Preparations – Page 8

I was not born with patience

I had an absolutely amazing race weekend in Montmeló, there were some really good fights to see and atmosphere to soak up. Still I had this itching feeling regarding my own bike-to-be. There were some questions that I’d like to get straigthened out and my e-mails to Racing House were left unanswered.

Back in Madrid I called them and got Friday as a delivery day and a promise of more information to be sent. When on Friday no information was received and I couldn’t get in contact with them an e-mail was composed to share my disappointment. Then finally I got a response and apparently the registration has not come through yet. 1 week without bike was said, it has now now passed 3, the commuting to work is killing me and it is absolutely impossible to get anything done after school hours. I need to go to the bank to cancel some payments, set up other payments, pick up a receipt (that apparently can’t be sent by mail) and most important of all – make them make the internet bank work for me. I also need to go to the tax office to sort out my tax declaration, not to mention going to the gym and physiotherapist for my back. While working it is impossible to manage any of this when commuting with public transport.

Furthermore I need to plan for my journeys, both the flight to Sweden and the ride to Austria have to be scheduled. The flight depends on when the bike and I have done 1000km and had the service done. Regarding the ride I have to book a ferry which I need the registration number for. I have already decided to leave the longer ride for the return since I’m running short of time, but now I’m depending on that ferry ticket to make ends meet at all. It feels like I’m living in a “Catch 22” and the key to everything is to get the bike.

Sorry for this whiny post but I do feel very whiny. At least one thing can be ticked off from the to-do-list. My Utag has arrived and I have put information on it! And I promise to post some ace race pictures soon.

My Utag with information "In Case of Emergency"

I was not born with patience – I’m learning it in Spain. And this to an extent that I feel like leaving the country. I hope this feeling will pass though since otherwise all the efforts would have been in vain. I end by quoting one of my collegues (also a foreigner, but with more years in Spain) “The only thing that helps to deal with this Åsa is a good bottle of wine”.

The helmet – to remove it or not?!

This is a question I have been thinking about a lot since I attended a first aid course last autumn. The opinion seems to differ between countries, which is confusing.

Previously, when I have attended first aid courses in Sweden, the instructions have been clear about the priority – if the person is not breathing, remove the helmet. Naturally, removing the helmet is a tricky business and it has to be done with great care of the neck and spine, but there is a special procedure to do it safely, preferably by two people. However, if you can’t breathe you die, so helmet off to start mouth to mouth and chest compression was the instruction.

At the first aid course last autumn, here in Spain, the teacher got a bit upset when I told her about what I’d previously learned. She claimed that it was too risky for the spine and that mouth to mouth could be done through the visor gap (apparently she didn’t know how a helmet fits the head) or simply just do the compressions. She also said that in Japan mouth to mouth is not done at all, only chest compressions. Later, when I checked info with friends in Sweden, that are both bikers and medical doctors, the information was clear – helmet off, but do it safely. So, apparently this is something that is thought of differently in different countries. I find it a bit surprising that there aren’t standardised European guidelines about this.

When riding behind a Tele Pizza scooter delivery the other day I could read a sticker on his healmet saying “in case of an accident, don’t remove helmet”. So it might be the case that I now live in a country where I, in case of an accident, will die with my spine intact and with my helmet on. Maybe this is to prevent people ripping the helmet off at first chance, but I would prefer education to prohibition.

Another matter in case of an emergency is how to keep personal information. Since I often ride alone, I need ways to store information that can be found by, for example, medical staff. Before, I have made cards with phone numbers etc, which I put in my wallet or in my bag, but this can be difficult for others to find. Now one solution was presented by the Swedish bikers union, SMC. They’ve sent ICE medical cards to their members. These cards can be put inbetween the shell and the padding of the helmet and are combined with a sticker saying “medical card in helmet”. All neat and nice, when eventually the helmet is removed.

In addition, I found something that might be more useful outside Sweden, U-tag ICE. It is an ID tag to put around your neck and the beauty with it is the USB storage that you can fill with the information you want and it works in 7 different languages. Some initial information can also be engraved on the tag and – this is super clever – documents can be uploaded and encrypted so it can be used to store copies of driver’s licence, insurance, etc. The U-tag also comes with stickers which inform that ICE can be found on the rider.

Bikes and bikers in Sweden

While spending a week in Sweden I took advantage and visited some motorcycle stores. To be able to speak with the sales agents in my own language certainly has advantages and I had a nice time trying out some bikes.

The Yamaha Teneree is the tallest of the bikes I’m looking at but I sat nicely on it, great legroom!! And I reached the ground fine as well. If a mono-cylinder is an option I’m not sure, depending on who I speak with I get various answers. A test ride is the only way to find out. I still haven’t found a place who sells second hand Teneree in Madrid but I assume there is.

I think the Triumph Tiger is great! I riding position is great, the design, the colour, the extras. If I would chose with my heart this would be the bike.

But then again, thinking practically this model, only came last year and to find a second hand would be difficult and a bit pricey still.

I park on the street and buying a new bike under these circumstances is not an option. But since it is such an awesome looking bike it is still on the list.

Since the weather was decent I was actually offered to go for a test ride, even gear was provided. Unfortunately I was wearing the wrong pair of glasses and besides that I was feeling generally ill from an evil cold I brought with me from Spain. Annoying though since it would have been a good experience and traffic in Gothenburg isn’t half as bad as in Madrid.

When speaking to the sales agent I didn’t want to mention living in Spain since they might feel they were wasting their time with me. This put me in a tricky position when telling that I needed a bike for travelling across Europe as well as commuting to work in heavy traffic 🙂

Honda NC700XA, crazy name - neat bike — Honda NC700XA, crazy name – neat bike

This Honda was sure a temptation with a decent price and many nice features. When the sales agent started up the engine I felt like buying it right away, possibly only held back by the fact that I live more than 3000 kilometres from this shop. The engine is a parallel twin with a beautiful sound.

Fuel tank under the seat, good weight distribution

It was quite empty in the shop when we arrived but we manage to attract some elderly gentlemen and we circled around the bike to admire it’s tank, which is under the saddle and luggage department, which is in front where you would expect to find the tank. So sneaky and I love it! Unfortunately this is a brand new model. Apart from this Honda I also looked at the Crosstourer but didn’t quite like it, don’t know why really and the Transalp, witch I feel pretty indifferent to. It is difficult not to let the heart decide to much in these matters.

After this what was left to visit was the BMW. Unfortunately they were closing down their bike department so no luck there. The profit was to low on bikes was the reason. Another disappointment was that there was no Kawasaki Versys in store. But I was welcome back in a couple of weeks, I could even bring my Ducati for evaluation.

Well, apart form checking out bikes I checked out my favourite café. A decent amount of Swedish Ducatistas joined in for the weekly “espresso time” at Jungrens café.

The best place to be an wednesday evening in Gothenburg

And apart from the nice people, the sandwiches with west coast prawns are precious! So good that I went back the next day and had another one for lunch. Just couldn’t resist.

But all good things come to an end. Back in Spain I oversleep on Monday morning and when rushing out to uncover my bike I find that the right rear mirror is broken, again. Well the bike hadn’t been tipped over, it was just broken under the cover. I’m clueless to how it happened but the week started of like crap. In the end of the week I managed to make it to the Ducati garage and after parting from 63 Euros I can see again. Nice guys in the garage, they helped me put it on as well. My excuse is that I lack strength to do it, but the truth is that my Spanish home don’t contain a spanner, my tool box is still in Sweden.

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