Short tuesday blog post…..

Hi everyone,

This week’s Grafton rides have been cold…..and foggy!!  Anthony loaded up with an extra layer today to keep him warm, but for me it was simply a case of suck it up and deal with it!  But that’s ok, because I’m a scooter and not able to add additional layers.

So how has the two-wheeled experience been for the rest of you?   We were lucky enough to leave the office after a storm rolled through Grafton, and thankfully the road was mostly dry by the time we left.

Tomorrow we are off on a shorter trip to Maclean, but it’s still a chance to get out on the road and ride.  Any chance to put the rubber side down is always good, so enjoy your rides and we’ll see you out there…

Cheers

Derbi

For more info on this week’s winners of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion’s of the week checkout  www.rideicon.com Today we present the Angels of Icon….

Inspired…yep I sure am!!!!

Hi All,

Today’s commute was one of the best ever – simply for the fact that after being off the road for almost two weeks, I was back out there once more and loving it!!

It was a cooler morning than we have had previously, but it was so great to get out and enjoy the corners, the straights, the speed zone changes, even some of the familiar bumps and ruts in the road…….it was just great to have the rubber side down once more and be out there enjoying all that the ride has to offer.

And here I am, one sunny afternoon……I love this photo and the way it has been edited (unlike the “editing” that Anthony did recently while playing with a photo app that produced some pretty hideous results!!)

Vicki produced this shot for Anthony for a chance at getting me on the coveted “Photo Of The Day” spot on bikepics.com  - Unfortunately we didn’t get there, but its one of the many shots of me that I absolutely love.

Her work is simply amazing…..and there are times in your life that you meet people who add something to your life, and then there are times when you meet people who not only add something, but enrich your life in ways you never thought possible.

Inspiring, captivating, talented, driven, determined…..all words that are used to describe her work……..she can see what truly exists beyond the lens, with an ability to capture the emotions, the details, the unspoken moments……….the overflowing smiles from a loving groom waiting for his bride, the kiss from a proud father as he gives away his daughter, the visible outpouring of love between two people as they share a tender moment upon a sandy beach under a setting sun, or sit beneath a forest tree illuminated by magical afternoon light………

All of these elements provide the setting for works of art – moments in time when technique meets talent, style meets flair, and a deep love of photography and passion to be the best, produces the end result……pure visions of life, love and laughter….. all captured and immortalised – forever!!!

Vicki James is that photographer…..a gifted woman with the experience and ability to make your wedding day or portrait session all that you could hope for and more.

Anthony’s admiration for her work, her ability, and her passion, combined with his deep love for her as his partner in life is endless and boundless.    Vicki, we love you and all that you do.

So that’s it from me today…….The chance to be back out on the road again in the morning is so exciting…..Enjoy your rides this week everyone……Enjoy not just the ride, but the destination, the journey, the sun, the rain, the music, the laughter…….get out there and go for it…..

Take care and be safe!!

Cheers

Derbi.

And so we come to this week’s winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger – who has been featured before, but that was almost two years ago.

She is a founding member of rock band Evanescence (one of Anthony’s favourites, and a selection of their tracks are featured on his “Riding Music” playlist).  She has a recognizable fashion style, marked by her occasional use of Gothic make-up and taste for Victorian-styled clothing.  Anthony has had the chance to see Evanescence perform live on two occasions, and considers the tracks “Bring Me To Life”, “My Immortal”, “My Last Breath” (all from “Fallen”) and “Call Me When You’re Sober”, “Lithium”, “Like You” and “Good Enough” (from “The Open Door”) to be among his favourites.  Notable side projects include the hit “Broken” with Seether and Korn’s “Freak On A Leash” from their MTV unplugged performance.   She is known officially as Mrs Amy Hartzler, but to her fans, she will always be the one and only, Amy Lee.

Ok, we’ve had enough rain….no I mean it….we’ve had enough!!!

Hi all,

We had a wet ride yesterday and this is why…….

And its still hanging around…..

Motorcycle racing began again this past weekend with round one of the World Superbike round at Phillip Island. Britain’s Leon Haslam (Suzuki) has come out on top of the championship with Michael Fabrizio (Xerox Ducati) in second place.

