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Hornet: keep your mental notes away from my pants

Perth Motorcycle and Scooter Show

I went to the Perth Motorcycle and Scooter Show on Saturday at the Exhibition Centre, and I must say it was pretty cool. The atmosphere was great, a massive 20,000 people went through the show over the 3 days.

But all I really wanted to do was sit on this...

So I did!

woot!

I'm Photo of the Day, August 21st, 2007

I got a photo on www.bikepics.com up as photo of the day! The lovely photo was taken by Doug from Sunburnt Photography and is of me fanging around on the 400 at the AHG tuning session that was on August 12th, less than two weeks ago! *woot*

I'm famous!

Do A Burnout!

So I did a *fart* of a burnout on the R1 whilst at the PSB promo video appearance last weekend. Finally got around to getting the photos off my BlackBerry. The promo video will be a little something that the admins of PSB have put together about the general Perth streetbike community.

*prrrrrrt*

Rubber pellets

63 bikes were accounted for

Tuh- tuh- turbo!

Gawd-J- being all boobie on my R1

More bikes

Lights, camera....

It's ok kids, it was on private property - nothing illegal to see here... =)

Gloria Jean's: Turning Men into Boys

It was a rather tough day at work today, exhausted was an understatement. With severe lack of sleep, I went home a little early to have a nap - only to be woken up with a *boooooooozzzz* down the road, mum yelling at me to go unplug the computers and stereo system. I went back to sleep and woke up as it was getting pretty dark. It was a power outage, so now I had to get dressed in the dark, and it sucked.

I jumped on the bike and headed to dinner with Glen, Sean and Justin - seeing Justin riding past me just near Sean's house. We went to Cafe Martino for their yummy pasta/pizza special and I got the usual - Cannelloni!!! I was kindly asked to sit facing the window so the boys could perve at the girls in the restaurant.

After dinner we went riding northbound and finished at Hillary's where coffee and cake was the main call. I was expecting to hear these sort of things from a girl's ride! We all had triple hot chocolate at Gloria Jean's and Sean and Justin had cake. Whilst drinking, Justin says "N'aw, I got a marshmallow" to which I replied "Gloria Jean's Triple Hot Chocolate turns men into boys". Sean on the other hand must have got the dud drink as he had dry powder in the bottom of his. We then headed our separate ways back home. A nice night out with the boys.

Scrape

*krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrschhhhhhh*

Just photos from Sunday in this blog, you've all read enough about me at the track already. As usual, had a great time. Only new news is that Robin took my CBR400RR out for a spin in the last session. He loved it.

As always, props to Dugy from Sunburnt Photography for beautiful photos that make me look fast!

Maya's "Mondays Suck Sundowner" - The Wrap Up

Last nite I hosted Maya's "MONDAYS SUCK SUNDOWNER" at the CBD Bar in the city. The evening started off with me skulling a can of UDL and passionfruit in the car on the way in, followed by 8 drink tokens for the two hour do.

Julz and Harry were there first drinking what looked like scotch and Robin and I arrived just before 5:30pm. Eric, Chloe, Aleisha, Nic, Nath, Sean, Laura also came during the evening. It was great to catch up with some old skool mates, many of which live pretty far away or will be moving away soon :(

The lovely Chloe

The Crew: (l-r) Laura, Nic, Chloe, Robin, Eric, Aleisha, Harry and Julz

I got well tipsy on Bacardi and Cola - and gave 4 of my drink tokens away otherwise I would have been annihilated! Some of us then moved along to Matsuri up the road for some Japanese food. I had one slice of beef tataki, fish ginger, una don, and pork katsu. I was very full from my liquid lunch. A top night in all, winding up at midnight! Maybe Mondays don't suck *that* much.

Monday's Suck

Which is lucky, because I'm holding my "Monday's Suck" Sundowner tonite. Just a little get together of me and about 15 mates to chill, chat, joke, jest and simmer some with a bev or two. Lucky also that the weather is bog - so any excuse to be inside and relax.

Speaking of luck, I had a very interesting day on Saturday - lucky and unlucky...

It started at 0630am riding in blistering cold to King's Park to King's Park to watch the sun come up and take some photos of the bikes. Robin had brought his whiz-bang digital SLR but the photos just weren't working out for him. Luckily I had my little point-and-shoot camera, which actually took some decent photos (they're here).

