MoT 2023 and the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride

We’re approaching MoT anniversary, so I thought I’d get in there early and book the ZRX in for an MoT at a local bike shop, A Force Motorcycles in Aldershot.

I trotted up there yesterday and a thorough MoT test was carried out … with Blue Rex’s first ever failure!

The Clear Alternatives LED rear light illuminates red (and amber with the integrated turn signals) but does not shine white light down onto the numberplate, so it’s a fail. There is what appears to be a small pilot type LED which might perform that function, but the general consensus appears to be that there isn’t one. I may be able to bodge something together, but in the meantime, I rode home and then took off the rear seat cowl – revealing a missing bolt to hold the rear mudguard and under seat plastic in place, so that was replaced. I then disconnected the LED light and refitted the OEM red one (having popped to the local Jet petrol station to get a couple of 21/5W tail/stop lamps) which I keep with all the other OEM parts I’d taken off*.

I also fitted the marginally larger numberplate – I think it’s the same sized font, but just more space around it – which was the other fail item – and then this morning popped back for a free retest and pass certificate.

Mileage this year is 19,621 miles, up 159 miles from last year.

*Now we’ve moved out of London, I’m expecting to do more miles on Blue Rex, such as last weekend’s Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride in Guildford & Surrey Hills, so I’ve removed the “spools” and refitted the grab rails for Alison.  Next job is removing the rear sets and refitting the standard footrests.

Here are some photos from the DGR:

Hog's Back Brewery

MoT 2022

Whilst I was in the USA doing the Pacific Coast Highway in a 5.0L V8 Mustang Convertible, I thought it was long overdue for Blue Rex to have some care and attention, so it was off to Larry at PDQ to give it a good fettle and its MoT.

And it really was a good fettle: the old Datatool alarm was finally consigned to the bin, as was the battery. The carbs were basically overhauled and a couple of pipes and o-rings were replaced. There was a new chain and sprocket set. There was a new set of tyres to replace those that were on there that were many years old and had all the grip of Donald Trump.

It was then MoT’d and it passed with a mileage of 19,462 which was 40 miles up from last year’s and was basically the mileage out of London to PDQ.

Whilst at PDQ, Larry whacked it on the dyno to see how it measured up, some 11 years after the team at PDQ had breathed on it. 154.89bhp at 10,100rpm (158.37bhp) and 90.5lb/ft of torque at 7,830rpm (91.5lb/ft), 2011 figures in brackets.

2022 Dyno Results

It’s a new dyno – so not necessarily a true like-for-like comparison – but it’s still close to what it was putting out before, which is pleasing.

I used my disabled person’s Freedom Pass to get there, so it cost me nothing and the ride back was lovely: back in a little over an hour (with a fuel stop) thanks to filtering and people working from home.

Ear-Popping Pyrenees

Eurothrash…

So it was holiday time again and despite working until late on the Friday and hence only doing last minute packing, I found myself heading off at Oh Dark Hundred on Saturday, 1st June to the Eurotunnel to meet up with Yox and Purge.

Yox had organised the crossing tickets as well as working out a route that linked up a number of great biking roads in and around the Pyrenees, so we were heading off there with a view to getting all the way down to the Pyrenees by nightfall. The benefit of travelling off-peak as far as the French are concerned should have been that we wouldn’t need to book any hotels in advance and hence we wouldn’t have any pressure to be at a pre-determined destination on any day.

They both took the mick out of the lack of tread on my sporty tyres which I’d though would be fine for the trip … without realising I’d done the 2,100 mile Ardèche trip on the same tyres before… And so we turned out onto the motorways and headed South. As it transpired, the motorways were a leeeetle bit abrasive and by the time we’d lost and found Purge around Paris and made our way down to Clermont-Ferrand, the tyres were well and truly shagged and wouldn’t make it home. Ah!

Purge and I were both using Tom-Tom Rider satnavs – mine a more recent model after my other one was stolen by my psycho ex-girlfriend – and both had been updated to the latest maps … which showed the hotel we selected as being halfway up a hill in a residential area. It wasn’t there, of course, but we went back to where Yox’s Co-Pilot Android software (the same I use on my iPhone) had guided him. I then went in and negotiated a decent room rate for the three of us with use of their own garage for the first overnight stay. Then shower, change, beers and a huge evening meal before bed.

Day Two and we were heading off via Millau towards Perpignan. The twisting roads of the Haute-Pyrenees were fabulous but tiring so as we rode into Quillan, we found a traditional-looking hotel, the Hotel La Chaumiere, to check into. As it was Yox’s birthday, the beers, the wine and the food were on Purge and I.

