Personal thought: “If you want to know when a motorcycle exhibition sucks, it’s when they put the ATVs / snowmobiles / Spider 3 wheel vehicles out in front, right at the entrance…”

It has been a while since I’ve written something here, almost 9months…well today proved that I should keep on doing the reviews I do. SMAEB or “Salonul Motociclistilor, Accesoriilor, Echipamentelor Bucuresti” in raw English that is: Bucharest’s accesories, equipment and motorcycle’s convention. Over the recent years the show draws more and more people (specially bikers) from all around Romania… What I can say is that, from my past experiences and visits to both Motorcycle and Car conventions the “SMAEB” show is going downhill at alarming rates. I understand that the economic recession has everybody on a short budget but COME ON… I’m not paying 2.5 euros to get slapped in my Canon 5D 24mm wide camera lens and go “I beg your pardon, could I move on”  routine every 2 minutes. To keep this short, I’ll put down my top 5 disappointments with this year’s “SMAEB” convention:

1) Location:
Usually, the conventions are held at the renowned Romexpo center, a place designed for massive exhibitions, with very good parking. This year the moved it at ROMAERO in Baneasa, the entrance being at Aerogarii Bd. Behind the facts that you’d spend around 2 hours in traffic, crossing a bridge over the the railways, this year that road is under construction, so from a nice 3 lane road to a 1 1/2 lanes. Lovely. Of course, the cops were overwhelmed by the situation and decided to do what is only natural, let the problems solve themselves. So, that’s 2 hours off my life. Besides the transition matters, the show itself was located beside an active runway, in a plane hanger (a 4 Cessna airplane hangar), with poor ventilation and terrible lighting (one place too bright another nearly pitch black). Good thing I brought my flashgun.

2) Beverages

You may say I am picky… Yeah they didn’t have Martini on the Rocks or Pina Collada so I have to resume to draft keg beer. Which reminds me, I’m driving *throws the beer away*. Seriously, I don’t see how biker shows mix with beer, specially when you are having over 1000 bikers attending the convention. Yeah, there’s nothing like “Born to be wild” with “a few on board”. Public safety has never been better… Or maybe it’s a way of getting budget money from fines… Do I see a cop with a breathalyzer at the next intersection? *looks again* no, it’s a street worker with a shovel… must be that alcohol I’ve tasted earlier…

3) Overpopulated and Overexhaused

Hanger 2 – Population 3000/h … Rubbing shoulders and trying to get a decent shot of a vehicle without capturing more than 5 people in the background. If you’re after stock photography…well, you’ll need a lot of *MRFs but I’m telling you, don’t bother. I really missed the experience of traveling in the 41 tram at rush-hour, however this year, “SMAEB” offers that same experience for just 2.5€ . I am not a crowd person, I like to have my open space, to be able to glare at something without going “Excuse me!”, “Coming through”, “MOOO! MOVE YOU COW!”. Of course, every show has it’s fun moments, specially when you have exhibitors that want to really sell their overpriced bikes. Recipe for success: have your girlfriend show her ass and tits through tight clothing while you jerk the throttle up and down, trowing a the engine at 16000 RPM and polluting nearby stands. There’s nothing like unburned gasoline in closed quarters… Also there’s nothing like getting around on an ancient piece of bike burning ’74 leaded gasoline.

4) Not enough skin on the glass

I miss the good old times when you could see a some great models from the entrance to the exit, even hanging and dancing in cages 3 feet away from the ceiling. This year, overall counting the models, I’d say, 10 maximum 15… Guess some marketing policies die out… Too bad, that was a good marketing policy: Glitter finish + beautiful model in tight leather + fake discount (price being the same after VAT) equals purchase. But since models don’t come cheap, guess they can sell them in their raw form… Like anyone would buy a bike without a great butt-print on the seat. That way you can brag to your mates: “See that bike in the parkin’ lot? I had the expo girl sittin’ on that baby for over 2 days, more than you losers (to the other co workers) ever had on your bikes. Here take a look at my phone! See see! Ain’t she a beauty (*picture taken from behind*)…