Whilst taking photos and parking up on the footpath (as you do) I saw the ranger coming and warned Robin of this, I had a feeling he'd pull us up. He threatened us with a $100 fine, but we wangled our way out of it. He also didn't notice the two cars parked in the 'no standing' park of Fraser Ave. Bikes are much easier targets.

We then decided to head off altogether, Robin had a flat battery from having the lights on when taking photos, and I had a "16" fault on my bike. We managed to push his bike up a hill and push start it, while my error eventually went away.

Now, U-turns on an R1 are an art in themselves, me being short and the R1 having a fairly long wheelbase compared to the 400, I ended up in a pickle, facing the wrong way in the park bay. So, me being me and deciding to get some practice in moving the bike around without me sitting on it, there I was moving it around when Robin advises me that my stand is down. "I know", I reply pushing my bike around. He mentions that if the stand digs the bike will go over. I've never had that happen when I wheel the bike around the yard, why would it happen now? "ROBIN HELP ME!!!" I yell as the R1 is heading over to the right... Quick reflexes and good timing saved the bike from scratches. *I only just had the new oggy knobs put on too* I then freaked out and the shock set in. I'll be needing more practice with moving the bike around from now on.

Still concerned with the error fault, we headed back to Robin's place to do some diagnostics, but instead we went for a walk by the Swan River, taking photos of Pelicans and waterbirds with the city as a backdrop.

It came to 0830am and the bike shops were now open so in we go to Causeway Yamaha to ask if they knew what this fault was. Nope, need to ask the workshop - which was closed. Meh, lets go riding anyway.

Dirty Maccas for breakfast again? Nah, how about Jesters? Yes please! I had to call Sensis at the South Perth BP after we couldn't work out where the nearest shop was. Two yobs with pies and coke come out of the servo and were all "coor, godda luvva chick on an R1" *insert drooling*... oh and something about the black R1 is better looking, whatever... Off to Jesters in Applecross for pies and coke (as usual) and after many a mega burp we headed off towards Pinjarra, Serpentine and the likes. Car drivers were being courteous all day, even flashing us (two bikes only) that there was a speed camera ahead.

Whilst blatting in the sticks, Robin advises me that he's running low on fuel, hangs a quick left and we're heading out to Serpentine... I wonder where he's headed, there was a servo about 400m from that last turn off! We're riding and riding and riding. There's a detour in the road - n'aw, not another U-turn! Takes me two goes but I get it. At this stage Robin is tucked into his bike to save fuel. We finally make it to Safety Bay Road, not too far from the Caltex at the end of the freeway. Not being concerned with the fact that he's now riding on vapours, Robin busts a textbook standup wheelie.

At the Caltex, we filled up, then I waited in line for 10 minutes to use the bathroom. Meanwhile a Harley rider pulled up near us and Robin moved his bike forward. When I came out, we geared up, had a chat with the Harley rider who was impressed that I was on an R1 and headed off. Well, I did. Robin had his stand down and stalled the bike. Yeh, real tough mate!

We rode down towards Rockingham. We dodged the cops. Twice. After meeting Robin's mum and hanging around for apple cake and coffee, we rode to the beach in Singleton (which was so beautiful) to find a few bikes practicing figure O's in the carpark. Lunch was at a local bistro on the foreshore - the sun was out and the food was awesome.

Heading back towards Perth, I think I found some more comfort in the R1, keeping pace with Robin around a few corners, and getting some wicked backfire with engine braking down some hills.

Back into the city for another new pair of sunglasses, we dodged the cops again in the city while right behind them. At the lights with cops in front of us, I parked the bike up and moved a traffic cone out of the way cos more than likely, I would ride into it even though I was looking at it. Meanwhile Robin was pretending to turn off my key - making some guys at the pub across the road laugh at me. When he laughed back at the boys, I reached over and hit his killswitch. Now THAT made EVERYONE at the pub laugh, even some girls that were checking him out. Classic.

After some light shopping, Robin took off from the carpark and nearly highsided but luckily rode out of it. Messy was an understatement. That skid looked more than uncomfortable!

*phew*

It was a busy weekend chocked with events, but a good one at that.

Love Like Winter

As residents of Australia would be aware, we're well and truly in the guts of Winter. Let me paint you a picture.

Waking one morning, riding the bike in an Easterly direction, watching the suns rays filter through the low cloud. The sky is pink and orange. Glancing in my mirrors, the sky is a dark grey, cloud is thick. The day is going to be fine, 18. I watch the sun climb into the sky during my ride to work and park the bike up at 7:30am. It's cool and its windy. A nice winter's day.

