Maiden voyages - 2931km to 2972km

"I will give you balance if you give me speed."

And so began our first trip together. Kino, with a fresh licence plate gleaming under a patchwork of storm clouds, backed out of its temporary home around three-thirty this afternoon. With two notches of clutch, the motor came out of slumber and the final pre-flight electrical checks began.

We kept to mainly residential roads around Surrey and Whiterock as we tried to figure eachother out. Kino is a fairly heavy bike, but because most of that weight is low the ride was not too difficult. We dipped up and down hills, annoyed gardeners in cul-de-sacs, and even went for a stroll down the Whiterock beach promenade. Due to a misread of a roundabout, we also ended up testing highway speeds a little earlier than planned. The winds on 99 South were strong, and it felt like we were a ship sailing through turbulent tides.

All in all our first travel was just over 34km. The storm held off, and at times the sun even poked itself out of the sky to see what all the fuss was about.

Upon our return, disaster. I tried to do a slow speed turn at the top of the driveway, forcing Kino to fall on its side. The damage was minimal, and I was able to get Kino back on its wheels by putting all my pride into my muscles. (I have no idea how I was actually able to do that.) It was Kino's first, and last, drop. There was some very slight scraping marks on the turn signals and clutch lever, and the mirror was shaken loose, but other than that everything was okay. Only athestics, but it felt horrible to know that I was the one to cause it. I need to practice harder, so this never happens again. After all, we have a contract.

After dinner, we went on a short, 4km ride around to Crescent Rd and back. I messed up the preflight check, and ran out of gas at a four-way stop. (The petcock valve being set to "off".) Being in all black, I didn't want to stay on the roads after dusk, so we returned after just 4km.

Didn't bring my camera with me on the ride, so instead here's one of the pics that Erin took of us shortly after the maiden voyage.

Introducing....

...Kino the Motorrand! My friend and mechanical companion.

The purpose of this blog is to act as a logbook. So if you find it boring, well, I don't blame you.

But if you're into boring, here come the stats!:

Kino is a Yamaha V-Star Classic with a 1625mm Wheelbase and a weight of around 250kg. It runs on a 649cc, air-cooled, single overhead cam with a 70 degree V-twin. The engine has a 9:1 compression ratio and a 81 x 63mm bore x stroke. It sports two 28mm Mikuni Downdraft Carburetors, and uses a Digital TCI Ignition system. Kino has a 5-speed gearbox and a shaft final drive. Haven't calculated the cruising range yet, but with a 16L tank I'm thinking it should be fairly long.

To compare, I'm 5'7, 140lbs, half-Japanese & half-Ukrainian. As for mileage, I can usually go about four hours before requiring a snack. Longer if I switch to reserve I suppose.

Kino and I have a contract; with a motorrand, I can go much further than I could on my own. With a rider, Kino can balance. So if I give Kino balance, it will give me speed. That's the promise.

Why do all this? It's hard to explain. The best I can do is this clip:
http://www.advfilms.co.uk/trailers_kinos_journey.asp