5) No freebies *heartbroken*

I <3 exhibitions, I <3 freebies, I <3 key chains. Even lacking facilities (*must hold in in a lil longer…*) there’s nothing like a freebie at an exhibition. Don’t expect that I want mugs or anything, I, however, love stickers, key chains and other small souvenirs that remind me of a particular exhibition. This year, it came to my disappointment to see that there were no freebies, no “Atentie la Motociclisti” (Be aware of bikers) stickers or any decent thing you can take home and put in a fairly visible place, such as a shelf/wall etc. Personally I couldn’t find any SMAEB 2011 branded accessory anywhere, plus the accessories were moved next to the tattoo parlor (another great thing to include at a motorcycle exhibition….NOT!). And since the beverages were not enough, who thought you could get decent metal airsoft guns at a bike expo. There’s nothing like a good shootout after a few beers is there?  Don’t forget to bring your leather jacket and nun chucks! Fight on!

With these things said, I’ll let you decide if it was worth it or not. Personally I wouldn’t recommend to attend it, not because of the entry fee but because of the minor inconveniences that you’ll find. As for motorcycles, I would award 2 stands: The Harley Davidson stand which brought up all the American brand respect with it… the great bikes, REALLY GREAT BIKES, the total space they had in their pavilion and the staff that informed you without making a purchase. Second comes the BMW stands, for the diversity of motorcycle models and stand space. With that said, I’ll be waiting for your comments/feedback if you would attend this year’s SMAEB, or if you already been there feel free to bring it to the table.

Some of the pics taken at the event:

Last night I received a phone call from the buyer, he seemed pretty agitated, so my first reaction was that he was some sort of trouble, like in an accident or something similar. But, thank God, it was nothing too serious…he did virtually kill my bike, but still, he was in one piece. How did he manage this performance? To completely destroy a bike in under 2 months from purchase? I’ll tell you how…

The discussion started pretty normal, he was pretty concerned why white smoke is coming out of the exhaust pipe and why does the engine get so hot (water temperature light, lighting up bright red). I normally asked, what did he do, if he had used any special modifications (yes, in Romania, bike tuning is a must if you want to be cool, I am not a big fan of mods) or used any oil additives. He mentioned that he recently changed the oil, which didn’t seem right at first, since I knew that I told him what to buy for the bike. So I thought: hell, there goes the gasket….and then the BIG punch in the face came: “Dude, I bought Castrol Offroad oil”…

I was stunned to hear that…I couldn’t speak…I should have hung up on him, but for some reason I felt like at least trying to solve his problem, it was my old bike after all… He told me that the guy he took the bike to recommended that oil, claiming it was: “better” and cheaper (yeah right, with the same money he spent on 3 bottles of 1 liter, you could buy a 4 litre motul bottle). So yes, Romania and its people do everything possible to rip you off… Before I started to write this I looked a little over the internet, trying to research, document, basically try to find the explanation why Castrol has a lower quality then Motul engine oil. After all, I use Castrol oil in my car and it runs just fine.

Starting from the local forums (motociclism.ingalati.net, motociclism.ro and pro-bike.ro) and it turns out that Motul oil really slides itself on 1st place, when it comes to both money and quality, Castrol takes the last place, ahead being Repsol  and Valvolines oils.

The best oil vs Recommended oil

Here’s always a debate, what oil to use. Personally, the SV650 has been running on 7100, which is an oil designed to work well with V-type (V type piston arrangement) Engines, since this engines tend to “eat” up a small fraction of the oil. The high end of the Motul Family is the V series which is a Double Ester, synthetic oil.

Motul Characteristics:

We will be comparing some of the main oils of Motul Family, and finally, we’ll compare it with the current oil in discussion, Castrol Offroad oil. All oils are 10w40!

