Moto Guzzi Griso

Having completed my short-list, I went first to have a go on the Moto Guzzi Griso, as I had found a shop in the area that had a demo bike that they were also selling. The first impression when seeing the bike was very good. The bike looks great, and the quality can be seen in all the little parts. Given that Guzzi is part of the Piaggio group since a few years, it is not surprising to find a number of quality Aprilia bits on the bike. I could recognize several parts from my brothers Aprilia Tuono, and it all felt very solid just like the Tuono. The seating is low, but it is a long bike and reaching for the wide bars feels a bit strange. You need to lean forward on it, but unlike my Corsaro where you still felt like you were sitting a bit in the bike, here you really feel on top of it. I get this image of somebody trying to break the land speed record in Bonneville from the 30’s by lying on the bike to be more streamlined, which is not particularly reassuring.

Punching the starter brings the engine to life, and a gentle blip of the throttle has the bike leaning on its side. Although a bit unusual, I like it! There are some vibrations, but not too much, and the sound reminds me a bit of my old Ducati. All good! It’s time to get out on the road.

The bike is quite heavy, and you feel it as you maneuver it around the parking, but as soon as you get on the road the weight seems to disappear. It is incredibly stable and easy to ride around with at low city speeds, even though I find the riding position a bit awkward and the length a bit unwieldy. Not only do you have this feeling of lying on top of it, but the tank also tends to spread your knees more than I like (yeah I know this all sounds pretty kinky!). Once on the open road it all works though, and it is incredibly planted in the corners. Like the Ducati ST2 I had many years ago, you need to have a firm hand when getting it in to the corner and down on an angle, but once there it is rock solid. I used to refer to this behavior on the Ducati as virile, and I always like that feeling. You have to properly commit yourself to each corner, but when you do you are properly rewarded. Power is good, but coming off the Corsaro anything is lacking in power a bit. However, since I specifically want less power than what I had before, this Guzzi seems pretty much spot on in this department.

Basically everything is good with this bike, and 10 years ago I probably would have bought one. It looks fabulous with an excellent build quality and ride. However, when I compare it to the Beemer it just kind of falls behind in every category. It is heavier, uses more fuel, is more of a handful in all conditions, and let’s be honest here, Moto Guzzi does not have the same reputation for reliability as BMW. Coming out of 15 years riding Italian bikes, I think I could use something different. No, I can safely say I would rather go without a bike this summer and wait for the BMW than getting the Guzzi for now. Besides, as much as the Corsaro was difficult to sell when I wanted a change, I am certain the Guzzi is no easier.

So Now What?

With the BMW R nineT now being out of the equation, I have tried to determine what I am looking for, and it broadly comes down to a retro looking bike with modern mechanics. I was already looking at something like this some years ago, as I had a test ride on the Ducati SportsClassic GT. At the time I thought that bike to be ideal as it came with one of the best engines Ducati ever made, a simple air-cooled twin with the proper amount of torque. The chassis and suspension were top notch and very up to date, and it looked great. The problem is that since then Ducati have stopped making these, preferring to focus on more modern and sporty bikes. The sales figures for the GT would show that it was not a bike the market was looking for, but perhaps now with the success that BMW is having with a similar concept they may just re-consider and bring out another attempt at this. But for now there was no Ducati option.

We then have a group of some classics that are quite closely matched: Triumph Bonneville, Kawasaki W800 and Moto Guzzi V7. These are all really nice bikes, and having tried them all I would go for the Kawasaki. As much heritage that Triumph and Guzzi have to their credentials, the Kawasaki just seemed a little bit more accomplished. However, all three of these suffer from being a bit too limited in power. Going from 140hp and insane amounts of torque to something like 60hp is a little bit too much of a step down. I know that although I would enjoy these bikes, within a week I would really be annoyed by the ultimate lack of power, and so these three were ruled out of the equation.

Some may at this point say that I should have a look at a Harley. Often people that do not ride bikes refer to Harleys as the real motorcycles, whereas people that do ride tend to refer to them as rather agricultural! There is always a fair amount of snobbism within biking, especially between the Harley crowd and the “rice cooker” crowd. I don’t really share these traits, and keep an open mind. I can admit that some Harleys are actually quite good looking, but the riding style simply does not correspond to what I want. The feet-forward position just doesn’t work for me, and if I qualify the Bonnie and Kawasaki W800 as too limited on power, then don’t get me started on a Harley Davidson Sportster 1200. Besides, my wife would not let me in the house again if I was to come home on a Harley!

