What is new in your little world?

[YourGrandpa]

Yes. Banyan trees to be exact.

[YourGrandpa]

Yesterday was one of those perfect riding days. 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

https://youtu.be/FsxLr61_Jyg

[Lieutenant Dan]

Looks like a beautiful area to cruise around

[Whiskey 7]

Yes. Banyan trees to be exact.

Interesting as I know them as 'Moreton Bay figs' so I Googled...." Are Moreton Bay fig tress also known as Banyan trees? "

Ficus macrophylla - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_macrophylla

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots. As Ficus macrophylla is a strangler fig, seed germination usually takes place in the canopy of a host tree and the seedling lives as an epiphyte until its roots establish contact with the ground. It then enlarges and strangles its host, eventually becoming a freestanding tree by itself. Individuals may reach 60 m (200 ft) in height. The large leathery, dark green leaves are 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long.

Interesting

[YourGrandpa]

Today I did a 130+ mile ride out by Lake Okeechobee. It was a little warmer today, but still awesome weather.
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[Eraser]

I too rode to the sea today!
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[Κracus]

The sea is at my doorsteps... Flooding everywhere around these parts. The area I live in has a little bridge that's the only way in or out of that area and it's flooded over the bridge now. I was driving out of the area yesterday and all cars were parked up on the hillside down to the bridge stranded on the newly formed island. Thankfully I had enough clearance to make it across in the Jeep but I'm not sure for how much longer, water is still rising.

[Eraser]

Bought that H2R yet?

[Κracus]

lol no... I'm actually looking to sell My CBR500R at this stage and once that's done I'll be looking at a replacement bike. I'm not 100% sure what that'll be though at this point but I know it won't be an H2R due to the cost of the thing. I've always wanted a YZFR1 but I'll have to shop around and see what's out there.

[Eraser]

R6 is much cheaper and from what I heard, more fun to ride in most circumstances

[YourGrandpa]

I too rode to the sea today!

How far do you typically ride on an average trip?

That roadway doesn't look ideal for a street bike. Is that a short trail off the main road?

[Eraser]

Depends on how much time I have and what type of roads I'm on. Today I only had like 2.5 hours or so and I did roughly 180km but that includes a sizeable portion of highway.
Sometimes I just ride around on the smaller roads around here so I don't cover all that much distance.

The ride two weeks ago with the flower fields, that was about 200km as well but we didn't hit a single road where we were allowed to go faster than 80kmh (but mostly 60kmh roads). So including a stop for some ice cream and drinks, that took us all afternoon. So I'm not so sure if distance covered is that interesting a metric

In the pics, my bike is parked in what is essentially a runoff area of the road there. It's decent asphalt though, a bit dirty maybe with lots of small pebbles lying around.

[YourGrandpa]

I'm just curious about how comfortable sports bikes are after long rides, 150 miles / 243 km one way?

Lots of rock and pebbles can be hazardous to a street bike.

[YourGrandpa]

Just booked this year's father son trip. The trip will be a 6 day, 5 night stay at the Bellevue Hotel by Hyatt in Central Philadelphia with 3 days spent exploring museums and historical sites in the surrounding Pennsylvania area, a 1 day Amtrak trip to NYC and a day trip to Atlantic City. Should be really fun. I'm looking forward to getting back to NYC.

[Eraser]

I'm just curious about how comfortable sports bikes are after long rides, 150 miles / 243 km one way?

Well, there's sports bikes and them there's sports bikes. I wouldn't want to do 300 mi on a Yamaha R1 or Ducati Panigale 1299. Those are pure racing machines with a very aggressive, forward leaned seating positions.
My bike is better classed as a sports touring bike. It has a sporty seating position due to the clip on handlebars, but it's nowhere nearly as leaned forward as those supersport bikes. So it's quite comfortable, even on really long rides. No pain in the wrists, arms or back after long rides. The seat itself is plushy too so my butt is enjoying it too. Also, while it does have an inline 4 engine, which generally like to be in the high rev ranges, my bikes engine is tuned to deliver good power in the low/mid rev ranges. Its gearing is relatively long, so you can ride without having to go nuts on the gear lever.
Having said that, an old friend of mine rode his brand new R1 from The Hague to Barcelona in a single session, so if you really want to, there really is nothing stopping you.

Also, again I'd say there's a difference between a 3hr highway ride or a 7 hour backroad ride

Lots of rock and pebbles can be hazardous to a street bike.

True. Let me add that there wasnt any on the road, just a bit of gravel on that run off area. Just have to make sure not to immediately pin it when riding away.

[Κracus]

Yeah, same with my CBR500R. It's very comfortable. I wouldn't even call an R1 a sports bike, when you get those kinds of numbers and that forward leaning sitting position I tend to call those super bikes and then bikes like the H2R hyper bikes.

[Κracus]

So in a few weeks time, this will be my new ride.

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[Eraser]

Great choice. Can't say anything other than it being an awesome bike.
Have you seen what they did with it for the Z900RS? It's pretty cool.

[Κracus]

Yeah I looked at it, not my thing. I like the retro look and all but it's one of those things I prefer to look at, I don't want to own it. I'm going to have a hard time sleeping until I get my mits on that bike though, absolute beast of a bike and it's like halfway to an H2 lol.

[Giraffe }{unter]

Just spent a good bit of time reading and catching up on you guys.

In my world...

Been splitting my time working between US and Belgium 2 weeks per month, I've been there 51 days since January. I'm moving the family to Belgium in July for just over a year so this should be interesting. My working papers should be in soon, I found an awesome place just outside of Leuven and just need my damn papers so I can sign for it.

My car hobby is earning a nice income thanks to social media, I'm able to pay for trips to shows around the country and mods just from the earnings it makes. Earnings from Affiliate revenue, advertisement revenue and sponsorships. Something I never expected to happen, but it took off pretty quickly. I recently did a 3 day apparel Charity campaign with my brand logo, where all profits went to st Judes. Surprisingly sold quite a few units which was unexpected and now people are posting photos and tagging me with my shirts on. It's been a pretty cool ride, but sadly with the Year in Belgium and the lack cool cars this will take a back seat :/

Just as I start finishing my 6 month long kitchen renovation nightmare yesterday
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The bathroom above develops a leak and takes out the new ceiling lol So I had to disassemble the cabinets, rip open the ceiling and fix it this morning .
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[Whiskey 7]

Just spent a good bit of time reading and catching up on you guys. .................

Hey nice to hear from you Giraffe }{unter and nice to hear/feel positive vibes. US to Belgium, interesting. The car news is awesome and I must say I like the kitchen renovation and those overhead lights, awesome... You did the renovation yourself?

[lars63]

Amazing Giraffe }{unter, I was just thinking about you today, thinking I hadn't seen you around for a while and here you are,(LOL), good to know your doing so well, sorry to hear about the bathroom leaks, they can be a bitch. Welcome back

[shaft]

I saw your YT chan blowing up a while back, congrats
Nice kitchen, I spy an Ubiquiti Amplifi.

[YourGrandpa]

Took a little ride up the coast...

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[Captain]

Last month we moved to a lovely 2-bedroom condo. Amazing views, right next to the lake and High Park, and awesome amenities. I'm also enjoying the daily 30km bike commute

















My cacti and aloe vera love the massive amount of sunlight this place gets. Plus I made a little reading nook in my office:







Cat approves