Sunday, 21 March 2010 16:48
I've been up to Guyra and retrieved Jay Foreman's DR650.
Marty Blake - one of the guys who was on the original ride - came along to lend a hand and ended up doing just about everything. I could barely drag myself in and out of the van and was a slack-jawed wuss by the time we arrived back in Coffs. If you check the state of the helmet in the intro pic you'll have a pretty good idea of the state of Jay's bike. The good news is the bike, as far as I can tell, is mechanically fine. The plastics are scuffed like the helmet, and the blinkers and screen are busted, but that's no biggee as far as I'm concerned. I'll be on the phone ordering new plastics tomorrow, and by the end of the week the bike will look nearly as good as when I picked it up.
Nearly.
The stand is bent to the shithouse, and while fitting a new stand is no problem, the mounting bracket - which also mounts the bottom chain roller - is bent as well. Graham Whipp has volunteered to have a look at it next week, and I'm betting it'll take some judicious heating and some real metalworking expertise to get it right...that and a new stand. So Graham's the right man for the job.
Of course I'm up for a new dualsport helmet now, too. That Arai was great, and it's obviously done it's job. But at $900, you'd like to hope it doesn't have to do its job too often. This one's off to the tip now, and I think I'm going to have a look at the Shoei this time. They weren't available when I bought the Arai, and the word on them is really good. I love Arai, but. It's superb product. I'll let you know what I end up with.
I'm actually pretty happy, if that's the right way to describe the feeling. I'd been fretting Jay's bike would have substantial structural damage, and it clearly hasn't. The 'bars aren't even bent. The Giant Loop protected the rear of the bike and acted as a humungous cushion, I'd guess, so although new plastics won't be a 100% fix, they'll go close.
Other than that, I'm running so frigging late on issue #33 it's embarrassing. It'll be the first time since I've joined the mag I've missed the deadline (that's THE deadline. This mag has several). The damage is done now, so this week I'll just be head down and bum up, getting it done as best I can.
I have a restricted RMX here, and it's an extremely interesting bike. My two expert mates wrote it off as "a trail bike" with the restrictors in. When I asked them about it and dug a little deeper, they agreed it was a frigging good for a trail bike, but they wanted the extra sting and fast response of the unrestricted version. I thought that was very interesting. Of course I can't ride it, but it sounds as quiet as an XT250, and Dan Ralph didn't seem to have any trouble making it get down and boogie.
I'm still backing my original opinion that trailriders and Clubmen might be better off with the restricted version.
On the injury front I'm no better off than last week. The thing that really peeves me about it all is that I fall in a heap with fatigue from anything more strenuous than slapping some Vege on a piece of toast. I'm so desperate to get this mag done that I asked Dan to drive me out to a nearby riding spot so could I get some pics of the RMX. Poor Ralphie showed up, loaded the bike, drove us down the road, geared up, rode for maybe 10 minutes, and I had to quit. I was in so much pain from trying to hold the camera up that I was struggling just to breathe. He drove me home, unloaded the bike and put it in the shed, and went off to go mountain-bike riding with some less effeminate friends.
So that's it for this coming week...just trying to get it done.
TF
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