Michelin Road 5 end of life review

Front Michelin Road 5 @ 10,400 km

Rear Michelin Road 5 @ 10,400 km

Tyre choice can be a contentious issue as it's so dependent on intended end use and personal preference in terms of "feel".  Add in the other relevant factors such as tyre pressures, weather conditions, ambient temperatures, road surface, bike suspension and geometry, all up weight etc and decision-making can become overwhelming.  

Since retirement in 2008, we've lived on NZ's Coromandel Peninsula which is a road rider's paradise with highly technical twisty roads (look up the Coromandel Loop on YouTube!) with a road surface mainly composed of a coarse chip surface on the western side and smoother seal on the eastern side.  During that time, I've owned a Honda Blackbird, Triumph Street Triple, Suzuki GSX-S1000 and a KTM 790 Duke.  For the last 10 years, I've also been heavily involved with NZ branch of the UK Institute of Advanced Motorists.  Being fully retired also means that commuting has been taken out of the equation as riding has just been for fun and advanced rider mentoring with IAM.  What I'm getting at is that for a good many years, I've ridden a number of bikes under pretty much identical conditions with different brands and types of tyre which is useful for comparative purposes.

There are numerous tyre reviews in this blog but summarising, my preference has been for sport touring tyres as I ride in all weather conditions and cover up to 20,000 km a year.  The Suzuki and KTM came equipped with Dunlop and Maxxis pure sport tyres respectively and they were awful things for my intended use.  Firstly, in colder or wet conditions, it was nigh on impossible to generate sufficient heat for decent grip.  I had some butt-clenching slides when riding appropriately to the conditions and both bikes were also equipped with traction control.  One was when the front end let go and that was seriously scary.  The second factor is the life of a pure sport tyre.  For the environment I ride in, both brands of tyre were stuffed by 3500 km!  A good way of going bankrupt over my annual distance.  As long as a tyre delivers around 10,000 km, I'm a happy camper.  Actual tyre price is irrelevant as  performance (longevity and grip) is the only consideration.

In more recent years and in terms of sport touring tyres, I've used the Metzler Roadtec 01, the Bridgestone T31 and the Michelin Road 5.  All of these tyres gave the grip I was looking for over a wide range of weather conditions but it's worth mentioning where there were notable differences. 

The Roadtec 01 was a good tyre and the full review is HERE .  Two sets fitted to the Suzuki with the same result. Excellent grip in all conditions and a good life.  The rear hoop retained its profile well but the front noticeably started to lose its shape from about 7000-8000 km onward, developing flats on the outer part of the tyre. (A triangular or wedge profile).  Undoubtedly, countersteering and the type of roads I ride on contributed to this but the bike also had good aftermarket suspension set up by renowned guru Dave Moss so the front end wear characteristic was a little disappointing.  I should have replaced the front earlier than my normal habit of replacing both at the same time.

I also had Road 5's on the Suzuki.  In terms of performance, they delivered everything I wanted, including a faster turn-in than the 01's due to a sharper profile.  Unfortunately, I had a series of punctures including a destroyed rear hoop at 2000 km. I'm fairly certain that it was sheer bad luck as opposed to a tyre shortcoming but as I sold the bike not long afterwards, a longer term evaluation wasn't possible. However, I have occasionally seen comments from other owners around the world about "above average frequency" punctures.  Just something to file in the back of the mind.

After buying the KTM 790 and the poor experience with the OEM Maxxis pure sport tyres, I tried a pair of the Bridgestone T31 sport touring tyres as they had good reviews. Hmmm..... do motorcycle magazine reviews truly reflect everyday road performance over a representative period of time?  I suspect not.  Again, grip was satisfactory in all conditions but the front tyre developed a pronounced triangular/wedge profile from about 6000 km onwards.   At 8500 km, the profile was so bad that handling was adversely affected and both tyres were changed for a set of Road 5's.

The T31 front tyre at 8500 km

The Road 5's on the KTM have just clocked up 10,400 km and although it would be possible to legally squeeze more out of them before reaching the wear bar indicators, I'll get them replaced as soon as the 320 km round trip to my dealer can be made.  In a nutshell, they've been absolutely superb.  Outstanding grip in all conditions and equally importantly, they have pretty much retained their profile throughout with no noticeable loss in handling.

Front profile @ 10,400 km

In the following photo, the roughened part of the tyre is the outer soft compound and the wear bar indicator is about 0.5mm below the tyre surface.  The tread block with the sharp entry just to the right of the indicator is lifting slightly due to tearing.  This is occurring round the full circumference of the tyre but is so minor that it doesn't affect the handling.

Front tyre wear at the junction between the softer edge compound and harder centre

The rear tyre shown below has retained an excellent profile throughout the 10,000km+ life. If more time had been spent on straighter roads, the expectation would presumably be for a less-rounded profile.

Excellent profile at 10,400 km

In the photo below, a small amount of raised "feathering" can be seen in the soft compound at the rear of the large rain groove.  It doesn't affect the handling at all and has only become noticeable in the last 1000-2000km.  The most likely cause is less than optimal rebound damping as the OEM White Power shock on the KTM doesn't have the adjustability features of a high end one such as Ohlins, Penske, Nitron etc.  Nonetheless, the bike handles superbly and as the feathering is minor, no action is required at present.  For normal road riding, front tyre pressure is around 34 psi and the rear is 37-38 psi.

A small degree of feathering on the rear of the large rain groove

In summary, the Michelin Road 5 delivers everything required for the type of riding I currently do and the next set will be a straight replacement.  There are relatively few poor tyres on the market unless we buy some virtually unknown dodgy brand in pursuit of false economy.  I'd go further and say that most of us (and most certainly me) will run out of talent long before shortcomings in any of the major brands become apparent.  The real trick is to figure out what type (not brand) of tyre you need in the first place.  However, as I hope this blog post shows, there can be considerable differences in how long tyres of the same general type (e.g sport touring) lasts overall and how well they retain their profile.  I'm just glad that the Road 5 is a perfect fit for the KTM and the type of riding I do.

Oh and by the way, good suspension will really extend your tyre life.  I fitted a top of the line Penske on my Blackbird plus upgraded fork internals.  Gained nearly 2000 km from a set of tyres.

When ageing bikers go bad......

Regular readers will remember past comments on this blog, some serious and some flippant; about ageing motorcyclists, risks and strategies to enjoy and safely prolong their riding.  My thoughts about taking the issue seriously was prompted by a series of email exchanges with US motorcycle safety guru and author David Hough.  Those exchanges were summarised in a post from 2011 HERE . 

The exchanges prompted me to raise my skills with the Institute of Advanced Motorists.  It not only gave me new skills but reinvigorated my riding enjoyment too.  It's also opened the opportunity to assist other riders of all ages to upskill too.

