Getting paid to ride a motorbike. Isn't life funny!

[Oakie]

Also fire resistant... Very handy in those up-diddly-up-dup flying machines.

The Mongols used to use silk as a sort of arrow proof vest too. They wore layers of silk and didn't so much stop the arrows but made it easier to remove arrow heads as the silk would stay wrapped around the arrow head. Also helped prevent infection too I guess. Still, hopefully no one will be firing arrows at me on my round.

[oldrider]

Having visions of your silk scarf caught in your spokes ------- Not a good look actually! Be careful out there!

[Oakie]

Having visions of your silk scarf caught in your spokes ------- Not a good look actually! Be careful out there!

Ha ha. Biggles!

Haven't worn a scarf biking for years. Came up with a better solution.

[Moi]

...I have a new job as a DX delivery rider... I'm getting paid to ride a motorbike.

How's the new job going Mr Postman?

[Oakie]

How's the new job going Mr Postman?

Well seeing you asked, the following is a copied report I was asked to do for my old workmates and completed a couple of days ago. It is fairly long but because you asked how the new job was going, you are obliged to read the whole thing. Go:

I was asked to provide a summary of my first week as a DX delivery rider after leaving the old workplace. It has taken four weeks to do it because it took that long to get my head around it all. Such a complete and utter change from the office based work I’ve been doing for the last 40 years to working outside with no significant human contact takes a bit of getting used to and I reckon it’ll still take a little while yet before it all becomes ‘normal’.

First day was a 9.30am start for induction and then pushed out the door by midday to go and do my first delivery run, which went OK. All mail was delivered and I only had to consult the map about 20 times. Return to base about 2.30pm then home. Quite nice to be home in the middle of the day!

Day two was a busier day which actually made it easier because the pre-sorted mail just flows from street to street without gaps. On the quieter day one, there might not be any mail for a whole street so it wasn’t obvious where you had to go next. Hence more map reading. My first problem became apparent that morning. Bikers have this thing, ‘ATGATT’ which means ‘All the gear, all the time’ so head to toe in proper protective gear whenever you ride. Unfortunately you need naked finger tips to sort mail. First couple of days I went gloveless but by the morning of the second day I was getting blisters on my thumbs from the handgrips. Bought some plasters and covered them up for the rest of day 2 and day 3. I’d been going to buy some fingerless gloves from a bike shop but they just won't sell them (except for the Harley dealership who had about 4 varieties ... starting at about $80 ... $40 for the glove and $40 for the Harley name on the back as far as I could tell). Inspiration struck on the evening of day three though. I remembered I had an old pair of bike gloves in the garage so I went and cut the fingertips off and wore them on day four. Perfect! (I subsequently went to the Army Surplus store and bought some fingerless leather German army work gloves. Perfecter!

Had my first sprinkles of showery rain on day four ... enough to have put the wet weather jacket on 2 or 3 times. Managed to keep the letters dry though.

I was told that sometimes kids treat you as a superhero ... a job riding a bike is only topped by a job in a chocolate factory apparently. Anyway, on day four I had my first waves from couple of wee kids and got big smiles when I waved back to them. (I always wave back to kids ... the effect of a positive response from me now may save another biker’s life years from now.) Oh, I also had one wee man who jumped out of his car to come and tell me that he got a dollar from the tooth fairy last night.

Also had my first 'dog encounter' on day four. It was just a mouthy little pug though and he didn't get too close before his yummy mummy came and picked him up and took him away. I got the impression though I was the villain for disturbing the pug’s day and not the other way around.

Had lunch in a wee park on day four and a random cat came over and kept me company. We had pats and I talked to him for about 5 minutes before realising he was my substitute for significant human contact involving conversation. Pleased to report though that the cat didn’t talk back.

Day 5 ... (which was actually Tuesday the week after I started due to the public holidays) saw me doing my first full day. 8.5 hours. Tiring work it is but pleased to get to ‘full time’ fairly quickly. Tiring? Yep! After a day spent throwing the wee bike around I arrive home feeling like I’ve had a good workout at the gym.

I’ve now completed my fourth week and have been initiated into the dark art known as ‘sorting’. This involves sorting perhaps 400 / 600 mail items into the order in which they will be delivered. And no ... it’s not as easy as going up one side of the road and down the other. For example on a street you may zig-zag across both sides for the first 20 houses then do a side road then return to the original street and finish the odd numbers before doing a bit of a cross street at the top and then returning later to do the even numbers. It’s very much a choreographed dance and is a nice mental challenge at 7am (and I believe at 4am which is when some of the blokes down there start).

Oh, speaking of blokes ... for the first time in my life I’m working in a male-dominated environment. That takes some getting used to believe me! Interesting that most of the guys are over 50. They want people who have proven they can survive on a bike over a number of years I guess. A couple of points worth mentioning: With most of us being ‘of a certain age’ the radio is tuned into a 70s and 80s 'rock and pop' station and at random times one of the 20 or so guys in there will start singing along to a particular favourite. Quite entertaining and horrendous at the same time. The other thing is that in an office dominated by women (numerically) the conversations are proper interesting conversations. With these blokes it’s mostly fairly ‘robust’ banter aimed at each other interspersed with conversations about cars and motorbikes. Not saying if it’s better or worse ... just different to my last 40 years!

