Category: Motorbikes

Both me and Nat had our riding test today and it was a disaster. We both failed!

While Nat waited outside I went in first on the motorbike. After waiting in line behind 5 cars it was my turn to go next.

Now to follow what I am about to say next you need to view the map above.

Once I got to the starting line the cop told me I should drive up in lane 1 then turn and come down lane 3, and then go into lane 2 and go back up and then turn into lane 3 again and come back down. I was like fine. I drove into lane 1 and as I was about to turn into lane 3 the car that was parked behind me in the starting line had driven forward and was now parked in lane 3. So I stopped the bike and put my foot down and waited for the car to leave lane 3. As soon as I put my foot down the cop was like aha! I was like what aha?! He was like you aren’t allowed to put your foot down. I was like but there is a chick parked in lane 3 and I am just waiting for her to leave. He was like fine continue. So I continue and I finish the first test.

The cop then tells me to keep turning in lane 1 and 2. I did that like 3 times and the cop was like ok you passed. He then said something I didn’t understand and pointed me to the other lane. So I stopped the bike and put my foot down and turned around to ask him what he had just said because I couldn’t hear him over the sound of the motorbike engine, plus I had my helmet on and plus he was standing like far away. As soon as I put my leg down the cop pointed at my foot and was like AHA!!! I was like what the fuck?! Whats wrong now? By then he was talking to the other cops who were sitting and having tea, he was like you see you see he put his foot down. I was like dude I stopped on purpose to ask you what you had just said because I couldn’t hear you. He then replied telling me “bara bara” meaning out out. He had failed me.

I drove out of the testing area and saw Nat waiting outside. I told her I had failed and she thought I was kidding. I told her no I really failed. She laughed and got on the bike and went inside. Five minutes later Nat drove back out, got off her bike and started screaming out loud. She was really fucking pissed. Turns out when she first got to the starting line the cop started asking her questions like why do you want to bike and girls shouldn’t bike. He then told her to ride around in circles which she did but then he asked her to do a figure 8 between the 3 squares. She couldn’t believe he had asked her to do that because the space between the squares is extremely tight and can barely fit a bike. While she was turning through the squares she put her foot down on the side of the curb and the cop was like AHA!!! And he failed her instantly. She was super pissed because she felt that they made the test impossible for her to pass because she was a girl.

Basically it turns out you need wasta even for a bike test.

Today me and Nat had our motorbike license test. I will talk about what happened in a separate post but for now I want to focus on the written exam. If you are planning on getting a driving license or riding license you need to pass a written exam. Problem is the written exam is just a mess. Other then the fact that the English half the time makes no sense, Nat spotted a bigger problem.

Nat and I were taking the written exam at the same time in the same room. So, they gave us different tests which contained different questions. I ended up passing the test with 3 wrong answers while Nat passed with just 2 wrong answers. After we left we were comparing our tests when Nat noticed that one of my questions didn’t have a right answer. If you look at the picture above or the larger version located at the end of this post, you will notice that the correct answer to the sign on the left is “Road Narrows”. Problem is the 3 answers I was given to choose from were wrong. No matter what I would have answered I would have gotten it wrong! Its as if they wanted me to fail! Anyway I might scan the whole test later and post it online. For now here is a larger picture of what I am talking about. [Picture]

My motorbike license test is on Wednesday so today I went to bike practice with Nat so I could train a bit before the exam. It was my first time back on the bike since my crash over a month ago. I wasn’t on the Ducati today, I was back on the Bajaj Pulsar. At first I was afraid I had forgotten how to ride but I managed to get a hold of things quicker then I had anticipated. My wrist is still killing me and it was hurting quite a bit while I was riding but its not that big a deal. I just want to pass my test and get the license and then I can give my wrist all the time it needs to heal. Can’t wait to get back on the Ducati and ride again.

