Review: Akrapovic Conical Slip-On (Titanium)

So, for those of you who know me, you would know that my Akrapovic slip-on was stolen recently. I sincerely hope that the thief dies a horrible death. These may be harsh words. But trust me, if one day, after a long tiring day at work, you walk to your motorcycle. Bearing high hopes that the ride home will bring a smile to your face, but only to find your muffler stolen, the words that form in your mind won't be polite at all heh.

Well that's that.

Now to the focus of this post. I installed the original muffler onto my bike, never realized that it sounded so lame. The exhaust note was just not pleasing at all. So, immediately the next day, I dropped by HKL to get a new Akrapovic slip-on. I am officially an Akrapovic fan. I asked for the same slip-on that I lost, but the mechanic recommended me this; the Akrapovic Conical Slip-On (Titanium).

The mechanic said that this was a newer model and the power delivery is better because of the conical shape. You can see more details at Akrapovic's official website.

I had to wait for a few hours before the courier could deliver the slip-on to the workshop. In the meantime, I installed a motorcycle alarm. I'll talk about the alarm in my next post.

Finally, the courier arrived.

(Please forgive me for the quality of these photos. They were taken with my iPhone.)

The slip-on.

The muffler clamp and a bottle of liquid sealant for the screws.

The installation was very fast, it probably took less than 5 minutes.

It sounds pretty much the same as my previous exhaust, but hey, you can tell it's the sound of an Akrapovic. That's good enough for me haha.

The slip-on was priced at SGD$1270. If I remember correctly, that was around the same price I paid for my previous one. No complaints from me.

I suppose the key takeaways from this story are:

1. Akrapovic rocks

2. Install a motorcycle alarm

The next few days are going to be pretty exciting because I'll be publishing a couple of new posts, and also launch the Riding Bible YouTube Channel by uploading some street and track riding videos. But, you can of course subscribe first.

Thank you for the support so far. Ride safe!

Your First Knee Down

Everyone remembers their first knee down. Today was a day of many firsts, I finally scraped the knee sliders of my Alpinestars Trigger suit. It was just Rafie and I at Johor Circuit today. Our third time to Johor Circuit, and they say 'third time's a charm'. It definitely was the case for me haha.

We left my place at 8.40am, and arrived at Pasir Gudang in just less than 40 minutes. It is a lot faster when we lanesplit as compared to the previous times where we took an hour to get there. With the first session starting at 10.30am, we still had a lot of time to spare. We had our breakfast at the McDonald's nearby before we entered the circuit to have our playtime.

It pays to be there early, no mad rush. And at least, we could get a breather before starting the session. There were only 5 of us today; Rafie's GXSR600, my R6, someone else's (Shah) R6, someone else's (Wan) CB1000R, and a race team's MV Agusta.

Shah and Wan were alone. So we chatted them up, and found out there that like all other track riders, they are friendly people. Everyone's just there to have some fun, and return home safe.

So the session started, and I went at my usual pace. After about the third lap, I started to sweat through my head liner, usual signs before I hit the pits to grab some water. Rested for 10 minutes before heading out again, feeling much more relaxed with my tyres heated up. And there it was, at turn 1, the elusive knee down sensation.

The key to having your knee down is to relax and ride slower. It sounds absurd, but before getting your first knee down, riding faster will not bring you closer to your goal; you will most probably crash out instead. When you relax and focus on hitting your braking, apex and exit markers, everything around you inevitably seems to look slower. That's where you enter riding nirvana, what people describe as 'being in the zone'. That's where you get your knee down.

(Correct body posture plays a huge part in achieving your first knee down safely. Read this post on proper body posture. Body Posture & Positioning)

The sound and feeling of your knee sliders scraping on the tarmac is pretty darn addictive haha. But do remember, that the ultimate goal to having a faster lap time is not dragging your knee in every turn. The knee is just a gauge of your lean angle, that's about it.

Okay, so I've talked about one first, the other first is my first time entering the gravel trap haha. Got a little too confident after blasting past turn 2, and entered turn 3 without braking enough. Poof! Next thing I knew I was in the gravel trap trying to steer myself away from the tyre wall, and trying hard not to drop the bike. Lady luck was on my side today, and I managed to keep the bike upright. Phew. I returned to the pits to find my balls, before running a few more laps towards the end of the session.