Now at 71, it's time to put the next part of the plan into action.  My Suzuki GSX-S 1000 is by no means a heavyweight at 210 kg dry but its centre of gravity is relatively high.  As I seem to be shrinking and am now 5' 7" in old money, a high C of G and being vertically challenged are not a good recipe, especially parking around off-cambers or uneven ground (don't ask me how I know!).

Clearly, it was time to consider a lighter bike but one with good performance, which I've been doing for many months.  As well as weighing up technical specifications, I've been careful to think about that very personal factor - emotional appeal.  The GSX-S was bought rather more quickly than prudent and whilst it's a great bike, it didn't have much emotional appeal.  A simple example is that unlike my old 675 Street Triple, it didn't get patted when I walked past it in the shed! 

Without going into all the reasons why, the two bikes which I thought would fill the technical and emotional sides of buying a new bike are the Triumph Street Triple 765 and the KTM Duke 790.  Time to do some test riding!

If I can draw a very non-PC analogy going back to my late teens or early 20’s, the Triple is equivalent to the smooth, sophisticated chick you meet at the pub. A touch expensive, reliable and predictable in many ways, but nonetheless exciting. Call it the "safe" option if you like. Then there is the slightly dodgy chick, a bit rough and wild, maybe a tad unreliable but is unpredictably exciting. Not the sort that you’d take home to meet Mum but we’ve either fantasised about the latter type or experienced one at first hand. That’s the KTM. (Can’t believe I’ve just written that paragraph but you get the drift and it is probably applicable to both sexes if we're honest about it so being offended is tough luck).

A couple of days ago, it was time to test the Duke 790, nicknamed "The Scalpel".  169 kg, 435 degree “big bang” motor, lean sensitive traction control and ABS, launch control, adjustable wheelie control, track, sport, road and wet weather modes, quick shifter, slipper clutch, steering damper – motorcycle porn for a techo. What’s not to like?

Rocked up to the KTM/Suzuki dealer in Hamilton to find that the dealer principal had just fitted Bridgestone Battlax RS 10 tyres.  This is in anticipation of a trackday he's doing next week.  They are not really a road appropriate tyre as you could almost spread the soft compound with a butter knife.  I think life will be in the hundreds of kilometres!  However, a hot, dry day and the dealer telling me to go and enjoy myself........ what could be better?

Introducing the KTM Duke 790 - aka "The Scalpel"

This bike is deceptively small but the ergonomics are perfect for me.  Just like my old 675 Street Triple, everything is instinctively in the right place.  The seat is about 15 mm higher than the Suzuki but as the seat profile is more rounded, my legs are more vertical when on the ground.  Coupled with the light weight, it's really confidence-inspiring for a shortarse.

No time for heroics on the first outing so "road" mode was selected from the TFT display and the motor started.  There's quite a bark from the standard muffler and you probably wouldn't want it a lot louder to start drawing attention to yourself.  Some nice pops on a trailing throttle too. 

Sexy pipework!

Pull away from the dealership into the traffic and everything feels good.  Leg position feels perfect for my stuffed knees and the seat feels perfectly comfortable,  Great all-round vision too.

Dive down a side road and out into the country.  I'm not sure what I was expecting in terms of performance but crikey, this bike really picks up her skirts and accelerates!  The perfect example of a great power to weight ratio and not needing massive horsepower to get stunning performance.  The clutchless quick shifter works a treat when you have the throttle pinned but is a little more vague at low throttle openings ,  Downshifts using it are universally good. 

I love the engine note but don't quite know what to make of it as it's almost unique.  It's not like a conventional twin because of the firing order.  Sometimes, there's a hint of V twin and at other times, it feels like a stonking big single.  Yet another point of difference compared with the opposition.

Into the twisties and the reason for the nickname "Scalpel" becomes apparent.  It eats corners with virtually no input from the rider other than getting the entry position right.  Getting entry speed right seemed less critical - just lean it a bit more!  And boy, do those RS 10's stick!   

Evidence of an enjoyable test ride

In fairness, I didn't push as hard as the state of the tyres might suggest.  The dealer principal had already given them a good workout to and from his home and I just added to that.  With the coarse chip of the roads I took it on (compared with a track) and air temperatures of around 30 degrees C, it wasn't hard to start making inroads on their life.

For most roads out in the countryside, the first 5 gears were more than adequate and at the legal limit of 100 km/hr, 6th gear felt a bit like an overdrive.  That was probably exacerbated by the motor still being a bit tight.  It felt better at higher (illegal) speeds and as it's capable of around 230 km/hr, you wouldn't want to engage the higher gears too early unless you're in economy mode.

Looks like a preying mantis with its LED headlight - skinny too

After some enthusiastic riding in the countryside, I realised that I was absolutely fizzing - genuinely taken by surprise as to how good it was and how much I was enjoying it.  Modern bikes, excepting the odd lemon, are universally good.  I guess this can mean that they can be a bit "same old, same old".  The Duke breaks this mould and the experience is incredibly refreshing.  It adds a genuinely different experience.

I put it in sport mode on the edge of coming back into the city just out of curiosity and it was significantly more sensitive to small changes in throttle opening and skittery.  It may settle down as the motor beds in but in reality, it's no big deal to keep it in "road" mode.  

Coming back into the dealership, my feeling was almost identical to the time I first took a 675 Street Triple out after owning the Blackbird for 8 years.  That feeling can be summed up as " I want it and I want it NOW".  A deal was quickly done as I've used the dealer for servicing my bikes since 2001.  As of next week, the Suzuki will be no more and a KTM will grace the shed.  Remember the rough chick analogy?  Exciting times ahead and will report back with a more thorough review in due course.  Experiences like this are what keeps us young!

As with my old Street Triple, the KTM is the sort of bike which encourages immoderate behaviour.  I'm going to have to watch that!

Oh, the black and silver colour scheme as opposed to the traditional KTM orange is partially down to Jennie.  She doesn't like the orange which I think partially translates as an old fart on an orange bike doesn't look right!  No problem with this as the black and silver matches my leathers and hopefully will draw less attention of the wrong kind!

Addendum: 1500 km update HERE

The smile says it all!

Bringing your “A” game to riding

After the recent ScooterBob posts, I’d intended to let the blog slip back into recess.  That’s still the intent but as it’s pouring down outside and thoughts turn to two rides earlier this week, it might form the basis of a worthwhile post.

Regular readers will remember the saga about the journey of Roger Fleming and yours truly to attain our Institute of Advanced Motorists advanced riding qualifications.  The Police Roadcraft system of riding was developed by the UK Police, is used by many police forces world-wide and is arguably one of the most demanding training programmes around.  Rog and I both passed after much effort and stress, going on to train as Observers (Instructors), adding further stress to our lives!  After passing those tests a couple of years back, we recently became Senior Observers after yet another test and more stress.