Someone uploaded the documentary Speed on Two Wheels online and you can download if you hurry. Its 400MB so its not a small file but its the whole episode without the commercials. [WMV 400MB]

If the link is dead then the person who was hosting the file deleted it. If you want to know more about Speed on Two Wheels or if you want to buy the actual DVD then click [Here]

Was coming back to the office today on the Gulf Road when I spotted these bikers. They were performing stunts right in the middle of traffic. Once we got to the area just before Fuddruckers I decided to record some of their stunts with my camera. You can watch it above on YouTube.

I passed by the TriStar workshop today to pass them my bike keys. They finished fixing and repainting my bike after my crash two weeks ago and tomorrow they will be taking it out for a test drive to make sure everything is working right. All my wounds have healed nicely except for my left wrist which still hasn’t healed. I should pass by Razzi Hospital this week to see whats up with that.

I just found out how much my bike is gonna cost to fix.

I just got back from Razzi Hospital. Turned out Mubarek Hospital messed up my hand cast and my fingers ended up swelling. The doctor today also told me I didn’t have a fracture which is very good news. He had yesterdays cast removed and they put me another better one instead. He told me to come back next week to have it removed. Now I just need to find out when my bike will be ready. Thanks to all the well wishers. My First Crash post didn’t get more comments then the Shark of Kuwait post but never the less it was close enough.

Oh and they finally gave me some pain killers!

Here are some riding tips from Marzouq to me:

– Never hit the breaks when going through a turn or the front of the bike will go out and you will end up on the floor

– Do not hold on to the bike when your falling, push away from it (I think thats why you hurt your wrist)

– Avoid the little white pucks they are the root of all evil, they make you slip!

– Always ride with a friend whenever possible in the beginning

– Know who to call in a situation

Today I met up with Marzouq again to go riding. We met in front of Galleria 2000 like yesterday and we headed off onto the Gulf road. As we were getting onto the gulf road from Salmiya I fucked up and ended up crashing onto the ground and sliding towards the curb.

I am still not sure exactly what happened. I have played the scene over and over in my head and my current conclusion is I was taking the curb at a speed faster than I was comfortable with and I stupidly pulled the brakes too hard and locked up the front wheel making it slide under me. I crashed on to the ground and me and the bike both slid towards the curb.

It all happened really fast except one part felt like it was in slow motion. The view suddenly shifted to inside the helmet and I was on the floor sliding towards the black and yellow curb and I can very clearly see my helmet visor getting scratched and finally I stopped.

I got up, and looked around to see if any cars were coming. I saw Marzouq had already stopped his bike behind me so that the cars could drive around us. I then proceeded to lift my bike up when Marzouq came and took over and told me to go sit down. He asked me if I was hurt and I looked down and saw my jeans had torn at my knees and I was bleeding. I went sat down, took out my camera and started taking pictures of Marzouq moving my bike and then of my injuries.

My left knee was scraped, the left side of my waist also, I had a tiny scrape on my left elbow and another scratch on my right leg. Finally my left wrist was hurting me a bit.

We parked the bike and noticed the left foot rest had brkoen off so we called TriStar to come pick up the bike. They told us they already had found out about the crash and the bike truck was on its way. Talk about excellent customer service. Marzouq wanted to take me to the hospital but I told him to pass by my place first so I could change and take Nats car.

I got home, took off my watch (knew I needed to take it off for the xtray), got into shorts and a tshirt and left again with Nat and Marzouq. We got to the hospital and two hours later I left with bandages everywhere and my left hand in a cast. Yes, I have been typing this post with one hand, its a pain!

I am back home now. I am disappointed my hand is in a cast because it means I won’t be riding for a while. My favorite jeans are ripped which totally messed up my wardrobe. But, I am glad I came out of the fall with minor injuries. If I was an unsafe rider wearing shorts, tshirt and no helmet you can bet I wouldn’t be here typing this post. I regret not having gotten biking jeans. I was actually gonna post about Draggin Jeans the other day. If I was wearing them me knee wouldn’t have gotten messed up.

