VTR1000.ORG

Hi all,

Used to have a Storm (98R, yellow) until Aug this year but sold it when I moved to Oman to work. Managed without wheels for 3 weeks before i gave in and treated myself to a new SP2 in black, red n silver. Any way, no other bikers here in Salalah (except little indian chaps riding 125s in flip flops n baggy shirts!), so looking for somewhere to meet likeminded people and talk bike stuff with em!

Cheers for now

Well thanks Kaz, good to know that im welcome here. Yep the SP2 is a great bike i think, chose it over a blade as i just loved the V twin experience that i had got from riding the storm which was my first 'proper' bike. As a new rider i think i found the fours a bit too frantic, havin to change gear every 3 seconds, far too complicated for lazy sod like me Anyway, she looks superb, rides like a dream and goes like stink! Happy days!

hi camelman, you'll like it here i hope, welcome aboard.

we'll all be jealous of the new bike, think nearly everyone here would like one as a second bike, the storm has a bit more comfort and not as extreme a riding position, what are the roads like over there, any tv programes i've seem the roads are straight for miles., and dusted with sand.

Thanks Kev

Yep def lots of straight roads, rear tyre already flattening off in the middle Roads also very dusty n slippery. Dont know whether the tarmac is different to that in UK, but grip is not quite as dependable here! Soon learnt not to be too heavy on the throttle coming out of bends, especially off roundabouts here, gets the old sphincter twitching a little when you feel the back sliding around when your leaning over. There are mountains nearby with some really cool twisty roads with hairpins all over. Unfortunately drivers here seem to think its just discretionary to keep on your own side the road when negotiating them, so extreme caution is observed when im up there Camels wandering all over the place makes life interesting too, not unusual to see them just plonked down in middle of the road without a care in the world, they are without doubt the stupidest creatures on the planet!

Welcome aboard Camelman,
The roads at the very least sound interesting as well as the other drivers and the camels
Are there many motorcycle shops/garages out there and whats the price of fuel like
I think the SP2 looks a very smart bike or perhaps I should have said cool bike but at the moment I'm very happy with my Firestorm I would imagine you're still running your bike in at the moment

Cheers Chris.

Thanks Chris,

Motorcycle shops down in salalah v thin on the ground. There is a Honda dealership but only reallly deals in cars. Have just had second service done there and to be honest not that impressed with their bike know how! However only really oil change n clean up so no major dramas. Trouble is they have to service it for the warranty. There are several dealers in Muscat, but thats about 1000km from here. Reckon for any major services/repairs I will get bike transported up to main dealer. Petrol is ridiculously cheap here, works out about 19 pence a litre, or £2.60 to fill the tank, happy days Bike itself was cheaper than UK to, cost me £5,800 out of the crate. Only downside is its not UK so will need a bit of sorting if i ship it back to UK in couple of years. Had the bike since end of september and so far done 5000km, just love getting out on it when ever i can.

Kaz, u bet camels are scary, last week i was approaching a couple by the side of the road and i guess they got spooked by the noise of the bike cos they are only used to cars n trucks. Anywayt hey both bolted and it was hilarious following them down the road cos they run really funny, legs going all over the place! All the hazards here certainly keep you focussed, and your thumb permanantly hovering over the horn, over here generally used instead of indicators which seem to be missing from most of the cars here lol.

Hi Camelman and welcome to the madhouse!! Riding in the desert must be fun ! I was driving in another desert not a million miles away from you not that long ago. But then i had the benefit of four wheels and armour plating!!

Have you ever ridden an Sp-1? I would be interested to know the differences between the two. I know what the differences are on paper but would like to know what they are in real life.

Enjoy the site mate, we don't talk that much about bikes but you'll meet some great people on here!

welcome mate...camels in the road ay?that would give me the hump!

as it goes if you trawl the threads on this site youll see some other kinds of humps!!wahey!!

Welcome to the madness camelman. we've got camels in Australia, out west, as well and they do make for interesting driving. But taking them on, on a bike takes some balls, I suppose you just duck and go under their belly

Hey Tony, trouble is those are the only humps I'm likely to get out here! Eligible ladies v thin on the ground

Mellis, never ridden an SP1, in fact havent ridden many other bikes so cant really give a an answer based on extensive experience! I find the SP2 pretty responsive to direction changes, more so than the storm, quite a hard ride, can feel every little bump in the road and after an hour or so you start to feel your butt going a bit numb! Havent changed any of the settings as not really sure what differences it would make. It is quite hard work riding in slow traffic, quite jerky at low speed as throttle v sensitive, but then again, it wasn't designed for pootling round town! Once you get out of town though, wow, pin your ears back and hang on!!! I'm still a relative novice so probably not getting anywhere near as much out of its capabilities as a more experienced rider, but i dont want to learn the hard way and push it beyond my limits!

camelman wrote:Thanks Chris,

Motorcycle shops down in salalah v thin on the ground. There is a Honda dealership but only reallly deals in cars. Have just had second service done there and to be honest not that impressed with their bike know how! However only really oil change n clean up so no major dramas. Trouble is they have to service it for the warranty. There are several dealers in Muscat, but thats about 1000km from here. Reckon for any major services/repairs I will get bike transported up to main dealer. Petrol is ridiculously cheap here, works out about 19 pence a litre, or £2.60 to fill the tank, happy days Bike itself was cheaper than UK to, cost me £5,800 out of the crate. Only downside is its not UK so will need a bit of sorting if i ship it back to UK in couple of years. Had the bike since end of september and so far done 5000km, just love getting out on it when ever i can.

I can't imagine it 19p a litre, is there no justice left in the world

Only joking mate, good for you, you make the most of it and talking about good prices how about what you paid for your SP2 I think the best price over here is around the £8,000 mark and thats only been recently, they were quite a bit more than that, I would say nearer the £10,000 mark Thats one of the problems with the UK if its at all possible to tax it, then it will be

cheers Chris.

Sirch,

yep was lucky with price, dealer in muscat had 2 of em apparently in his showroom for ages gathering dust whilst blades were disappearing out the doors faster than he could get them in. Think he was relieved someone showed interest and after a couple of weeks haggling he let me have it!! Mind you, repsol blade brand new cost only 6,400 here!! Just goes to show uk prices are exagerated for sure. Thats one of the things i really dont miss being over here

Welcome aboard Camelman

Welcome Camelman, Have fun, it sounds like interesting riding over there.