Derbi says goodbye….

Hi all, today’s blog post about the life of a scooter named Derbi will be my last…..

For both Anthony and I, the last 2 years have been an amazing experience, we’ve travelled over 20,000 Km together, ridden and photographed lots of cool roads and shared some awesome days and nights out on the road.

We have also shared great rides with Vicki, (aka Scooter Girl), and I will greatly miss her amazing smile.  She is, (and always will be…), Derbi’s Greatest Celibrity Pillion Passenger.

But for Anthony and Vicki, two wheeled adventures will continue, not on a scooter, but on a Suzuki V-Strom 650 motorbike, yes folks, he’s crossed over to the other side and is loving the new challenges that await….

There will be a new blog with stories of his adventures at – Two Wheeler

Sharing my stories with you has been an absolute pleasure, thanks to all who have commented and followed the “My Life As A Scooter” journey. I may meet some of you again one day, but for now, and for the final time…….stay safe, have fun, keep the rubber side down, and enjoy the ride.

Cheers

Derbi.

Quiet easter weekend….

Hi all,

Hopefully you have enjoyed your Easter weekend.

On Sunday Anthony was checking out some two-wheeled action on TV, watching the “Top Fuel Bike” category of ANDRA Pro Series Drag racing.  Watching these guys hang on to their massively powerful Nitromethane powered bikes, reaching speeds of over 330 kmh in 6-7 seconds is incredible.

Here’s one of the semi-final runs……

We didn’t have to go to Grafton last week, but will be back there this week and we will be out on the highway for that ride on Tuesday.  Hopefully the weather will be fine, and now that Daylight Saving is over its going to be getting darker for the trip home, which means the Bugs will be back once more (something we haven’t missed at all!)

So we’ll have more stories this week I’m sure, so get out there, have a great and safe week and we’ll see you on the road,

Cheers,

Derbi.

This weeks winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the week is new to two wheels, but she is known to many around the country, and was adored by children….(and some of their fathers) while she graced Australia’s TV screens as part of children’s entertainment group Hi-5.

She is the new ambassador for Hyosung motorcycles, and has just taken delivery of a white GT250.  She is Charli Delaney

Sunday afternoon…

It’s the day of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix today, and this afternoon I’m sure Anthony will be checking it out on TV.  Hopefully Mark Webber will do great for Australia, and starting from the front row is a great place to start!  Anthony is also hoping that 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher will also put in a great effort!  It should be a great race.

….but before it starts he’s given me a clean up, and after doing that, he decided to take a few pics…..

I think I look pretty good…

Hopefully it will be a great week out on the road….and we’ll have more updates on how the rides go in a few days.

but before I go, just wanted to share a funny pic that we came across during the week….

Cheers,

Derbi

Sunday Morning Ride In The Country….

Hi All,

Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to do the Gold Coast trip yesterday, despite the perfect weather.  We will get a chance to do it again another time.

So this morning we headed out about 10:30am and travelled down the highway and ended up out at the seaside village of Wooli.

The route looks like this…..

It was a 172km round trip that took us south to Tyndale, out to Wooli….and the road out there also goes through the small town off Tucabia….and from there continues out on the road to Wooli.

Here’s some shots of the road, the corners and the scenery along the way…….

Here I am hanging out across the road from the Wooli Bowling Club

Wooli is also the home of the Australian Goanna Pulling Championships….and here’s the sign advertising it!!

After Wooli we headed back to Tucabia, then took the other direction out inland to Ulmarra….there were some great corners along that road too.

After Ulmarra we went down the highway to the Brushgrove/Cowper turnoff, then headed down through Brushgrove to Maclean then back to Yamba.

Anthony did a great job riding today – from the point where we turned off the highway out to Wooli until we got almost to Maclean, we were on roads that Anthony had never ridden on before.

He did a fantastic job, stayed safe, had fun……and got a chance to open up the throttle on a few of the great corners out there.   There was one of them that we didn’t get a chance to photograph, but I think that if it was possible to lean me over far enough for Anthony to drop his knee down he would have given it a go!!!

It was a great morning out and we look forward to the next one.

so I hope you’ve all had a great weekend too….get out there, stay safe and have fun!!

Cheers,

Derbi.

Love that sound!!!!

Howdy everyone,

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been off the road for a bit….there were some electrical component issues that had prevented me from running – but the main reason for the delay in getting me going was Anthony not having the time to do the job…..but today he was onto it again, and as you can hear from the enclosed video….It’s all good!!