So what else is there? Honda came out with an incredible remake of their CB bikes of the 70’s and 80’s in the CB1100. It looks stunning in real life, and this year’s EX model is even better as they have added wire spoke wheels and dual exhausts. It certainly looks the part, but for me the problem may be with the four in line engine. I have basically always had twins, and simply prefer the feel of a twin in a bike. From what I have read, the Honda has an amazing engine, but also one that lacks feeling and soul.

Moto Guzzi have also had another bike around for almost ten years that on paper is very similar to the BMW; the 1200 Griso. The stats are almost a carbon copy of the BMW, and it also has a bit of a neo-retro look as well. It also comes with an air-cooled twin and a shaft drive. Also like the BMW it comes with a proper 180 sports tire in the rear, but on this one mounted on wire wheels that also allow for tubeless tires. Finally the price is very close to the BMW, with the bonus that I can find an almost new one with several thousand’s knocked off.

The Beemer

Having sold the Corsaro, there was already a new bike that I have been lusting after for a little while now, and that is the new BMW R nineT. This is a particularly interesting concept that was brought out by BMW at the beginning of the year following a prototype they displayed a few years ago. The idea is to produce a bike that serves as a tribute to the BMW biking heritage, and perhaps more particularly the R90 of the 70’s. The result is a bike that has a classic look to it, yet is built using very modern components. The idea is making a classic looking bike that can run with the best of the roadsters of today, and the result is a stunning looking bike that has a bit of a steam-punk look to it.

I was lucky enough to try one a couple of months back, and was pretty much sold right away. The looks are very much in line with what I am looking for right now, and just sitting on the bike I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of all the little details. The paintjob is top quality, and there are little brushed aluminium things strewn over the bike. The tiny BMW logo in the middle of the round headlamp is a perfect example of this bikes quality looks, and it is a bike you could actually put on display in your living room if you are so inclined. The position on the bike is nice an relaxed, with the seat being quite low. You do not have a cruiser feet-forward position on it, but proper roadster style with the legs bent and a need to slightly lean forward to reach the wide handlebar.

Being a bit of an older rider, I have never had bikes with a bunch of electronic stuff and ride-by-wire etc. that you find on most recent roadsters, and I am happy to find that the BMW is old-school. Really the only exception is the ABS brakes, which I suppose can come in handy on slippery surfaces. Pressing the ignition brings the air and oil cooled flat twin to life, and I am pleasantly surprised to find that it does not have the normal sound of BMW flat twins. This one sounds beautiful, with a purposeful rumble, and twisting the throttle just improves on that sound with more volume. In fact, the volume is to the point that I wonder how this thing can be legal. Revving the engine also produces the typical left to right shake of flat twins, but the bike does not really lean over as other have in the past. Time to go for a ride…

The bike takes off easily enough, and although it is quite powerful with proper amounts of torque, it is nothing like the brutal Corsaro. I think stepping off the Corsaro pretty much anything will feel a bit docile, and that is also the case for the Beemer. It is very smooth, and surprisingly for a twin does not mind moving off from very low revs. There is not shaking in protest from the engine, and it just moves away. Getting in to the first corner and I find the turn-in to be very easy. A light pull on the bar gets the bike on an angle, and it feels very stable once it is there. It is not intimidating in any way, and as the confidence in the bike quickly grows, so does my speed! This is just pure fun, and riding up a nice twisty mountain road has me smiling under my helmet. I have gotten used to having to work hard for this sort of reward on my previous bike, and speeds would also be a fair bit higher. Here I just go, and it always feels so planted. To top things off, the suspension excels at absorbing bumps in the road, resulting in a very comfortable ride even if the seat looks really thin at first.

