Stevie's New Look

Following my previous post on the Dropping Phobia I have with Stevie, a friend and a fellow Steed Rider informed me that a new batch of Crash Bars have just arrived at the shop which he had previously bought his Crash Bars from.

Excited and hopeful, I quickly gave the owner of the shop a buzz to find out about the price and their opening hours etc. All these took place a week before and just as we were planning to patronize the shop last weekend, a heavy downpour (which lasted a few days) ruined our plans.

Fortunately, the shop owner was nice enough to allow reservations on a set of Crash Bars, and extended his kind gesture further by making an appointment on Sunday (which the shop is usually closed) just for me to view the Crash Bar and install it if I proceeded to purchase.

Shop Owner and Lionel installing the crash bars for Stevie.

A week later, on a nice sunny sunday, Lionel and I decided to drop by Motorcycle Shop A

to fix on a Wind Shield on Stevie before heading for our appointment to purchase the Crash Bars.

Why a windshield? Well, simply for the sole purpose of riding comfortably at higher speeds without the wind pressure on my chest. Anyway, it's his birthday present to me so .. why not? Haha!

In addition, I also took this opportunity to walk to Motorcycle Shop B in the near vicinity to purchase a Throttle Rest for just a few dollars. After which, we set off for our appointment to view the Crash Bars after the installation of the Wind Shield and a quick lunch.

It didn't take much hesitation to purchase the Crash Bars when Lionel and I first saw it. The shop owner simply took it out from his store, explained to us some details, and we told him that we want to go ahead with the purchase with installation.

Coincidentally, my low beam bulb had also fused on the way and thank God the shop owner has a few bulbs in stock! Phew!

So here is Stevie's new look! Doesn't he look handsome and "bigger" with the Crash Bars and Wind Shield?

PS: The Shop Owner mentioned that it was pretty impossible to scrap the Crash Bars while cornering, but I scrapped it while I was making a U-Turn! So with the right part scrapped, perhaps I should even it out on the left?

The Dropping Phobia

It's been a week since I rode Stevie out from my mechanic's workshop, and apart from the toning of arms and the development of some teenie weenie muscles from getting used to the weight of the bike (especially while paddling), everything has been good.

However, the fear of dropping the bike has been in the back of my head, and quite frankly, this fear has been haunting me ever since I started riding on Stevie. Why? Simple.

When I was riding Tommy (my Phantom TA200), I had crash bars (or some would call highway bars) and I wasn't too concerned if I'd dropped my bike then because the crash bars would take the impact of the fall and prevent the tarmac from scratching my tank or damaging any paint work.

But with Stevie, THERE ARE NO CRASH BARS. That means, dropping it in even the gentlest way would most likely result in some kind of aesthetic damage.

So I've been very cautious so far. Paddling the bike has been slow to ensure that I don't throw the weight of the bike too off it's center, causing it to tilt left or right and eventually.. DROP.

Stopping has also been gradual because I reckon that any emergency breaks will cause the bike to dive, be thrown off it's center of gravity and subsequently.. DROPPED. (Does this even makes sense? Gee!)

So until I've purchased the crash bars, I'm just trying to be very careful now because I really want to avoid the undesired situation of dropping Stevie. Furthermore, I just can't imagine the thought of trying to lift Stevie up if he falls, or the hole in my pocket for any repair costs. SIGH!

Any how, my birthday is coming up in a less than a month. If you're thinking of getting me a present, consider a set of crash bars as shown above. It would really be the best present ever! Aha!