Waking one morning, no light, no sun. I decide to drive to work. Walking downstairs I start to hear the patter of rain, and the view of the city is gone. Just little red lights peeping through mist and cloud where the towers should be. It's raining. Raining for 4 days straight. I'm getting moody. I hate walking on wet ground. The water absorbs into my jeans and runs up my leg. I drive home in the dark in the rain again.

Luckily, the weekends have been relatively okay. It's still been fairly glum and rainy, but glimpses of sunlight work wonders. Last weekend I headed out to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory in West Swan to buy some chocolate for my favourite Swedish boys. I dragged Robin along and we ended up heading out to O'Brien Road - "the" most popular twisty road for riders in the Perth motorcycling community. This road has a reputation for being "dangerous". As far as I'm concerned, it's designed and maintained to Main Roads guidelines. It is in fact quite safe. Some riders however take it upon themselves to view it as a race track and go belting through there with little or no experience of the road.

We parked up on the second right hander, where mates of ours have come off. In both cases, riders had some injuries and bikes were seriously damaged or written off. Walking around the area for nearly an hour, we found pieces of bikes all around the place. Triumph Daytona, Kawasaki ZZR, Honda CBR, Ducati bits, lenses, trip meters, cracked screens, headlights, fairing screws. We could have filled up a small rubbish bin of items. Robin took me up and down "the line" for that corner - looking into it, it seems easy with the exit of the corner in sight. It does however tighten up and you can see the exact point where people who are going too fast have realised that they're not going to make it and single tyre trails run off the road, through the gravel and into the bush.

Getting back into the car, driving the road at between 60and 80 km/hr we stopped again at the corner where Peter Brock died. It was interesting driving up O'Brien road. In a car, you have time to look around and actually see what the surroundings are, compared to the usually swift pace on a bike.

At the top of the road, we turned around and headed back down towards the highway, seeing the road in reverse, and picking the "tricky" corners. We stopped to check out the river that runs down the hills, taking time out to enjoy the sun that had come out during the day. Later in the afternoon we headed towards Midland for lunch *Nando's is SO GOOD*. It's also amazing what a new set of windscreen wipers does for your visibility!

It was also the Birthday party of Simon and Justin last weekend - with a shindig at the Scarborough Surf Life Savers Club. A bunch of us met up early to get the party organised, having dinner at the local pizza/pasta place. Of course, the order was stuffed up and I didn't get my damn lasagne. Luckily Rich and Robin waited up for me and we caught up with everyone soon after I inhaled my dinner. A cracker of a night, with my handbag going missing then being found by the barman, only having 95c for a coke (which was $1) but still getting one, seeing all my mates there (even ones that have been away for aaaages), meeting some new people, smoking cigars, drinking breezers, and genuinely having a great time. The evening ended with most people heading out to the Mustang Bar but I chose to head home and chill out.

Woot! Partay.....!

Birthday Boi - Simon

Robin and a different type of flying V

The lovely Sean

Neil and Jake

Simon's better half, Annie

Sunday was taken up with Lee, heading out to the Breakwater tavern for a pint and a meal. As usual, it was pissing down with rain and he was kind enough to drop me off at the front of Hillary's whilst parking up the car. *very nice of you Lee, thanks!* We ate, drank and decided to head out to the city to do some shopping for sunglasses. Not really the right weather for sunnies considering I wore them for the first time about 4 days after I bought them cos there was no sun! But still, we headed in and hit Sunglass Hut - where for some reason, I always buy my sunnies there. Maybe cos the guy at the counter is cute. Having spoken to him when he served us, I concluded he was a fag (hehe!). Either way, he "advised" us to go buy a copy of Cosmopolitan to get 20% off - sounds like a good deal to me! Lee and I then scrounged around the city to find a copy of the damn magazine which was sold out in the nearest newsagency. Then looking for the coupon!!! Last time I bought a girly magazine was a Cosmopolitan in year 10 (about 10 years ago). Wow, I've aged. Anyway, back to me... I picked up a pair of Oakley Riddle in pink after Lee was bashing me for not being girly enough. He got Oakley Gascans, also which I really liked and I may still get a pair one day. We then chilled out and watched Monster's Inc. With Bacardi and Cola of course!

Oh yeh, there's also 35 days to go :)