After this test ride, I was sold on the bike. The fact that it was a BMW as well further helped reassure me as it would be nice to have a big solid company behind the bike I ride instead of a financially strapped little Italian outfit. So, there was not to be any motorcycle hunt after selling the Corsaro. Or so I thought…

On the Monday after I sold my bike, I went to he BMW garage to place an order, only to be told that there are none available. The soonest possible would be possibly November this year. Nooooooo! I can’t go all summer without a bike! The thing was that I really wanted this Beemer, but perhaps I should take the opportunity to see if there are any other bikes out there that can serve as a replacement. Maybe I can find something even more appropriate!

And Now For Something Completely Different

Although the main purpose of this blog may be to rant, I have decided to broaden the scope of my writings. Rather than having several blogs, each one with a specific topic, I will bunch in here all sorts of entries. Here is the first twist…

One of my true passions is motorcycles, and this has been the case for as long as I remember. I got my first motorcycle when I was 8, and the passion has just grown since then. Over the years I have also found riding motorcycles to be an excellent stress therapy. Today, I have the bike that was my first one, and even though it is not the actual bike I had when 8 it is still exactly the same: a 1972 Honda 50 Monkey Bike. Over the years I have gone through a number of different motorcycles. And each time I change for a new one, considerable research and testing goes in to the process. I suppose this whole research and testing process is almost as much fun as then actually owning a new bike. Almost…

My most recent bike is a Moto Morini Corsaro 1200. This is quite an amazing motorcycle, but also one that is simply not known by the general public. I came across it 6 years ago, and after having tried every single big roadster on the market, getting on the Morini was an eye-opener. Every bike I had tried until that one always had something going against it. For some it was a lack of power, while for others it might be the power delivery. Ergonomics often played a role as well, especially since I am quite tall and tend to get cramped on modern bikes. On the Morini everything was right, and it had an engine like nothing I had ever tried before.

The big 1200cc twin, referred to as the Bialbero Corsa Corta, is in my opinion the greatest v-twin ever made for a motorcycle. In standard form it pumps out 140hp which is not bad, but the truly impressive feature is the torque figure of 122nm at 6750 rpm! This kind of torque figure is what makes riding the Corsaro particularly interesting, and not quite like anything you may have tried before. Personally I have ridden and owned Ducatis that are generally known for their impressive power delivery, but they almost appear bland in comparison to the Morini. In standard form I would sometimes compare riding my Corsaro to riding a rodeo horse, then when I fitted the de-cat pipes and aftermarket QD exhaust it was like riding a rodeo bull! You knew all the time that the power was probably too much, and this actually made it even more exhilarating.

The rest of the bike was very well matched to its purpose. Some may have complained that the chassis and suspension could be a bit more sharp, but then this was always intended to be a roadster and not a race bike. As such, the chassis was more than adequate for anything you could possibly throw at it on a public road, and would hold up very well for a track day. At the same time, it was reasonably comfortable just because it is not a race bike, and the riding position was perfectly matched. You would lean slightly forward giving an intermediately aggressive position, and there was proper space for your legs so the knees would not be too bent. The shape of the tank allowed you to squeeze it properly with your knees, and hook in when hanging off in a corner. With a 180 tire in the rear it had not succumbed to the fatter is better that some roadsters go for, and the result was a very reactive bike. Coupled with amazing Pirelli tires and it handled like a dream, and never felt like it was struggling with the limits.

As amazing as this bike was, the fact is that I was not really exploiting its potential anymore. My riding style has changed with age, and I now tend to cruise at a more leisurely pace. This is something which does not really suit the Corsaro, and to be honest I was not doing the bike justice anymore. So, having had the bike up for sale for a while, it was just recently sold so that I may embark on the selection voyage for a new bike!

Let's Gowex Ends Up Going South...

This is a nice story to kick off the weekend, one that is totally up my alley. Although this blog is very recent, people that know me since a bit longer than a week, also know that I really hate modern investors that buy on hype and totally forego any sort of financial investigation. The GoPro post from the other day was along those lines, and today’s story is even more so.

This is the story of Let’s Gowex, a Spanish WiFi provider that has been making some headlines in the last few days, and not for the right reasons. In recent years, this company has been lauded several times for its significant growth and innovation. As recently as May this year the founder and CEO Jenaro Garcia won the top prize from Spain’s marketing association, and Garcia was referred to as “a magician who converted WiFi into water.” (I am not really sure what that is supposed to mean) In a nutshell, Gowex is a company providing free WiFi, having it instead financed by advertisement. It has been doing a number of implementations in Spain as well as elsewhere in Europe and also the US. Financial records have seemed very promising, and the stock price shot up as of September last year from EUR 5.38 peaking at EUR 27 in late March this year. That is a 400% increase over 6 months, and the type of absurd price increase that gets people to lose all sense of reality. It must be brilliant if the price goes up like that, no?