Motul 300W Double Ester* technology Factory Line top oil Easier gear shift Exceptional film strength to protect the engine and gearbox Ideal of wet clutches Exceeds JASO MA

Motul 7100 Ester* technology Very high strength to protect the engine and gearbox Ideal oil for immersed clutches meets JASO MA

Castrol Power 1 “Off-Road” Partial synthetic oil Ideal for off-road motorcycles, quads and ATVs Trizone Technology™ Contains a special formula to increase the power of the engine

Conclusion:

Whenever you plan to change your engine oil, make sure you check with the local dealer, or, if that is not possible, make sure you give the previous owner (second hand models) a call and ask him what he used inside that engine. Remember, there are a lot of people out there claiming these “miracle oils” that will “even make your engine run without oil for another 75 kilometers!”…yeah it will run for over 75 km, on the back of a flatbed. Now you may be asking what happened with the engine on the SV. Long story short: Partial synthetic oil DOES NOT handle heat, meaning that at some point, due to loads of heat, the viscosity index plunges down, causing the oil to “thin out” and making it lose almost all lubrication properties. Since it’s no longer so viscous, it tends to get in the combustion chamber and burn along with the fuel. Which can lead to a whole lot of problems, specially if you have catalic converters.

Model aspects:

- Manufacturer: Honda

- Year: 2004

- Model: Standard deltabox sport touring motorcycle – CBR 600 F4I – US MODEL

- Engine: 599 cm³ / 36.55 inch³ – Inline four – Fuel Injected

- Transmision: O-Ring chain

- Capacity:

• FUEL: 18 l / 4.80 Gal – Unleaded Gasoline
• Weight:  180 Kg dry

First impressions are quite positive. The seat hight is pretty good for me (I am 1.89 m / 6.2 ft) tall so it’s pretty confortable  and I don’t have to stay on my toes when I have to move it around with the engine off. Once you get on it, you get a really nice impression of lightness, since the bike has quite a low center of gravity, even if it weights 20 kg more than my SV. Engine start is a simple as 1,2,3 – Key on “ON” position, Fuel pump on, Start button! That’s it, since the bike is fuel injected, no choke is required, no more fiddling around with it on cold mornings so thats a very, very nice feature. The only downside about FI (fuel injection) is that around 1000-3000 RPM you have a throttle lag, it’s not noticeable when you’re riding, however it does occur when you’re riding off from a stop sign or traffic light. This problem is easily solvable by using one PowerCommander(TM) kit.

The stance: Since the bike still categorizes as SPORT, you’ll still have to take the sport riding stance, with the chest close to the gas tank and take most of the body weight on your hands instead of your butt. For first-time riders I’d say: take breaks often, your hands (specially your right hand) might get numb. So try and avoid that from happening. Since there’s a “plastic shell” around the engine, heat dissipation is not very efficient, even if it’s watercooled, it’ll still heat up when you’re riding around the city on a hot summer day. So if you’re one of them, riding in shorts jokey, you might fry your legs on the frame! Always wear the right gear on your bike!

Speed and Acceleration: According to the Romanian Automotive Registration Agency (RAR) the top constructive speed on the Honda CBR 600 FI is 260 Km/h, which is an UNREACHABLE speed (of course, on our Romanian roads). People claim that the unofficial top speed of the stock version is 289 km/h. However, including a K&N filter, carbon exhaust, power commander, ignition commander and quickshifter might just make this bike go, as all ECU limited bikes to: 299 Km/h and, maybe, beyond that speed, but, seriously, how fast do you need to go? Acceleration is great aroudn 5000-7000 rpms, great torque at these rpms, two reasons to blame: RESONATOR and FI. Resonator adjusts the AIR / Fuel mixture based on the speed of the air going through the air intake. The feeling: Like you’re having a turbocharged car.

Handling: Due to the fact that the center of gravity is very, very, very low, I’d say: You’ll love this bike on the bends, you can lean it till your foot pegs hit the tarmac and still recover with very little ease (of couse, speed is also a factor here). The downside is, you’ve guessed it, in the parking lot when you have to manuver it into place. The front end has a smaller angle then your usual naked / street bikes, which makes moving in garage or parking lot quite a workout!

RR vs F4: Both bikes are great, rr is a little bit more optimed for track performance and it’s designed for strict functionality. F4I is a weekend bike, it still gives you that racing feel but doesn’t cut the confort of a classic naked bike. My pic for the design of the bike would be the RR but overall F4 is the best choice if your using the bike for everyday usage