A near miss.

Well, according to the news this morning, I got off lightly. Many motorists ended up sleeping in their cars on the gridlocked motorways in the South. I really wouldn't have fancied several hours stationary on the road in sub-zero temperatures.

I'm working from home today so I don't have to go out. Not that I could have used the bike. It would have definitely been a coach day.

It's snow joke...

Set off this morning and all was right with the world. The sun was, er, hidden by the somewhat heavy, low clouds. The birds may well have been singing. And the morning breeze as welcoming as the heated grips could make it.

OK, OK, so it was dull, chilly and very, very windy. But it was a good trip in despite the heavy traffic. It snowed a few times during the day without settling.

And then it came time to go home.

The heavens opened and let fall snow. And lots of it. The snow started to settle on the roadside but at least the lanes themselves stayed clear.

It wasn't too bad till I went through the Blackwall Tunnel. When I came out the other side, the weather had stepped up a few gears and it was snowing in earnest. Before I left the edge of the city, traffic was pretty much down to 30mph. Now this wasn't a problem as the screen at it's highest was keeping all the snow off my visor. Not a flake got in my way. Not one.

And then I crossed the M25.

And the snow started to settle on the carriageway. And no filtering cos it was only safe to follow the tracks of the vehicles ahead. And the speed slowed to a crawl. And even in the tracks, there were lumps of snow and ice.

Unusually, there were a lot of other bikers out in the snow. Mostly, I guess they were caught at work by the weather, like I was. I saw a few "moments" but, I'm glad to say, no accidents.

I had the odd moment myself but only under acceleration. And, believe me, I was being very gentle. It's one of the few instances where all that torque counts against you. It kind of makes you wish they'd kept the TCS from the old 1100 Pan. Doesn't matter how gentle you are when the road is a sheet of snow and ice.

(Er, for those that don't know, that the Traction Control System. Sort of like ABS but for getting power to the ground rather than for braking.)

And speaking of ABS, I'm sold. 100%. If I ever look like considering a bike without ABS, someone please remind me to read about today. Please...

OK, so it won't magic grip up out of nowhere. OK, so it's not as efficient as braking manually on the edge. But when you're fighting to keep the bike upright in a snowy hell of bumper-to-bumper crawling cages with nowhere to go but straight on cos the space between lanes is three inches deep with slush and the cross wind is doing it's very best to put you across the road, it's amazing.how much you come to rely on the ABS.

At the first sign of trouble, I could just grab a nice big handful of brake and concentrate on keeping upright. And DCBS (the much maligned Dual Combined Braking System) is a real winner in the snow.

So, basically, I made it home eventually. Huzzah!!

Oh, and the heated grips are, well, very good.

My little girl

Aw. Doesn't she look like she hates every minute? Naughty Daddy for pushing his daughter around.

(Sorry about the grainy pic. Low light levels to blame.)

Hooning homewards...

Usually, I'm a fairly reasonable guy but last night I just had to get it all out of my system. A long day banging my head against walls, back-to-back meetings, "lunch" at 5pm and wanting to get home before my little girl goes to bed. (She's in the UK for a change so I try to make the most of it.)

All was going fine till, just after I went through the Blackwall Tunnel, I heard a tremendous exhaust note up ahead. Now, this was about 18:15 so the traffic was quite heavy but not the bumper-to-bumper, stationary morass that characterises the peak rush-hour in London. I'd already been en route for about 20 minutes by this point and had covered, ooh, easily five miles.

Well, I set off with the intention of catching up the source of the noise and was soon rewarded with sight of the occasional flash of blue flame near the Sun in the Sands roundabout from a twin exhausted bike up ahead. I never quite caught him up when he dived off by the Black Prince (Yes, I navigate by pubs wherever I can) in spite of, er, "making progress" in a serious fashion, filtering and weaving through the traffic.

Then, I saw the guy he'd been following and I really put my riding head on. Reaching speeds of (CENSORED), I am delighted to say I managed to keep pace with the guy in front, coming close enough to see he was on an R1. Now, I'm not saying I can blow off a top of the line sports bike on the Pan, and he certainly pulled away when he opened up the R1 (boy, did he ever) but we both kept it below around (CENSORED) even where the road was clear. I kept pace with him (OK, OK, or her) until we parted ways at the junction of the A2 and the M2.

