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GOH'S HOME PAGE Last updated: 11 Jan 2004 David's SoapBox This page is located on:
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D'SoapBox a.k.a. David's Biking Soap Box a.k.a. loose collection of ramblings Last updated on 22 October 2002
Nonetheless, if done safely and sensibly, biking is instantly one of the most exciting and electrifying forms of motoring available. The non-biking brigade sees the cage of glass and metal that surrounds a car as valuable, protective insulation, whereas to any biking enthusiast, it is merely isolation. The open sensations of sitting aboard a throbbing, highly-tuned engine as you rocket past the scenery, the air licking past you and your every flick and twitch bringing forth a response from your ride, are incomparable to the feeling of sitting in a closed car’s cabin, where you’re detached from your surroundings and much of the action. An increasing number of born-again bikers are ditching their cars for the simple pleasure of riding to work every day. There’s no doubt about it. Bikes are good fun. The chicks seem to like them, too. In my observation, bikers in Singapore tend to fall into one of two broad categories - recreational bikers, and bikers by necessity. The latter sort of biker will know all they need to know about everyday biking, but if you’re thinking of becoming a member of the former group, do read on to see what helpful information you can gather.
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| Thrill of riding | How my love-affair with bikes
began... Even before I started riding motorcycles, I have had a long facination with two wheelers, my first being bicycles. Before Singapore switched from the single Class 2 (motorcycle) driving license system to a progressive motorcycle driving license system (Class 2B for bikes up to 200 cubic centimetres, Class 2A for bikes up to 400 c.c. and Class 2 for bikes above 400 c.c.), I unsuccessfully tried to get my license. Fortunately or unfortunately, driver training centres then appeared. This meant I didn't have to own a motorcycle to start learning. This was important because my parents were very much against it, and it would have been hazardous to my health to have a motorcycle at home then. I first took lessons in secret without the knowledge of my parents, while I was still in the Army in 1988, discharging my National Service obligations. As I had a place in a tertiary educational institution, I felt a motorcycle would make it convenient for me to get to classes and back. My very first bike was the Kawasaki AR-125...
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| Thrill of riding | Cruisers aren't for me!
While it was OK for most things in the city, I found myself struggling to keep up with others bikers on a trip to Pangkor Island in Malaysia. This machine was relatively slow, doing 110 or 120 km/h tops. Above 90 km/h, it became very uncomfortable because the wind tries to blow your legs apart, resulting in aching crotch and thigh muscles. But worse, the poor power, fuel consumption and maximum range (per tank fill) was starting to peeve me. With a teenie-weenie fuel tank, imagine having to stop at practically every petrol station along the Malaysian North-South Highway! Very annoying. The loud noise also deafened me... apparently the previous owner had cut short the muffler! For short daily commuter rides, it is tolerable. But imagine listening to that for hours on the highway; it is unbearable, even with ear plugs on. Besides, the extreme heat from the engine cooked my family jewels on long trips. The prominent chromed exhaust pipe also burned my calf if I happen to put my right leg down (the worst one took two months to heal properly). This made me think twice about using such cruisers again. The Harley-Davidsons are the worst of the lot, and unless I intend to use a hearing aid when I reach the age of 40, I'll never buy one, regardless of their style and prestige. I particularly detest riding next to a Harley. When trying to accelerate, that "signature" Harley rumble rises to a terribly loud roar which one can both one can both hear and feel. Noise pollution is not my idea of style. To me, "H.D." means "hearing diminished". (To my friends on HDs, pardon my grumbling, I love you guys/gals... it's just the noise from your bikes that hurts). It doesn't help that I fell ripped off by Universal Motors, the twerp that sold me the bike... being a second-hand bike, I was overcharged and royally scalped. Even the brake fluid looked like muddy water! Nope, if anyone asks me, don't ever buy anything from this fellow. (After I published this article, I received feedback from others that mine is not an isolated case... there have been several others, and probably many more unreported ones. If you've been cheated too, or at least feel that you've been cheated, tell me more!)
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| Thrill of riding | Honda ichiban (Number #1)
The day I took delivery of
this bike, its gentle purr was remarkable. The
noise level was pretty low, even at higher speeds.
With a 4-cylinder 4-stroke DOHC (dual overhead
cam) engine, this baby packs a reasonable wallop
of power, with nice mileage and good speed. It
purrs like a cat and gives that distinctive whine at high
speeds, reminescent of a jet engine. High speed for
this bike is a maximum of around 180 km/h. I think
it's worth every penny I paid for it. This year (1999), Honda released the latest version of the Super 4, with a VTEC engine. With the VTEC engine, it has two torque curves instead of one, so it has two possible power outputs for the same engine RPM. The low-RPM pickup is now even better than before... of course, it does not do pretty much to increase the absolute maximum power output... for that, please get me a fusion engine with light speed - "Warp 10" please! However, the trade-off is the higher fuel consumption. Since then, I've figured out how to bypass the stupid speed limiter on the Super 4. If you've ever tried it on the Malaysian highway, you'll notice that you almost never get past 180 km/h. Well, that's because there is a speed limiting device that cuts your engine power when you reach that speed. I still can't figure out why: whether it is to protect the engine from sustained high RPM damage, or to allow the highway police to catch up with you. In any case, the modification is very simple, but one needs to take the speedometer assembly apart. It takes only a short while to plug in the bypass module which can be purchased). After that, you should be able to push the bike to 210 km/h... but watch out for overheating and possible damage when riding close to the red line. In 2000, forced to choose which of two bikes to keep, I sold this baby. Perhaps one day I will buy myself another Honda...
