BMW R1200GS Test Ride
Eager to keep up the momentum of last weekends test ride on a Buell Lightning XB9SX CityX, I booked a test ride on a BMW R1200GS in a bid to end the showdown between these fierce competitors. I’ve always been a BMW type of guy. My first real bike, since motocross days, was a BMW F650GS Dakar, a single cylinder thumper that made me feel like a midget when stationary, but a giant on the move. The day I bought it, the salesman at the BMW dealership said I’d get bored quickly and that I’d be back soon. That all sounded like sales talk to me at the time, but no more than 6 months later I was back for more. More size, more power, more range, more luggage, more everything and I found it in the R1150GS. Friends of mine had purchased the same bike some years before and taken them round the world. One of them remarked it was the last bike I would ever buy and had it not been stolen from outside my house some months later, they might have been right. Fortunately the replacement was an even more appealing option in the form of the BMW R1150GS Adventure. The Adventure model was basically the same bike but came in much better colours along with a much larger fuel tank, engine protector bars, headlamps and a set of very cool aluminium luggage. Sadly I had to leave that beauty behind when I moved to the UK and some months later my good friend Phil purchased it from me. He had a similar crushing experience upon moving to the UK. Sometimes we get together and commiserate about those painful memories. The Adventure is still manufactured today, but it’s a wholly impractical bike for London, although I’ll admit I have nonetheless been tempted walking around the BMW showroom on Park Lane.
But I digress, quite massively, from the point of this post which is the test ride on the replacement to these great forerunners, the R1200GS. It was hailed as BMW’s most important bike and the designers must have known the loyalty of the BMW rider community was at stake, because they rewrote the book on this one. The bike scarcely resembles it’s predecessors with the exception of the massive beaked front of the BMW enduro class. It’s lighter, more powerful (by 30bhp no less) and on the whole a more refined machine in every way. When I mounted it this past weekend to begin my test ride, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was at once a strange and familiar feeling. The bike feels a bit like the 1150GS of old, but it’s far more nimble. The gears are positively impeccable compared to the 1150GS, which received a lot of criticism for it’s very long first gear and clunky changes. After two hours of riding I still hadn’t missed a gear. Acceleration is not to be toyed with lightly. The sales guy at the dealership had warned the front end had a tendency to remove its self quite easily from the tarmac and he was right, one need be only a tinsy bit over zealous on pull-off and you find the clocks a little closer to your nose than you might want. Still, nice to have that kind of power under the hood, or well, under your err, well… just under.
For now, my head swirls in turmoil, the Buell is definitely more city orientated but when you get right down to it, the BMW is on the whole a more refined machine and more importantly it has luggage. Even on my Vespa, the top box is invaluable. I guess there is always going to be a trade-off between size and speed, between practicality and manoeuvrability, between gentleman and hooligan. The Buell is as exciting as it is aggressive while being a practical city bike. The BMW is a gentleman’s ride but won’t slide right in there between those two red buses on the roundabout at Hyde Park Corner. It does however offer the possibility of embarking on an impromptu world tour at a moments notice, in style. You might say one really needs two bikes, or possibly even three. A scooter for the commute, a Buell for serious fun and a BMW for weekends away. I guess that’s something to aspire to.
