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Farewelling an old friend is never easy, one that has had my back (literally) for the last ten or more years and clocked up over three hundred thousand klicks with me.

 

The old Vito is starting to look and smell old, which isn't all bad. It has that unmistakable, familiar and heartwarming, old motor smell as I sit in front of it at home having a neck oil. Although it feels like it has another couple of hundred thousand in it easy. The paint has seen better days and while it is in top nick inside, it's time to trade up. The next service is scheduled for 399,000km... Sorry Ol' Mate, trade-in time for you!

 

Unlike bikes, buying a new vehicle (my first by the way) is a completely different gig. The largest part of choosing a bike is to let the heart have its way. I would have loved to go the flash nick and get the hoony Ford Transit Sport but a work van is just that. And ho-hum, a plain white van-man, utilitarian HiAce got the nod. Like my mate, Kel said, "Did anyone ever regret buying a HiAce?" Fair call.

Still busy as a cat burying crap on a hot bitumen road, an easier decision was to move on three of our old sewing machines. We continue to struggle to keep pace with incoming orders so it was a no brainer if we were gonna have a snowballs chance of seeing over the pile of orders pouring in. Moving from perfectly good and reliable old jiggers to flash sporty and semi-programmable machines, the equivalent of a KTM 1290 or a Beemer 1250 GSA is making the crew happy and the bag bits flow a bit quicker.

Finding someone who can get a knee down on them is a completely different story. As the textile industry died out, the really clever seamsters (my new politically correct term for seamstresses) have moved on.  We've had plenty of applicants but none who could qualify on the front row.

Up-skilling current staff and trying to back-fill those roles is the plan until that elusive gem pops up. Not being that well endowed with patience, it's slow and frustrating... And I can't sew for sh1t!
In the middle of the phone dramas that I hope are now a thing of the past, one of the two phones we use went missing... Vanished completely!

The day after a new one arrived, I mowed the grass out front of the shop. Low and behold I didn't even wreck it with the mower! Then again, it was Kangaroo-Edward from sitting in the rain for a month so it would have been rewarding to see it turned into random bits of plastic!

Aussie Slang Spot


Last month we looked at getting legless.

This month we should take a step backward and get to work on the precursor.
The partaking of an alcoholic beverage.

Getting on the beers - is the newest thanks to Dan Andrews
Gettin' on the piss
Gettin' on the grog
Gettin' on the turps
Gettin' on the tiger
Gettin' on the slops
Gettin' on the idiot juice
Gettin' on the plonk
Gettin' on the bubbles
Gettin' on the Chardy
Gettin' on the amber fluids
Knocking the top of a frosty
Oiling the neck
Strapping on the wobbly boot.
Beer o'clock
Murder a schooner
A booze up
Goin' for a liquid lunch
Knock over a few tinnies
Suck some tubes

 

T Shirt of the Month

Just for a laugh, not for sale unless we get swamped by demand

Light on Carbon

At an eye-watering $1299 plus comms, the Schuberth C4 Pro Carbon isn't for everyone. Having said that, there are lots of riders getting around in colourful fishin' lure leathers with race replica lids that set them back that or more.

 

What it is, is a cracker of a hat and Aussie stocks will dry up very quickly in the next week or two. Two hundred grams didn't sound like much when I studied the specs as they came into my inbox. I almost dismissed it, to be perfectly honest.

 

One of my best attributes is being wrong... Again. The difference is significant when you have the C4 Pro and Pro Carbon in different hands.

 

Early minor gripes about the C4 are long past and this represents (in my humble) the pinnacle of best of the best in the modular helmet category. As luck would have it a Medium size one is sitting on my desk ready for me to kiss another good friend goodbye, my trusty Neotec 2.

 

I've put a couple of thousand kays on the C4 Pro and rate it maybe just a gnats above the Neotec. Better summer airflow and peripheral vision pip it at the post. When the design geese work out that all helmet comms need earbud outlets they might have finally got it right.

 

There are still a couple of things I'd like to shake the designers about.

