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Sausage rolls tremble upon our approach.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n But there was no other choice \u2013 and it\u2019s not like I\u2019m NOT going riding, is it?\u00a0 Last year, I took the Rocket 3 (and you can read about that HERE), but I didn\u2019t really know any of the other players when we set off. A year had gone by, and we all knew each other a bit more, so I was invited once again.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s about as eclectic a group as you can find \u2013 Aaron and his dad, Duncan, swap between a ZX-10 and an FJR. We pick up Tom and his Fireblade at Sandy Hollow, Marz brings his immaculate modified ZX-10, and we all kinda chase Billy around on his GSX 1400. Then there\u2019s Gary and Dave on their Harleys \u2013 both man-sized men with savage shit-stirring abilities, and in Gary\u2019s case, an ability to pedal his Harley way faster than the bike\u2019s design brief.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The main target of their shit-stirring is Billy \u2013 whom I deem to be a national treasure beyond price \u2013 who is not a fan of Harleys and serves Gary and Dave shovels of good-natured disdain and contempt at every opportunity. They are all old friends, so this is to be expected. And enjoyed. Dave has resolved to buy Billy a Harley T-shirt for his birthday. Billy\u2019s response to such a provocation is yet to be determined. But after this ride, he\u2019s got enough ammo to bury any American Freedom Gary sends his way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As you\u2019ll recall from my first yarn, Billy does not wear any gloves. Never has and never will, and he looks like a heavy-set, heavily-weathered country bloke made out of old leather and poor attitude, who has nothing to do with motorcycles. Except he\u2019s ridden his whole life, will shame many a younger and slimmer rider on faster machinery, and can only be described as all the salt on all the earth. A truly wonderful human being. He just isn\u2019t interested in all that fancy bike gear.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rest of them? Well, like I said, they\u2019re eclectic\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dave got himself a leather vest this year to put over his hoodie. He had a heart attack shortly after last year\u2019s ride, and shed 40kgs, but is still the size of a house \u2013 but a three-bedroomer instead of a five-bedroomer. Gary has a leather jacket. It looks like it was made when Rome fell to the Visigoths.<\/p>\n You can’t tell me that’s not one of the sexiest faces you can find.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Marz, Aaron, Duncan, and Tom all wear full race leathers. I\u2019m in Held textile gear and those crazy stronger-than-leather jeans Held also makes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We must make an intriguing sight \u2013 especially since no-one on these rides is taking it easy. It\u2019s a close-knit group, and it rides at pace. A goodly pace, mind. But nothing that would give any of them more than six months jail.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I brought along my young mate, Harry, and his nicely noisy MT09, this year. Harry bangs pretty well, doesn\u2019t mind the company of old dinosaurs, and is unfailingly polite \u2013 which is a much-missed quality in young people these days. And he could do with some jail-time. Toughen him up a tad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was vaguely concerned about how I\u2019d cope with the R7. It\u2019s not really a touring bike, is it? A slim, light, upright twin that is all about precision handling, and not so much about massive wads of torque and horsepower. The ergos are a soft racer\u2019s crouch, but it\u2019s rather roomier than you\u2019d think. I\u2019m not uncomfortable riding it, but then I\u2019d never attempted a 600km day on it either.<\/p>\n The red one is faster. The blue one is sweeter.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Just so we\u2019re clear here. I would have to ride the R3 north of 140 most of the time, along roads not exactly deemed the smoothest or friendliest. I would also not be permitted lengthy periods of rest, since Billy is always on some kind of inner schedule which demands we stop fucking about even before we start fucking about, get on our bikes, and piss off to the next place like a thousand raped apes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s how Billy rolls. Yes, he\u2019s the bloke geared up, and sitting up the road waiting for everyone while we\u2019re still looking for our gloves and doing up our helmets. I\u2019m good with this. Usually.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But the R7 might have had different ideas. I may think I\u2019m still a spring chicken, but I\u2019m not. Battling for a podium with these blokes could well require me to have lengthy limping, stretching, and bellyaching breaks in small towns were people look at you funny when you lie down on their footpaths.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I also thought I\u2019d be struggling for fuel, but the R7 proved to be very frugal and an easy 200-and-a-bit is possible out of it\u2019s 13-litre tank. Even when it\u2019s being caned.<\/p>\n It was a glorious day full of warmth and corners.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Along the Bylong, I didn\u2019t have any issue keeping up. Sure, I was not able to challenge for a podium, but the R7 was happy to whirr along between 140 and 170 with ease. You have to plan your over-taking a little, because it doesn\u2019t have that wicked stomping power the litre-bikes (or Harry\u2019s MT09) have, but it more than makes up for that in sheer sweetness.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is a bike that can and will carry phenomenal cornering speed. It has to, because you can\u2019t power out of corners like you would on a bigger bike. Fine, I figured. Ride accordingly. Remember you can\u2019t rely on mega-acceleration, and maybe apply yourself a little to cornering craft, old man, I said to myself.