After the country relaxed the Movement Control Order on 10th June 2020, my usual riding buddies have had a few durian rides which I could not partake in. It was not so much due to my personal recovery from the almost major surgery that I went through few days after the MCO started (which was on 18th March), but due to other commitments that I could not excused myself from...
So, when the MCO was put into recovery mode, everyone was freed, sort of. And it was the right timing as well because durian season was at its peak.
The regular riding mates, namely, Zack, Idrus & Mzac were already at it when the MCO was partially lifted.
Anyway, that's a different story altogether...
After more than a month of "free to ride" pass we're given by the government, a proper ride event was suggested by Mzac... and this is actually to commemorate the X-adv that I just took delivery on Friday. While four names came up on the roaster that Friday evening, it was only Mzac and me that turned up on Saturday morning.
So again this would be a two pax affair for Mzac and me... We did this similar ride in February 2017! Then, we rode through Rawang to Tanjong Malim for breakfast. Now...
The original plan was to go to Pantai Remis, near Kapar... the asam pedas restaurant in Sungai Semilang to be exact.
But I was not really keen to go there... So I suggested to go to Ipoh instead.. mostly to get the most mileage for the breaking-in of the new X-adv. It was only at 35km when I arrived at the RV point that morning.
I did caution Mzac that I'll be doing around 100kmh - I'm old school, thus running in has to be the soft version... hahahaha... Many thanks Mzac for obliging. He was trailing me religiously on the hiway, despite being overtaken my mopeds and scooters. Some of them even waved! Hahaha...
Anyway, we exited Bidor after over an hour non-stop ride. I just remembered that we hadn't actually taken our breakfast when we headed out out from RnR Sungai Buluh @9:48am.
Reached Lina Mee Kari at around 11.30am when there were starting to close for the day. But they were still serving...
So, this place was our last ride destination before the MCO was affected. And I guess it is quite appropriate that we resume our ride coming back to where we last left off.. :-)
We deliberated whether to push on to Ipoh or turn back after we got the info that our friend SuperYan was not around. Our plan was to meet up and have lunch with him in Ipoh, but he was on a ride of his own further North.
So, we decided to turn back, but through the inner roads and not the highway for fear of being overtaken by kapchais! Hahahaha...
We made two stops along the Bidor-SlimRiver-TanjongMalim-KualaKubuBaru-Rawang route. Once was to fill up the gas tank somewhere after Tanjong Malim, then another just before KKB to have Cendol.
That was about it in a nutshell the "opening ride" for me. First ride after MCO. First ride after my appendix surgery. And first ride on my new bike, which clocked 360km after reaching home.
Again, thanks Mzac for the slow and steady ride!
X-adv first ride impression.
I'm sure you'd like to know my take on this "you either love it, or you hate it" rather confused genre of a bike.
Is it a scooter? Can it claim to be a motorcycle?
Well, my take on this bike are as below. And this is purely my opinion. There are many articles written by professionals and bike magazines out there. They have come to some sort of consensus in this "adventure scooter". But my take is...
First off, when I first tried this bike two years ago this same month (courtesy of Zack), I was rather perplexed. And it was too short of a ride around the block to amount to any worthy assessment or opinion. But one thing was certain then (and it is still valid for me after 360km of riding it), this X-adv intrigues. It shun whatever pre-opinion you have before actually riding it.
Yesterday, when I first ride the bike out of BigWing PJ's showroom, I was a bit dumbfounded. First off, there's no clutch - two brake levers, each on either side of the handlebar. But, you cannot just twist-and-go like scooters do. You actually need to put the bike into D mode (or rather, put it into gear, Drive mode akin to auto transmission in cars) using a button on the right hand side of the handlebar. For a few times I was, out of habit, squeezing the left brake lever whenever slowing down or braking (using the right, front brake lever). Mentally, I have to condition my brain that this is exactly like riding a scooter!
The footing position was a bit awkward at first. But after about 10minutes into the ride, it was becoming natural. I am used to riding the SYM200 scooter. Somehow, the sitting and footing position on the X-adv is not the same (as I initially unconsciously thought). And it is definitely different from GSA's or V-strom's positions. It is of its own. And I quite like it a lot, after my muscles adjusted itself to this new riding position.
The bike is definitely nimble and easy to maneuver. Overtaking on 6th gear is smooth. Though I could not say the same on gear drops when you slowing down or riding in congested traffic. There's a certain jerks, although not really annoying, and unsmooth gear change - prolly due to final chain drive and sprokets assembly. But, I'm sure this will grow on me and become unnoticed as I ride more...
The bike is just at the right height for my size... Although I could not flatfoot even when sitting at the front-most part of the seat. Still, no issues there.
Power delivery is smooth. And I especially love the grunts of the twin engine (even with standard exhaust!) particularly when you gave it that extra twist during overtaking.
Seating position (and the seat) is very comfortable. The wide handlebar, I like - gave it the adventure feel... Although my reach is about an inch short. Prolly a riser could make it a bit better. But, I am more than OK as is.
So, overall verdict after my first ride?
Alhamdulillah I made a right decision!
Well that's all folks. Again, kudos to Mzac for this enjoyable breaking in ride.
This ride was on Saturday, 24th July 2020.