So I can’t wait to get back out onto the road….and the ride to work on Monday is going to be soooo sweet!

A couple of weeks ago while checking out some of his usual bike blogs, Icon Motorsports had an ad on their blog about their Sticker Giveaway.  All you had to do was become a follower of the blog and email your details…..then in the mail came a free sticker – (all the way from Portland, USA)…..who says you can’t get anything for free these days!!!

So a short while later, “Zipperface” arrived – the sticker created in honour of their new Alliance SSR Zipperface helmet.

He’s a freaky looking little thing…..and here he is adorning the back of me……

So that’s it from me so far this weekend….once we hit the road next there will be more stories to tell…..

Have a great weekend everyone, stay safe and we’ll see you soon!!!!

Cheers,

Derbi.

Bikes, Bikes and more Bikes…..It’s the Australian Motorcycle Expo 2010

Friday……

Its going to be a great weekend…Gold Coast trip!!  On Saturday Anthony and Vicki will be off to the Australian Motorcycle Expo at the Gold Coast Convention Centre and I’ll be at ScooterHQ getting a new tyre!

(…..and don’t forget to checkout Vicki’s website and blog.  Her work is fantastic, inspiring, brilliant, artistic, awesome, beautiful and absolutely incredible….)

Today we had to travel to office number two instead of the tiny office, Anthony had a chance to listen to more music, and today’s tracks cranking on the iPod were – Linkin Park – New Divide, Honeymoon Suite – What Does it Take, Megan McCauley – Wonder, and Dishwalla – Counting Blue Cars…..

The weather was a bit cooler and it was a perfect morning for a ride. It started raining later in the day, but hopefully the weekend will be fine.

So it’s now Friday night…and I’m all tied down on the trailer waiting for the trip up the coast in the morning……yes it would have been better to ride up, but due to the lack of rubber on my rear tyre, Anthony decided to get me up there the safe way!   So I’m looking forward to monday and the trip to Grafton for Anthony to go to work.

Saturday…..

We have been here on the Gold Coast since this morning…..I’m all fixed up and have a shiny new rear tyre, and am ready to hit the road…..but unfortunately I’m currently sitting on a trailer in a hotel carpark while Scooterboy and ScooterGirl are enjoying their weekend, but they have worked hard and are thankful for some time away….and after hanging out at the motorcycle expo, Anthony has some photos that he’d like to post….so here they are….

BMW K1300R

Suzuki Gladius SFV650

Fully optioned custom Harley Davison

Big Bear Customs chopper

Ducati Troy Bayliss 1098r Limited Edition

Ducati Streetfighter

the new Ducati Mulistrada 1200

The incredibly expensive Ducati Desmocedici RR

Victory Arlen Ness signature series cruiser.

the awesome Triumph Street Triple R

An accessorised Triumph Street Triple.

the mighty 1700cc Yamaha VMAX

the all-new BMW S1000RR superbike.

The show wasn’t as good as last year….there were some manufacturers not represented, and the crowd didn’t seem to be as big, but Anthony enjoyed hanging out with all the two wheeled toys.

Sunday…..

Its sunday morning and I’m still sitting here in the hotel carpark, but today at some time we are heading home. Scooterboy and Scootergirl have had a great time away, and I’m looking foward to the week ahead….

And now it’s sunday night, and we are home….I’m off the trailer, locked in the garage, and ready to hit the road tomorrow morning…Bring it on!!!

This week’s winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the Week is a musician….but not just any musician, she’s a singer, songwriter, amazing guitarist and was to be the lead guitarist for Michael Jackson’s comeback tour.  She first opened for her hero Steve Vai at the age of 15, she’s 24 now and she is Orianthi Panagaris.

Its the weekend!!!

Hi All,

Hope you’ve had a good week.  Anthony got soaked when he decided to not put on the wet weather gear, my battery was a bit dodgy…..but other than that, the week went off without incident.

The end of the week was spent at the small office, and generally I am parked out the back, away from seeing the view of the marina……but after lunch the front car park is empty, so I get to sit there and watch the world (and lots of bikes) go by……and yesterday there were heaps of Harley‘s, Ducati’s, a range of other sports bikes, dirt bikes, one Arqin Scooter, and a Vespa GTS 300 !  The Arqin rider seemed to be interested in me when he went past.