<\/p>\n These are superb tyres. They eat the road. Literally.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Yeah, well, that application works for me most of the time. But then I flub a corner because I\u2019m maybe not as daring and slim-hipped as I might be, and I have to work a bit harder to close the gap to the bike in front.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here\u2019s what I noticed on the R7. It\u2019s so damn sweet-handling and well-mannered, banging with bigger and more powerful bikes is not much of an issue. Remember the old Yamaha TRX with the trellis frame and handling abilities that were out of this world? Yeah, well this is the modern version of that. No engine maps, great brakes, pin-sharp handling, and a motor that\u2019s so willing to please, you\u2019d think it was a cattle dog.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And this is the first Yamaha to feature a Brembo radial brake master cylinder. That speaks quids about where and how Yamaha expect this bike to be used.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It also boasts pretty good fully adjustable suspension. I expected to be brutalised a little, but that didn\u2019t happen. The factory settings worked just fine for me, though some of the rougher sections had me considering some more pre-load for future excursions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I let Aaron ride it, and I let Duncan ride it. They both said the same thing. \u201cThat is such a sweet bike!\u201d And it is that indeed. It is a pure rider\u2019s bike. If you\u2019ve got half an idea about what this riding business is all about, it will delight you. If you have no idea, there\u2019s a LAM version which will teach you everything you need to know about going around corners. And it will do it with integrity and sweet love, which seems to be what L-platers are looking for today.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There was very little love when we got to Rylstone and started fuelling up.<\/p>\n Freedom’s oily tears.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Tom came over and asked me if my bike was leaking petrol.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I quietly wondered if he was OK. This is a Yamaha, I thought. A brand new one. It leaks nothing. It will never leak anything. Even when it\u2019s older than Stonehenge.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s not me.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave’s not-so-oily tears.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThat\u2019s crazy. I was being hit with liquid back there,\u201d Tom shrugged.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt may be that,\u201d I said, pointing to a slowly-expanding puddle of oil that was forming under Gary\u2019s Softail.<\/p>\n Gary’s boot-heels act like knee-sliders on a Harley.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Billy saw it the same time I did. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened there, mate?\u201d he asked, a grin of divine evil on his face. \u201cLooks like it\u2019s shit itself. Can\u2019t expect anything else from a Harley.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gary looked. We all looked. There was a steady stream of gearbox oil pouring out of his primary. Perfectly understandable, actually. There are things you can ask Harleys to do, and they will do them. There are other things you can ask them to do, and they\u2019ll do them too \u2013 but then you\u2019ll pay for having asked that question.<\/p>\n The operation was performed in a sterile environment.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n That\u2019s where we were now. Gary had lashed his Softail up the Bylong like an Egyptian slaver. He passed me at one stage when I was having a moment, and I followed him for a bit, once again marvelling at how fast a man who knows what he\u2019s doing can push a Harley. Then I passed him and moved on with my own business, which was catching the faster boys on the climb out of the valley.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gary had worn a hole in his primary with his enthusiasm. I knew what that was about. I have sent many Harley primary covers to Jesus. Almost went myself as a result. You hole a Harley primary, and it\u2019s going to deposit oil on your back tyre. It can be a greasy kiss goodbye.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Billy was very pleased. He had validation written all over his face. He\u2019d always held that Harley\u2019s were rubbish, and here was the proof. Gary was ignoring him for the moment, more concerned with solving the immediate problem, but I\u2019m sure they\u2019d take this development up at some stage.<\/p>\n Let’s go racing, bitches.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Happily, for the first time in my riding career, there were two high-end mechanics with us. Both Aaron and Duncan were sorcerers in that regard.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe have mechanics!\u201d I chirped, waving my arms around. \u201cOn the tools, bitches, and be quick about it.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Duncan eyed me levelly. \u201cOh, you have a spare primary? I\u2019ll be needing that to start with.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCan it be welded?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That\u2019s the kind of question a mechanic will not answer lest he hurts your feelings so badly you\u2019ll cry.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat about liquid metal bog?\u201d I offered. \u201cI\u2019ve used that before. It kinda works.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThat might do it,\u201d Aaron nodded, and went inside the servo to see if such a thing was available. The issue was, of course, the chrome. Metal putty doesn\u2019t like sticking to chrome. It will. But very half-heartedly. Remember the first time you asked your girlfriend to suck your dick? Yeah, it\u2019s kinda like that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Offers to file the chrome off were made. Gary muttered some stuff about violence, and Dave, the other Harley rider, immediately offered to support him in this, since Harley riders have to stick together, even when one of them wasn\u2019t going anywhere.