The gravel didn't do any damage to my fairings, so no photos there. More knee slider photos perhaps?

Apart from knee sliders, I have been scraping my toe sliders since the previous track session. I'm still trying to figure out if it's my posture or my stock rear sets are just not aggressive enough. Anyway, let the photos do the talking.

Finally, to Wan who offered to lead us back to Singapore. Thank you! We were pretty lost without our GPS.

That's all. Ride safe people.

Review: BMC Air Filter

Finally found the time to ride to HKL and get some servicing done. This time, I needed to change the engine oil, change the air filter, and change the spark plugs. There is nothing much to talk about engine oil or spark plug changes, so I will be focusing on the air filter. Namely, a BMC air filter. Always wanted to use an aftermarket air filter, and here was my chance.

I arrived at HKL around 11am, and parked my R6 beside this gorgeous Ducati 1198S.

Waited about 30 seconds before a mechanic came to attend to me. In the meantime, I took a photo of their dyno machine. I was that FAST haha.

Told the mechanic what I wanted and he presented me with the BMC air filter for my bike. As you can see from one of the photos below, FM515/04TRACK is the part code for my 2011 R6. You can search on BMC's website for the part code for your bike.

Now, let's get to work! Or rather, the mechanic get to work while I sit down, and take photos haha. He had to strip off both my fairings to be able to access my spark plugs. Pretty labour intensive procedure which he charged SGD$25 for.

Please pardon my dirty bike. It has only been been 5 days since I last washed my bike, no thanks to the rainy weather these days.

If you look at somewhere near the centre of the photo below, you will be able to notice the 4 cables connected to the spark plugs. The photo is a little blur, that was the best focus my lousy camera could manage. Sad.

Lifted up my fuel tank to reveal the air filter housing. 17 litres worth of petrol sure looks tiny from here.

Lo and behold. This is where the BMC air filter will go into.

So, this is how the air filter looks like outside its box haha.

The BMC air filter is washable by the way. On top of that, HKL would honour the 2-year warranty as long as you have the receipt with you.

And here's my stock air filter.

Looks pretty okay minus the few small leaves that got through. But the R6 owner's manual recommends to replace the air filter, not wash it. Me, being a good owner, followed its advice haha.

With the air filter installed, it was time to install the new spark plugs. 4 DENSO Iridium spark plugs ready to be put to work on a 599cc engine.

Wrapping up with my 1 year old stock spark plugs. Do you know how to read the wear on your spark plugs? I will dedicate a post to answer that soon.

Total bill added up to SGD$329.

Breakdown:
SGD$66 for 3 bottles of engine oil.
SGD$150 for the BMC air filter.
SGD$88 for 4 spark plugs.
SGD$25 for labour.

You can be sure that I kept this receipt somewhere safe. Don't want to miss out on the 2-year warranty for the BMC air filter! I rode home and noticed a difference in the exhaust note. This is normal when you switch to an aftermarket air filter. There is a new 'hollow sounding' note coming out of my exhaust, and the sound sends a sweet tingling sensation through my body whenever I twist the throttle! Time to talk less and ride more!

Until next time. Ride safe!

Review: Alpinestars Fastlane Shoes

Rainy day today! There is probably no better day than today to ride to Regina in search of my next purchase. I'm kidding. The weather was wet and miserable. But for most hardened riders like myself, a puny torrential rain won't stop us!

Once at Regina, I was caught between 2 choices.

The Alpinestars Fastlane Shoes.

Or the Alpinestars Fastback WP (Waterproof) Shoes.

Having a waterproof pair of riding shoes in Singapore is a very wise choice. But heck, I'm not some wise old man. The Fastlane looks 10 times better than the Fastback any day, so I bought it. I have no idea why the Fastback, which was actually developed as an improvement over the Fastlane, looks less attractive. First rule in riding gear, always buy the flashy and prettiest stuff. Don't quote me on that haha.

I don't think I got a good deal for the Fastlane for SGD$200, but what the hell, I'm rich haha. NOT. I was just too lazy to haggle, although I did ask for and got a free helmet bag. So, if you're willing to spend a little effort to bargain, you might get a better price than I did.

Rode home wearing the new shoes; shifting gears with the shoe's shift pad is comfortable and easy. The fit is pretty good and snug if you buy the correct size, and the bottom of the shoe is quite unique. The bottom looks slippery but because it uses some Alpinestars laser technology, there is quite a lot of grip. Oh, and the shoes are very comfortable to walk in.

