February 2009 - Posts

• Lets do that again....but this time go backwards!

  After the fun of our ride last Sunday, we decided to go out again on the same route last wednesday afternoon....but this time in the opposite direction. First up we headed out onto the highway and headed north, then off sextons hill onto Terranora Road.....its a great road with some great corners.  The after arriving on the other side at Tumbulgum, we rode the back way, through North Tumbulgum, Dulguigan,  a small part of Tomewin Road and then headed along Cane Road to Condong, then onto the highway..... But instead of riding back to Kingscliff via the Tweed Valley Way as we did last time.....we took the turnoff at Clothiers Creek Road and decided to head over to Cabarita Beach and or Bogangar, and that road looks something like this...... And here's the second part of it.... For anyone who's ridden over that hill, you'll realise there are some very low speed tight corners, some blind apex corners (complete with those convex mirrors that show you if anyone is coming around the corner) and some cool straights too. Here are some shots of some parts of the road...... Here's the approach to the first good corner. And when you get to the end of this straight you are confronted with this... And here's some nice right-handers.... And here's one that disappears off into the trees.... If you ever get a chance to head up to this part of the country, make sure you are on two-wheels, and make sure you give this road a go.....and if you have time, turn around at the other end and then go back and do it all over again. We also had an awesome early morning ride today.....left before sunrise and headed down the highway, (it was a bit cool until the sun came up) but we had a great time.   Looking forward to being out on the road with SB & SG over the weekend. Have a great week, bye for now, Derbi. To finish off this week we once again have Derbi's Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the week.  This week she is an actress, and a brunette.....(again!)    She made her film debut in "House of the Damned" in 1996, and also starred in the video for Linkin Park's song "Numb".  She was the main character in 2008's "Step Up 2: The Streets", she is the co-founder, vocalist and keyboard player for the band "Moorish Idol".....She is Briana Evigan. Posted Feb 28 2009, 01:28 PM by Anthony with no comments

• They're Engaged

  First up.....I'd like to announce (on behalf of Scooter Boy And Scooter Girl) that the happy couple are engaged!!  The proposal took place on Valentine's Day and I'd like to wish them all the best for their upcoming wedding!! And here they are, yesterday at the Motorcycle & Scooter Expo.........on a Yamaha Cruiser. This afternoon Anthony and I went out for a great ride....we started down the highway from Kingscliff to Murwillumbah, turning off the highway at Condong, out to Tomewin Road, then turned off towards north Tumbulgum, then up over the hill to Terranora, then back to Kingscliff.  A nice leisurely 61.7km, which looks something like this..... And here are some shots of some of the great corners along the way..... this first one is where I was going..... and this one is where i've been.... And here's another shot looking back down the road It was a great ride, weather was good (until just near the end when the approaching storm meant that the usual scenic trip over Terranora was now going to be a head-down and get home ride....) and both Anthony and I had a lot of fun. As it was mentioned above, Scooter Boy & Scooter Girl (and the three blue ones and two pink ones) headed up to the Australian Motorcycle Expo and Scooter Festival at the Gold Coast Convention Centre yesterday.  They had a great day out, getting to look at (and sit on) lots of bikes.   Due to the fact that the 7 of them went up, I had to stay home.....apparently transporting a family of 7 on a scooter is only allowed (or accepted) in areas of South East Asia, and is frowned upon here..... But despite the fact that I couldn't go, they all had a great time....and here are some shots of the day..... First is the very cool "FOX" branded Vespa... Next up is the awesome Gilera Fuocco Here's Anthony's dream machine.....the new Ducati 1198s And then there's his other dream machine....the HD Night Rod... No its not Ewan, or Charley.....It's Anthony imagining that he is riding on the Road of Bones in far eastern Russia...... Next up we have the $185,000.00 MV Augusta F4CC....(no. 84 of 100)....this is the same bike that Anthony's son almost knocked over last time..... Here's an awesome custom painted Hayabusa....with graphics taken from the Mummy - Tomb of The Dragon Emperor. And finally... the winner of the "Uglier than a Redneck's buck-toothed sister" category..... the Victory Vision.   This shocker has a dry weight of 365kg, and both Anthony and his brother struggled to get the bike upright when they both sat on it (much to the laughter of the guys standing around) ...here's Anthony after dragging the thing upright.  I think that George Jetson has a lot to answer for with this one! This weeks winner of Derbi's Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the week is an American actress who has starred in horror films such as Final Destination 3, Black Christmas and Death Proof....and also comedy and action films, recently playing John McLean's daughter in Live Free or Die Hard.   She was born in November 1984, she enjoys cooking, sewing, dancing, and singing....She Is Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Posted Feb 22 2009, 08:13 PM by Anthony with 11 comment(s)

• Big week for two wheels....

  Hi All, Hope you are all having another great week….Lots of scootering related stuff happening lately.  Over the weekend there was the Le Minz 24 hour race, and then this weekend the Australian Motorcycle Expo and Scooter Festival are on at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Anthony is looking forward to checking out the bikes, scooters, gear and all things two-wheel related. Should be a great weekend. After going through some of the photos that have been taken while out and about, I found some more for this week. We were out for a ride on the Gold Coast one day and took this shot looking across the water back to Southport and Surfers Paradise.   Here’s another shot of me hanging out by the river at Tumbulgum after heading over the hill from Terranora.   The final shot for this week isn’t of a scooter, instead it’s a photo of a motorbike.  But not just any bike, it’s a 2008 Ducati 1098s in the limited edition Tri-colore paint scheme.  One of the clients from Anthony’s office owns it, and brought it in to show him.  So naturally Anthony had to get a photo.  It’s an amazing piece of machinery, full of WSBK championship technology, plus carbon fibre exhaust etc etc…..it looks awesome, sounds awesome and is FAST! Hopefully you all enjoy your week, and also enjoy the weekend if you are on the Gold Coast. This weeks winner of Derbi’s Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the week is a Swedish-Canadian actress.  She was born in Stockholm, then moved to Canada at the age of 2. Before acting she was a model, and has starred in such films as “The Heartbreak Kid“ and “27 Dresses”, and will soon hit our screens in the movie adaptation of the comic “The Watchmen”, playing the role of Silk Spectre II.   She was born in 1978, she is Malin Akerman.     Posted Feb 17 2009, 08:03 PM by Anthony with no comments

• Out and About with Derbi

  Over the last week we've been out for a few rides and Anthony once again brought his camera along.  We went on some of our usual roads and took a few photos of me, and some of the scenery. First up, here's a shot from Terranora Road, looking out towards the Gold Coast. Here's the view from over the other side of the hill......I love this view. And here I am.....credit for this photo's enhancement goes to Vicki.   The standard photo was ok but she made it look so much better.  After enjoying the views from Terranora we headed up through Tweed Heads and then went up on the hill at Kirra. And here I am admiring the view as well... It was a great afternoon, and i'm looking forward to more this week, especially the trip to see Scooter Girl this weekend. This week's winner of Derbi's Celebrity Pillion Passenger of the Week goes against the normal traditions....(she's not a brunette actress, and is infact a blonde model)  She's best known for her work with Sports Illustrated Magazine and Victoria's secret, and lately been seen as part of the advertising campaign for the Harley Davidson V-Rod Muscle motorcycle.  She took the #1 spot on Maxim magazine's "Hot 100" list, she was born Marisa Bertetta, on August 6, 1978, but to the world she is know known as Marisa Miller. Posted Feb 10 2009, 07:56 PM by Anthony with no comments

• 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.   Posted Feb 02 2009, 01:30 PM by Anthony with no comments