Some other stuff:

The first two weeks were generally nice days and I travelled around with my jacket unzipped a bit and enjoyed the warm weather. That changed for week three when we had cold and heavy rain for a couple of days. Being a clever boy and observing the weather forecast I’d layered up with thermal, flannel shirt and light sweatshirt to wear under the lined winter jacket and with waterproofs over the top of that. Was certainly cosy and warm but was quite surprised when I got home to discover how wet my three inner layers were. I was disappointed that the wet weather gear had not done a better job at keeping me dry. I wore the same combination the following day with the same result. Disappointed all over again! The day after that was no rain but still cold so layered up again, minus the wet weather gear. Imagine my surprise when, again, that night on removing my gear I found those three layers to be as damp as the previous two days. It took a moment but then I realised the moisture was coming from within, not outside. Eughh. I had unwittingly created my very own sauna and sweated out a few litres apparently. Turns out the winter gear doesn’t breathe very well.
As a consequence of this though coupled with the physicality that is required to do the job as well as not being able to snack on the job, I lost 3 kilos in the first 3 weeks without even trying. It’s awesome! Best of all though, I can fit into my dear old Levis again!

I really like the wee bike. It’s so nimble that it can do a u-turn in a standard size driveway. It has the most comfortable seat I’ve had on a bike which is just as well as I’m seated on it for 8 or 9 hours a day. Oh, and I do about 120km a day just buzzing around the area bounded by Memorial Ave, Greers Road and Sawyers Arms Road. It was really strange hopping back onto my own bike at the end of the day with it having so much more power and way better brakes. It’s a bit like getting out of an old Toyota Starlet then into a V8 Holden/Ford. The first kilometre or so was really ugly as I transitioned back into big bike mode. Worst though was that my bike has a standard clutch where the postie bike doesn’t have one. Was caught out a few times on my bike doing clutchless changes down and not being able to change up. Made me look like a real newbie which was a bit embarrassing. Fortunately my bike has just been retired to the garage as I’m now allowed to bring the work bike home at night. The big bike is now just a weekend bike.

Interspersed with moments of disbelief at other road users lack of skill (and sometimes my own poor road-craft) there have been few amusing moments like the lady who ran across the road in front of me in her rather lightweight white nightie in a shower of rain. Reminiscent of ‘Baywatch’ and quite a distraction. A whole lot of bouncing going on...

Most head-scratching moment though was gassing up at a particular BP station. I’d been told that this particular one demands bikers remove their helmets. I was tired at the end of a long day / week so, knowing how it would play out, I thought “screw it, let’s have some fun” and walked in with my helmet still on. The young trainee immediately asked me to remove my helmet and gestured a helmet removing motion. I said “I don’t think you’ll like me any better with my helmet off” but I complied, took it off, and then stood in front of her with my balaclava which I wear under the helmet still on. Expecting to be asked to remove that too, if not in fact crash-tackled to the floor by security, I was surprised to be served as if nothing was wrong. So apparently it’s OK to walk into this particular BP in a balaclava, but don’t you dare come in here wearing a crash helmet.

And that’s about it. I can’t really think of anything else to add so I guess that’s about the sum-total of my impressions of my new job.

[Moi]

Well seeing you asked...

[Oakie]

So, 6 weeks in and my only problem is that I can't ride my own bike anymore! It is so different transitioning from the CT110 to the GSR600 that I have real problems cornering (or even veering out of the drive). Just feels like the big bike doesn't want to go around corners. It's because the CT is so agile and I guess that comes down to the whole geometry and centre of gravity of the thing and the really tight turning circle. I'm actually considering selling my bike next spring depending on how much I use it over winter as it was only used for my daily commute but is no longer required for that now. 49000 kms with new chain, sprockets and brake pads with rego and warrant to May next year. Someone will snap it up I'm sure should I decide to sell. Hopefully I'll come to my senses though because with minimal use, this bike would see me out.

[oldrider]

I'm actually considering selling my bike next spring depending on how much I use it over winter as it was only used for my daily commute but is no longer required for that now.

Well the ash trays should be full by now so the time is probably right for selling or trading it anyway! -

[russd7]

nice one but dont give up on real bike, it gets easier

[Akzle]

five buck and a bag of chips

[Oakie]

One for work and one for play. Ain't life grand!

[Oakie]

five thousand buck and a bag of chips

Fixed that for you Akz.

[jim.cox]

I'm actually considering selling my bike

No. Do NOT do that!

You need a real bike for weekends, high days and holidays.

[Oakie]

No. Do NOT do that! You need a real bike for weekends, high days and holidays.

I took it in to get new chain etc yesterday and by the end of that 12km ride I was all comfy on it again.

[release_the_bees]

The work bike is the best 'performance upgrade' around for the non-work bike.

When I used to commute daily on the CBR250, the SV1000 always felt like a rocket when I rode it on the weekend.

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