Buell Lightning CityX XB9SX Test Ride
Ever since I got my full bike license a few weeks ago I have been wrestling myself into the dirt just about every day agonising over whether to buy a shiny new big bike right away, or do the practical thing and wait until next year before upgrading. Eventually, my impatient excitable half, or rather 9/10's, got the better of me and I booked a test ride on a Buell Lightning CityX XB9SX, one of the main contenders in the ultimate purchase decision. After barely 6 hours sleep and several pints on Friday night, I awoke like a kid on coca cola and a stray diet pill on Saturday morning to make the journey to Warrs Harley Davidson in Chelsea for my test ride. After signing my life away, I was on the road and immediately struck by just how impressive this bike is. At 984CC's producing a formidable 84bhp, this bike is not for children or beginners. The salesman told me warningly before I left the showroom to let her tyres warm up a bit before putting the hammer down. His advice was noted and after about 20 minutes pottering around watching scooters overtake me, I’d had enough and let gravity exert its influence on my right hand, a motion which simultaneously injected about as much adrenalin into my bloodstream as fuel into the cylinders. Talk about letting loose the hounds of hell, I finally understand what all this American Thunder fuss is about. It truly is a machine that commands respect from bikes and cars alike. Rolling up to traffic lights is like being mounted on a great white gliding through a shoal of minnows. Scooters flee in terrified panic, motorists’ eye the new-comer wearily from the safety of their metal cages and bigger bikes make space in a way that shows respect. This bike is raw power and fun and it was with a great feeling of dejectedness that I handed back the keys, remounted my scooter and rode off, mortal and minnowed again. I thought about that experience all weekend and started making calls to arrange insurance on Monday, determined to be back on a Buell by the next weekend. My enthusiasm was short lived though. The Buell, for whatever reason, is classified as category 15 for insurance purposes. This, combined with street parking and a 3 week old full license, ended up securing a premium roughly equivalent to half the purchase price of the bike. I could effectively buy a new one every 2 years. Practically speaking... there's that pesky 1/10th putting in 2c again... the Buell, despite its massive appeal, is not a practical bike in the way a BMW 1200 GS is. There is no possibility of luggage anywhere on the bike and passenger space is severely limited, making biking weekends a virtual impossibility. For now, the jury is out on this one. I have a test ride of a BMW 1200 GS booked for this weekend at BMW Park Lane. Who knows, it might be even more impressive.
Vespa Granturismo 125cc
Finally, after months and months of aspiring to become the proud owner of a new BMW 1200GS, I finally capitulated and compromised on my second choice, the Vespa Granturismo 125cc. The Vespa, manufactured by Italian company Piaggio, has been something of a style icon since the introduction of the first model in 1946. Since then, Piaggio has produced scooters which were always eye-pleasing while still maintaining a reputation for reliability and performance, not bad for a company that started out making airplane engines only to be bombed nearly out of existence during the Second World War. Having taken ownership of this, my first Vespa only a few hours ago and having already clocked up 60km, I can understand why one can scarcely pass a bike parking zone in the city without noticing more Vespa's than not crammed between the striped lines. It truly is an elegant piece of engineering, graceful in its delivery, exciting in its inception, it raises my pulse to look at and curls the corners of my mouth skyward, I think this could be love. The black model usually comes with a mock-leather brown seat, but my dealership, Scooterpower, was good enough to switch that out for a black seat. in my opinion, this is a vast improvement and lends a certain classic disposition to an already iconically retro masterpiece. With smooth power delivery and granite solid build quality, the Vespa Granturismo 125cc is practically an urban survival tool and is highly recommended for anybody looking to escape the cattle mentality of red buses and scorching summer-time tubes. Set yourself free!
UPDATE 24/11/2005: I sold my Vespa to ScooterDen yesterday, it was a sad parting.