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Phone-calls were made, trailers were put on standby, while Aaron rolled the metal putty in his hand to make it ready for its half-hearted efforts. Gary had leaned his Softail against the servo fence, so the oil had stopped running out, and we cleaned that up as best we could \u2013 metal putty hates oil more than it hates chrome.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The application process was messy. But it looked like Gary would be able to limp back to Singelton.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll go back with him,\u201d Dave said. \u201cIf it all goes to shit, we\u2019re big enough to be able to feed off each other for a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This was true. \u201cLook,\u201d I said. \u201cWe\u2019re probably coming back this way, since the Colo bridge is still closed. If you get stuck on the Bylong, make a flag out of your underpants and put it where we can see it. We\u2019ll be happy to stop, wish you luck, and ride home. But we shall send help when we return to Singo. Promise.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We left them and rode on. Either they be fine, or they would die. In which case we would salute them and toast their memories, for they died as men. This is how it has always been.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course both Dave and Gary would be OK. We don\u2019t have bears in this country, and Dave\u2019s bigger than any bear anyway. The holed primary was more an inconvenience than a full-blown tragedy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We enjoyed a very brisk gallop to Sofala, then on to Bathurst via that magic road, where we briefly tied ourselves in knots trying to brake hard enough to drop below the speed limit when we came across a speed camera car. Billy was convinced he\u2019d been done. I told him that was unlikely. We had all washed the evil speed off in good time. Tom said something about a flat spot on his front tyre, but at the time of writing no-one had been sent a fine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a fast lunch, we looped back via Cullen Bullen and Capertee, and made for the Bylong again. The bridge at Colo was still closed due to flooding, so an arvo dash down the Putty would have to be replaced by an arvo dash down the Bylong. I have no problems riding the Bylong Valley Way twice in one day. I fail to see how anyone could.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I saw no giant underpant flag, or any bits of Gary being dried on rocks while Dave danced around wearing his skin. Billy told me later he\u2019d got a message they were safely back in in Singo.<\/p>\n The rain stayed away, which was nice.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n I stopped on the Bylong and took some pics of the R7, and wished I was younger. I do that a lot. What a delightful jigger the R7 is. It lets you think you\u2019re one of them snake-thighed Euro fancy boys, all trim and taut with great teeth and an expensive haircut. I was seeing myself like that as I braked late into corners trying to carry as much corner speed as I dared, then getting hard on the gas. This vision was instantly dispelled whenever I saw my hulking great shadow on the road before me. Was there even a bike under that mass?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But I enjoyed it immensely. It remined me that great bikes were not always about beast-level power controlled more by computers than by you. Here was a bike that rewarded skill and forgave the ham-fist. No electronics. Just quality parts, great engineering, and world-class integrity. For $15K.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And it looked great, too. It looked exactly like it should look. All delicious dark blue and black (there is an all-black one and a fancy red-and-white one), and very racer-like in its stance. The tyres are gum-sticky Bridgestones, the ergos are softer than you\u2019d think, and I had no issue with leg room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It can hang with the big bikes, but you need to know a bit about what you\u2019re doing, because you can\u2019t rely on massive acceleration. You will learn and it will teach you. And that\u2019s no bad thing at all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A few days after the ride, I saw Billy at the shopping centre noshing on some Chinese.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cGreat ride,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSure was,\u201d Billy grinned. \u201cGary\u2019s bought an old carbied R1 the other day. Says he\u2019ll be better prepared for that fast stuff next time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We both laughed a little.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This kinda fool, pilgrims. This kinda fool. Were you expecting someone else? The annual Paul Cox Memorial Ride rolled around again, and the only bike in my garage was Yamaha\u2019s brilliant little R7 \u2013 and it is brilliant, but maybe not the first choice for a large 60-year-old to ride Singo-Bylong-Sofala-Bathurst and return. But [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1496081,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1496080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1496093,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496080\/revisions\/1496093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1496081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1496080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1496080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikeme.tv\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1496080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/IMG_6569.jpg\")
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