Mentoring other riders through to the Advanced Test and Observer levels requires us to ride to a consistently high level, which helps to stop those standards sliding which is almost inevitable unless you regularly re-skill.  However, riding well still requires effort and it has to be earned!

Last Tuesday, I took out an experienced rider for a refresher run, predominantly on country roads.  Terry owns a BMW HP4 superbike, mainly for trackdays.  He’s just bought a BMW 1200 GS for general riding and that’s what he used on this occasion.

Terry and his 1200GS - miles of smiles!

It was one of those magic days…… thoroughly enjoying each others’ company, warm and sunny, not much traffic and we were able to make (umm…to use a technical term) “good progress” on twisty country back roads.  Riders everywhere will recognise the thrill from such a ride which feels like you’re on rails.  That slightly detached feeling where your situational awareness is so heightened that control of your bike seems totally automatic and without effort – a feeling so good in fact that it’s almost impossible to describe to a non-rider.

Terry rode to a very high standard and we couldn't keep the smiles off our faces.  A well-ridden GS on twisty, bumpy back roads is a potent weapon!  Absolutely fizzing after the ride and I was so looking forward to getting out a couple of days later with another IAM member.

Up early on Thursday to meet with Lloyd in Auckland.  Lloyd is very close to taking his Advanced Test and if he did well again on this ride, I would be putting him forward for the test.  Lloyd rides a Yamaha TDM 900 with over 140,000 km on the clock and it still runs flawlessly.

Lloyd and his mighty TDM 900

This ride was to be a 100 km mix of busy motorway conditions (freeway), dense city traffic and open country roads to test Lloyd’s understanding and practical application of Police Roadcraft.  He would also be giving a detailed commentary over the helmet comms to describe what he was observing and how this was impacting on his riding plan.

The ride was going superbly with Lloyd’s commentary and bike control demonstrating that he was relaxed, yet totally aware of his environment.  This also put me in a relaxed state and when we took the wrong exit from a roundabout out in the countryside, I suggested that we simply turn round to get on the correct road.

Although it was a fairly narrow country road, Lloyd did an effortless U turn and I prepared to do likewise.  It’s at this stage that Street Triple owners will start to smile and guess what’s coming next!  The Triple is a lovely, agile bike but it has a frankly awful steering lock angle.  Without paying proper attention to the road width after seeing Lloyd get round, I started a classic low speed feet-up turn.  It was only too late in the manoeuvre and leaned right over that I realised another 6” of road width would have been awfully nice!  Almost made it but almost ain’t good enough and had to lay the bike down in the road with me grovelling alongside it.

I would like to publicly apologise here and now to Lloyd for the torrent of bad language that he had to endure over the comms.  The very sort of language that in my teens, would have had my mother reaching for a bar of soap.  If Lloyd was laughing and lovely guy that he is, he had the good grace to do it through clenched teeth so that I couldn't hear him.

Mercifully, the right hand front indicator on its flexible stalk makes a very good crash protector and the damage was confined to a broken lens cover.  The damage to my pride was, and still is, rather more substantial!

The moral of the story is no-one is exempt from a lapse in concentration and you have to be on your game 100% of the time when you ride a motorcycle.  As far as I’m concerned, it was a timely lesson to never let my guard down and hopefully, it will stick because it was entirely my fault, even though the consequences weren't serious.

As a nice ending, a new indicator has already been despatched from the supplier and the damaged one is fully functioning thanks to some thin clear plastic from a tomato carton and the application of adhesive tape.  Even more importantly, Lloyd turned in a near-flawless ride and should be taking his Advanced test in the very near future.  As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining!

Temporary indicator repair on bike owned by an idiot

Triumph Daytona 675 ride impressions

Ok, let's start with an introduction - the chap in the photo below with the beautiful Daytona 675 is Andy West.  I think you know the disreputable old geezer on the right so the least said about him the better.
 

A pair of Triples (sounds odd...)

Being oh so terribly formal, Andy is Dr. Andrew West, a prominent figure in the world of science and commerce and Vice-Chancellor of NZ's Lincoln University.  At a far less formal level, he's a life-long bike nut and also has an early Triumph Trident and an immaculate '69 Triumph Bonneville in his man-cave at home.  As I was also due to find out during the day, he's a really down to earth nice guy and a bloody quick and safe rider too.

Going back 6 months or so ago, Andy contacted me through the blog as he'd seen the link to my Street Triple review and asked for my views about its suitability for his wife as a post-learner machine.  As well giving some opinions, I'd offered Andy the chance to ride it for himself and draw his own conclusions.  Today was that day so rode down the coast to Thames to meet him, bring him home for lunch and then settle into the serious fun of trying out each others' bikes!

A few showers had passed through in the morning but the weather was brightening up, the roads were gradually drying and the portents were good for using the bikes how they were meant to be used (in the name of thorough and objective road-testing, you understand).

Bike swapping - throw your keys in the middle and see what you get!

A quick walk-around
A preliminary perch on the Daytona showed it to be poles apart from the Street Triple.  It may share the 675 power plant, by that's about as near as it gets!  The Daytona is the closest thing to a pure race bike on the road as you're likely to encounter.  The strongest (and slightly unnerving) impression which hit me when first climbing on board was the near-complete absence of anything in front of you!  I always wanted to ride an Imperial Stormtroopers bike from Star Wars and this is the nearest thing to a terrestrial equivalent!  The low screen and mirrors were way below the eye line and it felt like you were sticking right out in front of the bike.  The clip-on bars also felt like they were vertically below my chin although amazingly, they felt perfectly comfortable.

The seat height is greater than the ST but the narrower seat allowed me to rest on the balls of my feet with complete confidence, also due to the bike's light weight at around 165 kg.  Controls were identical to the ST, so they were instinctive.

Wossit go like, mister?
Andy had warned me that the Daytona has a very tall first gear and he was right! Cutting through dozy holiday traffic in Coromandel village required more concentration regarding road positioning than the ST.  I never actually had to dip the clutch but the fingers were ready if required.  The saving grace was the big torque spread of the motor and I'll come back to this later.

