When I got up this morning, it was raining heavily. Jane called and said we should cancel our game today. I called Ong and said the same thing. That's why I'm in front of the pc now.
In varsity I had a Honda 90 motorcycle (BN 3950) I bought brand new in PJ Old Town using my NS scholarship of 1,750 per year (those days the university was divided into years, not semesters). This was 1965, so that was sufficient money for school and for modest daily upkeep. And for the installments. After me, Din, a younger brother who went to med school in the same varsity, used the bike for 5 years. When he completed his exams, I had to go to Ibnu Sinna college to retrieve the bike parked at the back of the hostel. I kept the bike in Damansara Utama for a combined total of 25 years, and would probably have it still if not for the wife. When I was at work in Port Kelang she casually asked a passing Indian man if he wanted the bike, which I had parked outside the house gates because the porch was full, with 2 cars and several very large flower pots. Calit, my youngest brother was witness. It was still in running condition, with full road-tax and insurance. Was I annoyed !
Later that year (1991) I bought a superbike and a touring bike in quick succession, a Honda CBR 600 (BDP 600), and a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 (WCR 6600). These were from the motorcycle shop at Section 16, near the original UIA campus. I don't remember why I bought two, but they were for different uses, of course. The Honda was very fast. I did 260 kph on the highway once. Another time it took me 1 hour from Damansara Utama to KP. The Kawasaki wasn't as fast, and cannot be driven that fast in comfort, anyway. I could do 160 kmph easily, but by that time, because of the sitting position, my trousers would be blown up right up to my knees !
In 1995 when I moved to Seremban I was the only one riding these big bikes in town, and I had to go back to PJ for servicing. That, and the fact that I felt (mistakenly) my new career didn't allow for big-bike riding, made me sell off the relatively underused bikes. At a loss, of course.
I bought two "kapchais" one after the other, later. The first one was when still in Damansara Utama, but No.2 Son took it to Arau when he was at UiTM, and later No.3 Son used it until it was stolen when parked at the Kelana Jaya LRT. He said he had the chains on, like I told him to. Later I found the chains in his room in D.U. About 8 years ago I bought an LC 135 Yamaha (NCA 211) that I used for a while before No.2 Son, again, took it to Subang Jaya and used it until last year, when he bought the Kawasaki 900 he's using now. So I took the Yamaha back.
No.2 Son drove the Yamaha hard when he had it. But he'd always maintained it well, except the tyres are now not 100% alighned, because of a fall. When I take a sharp corner I can feel the off-balance, which can be dangerous.
Riding long distances is not the strong point of the"kapchai". In town it's very convenient, and I use it all the time now. I consider my bike-riding a hobby, but I also need to ride longer distances to nearby towns or places of interset.
When No.2 Son came back for the belated Raya, I made him drive me in No.3 Son's Wellfire to the Senawang motorcycle shop. It has a large stock of all grades of motorcycles and scooters. We inspected a couple of "Dominar 400's" from India and the scooters "Elegan" from Modenas and the "XMax" Yamaha. The price differences were substantial.
The Indian Dominar is very cheap for a 400 c.c. motorbike. At RM 11,000 it's an attractive buy with a catch. Because of the engine configuration and the suspension type, the read-ups I checked on the internet say that the biggest problem is the vibration. Actually this is serious if you talk of hours of long rides. This is one reason the smooth-riding Japanese bikes are superior to other makes.
I've never owned a scooter, although I've ridden them. But the modern Taiwanese and Japanese scooters are a different breed from those early Italian jobs we see here. They are well-balanced, well-equipped and powerful machines. And the scooters are much more comfortable rides.
I've narrowed down my choice to 3 models - the XMax Yamaha 250, the Sym 250 and the Elegan 250. The Yamaha is the superior model on all counts, but comes with the highest price of 24,000 o.t.r. The 2 Taiwanese Sym and Elegan are much cheaper. Sym has superior features to Elegan but costs 19,000. Elegan costs 13,000.
The Dominar 400 will never match my CBR 600. A Kawasaki tourer costs nothing less than 35,000 today.
I think I should try the scooters. And I think the price should be my deciding factor. So here goes.
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