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| Thrill of riding | My dream bikes?
Choppers are out and enduro/motorcross bikes aren't my thing. That leaves the tourers. Yes, my dreams now focus on the tourers. As any chiropracter will tell you, sitting with better posture, more erect on a bike is better for your back, especially when it comes to low back pain.
So my next dream bike is either the Honda ST1100 Pan European Super Tourer or better yet, the king of touring bikes, the ultimate touring bike, the Honda Goldwing GL1500SE. (By the way, I don't like the new GL1800 all that much... it looks like a sissy, seems to have less baggage space, and the road tax burden will kill me.) It now all depends on which will tweak my interest to punch that "I'll buy" button when my current bike finally joins the scrapyard in the sky...
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| Thrill of riding | The Mighty "G"
For a bike built in 1994, it is in great condition and handles pretty well. But this did not come without significant effort... read more about it at my G-page. I'm glad to be part of the brotherhood of GSX1100G owners, affectionately known as the "G-men". Other owners of this bike should consider joining up the GSX1100G Group. Go to my section dedicated to the GSX1100G.
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| Thrill of riding | Belwin Motors
His brother David Mah runs Belwin Motors, at Syed Alwi Road, another company in the Mah "clan", dealing mainly with bike sales and service. David serves practically my whole family... all three brothers in my family. His advice is good and reasonable and his patience is exceptional. His honesty is unprecedented and his pricing policy is straightforward and consistent. His mechanics are similarly helpful. It's good to have somebody I trust serving me again. If anyone asks me for my unreserved recommendation, Belwin Motors gives you what is probably one of the best reasonable deals around. (By the way, this is NOT a paid advertisement). In this day and age where the industry is very competitive, I don't mind paying marginally more to pay my mechanics to take good care of my bike. No one else knows my bike better, and takes good care of my machine. Belwin Motors is located at 1 Syed Alwi Road, #01-04 Song Lin Building, Singapore 207628. Telephone: 62951900. I'm sure that others will have their own experiences and opinions of who gives them the best service. So to each his own. And a word to "cheapskates": service costs something. It costs money to run a business, and the staff need to feed their families too! You can't always have it for free... ultimately, somebody is bearing the cost of services. Even the engine oil that is dumped with each oil change needs to be collected and stored by the workshop, then sent to the proper disposal agency that charges a fee for incinerating such industrial wastes; if you dump it into a drain or river, there will be environmental costs, be it the contamination of precious water reserves, or damage to filtration systems that supply potable water or the clean-up costs that come out your tax-payer dollars.
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| Thrill of riding | Two-Wheelers - Buyer Beware
If you ask me, don't take his Goldcard membership. This is a serious case of "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware". This "subscriber programme" as he describes it, requires a deposit of $500 or $1000, depending on the scheme. There are penalties for withdrawing, unless you decide to resign your membership in 5 years time. Whether he is still around in 5 years time has yet to be seen. I also believe his Goldcard programme to be a scam. Under the guise of a "membership" programme, he is getting you to give him $500 or $1000 on the promise of "discounts", "services", etc... meanwhile, do you really get back what you paid for? After a while, you wonder whether it was worth your trouble and whether you can get your money back, in full and on time; watch out - he places conditions on withdrawal that change from time to time. There are others who are currently experiencing this problem. If you must ride with him, protect yourself - take the normal annual subscribership for $60. At least, if you don't like his programmes or you don't seem to benefit from them, or worse, you can't agree with the way he does things, you simply don't have to renew your subscribership. So what if he offers "gifts" and other useless things for the next 5 years... he may not be in business in 5 years, and you may not even get your money back. Personally, I cannot agree with him, and I have lost my trust in his word, which is about as variable as the weather. If I ride with him, it is not out of loyalty, but out of convenience. I have also lodged a formal protest to him against his practices. It clearly reflects my dissatisfaction and unhappiness with him, as well as the unhappiness of many others who have been involved with him in the past. If you too have had bad experiences and grieviences against him, please share your experiences with me.
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| Thrill of riding | ||||
Like all the other things your mother ever
cautioned you about, motorcycling is one of the most
insidiously fun activities you can enjoy. Of
course, the main reason why all mothers hate motorcycles
is that danger is always a passenger on any
two-wheeler. But that’s also part of
motorcycling’s charm - the thrill that comes with
riding. Most of us see biking as the quickest way
to get from A to B, too. Even mothers agree with
that, except that they think of ‘A’ as the
world we occupy in this life, and imagine ‘B’
to be the one accessible only through Pearly Gates.
After a lull of a couple of years,
I just began riding a motorcycle again in mid-1998,
buying a 
For the longest time, I have
considered buying a Honda motorcycle. So what if it
is a Japanese "no-character" bike. Being
Number One in the Singapore market, Honda bikes are
common sight in Singapore. They are well known for
their high reliability - key features attractive to the
working population dependant on these bikes to bring them
to work and home everyday with neither fuss nor muss,
hence their popularity.
So after some haggling, I bought myself a
brand new black 
So what's my
next bike, my dream bike? I used to
think that the Honda CB-1100-XX Super Black Bird would be
my vehicle of choice. Sure, it's got power and
plenty of it (*drool*). But hunching over at that
angle doesn't sound like much fun, especially after a
couple of hours (*ouch*). Besides chiropracters and
orthopedists has told me that to avoid osteoarthritis of
the spine, it is better to be more upright.
A word about 
Another thing is "