Getting onto the open road was initially unnerving.  The lack of anything in front of the face and the head down, arse up riding position felt quite precarious and coupled with the narrow, low bars, I didn't feel all that confident about hustling through the bends.  Probably no bad thing as the road was still slightly damp in places, the supersports-oriented Supercorsa tyres weren't up to high grip temperatures and there's not much in the way of rain grooves on them either. In fact, they felt quite vague and I didn't like the Supercorsas much at all in those conditions.  Considerable scope for going down on your arse if you pushed really hard, I'd imagine.  I think that for the wide range of weather and temperature conditions I ride in, a good sport touring tyre like the PR3 would give a lot more confidence.  Andy also seemed inclined to this view after riding the ST3. Steering on the Daytona was completely different from ST with its higher, wider bars.  Because of the race-style steering geometry, moving the body around the bike and weighting the pegs was all that was needed to change direction on the D675, with far less emphasis on heavy countersteering.  The faster you went, the less conscious steering effort required!

Up in the hills south of Coromandel, we stopped briefly at a lookout to compare notes and both of us had  huge grins on our faces!  Andy was completely enthused about the grip from the Pilot Road 3 tyres fitted  to the ST and I was blown away with the pin-point accuracy of the steering of the D675.  The other thing which took me by surprise was the relative comfort of the Daytona.  Even for my knees which have taken a hiding over the decades, the high footpegs were surprisingly comfortable.  The thin seat wasn't bad either but for longer hauls, it would definitely have an Airhawk pad fitted to it.  One thing's for sure, you'd never suffer from a cold bum on this bike - heat transfer from the high level pipe and muffler through the thin seat is quite pronounced!

Now here's a thing which I'm sure that many riders have experienced.  If you're not riding too well, often a short stop will make a world of difference and you feel transformed when you hop back on.  So it was with riding Andy's bike.  Even though our stop was less than 5 minutes, hopping back on the Daytona afterwards felt completely natural and my riding was much more assured.

On the run down the coast to Thames with the roads having dried out, we started to use a bit more throttle, particularly when passing small groups of slow-moving holidaymakers.  Whilst the Street Triple is no slouch at all, the greater horsepower at the top end on the Daytona was very noticeable and pretty impressive.  Whilst the top end was indeed impressive,  it still compared very favourably with the ST at lower down in the rev range.  This means that in normal on-road conditions particularly in making snap overtakes, it would completely outshine Japanese IL4's of similar capacity which need to build revs to develop power.  The extremely slim fairing and screen were also more effective than you might imagine.

Is there a downside to the Daytona?  Well yes and no.  It has higher specification suspension than the ST and the setup is on the firm side.  If I was to regularly use one on the Coromandel Peninsula roads, I'd want to knock off a whole lot of preload front and rear and rely more on the excellent rebound and compression damping to lower the tendency to jump about on the more uneven road surfaces. On sweepers with better finished surfaces or for trackdays, it would be nigh-on perfect as it was.  I'd get rid of those Supercorsa tyres though.  The Daytona does have passenger pegs but anyone perched out back is in for a world of pain.  It's that "fitness for purpose" thing though - you don't buy a Daytona for hauling a pillion or lots of luggage about.

On pulling up in Thames before Andy continued home, we were still genuinely smitten with each other's bikes and couldn't keep the smiles off our faces. As I write this quick review, I'd imagine that Andy is telling his wife for the 100th time that the Street Triple is the perfect bike for her.  He can't really lose can he, with a Daytona AND an ST in the shed?  I'd happily do the same except the only thing I'd lose would be my balls, courtesy of someone near and dear!  It's easy to see why both machines have repeatedly won "Bike of the Year" titles in numerous international motorcycle journals.  So there we are,  two incredible machines with the Street Triple having a broader use and the Daytona being more highly focussed. With only being allowed to have one bike at a time by She Who Must Be Obeyed, it has to be the ST for the conditions I ride in, but oh for a Lotto win to help with the case for both of them!

Thanks Andy for a fantastic day, both from the viewpoint of the company, your riding skill and letting me use your Daytona how it was meant to be used!  Catch you for an even longer ride in due course!

Design elegance!

What's age got to do with it?

The title is just one word different from Tina Turner's classic song, but a whole world of meaning away!

A few days ago, I had an email from David L Hough in response to the recent Speed doesn't kill, stupidity kills post, plus other posts on motorcycle safety. If David's name doesn't immediately ring a bell, he's an eminent American author on motorcycle safety and skills (see Wikipedia entry) and I felt somewhat humbled and a bit over-awed that someone of his eminence had bothered to get in touch with an average Kiwi rider.  However, I felt a bit more comfortable when he said that on reading some of my blog posts, it was clear that I'd been thinking about my age relative to riding a motorcycle, which is perfectly correct.

 David L Hough

By way of background, he mentioned that was 73, had travelled over a million miles by bike - an incredible pedigree!  He went on to say that 3 years ago, he'd had an accident on a BMW 1150 GS in a remote desert area of California and as a result of that and presumably considering his own mortality;  now rides a Can-Am Spyder.  He went on to say that the mean age of motorcyclists in the USA is increasing, indeed accelerating.

David asked what, if any, thoughts I had with respect to increasing age and its impact on my riding.  Part of this enquiry was whether I had a plan for the next 5, 10, 15 or 20 years. I thought that the topic was both interesting and relevant, especially as motorcycles have progressively switched from cheap transport for impoverished young people to more of a lifestyle choice for riders of all ages.  In terms of ageing, I guess the term is pretty broad as we're all ageing as part of the natural process and I have no difficulty including returning riders after raising a young family or establishing a career etc.

I retired at 60 to enjoy life whilst my wife and I enjoyed good health.  Not long after retirement, I was undertaking a short-term consultancy job for my old company and I'd been to a conference on their behalf.  I used my Blackbird and on the way home, had a walking-speed accident when my foot slipped on gravel when turning round on a narrow road.  The fairing crash knob hit my leg and it suffered internal bleeding.  My fault entirely for failing to notice the gravel.  The 2 months away from riding and hobbling around gave me plenty of time to ponder the future.  I'm completely passionate about riding and must say that giving up never entered the equation but what to do?  The Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird I'd owned for 8 years was a little tall for me (I'm 5' 8"), especially with its raised ride height to improve handling.  The centre of gravity was also quite high.  This lead to some degree of instability when manoeuvring at low speed or parking.  As I aged and lost a bit of muscle tone, it became more noticeable.  It was also exacerbated by road cambers in the area where we now live and also the off-cambers around our house which is on the side of a hill. 

The answer was to get a lighter, lower sport-orientated bike with good ergonomics.  More difficult than you might think.  I still wanted handling and performance but the number of bikes with a seat height of around 800mm excepting cruisers are in the minority.  The other obstacle was to put it crudely, "little dick syndrome"!  I was used to riding the Blackbird hard and fast with my riding partners, most of whom are younger than me.  I honestly felt that getting a smaller bike would be akin to losing a bit of my manhood.  Ludicrous, but that's how I felt.  To cut a long story short, subsequent ownership of the Triumph Street Triple has been a joy on all counts and a smart move.  It's rejuvenated my motorcycling enjoyment.  Incidentally, you'll find more detail about all this in my blog posts from about 12 months or so ago, including a photo of a rainbow-coloured leg!