I highly recommend the Fastlane if you're looking for something stylish with some safety aspects. But it wouldn't be stylish anymore if everyone you know has a pair haha.

Ride safe!

MotoGP 2012: Sepang

Finally, the day has finally come. I booked our MotoGP tickets in June; and we have been waiting for 4 months for this day. We left Singapore rather early in the morning. By the time we left the Tuas Customs checkpoint, it was 7am.

Had a quick stop around 1 hour later for water and toilet breaks.

We continued for about another hour before we stopped for breakfast at this huge rest area. It's a bridge mall that stretches across the north south highway. Nothing smells better in the morning than an A&W breakfast heh.

We met this group of Singapore riders who were going to Sepang International Circuit too.

We finally arrived around noon. The parking area was very muddy, saw a few cars roll back trying to drive up the slope.

Ducati owners get to enjoy preferential parking. That sways the decision on my next bike towards the Italian manufacturer a lot haha.

The atmosphere was just electrifying. The little motorcycle village, or paradise as I would call it was nothing short of magnificent. Dozens of shops selling everything from Alpinestars keychains to Ducati 1199 Panigales. It was definitely an experience not to be missed for all motorcycle lovers.

Not forgetting the hot motorcycle babes!

Hmm yummy. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was Saturday when we arrived and we were there to watch the qualifying rounds. Malaysian rider, Zulfahmi Khairuddin clocked the fastest lap, and qualified in pole position. It was also his birthday, and on home ground; there was no better birthday present the young rider could ask for.

Here are some photos from the MotoGP qualifying round.

Moto2 was the last to qualify. Didn't manage to watch the entire session though because it was already 3pm and we had to check in to our hotel, Concorde Inn KLIA, before 4pm. We took our final photos and rushed back to the car. Fortunately, the hotel was just a 10-minute drive away, yay!

Checked in and I couldn't wait to take a shower, but first...

Cosy little room. It cost us about 250rm per room per night, including breakfast and wifi. There is nothing to do in the area though. The nearest pubs you can go to are at the Nilai area, the hotel's concierge should be able to give you directions. Though I would recommend taking the 1 hour trip to Kuala Lumpur, Sepang is not particularly famous for its nightlife.

The next morning's breakfast was decent. The first warm up session was at 10.40am. We left the hotel at 10am, thinking we would still make it in time. Boy, were we wrong; very wrong. The traffic towards the circuit was horrendous! What was supposed to be a 10-minute drive took us almost 1 hour. So word of advice, go there early on race day!

By the time we parked the car and walked to the grand stand, it was already noon and the warm up sessions were over haha. The weather was cool and dry, perfect to start the Moto3 race with. 1 hour later, the teams started to gather at their starting positions.

It was a really exciting race with the locals cheering for their local talent, Zulfahmi Khairuddin. He was leading the race in the last few laps but was overtaken by Sandro Cortese in the last turn on the last lap.

And past the finishing line...

Zulfahmi was THAT close to winning a race for the first time. Tough luck. But the locals were still chanting his name as he celebrated his victory lap. I wish perhaps one day, Singaporeans will be able to do the same for a local rider. The Moto3 chequered flag was the only chequered flag we saw that day, Moto2 and MotoGP were red flagged. As Rafie aptly puts it, 3 races but only 1 chequered flag. It started raining right after the Moto3 race, even the podium girls were not spared.

Next up was the Moto2 race which had a wildcard Petronas Malaysian rider, Hafizh Syahrin. The race was red flagged as heavy rain poured down onto the track halfway into the race. Hafizh led the race for about 2 laps, and finished with an impressive 4th position after the red flag. I thought I heard the commentator say that it was the best ever result for a wildcard rider.

Finally, the event that everyone has been waiting for; MotoGP! Very wet race with a lot of riders crashing out. Ben Spies seems to be down on his luck this season, as he crashes out again.

The race was red flagged with Dani Pedrosa taking the win. Congratulations to him on his first win in a wet race.

This was definitely one of the best weekends I've had this year. I'm sure everyone who was there would agree with me. If you ever have the chance to watch MotoGP live, DO IT!

There are just too many photos for me to post here. You can find the rest of the photos on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/RidingBible. Don't forget to like the page!

Thanks for reading. Ride safe!