After.
Before.
Whilst I’ve been going bonkers on my Honda Zoomer, Zi’s been going bonkers on his SR400. It’s looking so good. Fatter tyres, black wheels, smaller headlight… it’s amazing what small differences make! I’ve had a soft spot for the SR for ages and I’d love to do one up tracker style. With Zi pushing me to buy one it might happen sooner rather than later!
The boys at Bowls chucked in a whole lotta stickers and also a couple of license plate frames. Unfortunately the plate frames don’t quite fit our NSW plates but the holes lined up perfectly with the holes around my radiator so I’ve bolted one down just for the fun of it. :)
Zoomania frame caps replace the ugly chrome caps I had on there before.
I’ve been haunting the Bowls LA site for ages, especially since getting the Zoomer. Unfortunately for me they’ve run out of most of their Zoomer gear but they had some Japanese Zoomania end caps I really wanted. Over the last month or so I’ve been re-visiting their online shop, adding goodies to the cart, but not going ahead with the orders…until a few weeks ago :)
I’m not one to wear fashion brands. 80% of the T’s I wear are my own designs (haha) but this time I bought a few goodies to wear. The Hundreds wallet was the first thing I’ve put to good use. It’s huge, has a zip all around it and has a massive coin pocket. I can’t stand how those super exxy brand name wallets don’t have coin pockets (in my opinion there is no such thing as “spare” change!). I’ve also bought a watch. I’ve not worn a watch since buying a mobile phone many many years ago but I’m liking the idea of wearing a watch again, it’s so comfy I’ve already forgotten I’m wearing it. The Hundreds sunnies came very nicely packaged. On their own they look cool, on my face they feel amazing but they don’t suit me that well (hard part about buying fashion stuff online huh?).
Visit: http://www.bowlsla.com
My Reign. That noisy Hope hub, the crazy wide bars, grippy flat pedals and joplin seatpost. Love it.
Ash’s 29’er. We spotted another guy smashing it on one during the ride too. In fact everyone we spotted in the carpark had Giants!
Ash.
Andy.
Mel.
Went for a night ride at Loftus last night. First mountain bike ride since Canberra for me, when was that? 2 years ago?! Last minute notice for me. Ayups charged up to full in an hour which was impressive. I hadn’t cleaned the Reign since the Canberra trip. I pumped my tyres up and all that dried up Canberra mud went all over my floors haha.
Was a warm night. Dry air and plenty of great fresh bush smells, heaps of friendly riders out on the trail, heaps of fat hairy spiders too! Despite being a little unfit and slow I had an absolute blast. Especially had fun on everything pointing downwards (as usual) and still made it up that shitty hill no worries. Love the Reign, so much. I made a crazy choice to sell my Anthem and keep the much older 2006 Reign but it’s just hands down the best bike I’ve ever owned (so far!).
Zi came over on his SR and we hit Kingsford for dinner, then dropped into a servo to get some fuel.
We then met up with the boys at the Starbucks near the Capitol Theatre in Chinatown. Funniest looking group of bike riders ever.
Spotted these Fixies owned by a cute guy and girl couple.
I thought Zi’s SR sounded good until I heard Matt’s SR. The thing pops flames! Starbucks was closing so we rode to Double Bay for coffee and I split home from there.
Some thoughts and observations:
2 little girls (with their parents) pointed and laughed at me when we were all at the lights. Funny for sure seeing this tiny scooter in a group of motor bikes!
The Zoomer’s fast enough to keep up with traffic, no worries. I can’t tell what speed I’m doing past 60 but Zi said I was doing 72km/hr when he checked his speedo on Anzac Parade. Unlike a motorbike I’m just riding a scooter so I can throw the thing around without worrying about braking, clutch and gears which makes it fun and easy through back streets and sharp corners. Cornering with feet forward isn’t great but it’s more of a challenge if anything, stance is great, would love the seat to be further back by 2 inches or so, that would be perfect.
The exhaust is damn loud, even in comparison to the other bikes in the group. So loud and kinda annoying after a while when it’s at high rpm’s, but it’s a good safety thing. Speaking of safety – Anzac Parade was under construction last night and went from 3 lanes to 1. I was up against a bus and he almost wiped me out. Couldn’t hear me and it took me a little longer than expected to overtake him (the danger of having something without power for sure).
Taking off the mud guards looks right but I went over some wet road on George St and it all ended up ion my face. Nice. Riding home was pretty boring (group riding was heaps more fun) and I felt bad for all the residents as my loud exhaust would have pissed people off for sure. Grips are not comfy enough to not wear gloves. I’ll either wear gloves or buy some softer grips. Rear view mirror is useless because my bars are chopped so narrow. I can’t see shit out of it. Headlights were fine, not too weak.
Sideburn Magazine. Got all the editions I’ve missed since the first 3 in the mail yesterday. Love this magazine, with all my heart. The picture content is out of this world but the words are what really do it for me (that’s a rare thing when it comes to magazines!). Each edition is like a book and even if you’re not into bikes I’d suggest you buy yourself a copy: http://www.sideburnmagazine.com
Steve dropped in to give me a gift from his recent trip to Japan (and a case of Asahi, what a champ!).
For a good part of last year I was working with Grant from MC Cyclery on a business plan to launch a new cycling concept shop in the city. Unfortunately things didn’t quite work out to plan and I bailed out of the business. Good news is that Grant forged on and he’s just about to launch with a bang.
This viral video is amazing. It’s going to get out there, and then some. The typography was done by Daniel Dittmar (who’s awesome), not sure who did the video (I assume Flood) but it’s so good I’ve watched it 3 times already!
For more, visit: http://ridesydney.com
Old seat.
New seat.
Sent to me from the states by Victor Tran (aka Sanjuro). I love it so so much. Sits lower than the stock seat and I can comfortably sit further back now too, not to mention I think it looks absolutely amazing!
Bolts FINALLY came in (been obsessively stalking that mail box a few times a day grrr!).
Bike is now ready to roll!
New forks too! Rides so much better now that it’s firm, especially over bumps and dips.
Also changed oil.
New oil vs. old oil.
Bike’s hitting 60 a lot faster than before, 5km faster up hills too thanks to more spark perhaps?
Little cap/cover makes the lead weatherproof. Lovely!
Bought a rad CTEK trickle charger (eBay) which is permanently connected to the Zoomer’s battery via quick connect/disconnect weatherproof lead which makes it easy to plug in and out of the wall to keep my battery fresh when I’m not using the Zoomer for long periods of time.
JDM lights.
Before and after.
Some good and bad news:
Bad news – was going to change the oil but the battery died (that’s what you get for not riding your bike!). I’ve ordered a trickle charger which I will leave permanently plugged into a new battery (also on the way).
Good news – I’ve been meaning to change the headlights to JDM ones. Deus had to change the headlights to compliance the Zoomer and they’ve used some retro motorbike lights which I’m not into. I found a few 2nd hand ones on Yahoo Auctions Japan, 7000Yen before shipping. I decided to drop into Deus today and one of the bike guys there (Japanese dude named Taka) helped me out heaps with a fresh looking set for $20. I’ve since wired it up, all good to go!