However, I thought I'd share other relevant bits of the discussion with David so far in case others have been thinking about the subject and might wish to articulate their thoughts.

Old dog, new tricks!  Yours truly (centre) with great mates, having successfully completed the Southern Cross round NZ in 5 days endurance ride in 2005

Chronological age is clearly going to have a bearing on fitness to ride in terms of physical condition, mental attitude, reaction time and so on.  However, such factors will have such a huge variation between individuals that age itself will have little relevance across the board.  Skill level certainly will have a major bearing. In the recent post on advanced situational awareness coaching, one forum respondent asked what was the point of him wasting time in undertaking any advanced training when all he wanted to do was cruise slowly on his bike and not bother anyone.  It sounds like he missed the point that good situational awareness is applicable at all speeds in terms of keeping you from harm.  Now coming directly to the point, any skill (or physical activity) if not regularly used diminishes, probably more rapidly as we age.  This is why I'm a strong advocate of refresher training, particularly as we get older - probably the most important consideration of all.  Not only is it beneficial for its basic purpose, but I suspect that it could also be a good personal "honesty" indicator with respect to whether you can cope any more.  Incidentally, I now try to cycle regularly too to keep up basic fitness levels!

I don't have a long-term plan other than to keep riding as long as possible.  This isn't just a blind faith option, simply a statement of intent as I love it so much.  Switching to a Street Triple with its lighter weight meets current requirements perfectly.  I'm not opposed to owning a cruiser with their low C of G and correspondingly low seat height - it would certainly entice Jennie back onto the pillion.  Maybe I ought to give one a try.   Maybe an English classic or the modern equivalent.  So in short, although I don't have a clear plan, there are some options when the next stage comes. Have done a fair bit of roadcraft training but have never done a coached track day yet so at 63 years of age, that could well be addressed this year!

Mental attitude, or call it a love of life if you like is probably as important as any of the other factors.  I've had a number of other strong interests at various stages of my life including sailing competitively at national championship level but motorcycling is the only interest that I've been enduringly passionate about.  It would certainly leave a big hole if I was to give it up BUT.....!!!!  To have no interests is to wither and die.  Living on the coast, we have a boat and go fishing regularly.  Jennie has a tweaked open-top sports car which is huge fun to drive and should I just be restricted to driving a car, something like a Lotus 7 replica might be sufficient to keep the juices flowing! We also enjoy travelling.  What I'm saying is that I do have some fall-backs for when the time comes to give up motorcycling.  Life is for living and I'm not the sort of person who could currently just sit around, waiting for God! 

Honda Blackbird-engined Lotus look-alike

The perfect weapon after bikes?

Sooooooo......  to finish off with some of David's questions, are we capable of making honest judgements about our fitness to ride? What are the measurements or tests to determine whether you are fit to ride? Is a crash an indication you aren't fit anymore, or just bad luck? Do you give up riding just because your knee, ankle, or back have chronic problems? Or do you stay off the machine when your body is complaining, and ride only when it allows you to? And, most importantly, if motorcycling has been your primary interest in life, how do you deal with your interests waning?  Food for thought for a fair percentage of riders perhaps.

Update:  http://geoffjames.blogspot.co.nz/2011/02/ageing-motorcyclists-follow-up.html

Also, I finally found a training programme with the Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists (IAM) that has raised my competence beyond what I thought possible - literally a life-saver.  To read a synopsis:
http://geoffjames.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/raising-my-riding-skills-some.html

Triumph Street Triple review revisited....

 Bye bye Blackbird, the Gentleman's Express!

A while back, I made some posts on the reasons for changing from my much-loved Honda CBR 1100XX Blackbird after 8 years of ownership to a Street Triple and the initial comparison after 2500 km from new or thereabouts.  Those initial impressions are here but having now covered over 8000 km over a wide range of  riding conditions, I thought it might be interesting to quickly review some of them and add a few further thoughts.  Having over 40 years of riding experience and dropping in capacity might give me a slightly different viewpoint to that of a relatively recent rider going the other way .  We'll see.....

The "fitness for purpose" of any bike completely depends on what individual owners are looking for at the time. The criteria for replacing the Blackbird were not straightforward.  I turned 62 in October 2009 and at only 5' 8" tall, the Blackbird with its raised rear ride height, 250 kg wet weight and high C of G was becoming more noticeable (and risky) at low speeds and parking.  This was exacerbated by moving permanently to our beach property which is on the side of a hill and has lots of off-cambers and slopes - had some close calls with the 'bird!  Therefore, any replacement had to be lower and lighter and it came as a surprise just how many bikes ruled themselves out due to these aspects alone.  I didn't want another faired sports bike as there wasn't sufficient differentiation compared with the 'bird but it still had to have plenty of performance as my riding partners (who are all younger than me) like to "press on a bit" on occasions and come to that, so do I!  However, I wasn't overly concerned with an insane top speed as much of my riding is now on twisty coastal roads; so torque and handling is more of a consideration. Two-up riding for any distance wasn't a factor any more as Jennie prefers the comfort of her tricked-up MX-5 nowadays.

A shortlist was drawn up, dealers visited and bikes tested.  I was nostalgically leaning towards Triumphs anyway as that was my brand of choice over 40 years ago but seeing the Street Triple in the flesh, let alone test riding it made that oh-so-important emotional connection which is critical for a lasting relationship.  The test ride merely confirmed it so that was that and a Street Triple graced the shed in double-quick time!

More than capable of  holding its own with the big capacity bikes

Pure sex, or what??

Anyway, here's some more thoughts about owning a Triple nearly a year on, not in any particular order of importance.

Ergonomics.  Within 5 minutes of getting on a Triple for the first time, it became clear that it was the most comfortable bike I'd ever ridden, excepting speeds well above the open road legal limit. Hands and feet instinctively went to where the controls were positioned and that gave instant confidence. That doesn't mean it's going to be perfect for everyone but suggests that unless you're at the extreme ends of the human dimension bell-curve; you're going to be pretty pleased. The positioning of the bars means that the wrists are lightly loaded, perfect for a long haul. The reasonably upright stance gives great all-round visibility which considerably aids situational awareness - a worthwhile safety bonus. I tried a Ducati Monster as part of the selection process and whilst I didn't bother with specific measurements, looking at the instrument cluster on the Monster seemed to require a deliberate downward movement of the head from the normal riding position as opposed to the quick flick of eyes on the Triple.  Instrumentation is easy to see and excellent at night although changing the display on the run takes a lot of care.  Resetting the trips can only be done whilst parked up, which is when you'd normally want to do them anyway.  Oh, and a small black mark on the report card. A corner of of the instrument cluster mists up very slightly after having been on the road for half an hour or so.  It's not intrusive so I haven't complained but this issue has also been reported on Triple forums.

