Icelandic Bike Tour

 Ever since getting on a bike I have fancied the idea of going on a bike adventure. However I am not the sort of person who takes well to the more exotic places in the world. To be fair, France is an adventure for me! Still a number of years ago I had the fortune to go to Iceland; the country not the shop (for those outside the UK Iceland is a retail chain specialising in frozen foods). It is an amazing place. A few years later TopGear done a piece where they drove 3 cars around the beaches there.

Coming forward, reading the latest Bike magazine I saw an article for a company called Bike Tours UK. They seem to do bike related adventure trips, with Iceland being a destination. They are cheaper too then most of the other biking holidays I have seen. The Iceland trip this year costs a little over an estimated £1000. Many of the other companies are two to ten times that much. I was curious, why are they so cheap. Well you have gotta like camping for one thing, there are no hotels here. You also have to buy your own fuel and food, but then you would on a riding/driving holiday anyway. What you do get is your guide, a 4x4 support vehicle, bike hire, accommodation (camping) and flights. You also get to experience some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen.

I do hope to be able to go next year!

ER6F Long Term Review

Having now owned my Kawasaki ER-6F for a year now I feel it is time to give a bit of a review having used it over the longer term. So what is my overall view? Excellent, but with room for improvement.


Engine

The little parallel twin gives out plenty of poke, especially low down. Having done much riding around town this is of great benefit, making it easy to filter and pull away from the lights without having to rev the engine. When you want to be a bit more spirited you can be, although you do need to keep it revving a little higher. Once above 9000rpm you start to lose it and really should change gear. The biggest problem with the bike being a parallel twin is the amount of vibration. On this 2009 model not much of it comes through to the rider, but some does and on longer motorway trips I have found my left hand getting partly numbed by it. Perhaps the worst aspect of the vibration is that the mirrors tend to show mainly blur. Shame that they haven't been isolated as the pegs and handle bars have been.

Fuel economy on this bike can be great, I have had nearly 60mpg on one run, although averaging around 50. However it drops when you are just doing short trips around town and even more when you want to use the poke of the engine. 38mpg was my worst. Still it is a cheap bike to run fuel wise.


Body

Beauty is in the eye of... well you know. Anyhow I think the bike looks great, certainly compared to the pre-09 model. Sharp angles and lines make it look much more like its Ninja sibling, but without the sporty riding position. Ahh the riding position; I haven't ridden a supersports bike so I can't comment too much, but while the more upright sitting position is great for around town and cruising, it isn't much cop when you want to ride that little more aggressively. I found that I can improve that by moving my feet up on the pegs and that in-turn moves my body forward, putting that little more weight over the front and makes me more confident in faster corners. However I am unsure if that is the right thing to do!

Another thing with the body of the bike are the mirrors. Considering it seems to be aimed at newer riders and commuters, you can't see directly behind you. People will know if an ER rider is looking behind as they have to move their arm in to get past their elbow (or elbow out). Annoying when you do a manoeuvre; either you look like you are doing a chicken impression or have to physically look over your shoulder. One day I may look at getting the mirror extensions and see if they 'fix' the problem. However this shouldn't be a problem to be fixed it should be right out of the box. That is, however, a minor thing really and takes nothing away from the rideability of the bike.

There are some very nice touches to the bike, the side mounted rear shock being one. It gives the bike some distinctive character without looking like it is trying. As I understand it is there to even up weight and allows the battery to be moved to a better location. Along with the rear hugger, stops it being caked by the back wheel throwing up road dirt. Oh yes, it also has a rear hugger. Again this is something I am led to believe is not what you would expect to see on a budget bike.


Suspension

Basic is the work of the day, budget may be another. This is a budget bike and as such all you get is pre-loading on the rear side mounted shock otherwise nadda. Not that I would expect to see much more, this isn't the sort of bike that would have all the adjustments, at least not at what it was sold at. Possibly do to its low cost there are times the bike feels a little on edge, especially on bumpy B-roads. The rear end feels as if it isn't always in good contact with the road. Maybe more expensive suspension would improve that, but at the moment I have little idea of how to adjust it for the best setup.

I love this bike, it has enough poke to get you going to the wrong side of motorway speeds, feels confident pootling around town, but is also a lot of fun around the B-roads. Having taken it on a trip to Land's End it was commented at how well it pulled out of corners, this was by someone who used to race bikes. I have no doubt that his GSXR750 would run circles around me most of the time though!

