The squadron is complete

Team CanUK made a significant step forward in terms of trip preparation over the weekend – we now have all four bikes that will be going on the adventure. The final addition to the 2008 line-up was Ted’s new bike – a 1998 Honda Fireblade - which I picked up from North London over the weekend.


Looking at the pictures, you might think that a Fireblade seems an odd choice for a cross-continent adventure, particularly when the rest of us are riding heavily modified dirtbikes. But Ted’s trip is only going as far as Turkey, so there’s little need for him to get anything so durable. Instead, he’s decided to lap up Europe’s smooth roads and liberal speed limits on something a bit quicker. And who can blame him.

The pictures tell their own story in terms of the Fireblade’s pace, but all too often we see nice looking bikes that turn out to be tortoises with go faster stripes painted on them. Fortunately the Fireblade isn’t one of those. Obviously she looks great, particularly with that sleek bronze and graphite finish. But there’s more to her than that - the 918cc engine for one. With an engine that size you get a lot of power and a lot of speed. According to the owner’s manual, the 130 horsepower engine will take the Fireblade up to 170.9 mph. The fastest I’ve ever been on a bike was just over a hundred miles an hour. And that seemed buttock-clenchingly fast to me. Presumably at 170mph you’re clenching so much that the bike actually becomes part of you. I guess we’ll have to ask Ted about that.

With all that power and a fair bit of weight too (she’s a big bike), I was somewhat apprehensive when I first clambered on to ride her home. Nobody wants to drop a bike, particularly their mate’s shiny new one. And with the bike sitting on the pavement (sidewalk to all you North Americans) my first task was to roll it down the curb and get on the road. That doesn’t sound like a tricky manoeuvre but when you’ve got 180kgs of bike to balance, and fairly short legs, it is. Fortunately though, despite the Fireblade’s size and weight, it turned out to be quite easy. The bike is actually very manoeuvrable and is surprisingly similar to my own CB 400 (aka the Nimbus) at slow speeds. They both have good brakes as well, which I found out after just a few seconds on the Fireblade (shortly after testing the throttle). But that’s really where the similarities end. The Nimbus is a very conventional bike – it gets you from A to B in good time and in a fun way - the Fireblade does that but seems to have the curious effect of distorting space and time as well.

In first gear you can lazily accelerate up to 30mph and it feels like you’re barely moving. In second you comfortably get up to 50 or 60 without taxing the engine – and even at those speeds it feels like you’re just pootling along. At 80mph in third nothing’s changed, except the grin on your face has gotten wider and you’re definitely breaking the speed limit. And in 4th, 5th and 6th you errr… well I would tell you about those gears but I didn’t get a chance to use them – the bike has that much power. I’m not sure whether it’s the fairing on the bike that makes it so stable at high speeds, or whether it has a flux capacitor fitted to slow time down while you’re on it, either way– this is a very fast, and very fun bike.

But nothing’s perfect, and the Fireblade, like all machines has a few faults. Like me, the bike is fairly impatient and so the ride through central London didn’t do either of us any favours. The bike got hot under the collar causing the engine temperature to tick up, and I got frustrated about travelling at 10mph on a 170mph sports bike. It does make me wonder why anyone would buy a sports car in central London. Not only do you get stuck in hours of traffic, but you also have the infuriating knowledge that without all the other cars you could do your trip in a matter of seconds. Bah.

In terms of other faults, the ride was a little firmer than I’m use to, no doubt reflecting the bike’s sportier suspension. The riding position is also a bit awkward at slower speeds. Unless you lie flat on the tank, the low slung handlebars put quite a bit of pressure on your wrists (I got pins and needles a few times). And if you do lie on the tank you cant really see where you’re going because the windscreen is so darkly tinted that it might as well be painted black. The bike is also quite dangerous as it encourages you to take your eye off the road and look at its reflection in shop windows. But despite those minor problems it really is an excellent bike.

Lets hope she stands up to the Ted test.

The weather

It seems fitting to begin this blog in much the same way that most British people start a conversation – with a few remarks on the weather.

The weather is a favourite topic of discussion in Britain, even if we’re normally just complaining about it. Obviously the rain is our most common gripe but we’re grumpy about other stuff too. At the moment the hot topic is the temperature. Summer is fast approaching and talk on my train to work has already turned to the searing heat and how it will make the daily commute unbearable. Just a few weeks earlier, those same commuters were complaining about ‘how bloody cold it is’ and ‘why it shouldn’t be snowing in April’. Based on this sort of talk you’d be forgiven for thinking Britain has one of the harshest climates in the world, but in actual fact we’ve got one of the mildest. God forbid then if any of us should leave Britain’s mild shores and venture abroad.

But over the next few weeks I’ll be making the final preparations to do exactly that. Come the 3^rd of June, I along with three of my friends from Canada – Ted, Tyson and Jerry – will depart from London and head off on a three month adventure across Europe, the Middle East and Africa all the way to Cape Town. During the 15,000 mile trip the weather is likely to play a key role, not least because we’re travelling by motorbike. Without comforts like climate control, windscreen wipers or a roof, we’re at the mercy of the elements. The wind will try to batter us off course; a quick shower will drench us from head to toe; and a sunny day with a light breeze will lift our spirits like nothing else. Travelling by motorbike may not be the most comfortable way to get from A to B, but it certainly is invigorating.

But all the excitement will have to wait a few more weeks. In the meantime there is still a lot to organise. Visas and other paperwork need to be sorted, the bikes need to be modified and tested, and survival and photography equipment has to be bought and prepped. It’s going to be a busy few weeks and that’s despite two years of planning. But to help relieve stress I’ve discovered an interesting new technique – curiously enough related to the weather. The trick is to spend a few minutes just staring up at the sky and marvelling at the clouds. It sounds like a childish pursuit and it is, but it’s surprisingly effective in turning the dull commute in to something more majestic – it’s thought provoking too. This book - ‘The Cloudspotters Guide’ by Gavin Pretor-Pinney – sparked my interest. It’s well written, funny and filled with interesting trivia – well worth a read if only to help you turn skyward.

So enjoy that, and until the next trip update, enjoy the weather.