Xerox Ducati’s other rider, 2009 championship runner-up Noriyuki Haga, had a warmup session accident with Motorad BMW’s Ruben Xaus (….a polite way of saying Xaus unfortunately crashed into Haga at 150mph…) which caused Xaus to not compete in the race, and Haga’s bike got a complete rebuild.

The finish between Haslam and Fabrizio was so close (0.004 seconds) that a photo was called for to see who won….and this is what 0.004 seconds looks like (at 295kmh)

So how did the Australian’s go?   After round one Troy Corser (BMW) now sits in 8th, Joshua Brookes (Honda) is 17th, Andrew Pitt (BMW) 18th, and Chris Vermulen (Kawasaki) unfortunately crashed out of both races.

MotoGP kicks off in April from Qatar.  Testing has just been completed in Sepang, Malaysia and Valentino Rossi set a record lap time of 2min 0.271 sec which is 0.654 under his first test time, and 0.247 under his official record from qualifying in last October’s Malaysian GP.

In other news, today Crusty Demon rider Seth Enslow broke the record for jumping a Harley Davidson today…reaching a distance of 56 meters.

So that’s it from us today……have a great week, stay safe and have fun,

And so we now come to this weeks winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the week….and she’s a repeat winner, she’s been responsible for a huge amount of web searches that have lead people to this blog, and if you do a google image search for her name, this blog currently comes up as number 4.

She is an American actress and dancer, the daughter of an actress, model, dancer, and an actor…she has been featured in music videos, and is most known for her role as “Andie” in Step Up 2.  She is Brianna Evigan.

Its Monday….

Hi everyone,

I’m back again….I’ve decided that I’m going to blog more than once a week if I can….so here we go.

Despite the wet trip to work this morning, there were quite a lot of bikes out….Including a blue Yamaha (not sure if it was a R1 or R6), a girl in full leathers on a yellow Ducati…..and a rare treat was the sight of a $100k+ Ducati Desmocedici RR.    (It’s a pitty we didn’t get a chance to see it up closer, but on the road it looked awesome.)    This was the first time Anthony had ever seen one in the wild so it was pretty cool!

There were a few other bikes around (various sportsbikes)…so it seemed that despite the ordinary weather, being on two wheels was a good thing.

Often when we come across new gear on the net I like to mention it, and this week’s new gear comes from one of my favourite companies:  Icon Motorsports, and last week they released their new 2010 range.  Favourite stuff from this collection is the Variant Helmet, the Sub Etched Gloves and the Alliance Zipperface Helmet

Something else that we’ve come across lately that is different is Julien Dupont’s Ride the World urban freestyle series.  This trials bike riding nutter has so far taken on Berlin, Budapest, France and Mexico City.  Click on the link to checkout footage on Youtube.

So that’s it from me today, hope your ride home this afternoon is a good one.  Its dry here so far, so it’s looking good for a dry ride home.  Ride safe and we’ll see you out there.

cheers

Derbi.

Before I go, there was another thing we found on the net that Anthony is absolutely loving, and that is the 2010 Suzuki Gladius, which now comes in RED!  He’s hoping they will have the red one at the upcoming Australian Motorcycle Expo on the Gold Coast…..so for Anthony, here it is!…..

Back on the highway again…..

Howdy everyone,

After some short commutes to work recently, we are back on the highway starting monday.

So whats been happening lately?  Today Cyril Despres from the KTM team took out the bike category of the Dakar Rally. Last years winner Marc Coma did well to finish 8th despite the huge penalties that he endured during the race.

Ducati this past week unveiled the new Desmocedici GP10 at Wroom 2010.   Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden are both impressed with the bike, and hopefully Hayden will be able to get over the fact that he “unveiled” the bike via his iPhone in December when he toured the factory.

News from the scooter world….there is a new Derbi Australia website and Derbi Twitter updates available now….the new site looks cool, and getting the updates to all things Derbi via Twitter is great also.

The new Scooter magazine is also now out with some good articles….its just a pity that it isn’t out more often.

So we’ll have more updates on our riding for the week in a few days, we (Anthony & I) are both looking forward to getting out on the road.   So to all the other two-wheelers out there, ride safe, keep the rubber side down, and have FUN!!