If you are looking for a first 'big bike' or something to run around town on with the occasional weekend blast, you can't go too wrong with an ER6F. Yes it has its faults, the mirrors are vibey and not long enough and the rear suspension can sometimes feel a little hard. However this is overshadowed by just how fun it is to ride, and how cheap too. It is in the group 10 for insurance, costs £70 in road tax (I am sure that will go up), and does around 8.7p/mile on fuel (again that will go up if only as fuel goes up!).

Musings

My first bike, Suzuki GS500

There is an old saying "time flies when you are having fun". It don't seem that it has been 3 years since I learnt to ride. I have owned two bikes in that time, still do in fact. What an eventful time it has been. Owning my first bike, the little Suzuki GS500. I still don't see why it gets berated so much. It is a great first bike and an ideal commuter. Having said that when I first had it it never seemed to run right and then there was the first winter where it wouldn't start at all and was left in the garage until the spring. The little GS is now waiting patiently to be sold at my parents house.

ER6F - Great bike!

Then I went on to my brand new Kawasaki ER6F. That had a turbulent first few months too. Got it in September and then ran it in for the first 500 miles. Never had to do that before even in a car. Being stuck at 55mph (4000rpm) made for some interesting trips. I tried my hardest to avoid motorways and dual carriageways, and I almost succeeded. Once ending up on a dual carriageway and being overtaken by a lorry, that wasn't fun at all. Running in for me is a time to get to know your bike. You can try out the handling without the worry of extra speed and it is surprising what fun you can have a low speed on a few country lanes! Then December came. It was a wet day and I pulled into my local Morrison's to get some milk for work. Just as I pulled into the car park a car pulled across the parking area straight into my line to travel. Nothing I could do but dump the bike. There was a sickening crunching sound, thankfully not from me but the bike as the fairing trashed itself (not that I walked away unscathed either). Fortunately it was all low speed so the damage to me was only to my knee and shoulder.

Land's End Carpark

It ended up taking close to 2 or so months before I had the bike back but when I did I was so glad to have it back. Thankfully I was given a Suzuki Bandit 600 while mine was convalescing. Didn't really like it, much to heavy for a naked plus none of the protection that I get from my ER's fairing.

After two summers that were rained out, finally got to go on a biking trip. Five of use down to Land's End over the Easter break. It was an absolute hoot and the weather was very kind to us. Compared to the congested south I live in, the wide open roads down there are wonderful to ride round. I envy the people who have it as their 'backyard' so to speak.

I have been to the NEC and ExCeL shows which are both great fun to go too. Just waiting now to see what the new styled NEC show will be like this year. I attended the Westminster M25 parking charge protest, amazing to see the M25 clear of traffic just before hundreds of bikes go past.

ER-6F Recall

Apparently there is a problem with some 2009-on bikes where the riders boot can foul on the rear brake lever. Have to wait and see if I get a letter, although may call the dealer just to be sure. Once I know more I will put it up here.

Thanks to "Canary Wundaboy" on GB Bikers for letting owners aware of this (not even on Kawasaki's website). More details can be found on AutoTraders website.

12 volt Pressure Washer

Love it or loath it cleaning a bike is the one thing that needs to be done if you want to keep it looking good. Even more so in the winter months with all the salt on the roads, it helps to prevent any rust buildup. There seem to be many ways to clean a bike, pressure washers, hoses, buckets. With the layout of my house I am unable to get any mains water out to the bike. This leaves me with the only other option, the bucket. Not any more!

I have never really liked using pressure washers, it is too easy to get that little too close and take off the paint etc. However I discovered a non-mains 12v pressure washer. This has three benefits over a mains version. Firstly it runs off of 12v, so you can use it to wash your bike anywhere (within reason it is a bit bulky!). Secondly it stores its own water supply so no need for hose pipes. Thirdly, as it is only 12v it can't get anywhere near the pressures of a mains version. This one can get up to 130psi, compare that to over 1000psi for mains. However for washing a vehicle it is more then enough. You can also set the nozzle to go from a jet to a wide, almost misting, spray. The latter giving good volume of water to wash off the soap.

It is able to store 17ltrs of water and consumes about 60watts of power when in use. Given most bikes batteries are around 10Ah that would give you a run time of 2 hours continuous use. It gets through its water in about 6 minutes and most bikes can be rinsed twice (once before washing, once after) on about a tank and a half, assuming it isn't heavily soiled.

Of the few complaints I have the most annoying is the power lead. It is just that little bit too short. True the way I power it isn't the way most would think (see below) but even coming from the bike it makes it a little hard to move it fully out of the way. And that is the other aspect, it only comes with a cigarette/cigar light type power plug. I would have liked to have seen the option of alligator clips to connect directly to the battery, does make it a little tricky to connect to a bike.