The view from my balcony

The view from my balcony

The meal also included the heaviest wine bottle I’ve ever seen: truly bizarre (but tasty)!

The heaviest wine bottle ever

The heaviest wine bottle ever

After dinner, it was up to our rooms … and I discovered that my carefully-arranged base layers had flown off the balcony and were laying in front of the restaurant. Ah!

Day Three and it was time to sort out my racing slicks. We delayed breakfast and I then spent the next half an hour ringing around all the motorcycle dealers and tyre depots to see if I could get sorted. They were all shut, despite it being a Monday, as they’d been open on the Saturday. Oh to be French! So I decided to press on into Andorra alone – our planned destination – to try to find tyres and let Yox and Purge head off into Spain to play on the roads. This included my first real view of some of the passes and cols and snow-capped peaks.

Note racing slicks...

Note racing slicks…

Instagram version!

Instagram version!

Some epic twisty roads towards Andorra then saw me going through the 2.8km long Túnel d’Envalira which was like going through a refrigerator!

Emerged from the Túnel d'Envalira

Emerged from the Túnel d’Envalira

Then it was down into Andorra. As I came close to Andorra la Vella, I passed by a KTM dealer and popped inside to see if they could sort me out with tyres using my best Spanglish. They were really helpful and directed me to a car/bike dealer nearby that happened to be a Kawasaki franchise. So in I went, agreed a deal to get new tyres fitted that afternoon and then went off to find us a hotel, the Novotel. While the tyres were being fitted – a process that took the entire afternoon… – I went out scouting for dinner and found an excellent tapas restaurant.

Out with the old...

Out with the old…

...in with the new

…in with the new

When Purge and Yox arrived after enjoying what they said were some of the best roads they’d seen, it was off to eat.

Allow me to explain through the medium of interpretive dance

Allow me to explain through the medium of interpretive dance

Day Four and we were heading off to Bagnères-de-Luchon via the twisties. Epic roads out of Andorra – back the way I’d come – and this time, I’d set up my helmet camera to capture some of the footage:

It was warm and sunny … and snowy at the top of the Pyrenees which meant the scenery was spectacular.

Once we were into the Haute-Pyrenees again, we went up a few of the Cols that feature in the Tour de France as well as a few others:

Col du Port

Col du Port

On one descent, I was able to coast for over 3 miles, overtaking cars and lorries with the engine off! Yox also did the reveal on his luxury item: he’d brought some fine coffee and a little fold-up stove to brew it on, so we had coffee at the Col du Port … and he set fire to a picnic table by mistake.

Finally we made it into Bagnères-de-Luchon where we pulled up in the square next to the Hôtel Panoramic where I did the usual and we checked in.

Bagnères-de-Luchon

Bagnères-de-Luchon

Bagnères-de-Luchon

Bagnères-de-Luchon

Bagnères-de-Luchon

Bagnères-de-Luchon

Day Five and we were headed off to Spain via a few more peaks which were covered in snow … which we duly played in. Obviously.

IMG_3331

I'm snow angel

I’m snow angel

2013-06-05 11.12.12

Eejit dance

Eejit dance

Talking of playing, Yox had rigged up his camera and followed me off down one of the descents:

After a day’s bend-swinging (including a visit to our spiritual home, a village called Perves), we were tired and decided to cut our intended journey short, so we checked in to the fabulous Hotel Cotori in El Pont de Suert.

Hotel Cotori

Hotel Cotori

That’s a pedestrian square… We were recommended a decent tapas restaurant where, despite the protestations of the owner, I went ahead and ordered us a whole selection of dishes that just kept on coming. Delicious! And all finished off by us.

Day Six and it was breakfast with two grumpy buggers. Something about a blue ZRX’s alarm going off at 3.15am. I was unaware of this, given I was sound asleep at the back of the hotel…

So the plan for the day was to head back into France, but we hadn’t reckoned on the nature of the route being so twisty and covering a large vertical variance: up and down like a whore’s drawers! This wasn’t helped by finding out when we were there that the famous Col du Tormalet was shut due to there being 6-9m of snow on the road at the summit!

More epic roads and scenery though. Tired and getting late, we diverted into Lourdes to find a hotel for the night … and we found one: a €29 a night one that we christened “Hotel Paradiso” that probably charged the rooms out by the hour too… What a dive! Lourdes in general – and our hotel in particular – was full of gangs of schoolkids with various coloured beanie hats and scarves being led around by Catholic priests. What a strange place!

