now I finally understood why different stretches of NorthSouth highway has varying quality to the tarmac.


The Ride up Fraser’s Hill


I rejoined the group without incident. We exit at Tanjug Malim Exit 121. We fill up at the Shell station before starting our ride up to Fraser’s Hill. There is no petrol kiosk at the top of Fraser’s Hill.

While fueling up, a FZ1’s horn ki xiao and started to sound by itself. BOOOORRRRR!!! The bike’s ignition key was not even inserted. Probably the rain “sock” the electronics. Good thing the self-horning horn decided to shut itself up after a while, if not we would have to ride all the way up with one noisy FZ1.
















Raymond's transparent rain coat.

It's not cheap ok. Cost $90. Why so expensive?
Because got 2 use. First use is can wear when raining.
Second use is can wear when you want to arouse your partner. Partner confirm steam one.


The route up Fraser’s Hill got Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 one.


Up Fraser's Hill Part 1


The first part, which is at the base, consist of long sweeping turns and you can see majestic views of surrounding mountains.
















Feels like flying through air-con. Shiok!


















Long-sweeping turns in the middle of greenary.

















Feast for the eyes. Cooling for your skin. Your bike's engine growl below you.


















We are up alone up here. With no one to disturb us.

Set in this quiet Fraser’s Hill, there is one sophisticated alien-looking dam. If you ride there should take a look.
















Dune. What is that alien-like structure in the distance in the middle of the picture?

















It is a water dam at Fraser’s Hill.

But most dams are straight walls. This dam is got different pattern one. It is doughnut shaped. Can’t tell that black hole in the middle goes how deep. Note the wooden logs that got stuck at the edge of the top of the dam.

















Beautiful scenary of the surrounding peaks.

















Cloud-shrouded mountains in the distance. Angels must live in some of them.


















Cloud feels like just over your head.

















Tranquil water. Feel the peace up at Fraser's Hill.








Panaroma view of the surrounding.


Up Fraser's Hill Part 2

The second part of the ride up Fraser’s Hill, which forms bulk of the ride, consist of tight twisting bends that curl around and up the waist of Fraser’s Hill.

The lane is very very narrow. And there are some A-shaped hairpins. So we can only ride at 20-30kmh, single file, most of the time at 1st to 2nd gear. Think of the South Buena Vista road of Singapore, but going uphill and with poorer road quality.
















Tight corners and tight road. Single file.

















Rolling back in low first and second gear.


















Turn after turn.
















Tight upward sloping A-shaped hairpins.


The road is two-way. Although there are very few traffic, there are vehicles coming down as we rode up. A few times, we encounter big trucks that ferry supplies up and down Fraser’s Hill. When they traverse the bends, they would eat into our lanes and we got to siam to one side to get out of their way.

There is also not much scenary to look at. Anyway, the road is so narrow and tight that I have to keep my eyes focus on the road. And as I ride, every few turns, I need to swallow saliva to clear my ear blocks from the change in atmosphere pressure as we ascend.

And after riding awhile, as we are riding so slowly, we start to bunch up. Thinking back, this is actually rather dangerous. Some more the road was damn from the earlier rain and from the cloud. If one bike make a mental mistakes doing one of the what, more than 100 corners, and fall down on the lane, we would end up with a pile up.

There were 4 other riders that set off later from Singapore, make their own way up Fraser’s Hill and meet us at the top. While we ride these narrow bends in a darkening evening sun, they rode up in the night. There are no lamp posts along the way.


So best reach the top of Fraser’s Hill before dark.











Otherwise, this is what you will see if you ride up Fraser's Hill at night.
View from the 4 riders' who set off later.






















The Gap.

After the narrow bends, there is a house called the Gap. The food is supposed to be nice there. But when we reached there, it was closed.




Up Fraser's Hill Part 3















My bike, Vice, at Fraser's Hill.

Turn left to go up to the top.

















The last part of Fraser’s Hill, the road is single lane and single direction.

















From two-direction road become one-direction.
At first, not use to it.


Silverpark Resort

















We finally reached the top of Fraser’s Hill at about 6 pm.

Just follow the signs to reach the hotel that you have booked. For Silver Resort, I called over the telephone to reserve. Pay only when you check out. There are other hotels up there too.

We booked the two-bedroom studio/suite. Each studio has two bedrooms, one living room, two toilets and kitchen. Each bedroom has two beds. Each room cost 225 rm/night.


















Our rooms have nice view.


















Cool breeze blows on your face.
Step into the balcony, and you would be like stepping into an air-con room.


Unfortunately, 25% of our rooms have defects. Electric heater not working lah. Lights not working lah. Toilet cannot flush lah.

And got no telephone in the rooms. So I got to walk to the reception building to tell them to solve these problems.

But it's cannot walk. Must run one.

Because it is already dark, it got colder and the wind got chilly.

And some of us cannot wait for the repairman to come and fix their water heater and went to shower with heater. I don’t know how they do it. This reminded me of my army training in Taiwan last time.


We went for dinner at the “town centre”. There is only one town centre and it is a short walk from the hotel or a 2 minutes ride. The Restoran Hill View served rather nice zhi char food. Or maybe we were cold and hungry.

















Dinner at the Restoran Hill View at the town centre.

















The four brave riders who rode up Fraser's Hill in the dark.
Just in time to join us for dinner.



Good thing, most of the defects were corrected by the time we returned from dinner. We bought coke, pepsi and vodka from a grocery store in the town centre.

















After dinner, we have Happy Hour and fun at one of our rooms.
















The firewater (vodka) feels warm and good in the cold on top of Fraser's Hill.


To be continued in Part 2 and 3.

Articles to read at loudexhaust.blogspot.com