~ The beauty of nature lies in its imperfections ~

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Piaggio X Evo - mega scoot!


I rode the Piaggio X EVO!!!
it's a 400cc scooter, with a single cyclinder engine!
Thus, making it (technically) a thumper!
While thumpers are usually rough in engine vibrations, this thumper is the total opposite.
Smooth power delivery is name of the game, and the bike simply surging away from the lights with generous torque. It is this reliance of torque that allows the engine to operate in a lower rpm range, so regardless of speed, all i could feel is a gentle beat of the thumper keeping me company.
Underseat space is excellent, with enough room for two helmets, while the windscreen and fairings allow for cruising at illegal speeds!
Quite the perfect companion for commuting and trips into Malaysia.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

CarBuyer Club blog

We are currently on CarBuyer Club website:

http://community.carbuyer.com.sg/kickapps/_We-love-motorbiking/blog/80775/20855.html

Here, we will be posting our pictures from Enduro Africa.

We're in MotorCulture Asia!

Our Enduro Africa project is currently being covered in Singapore's leading bike magazine - MotorCulture Asia - Vol 3, Issue 12.
Check out the full page article!




Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Sunday morning at Tanah Merah

This is my first attempt at doing some off-roading at Tanah Merah (not counting some previous unplanned experiences in Malaysia/Thailand).

The goal was to take a ride with the KTM, which was obviously more suited for the trail. But as luck would have it, the bike died & failed to respond to my kickstarts while I was less than a km away from home. So with not much of a choice, I pushed it back to the carpark & took the Transalp out for the ride instead.
There we were, 2 Transalps heading towards the eastern part of Singapore, & meeting up with Chuah's Africa Twin. All above-200kg elephants headed for the muddy trail. What were we thinking??!!

Once we entered, we chose the safer lines whenever we saw puddles or soft sand. Here I am crossing gingerly on the hardpacked ground.
Slightly further up where Seung & Chuah decided to inspect the road ahead while I waited at the back...
My road tyres, obviously unsuited for the dirt was caked up in no time (especially after the dramatic wheel spin & getting stuck in a hole)
The inevitable happened & my Transalp landed on its side, when the front tyre slipped on a muddy slippery area. Here's the right side with the result of the mud mask....
Seung takes on the little enduro trail with ease, of course...with his mountainbiking skill. Wished I had my mountain bike with me!
It was a nerve racking but overall fun ride. Next time, we've got to bring in lighter weight bikes.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Online "Donate" button added!

Hi everyone,
This post is for all who have been checking back on our fundraising status.... Thank you!

We have added in a DONATE button on the right, so that you can easily contribute to our fundraising efforts!

All you need is a PayPal account or a credit card.

As of today 4th July 2008, we have raised S$5,475 out of the target $30,000.

Still a long way to go!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Cycling in Bintan 21-22 June

Our weekend trip with Jerry & Shannon to Bintan for some cycling. This is another part of training for Enduro Africa -- Endurance Training. over 70km on road cycling this weekend!

Early Saturday morning in Tanah Merah ferry terminal...checked in our 4 mountain bikes. We looked fresh as we waited like forever for the ferry to arrive.

About 2 hours later, we unloaded at Tanjong Pinang & met up with the resort representative Tracy, who took our luggage & led us out of the town. We're on our way to our resort some 37km away. Bright sunny afternoon.
A halfway stop where we took a break & refilled our water bottles.
A self-taken photo by Seung while cycling... We managed to ALL get into the picture!
37 km & some hills later.... Our resort at Ocean Bay.
Walking in to our rooms, the setting was really perfect. Surrounded by water, the rooms were on stilts "kelong style" & stretched out to sea. The wind blew freely through the gaps in roof & walls.

Spent the afternoon chatting on the wooden walkway, enjoying the sea breeze & sound of waves. Total relaxation. The sun set onto the horizon in front of us... creating the silhouette of the stilts against the water's reflection.


The evening was spent having a nice seafood dinner, followed by a mini fireworks display by the beach.

The next morning, we woke up to a very low tide. The sea had receded & all the plants beneath were visibly flopped onto the seabed. Looked as though we were in the middle of a plantation!

The early morning serenity broke into a drizzle & then it poured! Rain was dripping through the gaps in the roof & made a little puddle on the floor. Good thing it was only a passing shower.... We went for breakfast & was glad we weren't cycling in the rain.

Jerry & Shannon with their matching brolly :)

After the lazy morning, was lunch! Scrumptious feast of charcoal heated steamboat fish (first time for me!), chilli crabs, honey chicken & hotplate egg/veggies was our last meal here before we get onto our bikes again. All the 3 meals have been super solid... with fresh seafood & fish deliciously prepared. That's enough reason for me to come again!

We started on our journey again.....back to Tg Pinang ferry terminal.

About 17km from the resort, we passed by the durian stalls, which saw the day before. Stopped for energy boost of a durian & some mangosteens. See how happy we were!

Another 13km before we hit the town & traffic was getting heavy. It's a Sunday & all the folks were out & about. One thing we discovered were that the locals like to honk all the time, whether they're passing us or whatever.... Maybe its their way of saying "hello", "hi tourist", "excuse me while I overtake", "nice bike" or "nice butt"!

The city ride was about 7km. We managed to manouver through the crowd and finally got to the terminal. We're an hour ahead of time!

Nice chillout place & highly recommended!! http://www.oceanbaybintan.com/