In late June this year, Jerano Garcia stated that Gowex was expanding fast and would soon provide WiFi to 20% of the world’s population. Indeed something that would warrant even a considerably higher stock market value, but also something so obviously impossible.

Luckily there are some people out there that do not believe everything they see or read, and short seller Gotham City Research decided to investigate the company in some detail. This was certainly not the first of Gotham’s victims as they have already covered a number of other dubious companies, and this time their report has had a significant effect. On July 1^st they published their report stating that their target stock price was EUR 0.00, and backed this up by disclosing a vast number of irregularities and plain lies in Gowex’s financial figures and claims from their CEO. Basically the revenue of Gowex had been overstated 10 fold.

After the report was published, Jenaro Garcia initially went on the offensive claiming that Gotham’s report was false, and was threatening going to court. The following day he admitted that the report was all true, and the stock subsequently dropped to the floor. It may be that the company actually survives in the end, but for now it has filed for bankruptcy protection. However a lot of greedy investors will have lost huge amounts for following the crowd instead of actually doing some investigative work on their own.

I gather that there are a lot of shadows around Gotham City Research, but I for one will certainly be keeping a look at their reports in the future. If for nothing else then at least to inspire a few more blog posts.

The Evil of Banking Secrecy

It’s almost funny how in the last few years, banking secrecy has become synonymous with tax evasion. Anybody who has a bank account in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Singapore, Cayman etc. is without a doubt a criminal who is hiding money from taxes. With the global crisis, most governments have taken to blaming both the tax evaders and the “tax havens” for all that is wrong with the economy in the world today. The hunt for these terrible criminals has become relentless, and it really has become a question of the end justifying the means.

It takes us back to what has been done by the US government (and most EU governments too for that matter) in the aftermath of 9/11. Pretty much all rights have been stripped in the name of national security, and the Government has been able to do what they want in the name of the war on terrorism. Surveillance within the US has been relentless, and from what one can see with Snowden’s claims the US has been doing the same in the rest of the world. However, they were still failing to get in to the banking details of whoever they wanted to wherever in the world. Some countries have still been holding on to the idea of banking secrecy as a way of protecting peoples’ assets. So, now the governments are using the whole evil tax evasion practice as a way to remove those final barriers. By vilifying anybody who might have an account in a country practicing banking secrecy, they are getting the support of the masses to go after them regardless of the cost. And the cost is actually quite considerable especially when it comes to an individual’s rights.

The way that banking secrecy is now being removed, governments are ensuring that they will be able to get to any funds their citizens (and a very broad definition of their citizens) may have anywhere in the world. I suppose this might be fine and dandy if we all trusted our governments completely. Unfortunately there are so many examples of how this trust has been misused, and not just by the US government. Trust should be a two way thing, and the governments should trust their citizens to properly declare their assets and income.

There will always be those who try to evade taxes, and some will always succeed. However, the very large majority is paying what they should in taxes. Also, most of those who are hiding some of their income are already paying a big contribution to society. For starters they pay a fair amount of income tax. Add to that what they are bringing to the economy where they live through the creation of jobs, purchasing of goods and services etc., and they are actually paying a pretty hefty amount to the government and to society. When you consider that there are actually some people in France who last year paid more than 100% of their income in taxes you really wonder.  Sweden has been down that road well before this too, and it is only since the socialist government was replaced there that the current has been turned, and curiously enough the Swedish economy is today one of the stronger ones in Europe.

By far the biggest amount of tax evasion is actually done by the big corporations, those that support the governments that are in place. What they are doing is not necessarily illegal, but in many cases it can be morally questionable. The prime example of this is obviously the huge number of Fortune 500 companies that are registered in Delaware. Now, the governments will never go after these, as at the end of the day it is largely thanks to them that they are in power.