iPod Mini 4Gb
I finally did it! Well, actually Laura H and I did it! Wondering down Tottenham Court road this past Saturday afternoon, chomping at the bit to spend some cash on a shopping spree which has thus far failed to materialise we passed one of those little tech stores with a very unassuming facade other than a board outside which said something to the effect of "Amazing prices on iPod mini's". Far be it from me to get caught up in sales hype (working at an online casino does that to you), but I figured what the hey, let's see what they're offering. We wondered in and the sales guy informed us they were letting them go for a mere £140, startling when you consider the price the first hit the high street stores at was a ridiculous £230! A few moments later, we had both bagged a pod in his and hers colours, blue for me and pink for Laura. Score! If you're in the market for a mini, now is a good time to buy the 4Gb model. Apple recently announced the launch of a new 6Gb model, with 18-hour battery life, as opposed to the 4Gb 12 hours; so pretty much any vendor will be dropping their prices soon, if they haven't already. The new model comes in around £170. The way I see it is, these things are disposable. Whatever you buy, whenever you buy, it will without question be obsolete in a few months and if it isn't, you'll still be longing for the latest and greatest kit. This is an essential survival item for the London urbanite. You can buy an iPod mini from Amazon.co.uk for (at the time of writing) £139.00
Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III USM Zoom Lens
I've had my Canon EOS 300D for a few months now and am starting to outgrow the lens that comes with the camera (when purchasing the lens kit), that being, the Canon EF18-55mm lens. It's a good lens for very general photography, but one which you will find yourself growing increasingly frustrated with as you learn and demand more from your equipment. The final straw for me was being at the Make Poverty History rally at Trafalgar Square some weeks ago and not having the right lens to get close enough to the action. After much deliberation, I decided to purchase a 300mm lens to get nicely up close and personal with my chosen subject matter. Having looked around a bit and becoming increasingly disturbed by the prospect of purchasing a lens which costs more than the camera did, I happpened upon a lens which an Amazon.co.uk reviewer termed 'a good beginner lens' for very the reasonable price £210. I should point out that Amazon.co.uk is not the place to buy this lens, or at least not when you can get the identical lens for fully £90 cheaper at 7dayshop.com. Having owned this lens for less than a week and having taken some shots with it at the weekend, I can vouch for the fact that this really is a good beginner lens at a very good price. If you're looking to splash out and spend a little more, you can get the same lens with IS (Image Stabilization) for a bit more than double the price.
Global 20cm Cooks Knife
This year for Christmas, my good mum & dad bought me this gem of a Knife, the Global 20cm Cooks Knife! I already own the 13cm blade, but this one is really where it's at. I gave it a whirl last night and it was just about the most gratifying vegetable chopping i've ever done. Thanks folks and Merry Christmas.
You can buy this knife from Amazon.co.uk for a mere £38.90
Canon EOS 300D Digital SLR Camera
For the longest time I have wated a digital camera which was actually capable of taking decent pics (ok, that may have something to do with the photographer too). I did a lot of research, chatted to some friends in the know and eventually settled on the Canon EOS 300D, a fine piece of work and a great beginner SLR camera. Having unpacked it and looked at the manual for some time, I have realised this SLR thing is going to require some additional effort to master, it's not all that straight forward but I am certain the rewards will be there once the functions of this brilliant piece of kit are mastered. There are of course other digital SLR's on the market perhaps, ok definately, better than the 300D, such as the Canon 10D and more recent Canon 20D as well as the Nikon D70, but at the end of the day it's a cost benefit analysis, a basic application of the 80/20 principal and that tells me all those extra features on more "proper" kit will be lost on a newbie such as myself, a beginner to be sure, perhaps in a year or so this camera will find its self on eBay waiting to find a welcome home with another newbie. Apart from the great list of features this camera comes with, Canon is also promoting it quite heavily at the moment by offering a £100 rebate and a free 256Mb compact flash card, which should arrive any day now. You can buy this camera off Amazon.co.uk, at the lowest price I could find, of £596.96.
Technical specs on the Canon 300D are available on the Canon.co.uk website.
Microsoft Optical Mouse by S+arck
From the moment I saw this awesome mouse in the Time Style & Design magazine I simply had to have it. Philip Starck has been a design icon for the better half of the 20th century and this mouse fits the mould of simplicity and minimalism he has cast from the very beginning of his design career. The mouse its self is typical of Microsoft hardware, good quality. The blue line down the middle lights up when connected to the machine, a feature which very nicely offsets the red light on the bottom from the optical light. This is a great mouse! Get it from Amazon.co.uk for a mere £26.39
My perfect little ramekins
When making creme brulee it's important to have really attractive little ramekins, after all, presentation is everything. I used to have a set of simple white ones but apart from being about as pedestrian as crockery can get, they were just not of the requisite thickness and quality to make the consumer of the brulee feel special. 2 weeks ago, when faced with the prospect of preparing a creme brulee from a recipe I found on Chocolate & Zucchini, I immidiately went in search of the perfect little ramekins and quite fortuitously didn't have to go far to find them. These beauties are made by Le Creuset of France and are exactly what I was looking for but didn't know it until I found them. They are the perfect combination of ceramic and burnt orange and have a handy lip about two thirds of the way up the ramekin which is the precise level the mix should be poured up to when making a creme brulee.