  • No 3.5 out jack for earbuds - Doh!
  • Black on the crown. Sure it looks trick but after a few moments in the sun, it gets so much hotter than a white one.

Here's some of the Schuberth blurb

The comfort of a flip-up helmet combined with the lightweight of a carbon-fibre exterior: the C4 PRO CARBON brings SCHUBERTH racing technology from Formula 1 to the road. As the first carbon-fibre flip-up helmet with integrated communication technology, it’s the number one choice for big and small trips alike.

 

Interior

  • Thanks to the new acoustics with optimised neck cushion and noise reduction around the mechanical attachments, the C4 PRO CARBON achieves approx. 85 dB(A) at 100 km/h on a naked motorcycle
  • Extremely comfortable to wear thanks to seamless head padding and integrated grooves for glasses
  • Helmet fits safely and comfortably: the Coolmax® interior is Öko-Tex 100-certified, removable and washable
  • Superior air circulation thanks to multi-channel ventilation

Extra-large anti-fog insert lens

 

Preventing fogging has never been so simple thanks to the Pinlock® anti-fog insert lens.

For a wide field of vision even in a sporty riding position.

  • Optical class 1: visor (no distortion) with quick-change function
  • Integrated sun visor, freely adjustable in seconds
  • PINLOCK120® anti-fog insert lens comes as standard: the ultimate PINLOCK® anti-fog insert lenses for optimum performance

Extra air

Helmet shell developed in the wind tunnel for outstanding aerodynamics.

The result: noticeably improved contact pressure, no uplift, directional stability and no buffeting. All this makes for relaxed and safe riding – even at higher speeds.

A complex multi-channel ventilation system inside the helmet shell also ensures a pleasant flow of air.

 

Stocks are very limited due to COVID and a shake-up of distributorship in Oz. Sizes Small through to 2XL and in the Delta White only as shown above.


LINK TO VIDEO
Email now if you want one

Movement on Wire Rope Barriers


I'm pretty sure the subject of wire rope road barriers gets motorcyclists worldwide fired up. Unforgiving and deadly there seems to be the beginning (deluded or hopeful?) of movement away from them. Congrats to WA riders who have a grovelment assurance that they will be removed on at least some roads, being replaced with more deflective concrete.
The seemingly tireless Damien Codognotto keeps the issue live by winding up various ministers and departments. Bloody good on ya, thanks.

Here's one of his recent media releases.

 For over a decade wire rope barriers have been widely criticised for being a deadly threat to vulnerable road users, for delaying emergency crews, for fencing safe places to stop and run-off areas on high-speed roads and for massive costs in maintenance and repairs. Wire rope barrier is easily damaged and has a short working life. Road authorities have ignored the criticism.
 
In November 2020 two children died when two wire rope barriers near Brisbane failed to stop a family car. In December 2020 a woman died when her motorcycle hit a wire rope barrier near Perth. There was no suggestion associated with either of these fatal crashes that there was anything wrong with the vehicles or the behaviour of the operators. Three dead in two weeks. Maybe more. Police in Victoria rarely record the type of barrier hit so there is no real record of deaths and injuries at wire rope barrier crash sites.
 
In 2020 the Victorian Auditor General's report on VicRoads' barrier costs was damning. VicRoads, now Road Safety Victoria (RSV) found wire rope barriers cost a lot more over time than they allowed for. They reportedly diverted funds from country road repairs to cover the wire rope barrier cost blow out. West Australia acknowledged the cost problem with wire rope barrier (20- year life) and will replace some with cost-effective concrete barriers (100-year life). 
 
MRAA Spokesman Damien Codognotto said. "Road barriers can be a greater hazard than what's beside the road. Smooth concrete is safer for vulnerable road users. Run-off areas and wide stopping lanes are safest in many situations. They cost less over time, make safe havens for first responders, firefighters and road workers and reduce roadkill."
Astoundingly one of the reasons the WA government is citing for the change is the cost of maintenance and repair. Why on earth did this not make a compelling reason not to use wire rope in the first place?

If you have a few spare moments stick it up to your local pollies to help keep the pressure on.
That's about all for this month.
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Andy
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