The stock seat is actually more comfortable than the standard Blackbird seat and that curve seems to allow you to move about sufficiently to vary any pressure points.  700 km days have been achieved with no discomfort so far but for our October 1600 km in 24 hours endurance ride, some prior experimentation using large cell bubble wrap to temporarily change the profile is likely to be on the cards.  Seat (dis)comfort is often discussed on Triple forums but an individual's weight, shape and personal padding is likely to have just as much influence as the seat design itself.  Update: The Airhawk pneumatic pad is the best comfort aid ever. See HERE for more info and the report on the 1000 mile/1600 km in 24 hours endurance ride is here: The Grand Challenge 2010

On the periphery of ergonomics, the light weight of the bike lessens fatigue on twistier roads and the relatively low seat height provides a bit more security for people with short legs like me when manoeuvring at low speeds, especially on roadside steep cambers.

The lack of a screen, or having a minimalist one can mean increased fatigue at speed on a long haul compared with a faired bike but the excellent riding position doesn't make it as bad as you might first think.  The wind blast on the body is nowhere near as fatiguing as the load on my wrists and forearms was when riding the Blackbird over seriously long distances.  In fact, the wind blast is almost a positive thing in lessening load on the wrists and arms.

Two up?  Well, the height of the rear pegs are hardly designed for pillion comfort over long distances but that wasn't a criterion for me anyway.  However, a pillion passenger is unlikely to thank you without regular stops.  Being two-up is getting away from the fundamental purpose of the Triple though.

 The perfect day for a run...

Performance.  Wossit do mister?  This is the question that all kids seem to ask motorcyclists and to be fair, quoted top speed is something which more than a few mainly male riders use as an important selection factor too.  I know - I've been there!  Jennie rolls her eyes and accuses me of having a small willy when bike top speeds get discussed.  However, top speed is only a small part of overall performance.  I have a confession.  In the 8 years of owning the Blackbird, it's never been flat out.  It's been in the indicated 280's (km/hr) just a handful of times and for a few seconds per occasion and just once showing a shade above the next magic number but that's it.  I adored the deceptively brutal acceleration of the 'bird which is akin to going into warp drive but again, the number of times that the throttle has been pinned against the stop for long through the gears was pretty infrequent because of the roads I mainly travel on.  I think that it was the great Kenny Roberts who said that he preferred the GSX-R 750 on the road to the GSX-R 1000 because he could use more of its capability.  If he said that, then big bikes are pretty much overkill for the the rest of us mere mortals.  However, in answer to the "wossit do" question, magazine road tests suggest around 230 km/hr (~140 mph) for the Street Triple.

That previous paragraph is a fitting prelude to some of my thoughts about selling the 1135cc Blackbird and getting the 675cc Street Triple.  As already mentioned, the Triple actually sold itself to me but at the back of the mind, there was a nagging worry that dropping capacity was somehow unmanly.  Ridiculous, but at least I'm being honest!  Guess that my regular riding partners all having litre + bikes may have also influenced this thought. 

Reality is that I haven't missed the insane top end of the Blackbird because equal, if not more satisfaction has been gained from carrying higher speeds in the tight stuff and the generally better agility of the Triple.  It's also good fun to occasionally hunt down bigger, heavier bikes in the twisties (errr...spoken like a 20 year old rather than someone over 60)!  In the original comparison with the Blackbird, I tabled a comparison of power to weight ratios which were amazingly close.  The comment was that until aerodynamics at higher speeds made their presence felt, any performance difference between them could be largely measured in tiny percentages; which is negligible under normal road conditions.  Top speed is still more than sufficient for instant license loss in most countries anyway!

When first owning the Triple, the revs at a given road speed were higher than the Blackbird and this was slightly disconcerting - kept trying to hook a higher gear.  However, within a few weeks of ownership it seemed perfectly natural and no big deal. If I was riding long distances mainly on open highways, then a Blackbird may still be first choice but the Triple fits my current needs perfectly.

Big holes for a small(ish) motor!

Flexibility.  Unlike "race replica" 600's which by comparison only deliver strong power higher in the rev range, the Triple starts delivering big lumps of torque not far off idle (around 85% of max torque at 3000 rpm if I remember correctly).  For road riding in particular, this gives a huge advantage.  Firstly, it means that you're unlikely to get caught out in the wrong gear when wanting to make a rapid overtake. Secondly, the low-down torque means that it is very comfortable pootling along in traffic at low revs, but will respond instantly if need be.  The flexibility of the motor makes it the perfect bike for experienced riders and less-experienced ones alike.  The only negative aspect from my perspective was a pronounced snatch when opening up from a trailing throttle during early ownership.  Interestingly, this has significantly reduced over time.  Part of it may be due to the motor bedding in, part of it may be due to a more sensitive right wrist but in any event; it's no longer particularly intrusive.

Handling. In a word, exceptional!  The light weight, fairly aggressive steering geometry, short wheelbase and fantastic riding position adds up to a bike which can change line almost by thought alone and if you make a balls-up of a corner entry, it's sufficiently forgiving to give you leeway to put it right.  The Blackbird with its greater mass was far less forgiving of rapid corrections in the tight stuff  with entry and exit requiring greater precision and planning.  Corner speed in the tight stuff on the local roads I know intimately is noticeably higher than on the Blackbird.  On rougher surfaces when cornering, the Blackbird was definitely more planted due to a more conservative geometry but in particular, top of the line aftermarket suspension.  The Triple tends to jump around a bit more, but not in a really disconcerting way.  Clearly, the stock suspension is built to a price and damping is pretty average but there is no intention to replace it with a more upmarket option until performance noticeably declines. When that time comes, it may be with a Penske unit as the outstanding damping transformed my Blackbird. Under really heavy braking, the rear tyre has a tendency to unload when riding solo but as most of the braking effort is through the front wheel, it's not a big deal although it can be slightly disconcerting the first time the rear tyre leaves the ground!  A little more care is also required with heavy braking in wet conditions as it's comparatively easy to lock up the rear, not that this causes any real problems.  If you do get into trouble as I did when unexpectedly encountering a road surface that had been dug up, you're more likely to get away with it on a light, responsive bike like the Triple than with the mass of something like the Blackbird swinging about.  I've had 2 serious tank-slappers on the 'bird under adverse road conditions and they're not something I prefer to experience again!

