Hi all,
Stumbled across this site in a quest to find some good information about my newly accquired machine, and to say the least, I'm glad I did.
I am an Aussie bloke working away in Singapore and well, i thought I'd give my 0.02c worth.
Singapore (for those of you who are not sure) is a small island on the southern tip of Malaysia 60km wide by 50 km tall, so there isnt much of a chance to get out and go for a ride. Unless of course you have plenty of room on your passport and are able to cross the bridge into Malaysia where there are endless expanses of open highways.
I came out here in 1992, and decided in 1995 to go and get my bike license. The system here is one of a kind. Its a three step system whereby the bike license is divided into 3 sections. <200cc, <400cc, then open class. To get a 200cc license, you have to endure about 5 months of theoretical and practical sessions, followed by a traffic police test which most first timers are doomed to fail. Usuall on your second chance, you'll pass.
A year later you are allowed to go for your 400cc license, whereby you have to go through the same amount of hardship, although they look at your skill more than anything else. DOesnt take as long though. The following year you are allowed to go for you open class, where you are expected to be able to handle a 750cc bike around the test circuit, drop it, pick it up, E brake, narrow plank course, bumpy course, figure 8 course etc etc.
All in all I really dont have any complaints. It took me two years to get my 400cc license, and three years later to get my open class. I started off on a Yamaha TZR 125cc. I am 5'10", 160lbs, so it was kind of small for me. I really could not wait to move up a step. After passing my 400cc, I bought a Honda CBR400 Fireblade, which i owned for a couple of years, following which i sold it to pay a small fortune for a car (they are not cheap in Singapore). The car was scrapped (Singapore law says you have to scrap your car after 10 years old) so i bought myself a Ducati Monster 400cc. A fun bike but I guess you have to be a Ducati lover to really appreciate it. I found i wasnt.
So i though OK, time to move up another step so I went out and did the course all over again, passing without much of a problem. So here i was with a fully fledged license and a 400cc bike. I looked at Hondas, Yamahas, Triumphs, BMW etc etc but was always kken on the Busa as i had seen a few of them on the road here. I went back to the shop where i bought the Duke and there it was, a gleaming Busa, low mileage, well kept, no accident, Yosh pipe, braided brake hoses, a nice reg number, and on a closer look, my name on the seat (or at least thats what i imagined). Took about an hour to decide that it was the bike that i always wanted, a quick chat with the shop owner and it was mine.
So 5 months later i can proudly say that i still have chicken strips on the tyres, although they are slowly disappearing. It is a bike to be respected. No doubt about that. To me its a bike that the rider has to take time to learn the responses and be able to feel the bike. I cant go far in Singapore before there is a traffic light clearly in my view, something which is a real pain.
So until i have the time to go up to Malaysia its something i just have to bear with. Anyway, in my opinion, no point rushing things, is there??
Comments appreciated.......
Stumbled across this site in a quest to find some good information about my newly accquired machine, and to say the least, I'm glad I did.
I am an Aussie bloke working away in Singapore and well, i thought I'd give my 0.02c worth.
Singapore (for those of you who are not sure) is a small island on the southern tip of Malaysia 60km wide by 50 km tall, so there isnt much of a chance to get out and go for a ride. Unless of course you have plenty of room on your passport and are able to cross the bridge into Malaysia where there are endless expanses of open highways.
I came out here in 1992, and decided in 1995 to go and get my bike license. The system here is one of a kind. Its a three step system whereby the bike license is divided into 3 sections. <200cc, <400cc, then open class. To get a 200cc license, you have to endure about 5 months of theoretical and practical sessions, followed by a traffic police test which most first timers are doomed to fail. Usuall on your second chance, you'll pass.
A year later you are allowed to go for your 400cc license, whereby you have to go through the same amount of hardship, although they look at your skill more than anything else. DOesnt take as long though. The following year you are allowed to go for you open class, where you are expected to be able to handle a 750cc bike around the test circuit, drop it, pick it up, E brake, narrow plank course, bumpy course, figure 8 course etc etc.
All in all I really dont have any complaints. It took me two years to get my 400cc license, and three years later to get my open class. I started off on a Yamaha TZR 125cc. I am 5'10", 160lbs, so it was kind of small for me. I really could not wait to move up a step. After passing my 400cc, I bought a Honda CBR400 Fireblade, which i owned for a couple of years, following which i sold it to pay a small fortune for a car (they are not cheap in Singapore). The car was scrapped (Singapore law says you have to scrap your car after 10 years old) so i bought myself a Ducati Monster 400cc. A fun bike but I guess you have to be a Ducati lover to really appreciate it. I found i wasnt.
So i though OK, time to move up another step so I went out and did the course all over again, passing without much of a problem. So here i was with a fully fledged license and a 400cc bike. I looked at Hondas, Yamahas, Triumphs, BMW etc etc but was always kken on the Busa as i had seen a few of them on the road here. I went back to the shop where i bought the Duke and there it was, a gleaming Busa, low mileage, well kept, no accident, Yosh pipe, braided brake hoses, a nice reg number, and on a closer look, my name on the seat (or at least thats what i imagined). Took about an hour to decide that it was the bike that i always wanted, a quick chat with the shop owner and it was mine.
So 5 months later i can proudly say that i still have chicken strips on the tyres, although they are slowly disappearing. It is a bike to be respected. No doubt about that. To me its a bike that the rider has to take time to learn the responses and be able to feel the bike. I cant go far in Singapore before there is a traffic light clearly in my view, something which is a real pain.
So until i have the time to go up to Malaysia its something i just have to bear with. Anyway, in my opinion, no point rushing things, is there??
Comments appreciated.......
