High_Sides Trips and Pics

[High_Side]

Nice! How do you like the GT? I was looking at one of those to replace my SS, because the SS was just too much for long rides and around town. However, I really wanted to reduce payments, so I opted for an 03 Z1000 instead (similar riding position, and all kinds of fun, and cheaper all around).

I really do love the 1000DS motor though. Are you planning on any suspension mods? I got pretty spoiled with the ohlins on the SS, so it will be a bit to get used to the stock Z suspenders... haha.

But it sounds like you and Mrs. High_Side can zip about in 100% ducati fashion. Too bad neither bike has the beautiful dry clutch racket, you guys could have been "that couple with the broken bikes!"

So let's hear a ride report!

Hey, thanks for the kind words!
The Z1000 is a great bike that I looked at too. I loved the style of the '03 but couldn't get my head around the Buck Rogers styling of the new one.

As for the dry-clutch, I will go on record as saying that I can't stand them on the street (that usually gets someones back up in Ducati circles ). I don't like the feel and the racket. And although I like the Ducks, I still love my Japaneese bikes and never want to be "one of those Ducati guys"...... so that would be a "not so much in fashion"

Now that is one sexy little bike... I still would've kept the Viffer, but that GT1000 is pretty sexy... Congrats!

Wrider

Who said I got rid of the Viffer?

[High_Side]

A few weeks ago I had a chance to rent a couple of bikes with one of my relatives when on vacation in Mauritius and we had a blast. Mauritius is unlike any place that I have been with the majority of people speaking French, most of the poplulation is Hindu, and the laws are based on the British parlimentary system, established before the island declared independence in the 1990s.
The entire family had a reason to go to Mauritius which is off the coast of Madigascar for a family reunion. After 28 hours of travel (including 6 hours in Heathrow), we landed in Mauritius, rented a car and headed across the island on the wrong side of the road trying to survive among some of the craziest drivers anywhere.
Bikes are a necessity for most people here and they are everywhere. I would guess that 80% of the bikes are under 50cc, 18% are under 200cc and a mere 2% are over 200cc. The way the roads are, the traffic and the type of driving really mean that anything over 200cc is a waste. Just because there are so many bikes on the road however doesn't mean that there is any respect given. Bikes are expected to run at the side of the road and doing otherwise will get you pasted.
A broken signal light but it's ok.....functioning electrics are not required.....even at night

The two bikes we rented were a bagged out Honda CBX250 (a rare site on the island and it drew comments from other riders), and a G-MAX 150 scooter that was virtually brand new. We headed out of town my favorite way (without a plan) and followed the coast along the north and west shores. With every stop along the coast the scenery looked like a postcard and we found ourselves amazed with what you could find at the end of a dead end road. While the Honda was fairly beat up it was still a blast and the scooter was giving me an ear to ear grin as well. These powerhouses felt like superbikes afterall as we were blowing past the smaller bikes like they were backing up; the narrow roads enhancing the illusion of BIG speed. The only constant damper on the fun was the repeated brushes with death brought on by oncoming drivers taking our lane and leaving us with nowhere to hide. At this point we have been driving on the island for a couple of days and I really don't understand how they don't kill more people.

As we move inland our intention is to head across the island and end up closer to home on the east side. We ended up lost, knowing our easterly direction would get us there eventually. The roads wound through fields of sugarcane and were often lined with a tunnel of beautiful old trees (supposedly planted to protect horses from the intense heat when carting sugarcane from the fields many years ago).

We stopped and decided that we would do all that we could to avoid going through Port Louis, which was the biggest city on the island. We had passed through there with the rental cars on the way from the airport and had witnessed some of the craziest lane splitting ever on a bike. Before we knew it however we were already heading in to Port Louis, and in to the chaos It was rush hour so I guess if you are going to go.....go big! We were in the stream and riding down the edge of traffic (it was either that or down the middle) but interestingly we had bikes coming towards us in our "lane", as well as pedestrians sharing the same "lane". Throw in the odd car pulling out without stopping into our path and our skills were being tested. And it's not like you can stop......there is not where to stop! Bloody insane, but locals are cool with it, inches from being squeezed between buses without breaking a sweat. I'm in awe of their skills. By the time we can stop we do, and are happy to be alive. We're not sure how we will get back through it.....a truck rental was mentioned or waiting until rush hour subsided. So we stop for a bite before suiting up, giving a couple of nice-to-know-you's before we rode it out. Freakin' eyes-like-saucers we had. Later, my riding buddy said he can't remember being more scared, but somehow we agreed that it was worth it and we'd do it again.