Penske rear shock for the Blackbird - a work of art

Tyres are part of the overall handling equation and it would probably be fair to say that among the top brands at least, there isn't a tyre currently made which doesn't exceed the needs of the average road rider despite all the hot air and bulls*it generated on bike forums throughout the world!  They're increasingly improving too. However, the character of each tyre will vary according to where its strength characteristics lie in both wet and dry conditions, wear characteristics and that elusive but oh-so-important "feel".  The type of riding that an individual does will also have a big impact.  Without going into detail again, tyre performance is discussed in this post: Tyres .

Front Dunlop Qualifier after 6000 km

Range. Fuel consumption.... ummm... how long is a bit of string?  All I can say that on longer runs where I can maintain more constant throttle openings but still get along quickly , the trip recorder usually shows around 5.3 litres/100km.This translates to close to 300 km per tankful on a run and not be hanging about.  Having this sort of range is important to me because of the longer runs I do and a dislike of constant stopping to refuel.

Lighting. The standard headlights are the only really disappointing aspect of owning a Street Triple.  If your night riding is restricted to riding around town or maybe on well-lit major roads, it might just be adequate.  For unlit, twisty open road riding, it most certainly isn't. For starters, the lights are set way too low but properly adjusting them only takes a few moments.  The spread of light is fine for covering the roadside verges as well but the actual level of illumination is poor.

There are a few options such as changing the headlights (including HID which is not a perfect solution either) or upgrading bulbs.  I went for 100W bulb replacements on the Blackbird but thought that with the lower headlight volume on the Triple, a big wattage increase might cause overheating damage.  Because the quality of identical wattage bulbs vary enormously, I retained the standard wattage but fitted Osram Nightbreaker bulbs instead and what a difference!  It's a pity (and penny-pinching) that Triumph don't fit these as standard.  The following daylight photo shows the difference between the yellow-ish standard bulb on the left and the whiter, more intense Nightbreaker on the right.  In the dark, the difference is even more pronounced.    The upgrade has made night riding on twisty, unlit roads acceptable.  Not outstanding, but acceptable.  Oh, and it pays to give the inside of the headlamp shell where the mounting brackets are affixed a squirt with chain wax.  The design is a rust-trap if ever I've seen one!

Standard bulb on left, Nightbreaker on right

Addendum:  There has been a further upgrade to the lighting.  See the more recent post HERE

Farkles (extras).  Since taking ownership, I haven't added a huge number of extras, preferring instead to get to know the bike properly first.  From the dealer, the only extras supplied as part of the purchase were:

A 3M clearfilm kit to protect various areas of paintwork from scuffing and stone chips.  This is virtually invisible and really does the job.  The other extra was a Ventura rack to take the soft luggage transferred from the Blackbird. Since then, my Escort 8500 radar detector and screamer have also been transferred and a quickly detachable headstock mount manufactured for the Garmin GPS.

In terms of extras after purchase, a Triumph hugger has been added which does a reasonable job of keeping crap off the suspension.  The radiator core was showing a few small dings after a comparatively short distance and not wishing to hole it miles from anywhere, a guard was purchased from Cox Racing Products.  Beautifully manufactured, only took a few minutes to fit and the communications and service from Andrew Cox in Portland OR, to New Zealand was outstanding.

 Cox Racing Products guard

The final addition is a Barracuda Italian screen.  It does offer more protection from wind blast than the completely naked Triple but not hugely so unless leaning well forward. However, it was purchased on grounds of looks alone.  Good protection would have required a pig-ugly big screen and that's getting away from the principle of a naked bike. As an aside, the purchase price of the screen at 99 Euros wasn't too bad in the scheme of things, but the manufacturers showed that Italian extortion isn't restricted to the Mafia by wanting an almost identical amount for shipping it to NZ.  Fortunately, the world-renowned purveyor of Blackbird parts and accessories, John Smith (Jaws Motorcycles) from the UK; was able to lay his hands on one for me and the postage was only 22 Euros, bless his heart.  Every other automotive/motorcycle parts dealer in the universe should learn from John's consistently flawless service.

 Barracuda Aerosport screen

Servicing.  Being a naked bike, routine servicing is easy and pretty fast.  As the bike is still under warranty, I've let the dealer do the servicing so far and although the cost will depend on the prevailing labour rates of individual countries, I've been pleasantly surprised.  It's certainly cheaper than the Blackbird, principally because of ease of access.

The grin factor. The Triumph Street Triple has won numerous international Bike of the Year awards since its launch and continues to do so.  Owners and journalists everywhere talk about it being a larrikin of a bike with a fu*k you attitude.   Even at over 60 years of age, I agree wholeheartedly with these sentiments but what do those phrases really mean in more definable terms?  After thinking long and hard, it might be a combination of several things.  The engine delivers instant power across the rev range and combined with the bike's light weight, this means that it's a seriously potent weapon.  Add the sublime handling to the mix and you've got something which is utterly confidence-inspiring and can keep you out of trouble where some other bikes will bite back.  This means that the rider might go just that bit harder!  I guess it's these features more than anything which allows the rider to have a lot of fun with a fair degree of safety.

Then there's the growl from the airbox when the throttle is tweaked.  The sound is not obvious to bystanders but guaranteed to get the rider's hormones sloshing around, even for an old fart like me.  If it could be bottled, Viagra would lose all sales to it overnight! 

Let's not forget the less-experienced rider though.  Those very same features and flexibility of the motor give you a comfortable and safe ride even if using a sizeable percentage of its performance is not currently your thing.

Pillion-carrying limitations and below-par lighting aside, it must be close to the ideal bike for an awful lot of riders!  Doubt that I'll be selling it anytime soon.  It wouldn't be stretching the truth to say that the Street Triple has revitalised my riding enjoyment!

Hope that this personal viewpoint has been of interest but use the blog search facility for more Street Triple or tyre info as there are many more posts about this excellent machine!

Addendum: Since this post was written, there have been many more posts written about the Street Triple - laser wheel alignment, other farkles, experiences with different tyres and so on.  To find these, simply type Street Triple into the search bar immediately below the main blog header photo, or something more specific such as tyres.  The link to the Michelin PR3 tyre review is HERE . As of April 2015, the Street Triple has now covered over 62,000 km.  The rectifier has been replaced as part of a no-cost recall, the mirror stalks replaced under warranty due to rusting and that's it other than replacing the OEM rear shock with a higher spec Nitron one at 55,000 km.  Would I buy another one?  Absolutely, it fills everything I currently want in a bike!  It will be replaced at the end of 2015 with an "R" or "RX" version.
 

Summer riding in NZ

3 cylinder Triumphs - full circle

I guess that most people know that I currently ride a Triumph Street Triple which is now 8 months old and I love it to bits - perfect for the type of riding I do at present.  There's a nice symmetry to owning a Triumph now because after the Suzuki 50 which my grandparents bought me to learn on in 1964 whilst still at school (arrrgh... 46 years ago!), my "formative" years were all spent on Triumphs; including a spell on the drag strip.

