Monday 28 September 2015

Motorcycle live 2015


Motorcycle Live 2015

Motorcycle live in an awesome show, and if you haven't been yet – you should seriously consider going this year. As well as discounts on gear, you can get close up and personal with all the new machines and technology coming up form the world's motorcycle brands.

The stands are amazing and it’s a truly great day out for any motorcycle enthusiast.

Tickets are £17.50 (if purchased in advance) and are available to purchase here.

For anyone who can’t make it, don’t worry – we will be attending this year and will be covering the event and will be capturing as many of the machines as possible on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Periscope. Hit that follow button if you haven't already!

We are also going to be taking high quality photographs of the bikes for your viewing pleasure, which will be available here on our blog.

Here are the highlights from last year:




















All the best
BirotarUK

Friday 18 September 2015

A delayed introduction...

We thought it was time we introduced ourselves! So here it goes...

There's two of us behind BirotarUK: our names are Max and Jonjo, and here are some of our bikes: the GSXR 750 & 1000.


We started BirotarUK in 2014 because we wanted to do something with our passion for motorcycles. 
 
Here's a little bit about us:


Name: Jonjo
Age: 24
First Bike: Suzuki Bandit 600
Current Bike/s: Suzuki GSXR K5 750 & Kawasaki ZX6R F3
Location: Hertfordshire
Favourite road: A nice twisty run from my home all the way up to Sandy in Bedfordshire, I'll show you if you want?
Dream bike: Kawasaki ZX10R (2011)



Name: Max
Age: 24
First bike: Derbi GPR 125cc
Current bike/s: Suzuki GSXR 1000 K4, BMW R1200GS
Location: Essex
Favourite road: The mountain roads that surround Lake Garda, in Italy.
Dream bike: Too many to list! But if I had to choose just one, it would have to be a Ducati Diavel Strada.  


We hope that you have been enjoying following BirotarUK and we're excited to let you know that we have some exciting things coming up.

Let us know if you have any feedback for us, or if there's anything that you would like see more of! We'd love to hear from you.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Arai Chaser V & AGV Compact review



As bikers we usually find ourselves accumulating a few different outfits depending on the weather or style of riding. Here at BirotarUK HQ we are no different.


Modular helmets often have a stereotype, either worn by “old boys” on touring bikes or by the boys in blue but as we got our hands on an AGV modular the stereotype becomes a distant thought. For comparison here we’re using our Arai Chaser V. 

 
The rationale for purchasing a modular helmet was identified when we owned the Suzuki Bandit and were racking up the miles commuting with numerous petrol station stops and London’s infamous traffic lights every 100 meters but we will come back to the AGV later.


We’ve had the Arai for over two years and it was purchased from Bikestop in Stevenage. It was the best fitting lid and for a reasonable price, we knew we could buy Arai with confidence. It’s worth noting now the customer service from Bikestop is second to none. 


The Chaser V is very comfortable with lots of padding and can be worn all day with no problems, even for our trip from Italy to the UK in one long stint the wind noise wasn’t an issue. The pin lock system works well and the clip shut visor is a nice addition.

The amount of vents on the Chaser V mean an endless supply of fresh air to keep you cool when you are flying around the track. The downside to this lid, the extraordinary amount of time it takes to change the visor, so much so, we’ve never bothered and just squinted on those glorious summer days.

The Arai lid comes with a 5 year warranty and we found out just how good this is at Birmingham bike show in 2014. Rewind to about 3 weeks before the bike show a wayward toe slider managed to kick and crack the rear fin, feeling gutted and hopeless with a small dab of superglue we carried on as normal.
It was promoted widely to pre-book your free Arai service to avoid disappointment, so the first stop we made at the bike show was to drop off the helmet at the Arai stand, not really knowing what to expect. An enjoyable day at the bike show was made even better to find Arai had replaced all the Arai stickers, replaced the cracked rear fin and given it a good clean! We walked out looking like we’d brought a brand new lid. 5* service from Arai!

 
The AGV Compact was again purchased from Bikestop in Stevenage with equally high levels of customer service. We opted for the matte black - all black gear is cool right? The AGV doesn’t have anywhere near as much padding as the Arai but this doesn’t make it uncomfortable, it comes with cut outs for AGV comms system to be installed, this also makes cheaper communication systems very easy to install. 

The chin strap is of strap and ratchet type which is easier to do up whilst the helmet is on your head. The wind noise is more than the Arai but again we wear ear plugs so it doesn’t become a problem. The flip front is operated by a large red button under the chin and makes for easy use even with thick gloves on, being a modular there is a fair bit of space around the mouth of the helmet which is great for anyone who feels a bit claustrophobic in a helmet.


What we really like about this helmet is the drop down sun visor meaning no need to carry tinted and clear visors around. The visor is operated by a black lever on the side of the lid which is again easy to use even with thick gloves on. If you wanted to change the visor it would only take a matter of seconds with the easy change system.



The benefits of a modular lid really become apparent when doing lots of stop start riding, taking a swig of water during a pit stop or talking to other riders about who took the wrong turn. Sure, the Arai has lots of great vents but they only work when you are moving. We’ve never had a problem filling up with fuel with a helmet on but for those that do, a modular takes away any issues.

So the Arai is a great all round helmet but its main use now will be for trackdays. The AGV is a modern, stylish and practical helmet that makes commuting just that little bit easier.



What helmets are you using? Let us know on Instagram!

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Tuesday 15 September 2015

24hrs with #Bthou



The first 24hrs with #Bthou




So, we added a 2004 GSXR 1000 to our fleet. Ever since we sold our SRAD, we’ve been keeping an eye out on for a tidy gixxer thou in the classifieds, and we finally found one that fit our criteria. The bike has been in our ownership for just over 24hrs and so far, we have come to the conclusion that it is an absolute animal compared to what we are used to riding!

We rode it on the M25, and have used the bike to commute this week (in the rain). We have noticed that the black paint is difficult to keep clean, but we're looking forward to giving it a full detail soon. It needs a new rear tyre, so were taking it easy until we get new rubber but our immediate impressions are positive. 



It is actually a really easy bike to ride, and the beauty is that you don’t have to be on the power all the time to enjoy it – even though your inner devil is pulling your wrist at every opportunity. Our lady fleet rider explained that it’s pretty comfortable for journeys up to 30 minutes but we haven’t even used a full tank yet so will report on the tank range shortly. 



The Yoshimura exhaust is not very loud at low RPM but the bike likes to make a noise above 3-4k. We're already missing the gear indicator from the GS, but we will get used to counting the gears and not changing up for 7th after a few more rides. 

Stay tuned to find out how it compares to our blue and white 750 k5!  

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