I had planned to get a couple of days on the bikes but a tropical depression had other plans for us. My beloved old A75 Canon had met a harsh fate with salt water on a catamaran a day before the bike ride so my pictures are a mix between what it would actually take that day and what I could get from borrowing a buddy's camera. We saw a lot on the bikes and I really wish that I had more pictures to remember it with. A couple of other pics taken in random places are below:

A view of Gold Island from the north shore:

A trip through the sugarcane fields:

The coloured earths of Mauritius:

Walking down the beach by the hotel:

And for those of you who don't know where the heck Mauritius is:

Cheers, High_Side

[High_Side]

A new bike and a couple of months straight of work can frustrate the hell out of someone. By the time work settled the kids were out of school and whatever I was going to do I wanted to do it with them. With some time planned at a relatives cabin in northern Saskatchewan, I planned to meet the family out there and for the first time ever point the bike east for a ride.
The new Duck and I haven't exactly got along so this was our chance. There is a hell of a lot of straight roads between Calgary and Jackfish lake so I did what I could to find a scenic route....
The back roads of Olds AB near where I grew up:

Even as an Alberta boy I have never had a chance to check out the Rokon Sands near Buffalo Lake. However after arriving at Rokon Sands Provincial Park no substantial amount of sand was found. I did find 30 km of gravel however and managed to dust the Duck up good for the rest of the trip.
Retro bike meets retro house:

Whoa. Things are different in Saskatchewan......

Although the roads were dead straight the cannola was in bloom and the scenery was actually pretty great. The Duck did O.K. in the end, but the jury is still out on whether or not it will be around for long.
Curves......Saskatchewan.........if they can happen here they can happen anywhere!

[Shorts]

Beautiful pictures. I had you in mind today - I was looking through some Duc Monster stuff.

That CBX250 looks like a fun bike to get to ride.

[High_Side]

Beautiful pictures. I had you in mind today - I was looking through some Duc Monster stuff.

That CBX250 looks like a fun bike to get to ride.

Thanks Shorts, great to hear from you. Have you put many miles on this year? The CBX was cool, but I'd think that your baby VTR is better

Are you thinking of a Monster?

[Shorts]

I have put some good miles on the bike this season, but it has been way too short of a year. The weather just changed and it will be hard to get in more quality rides. Both bikes are listed for sale now before our move. So, it's near time to say goodbye I don't want to,


I am looking at a Monster as an option for the next bike. It's sitting there on the list with the Aprilia Mana. I could find a used Monster for a real good price to modify. But I really like the 696 styling better. That snowballs into the costs. If I pay similar amounts for a new Mana and new 696, it almost seems logical to choose the bike that ready to ride, the Mana.

I have a little time to do research, watch the reviews and market. It'll be a tough choice. If I had to choose today, it'd be a coin toss. Ideally, I could have it both ways and take one of each, but that scenario most likely won't pan out

[blues2cruise]

Great picture.

[High_Side]

Great picture.

Thanks for the compliment Blues.

[High_Side]

This year had been a terrible year for biking for us with work encompassing the last half of May, every day in a rainy June, and the first couple of weeks in July. That's likely the only reason that I ended up taking the bike to Saskatchewan in the posts above. By August however we had the neeed to get away and luckily my mother-in-law found the time to take the boys to allow us a chance to get out for a 3 day ride. As Jen doesn't like to ride too far in a day we needed to stretch it out a little by leaving early so at 4pm the day before we were supposed to leave we jumped on the bikes and made it to Fernie B.C. Usually, we never ride throught the mountains starting in late afternoon due to the wildlife starting to move but with a little caution we gave it a shot. I can't recall having any better luck avoiding rain clouds but we seemed to just miss the storm everywhere we rode that day. When checking in to the motel as we were just in to our own first bit of rain I noticed the bike of an aquaintance from the VFR forum in the parking lot. After we caught up with them later, they told us of how they had arrived a 1/2 hr. before us from the same direction and had ridden rain for a couple of hours. Luck was on our side for this first leg of the trip!

The next very-cool morning after breakfast we loaded up the bikes and headed out after a stop for a memory card for my new camera. I had picked up a new Canon the day that we left Calgary and failed to notice that it took the new smaller memory cards, so $40 we were set. Again it was threatening rain but Jen opted to skip the rain gear in order to plug in her heated jacket which turned out to be a pretty good choice. We turned south at Elko and followed Lake Koocanusa across the border to Montana. When fueling up in south of the border we ran across a couple of older ladies out touring (one on a FJR and one on A Magna). They told us of how great the roads were on the west side of the lake, but I was doubtful as I had "been down that road" before and it was a bumpy, gravelly mess that had nearly shook the bits off my VTR several years earlier. After following them out of town, they seemed to know what they were doing so maybe they could be right.... The roads had potential several years ago as they were as twisty as a goat trail in several places and with some better asphault they could be awesome. You would think that if they had been improved that they might have made it on to the map by now.....but they seemed to know what they were doing.....


Stopped to look across the bridge that crosses Lake Koocanusa - should we give it another go????

[blues2cruise]

Thanks for sharing......by the way....how was that road? Were they right?

PS....that was a heck of a twisty in Saskatchewan....