Residing in sunny Singapore where the food is great, weather is either too hot or too wet, where the worst drivers in the world are found and cars prices so high that car owners feel they own the road.
This is a much overdue post...was suppose to do this on 21 Apr 2007...
Recall my previous post on which bike to choose? Well a consequence of this is that I need to give up one of my bike, which will be the CB400, also lovingly referred by me as Stupid4.
Farewell to one of my 3 concubines....
The beginning...
The decision to purchase the Stupid4 1 year ago was based almost purely on economical and common sense. At that time I have the Aprilia RS250 (which is almost always being upgraded and/or repaired) and my Honda Phantom TA150. After the trip to Hatyai, I discovered, to my horror, that the fuel consumption of the Honda CB400 Ver S is the same as my 2 stroke mini cruiser! Added to that, it has better brakes, better handling and better resale value.... Although it's true that I once exclaimed that I will not buy a CB400 (commonly known as Super 4) because not only is it the most common bike in Singapore, I feel that it lacks soul, $$ sense got the better of me.
Hence I bought myself one, which was in ok condition (or so I thought) but at a rather attractive price. Our relationship started badly, as I've spent almost 2K replacing wear/tear items and making it more roadworthy. I thought I was really gonna regret buying it.
The lovemaking...
But my Stupid 4 does has it's merits and notable achievements. It brought me to Phuket, my furthest touring trip to date, with no problem at all....
Not only that, it also accompanied me on my virginal race track ride. And my virginal race track crash too.... click on image below to play videos. Link here and here.
My Stupid4 has also served me well on 2 trips to Melaka. It even acted as a pall bearer for the RS250 that I scraped.
The parting...
No doubt my Stupid4 has served me well. However, I was never enamoured by the charm of Super 4s. It was and it's still is, to me, a bike with no soul. A great bike, a reliable machine, a very good choice for travelling in Singapore but it lacks that certain something to make me feel proud to say "I ride a Super 4".
So finally, I decided to release her to greener pastures...with a renewed COE no less.
Goodbye....may you serve your new owner well.
Epilogue
At our parting moment in the Saturday morning of 21st Apr 07, another black Honda was seen together at LTA. Perhaps this is the real reason for Stupid4's departure?
...and you had just somehow materialise into the present world, you might feel a bit dull. Especially since your trusty motorcycle Fenrir didn't come here with you.
Fear not! Cos something's that's almost a fantasy, a wisp of creative imagination is also being materialised and rumbling here into the REAL WORLD in 2008. And I'm sure Cloud will be mighty pleased with it.....
Introducing, the Suzuki B-King
Goodbye Hornets, farewell SuperFours and send my condolences to Ducati Monsters.
Monday is usually a tiring day for me cos of my time-table. So while trudging home around 5+ pm, I step into the lift and saw a folded clump of familiar looking paper. It's a clump of $50!
Picked it up, and look around the lift but couldn't see who was the one that just stepped out. So I left a note (in English and Chinese) at the lift lobby, calling for the owner to come looking for me.
Check it out! A rock version of Pachabel's Canon in D. I'm not too sure if that guy did really arrange it (including the backing instruments) but it yes, it's pretty good!
Do you guys know I actually have 3 electric guitars, 1 electric bass, 2 acoustic guitars, 3 practice speakers, a 4 track mixer as well as a 12 track powered mixer? Oh, and also a keyboard. And technically I own a set of drums too.
Just when I thought Transformers is way cool/must watch kind of movie for me..... take a look at this! You gotta watch a movie that Chow Yun Fatt says "Welcome to Singapore!"
Yup, I'm 99% going to sell my Stupid4 (Honda CB400) and getting the lengendary VFR800. The problem is, there's 2 good deals around and I can't really decide. Help!
This year is an exciting year for comic/cartoon movies!
Recently screened is 300, a film adaptation of Frank miller's graphic novel. Then very soon is TMNT (or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for the younger generations). It is also this cartoon that introduced to my world the word 'wacky', to the American teens culture nd the way they talk, and the food known as pizza.
And of course, in my last post, the much awaited Spiderman 3. Not forgetting Harry Potter....something.
And now, ladies and gentleman, presenting a cartoon adaptation that truly will only be remembered by people older than 25 this year. Where the word Starscream refers to a whiny coward and Optimus as the noble, kind hearted warrior. May I present...Transformers - the movie!
I started watching MotoGP in 2005. For the ill-informed, MotoGP is the ultimate motorcycle race event, akin to the status of F1 for cars. Racers will compete in 18 circuits around the world, in million dollar prototype bikes and the winner of the championship, is declared World Champion.
And there's one name that dominated the MotoGP right now - Valentino Rossi. Generally regarded as the best motorcycle racer of our time, he has won 5 straight championships (2001-2005) at the tender age of 28. Yes he's the same blardy age as me.
Anyway, he's also the reason I stoped watching MotoGP in 2006. Cos he made it boring. He made it look easy and even when he left Honda (which produces the RC211V MotoGP bike, the bike that's generally regarded as the best bike) to join the not-so-kilat Yamaha, he showed to the world that it's the monkey behind the steering bars that made the difference, not the mechanical monster between the monkey's balls.
But, to my disbelief, he DID NOT attain the world champion in 2006! Some will say bad luck. Rossi says it's complacency. The new champion says...well, actually nobody bothers with what he says.
Which brings us to 2007. An exciting year, as we awaits the Revenge of Rossi. And it's also this year that the clowns in MotoGP realise that the older 990 cc bikes is too powerful and hence reduce the engine capacity to 800 cc. Sure, laptimes may suffer a bit because the bikes are less powerful, but it'll make the sport safer and maybe more competitive.
Their decision was right, but not in the way they had anticipated. Yes the bikes is less powerful and yes, by changing the engine capacity, manufacturers have to redesign the bikes and that means manufactureres like Suzuki, Kawasaki and even KR Proton can stand a chance at beating the battle-proven of Yamaha, Honda and Ducati.
But as the first race for 2007 is over, we realise that reducing the power and engine capacity of the bikes DID NOT slow down the laptimes! The bikes are now lighter, more nimble, and in the hands of world-class motorcycle racers, can carry a higher corner speed than the 990 cc monsters of 2003-2005. Furthermore, now the tires can handle the power produced by the bikes. So although less peak bHP, but it results in more useful power. Just take a look at this screenshot and compare Rossi's lap record in Qatar in 2006 (on the 990 cc, 240 bHP bike) against the winner of the Qatar 07 race (on a 800cc Ducati, about 200 bHP).
In case you're wondering how did the demi-god Rossi lost, he lost because his Yamaha was slaughtered by the Ducati on the straights. The Doctor tried his best and overtook the Ducati 3-4 times on the corners but when it comes to the straight, no amt of late braking or corner speed is going to beat the Ducati. Watch the clip and see for yourself! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=380163608596191849&hl=en
Yup, it's gonna be an exciting year again for MotoGP! One more justification for my broadband subscription then!