Having used it now for a couple of times I can honestly say it is so much better then using the 'throw a bucket of water' method. It is simpler and uses much less water. Plus we have a 12v solar system that I can run it off of so don't even have to worry about using the bikes battery or the power costing me anything.

Good

• Low pressure means unlikely to damage paintwork etc.
• Good flow rate.
• Holds own water supply.
• Able to run it wherever there is a source of 12v.
• Good way to get around a hosepipe ban ;)

Bad

• Although technically portable, not something you can carry on a bike easily.
• Could do with a longer 12v lead.

Kawasaki Seminars

Well it seems the weather consipred against me. I wasn't going to risk having to come back in the rain. Not that I mind riding in the rain, but only when I have too. Not to mention I didn't know what the setup for the evening was. No schedule had been given out. Sorry Kawasaki!

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Kawasaki Seminars

Kawasaki are holding a seminar tomorrow evening and I have an invite. Hoping that I will be able to attend, although if the weather turns as bad as they say it will I may not be going! Not actually sure what it is all about so my curiosity is piqued. Fingers crossed I will find out.

3 Day Trip to Land's End

In Dartmoor

Finally! After 2 years of trying I was going on a biking holiday. Okay it was only for three days but still, it would be longest I have been on a bike. The last couple of years I had been trying to have a biking holiday but the weather always conspired against me. This year the weather was perfect. So the weekend after Easter myself and four mates set off for a trip to Land's End.

Starting from Basingstoke we headed down for the A30. Although there wasn't really a set route, we did have a general idea and our first target was Yeovil to pick up the 5th rider. I have been in group formation before but in a car. One thing I always hated was being at the front, leading. I never liked having to try and keep an eye on all of the members, making sure you didn't loose any. Still there were two of us who had Autocom systems with radios which made it easier. Also one of our riders was in a reflective jacket. He stayed at the back mainly which have me an easy target to know if we were all there.

Have to say that it was a great experience to be riding with other guys who have been at it a lot longer then myself. I was able to pick up tons of confidence in being told how to filter etc. When ever we would stop for a drink or rest it was great being able to chat about what had gone on. A bit like when we went through Dartmoor. That was stunning. The road has just been laid on the rolling hills and with some nice open sweeping bends it is just perfect. You can see right through a corner and line yourself up perfectly.

Bikes at Land's End

Of course there has to be a 'funny' which happened to happen to me. The road we wanted to go down was closed, apparently it had been a major crash. So good ol' TomTom toke us down another route. Unfortunately this did have to be a single track lane. Not a problem until a huge camper-van came the other way. Was able to pull right over to let it past, but then my foot slipped on the verge (I think that is what happened!) with the bike falling over onto me. Fortunately the verge had quite a slope to it so the bike was only really leaning a few more degrees then it does when on its side stand. However I was pinned underneath it. No damage to be or the bike, but definitely another experience to chalk up.

If you have never had a ride out like that then it is definitely worth a go. Even more so if you aren't too confident and are going with more experienced riders. It makes for an interesting take on having that solo riding experience with the chance to chat (brag?) about it after. Next time we are looking at the South of France, should be fun!

Archos 1 Vision

For the last couple of years I have been using a cheapo MP3 player. It had numerous problems, but it was cheap and done the job, just. However it recently died on me so I had to look for a replacement. I had a couple of items it had to be, firstly good value (not cheap but worth the money) and it had to have some form of navigation for the music. The previous one wasn't able to navigate the music other then to go back and forth. There was no sorting by artist or album etc. For the most part it was never a problem, it was just set to random for all the music. It would be nice to sometimes select one album to listen too rather then all the music on the device.

I had looked at an iPod, to which I used to have a 2GB 1^st Gen Nano. Apple really have worked well on the interface of the iPods. It works well and seems to do all that you need in a simple responsive way. The problem with them is the cost. I refuse to get the Shuffle as I want a screen and hate that whole one button rubbish. The Nano is just too expensive for the use I want from it, this is only for use on the bike. Some investigation later I found a promotion for an Archos 1 Vision. MyMemory were selling it with £5 discount bringing it down to £20.99 inc p&p.