I woke up quite hot at around 3am and my body heat had ‘refreshed’ the mattress such that there was a smell of urine from the depths of the mattress (itself on a plastic-covered bed base). I couldn’t wait to get a shower in the morning! Purge had the evening before found a dead insect in his sheets!

Day Seven. Keen to get a move on and put the Hotel Paradiso behind us, we headed back into Spain via a whole load more passes, peaks and valleys.

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Photo!

Photo!

IMG_3381 IMG_3371 IMG_3350

We got as far as Jaca in Aragon and after filling up we headed to the Hotel & Spa Real Jaca which did us a great deal for the rooms and underground parking with breakfast. The only downside was the Saga louts that checked in later: a whole coachload of OAPs that swooped on the restaurant to scoff the food.

Day Eight and I woke up to the “shh” of car tyres on wet roads. Looking out of the window, I could see it was absolutely tipping down: not good considering we were hoping to get to Le Mans by the evening. So we had breakfast, checked out and headed out into torrential rain at around 9.00am, up and up into the Pyrenees towards France. My vented race boots started leaking after 16 miles but fortunately the rest of my riding gear was keeping me dry. Stupidly, I’d not worn a base layer under my T-shirt and hadn’t zipped-in the liner to my riding gear either, so the combination of rain storms and altitude meant I was getting really cold. By the time of our first fuel stop into France, I was grateful to be able to put on some more clothes before we headed off back into the worst riding conditions any of us had ever seen (in my case, in 35 years of riding).

The autoroute around Bordeaux was more like a canal and at one point it felt like I was sitting on a chair while someone directed a fire hose at me, the rain was so heavy.

Towards Paris it stopped raining and near Tours at another fuel stop, we decided to pin it and win it: we wouldn’t bother stopping for the night near Le Mans; we’d just keep going for the other 300 miles to the Eurotunnel station and see if we could get on a day early, ratther than getting changed out of our wet gear and potentially facing another day’s wet riding on the Sunday.

We arrived at around 10.15pm, some 780 miles later and were pleased to be put onto the 11.45pm crossing, so we finally had something to eat and drink and on we went.

Homeward bound

Homeward bound

Back onto English soil at around 11.45pm UK time, we went our separate ways and I blasted back towards London and my apartment, which I reached at around 12.30am.

Roughly 2,100 miles again. Another epic Euroblast.

So yes, I’d ummed and ahhed about getting a new bike for the trip before I left and more or less settled on a new Triumph Sprint GT 1050 but knew I’d not be able to get it run in and sorted before the off. Blue Rex was epic in the twisties and looks the bollocks too, but on the motorways above 90mph for mile after mile and hour after hour it’s a bit of an effort plus some fixed luggage makes sense. So I’m test riding a Sprint next weekend and will probably place an order there and then so I can have it properly sorted before next year’s planned Eurothrash two-up with GT to the Alps.

Or maybe a late summer long weekend sortie across the Channel just to get a feel for it… ;)

Kawasaki Day at the Ace Café London, 2013

Well it was a beautiful but chilly day in London today and so I left GT’s to ride in to the Ace, arriving before 10am after a cobweb-blowing ride across town.

We counted them in and we counted them out again!

And talking of chilly, the Ace chilli cheesy chips went down really well with GT and I and you couldn’t tell they were veggie either.

IMG_3751 IMG_3755 IMG_3757 IMG_3759 IMG_3762 IMG_3767 IMG_3771 IMG_3774

Ooh look!

So there I was, reading the latest issue of “GO” Magazine, which is Kawasaki UK’s magazine for its Kawasaki Riders Club. Reading it – literally – from cover to cover, I saw my photo from Saint-Julien-du-Tournel on the back cover:

Saint-Julien-du-Tournel
GO Magazine Back Cover
‘ href=’http://www.rhmphotographic.com/2012/10/06/ooh-look/2011-07-01-11-39-16/’>Saint-Julien-du-Tournel
Saint-Julien-du-Tournel
GO Magazine Back Cover
‘ href=’http://www.rhmphotographic.com/2012/10/06/ooh-look/img_2370/’>GO Magazine Back Cover

Now where’s my licence fee for the photo? ;)

 

Kawasaki Day at the Ace Cafe

Today was Kawasaki Day at the Ace Cafe London. It was also the Virgin London Marathon and where I live the roads close at 8.00am. Despite GT taking part in the marathon – she managed a 4:00:44 finish time! – I headed off before the road closures to the Ace Cafe for Kawasaki Day, celebrating 40 years.

Of course, 11 and 23 mile markers en route were too good to pass unnoticed so I hoisted celebratory wheelies as I drove through!