The 675 cc 3 cylinder motor in both Daytona and Street Triple guise is a peach of an engine and the bikes have won many awards and continue to distinguish themselves creditably on world racetracks. However, you probably have to be a Triumph enthusiast or a sad old git like me to know that the origins of it go back 48 years to 1962!  This was the year that two talented engineers at Triumph (Hopwood and Hele) laid down the original design for an across the frame triple.  Typically for Triumph at that time, politics and poor management delayed the launch and it wasn't until mid-1968 until they were launched in the guise of the 750cc Triumph Trident and the BSA Rocket 3.

Unfortunately, the production delays only saw it launched weeks before the first Honda 750 4 which was a higher specification bike in all respects.  Nonetheless, the 750 triples enjoyed huge racing success in both Europe and North America.  I was privileged to attend the first UK Transatlantic Match Races in the very early 70's where the UK's finest competed against the likes of Nixon, Mann, DuHamel, Rayborn and many more.  At one stage, both teams had factory-backed Triples and in my humble opinion; hearing the howl of 6-10 triples with unsilenced 3 into 1 megaphones warming up in the pits is still one of the greatest motorcycle sounds ever.  I saw a replica Rocket 3 racing in a classic meeting in Auckland early this year and the howl still gave me goosebumps!

Here are two photos I took at the 1971 event.  Despite it being nearly 40 years ago, these bikes still look fantastic!

Dave Aldana's Rocket 3

Paul Smart's Trident

Completing the symmetry between the original 1960's 750cc Triple and today's 675, it's interesting to compare a few key specifications.  Top speed of the 750 was around 130mph (210km/hr) with a 0-60mph time of about 4.1 seconds.  The Street Triple has a top speed about 5 mph up on that but the 0-60 mph time of ~3.3 seconds is far superior thanks to the better power to weight ratio (~220 kg for the 750 compared with ~170kg for the 675).  So despite the passage of time being over 4 decades, there's not a huge difference in straight line performance and the same goes for the racebike versions of both capacities too.  In the handling stakes of course, there's no comparison! 

There's also no comparison in terms of reliability.  A close friend of mine in the UK still has an early 70's Trident.  Admittedly, it rarely comes out of the shed these days but he has so many memories invested in it that selling is completely out of the question.  When he used to ride it regularly, electrical (un)reliability was such that his wife claimed he was on first name terms with every Automobile Association recovery team in half the country!

Personally, it's almost Karma for me having returned to Triumph after an association which started so long ago - long may it continue!

Antidote for blue Mondays

After a wet weekend and no riding for 3 weeks because of more pressing priorities, Monday dawns fine and warm.  Too good to miss a ride, even if there are things to do later in the day.  An early breakfast and a 200 km trip round the Coromandel Peninsula Loop would be a perfect wake-up!  If you'd like to come for a ride, throw a helmet on and hop on the back for a guided tour........

 
First port of call ('scuse the pun) is to have a look at the Kia Toa fishing boat down in Coromandel Town which is shortly to undergo restoration.  She has quite a bit of history. It may look like an old hulk but she's clearly a magnificent sea boat as it regularly used to motor up the 6000-odd km to Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific to protest against the French holding nuclear tests there.  Must be a tough old girl with her double-planked wooden hull!

Heading south toward Thames, the next stop is at a lookout in the hills that affords a 180 degree view of the Firth of Thames.  The first photo is looking north to Manaia Harbour, the second is looking directly down to a sheep and beef farm with its own bay and launch ramp (cows and sheep are bred with one pair of short legs to compensate for the hilly terrain) and the third is looking south across the Firth through the misty conditions to the many commercial mussel beds.

A slowish jaunt along the waters' edge towards Thames as I feel a bit rusty.  The sea is like a mill pond, just stunning. Pulling up just north of Thames shows the old weatherboard holiday homes by the water.  These are called bach's in the north island - short for bachelor pads.  The second photo is of a newly-restored old hotel in Thames which is now a private dwelling.  There was a proliferation of such watering-holes in the 1800's to satisfy the considerable thirst of the gold miners in the area!

After Thames, it's out into the hills on the Kopu to Hikuai road which runs from west to east across the Peninsula.  Through steep hills with a mixture of sweepers and twisties - a biker's delight.  However, no high speed antics this morning on account of wet roads and probably slippery too in shady parts thanks to a massive thunderstorm in this area last night.

Leaving the wet hills behind and heading north up the dry east coast, a comfort stop in Tairua is necessary - perhaps too much coffee for breakfast!  The photo taken during the stop is across Tairua Harbour to the extinct volcano called Paku.  At least, we hope it's extinct as there are a lot of homes on it now!

Continuing north through the twisties at a good clip with hardly another vehicle in sight, the stomach starts rumbling in anticipation of a scallop burger at the Coroglen Tavern.  The scallop burgers are a sight to behold, all the normal trimmings but packed with local scallops shown a buttery hot pan for a few scant seconds - just divine! This place is packed with bikers at the weekend but on a Monday, where is everyone?  Working presumably but heck, I've miscalculated the time and they don't open for 20 minutes - oh nooooo....!

Despite the strong pull of a scallop burger, I'm hungry and can't wait that long for a feed so it's back on the bike for the short(ish) ride north to Whitianga.  There are lots of good eateries here which would please even the most discerning palate (blogger and foodie Bobscoot to mention just one).  Sadly, a leisurely "slow food" experience isn't an option today as I have an afternoon appointment so to be safe, a relatively quick stop at Subway is made.  It's down the dining scale a bit but healthy and nutritious, not to mention easy on the wallet.

Feeling refreshed, it's a reasonably rapid journey over the section of the Coromandel Loop of which the Triple knows every centimetre, back to Coromandel Town.  Half way back, a quick double-take and photo from the saddle of some creatures in a field which look like they've come from a Stephen King novel, perhaps the Langoliers - can you guess what they are? No prizes for the sheep in the background, but the other two?

They're actually made from the lower part of palm leaves (the NZ Nikau palm) where they attach to the trunk - really clever but nightmarish if you've had a drop too much to drink!

Back in Coromandel Town, The king tide 2 days previously has brought some interesting boats down the creek nearly into the town centre so a quick stop is made to see what's about . The vessel shown in the photo is Sirius, a local all-alloy crayfish (rock lobster) boat which has probably been slipped for its annual marine survey.  Looks pretty big against the Striple!

All in all, a wonderful way to start any day - must do more of it and hope you enjoyed the quick trip round the Coromandel Loop.