With 4GB of flash it has more then enough space to store the music I want to listen too. Trying to find reviews of it though, that is a different story. There were none that I could find online, only some saying its specification and a little about it. I bit the bullet and brought one. A few days latter I get to answer the door to the postman, Saturday morning and I was still in my dressing gown, not a pretty sight! Still I pulled the Archos out of its box and the first thing that struck me was how really light it is. It actually is a little too light, even though it is very well constructed. Like most gadgets you are suppose to charge before use, however like most things there is enough juice in the battery to get it going to play. To get you going Archos have included a few music files, pictures and a video. Yes, video. It is something that isn't advertised anywhere, even a 'review' said it wouldn't play video. On the front of picture and video, it works well, but I can't imagine watching a full film on such a small screen. Anyway back to the box. Included is a USB lead (charging and transfer), pair of headphones and a CD with software to convert video files. There is no software for managing or transferring music. A reason for the being so cheap I imagine. Not that it is a problem, Windows Media Player 11 picks it up and you can simply drag the music from your library. As it is a mass storage device you can drag and drop directly to it or use any software that allows syncing to mass storage (Winamp spring to mind).

So in use the system works okay. It certainly isn't up there with the iPod in terms of slickness but it is functional. There are a few weird buttons on it to get used to but you soon do. The screen, although small and LCD, is very clear and readable although looses a little in direct sunlight. Would have been better to have been OLED. Sound wise, the included headphones work in a pinch but don't really do justice to the machine. Upgrading them shows off the sound quality which is impressive given the units size and cost. If you dig into the menus there is even an equalizer which includes a 3d setting, which I felt is the best setting to have it on. You can even define your own. The buttons have a positive click on them so moving around the menus is easy. Speaking of menus, there is a noticeable flicker as the screen refreshes as it scrolls down (see video clip below).

One of the biggest annoyances on it, which shows its reduced cost, is the hiss you can hear while it isn't playing. It is only quiet and you certainly do not notice it once the music is playing. It also changes note depending on what the screen is doing. Should you wish to use it for video, the included software does the job, but it sat saying 1% complete even though it had actually finished the encoding. Looking at the output file it seems to be a 128x128 pixel image at about 380Kbps and MPEG audio at 128Kbps so using your own encoder is possible. There is also a voice recorder should the need take you. You can also view text files on it, not sure why you would though. While music is playing it shows off a graphic equaliser. It is so slow as to be pointless, I would rather seen more track information or cover art, a more productive use of the screen. Despite it being advertised, as far as my speed tests go, this isn't a full USB 2.0 device. When transferring files I get a top speed of only around 1.3MB/s. That is USB 1.1 territory not USB 2.0 as such transfers can take hours if you do a bulk transfer.

For the use I plan for it none of the issues above will prove a problem, even the hiss, which the wind noise drowns out anyway. If you are looking for a cheap and capable MP3 play with a few features this is a great unit. It is in need of a few tweeks. There needs to be a little more weight to give it that solid feeling it is missing and deserves. The processor needs to be faster in order to scroll through menus without flicker, or the firmware needs updating to reduce its effect. The graphic equaliser needs to be removed and replaced with a user selectable option of cover art or just track information. Lastly there it really needs to loose the hiss, although they may increase the cost. There is the main thing to remember, this is a very cheap MP3 player.

Good

• Bright and clear screen.

• Cheap.

• Excellent sound quality (once the headphones are changed!).

• Feature rich: music, photo, video, voice recorder and text reader.

• Easy syncing with WMP11 or Winamp.

• Numerous equaliser settings.

• Positive action on buttons.

• Really light...

Bad

• maybe too light?

• Video and photos screen too small to be something to use regularly.

• Reflective front a fingerprint magnet.

• That hiss when not playing.

• Apparently not USB 2.0 speeds.

-UPDATE-
After writing this I have run into problems with the little Archos. The system won't list out the full number of tracks I have put onto it. Now it reports that I have over 2000 songs on it (only put on around 600!) and the music directory, according to Windows, is 75Gb! Have spoken to MyMemory I am going to get a replacement. Will update when I have more information.

-UPDATE 2-
Recived the replacment unit and this one works much better. The transfer speeds are what I would expect from USB2.0 and transfering large amounts took about 30mins (approx 3GB). The hiss seems to be less on this unit, although still noticeable if you are in a really quite area and nothing is playing. Another function I have found on it is the ability to read LRC lyric files, but when it is playing them you have to remember to deselect the auto backlight off function. Overall a good little machine for what I need.

Insurance is through!

Had two letters through this week. One was from my solicitor and the other from the insurers. Both of which saying that the insurance has gone through, with the insurers including a cheque to cover my excess. So quite happy and relieved now. Only a few more things to sort and it should all be over.