In our never-ending quest to find great rides, I stumbled across a link to a round the world bike trip and instead of brand new purpose-built BMW adventure tourers……These guys decided to take on the globe with 70-year-old Danish Nimbus motorcycles, and set off from Norway to go “The Dumb Way Round”.

Other great rides can be found closer to home, and Iron Chef’s “Motorcycle Paradise” blog is filled with fantastic ride info about roads in South East QLD and Northern NSW.  IC’s weapon of choice to tackle the open road is a Buell XB12R, and its a nice looking and great performing bike.   The photos on his blog are great and the stories about the rides and the roads are well documented (including maps).  Go check it out!

In an attempt to generate more views on the blog this week I considered posting a pic of Denise Milani as this week’s Pillion Passenger of the Week, but considering the fact that pics of this Czech model aren’t normally the kind I post, I’ve chosen someone else.   This week’s winner is an American race car driver and environmental activist.

She drives in the development league of NASCAR and the Firestone Indy Lights championship.  Born and raised in Minnesota, she has a degree in Biology in currently resides in North Carolina.

Upon graduation from college, she headed to Hollywood and landed jobs as a stand-in for Catherine Zeta-Jones in Traffic and America’s Sweethearts, and also as Kelly Hu’s stunt double in The Scorpion King.

As part of her environmental work, she went to Norway in 2009 to participate in the zero emission Viking Rally, driving a hydrogen fuel cell Ford Focus.  She finished the hill-climb in second place, just behind World Rally driver Hennig Solberg. To prove that the emissions from the hydrogen car were harmless, she then drank the water from the exhaust of the vehicle at a Hybrid fuel exhibition.  She is Leilani Munter.

Sunday morning ride……

Hi all, hope that you’ve had a good week out on the roads….

Before I start this week I’d like to mention we decided to bring something a bit different to today’s blog photos, and we have gone for a lo-fi look, and processed them with an iPhone app called “Polarize”

So what’s been happening in the life of Derbi this week?   Last weekend I received a replacement speedometer cable.  Anthony fitted it himself and is happy with the results……and he’s also happy that he no longer has to watch the tacho to work out how fast we are going!!

So here are two shots of me during the process…..which included removal of my entire front cover…..

(Insert Darth Vader voice….”Luke, help me take……my mask off!”)

Today we headed out for a ride, and although it was a bit warm, we had a great time.  We first headed into town, then out to Angourie where we stopped for this pic of the biggest house in the town……(jts amazing what selling surf clothing can buy…)

After Angourie we rode out to Palmers Island and headed down a few of our favourite roads…..lots of corners, lots of smiles!!

Here are a couple of the locals….who actually ran away when I pulled out the camera, before that they just stood and stared.

Next we went out through Townsend and went to Maclean, then headed up to the lookout…

Here I am checking out the view….

After Maclean we headed back along the main road, but decided to go down North Bank Road once more…..I just can’t resist this one.

Then on the way back into town we finished of with a final shot beside the river. It was a great morning out. (Music for today’s ride included Forty Foot Echo, Breaking Benjamin, Green Day, Seether, Santana and Evanescence.)

So I hope that you all enjoy this week, get out there and have some fun, stay safe and enjoy the ride.

This week’s winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the Week earned her place after I watched GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  We have previously featured Sienna Miller who played “The Baroness”, but this week its another character’s turn.  The role of  ”Scarlett” was given to this girl born in Maine in the US in 1980.  She began her career as a model then moved into acting in 2002.  She has starred in Alias with Jennifer Garner, and will return as “Scarlett” in GI Joe 2.  She is Rachel Nichols.

Great morning for a ride in the country……

Howdy everyone,

Riding this week has been lots of fun.  We’ve had trips up the highway to office no. 1, a few rides to office no. 2, and then we finished off the week at the tiny office…..but it’s been all good fun.

Also this week I’ve noticed some looks from people around town who stare at me and go….what is that?  Is it a scooter, or a bike???   We got some fuel one day and a guy filling his ute up with fuel seemed totally amazed at the two-wheeled machine in front of him….yes, I’m a scooter, but I’m sexy and I sound great too!   I’m built with motorcycle engineering, twist and go simplicity, cool styling and great performance.

Today we had a great ride.  We headed out of town on Yamba road, out to Harwood then down the highway a bit, then out to Ashby Heights, Ashby and Chatsworth.    It was a great ride on a new bit of road.  Anthony had been out there in the car at one time, but had never been there on two wheels, so it was great to share a new piece of bitumen with him.

The map of our ride looks like this….