The final focus is on the control of people’s assets, and it seems as if the public is fully supporting this. Get rid of banking secrecy at all costs, because only criminals hide behind it! At the same time, we must be sure to maintain the secrecy of the confessional. I mean it would be simply unacceptable that a child rapist might get arrested for having confessed his sin to some priest, no?

Meanwhile in China

I am currently struggling with the Hong Kong banking regulator Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and some days the frustration is simply overwhelming. I do have some experience dealing with banking regulators in Asia since doing time in Sing Singapore, but I must admit that the HKMA has really achieved a new level of annoying bureaucracy unrivalled by any other regulator I have encountered. The most annoying thing about it is the way different banks are treated in a different way based on their origin. If you are Chinese, it seems anything goes. Yet, on a global level, I believe most observers will agree that the Chinese banks are among the most corrupt and suffer from exceedingly weak controls. In my opinion it is only a question of time before something blows up.

Reading some news recently, it may be that this time is running out. The whole world has been watching with awe how quickly the Chinese capitalism has developed. Because ultimately there is a huge market of consumers there, the entire world is really looking away from all the things that are wrong with the place, and if anybody dares criticize them, the government basically threatens with trade difficulties. With the global economic crisis, this has worked wonderfully for the Chinese until now, and I believe will still do so for some time. Humans are greedy bastards.

Anyway, to help fuel this extremely rapid growth, lots of money is necessary and the Chinese banks have been handing out huge corporate loans. When you issue such loans, there are obviously certain capital requirements imposed on the banks to ensure that they don’t go under too fast when the debtors run in to financial trouble. These capital requirements are considerably less when doing bank to bank loans, given that the money simply transfers from one monetary institution to another. What the Chinese banks have been doing in order to reduce their capital requirements (because capital costs money), is to issue these corporate loans through a web of transactions in the Chinese interbank market, resulting in making them look like interbank loans. Basically they make corporate loans look like loans to other banks, setting aside less capital and making their balance sheets look much healthier than what they really are. The worst is that such loans are often made to borrowers considered too risky for the banks’ on-balance sheet lending areas.  As per the most recent estimates available, there were something like $ 322 billion of such loans issued by June 2013, a figure likely to be considerably bigger now a year later.

Because the world is beginning to notice this and express a bit of concern about it, I suppose the Chinese government has felt compelled to try and reassure the world. So, they have announced now some new rules that are a bit stricter on the capital requirements. However, the new rules do not specifically ask the banks to treat these shadow loans the same as corporate loans, and so they are effectively saving the banks from having to increase the amount of capital reserves they set aside. Essentially they have done nothing, and the financial situation in China can continue to degenerate while the world continues with its short term goals. Personally I am extremely concerned about where this is going since much of the global economic recuperation since 2008 is the result of the booming economy in China. If that was to come crashing down again, then the Asian crisis seen in the end of the 90’s will seem like an itch in the nose, and the global crisis of 2008 as a sneeze, whereas this new crisis will be a fully-fledged influenza.

Driving Blues

Every post on here is not going to be a rant. You may find that disappointing, but I really don’t care! The thing is, I just want to try and write something on a regular basis, and for the most part that becomes a rant. However, it is likely that there will be days that I am in a good mood, or days that I have experienced something pleasant that I would perhaps like to share.

Well today is not one of those days! Maybe if you come back tomorrow…

All of us has at one time or another gotten angry while driving. Probably most of us get angry while driving on a daily basis, especially those of us who commute. Basically all other drivers are crap, and life would be much better without them. I spend pretty much equal time on the road on a motorcycle as I do in a car, and apart from being much more exposed to the elements of nature on a bike, you are also much more exposed to other drivers stupidity. Given that spending time in traffic is more akin to a game of survival, although game is perhaps not the correct choice of word when your life is at  stake, you are automatically much more focused on what the people around you are doing. Having survived for quite some time, I can say that the most important thing when on a bike is to be able to anticipate what the other drivers are going to do. You basically prepare for them to do something stupid, and most of the time you are right. The thing is though, since you are so much more vulnerable it is best to avoid the idiot and move on. Blaring your horn and obscene gesticulations may encourage the idiot in their big SUV to simply ram you off the road. The fact that you were in your right is not much of a consolation when you are lying in the gutter. The thing though is that on a bike you notice even more how bad drivers around you are (and don’t get me started on the fellow bikers!).