Here are some pictures, the ones marked GRAPHIC are you guessed it, graphic pictures.

Marzouq moving my bike
My busted knee (GRAPHIC)
My waist (GRAPHIC)
My leg (GRAPHIC)
My elbow (GRAPHIC)
My scratched helmet
Me waiting to have my cast put on

I have to end this post with a special thanks to Marzouq who was a true friend today. Thanks dude!

At 4PM today I met up with Marzouq in front of Galleria 2000. I was talking to him online at around 3:30 and he asked me if I wanted to go riding and I was like fine. I hadn’t really been out on the roads yet, only twice around my block but that was it. I was nervous but excited at the same time. I quickly got dressed and took my bike and rode down to Galleria 2000.

Once I got to Galleria Marzouq was already there waiting for me, he told me to follow him and off we went out onto the Gulf Road. Originally I was hoping my first time out on the Gulf Road would be when it was empty, like a Friday morning or something. At 4PM today the Gulf Road wasn’t empty as I was hoping instead it was kinda packed. We rode on the Gulf Road from Salmiya all the way to Shuwaikh. At first I was a really nervous but once we hit TGIF I had gotten the hang of driving in traffic and was weaving through it with no problems. After we passed Kuwait Towers I started to feel even more comfortable on the road. The road also had less cars by then and we were zooming by really fast.

When we got to the end of the Gulf Road in Shuwaikh, we parked our bikes and started taking pictures when another blogger, iDip happened to be passing by. He parked his car and we had a little bloggers meetup before he took off again. Marzouq and I finished taking pictures and then headed back to Salmiya. The ride back was pretty cool. There was a lot of traffic but I wasn’t nervous anymore. Its not that bad riding in traffic, as long as you don’t get an asshole on your tail blinking and honking wanting you to get out of the way. I think the max speed I hit was 130km/h. I know Marzouq hit like 160 with his bike.

It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to go back out tomorrow. There shouldn’t be any traffic in the morning so the ride should be even more fun.

I was back at TriStar last night with Nat because she need to adjust her training schedule. While there I showed her the Pocket Bike they had on display. At first she thought it was for young kids but I explained to her that teenagers and adults actually ride it and not kids. She thought I was pulling her leg, so when we got back home I showed her some videos from YouTube and everyone riding the bike was either a teen or an adult. I figured maybe other people don’t know what Pocket Bikes are so below are some videos and a link to Wikipedia with info on Pocket Bikes. TriStar are selling the 49cc Pocket Bike which can hit speeds of up to 100km/h for KD190. Price might be negotiable I didn’t ask.

Here is the first video
Here is the second video
Here is the Wikipedia page

The guy isn’t wearing his helmet, he has it strapped to the back seat. He is also wearing a tshirt, shorts and sandals. I mean I don’t think you can be more unsafe.

update: Sami posted this link of some bikers on the Gulf road performing stunts without a helmet. [Link]

Yesterday was my last riding lesson. After a total of 10 lessons I am now ready to take the riding test so I went today morning to get an appointment. I was expecting the guy to give me an appointment for sometime this week or worst case an appointment for sometime next week. The guy took my learners permit and started stamping it and writing down my riding test date when I saw him write in Arabic 12 October. So I told the guy nicely could you please make it earlier then the 12th, the guy looked at me and said this is the 21st of October not the 12th. I was like shit, ok could you make it earlier then that, he replied no and gave me back my papers.

Now I have to wait 3 weeks before I can get my license. I was really hoping to get it now so I could use the month of Ramadan to practice on the streets. The Gulf Road is deserted at around 6PM which would be perfect for a newbie like me. By the time I get my license now, Ramadan would be over.

I passed by TriStar today again since a friend of mine wanted to buy a jacket from them. Nat was with us and I wanted to show her “my dream bike” which I posted about yesterday but turns out it got sold on Thursday night right after I left the place. It was originally parked between the red and yellow Ducati’s in the picture above.