It was the most fun and exhilarating ride I've had in months. If anyone knows the owner of a W-Reg R1 or some noisy hooligan with flames and no baffles who were on their way out of London last night, please thank them on my behalf. I just hope they had as much fun as I did.

I still have The Grin.

Conceited sod.

I don't know... What am I like?

All that drivel and I didn't answer a single, solitary one of Brian's questions!

Yes, the Pan is worth the extra money.

If you can afford it, the ABS is amazing and I'd recommend it.

I do the London rush hour from Medway to St Pauls and back most days and the weight is not a problem. I honestly don't know how they've done it but the bike handles very similarly to my old ZZR-600. I've U-turned in fairly narrow streets at walking pace with barely a wobble.

The problem in town traffic is that the bike is so wide. But, the wing mirrors are the widest point and if they go through a gap, so does the rest of the bike. You just have to watch the rear-wheel steering inside the front on low-speed, sharp turns. Happens on all bikes but the panniers make the effect more pronounced. (Yes, that's how I've scuffed 'em every time bar one.)

How did on Earth did I end up here?

Another biker dropped me (us) a line asking for a bit of decision support in whether to choose a Pan or and FJR-1300. (Hi, Brian.) Of course my response was predictable but it was interesting to look back at the decision from a distance. So, here's most of what I sent to him by way of reply:

----- Original Message -----

From: Brian
Subject: To buy or not to buy, that is the question

Can anyone help?

I returned to biking 2 years ago and I'm currently riding a 900 Diversion. I'm going to splash out on a new bike. Thing is what do I go for?

I've been reading up on both the Yamaha FJR 1300 and the new Pan. Both seem good bikes, but is the Pan worth the extra money? If the Pan, which model? With or without ABS? Is the extra weight a problem around town?

Any suggestions?

Brian

----- My reply -----
Hi Brian,

I'm about to go on a bit. Please don't mistake enthusiastic verbosity for a misplaced belief in the infallibility of my own opinions. Oh, no. I'm absolutely convinced they're infallible! ;-)

I'm also biased. After all, I bought a Pan and I set up a web site about it. Don't expect me to be impartial.

Well, I went through this process about 8 months ago and had, largely the same set of bikes to choose amongst. My list also included the ZZR-1200 and the BMW R 1150 RT and K 1200 LT.

The Beemers were the first to go. I didn't like the styling of either of them (the RT was too trailie and the LT too, well, Californian) and neither of them goes terribly quickly...

The ZZR clung on until the test rides. I started to lose feeling in my backside after only 50 miles. Not far enough. Even my ZZR-600 held out till 100 miles or so. Guess the seat design really isn't right for me. The lack of hard luggage, short range and the somewhat "committed" riding position also weighed heavily against it.

So the choice finally boils down to the FJR1300. The FJ and the Pan weren't in the same league on the test rides. The FJR is much less, er, everything as far as I could tell. With three exceptions.

Before I get to those, the good points were that it weighed less, felt quicker and cost less. Much less on first sight but as time went on, that gap shrank. More on this later. What the FJR had more of was more "R" (as in raciness), more braking flexibility (no DCBS) and more flaws. I'm sorry, but there you go.

The seat was too thin. There wasn't quite enough leg room. There wasn't quite the same build quality. There wasn't the same confidence inspired by the package as a whole. Ah, but the price. The price was a justification all on its own.

That is, until I added up all the extras I wanted. I knew I wanted ABS and that meant the more costly Pan. On both, I'd have to spring for a top box and heated grips. The ludicrous cost of the panniers and the electric screen (not quite as good as the Pan but still not shabby) for the FJR meant the total price difference was less than a grand on new iron.

Now at that point it became a matter of personal preference. The rest, as they say they say, is history.

Now, both bikes have had things come up since and it's interesting that Yamaha released a revised model and no refit whilst Honda did a factory recall. I've met two really bitter FJR owners who went on at length about it. Honestly. Mind you, I also met the Friend Of A Friend of a Pan owner who (pre-refit) had also had a terrible time. (I really must catch up with him, now.)

For me, I think the choice of a Pan was the right one for me. Now I know there's a lot of self-justification involved. After all, no one likes to think they've blown a large chunk of cash on a mistake. And I, for one, have definitely made mistakes in the past. I know it's only seven months on from purchasing but I'm very comfortable with the Pan and, thus far, no real regrets.

Reading back over this, I can't see how this'll help you but, hey, you asked!

Best of luck with your choice.

Ride safe,


Mike...