Motorcycle Adventures

OK…. So I won’t go into the long storey about how we decided to do this, but I’m very pleased to announce that I’m going to be geting a brand new Suzuki Burgman 650 Exec!!!

I’m very excited.  I missed my Burgman and I can’t wait to get on and go for some long rides!!!

So colour choices are wide and varying for this years modle in Australia.  There is a choice between silver, silver, and silver  So I’ve decided, after much deliberation, to choose silver

We have a couple bills to take care of in the next couple of weeks, and then I’ll be heading to the dealership.  So if all goes as planned, and I do like to plan, I’ll be picking up my new Burgman on January 15th!

I’ve already found the dealer that I want to buy from.  They are a little bit of a train ride away, but that will give me a chance to enjoy the Burgman on the way back!  I found them more than a year ago if I’m honest.  They have been incredibly helpful – answering all my questions (and I had many!) in great detail over email.  If they are as nice in person as they have been over the Internet than it should be a great experience.

I’ve already told them about my plans, so I hope to have all paperwork done well in advance.  Then I can sign everything on the 15th and ride away..

Of course part of the fun will be getting the Burgman back to where it was in Vancouver – with all the things that made it perfect…  The windscreen will likely be first as it’s the thing that gives the added comfort, then the communications system so I can listen to music, and finally the GPS so I can find my way.  I’ll have to save for those things over the next few months.

Most of all though, I can’t wait just to go for a ride!

It’s been a year and 5 days since I sold my Burgman.  A year and 5 days of incredible adventure.

In our plans we had initially put aside enough money to be able to buy back our motorcycles once we arrived in Melbourne and set ourselves up.  Sadly things didn’t go quite as planned and Nicole had to wait much longer than expected to get paperwork taken care of.  This paperwork was holding her back from working the job that she secured months earlier.

The money saved up to allow us to buy motorcycles quickly left as we waited and built up our new home.  Despite this the move has been an incredible success and one of the best choices we have made.  We are happier and less stressed now than ever before, and we are excited to be in a city that still feels new an exciting.

With all the success we have experienced, the biggest frustration for me remains that I don’t have my Burgman.  Ever since my first vehicle, it having a vehicle that I can call my own and escape in has been incredibly important to me.  With our new lifestyle we have chosen not to own a car.  That choice has amplified my urge to have my Burgman again.  Not make matters even more frustrating, we have decided not to go back into any debt.  That includes loans for vehicles… So the wait continues.

There is now some light at the end of the tunnel.  We have now bought all the household items that we need to live a very comfortable life.  We have also paid off debt left over from our move in Canada.  Now we can begin saving again.

We have decided to buy a small scooter to give us a little bit of mobility until we can afford our fancy bikes.  It will be small, but it will be nice to get back on two wheels again.  We hope that we can afford this in about 2 months.  So long as there are no unexpected vet bills or other surprises it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

We are thinking of two different models:

The Piaggio Fly 150 is my current favorite.  I love the styling on this one.  It has enough power to get us around on shorter trips, and it looks comfortable and well built.  It has a two year warranty and is quite affordable for the size and quality.

The other contender at a very similar price is the new Honda PCX.  This little scooter has a couple interesting features.  It’s a 125cc engine – just a little smaller than the Piaggio, but it incorporates some new technology.  To save fuel, it automatically shuts off when at idle for more than a few seconds.  It them starts again instantly as you twist the trottle.

I love the idea of this but I’m concerned about it at the same time.  If the engine wasn’t perfectly tuned I could foresee a time when the engine would simple not start, or would have a delayed start.  Either would make ride the scooter really problematic.  With it being new technology for this application, I’m a little hesitant to be an early adopter.

I styling is sexy and modern, but doesn’t look quite as comfortable as the Piaggio.  Thus I am still leaning towards the tried and trusted technology, but more investigation, and ultimately perhaps a test-ride or at least some time spent in the saddle will be needed to see which of these is the best bet.

Since insurance is cheap and so is maintenance of little scooters like these, we may end up keeping our little scoot even after we buy our larger bikes.  Having a small and nimble machine might be perfect for running those quick errands around town.  We want to make the right choice.

At the same time, planning begins for buying my new Burgman.  I can’t wait to get back on and go for a long ride.  I am already thinking about the weekend trips I will take. I have already begun researching how to best outfit the bike.  I’ve already picked up the GPS unit and the communications system that I will use.  I plan to make a few changes to my previous installations that will make the experience just a little bit better than it was buy using equipment specifically designed for motorcycle use rather than modified for use on a motorcycle.

If all goes well I hope to be heading to the dealer to pick up a new Burgman around the same time next year…  Hopefully.

It is with some considerable sadness that I write about our 2009 Nelson trip.  With our impending move I will need to sell my Burgman soon. This makes me very sad as a considerable amount of joy comes from my time riding.  My bike also represents a huge amount of personal time invested in creating the perfect bike for me, and it holds so many great memories.  It will be painful to sell it.

Along with the loss of the bike comes the realization that, at best, we will not be back to Nelson for many years.  We also may not have the opportunity to vacation with our friends for years, and Nicole and I will not ride together again for some time.

We will also not be able to ride any more of BC’s wonderful roads for some time to come, if ever, as even when we vacation here, we may not be able to rent bikes.

It is the end of a chapter and I’m feeling the loss.  While there are many great things to come, and I will buy another bike, I can’t help but feel sad as our trip has come to an end.

Well we had plans to go to ride the Oregon coast near the end of July. Sadly our little dog Mandy had to have urgent dental work done unexpectedly. We found this out just the day before we were due to leave for our trip. Mandy’s dental work was booked for Monday morning, and we cancelled our trip

Mandy’s procedure went very well, and after a couple days we felt we would be ready to do something for our vacaton. We were very kindly invited to stay with friends in Calgary. I won’t right any more about our trip in this blog. We had a very nice time.

Well a little bit, NO, a LOT of fun was had today with our best friends Eryk and Michelle, as Nicole and I spent our day hopping from bike to bike and scooter to scooter at the 2009 Motorcycle Show.

It was a good show this year, but not a lot was new.  It was the first year where none of us went looking for something specific to buy, though Nicole and I did pick up a map of motorcycle routes in BC that we’ve been looking at for a coulple years…

None the less it was an enjoyable time, and the time spent with our friends was great.

Wow, Nicole got her tattoo finished on Monday. It’s amazing. I’ve just seen there photos for the first time and had to share!

My girl is so beautiful!!!!

Ok, so I know it’s not really a motorcycle adventure, but, tattoos are very often related to motorcycle riders right?! And Nicole rides a motorcycle, right?! And I can do whatever I want on my web site, so there!

After work last night, Nicole had the second of 3 or 4 visits for her chest tattoo. Mikel, her tattoo artist, is fantastic.

Here are some snapshots: