On the weekend Tim and I got out on our motorbikes for some practice. We have our motorbike test on the 20th of December so we only have 2 more weekends in which to practice. Yesterday I got out onto the highway and did 80km/h for the first time ever. It didn’t seem that bad going at that speed. Even when I had to stop at the lights and there were cars in front of me and by the side of me I didn’t feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. At one time Tim got caught at the lights and I just kept going, I thought that he would want me to keep going and I felt pretty confident being by myself. I actually feel pretty confident about passing the test. We need to spend some time practicing on the more mundane skills like doing tight U-turns without putting the foot down. Here are some pics of our trip out on the weekend. We went down to Oatley Park which is where we usually go when we go out on the bikes.

As I’ve mentioned previously, the bikes are Yamaha Scorpios. 225cc single cylinder. Having ridden two motorcycles now (the first being the mini Harley thing I drove at the learners test) my hunch is that the Yamaha Scorpio is not the most luxurious thing to drive, it is a little jerky on the gears and there’s a little bit of engine vibration that comes into the handle bars from time to time. But it’s a good bike.

My gear

I am so glad I got that red and black R Jays jacket (and it was only $99 on sale) – it’s a summer jacket and it is soooo light compared to the first jacket that I bought. The first jacket is so heavy compared to this new one, it really makes quite a difference. The textile pants that I’m wearing are Joe Rocket pants and they’re made of a ballistics type material. They’re waterproof and they have armour in the knees. My boots are Gaerne Black Widow boots – designed especially for the female foot and calf and the most expensive motorcycle boots a girl can buy. They’re waterproof and they have a slip-free sole. The helmet is AGV Stealth helmet and it is the ‘Arabesque’ pattern in pink (even though I ordered the pale blue I got the pink but I’m happy I got the pink J). Its size XXS and it’s the smallest you can get in adult helmets. My gloves are Alpinestar motorcross gloves which are made of both polyester and leather. I’m not completely content that I am using motorcross gloves on the road. Ideally I would like for them to have more protection on them but these are the most comfortable for me. I originally bought some thick road gloves with some kind of super plastic material bulging out on every knuckle of the glove but there was something funny about the lining inside which meant that I couldn’t stretch my hand out fully which didn’t give me much confidence in the gloves. So I sold those ones on ebay for a bargain of $25 and bought these thinner gloves. I like these gloves because I can feel things a bit more and I can fully stretch my hand out to grab the clutch and the brake. Its no good when you don’t have confidence in your gear. I also have a pair of black cargo Draggin Jeans which I don’t wear very often as I prefer to use these textile pants with the armour.

For anyone that wants to get their motorcycle licence, be warned – this is not a cheap hobby! When I bought all my gear I spent $1,600 on gear alone (pants, boots, jacket, helmet, gloves). We got a pretty good deal on the bikes themselves from Team Moto in Blacktown (a bit of a trek for us to get out there though but Brad there gave us such a good deal for the two bikes – actually it was his first day on the job and he made two sales from us!) From memory, the bikes were rrp’d at $4,700 but he gave them to us for $4,400 each on special clearance from his boss.