This week’s winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the Week is an american media personality, actress, singer, former model and businesswoman.  Born in California in 1973, she began her modeling career in the 11th grade, and soon headed to France, and was booked for 25 fashion shows in a short period.

She was the first african american woman to be featured on the cover of QC and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition magazines,  she has starred in movies such as Higher Learning, Halloween: Resurrection, and Coyote Ugly.

Since 2005 she has had her own talk-back television show, and since 2003 has been the host of America’s Next Top Model.

She is the one and only, Tyra Banks

Where did the sun go?

The day was looking good for a while this morning, the sun was out when we left home at 7:30am, but after about 25 km the view was a bit less bright, the temp dropped, the fog rolled in and we were greeted with this……

Unfortunately it stayed like that for most of the trip, which left us a little cold, but it was still a good ride. At least it wasn’t raining!

Its currently fine and 24 degrees, so hopefully the ride home will be good too.

Have a good week!

What’s up with this weather??

Howdy everyone……..we thought that we may have a wet ride to work today, but thankfully the road stayed mostly dry.

The weather has changed a lot since last week and I want the summer conditions back again!  Despite the cooler temperature, the riding today was good and hopefully it will be the same tomorrow.

It was great to get a wash on Saturday morning, which thankfully removed a weeks worth of bugs and grime, getting me ready for another week. We were lucky and for the trip home today, the bugs weren’t as thick, so there wasn’t as much mess.

There were also lots of trucks on the road today, mostly going the other way so we didn’t have to worry too much about them.

I’ve noticed lately that we are starting to see a few of the same bikes on the road on our trip to work.  There are always new ones, but as we head out of town there are a few familiar faces that we see each week.  There are never scooters on the highway, but seeing other bikes is always good.  Anthony’s brother has recently made the switch from scooter to bike.  He has changed from Daelim S-5 to Suzuki GS-500 (which he picks up tomorrow)

The Suzuki is the bike on the right. The Moto Guzzi next to it was ridden by the dealer when they took the GS for a test ride.

So that’s it for this week so far, I’m sure there will be more stories later….

And so we come to the end of this post and the inspiration for Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger(s) of the week is the world of MotoGP. The premier class of international motorcycle road racing…..and this week’s winners are described by Wikipedia as people who are “hired to drive consumer demand for a product, service, brand, or concept by directly interacting with consumers.” Yep that’s right, we’re talking about “Brolly Dollys” and today we feature some of the girls used for the promotion of the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team…..

Until next week, ride safe, seeya soon,

Derbi.

I Hate Bugs!!

Hi everyone.  How good is this warmer weather that we’ve had the last two days?   It’s been so good to head to Grafton without heavy fog (although there was a little bit yesterday), freezing wind and crappy winter temperatures.

And Anthony is loving it also, today he was able to swap the thermal Dri-Rider gloves for the Shift mesh summer gloves, change from all weather pants back to Draggin’s and love the ride there and back.

But one thing that wasn’t good was the amount of bugs!   We have bug issues each week, but this week they’ve been really thick, and here’s what Anthony’s helmet looked like yesterday when we arrived home.

As you can imagine it was a bit difficult for him to see through all this, and his jacket and gloves looked the same, and so did the front of me……I’m looking forward to my weekly wash to get rid of the ugly green-yellow splatter that is plastered across the front of me.

Naturally, the warmer temperatures have also increased Anthony’s level of enjoyment for the weekly commute.

So roll on summer!!

This weeks winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the week was born in New Orleans, has worked on TV and film, but is known to most people as the wacky NCIS Forensic, Evidence, and Ballistics Specialist “Abbey Sciuto.”  She has also been a singer in the all female band Lo-Ball.  A song by Lo-Ball, “Can’t Get Me Down”, can be heard during the movie Legally Blonde.   She also appeared in the video for the Metallica song “The Unnamed Feeling”.  She is 40 years old, and she is the one and only Pauley Perrette.

I’m Back!!!

Howdy all….I arrived back home Friday and all is now well.  The ride home wasn’t that great -  (I don’t like storms….and riding home in one wasn’t fun at all.)  We were doing well until we almost got to the border, then down came the rain and it continued till we arrived back at Kingscliff……Anthony decided not to stop and put on his wets…..so the draggins were a bit soggy by the time we arrived home.