And here are some pics of the trip…..

Here I am out on Watts Lane…..its so quiet and peaceful out there.

What Derbi ride would be complete without a photo of a corner trailing off in the distance…..

Looking back at where we’ve been….

Suddenly the Ashby Heights road got a bit ugly….. time to turn around!

The view as we headed back to Ashby….there were virtually no cars out there.

And this is the view back down the hill….

Yet another long straight ending in a corner to somewhere…..

And the award for “Best corner followed by long straight” goes to this road of Ashby.   This was coming out of the 50kmh zone…..it would have been great to turn around, head back into the village and then come back and hit this corner “properly”.

Having a quick stop on the side of the road once more….was such a great morning to be out riding.

And here’s a final shot showing me (of course) and a glimpse of the beautiful weather….

Some of the tracks cranking on the iPod for today’s trip were……Brand New Day – Ryan Star, Dancing In The Storm – Boom Crash Opera,  New Divide – Linkin Park, Emerald City – Simon Garnder, Fine – Crimson Room, Damn You – Steve Vai……..and the list goes on and on.

Hopefully you have all had a great week with awesome rides.  So get out there and enjoy the sun, stay safe and we’ll see you next week.

And so that brings us to the winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of The Week who is a Tennis player from Russia.  She is a former world no.1, and at the age of 6 she left  her life of poverty and with her family headed to the USA.

She won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon at the age of 17.   Beyond Tennis she has been featured in Sports Illustrated, she was the most searched for Athlete on Yahoo! in 2005 and 2008 and in July 2008 was the worlds highest paid female athlete, earning US$26 Million!

This month she signed an 8 year deal with Nike for $70 Million, dwarfing the previous record ($43 Million held by Venus Williams)  She is Maria Sharapova.

Special mention (as always….) goes out this week to our favourite pillion passenger EVER!!! She is the hardest working, most amazing, and completely incredible photographer, the one and only Vicki James.  She has recently attended the Jasmine Star workshop in Sydney and she is on fire with work at the moment.  With blogging, editing, photo shoots and weddings….its all happening and the end result is truly stunning.

To say that Anthony loves and adores her is an understatement….  To say that we love her work, and that we are in awe of her ability is just the beginning…….quite simply…Vicki James rocks!!!!   To watch her work, and to support her and her passion, is a privilege for Anthony and he is so proud of her and what she is achieving with her work. Yep, there is so much love for her!!

She is an Artist in ever sense of the word.  Both of us are lifetime members of the Vicki James Appreciation Society and can’t get enough of her work….So for all your photography needs, whether its Weddings or portraits – contact Vicki!

Get up and get out there…..

So what’s been happening in the life of Derbi?   Not a lot, but its all good.

For today’s ride home we will be taking the back road once more for a quick blast through the cool corners – so much more fun than the highway.    

When Anthony was heading back from the coast over the weekend he saw some Yamaha bikes at the BP servo. The guy was on a black R1 (with black leathers and Blue/Black Shoei Helmet) while the girl was on a matching black R6 (with black/pink leathers and a Pink/Black Shoei helmet)

This pair reminded Anthony of his desire for he and Vicki to one day jump on some bikes and ride off together!   That would be extremely cool….and to quote Anil from his Foxnomad blog entry “Why you need to take a motorcycle trip at least once in your life”….. “Riding a motorcycle across an open road from one destination to the next is the modern-day equivalent of setting off into the sunset on horseback. Let your fear and the thrill put you on two wheels and not keep you from it.”

Do you ever feel like you are living in the movie Groundhog Day?

Well personally I don’t, but that’s because I’m a scooter, not a person ….but in my never-ending quest to understand humanity, I often talk to Anthony and he has said that lately that’s what life is like for him and his family.

Each day it’s the same deal – you get up, work damn hard, do the very best you can for your kids and family…..and then you get back up and do it all over again!

And like the troopers that they are, Anthony and Vicki keep on going above and beyond each day!

But unfortunately there are times when things don’t quite follow the system, moments when stuff creeps in that hinders their ability to always do their best each day…..moments when they cop other people’s crap, and even if they don’t take it on board, they still receive it

……and then there are moments when certain people on this planet should have a good hard look at themselves and eat an extra large bowl of STFU each and every day!   

And so today’s blog post is dedicated to Scooter Boy & Scooter Girl…..and all the other hard-working and un-selfish Groundhogs out there. 

Get out there and do what you do….I salute you!!

Cheers,

Derbi