Pirate's Tour, Great Success!

A couple of months ago, my mate Adam Richards proposed a trip down to Victoria for a weekend of riding. This had me instantly excited, the fact that we'd have to drive 3,500km over 3 days and a full night, for two days and roughly 300km of riding did not deter me in the slightest. In fact, I actually thought the drive would be pretty good in itself; see some nice scenery (you don't, it's all quite mundane blacktop with trees at the edges whether you go the coastal highways or the inland route) and get some good kay's up behind the wheel which is rare for me these days as I own two bikes and no car. Turns out Adam's old girl 1985 Landcruiser had some issues with overheating and did not like at all having to lug our bikes up any sort of incline, but she was great for keeping the remaining point on the licence and eventually getting us from a to b.

The chariot

This sets the scene to some extent of the type of crowd that Pirate's tours attract; crazy ones. Let's start with Pirate himself as an example, the orchestrator behind all of this well oiled madness. His name is Jason Martin (Marty) and has acquired the nickname Pirate through an accident whilst riding dirtbikes which ended with a stick gouging his left eye which is now blind. For many, this would somewhat dampen ones enthusiasm for said hobby, but for Marty it is just one of the more notable accidents afforded by a lifetime of loving the thrills of two wheels (and preferably two-strokes).

Marty (the Pirate) & Me 

Another very noteworthy example is the B.F.G Jason who rode a KTM 530, in that Jason suffered a major crash some years ago riding through a farmers paddock, he was returning through a section where there'd earlier been an open gate but unbeknownst to him was now shut, he hit the gate at high speed and flew head first into a fence post. From the crash Jason suffered brain damage and short term memory loss. I include these quite horrifying stories because neither Marty nor Jase let these events dictate their lives and the way they tore up these trails you'd be very hard pressed guessing this history for either of them. It's an incredible attitude that those hooked on motocross bikes in particular display again and again, that roadblocks may come up, but ultimately nothing will stop them from doing what they love to do.Now this is what the weekend was all about; everyone mad keen to have a damn good time.

Scooter helping Adam with a puncture

The atmosphere of the trip was incredible, competitive yet so supportive, everybody looks after one another offering assistance and advice. Marty had the riding system running smoothly and safely, himself out the front leading all the trails (anyone game enough to hunt him down was free to do so) with a corner marking strategy of the second rider to be stationed at any split roads that could be unclear who would then wait until the sweeper rider came through. On this trip Ray was the sweeper rider/fixer of all problems, with the tools and ability to change punctures, mend wounded men and an uncanny amount of patience.

Feeding the travelling herd of noise was overseen by Wazza and his fellow support team, these guys followed along with 4WD's and had our lunch on the go and beers at the right temp every time we had a big stop. Much respect and appreciation. Boonie was one of the guys 'helping out', he took the responsibility solely upon himself to test as many beers as possible throughout the weekend... just to make sure there were no duds. He was a crackup on the Saturday night pub stop, reminding everyone how piss weak our efforts were and that he'd be out next trip hosing everyone on his Peewee 50; I think we all look forward to that!

Rest stop on Saturday night; stunning scenery

The variety of terrain that we covered in the 300 odd km was unbelievable! There's no end, you could ride the region for weeks and still find new paths; there were single tracks bashing through the bush, 100km/h+ open fire trails, incredibly steep hill climbs, long sweepers, tight hairpins, jumps, there was everything! The best thing is when riding in Victoria, so long as you've got at least a rec/reg licence, if you really do come unstuck with a big crash you can get helicopter rescue which is covered by the Govt! It's a way better system than what QLD offers.

Up in the treetops 

Fortunately for us there were no serious injuries on this trip. There were a fair number of big falls (I know I had several) but everyone came out with big smiles at the end, there was only one bike that didn't make it to the end, a Honda XR400 which had some severely worn bearings.

