Saturday 19 April 2014

Easter Weekend Ride - Singapore To Kuala Lumpur Hard Rock Cafe



Happy blessed Easter Day everyone!

This Easter, some of my fellow riders from the Warpigs Motorcycle Club, one of the oldest and most established Harley Davidson clubs in Singapore, were so kind to invite me along for their ride up to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Hard Rock Cafe where we partied, and stayed in for the night at Concorde Hotel.

Distance           : Approximately 380KM
Duration           : 2 hours 50 minutes
No. of Bikes     : 7
Types of Bikes  : Mainly Harley Davidsons, BMW GS1200, KTM990 Adventurer, Ducati Hypermotard796, Hayabusa
Weather            : Cooling
No. of Breaks   : 2, approximately every 150km
Average Speed  : 140km/h

Ready to move off

Singapore - Kuala Lumpur

6:45pm
Fueled up, started our engines, and with the Harley Davidson bikes blasting music off their built-in speakers, we moved off from Gelang Patah Johor Bahru's first R&R point where we rode off into the sunset.

It was a beautiful. One of those moments that reminded me why I love riding so much.

Traffic was pretty light as majority of the people from Singapore left for their holiday in Malaysia since Thursday and Good Friday. We left on a Saturday to avoid the jam. 

8:03pm
After cruising comfortably between 130 - 140km/h for about 150km, we reached our first stop at Pagor. Went for the usual toilet and coffee breaks before continuing our journey.

We all rode in a neat convoy, in staggering formation from the leader (first rider) to the sweeper (last rider) until, I decided to play with some speed since the roads were so clear, it was hard to resist. I signaled out and the minute I hit the next lane, off I go! Whahaha :p Happily overtaking the lead.

This time reaching speed up to 200km/h before slowing down and joining back into the convoy. I did this occasionally when the roads were really clear until somehow I didn't take notice of the convoy anymore because the lead was going pretty fast himself :p 


9:45pm, Reaching Hard Rock Cafe

BMW GS 1200s from Singapore

When we turned into Hard Rock Cafe, there were already many Singaporean bikes lined up neatly in front, mainly Harley Davidson and BMW GS Adventures. Most of them rode up to Thailand, Hat Yai, over the week and rode back down to Kuala Lumpur before heading back to Singapore.

It felt good to be welcomed by many fellow riders as heads turned and rounds of applause were heard while we rolled in and parked our bikes. Lol honestly I felt a little embarrassed and shy when I saw some eyes resting on me because I was the only girl.

"Oh, there's a girl!" someone quipped.

Without taking off my helmet, I hurriedly walked into the hotel to check in.


Time To Party With The Warpigs!

With awesome Jap!

Washed up, dolled up, and I was ready to party with the..warpigs! ;)
The live band was awesome, music was good, people were dancing and everyone had a drink in their hand going "oink oink" that means.. bottoms up!




As they say, never judge a book by it's cover.

From their rugged outlook, almost every warpig have tattoos finely displayed all over their bodies, some having piercings too. Talking and laughing loudly before starting their tumultuous harley engines, are you stereotyping yet?

After speaking with them, you will realise they are far from what they are stereotyped to be.
They are a warm bunch of people; friendly, helpful and genuine. Having organized and participated in numerous charity rides, these guys would lend a helping hand almost anytime.

What a delight getting to know some of them.

My Dirty Arai Helmet
After the party, I headed back to the hotel room to rest but cleaned up my helmet first, for the ride back to Singapore tomorrow. Many dead flies and dirt were found on my visor which was normal. Some of my friends shared with me there are times where the smashing flies are so much so that you can barely see the road ahead :x


Kuala Lumpur - Singapore

Group photo with the War Pigs Singapore

12:30noon

Checked out and ready to move off, heading back to Singapore. We braced ourselves for wet weather as dark clouds started hovering over our heads. With my Komine Waterproof jacket, I am a O.K.! :)
Just that riding in the heavy rain reduces visibility and road vehicles are more prone to skids from hydroplaning.

1st Fuel Stop

Topped up our petrol and after the briefing, off we go, on the road back home.

Not long after we moved off, the rain hit us. It rained the first half of the journey back, and I witnessed two major accidents:


This is Lindsay Lohan's car, picture is for illustration of the accident I saw

#1 - A white porsche sports car spun out of control before being flung to the grass patch on the left side of the road, with the front half of the car in a complete wreckage.

#2 - Two cars collided into each other on Lane 1 with one of the car's position in the opposite direction of the road. Probably spun out of control too and hit the oncoming vehicle.




By witnessing such accidents and the damages resulted, it reminds us that bikes are so much more vulnerable, therefore it's crucial to always practice defensive riding and cultivate road safety. Broken metal can be fixed or replaced, but not a broken human body.

Blessed for all of us to reach back Singapore safely :)
Home sweet home.