Well, I am sure that I am not alone these days in getting mad on a daily basis at drivers using their cellphones while driving. Not only do they use them to talk to somebody, but it is becoming increasingly common to see drivers texting while they are driving! Seriously? It is estimated that 1 out of every 4 car accidents today are the result of the driver using their cellphone. You can see them a mile away, with their erratic movements left to right, and their inability to keep an even speed. Standing at the side of the road watching cars go by is quite scary as you realize how many people are driving while on the phone. Try it some day, you will be amazed. With people having become totally addicted to their smartphones, this phenomenon is just growing on a daily basis and it is becoming an epidemic.

What I plan to do is to now always take a camera with me when I step outside, and take pictures of people driving while using their smartphones. I’ll then post the best ones on here!

Out of Touch With Reality

There was a new IPO a bit over a week ago which made some headlines, and that has me scratching my head yet again about how out of touch from reality the stock market seems to be. Indeed it seems each day brings further proof that the stock market is not driven by actual economic facts but it is purely driven by emotions as well as an inherent hunger to make lots of money quickly. As always, most people will not complain because they have made a quick buck, but it is truly my opinion that this sort of financial behavior does considerably more damage in the long-run, and ultimately continuous to hinder the global economy from really moving on from the crisis.

Obviously the IPO I am speaking about is GoPro. To set the record straight, I really like their product and think they fully deserve their success until now, and I hope they will continue to be successful in the future. I have been blown away by the performance of the little GoPro video cameras. They produce films of incredible quality, are exceedingly easy to operate, and have managed to change the way action sports are filmed by amateurs. They have succeeded in placing their name to the extent that any small action camera is referred to as a GoPro, in the same way as Sony did with the Walkman all those years ago. Just like in the early years of the Walkman, nobody else has managed to produce a similar product that comes close in performance which says a lot about how accomplished the GoPro camera actually is. They totally deserve their market leader position, even if they will likely struggle a bit to maintain this position in the coming years as competitors catch up.

So, if I am so enthusiastic about the GoPro, then why all the gloom and doom about the IPO? Well, simply put because the size of the IPO has been totally blown out of proportion yet again. Looking at the basic figures, with the IPO price of $24 the market capitalization of GoPro comes to something like $ 3 billion. This is for a company that essentially only has one product (yes there are three different types of GoPros available, but they are essentially the same product). Compare this to a company like Nikon which has been around for a long time producing some very high quality cameras and lenses, which has a market capitalization of $ 6.3 billion, or roughly double that of GoPro. To me, this simply does not make any sort of economic sense.

Several analysts are commenting that much of the value of GoPro is a result of the potential they have in producing content for YouTube, and consequently Facebook as well. As always, this is pure speculation of something which doesn’t exist. There is absolutely no solid economical basis for this estimate, and so yet again serves to artificially over-inflate the stock price. I simply can’t figure out how realistically economists can set the IPO price for GoPro at $24, and then see it surge past $30 on its first day. I know a couple of people would not have made as many millions out the deal, but it is my opinion that an IPO price of $12 would have been much more appropriate to the actual value of the company at this point in time, and would have served to not over-inflate market speculation yet again.

Three days after the IPO the stock went above $48. Apart from being an increase of 100%, it actually implies that GoPro has a market capitalization equivalent to that of Nikon! I believe it may be time for a reality check at this point, and even if the price of the stock is off its peak, it is still hovering in the $40 area. What annoys me the most though is that GoPro, like Tesla, are stocks I would actually like to own because I truly believe they produce valid products. Unfortunately it is my opinion that their stock prices are completely out of touch with reality.

Anger Management?

It may seem as a strange title for a blog, but at the end of the day, the objective of this blog is really to manage my anger. For years I have been participating in a forum which I have used as an outlet for my anger. Although initially it was a place to share discussions, with the arrival of facebook members became less and less active. So the forum was becoming more and more a place I would post my rants hoping to get some feedback. As it turns out, that is becoming more and more rare, and so I believe a blog may be more appropriate.

I like to write, and I find writing my regular rants works as therapy for my anger. Hence the name Anger Management! Hopefully I will be able to provide regular posts on here, and who knows maybe some people will actually enjoy reading them!