Getting to the Ace at 8.00am I grabbed a cuppa and breakfast and then decided to have the ZRX dyno’d again now I’ve put some miles on it and the results were very impressive: 163.2bhp and 98ft/lb which even beat some poor bloke with a shiny ZZR1400 and Akra pipes!

Here are some photos too:

H2 750 Zephyr Chat H1 500 7cyl KH606! Zephyr ZRXs Z900s H1 Tank Z1000 Tank ZRX Tank ZX-10R Collage Yes... Blue Rex

Insurance Renewal

Just renewed my bike insurance with Motorcycle Direct and noting the recent speeding offence.

Protected no-claims, fully comprehensive with declared modifications and living in London. SD&P plus commuting. £158.72.

Result!

What’s it all about?

Welcome to Blue’s Big Trip: it’s a blog set up for my trip across the USA in the summer of 2012.

I intend to take my 2002 Kawasaki ZRX1200R from the UK by airfreight to Anchorage, Alaska and then from there ride down via Seattle – where I have family – to Los Angeles and then via Las Vegas and New Orleans over to New York, from where I’ll airfreight the bike back to my home in London. Along the way, I hope to take in a bit of sightseeing like the Grand Canyon and some bike-specific ones like Deal’s Gap in South Carolina.

Well that’s the plan anyway!

By the summer of 2012, I will have reached the grand old age of 50 and London will be a hellish place to be with the London 2012 Olympics taking place. I’ve always wanted to do a big trip and so then will be as good a time as ever, I reckon. I’m aiming to take 2 or 3 weeks to do this trip which should be very do-able: I’ve done 900 miles in a day in 1981 on a Triumph T140V Bonneville, a few more trips every year like that to the Bol d’Or at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the late 80s and early 90s on a Yamaha FZR1000, and more recently 1,000 in less than 24 hours on the ZRX1200R and my Honda Fireblade.

Feel free to join in and give me some suggestions for routes, places to stay, etc

Kawasaki ZRX1200R

When Kawasaki launched the ZRX1200R they wrote:

Today they call it World Superbike, but back when the whole show got started it was the bikini-faired Green Monsters from Kawasaki that power-slid their way into the record books. Now Kawasaki flexes its performance muscle once again, bringing you the direct descendent of those tarmac-rippling Superbikes – the new ZRX 1200R.

Retaining the brutal charm of the original Eddie Lawson bikini-faired layout, but with a new engine pumping out, amazingly, even more power and torque. A stiffer swingarm with revised pivot location for superb handling. And further buffing up the most legendary Musclebike of all are plenty of other mods. Like an improved clutch and a rear wheel damper from the awesome Ninja ZX-12R, for smoother shifting and improved ride quality. All adding up to more take-no-prisoners ZRX performance than ever. Beyond formidable, the new ZRX 1200R. Stamp your authority on the game.

SuperBike‘s July 2006 issue’s listing says:

Looks and rides like it’s graduated from the school of bad-ass attitude. Best-handling muscle bike and arguably the most stylish, but you’ll probably wish that you’d bought a Z1000 when the going gets a bit twisty.

So, who’s right? Here’s an owner’s ‘take’ on the Kawasaki ZRX1200R.

Engine & Performance

Kawasaki claim 122PS and 112Nm of torque for the ZRX. In English that’s 120BHP and 82½ ft/lb, almost certainly measured at the crank. Dry weight is 223kg (plus 4kg for the half-faired S version). Compare that with a Suzuki GSX-R1000 (161BHP at the rear wheel and 166kg) and it’s clear that the ZRX is no pocket rocket.

RHM on the ZRX1200RLooking at the bike in the showroom, it looks like it’ll be a handful, but looks can be deceptive: whilst it may be a heavy old lump, it’s smaller physically than it looks.

I’m 6′ tall or thereabouts and 14½ stones so this photo might give you some perspective.

As with most halfway decent bikes these days, 0-60 times are largely irrelevant: quicker than nearly anything four wheels – I’d guess at around 3½ seconds. Top speed? Who knows? I’ve seen 145mph on the clocks sitting up, but take a look at that riding position and the tiny fairing. How long would you want to be maxing it out on that? If top speed’s your priority then look elsewhere: musclebikes, naked bikes and retros are not for you. The ZRX1200R’s bikini fairing and upright riding position dictate a comfortable cruising speed of around 90mph where you can leave it in top gear and just cruise along riding on a wave of torque. With a redline at 10,000rpm, maximum power is delivered at around 8,500rpm and maximum torque at around 6,500rpm, so it can be a very relaxing ride rather than a frantic scream.

