Singapore Big Bike Festival 2007

This is going to be one hell of an event ! With all sorts of competition like beer drinking, best pillion and best looking bike, its gonna blow the biker's mind off !

The particular activity I am looking forward to is the bike stunt performance which I personally haven't seen one myself. I do hope I can learn a trick or two over here. Not forgetting the bikers with big bikes that's attending the event, I would be feasting my eyes on all these mean machines (not forgetting the babes yeah !).

Hope to see you there ! Remember to ride safely (I know your metal beast is powerful) ....

Warming up the engine stationery, is it necessary ?

There has been numerous theories and hearsay on whether to warm up the engine or not. Now, let me just clarify, whatever I am going to say is purely based on my opinion and my understanding of mechanical process.

I have seen many bikers warming up (cranking up the engine and let it idling) their bikes in the morning, after their 3 hour window shopping or whatever activities they may engage in. My question now is, why do you let it idle for a good 5 to 10 minutes before moving off ?

I personally find it ridiculous to warm up the engine for anywhere longer than 1 minute. Yes, 1 minute. It takes the engine oil an approximate 10 seconds to be properly distributed to the designated location in the engine compartment, eg piston chambers, valve assembly and etc.

I have heard responses like, "The engine gets smoother once its hot." or "My friend told me that warming up the engine prolongs the engine life." . Engine gets smoother when its hot ? Prolongs the engine life ? Try standing under the hot sun and do a "henta kaki" as compared to doing a slow jog for a warm up before going for a soccer match. What's missing ? It's the wind my friend, the wind will help the engine to gradually increase it's temperature as opposed to letting it sit and run where the temperature increases at a much higher rate which may cause mechanical failure due to sudden increase in heat.

My best advice is, start the engine, get on the bike, and ride it off. Be gentle on the throttle, once the temperature gauge hits the usual mid point, do whatever you like with it. That's the way to go.

Does taking out the rear view mirror increase your top speed ?

Yo yo yo....I was out on the road today and I discovered that there are some bikes with folded mirrors or even worse, without the rear view mirror. This strange phenomenon was seen when I was still in polytechnic. I don't know what the hell reason it is for, but according to a biker whom I happen to ask, he says he likes the motor GP feel of not having the mirror. He also told me that it has less wind restriction and thus, able to reach higher top speed.

How I wish I could smack their head and hopefully wake them up from their childish dream. Who the hell says that it'll help in reaching higher speed ? If it's about glamour, do it in your dreams man. Riding without the view assistance from the rear view mirror is disastrous ! Not only do you have to strain your neck everytime you need to make a turn or changing lanes, you still have to constantly look out for the road authorities in case they spot you.

During my riding days, I've never done without a pair of good rear view mirror. To me the rear view mirror is my eyes, so that my neck can be kept in the best condition. Otherwise the constant moving of the neck may obstruct healthy flow of blood to the brain, thus causing brain malfunctions.

So, riders and bikers (whatever you call them), please ride safely with a good pair of rear view mirrors. Remember, riding is only fun when you ride safe. Have a nice day people !

Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14

I've read the reviews for this Busa killer many times on the web but still, on Singapore road, not 1 has been spotted by me yet. It's believed that this bike can tear the Suzuki Hayabusa apart but I have not tested this bike myself, so it's still yet to be seen. As far as I know, this ZX14 boast a 190HP on 9500rpm, that alone can rip any bikes currently on the road in Singapore.

Considering the only major hyper bikes like the Busa in Singapore, this Ninja will definitely be the next craze once the dealer decides to mass import in. Right now, getting this bike to be on the road will be damn costly, I rough estimate would be around close to $30,000. With that kind of pricing, no wonder the take up rate is slow, but I do foresee a niche group of Kawa fans will jump on it once the price is right.

Having said all this, I myself is also eyeing on this monster, I just love the ecstacy while you are riding on a hyper bike. It would satisfy my hunger for attention if I am able to get hands on it soon.

Safe Riding Tips Part 1

Ever since I started riding in year 1993, I've met with numerous road accidents that nearly cost me my life, luckily I survived and today, I am going to share with all the bikers on how to keep yourself safe while riding on the road.

Remember when you first took your motorcycle 2B licence ? Blind spot was the keyword used by lots of trainees when it comes to the Traffic Police practical test. I used to think that blind spot checking was just another means of ways to fail you by the testers. Well, I was wrong than. Many a time, after I got my 2B licence, I totally forget about blind spots and was too excited on the road, that made me a road menace if I can use the term. Checking on blind spots enable you to confirm that there is no vehicle on the lane that you want to switch to or turning into a major or minor road. So please, its not just for formality sake, its for your life's sake.

Whatever that was tested on the practical road test are designed to prevent accidents and to save your life.

Safe Communication

As the IT technology gets more advanced, we see an array of communication headset bluetooth device being launched in the market from a few examples like Jabra, V3, Nokia and Sony Ericsson but none of the mentioned aboved do carry a headset specially for the bikers.
Only recently when I do a search over the internet on bluetooth headset for helmet do I realise that there actually is. Only thing is that the price may be a bit steep for the Singapore bikers, ranging from S$230 to S$300, depending on which internet source you are getting from.
The reason why I am posting this is that I have seen a lot of unsafe practises on the road where bikers would slid their cellphone into the helmet to answer phone calls. This really worries me because it hightens the chance of the rider to encounter any accident.
For the sake of safety and convenience, I urge all Singapore bikers to consider getting a headset for their riding even though they may feel that little bit of pinch from the price.