It was awesome to see so many 'older' blokes going so hard, Glenn in particular was absolutely smashing it on his YZ450F, flying past me a number of times with great skill and poise. Then poor old Anton on the other YZ450F was smashing it as well... into trees :P

Some of the hill climbs resembled battlefield massacres, with bikes and bodies sprawled across the track. Up certain paths Marty would just set up down the bottom and watch the hilarity unfold, it is always hilarious watching the stacks, but more often then not I was partaking in the tumbles.

Adam and the sun arising on Sunday

The herd of travelling noise after a river crossing

It really was an incredible trip, so many fond memories of pushing my abilities right up to and then beyond their limits which really gets the old heart pumping. But what really made it memorable is the quality of the blokes who came along. I wish we could have had more time to keep punching out the riding and get to know more of the guys better as everyone had an interesting story and definitely knew how to ride. A big thanks to Scooter, Ray, Gavin (fellow DRZ rider who helped me fix a number of things), Jason, Marty, Wazza & the catering men and my man Adam for getting us down there! 

Getting acquainted; hints & tips for purchasing your first motorcycle

I am now onto my third motorcycle, so I am coming from some experience to say that there is no 'one' bike for you; the most important thing to do is get one! My first purchase was this 06' Kawasaki ZZR250, from memory it had about 42,000km, which is getting up there for a motorbike. The rough ratio I've always gone by is 30,000km for a motorcycle engine equates to roughly 100,000km for a standard car engine, this is because motorcycle engines are under a lot more stress as they rev so much higher. Many motorcycles can still knock up well over 100,000km, particularly sports-tourers or cruisers; sports bikes are usually punished pretty hard. The main draw-card the ZZR had on me was price... it was only $2,500 for a bike that was only five years old and satisfied all my needs; it is LAMS approved (Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme, on a restricted licence {which is basically P's for motorcycling} riders can only use bikes which have been approved under the LAMS laws, they are based on a power to weight ratio with a maximum capacity of 650cc), it looks great and is a lot bigger than most of the 250's out there and finally the reputable Kawasaki brand name gave me hope that it would be a good work horse and not be too much trouble mechanically.

For me the most limiting factor was money, I had recently got my licence and from there I just wanted to get out and ride more! I pounced on this bike which was one of the best I'd seen for the price, but it is common to get such bargains if you keep looking regularly, check www.bikesales.com.au, as well as Gumtree and Ebay, and magazines and local newspapers; searching for the bike is half the fun!

There are many number of emerging manufacturers which might be a tempting option to consider. I kinda fell in love when I saw pictures of a Megelli 250r for the first time... It looks like a mini Ducati 848 from certain anlges, but when I saw one in the 'flesh', it simply looked too small and cheap. Reviews of the Megelli were not very flattering, most journo's seem to agree that it feels like a cheap and underpowered bike to ride. The more recent models are water cooled, so they might be worth looking at, again the main reason I didn't look further into them was price (although quite cheap they were out of my budget); also be aware you would need to change the exhaust quicksmart, the stock note is disgusting... synthetic sound which is barely nicer than a mower. But with brands such as Hyosung displaying glimmers of hope with the GT650r etc.. some of the emerging Chinese marques might eventually prove themselves to be quality 'stayers' in the industry; after all the Japanese manufacturers had to go through that same period of proving themselves to be up to scratch compared with the established British and Italian's.