RHM on the ZRX1200R at Castle CombeWhen you want to hustle, though, it picks up its skirt and rocks! I use the ZRX for trackdays and take onboard footage when I can. Take a look at this video, for instance, to see it in action on track at Mallory Park. Oh, and it’ll wheelie on the throttle in first so it’s no fat slag.

The ZRX1200R comes with two catalytic converters, one welded into the header pipe collectors and one in the silencer (which gets exceptionally hot – beware!). This, coupled with the Old Skool carbs and emissions gubbins, means that replacing the end can with a quality one or, better still, a full system will give you more than a few extra horses: with a Dynojet kit – no namby-pamby fuel injection here – freer-flowing air filter, the removal of the “snorkel” on the side of the air box and fitting a decent full system (Akrapovic is preferred), power rises from 112bhp to the low 130s at the rear wheel.

Chassis & Handling

As it comes from the factory, the bike is set up for a 75kg (~12½ stone) rider. Knowing the general size and weight of your average ZRX owner you can see why that might not be perfect.

Providing you’re not going for it on poorly-surfaced B-roads, the standard settings are OK, if making the bike a tad wallowy. I’ve fiddled with the settings to improve things substantially but a session with Steve Jordan is on the cards at a Folly trackday to sort it properly, or as near properly as possible. It’s suggested that the ZRX’s weak point is the front end rather than the rear.

Talking of which, the ZRX comes with retro-style twin shocks at the rear, unlike the Honda CB1300 or Suzuki Bandit, but like Yamaha XJR1300 and Suzuki GSX1400. These are more than adequate as standard and the twin shock layout provides the additional benefit with the ZRX of a massive amount of underseat storage.

Styling & Ergonomics

If you’re in the market for a musclebike, then this is to my mind the best looking one of the bunch. Harking back to the mighty GPZ range of the eighties (and yes, to the Eddie Lawson superbike years), the ZRX looks well ‘ard just standing still.

A very handsome and imposing bike, the moment you sit on the ZRX you feel very much at home. The pegs place your legs in a very comfortable position and the reach to the bars is very neutral. The seat initially feels very plush, but after an hour or so, it does become uncomfortable. Many owners have theirs re-upholstered or replaced with Corbin and Sargent being the preferred options.

But it seems that the ZRX attracts the sort of owner who wants to ‘improve’ the looks: nearly all the members of the ZRX Owners Club have modified or accessorised their bikes in some way. For track use, I’ve replaced the footrests with Gilles rearsets for extra ground clearance. Clearly we want to make them our own.

RHM on the ZRX1200RIn terms of my own ‘improvements’, my full list is as follows:

Akrapovic titanium full system; Canadian-spec. rear mudguard; Powerbronze carbon-look hugger; Powerbronze crash posts; Clear Alternatives indicator covers; Clear Alternatives rear light with LEDs; Small numberplate (supposedly Gatso-proof); Datatool Evo alarm system and pager; Bridgestone BT012SS tyres; EBC HH brake pads (fronts); Gilles rearsets; Talon 44T Rear Sprocket; Sargent Solo seat; BSR-Aerotek braided hoses; Wyn’s Muffler Bracket; Cheapo sports watch fitted over clutch reservoir; Braking wave front discs; and RC51Rider’s Radiator shroud replacement straps.

There are more to come including a black powder-coated swingarm and maybe some Braking forged aluminium wheels.

The Final Analysis

When I was looking for a new bike, I considered buying various sportsbikes but at the time I still owned one, albeit an older Yamaha FZR1000 Genesis. I simply wasn’t using it much as it wasn’t the sort of bike I could just jump on and wazz down to the shops on. It wasn’t even much fun under 100mph which, whilst fine for trackdays, isn’t so good for everyday use.

What appealed to me was that the ZRX1200R reminded me of the bikes of my early riding years but without being too retro, i.e. it took the best of the early eighties musclebikes and brought it more up to date without discarding all the facets I liked.

It’s comfortable around town, is great for pillions, can trackday with the best of them and best of all always leaves me feeling great after a ride out.

It’s also very crashable: I dumped it up to the hairpin at Mallory and the bikini fairing was worn through a bit. The bike was still rideable as it was, but my riding kit had taken a hammering so I couldn’t continue. I’m still using the broken bodywork for trackdays just in case.

So the Kawasaki ZRX1200R is a great bike. Should you go out and buy one? Well if you do want to, you’d better make it quick. Kawasaki have stopped selling them in the USA already and I’m surprised they’re still available in the UK, though I doubt they will be for much longer. I’m told that Kawasaki only managed to sell 150 ZRXes in 2005 but then that’s probably because they’re some sort of best kept secret.