Just watch the video. This video makes me want an old bike realllly bad!

I.D.W.P from Edwin Europe on Vimeo.

I got a knock on my door this morning from the upstairs neighbor.. he informed me that my bike was laying on it’s side. So I went out to the back and it had been pushed over on to the gravel in the back, in front of my Jeep. I don’t know how it happened, and it sure as hell wasn’t me.. my only guess is that some drunk came along last night and thought it would be cool to sit on it or something, and dropped it. :(

It was dropped on the opposite side of the kickstand, so it wasn’t soft ground that was the cause, and the weather was good all night, so it wasn’t wind.

I’ll have to talk to the insurance company tomorrow to find out what my options are.

Damage: Cracked fairing in two places, scratched mirror, scratched bar end, scratched front brake, dented exhaust.

Click the images for a larger view.

I also just wanted to share this video, because it mixes dubstep and motorbikes.. and it’s AWESOME!

Here it is. I think it turned out really good. Please watch it in HD.

Our trip is done! We had an amazing journey, and the weather cooperated pretty well for us.. As much as we can ask for in June out in BC, anyway. I created a pretty intricate map on motowhere.com that includes all our rest stops, gas stops, sleeping places, etc. You can push the “next point” button and basically follow along on our route, or you can just view the maps “google maps” style, and zoom around and have a look.

If you want to view the map full screen, click here to go to the motowhere site.

I can’t wait to go back. :)

Edit:

I finished a video of the weekend! Make sure you watch in 720p! It really looks terrible in SD :(

My 2nd update:

Here’s what I believe is a final drawing of the fender eliminator. The bend lines should give you an idea of what it will look like.. hopefully I can get it cut at work tomorrow.

The two holes at the very bottom are where the license plate attaches, then up from there, the 4 holes that have bends right near them attach to each other with a bolt so it will swivel.

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My 3rd update:

It’s done! Here’s a few pictures of the progress and the final product.

Being laser cut:

Cut complete:

After I formed it, and fit it together (I found it to work better without bending the one line on the drawing.. looks perfect without it):

Installing it:

Lights on:

Final shot!

The license plate lights are really bright, and they look really nice. They don’t light up the plate too much though. If you’re interested in the same lights, these are the ones I used (The satin dome style). They cost me $24 cdn from a local shop. They are meant to plug right into 12v, so you don’t have to do anything fancy. Just cut the existing wire for the plate light, and wire these in.

http://www.designengineering.com/category/catalog/design-engineering-inc/led-lighting-products-speed-tape/led-plate-kits

After picking up a couple stainless bolts/nuts/washers to attach the two parts, the total cost was about $28.

I want to put a fender eliminator on my bike, also known as a license plate holder. You remove the stock fender on the back that contains reflectors, the plate, and a bunch of plastic, and replace it with a much smaller holder for the plate. These can be had aftermarket for about $75 USD give or take $10-$20. I figured I could make one at work with the laser table for free, and get to design it myself! I started by removing the fender on my bike, and discovered that the 4 fasteners on it have an aluminum plate sandwiched in-between them and the plastic fender! This is a great thing to measure off of to make my bracket.

I started off by removing the aluminum sandwich plate and bolting my fender back on, bolts right to the plastic. At this point I don’t care if the fender is not meant to be held on there with just bolts as I’m not concerned about wrecking it. I then downloaded Google Sketchup which I have worked with in the past, but I haven’t used it in roughly a year and a half.. I was able to take the stock sandwich plate from Suzuki and duplicate it in about 35 mins with no trouble at all! Fuck I love Sketchup!

Here’s a pic of the product and the copy, before I modify it to work as a new fender eliminator for my bike. It’s not an exact copy as you can see by the top tips on mine being a little sharper, but I can go back in and modify that later.

Once I do a bit more research on how I’m going to light the plate, I can go ahead and finish the design, and get it laser cut and powder coated. The final product will have bolts on the side so it can pivot as well.

I’m sitting here in Timmies on Whyte ave waiting for Trav to stop by for a coffee. There are lots of bikes out in the parking lot as usual. I figured I would try out this wordpress program for the blackberry. :)

My bike surpassed 2000km today, and I stopped into Riverside Cycle to book my 1st service for next friday.

Woohoo!

I picked up my bike yesterday afternoon!

I was really nervous about my first ride, and was damned near shaking as I put on all my new gear, ready to go out for the first time on this bike. The bike had 0km on it, and the only distance it had traveled was my salesman bringing it around front, from the bay door in the back of the shop.

I took my time sitting on the bike, letting it idle.. I went from 1st and back to neutral a few times to make sure I got the hang of that.. then I set off slowly, to do a few laps around the parking lot of the bike shop. I found it almost immediately comfy and easy to maneuver slowly around the parking lot.. surprised at how agile and light the bike felt.

After a few laps I set out on the road, and once again the nervousness was replaced with an almost innate feel to the bike.. easy to ride, easy to handle, and easy to keep the power under control. I rode about 3-4 hours around town last night, and spent almost all day today riding it, and I almost feel completely comfortable with the bike. It’s been a blast, and I can’t wait to spend more and more time with it.

About the vlog thing.. I really want to do it now. I am going to look into the costs and methods to set it up this week.

I’ve got a tank protector to install, but I need to remove the warning stickers first.. and I also have a set of frame sliders on order.

I bought a bike last thursday (march 31st)! I haven’t got it yet, but I *might* get it this weekend. They are building it this week, and if I get all my insurance/registration stuff sorted out, I could possibly be riding all weekend!!

Here’s a picture of it. It’s a 2010 Suzuki GSX-R 750.

I’m really excited about it, but at the same time, I’m shitting myself, too.

I’m new to bikes. This is the first motorbike I have owned since I was a kid, and I’ve done a very limited amount of riding since then. I know most people think it’s not smart to hop right onto a sport bike without training on a smaller bike first, but I’m confident in my knowledge, skills, and intelligence to believe that I will be able to handle it just fine.

I have an idea of a video blog (vlog) of my trials, learning to ride a machine like this. Almost like proof.. whether it’s proof that I can buy a gixxer 750 and be safe, or proof that I am an idiot for doing so, is yet to be determined. Anyway, money permitting I will hopefully end up with a small camera and start recording my journey.

Wish me luck!