The best advice I could give for a first bike is not to worry about it too much, you are going to love the freedom that any motorcycle provides. So whether you decide that you want a machine that is more sports focused, or a cruiser, or a dirtbike (some people don't know that many dirtbikes are in fact road legal), it is more about what fits with your budget, and most importantly to ride safely. You can never practice too much, go ride as much as possible, taking it as slowly as you need to; I spent countless hours riding little scooters in South East Asia, and then riding my mates CBR250rr Fireblade in quiet streets around his house (before I had a licence :S) just practicing throttle control and clutch control, getting used to weight transfer and what the bike does when you give it too much gas heading out of a corner (scared myself shitless when I picked up my Honda VFR400 and changed up to 2nd mid corner and opened the throttle a bit too fast, the ZZR wouldn't have squirmed at all but the VFR instantly lost traction and kicked the back out by at least a foot; I knew instantly that I had to respect my new and very different beast or else there would be dire consequences!). You can own and enjoy many many motorcycles in your time, it does not have to be an excessively dangerous affair just so long as you ride within your limits. Constantly be aware and be assessing your surroundings, ride as if you're invisible to the 'cage drivers' around you whom get all too easily distracted by the many functions they have to play with in their vehicles. Motorcycles offer a pure driving experience, you are completely immersed in the surroundings, the feeling is unparalleled; and when you feel the need to go faster and faster; get yourself to the track.


Finally I'll give a quick rundown of bikes I'd happily endorse:

Sports Tourers: Kawasaki ZZR250 - was a great first bike for me, cheap and easy to maintain, great aesthetics and can throw it around with ease.
                        Kawasaki's new Ninja 300 - Is getting great reviews and really seems worth a look if you can afford a new bike; seems unnecessary to me as you will still outgrow its performance within the year of probation if you're riding a lot and then you lose all that money on resale.
                        Suzuki GSX650F - Nice big bike for LAMS approved, not bad looking, would recommend to the larger/older rider.

Naked Bikes:   Suzuki SV650S - I've ridden an early 2000 model non-restricted version (the LAMS version will have throttle restrictions or engine restrictions to keep it under the power-to-weight limits) and it was a wonderful beast!
                        KTM 200 Duke - I've seen a few of these around and they've got the great KTM eccentric styling, crazy looking in their bright orange livery.
                        Honda VTR 250 - Awesome looking naked bike! Looks a bit like the Ducati Monsters :P
                        Ducati Monster 659 - I have no idea how this is a learners bike, it must be restricted to a ridiculous extent to make it onto the list, but... for those who can afford, how could you go past owning such a beautiful bike from one of the most desirable marques in the game.

Cruisers:           Suzuki Intruder 250 - Rode one of these for a day as a loan bike when I was getting a service. Very impressive, if you're into cruisers this was a decent little kit. Any friend who saw it loved it.
                        Yamaha Virago 250 - Took a friends one for a brief spin just a couple of weeks ago, seems to do its job very well. They've been around for a while too so picking up a decent used Virago shouldn't be that hard.
                        Hunter Bobber 350 - This is my wildcard cruiser... I absolutely love the styling... That is all.

Sportsbikes:     Honda CBR250RR Fireblade - Going a bit retro here, but these bikes still sell in huge numbers and hold their value really well. They do this because they are great to ride, as I mentioned this was the first road bike I really got to exploit, good clean fun for a 250.
                        Yamaha YZF R15 (150) - This is a good bike, and it is cheap. I had one for a day as a loan bike when I was getting my bike serviced again, it can capably do 130km/h and not feel like it will fall apart and it even felt comfortable in its tracks in rainy conditions on its ridiculously thin tyres. Only negative I can say here; a friend crashed theirs on Nebo from pushing too hard, broke his femur which was then sticking out of his leg. That doesn't really reflect anything at all about the bike, but hopefully gets the message home to RIDE SAFELY.
                       Honda RVF 400 - Again this is getting a little older, but it's an amazing machine apparently; very similar to my VFR 400 but slightly heavier and this allows it to scrape by the power-weight ratio and make it onto the LAMS list. I only recommend this to riders who are somewhat capable to begin with and who will not ride beyond their limits; I know how hard my bike can ride and if the RVF is anything like it than it is a fantastic machine!

There are countless others as well: Honda GB500 is one I must throw in for it's amazing retro cafe racer style. You can get them delivered from Melbourne for under $7,000. I badly want to ride one and see if they're any good.

Thanks for reading :)

Paul Joshua