Ola Chicos

here we go again for another quarterly update.   Well...I  have done lots of this over the last 3 months.  


First, I went back jungle riding in Malaysia, then went back to Austin for moto gp and handbuild show, and return to London for the Bike Shed.  I also bought new bike, sold a few.   An exiting last few months......


So let's begin.  I went back to Malaysia for some more jungle riding.   I really enjoyed it last time but had left with a sour taste in my mouth.  I had gone with an enduro expert who had done Romaniacs and I had some serious issue with my fitness and riding ability.   Since then I had gotten into physical shape and had spend more time on the off road saddle.   So, I really wanted test myself under those new condition and with a more favorable trails selection to my riding skills.


This time I rented a Husky 250 brand new, while my guide was on crf 450

I enjoyed the first few minutes till.....

The bridge, if one can call that a bridge, broke under my, still too heavy, weight and I struggle to get the bike out of the ditch....But apart from that miserable start, I did well.   My cardio and my riding was good.   We started the day by going through palm tree fields and made our way deeper into

the jungle.     

The scenery was simply breath taking.   And after, approx. 1,5 hrs of riding, a deserved break in one of the beautiful jungle waterfall

Then we headed back to Ulu Choh for some serious enduro.

I felt much more comfortable this time.  There wasn't any apprehension and I knew what I was doing.  That was up until, I rode full speed into a quick sand paddle and drawn the bike halfway.

It took me one bloody hour to get it out.  I had to build some sort of net made of branches not sink in the sand myself.   Anyway, apart from that incident, it was a blast.   But it was time to change continent.


As soon as I hit the ground in Houston, I made my way to Austin for the moto GP.   Was planning on riding my chopper there, but weather condition called for rain, and I wasn't going to ride 4 hours one way without fenders after 21 hours flights.   Took the car instead but still got a warm welcome when I arrived.   Nice to be back in North America....

And after the last qualifier and despite some serious jetlag issues, I headed downtown Austin to the Handbuilt show.   The Handbuilt is becoming a serious industry now.  It has gotten so big that there is a 15usd cover charge to get in and they had to move to a larger venue.    

But I have to say, this year was the best of the last 3 years and the new venue is fantastic.  Here are some of my favorites pics.

Well, now that I was back in Houston, I used my spare time to ride and to build.  I did few trip around the Houston area with the good old 300 EXC and the TY 250 to improve my trials skill and build up on Malaysia.

But in all honesty, I still have a long way to go before I can call myself a intermediate rider.   I am still in the beginner "+" class.....


I also took a few ride with my chopper, mostly to Galveston but on my last trip I ended up breaking starter.  I tried endlessly to kick start it but luckily some state trooper had a rope and pull me so I could started on 2nd gear.   I am gonna have to fix it while am away.

Then spent some time in the garage to work on the Triumph.  I just wanted to do a quick mock up to see how the final project might look like. 

It looks pretty good to my eyes, although I am gonna have to work on front fender, and possibly on the side plate.   But overall I am pretty satisfied.  

Then I had bit of a life crisis....  

I am a true believer that a motorcycle is made to be ridden.  I can't stand showbikes that can't be on the road, nor do I want look at my bike and not have the possibility to ride them.   Further when a bike is not ridden, it takes a serious amount of maintenance to keep them all going.   

It really got into me this time especially after the KTM (front bearing), the XS and TY (carburation), and the Shovel (starter) gave me shit.....So decided, f... this, am selling everything so I can spend time on one project at the time and ride motorcycle.   The idea is to always keep 2 bikes:  in this case my 1979 XT, and my shovelhead chopper, and have one enduro bike brand new so I can focus on riding the hell out of it rather than hoping it won't die on the trails.  So I sold the KTM, sold the TY, sold the XS, and about to sell the 1971 Police, and for the second time in my life, I bought a new motorcycle.  

A KTM 250 XC-W. 

Within less than 12 hours, I was on my way to CTOR (Central Texas Off Road) park, with Gareth to try it out on the trails.

It was a bit tough at first to get use to it, and I hit the ground a few times, but a good start.   It just need to be ridden more often. 


But before I realize it, it was time to go back to Europe with 2 objectives :  go to the Bike Shed in London, and fly to France to get my 2 bikes road ready after 4 years in storage, so I can ride them around Corsica this summer.  


1st mission accomplished for my first "Bike Shed"   I can see a lot of people having a blast here.  The venue is beautiful, bit out of center of London but not far away fm Tower Bridge on the famous Tobacco Dock. 

but damn, it a f.... hipster paradise.  And to make the matter worse, it really did not see anything special, lots of beamer looking the same, and lots of Honda's looking the same.   Far from the level of the Handbuilt Show which I went to one month ago.   Anyway, here are a few pics

But as usual my best of show has to be a XT 500 which is a cross road between the frame and the engine of XT 500 and the front and swingarm of a CFR

Well, this seems to the end of this quarterly update.   Next is getting the Dyna and Madam's Sportster ready for touring Corsica this summer.   But before that, a 4 days ride in East Texas to do the twisted sister road.    Hasta luego......