The issue I had with the front end was a problem with the fork seal, but that’s all been rectified thanks to the boys at Scooter HQ and after a few days of Anthony being unable to come get me, he got a lift to Southport and we were able to head home……unfortunately for me, he then left me at home and took the car for the weekend, but I’ll survive, and am looking forward to his return tomorrow.

I think one of our first trips this week will have to be on one of my favourite bits of road….its a short twisty section of Cudgen Road that leads out onto Tweed Valley Way (the old highway…..and the place where you turn off the main road to go to “Advocado Land”)    The good bit is only about 1.6km long, but it’s a lot of fun. 

It has so slow speed sweeping corners like this….

As you can see from the “recommended speed” sign, this is one of those double it and add 10 kind of corners….and when you get closer to it, this is what you’ll see…..

Its a nice tight blind corner…and i’m sure if Anthony had the guts to try it he’d drop his knee down a bit, but i’m thankful that he doesn’t……

The good thing about this road, is that after you do the left hander, just up the road is this one…..

yep, same kind of corner, but going the other way….and this one is downhill, and even tighter than the last one.

After these corners, there are some more good lefts and rights and then once you get down to the bottom, it’s sometimes fun to turn around and go back up and do it all over again.  

The sign on the left in this next photo always makes us smile……Twisty bits ahead for next 1.6km!!!

So that’s what i’ll be up to this week, and looking forward to some long rides too.  So I hope all is going well for the rest of you scooters (and riders) out there….Enjoy your riding, stay safe, and have fun.

Cheers,  Derbi.

This weeks winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Passenger of the Week is a repeat visitor.  She is an actress who gained fame from her role as Mikaela Banes in the 2007 hit film Transformers.  She is also set to repeat that role in the upcoming “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”   She is rumoured to be the replacement for Angelina Jolie to play Lara Croft in the next Tomb Raider film.   She has nine tattoos on her body, (including a picture of Marilyn Monroe’s face on her right arm, and also a line from Shakespeare’s King Lere.  She was born in Rockwood, Tennessee….She is Megan Fox.

Lets go backwards…..

Yesterday seemed like a really long day at work, and it had also been quite a few days since we’d been out for a ride…..so after finishing in the office, Anthony suited up and we headed out, but instead of following our usual Monday afternoon route, we decided to go in the reverse direction, and suddenly the road that is always fun to ride, became even more fun as lefts became rights, uphill climbs were now downhill, and a whole new level of excitement was had by us both. 

There was one tense moment when we headed up over Terranora, suddenly Anthony realised that if he continued on the road we were on, he’d have to go around “that corner!”….the one where Monaco bit the dirt, grass, bitumen……and so did Anthony.  But without hesitation, we continued up the hill, and turned right….taking note of the recommended speed limit sign, then taking note of our speed, and realised it was all good.  Anthony had travelled over that road many times, but not in that direction for about 18 months, and so now he’s conquered it….and we are good to go anytime.

And what a fantastic afternoon it was….the weather was perfect, the sun was shining, the temperature was just right and it was so much fun to get out and tear up the road……it was smiles all round from both of us…..

And so on the weekend we’ll hopefully get out with Scooter Girl….it’s been a while since she’s joined us, and I know she is really looking forward to heading out once more……

So that’s it from me today, get out there and have some fun, stay safe and keep smiling.

This weeks winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the week is a brunette, but instead of being an actress, she’s a burlesque model, she was married to Marilyn Manson for 2 years and her real name is Heather…..

She has a fascination with 1940’s style, and after being disappointed with the other “performers” at a club where she worked, decided to concentrate on creating a vintage inspired “routine”…..she’s an actress, model, and as mentioned earlier, was Mrs Brian Warner for a few years….She was once asked to dance in a Marilyn Manson music video, but she was unable to, but she stayed in contact with him and then showed up to his 32nd birthday party, and they were together from then on…..but in 2006, irreconcilable differences led to their divorce…..

She is 36 years old, she was born Heather Renee Sweet and drives a 1939 Chrysler New Yorker……she is Dita Von Teese.