Gulf Bike Week 2012

The world economic crisis put a stop to almost all the glitter and 'fun' of Dubai as a vibrant city in the middle east. However peoples here are so used to rapid change of everything - from rack to rich and from rich to rack. So right now the city is recovering steadily together with the rest of the world and I can see a lot of things are starting to come back to the order of how it used to be.

One of those things which is relevant to me, is the Gulf Bike Week. We had it in 2011 and we will have it again in 2012. It is going to be fun with bike show, meeting up with bikers from the region and performance by international bands - Megadeth, Daughtry and Razorlight. There will be also performance by local UAE bands - Absolace, Sandwash and Juliana Down. On top of this, the weather is getting colder and it definitely means a season for comfortable riding (we do ride during middle east summer but very very uncomfortable to the point when I wondered ..why did I ride in this condition?).

Stay tune I will be sharing pictures and stories of Gulf Bike Week 2012..

Fast Fujeirah

My buddy Irwan just got himself two babies ! one from her wife's belly and another one from BMW showroom....named as R1200R. He is pretty stoke about it, we all are.

He just put on some accessories on his bike and that was a no-brainer call for a summer night ride to burn the new tires. Irwan, Khairul and myself rode to the dealership to pick up Irwan's bike. I put on my jacket despite the heat since I knew riding out with these two boys would never be to some downtown coffee shop.

My prediction was spot on and after some animated rejection talk, we blasted off to Fujeirah town about 156 kilometres from Dubai. It was a smooth and fast ride at 140 - 180 km/h ripping through the dry hot wind. But the moment we entered Fujeirah town, it felt like riding in a cloud. The place was so humid that every surface was fogged and damp. I drank 4 bottles of water and still felt thirsty.

We reached home at 3.00 am and I was very much grateful with my freezer like air conditioner system at home !

The Man and his R1200Rrrrr !

Night Ride with IMC

Summer can be so unpleasant in this part of the world with temperature reaching 50 celcius and 90% humidity. But I am blessed with crazy friends in my motorcycle club who will not take any excuse to stop riding.

So we went out riding in Abu Dhabi to attend an event at Malaysian embassy and went about a club business. Meeting up friends (bikers and non-bikers) is always a pleasure to me and what more if it is accompanied with delicious home-made meals.

We knew we had fun when everybody reached home at 4.00 am the next day ! Who says middle east summer is a no riding season !

Manx's bike is getting meaner and badder

Never ending jokes with these jokers

 Brothers of the wind

  

Ringo as it is

Finally all are up and running....Thunderheader exhaust and Arlen Ness Big Sucker.

Now I need to concentrate on engine performance. I met a guy in Al Quoz called Deano who is a well known dyno tuner in Dubai. He gave me some tips on things which I need to buy to make it right. Damnnn.. its all money with this bike.

Summer Ride whilst Fasting

This month I observe the holy month of Ramadan when believers fast from dusk till dawn without dringking and eating.

The temperature in UAE throughout July is 45-50 degrees celcius on average.

But ..we still ride !

 Pretending that it was pleasant ride weather

 Forced smiles in the heat

Hot steels every where

Simpson Outlaw Bandit Helmet

I really need to keep a distance from my credit card and eBay website. There are so many cool stuff out there which are adding fun to ride a Dyna.

One of them is Simpson Outlaw Bandit helmet. What is sick about this helmet besides its classic badass look, is the fact that this full face helmet is sufficient in all aspects. It is not the best full face helmet you can get for the price ($400 in eBay), but it functionsas it is intended to be.

The wind noise is still there but hardly noticeable. The padding is plush and comes with 2 sets of cheek pads of different thickness.

Outlaw Bandit is surprisingly light. The front view is well sized. Bear in mind there are 2 versions of Bandit helmet of the same design - one is Bandit and another is Outlaw Bandit. The latter is specificall made for motorcycle and has wind ripple lines to deflect wind. However i think the ripple lines amplify the effect of wind lifting my head. No big deal.

Thunder Thursday

What a good week to be complimented with this super cool pipe. I am pretty much stoke to put this pipe on Ringo...loud pipe feel happy !!