ChunCheon SpeedBike is the riding crew that I ride with regularly. Now, I know the store front says, "Win Bike". This is the shop where ChunCheon SpeedBike meets up and the owner of this shop is the leader of the crew (재명). I had originally come here way back when I had my Hyosung 250. Although it didn't really require full synthetic engine oil or NGK spark plugs, most other shops looked at me funny when I asked them about it. Win Bike is the only shop I've been to where the guy working on my bike has done what I asked and always pointed me in the right direction when I had questions. You would expect that if I wanted something extra that the shop owner would try and squeeze as much money out of me, but this guy's always pointed out cheaper options or better alternatives. If you want to find his shop, if you are going down route 5 with the Ganwon Education University (강원교육대학교) on your left, make a right at the next intersection and go up for a bit and it's a couple stores before the 애막골 post office. Don't worry, he actually speaks some English and knows almost everything you need to know as far as motorcycle needs in English.
The owner of this shop has owned several bikes including: several Honda CBR900RRs, Honda
RC51 SP2, Suzuki Hayabusa, and many more I can't recall. Every time I ride with him I've been wowed in one way or the other by his riding talent. He's currently riding a Honda CBR900RR which he rebuilt himself. You can see him to the
right messing with the suspension settings.
Most of the guys in the crew ride liter bikes. Back when I was riding my Comet 250, I didn't really have the power t0 keep up with them on rides. When I purchased my R1 and brought it in, 재명형 asked me if I wanted to ride out. Ever since then it's just been good times and great memories. Often after work I'll just ride over to ChunCheon to hang out at the shop, even if there are no particular plans and there are always a few guys in the crew hanging out to shoot the shit or plan night time rides. To the right you can see what it looks like inside the shop. Many crew members keep their bikes at the shop for storage as people don't generally have private garages in Korea. Right now it's a bit barren as this was right after a ride and many of the bikes are still parked outside. As you can see, he does work on everything from scooters and 4x4s to big bikes. It's fun to visit the shop just to see all the two-wheeled eye candy laying around the shop. Here are some pictures from a recent dash n' dine. No video, but this weekend we rented a pension somewhere north of GangChon and the next day we rode around ChunCheon. We took a trip up to Soyang Dam and then went into downtown ChunCheon for dinner.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI just bought a Hyosung 250 Comet to learn on, and was wondering if you had any tips on turning at low speeds. Also do you have any tips about learning on your own. (other than YT, blogs, etc.) I live in Chuncheon, so I was really happy when I found your blog. Now I know a good place to take my bike~! Thanks for writing and sharing~!^^
First, congrats on getting through the "crank" on the riding test!
DeleteThere are three tips I can offer for low speed maneuvers and I always recommend you go to a large empty parking lot to practice. If you go up hill a bit from WinBike, you'll see a big entrance and I think there's a big parking lot that's usually empty. There are also tons of auxiliary parking lots at Gangwon University you can practice at.
Tip 1) Learn to slip the clutch while modulating the throttle. That bike has a wet clutch so it won't be that much wear on it if you slip it just right and it'll give you that torque at low speed to keep the gyroscopic forces up enough to keep you upright.
Tip 2) Trail with the rear brake. If you very lightly use the rear brake while doing slow turns it helps with the gyroscopic motion as well. This is kind of a cruiser trick, but it can help on any bike.
Tip 3) Counter balance. You've probably heard of counter steering, but counter balancing is different from conventional methods of body positioning. During low speed maneuvers, you can actually lean opposite of the way the bike is moving and tighten up the turning radius... conventional thinking would have you lean into the turn with your body, but at slow speed the opposite helps for some reason.
Also, if you go to Winbike, ask for Jae Myeong and greet him with a "Hey man, what's up?". Tell him Ray from New Jersey says, "Hello!". I forgot whether I put directions down in this blog, but you go down route 5 or whatever that road going past Gangwon University's entrance road is with the uni on your right and you'll come to a big intersection with a Hi-Mart in the corner. Turn right and go up the hill and follow it... I think... Best is to ask around about how to get to the Ae-Mahk-Gol Post Office and he's a block down the road from there.
I wish I was still in Korea so I could help you out in person.. maybe my next visit! Good luck and ride safe!